Mad Queen Leaves the Palace

Xiao Lan turned around with the grace and elegance of a dancing fairy. Her beautiful eyes, bright and deep like twinkling stars in the night sky, were fixed intently on Yan Zhen. Her cherry-red lips parted slightly, and her voice, clear and melodious like a nightingale's song, rang out: "Your Majesty, I have always cherished a small, insignificant wish. Today, having the honor of seeing Your Majesty, I dare to offer you a piece of calligraphy to express my reverence and heartfelt blessings. I wonder if such a presumptuous act will be graciously granted by Your Majesty?"

Before the words were even finished, the Empress, standing to the side, narrowed her long, sharp eyes slightly. Her extremely keen gaze swept across the scene before her like lightning. In just an instant, the intelligent and wise Empress had already discerned everything—this woman from the Xiao family had come here today, and it was unlikely that she was simply there to attend this grand palace banquet. From her words and actions just now, and from the seemingly unintentional glances she had given, the Empress clearly realized that this woman's true purpose in entering the palace was most likely to target Consort Ye, who was deeply favored by the Emperor, intending to use this opportunity to provoke trouble and create some trouble or embarrassment for Consort Ye.

The Empress's lips curled slightly into a barely perceptible smile. She then gracefully stepped forward and softly said to Yan Zhen, "Your Majesty, since Miss Xiao has such an elegant interest, why not bestow upon her writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone? I am truly curious to see what Miss Xiao is planning, and what kind of ingenious scheme she is up to." After speaking, the Empress looked at Xiao Lan with a half-smile, a hint of something unfathomable flashing in her eyes.

Yan Zhen gave Eunuch Fang a wink. Once the brush and ink were brought over, Xiao Lan wrote directly: "Further transforming the imperial system, the revival is foretold by the red talisman. The calendar of a thousand years is in harmony, the five seasons are in accord." Yan Zhen, seeing the calligraphy, said, "Well said, the calligraphy is good. If I remember correctly, this is an article from Young Master Lan's poetry collection. It's well written." "Your Majesty, this calligraphy of mine is worth four hundred thousand taels of silver. Your Majesty, I'm giving you a generous gift," Xiao Lan said with a smile. Before she finished speaking, Ye Lanyi laughed, "Miss Xiao, we haven't finished discussing this matter, and you've already written this calligraphy for His Majesty, claiming it's worth four hundred thousand taels. Are you trying to frame me by giving His Majesty a gift and escaping punishment?"

“Miss Ye, don’t be hasty. Cats never eat mice right away. It’s no fun if they eat a mouse too quickly.” Although Xiao Lan was smiling, Ye Lanyi looked at her as if Xiao Lan was the cat and she was the mouse. Xiao Lan turned to Yan Zhen and said, “Your Majesty, my calligraphy is not as good as my brother’s, but please wait a moment.” As she spoke, she took off the wooden hairpin she always wore from her hair. She breathed on the hairpin and pressed it onto the calligraphy she had written. Everyone saw that it clearly read “Young Master Lan.” Seeing these three characters, everyone was shocked. Yan Zhen was about to ask, “This, this…” But before Yan Zhen could finish speaking, Yan Moyan’s voice rang out, “The mark is gone.” The three characters “Young Master Lan” had disappeared from where Xiao Lan had just stamped the mark.

Xiao Lan then smiled and said, "The time has come for everyone to witness a miracle." She then said to Consort Tong, "Your Highness, may I borrow your teacup?" Taking Consort Tong's teacup, Xiao Lan dipped her handkerchief in some tea and applied it directly to the area where the mark had been. After a short while, once the tea had dried, the three characters "Young Master Lan" reappeared, and the color was even darker than before.

At this moment, Xiao Lan said, "Does anyone here possess a collection of poems by Young Master Lan? Would you be willing to lend it to me?" Everyone was still amazed by Xiao Lan's earlier display of skill. Then, Yan Zhen spoke up, "Eunuch Fang, bring me the collection of poems by Young Master Lan from my study." Xiao Lan stood quietly to the side with a smile, waiting silently, her mind racing. Actually, when distributing the poetry collection earlier, being completely unfamiliar with the place, Xiao Lan couldn't help but worry, fearing that one day the Emperor of Great Xia might suddenly have a whim and imitate the ancients by burning books and burying scholars alive, enslaving writers and poets. After all, the collection of poems she had compiled contained many poems praising the Emperor! However, unexpectedly, this collection of poems ended up in Yan Zhen's hands by a twist of fate, and received his great praise and commendation in court. Perhaps it was precisely because of this special coincidence that Yan Zhen, as the ruler of a nation, chose to treasure this collection of poems.

After Eunuch Fang carefully retrieved the poetry collection, Xiao Lan quickly stepped forward and said softly, "Your Majesty, please take a look at the last page of the poetry collection. There is a small dot in the lower right corner. Please do as I just did, and gently apply tea water to that dot. Remember to make sure it is fully soaked."

Yan Zhen did as instructed, gently and carefully spreading tea around the small dot. Time passed, and soon, as the tea dried, a surprising scene unfolded—the three large, clear characters "Young Master Lan" appeared prominently on the previously inconspicuous dot. Upon seeing this, Yan Zhen frowned slightly, a look of confusion on his face, and then asked, "What exactly is going on?"

Xiao Lan took a deep breath, then raised her voice and replied loudly, "I humbly request Your Majesty to have someone carefully verify whether the seal I possess and the seal printed on this book are exactly the same."

