Mad Queen Leaves the Palace

Chapter 113 A Battle of Wits Before the Emperor

Everyone present was exceptionally astute. The moment Xiao Lan finished speaking and mentioned the compensation from the imperial merchant Ye family, Prime Minister Lin instantly understood. He pondered for a moment, comparing this matter with the various rumors circulating in the capital recently—rumors concerning the fact that Young Master Lan was actually a woman. In this way, all the clues connected, and the truth was about to be revealed! At this moment, Prime Minister Lin's gaze towards Xiao Lan deepened, as if trying to see through her appearance to uncover more hidden secrets.

Meanwhile, Yan Linfeng, who had been standing to the side, finally came to his senses. He suddenly realized that the Xiao siblings had asked the academy for leave, claiming an emergency at home, but in reality, they had gone to the Ye family to demand compensation. However, what puzzled him was why his uncle had so easily handed over the money to Xiao Lan. He would definitely ask him about it after this matter was settled. Thinking of this, Yan Linfeng suppressed his doubts for the time being and said no more.

The censor, though usually impatient for quick success, was by no means foolish. Hearing that the compensation money came from the imperial merchant Ye family, and seeing His Majesty's indulgence and pampering of Xiao Lan, he couldn't help but speculate about the woman's identity. He looked around at everyone, scrutinizing them for a long time, trying to find any resemblance between their faces and the woman before him, who was as beautiful as a fairy, but ultimately found nothing. Helpless, the censor cleared his throat and said, "Miss, I was indeed abrupt and rude just now. Judging from your close relationship with His Majesty..."

“Oh, of course! After all, I am the one whose marriage is personally bestowed upon me by His Majesty’s grace. Besides, my grandfather once fought alongside the late Emperor, risking his life for him and making great contributions. And now, His Highness the Crown Prince, as well as the Third Prince, Fifth Prince, Sixth Prince, and Seventh Prince, are all my classmates and friends from my time studying at Minglu Academy. His Majesty’s kindness towards a junior like me is a great blessing to the Xiao family.” Xiao Lan was perfectly aware that this censor had ill intentions and that nothing good could come out of his mouth, so she quickly made her point clear.

The imperial envoy, who had been eager to cause trouble, suddenly realized something when he heard Xiao Lan mention her grandfather's past of fighting alongside the late emperor and learned that she had been betrothed. He thought to himself that the woman in front of him was no ordinary person.

"You...you are actually the young lady from the Xiao Marquis's mansion who was betrothed to the Fifth Prince!" The censor seemed to wake from a dream, his mouth agape in shock, and his tongue began to stammer.

Xiao Lan smiled and gazed at him quietly, her smile as sweet and captivating as a spring flower in bloom. She parted her lips slightly and said slowly, "Your Excellency, I am Xiao Lan, and Marquis Xiao is my grandfather. However, Your Excellency, it's not that I'm trying to criticize you, but look at you, so nervous you stutter and can't even speak properly. Are you really capable of fulfilling this duty as Your Excellency?"

Upon hearing Xiao Lan's words, the previously noisy and chaotic court fell into an instant, so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone exchanged bewildered glances. Wu De stood silently at the end of the line, his head bowed, as if trying to completely hide himself and avoid the curious and slightly probing gazes of his colleagues. He inwardly groaned, "Oh dear! This woman is even more eloquent than my sister-in-law! And she dares to blurt out anything!"

At this moment, the censor, whose words had been directed at him by Xiao Lan, was already flushed with anger, trembling uncontrollably, and unable to utter a single word. Seeing this, Yan Zhen knew that continuing this stalemate would be futile and pointless. Therefore, he subtly gave a wink to Eunuch Fang beside him. Eunuch Fang understood immediately and loudly proclaimed, "Those with matters to report, speak now; otherwise, court is adjourned—"

As soon as he finished speaking, Yan Zhen continued, "The Fifth Prince and Xiao Lan will remain for now." Upon hearing this, the other ministers filed out in order, slowly exiting the magnificent Golden Palace. As Prime Minister Lin passed by Xiao Lan, he seemingly casually, yet very subtly, gave her a once-over.

After all the ministers had left the Golden Palace, they arrived at the spacious square in front of the palace. Suddenly, someone caught sight of the mountain of boxes, exchanged glances, and then, as if they had discovered a new continent, swarmed towards Luo You, who was standing to the side.

"Lord Luo, this money was paid by the Ye family to Miss Xiao! But why was there compensation?" The Vice Minister of Revenue asked curiously, his eyes gleaming with gossip. However, before he could finish speaking, the Minister of War interrupted, "Old Luo, you're really not being fair! You told me you had family matters to attend to, but it turns out you secretly went to Jiangnan."

The Minister of War was Luo You's direct superior. Faced with his superior's questioning, Luo You naturally dared not be negligent and quickly replied, "Minister, please calm down. This time, I left the capital on His Majesty's secret decree and had no choice but to secretly travel to Jiangnan on business. Please do not blame me." After saying this, Luo You secretly pondered how to change the subject to deal with the questions from the group of curious people in front of him.

Just as he was racking his brains, a sudden idea struck him. Pretending to answer everyone's questions, he suddenly shouted, "This humble official greets His Highness the Third Prince!" Upon hearing this, everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw Yan Linfeng walking towards them with a livid face and hurried steps.

Originally, Yan Linfeng intended to stay in the Golden Palace to find out the truth of the matter. After all, his uncle had actually paid such a huge sum of money on Ye Lanyi's behalf, and it was over a million taels of gold! If he had known beforehand that such a large sum would be paid, he would have rushed to Jiangnan to stop him no matter what. Now, seeing everyone discussing it here, Yan Linfeng was even more furious.

