The Crown Prince, under the guise of studying, stayed by Pei Yuan's side, and the progress of the investigation accelerated dramatically. Several people inadvertently discovered the secret chambers in the Minister of Personnel's mansion.
Crates upon crates of long spears, sabers, gold, and silver treasures were carried out from the basement of the Minister of Personnel's residence. Letters colluding with his partisans were laid out on the Emperor's desk.
The Emperor was even more enraged. He was only forty-seven years old, in excellent health, and his sons were already coveting his position. The ministers were thinking of gaining favor through their service. How could this not make him angry?
Officials implicated in the case were severely punished with beheading or imprisonment, while those less involved were dismissed from their posts and exiled. Several princes busied themselves with installing their own people into the vacant positions.
This suited the Emperor's intentions perfectly. Another wave of officials was dismissed. The princes were all reprimanded and confined to their residences. Suddenly, everyone in the capital felt uneasy.
The Second Prince vigorously distanced himself from any involvement with his maternal relatives in this matter. Although there was no direct evidence, the Emperor still suspected him and ordered him to reflect in seclusion.
The Crown Prince's faction instantly had a chance to breathe. The Crown Prince had been feeling quite pleased with himself for the past few days.
In secret, the Crown Prince also sent people to investigate the massacre of the Minister of Personnel's household, but there was no result for a long time. Thinking that a pair of eyes was watching them from the shadows, his brothers felt a chill run down their spines.
Pei Yuan only found a few tokens from the Fierce Tiger Stronghold bandits within the Minister of Personnel's mansion. Ultimately, the case could only be attributed to bandits as the true culprits.
The Emperor immediately dispatched troops to suppress the bandits, but by the time they arrived, the stronghold was already deserted. In reality, the entire village was comprised of the Second Prince's private soldiers.
Within the Second Prince's residence, "Bitch." Zhao Yunyi violently slapped Bai Ran Tang.
Bai Ran Tang was completely caught off guard by the blow. By the time she reacted, she had already fallen to the ground, her cheeks red and swollen.
She questioned him incredulously, "My Lord, why?"
"You dare to ask why? Didn't you say everything would go smoothly from here on out? Why couldn't you predict that my maternal family would be implicated? If I hadn't been foresighted, Black Wind Stronghold would have been wiped out as well."
Bai Ran Tang's heart was greatly alarmed. "My Lord, what are you talking about? Your concubine doesn't understand."
Zhao Yunyi walked over, pinched her chin, and stared directly into her eyes.
"It's this time, and you're still hiding things from me. Ran'er, you're not being good. Do you think I, the dignified Second Prince, would condescend to marry you, a mere concubine's daughter, if you didn't have predictive abilities?"
"I thought... I thought you loved me."
"Heh, love? What is love? As long as Ran'er can continue to help me, your husband loves you."
He leaned close to Bai Ran Tang's ear and said in a cold voice, like a viper with a forked tongue, ready to strike at any moment. Bai Ran Tang felt goosebumps rise all over her body and dared not move.
Bai Ran Tang stammered, "Ah Yi, I don't know why this happened. It wasn't supposed to. I didn't dream of this."
"Oh, it was only seen in a dream?"
"Yes, Your Highness, your concubine dares not conceal anything. Your concubine is completely sincere towards you."
She dared not reveal the matter of her rebirth to Zhao Yunyi and could only say that everything she had experienced was from dreams. This was the only way to save her life.
She feared that if she revealed everything she knew, she would lose her usefulness, and Zhao Yunyi would unhesitatingly cast her aside and marry a consort of higher status.
Zhao Yunyi curled his lips sinisterly and gently caressed Bai Ran Tang's face. He looked directly into her eyes and said, word for word.
"My dear, what are you afraid of? Can this prince eat you? I was just joking with you. Your husband loves you too much to do that."
Bai Ran Tang trembled and said, "Thank you for your affection, my Lord. From now on, Ran'er will tell you everything she knows, without reservation." After speaking, she kowtowed firmly on the ground.
"Xiao Tao, light the calming incense. Attend to your Princess as she sleeps."
"Yes, Your Highness."
The Second Prince smiled and strode out of Bai Ran Tang's chambers. As soon as he left, Bai Ran Tang felt her body go weak, and she collapsed on the ground for a long time before recovering.
The maids helped her onto the bed, and only then did she start to cry, clutching the quilt. Why, why was she so foolish? After being reborn, she still believed a man's nonsense.
As she cried, she remembered her maternal family. She wiped away her tears and stopped crying. She had not yet broken ties with her family in this life; she was the fourth grandniece of the Prime Minister's mansion. The Second Prince would not dare to do anything to her, he definitely wouldn't.
Tomorrow, she would write a letter to her father, asking him to send people to protect her safety. Thinking of this, she gradually fell asleep.
The Second Prince, meanwhile, stayed up all night in his study. With no court to attend, he had time to ponder who had betrayed him and why the Minister of Personnel's mansion had tokens from the Fierce Tiger Stronghold.
Could it be that they had exposed something during the assassination of Xu Zi Sheng? Impossible. If that old man, the Duke of Zhenguo, had discovered any clues, he would have acted long ago.
Who could it be? Who could remove the Minister of Personnel's mansion so swiftly? His younger brothers lacked such capability, and the Crown Prince alone could not have accomplished this.
Had they joined forces? Impossible. Only the Crown Prince benefited from the entire affair. Crown Prince, you truly know how to hide your strength; you are quite unexpected.
"Your Highness, we just apprehended the Princess Consort's personal maid. She was acting suspiciously, trying to sneak out of the mansion. How should we handle her?"
"Take her to the dungeon, cut off one of her ears, and send it to the Princess Consort."
"Yes."
Bai Ran Tang was applying makeup in front of the mirror when a maid brought in a finely crafted box, saying it was a gift from the Second Prince to apologize for yesterday's events.
Bai Ran Tang secretly rejoiced. With her powerful maternal family as a backing, the Second Prince would not dare to harm her. Thinking this, she happily opened the box.
Upon seeing a bloody ear lying inside, with a familiar earring dangling from it, Bai Ran Tang screamed in terror.
The person outside the door said, "Your Highness requests the Princess Consort to remain a proper Princess Consort. If you do not resort to other means, you will not be mistreated."
"I understand. Please thank His Highness on my behalf," Bai Ran Tang said, forcing herself to remain calm.
From that night on, she had trouble sleeping for several nights. That maid had served her since childhood. Although she wasn't particularly attached, the Second Prince's brutal methods truly terrified her.
It seemed as though his past actions were similarly ruthless and unscrupulous, only the targets of his cruelty were not her.
She had thought it was heroic and decisive, that he would achieve great things in the future and lead her to the highest position of power.
Bai Ran Tang, Bai Ran Tang, your taste in men is consistently poor.
Thinking of the swindler whose legs were broken and who became a beggar, thinking of the old witch who died in a fire, thinking of the fallen Duke's mansion, and of her elder sister who became a widow and was heartbroken.
She instantly felt happy again. In this reborn life, she had tread carefully, and at least in this life, she had avenged herself and lived a better life than her elder sister. It wasn't a wasted trip.
Thinking this, she began to smile foolishly at the mirror, which was somewhat chilling.