Shocking! Five men are in love with the same woman!

The pleading and hope in Lian'er's eyes grew even stronger under Lingyan's cold gaze.

She knew that her only hope at this moment lay with Ling Yan.

So she endured the excruciating pain and said with difficulty, "This servant...this servant knows she was wrong. Please, save this servant's family. If you can save them, this servant will tell you everything."

Ling Yan narrowed her eyes slightly upon hearing this, her expression remaining indifferent: "You'd better think carefully before you speak. If you utter even a single lie, neither you nor your family will have a good end."

Lian'er nodded repeatedly upon hearing this, tears streaming down her cheeks: "I'll tell you, I'll tell you, it was... it was Her Majesty the Empress who ordered me to do this. She threatened me that if I didn't do as she said, she would kill my family. I had no choice but to obey her orders."

As Lian'er spoke, she burst into tears.

Her body trembled uncontrollably with fear and pain, as if it were about to collapse at any moment.

Lingyan, upon hearing Lian'er's words, asked with great confusion, "The Empress? Why would she want to deal with me?"

Lian'er noticed her confusion and was also very puzzled.

Isn't it normal, reasonable, and easy to understand why the Empress would want to deal with her?

Although she didn't understand, she still explained to Lingyan, "It's because the Empress is jealous of you. She's jealous that you receive such favor from His Majesty, so she wants to ruin your face."

Lingyan was utterly shocked upon hearing this!

No?

What is this all about?

This is outrageous!

This is so ridiculous!

What does it mean to gain the favor of the King of Bei Li?

What on earth is the Empress imagining?

At this moment, she could barely control the expression on her face; it was practically a mask of pain.

I'm speechless.

However, she also understood why the Empress had targeted her.

Because she wore a veil every day during this period, none of the people in the mansion knew her identity.

Otherwise, if you saw her face, you would definitely recognize her.

So now, besides King Beili, there are also those assassins and envoys who have set off for Dazhao.

And among the palace maids, eunuchs, and guards outside the main hall that day, no one knew her identity.

But apart from King Bei Li, everyone else was also a staunch supporter of King Bei Li.

Therefore, these people would naturally not dare to reveal her identity.

As for why her identity cannot be revealed at this moment.

Both Lingyan and the Northern King had their own considerations.

There are several reasons why the Northern King kept Lingyan's identity a secret for the time being.

Firstly, from a strategic perspective, it would be unwise to reveal Lingyan's identity too early before formal negotiations with Dazhao.

Da Zhao may quickly formulate a response strategy, and may even take some extreme measures to disrupt Bei Li's plans.

Secondly, the Northern Li country is not a monolithic entity; it contains various different forces and interests.

Revealing Lingyan's identity as the Crown Princess of Dazhao too early might provoke different reactions from certain forces in Beili.

Some factions may believe that confronting the Great Zhao is too risky and advocate releasing Lingyan as soon as possible to avoid war.

However, some forces may attempt to exploit Lingyan for their own selfish gains, thereby triggering internal strife and chaos.

Therefore, in order to stabilize the domestic situation, King Bei Li will reveal Ling Yan's identity at an appropriate time after Da Zhao has responded.

In order to better control the domestic situation and ensure that all forces are under his control and work together to strive for the greatest benefit for Bei Li.

Then, besides Da Zhao and Bei Li, he also had to be wary of other countries.

Revealing Ling Yan's identity too early could provoke interference from other countries.

They might take advantage of the situation to cause chaos and do something uncontrollable, driven by their own interests.

Therefore, in conclusion, the Northern King must keep Lingyan's identity a secret at this time.

Ling Yan's reluctance to reveal her identity was also for her own safety.

If her identity is revealed, she will become the target of public criticism.

Various factions within the Northern Li Kingdom may take action against her for different purposes.

Furthermore, she killed so many people from Bei Li on the battlefield and seized so many cities from Bei Li.

Therefore, many people in Bei Li must hate her very much.

If her identity were exposed now, she probably wouldn't have a peaceful life anymore.

Because every day, many people would come to assassinate her.

Furthermore, before her identity was revealed, she could secretly observe the situation in Bei Li and the dynamics of all parties to secretly plan some things.

After all, she didn't come to Bei Li just to be a hostage.

If her identity is revealed too early, her actions will be severely restricted, which will be detrimental to her performance.

So for now, she can only lie low and hide herself to live a quiet life.

Therefore, when Lingyan looked at Lian'er's eyes and her confused reaction, as well as the eyes of the other servants around her, she instantly realized that the Empress's thoughts were not unreasonable.

After all, they didn't know her identity, and given how indulgent and accommodating the Northern King was to her, such a misunderstanding was quite possible.

She was speechless for a moment again.

He pressed further, "Do you know if the Empress has any other plans?"

Lian'er shook her head: "This servant doesn't know. This servant only poisoned your food according to her instructions. I don't know anything else."

Lingyan believed her after hearing this.

Moreover, now that the person behind it all is known, the matter is naturally left to the King of Bei Li to handle; it has nothing to do with her anymore.

So she prepared to get up and leave, but saw that although Lian'er was trembling, she still mustered up her courage and pleaded, "Miss, please save my family. I failed to accomplish this for Her Majesty the Empress, and Her Majesty the Empress will certainly not let me and my family go. Please have mercy and save me and my family."

After saying that, she began to kowtow repeatedly, her forehead hitting the ground heavily with a dull thud.

Her body trembled with fear, yet she continued to kowtow.

Each impact carried with her a heart full of despair and pleading, as if only in this way could she soften Lingyan's heart and agree to save her family.

Her hair became disheveled during the kowtowing, with a few strands falling down her cheeks, but she didn't bother to tidy it up.

Tears flowed freely like a burst dam, leaving streaks on her dirty face.

Her eyes were filled with helplessness and pleading: "Miss, please, please save my family. I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have obeyed the Empress's orders to harm you, but I really had no choice. The Empress threatened me with my family, and I had no choice but to obey."

As Lian'er cried out, she kowtowed even harder, the sound of which was particularly jarring in the quiet room.

A pool of blood gradually appeared on the ground, left from Lian'er's forehead being cut open.

But she seemed oblivious to the pain and continued to bang on her head.

She had only one thought in her mind: she had to make Ling Yan agree to save her family, no matter the cost.