If I had known this would happen, I would have forced myself on Xiao Lan on that special day no matter what! That way, all that money would naturally have been mine.

In fact, right after the grand palace banquet that day, Yan Linfeng decisively stopped Xiao Lan. He had long harbored the idea of ​​forcing Xiao Lan into marriage, because deep down he always believed she was rightfully his. Coincidentally, that very day, His Majesty the Emperor personally promised that the Ye family would provide Xiao Lan with appropriate compensation. Initially, Yan Linfeng took it as a joke, even prepared to settle the matter hastily with a mere eight thousand taels of silver. However, to his utter surprise, Xiao Lan completely ignored him, acting as if she were avoiding a venomous snake or a ferocious beast. Seeing this, Yan Linfeng was instantly enraged. He secretly thought that if he could successfully win Xiao Lan's heart, even if a marriage was later arranged, he believed that with the dignity and prestige of the royal family, his father would surely force Xiao Lan to marry into his household. As for the exact status of the marriage, that was hard to say.

However, events unfolded far beyond Yan Linfeng's expectations. Before he could even take any further action, Xiao Lan seemed to have already sensed his treacherous intentions. Without hesitation, she rushed to the window and fearlessly declared: if Yan Linfeng refused to leave, she would jump out without hesitation. Even if it meant being permanently disabled, she was willing to do it, but at the same time, she warned Yan Linfeng that he could forget about ever ascending the throne!

Yan Linfeng knew that if Xiao Lan jumped, regardless of whether she lived or died, he would be demoted, even if he didn't die. So that day, he didn't dare gamble on Xiao Lan's determination to jump and could only leave first.

When everyone saw Yan Linfeng arrive, they stopped surrounding Luo You and scattered like birds and beasts. Just as Luo You was about to leave, "Lord Luo," Yan Linfeng called out to him.

"Your Highness, may I ask what brings you here?" Luo You knew things were going badly, but Yan Linfeng had called him, so he couldn't pretend he hadn't heard.

"I'd like to ask Lord Luo, why did the Ye family pay so much money when I accompanied Miss Xiao to collect compensation from them? It was just because my cousin was being playful and imitated Young Master Lan's calligraphy. Was this money obtained through coercion or bribery?" Yan Linfeng grew angrier the more he thought about it. To put it bluntly, the Ye family's money was essentially his own. Now, the Crown Prince had been sent to the Northwest to comfort the soldiers, and the Fifth Prince was being highly valued by the Emperor. He was said to have developed some kind of seawater salt production, and he had also invented a charcoal pencil. And who knew which scoundrel had suggested to the Emperor that the charcoal pencil be named after Yan Nanhui? Now, all the students knew that the Fifth Prince was the inventor of the charcoal pencil, and they admired and revered him greatly.

Previously, he had the Ye family as his backing, and the Ye family was his money bag. Now that so much had been taken from him, he had to find out the truth before he could figure out what to do next.

Upon hearing Yan Linfeng's words, Luo You immediately put on a fawning smile: "Third Prince, as you know, I'm a tireless runner. The reason I went with Miss Xiao is because that girl from the Ye family tricked my daughter into buying a fake letter of recommendation from Young Master Lan. Who knew that when we went to Minglu Academy, Miss Xiao saw through it? To avoid revealing her identity, she had the dean ask me for compensation. Oh dear, I almost had to pawn my pants because of my unfilial daughter. Later, I heard that the main culprit was found, so I rushed to Xiwu Prefecture to get my share of the money back. I really don't know the specifics of their negotiations, but Your Highness can ask Lord Yue Jiangchuan. He was the one who protected Miss Xiao, and he must know everything about the negotiations with the Ye family head."

After Luo You finished speaking, he continued to look at Yan Linfeng with a smile on his face. He thought to himself: Just as Miss Xiao expected, if you're so capable, go ask Yue Jiangchuan. See if he doesn't tell your father once he knows. Yue Jiangchuan is a member of the Imperial Guard, directly under the Emperor, so if Yan Linfeng dares to ask, the Emperor will immediately know about this.

Yan Linfeng dared not ask Yue Jiangchuan, so he bid farewell to Luo You and went to the inner palace gate to find his mother, Consort Ye, to discuss the matter.

Now that Ye Lanyi has caused such a huge mess, if this isn't addressed, the entire Ye family might be dragged down. Moreover, back at the princess's residence, Ye Lanyi had even tried to drug him. Luckily, the guards sensed something was wrong and came looking for him. Otherwise, if he hadn't followed Ye Lanyi's plan and been caught, he would have had no choice but to marry her. Thinking of this, Yan Linfeng suddenly felt a surge of hatred for Ye Lanyi. He used to think of his cousin as a sweet and adorable little sister, but he never expected her to become so annoying as she grew older. No wonder his cousin didn't like her anymore.

As Luo You watched the Third Prince leave, he touched the silver notes on his chest. The group had been in a hurry to get there, and it wouldn't be safe to leave so many silver notes in their luggage and have someone take them back to the Vice Minister's residence. So Luo You kept them on his person. Touching the thick stack of silver notes on his chest, Luo You was in a great mood and started humming a little tune as he walked home.

Xiao Lan and Yan Nanhui stayed in the Golden Palace for an hour. When they came out, Eunuch Fang, who served the emperor, escorted them directly to Consort Tong's palace. No one knew what Yan Zhen said to the two of them. It wasn't until the imperial decree was issued the next day that everyone realized the future princess consort of the Fifth Prince would be incredibly wealthy and powerful.