Help! The cunning and treacherous minister and I were reborn together!

Chu Lanyin's mind raced. "Call those maids over, and we'll find out soon enough."

Yuan Ying raised her finger and said, "Butler, go and find the men who carried my suitcase."

"Yes, concubine."

A short while later, the steward arrived with five female servants. The women surrounded the group and began to observe them. As they walked towards the bridal chamber, they couldn't see the servants' faces clearly, but they could identify them by their figures, clothing, and hairstyles, which all matched up.

Yuan Ying asked, "Miss Chu, do you have anything to say now?"

Chu Lanyin knew she was up to no good, but she had no evidence. She reluctantly knelt down and bowed, saying, "I have wronged the concubine. I apologize to you."

Yuan Ying made a veiled remark: "Miss Chu is young and easily deceived. She should be careful when she stands up for others in the future. After all, you can't see into someone's heart."

Chu Lan was both angry and resentful and wanted to argue with her, but Xiao Zong pulled her back, saying, "Go see your cousin-in-law, I'll take care of things here."

"Ah."

Chu Lanyin nodded and walked down the corridor.

Li Rui stood with his hands behind his back. "Lord Xiao, did you all hear that? Your wife trespassed into my courtyard and something happened. Now you're trying to frame my concubine. Even if I'm the most good-natured person, I won't tolerate such insolence!"

"Your Highness, please don't be hasty." Xiao Zong rubbed his palms together and stepped on the steward's hand. "Let me ask you, when the wooden house is heated, are the doors locked?"

"Uh--"

The manager was wincing in pain, his mind clearly not as sharp as before.

"No, I can't lock it!"

"Then why is it locked today?"

The manager realized he was digging a hole and denied it, saying, "I don't know, perhaps the servants below locked it to prevent the heat from escaping!"

"I see!" Xiao Zong stomped his foot heavily and demanded of the servants, "Who locked the door? Step forward!"

No one admitted it, but Xiao Zong, his killing intent palpable, reached out to Dou Zhao for a knife and held it to the steward's neck.

"How could you be such a steward? You know nothing about what your subordinates have done?" He raised an eyebrow and looked at the King of Wu. "Your Highness, what use are such servants? I'll kill them for you!"

Li Rui pointed at Xiao Zong, "How dare you kill someone in the Wu Prince's mansion?!"

"He's just a servant, Your Highness can't bear to part with him?"

Xiao Zong gripped the knife, slowly grinding it against the steward's flesh. A slow, deliberate cut was the most deadly. He wanted them to experience the same suffering Yuan Zhi had endured!

Crimson blood oozed out in thin streams, terrifying the steward to the point of trembling uncontrollably.

"Lord Xiao, I...I'll talk..."

"Cough cough."

Li Rui coughed twice, startling the steward. Thinking of his parents, wife, and children, he dared not speak. He grabbed Xiao Zong's knife and slashed it fiercely across his neck. Blood spurted out instantly, and he fell to the ground dead.

"what--"

The women were so frightened by the sight of the dead body that they huddled together in fear.

Li Rui roared, "Xiao Zong! You openly killed someone in the Prince's mansion and frightened the officials and their wives. What is your punishment?"

Xiao Zong held his sword horizontally in front of him, flicked his finger, and two drops of blood quickly fell to the ground.

"He bumped into me himself, so he can't blame me. On the contrary, Your Highness, those two coughs just now, were they perhaps a warning to him?"

"You're spouting nonsense! How dare you slander the prince!"

Xiao Zong laughed in fury, "Then please explain, Your Highness, why did your servant commit suicide if he had a clear conscience?"

Both sides presented their own versions of events, and both were high-ranking and powerful individuals. The officials dared not take sides and could only stand quietly to the sidelines.

The situation reached a stalemate when Chu Lanyin emerged from under the eaves.

"Cousin, my sister-in-law said she bit a servant's hand, please take a look!"

Dou Zhao ordered the maid to extend her hand, and after checking each one, she reported back: "Master, there is nothing."

Xiao Zong chuckled, "What a clever trick! Your Highness won't try to find another reason to say that my wife wronged the concubine, will you?"

Li Rui flew into a rage and slapped Yuan Ying across the face, yelling, "What have you been doing behind my back?!"

Yuan Ying hurriedly knelt down, taking all the blame upon herself.

“I deserve to die! My fifth sister and I have been at odds since childhood. She even disregarded my reputation and spread rumors about the *** mansion incident.”

“I spoke to her privately and told her about how we were drugged with aphrodisiacs that day, but Fifth Sister didn’t believe me at all and even insulted me. I was so angry that I wanted to teach her a lesson today. I really only wanted to scare her, I didn’t mean to kill her, please, Your Highness, investigate!”

Li Rui's face turned pale, as if he had swallowed a fly.

He's already doing well to clear himself of any involvement, how could he possibly spare the time to save her?

"Lord Xiao, the concubine is of immoral character and plotted to murder her half-sister. I now hand her over to you for disposal!"

Xiao Zong knew that Li Rui was undoubtedly behind this, and might even be the real culprit. However, with his current strength, he was not yet capable of contending with the Wu Prince's Mansion, so he had to wait and see.

“Once a concubine marries into the royal family, she is under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Clan Court. The Leopard Guards dare not overstep their bounds. Your Highness, please hand over those maids to me, especially the one with the injured hand.”

Li Rui kicked Yuan Ying, "You bitch, where is the injured maid?"

Yuan Ying gasped in pain, "In...in the stable."

Xiao Zong pointed to a few Leopard Guards and said in a more serious tone, "I'll trouble you, Steward, to take my men there."

Fearing he would be implicated, the steward quickly clasped his hands in a fist salute, "I'll take them to find them right away!"

After finishing the task, Xiao Zong had the Leopard Guards fetch several jars of wine from the kitchen, poured them on the wooden house floor, and then approached with torches.

"I heard that Your Highness is a germaphobe and does not allow others to enter this house. Although my wife was forcibly brought here, she has still defiled Your Highness's precious place. Today, I will burn it down for Your Highness, and tomorrow I will send someone to build a new one for you."

After saying that, without waiting for Li Rui to speak, he threw the torch in.

The tinder ignited instantly upon contact with the strong liquor, bursting into flames that illuminated the dark night sky. The crackling of the wood, like firecrackers, assaulted the guests' ears.

The group, who had been thinking differently just moments before, now reached a consensus: Commander Xiao was risking his life to oppose the prince!

Xiao Zong borrowed an outer garment from a maid in the Prince's mansion, wrapped it around Yuan Zhi, and took her back to the mansion.

Li Rui went to great lengths to make a good impression, sending over a lot of precious medicinal herbs. Xiao Zong didn't stand on ceremony either, stewing any herbs that the doctor said were useful for Yuan Zhi.

Luo Mei cried so hard her hands trembled, and she couldn't even hold the medicine bowl. Xiao Zong couldn't bear to see it, so he took the bowl away and told her to go and rest.

He brought the medicine to her lips, "Open your mouth."

Yuan Zhi drank it, and the bitter and strange taste came back to her. She hurriedly covered her mouth and almost vomited.

"Is it bitter?" Xiao Zong asked.

Yuan Zhi's eyes welled up with tears. She nodded, her eyelids drooped, and two streams of clear tears rolled down her cheeks.

He wiped away her tears. "You were so aggrieved when you took your medicine, but when you were fighting with Yuan Ying, didn't you consider the consequences?"

Yuan Zhi pouted. She didn't want to cry, but people are more vulnerable when they are sick, and she couldn't control herself.

"I'm this sick, and you're still scolding me?"

"Is this considered swearing?"

Xiao Zong, with a mischievous grin, poured another mouthful into her mouth. "A sharp tongue and bitter medicine are a perfect match! If you cause trouble again, I'll use this to punish you!"