Just then, Prime Minister Lin, Lin Yuxuan, and the Crown Prince quickly gathered around, while Yan Zhen slowly descended from his high seat. After everyone had examined the collection of poems, Yan Zhen, holding the book, paced back to his throne and asked with a grave expression, "Xiao family girl, I'd very much like to know how you learned of such a secret matter? And how did this Young Master Lan's seal end up in your hands?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Lan remained calm and composed. She bowed slightly and replied slowly, "Your Majesty, my name is Xiao Lan. As for this Young Master Lan..." She paused briefly, then continued slowly, word by word, "In fact, I am Young Master Lan."

These words were like a thunderclap in the imperial court! Yan Zhen's eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief. He blurted out instinctively, "What? You are actually Young Master Lan?" However, despite his doubts, when he saw the private seal in Xiao Lan's hand, he couldn't help but think to himself: If he can possess such an important item, this matter must be true. He is probably 80 or 90 percent certain that the person before him is indeed Young Master Lan.

At the same time, Crown Prince Yan Jingtian, unable to contain his curiosity, hurriedly asked, "Miss Xiao, as far as I know, this Young Master Lan only rose to fame two years ago. At that time, you were probably not even fourteen years old yet, were you?" Faced with the Crown Prince's question, Xiao Lan bowed gracefully again and replied softly, "Your Highness, it was precisely because I was still young at the time that my mother was afraid that I would suffer a lot of criticism from the outside world, so she made me travel in the world under the name of Young Master Lan."

In her previous life, when Xiao Lan stepped into the magnificent and heavily guarded imperial palace, the incomparably noble Crown Prince had already tragically passed away due to a sudden accident. Since the two had never crossed paths, to Xiao Lan, this prematurely deceased Crown Prince was merely a figure existing only in legends.

However, as time passed, the gears of fate began to turn quietly. In the short few days they spent together, Xiao Lan found that the Crown Prince behaved in a rather conventional manner, without displaying any particularly outstanding qualities, but also without doing anything offensive. Because of this, Xiao Lan felt quite calm and unmoved when facing the Crown Prince.

But at this moment, those sitting next to Yan Linfeng were extremely uneasy, their hearts pounding with anxiety. Ye Lanyi, in particular, was filled with trepidation. She never expected that the Lan Gongzi, whom she had only heard of but never seen, was actually Xiao Lan! In her previous life, until her death, this mysterious Lan Gongzi had never appeared. Originally, Ye Lanyi thought that impersonating him wouldn't be noticed; after all, who could have imagined things would turn out this way?

Thinking of this, Ye Lanyi suddenly recalled a series of troubles that had happened before. Due to her strained relationship with Ye Yuandong, her uncle, Ye Yuandong's biological father, had cruelly cut off her monthly allowance. To make matters worse, Consort Ye frequently sent her to bring items into the palace from outside, but refused to pay a single penny. In this dire situation, Ye Lanyi was forced to take a risky gamble, falsely claiming to possess valuable calligraphy and paintings by Young Master Lan, and selling them to numerous buyers. The most expensive piece was even sold to the high-ranking Consort Tong. Now that the truth was out, Ye Lanyi knew she had made a grave mistake and was filled with fear, unsure how to extricate herself.

Thinking of this, Ye Lanyi began to tremble. Meanwhile, Consort Ye, sitting beside her, was thinking that if Xiao Lan, that little wretch, was actually Young Master Lan, then Lanyi might have truly deceived her. She wondered how she would explain herself later; if all else failed, she'd just let Lanyi take the blame. After all, she was a Phoenix Maiden, capable of turning misfortune into good fortune.

Yan Linfeng, however, seemed to have lost something very important, feeling heartbroken, yet he didn't understand why he was reacting so strongly after learning that Xiao Lan was Young Master Lan. The others also had their own thoughts.

Just as everyone fell silent, Xiao Lan suddenly knelt down before Emperor Yan Zhen without warning. Her face was solemn, and her voice was firm and earnest as she said, “Your Majesty, I beg you to uphold justice for me! I am not acquainted with Ye Lanyi. We were assigned to the same class after studying at Minglu Academy, and we have no prior contact. Yet she has repeatedly used the name of Young Master Lan to swindle and deceive. Not only that, she also fabricated stories, claiming to possess valuable calligraphy by Young Master Lan, and selling these forgeries to many innocent people. Even the esteemed Consort Tong was not spared, falling into her carefully crafted trap. I heard that Consort Tong spent 50,000 taels of silver to purchase a so-called piece of calligraphy by Young Master Lan from her!” Having said this, Xiao Lan turned to look at Consort Tong beside her, their eyes meeting in a knowing glance.

At this moment, Consort Tong nodded slightly and gave a glance to her maid, Qiuyue. Qiuyue understood and quickly stepped forward to carefully help her mistress up. Consort Tong gently wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, tidied her slightly disheveled hair and skirt, and then slowly spoke to Emperor Yanzhen: "Your Majesty, some time ago, Ye Lanyi suddenly visited my palace. At first, she said she had specially brought local specialties from her hometown as a token of respect. However, she then changed the subject and asked if I was interested in collecting Young Master Lan's calligraphy. I know that Your Majesty has always admired Young Master Lan's talent, so I decided to buy the calligraphy from her for 50,000 taels of silver without hesitation, intending to present it as a surprise to Your Majesty on your birthday. Who would have thought... it would end like this?" At this point, Consort Tong couldn't help but feel sorrowful, and tears rolled down her cheeks like broken beads.

Seeing this, everyone present understood everything. Emperor Yanzhen was even more enraged. His eyes widened, veins bulging on his forehead, and he roared, "Consort Ye, look at the fine niece you've raised! Truly 'outstanding' indeed!" With that, he grabbed the counterfeit calligraphy and mercilessly hurled it at Consort Ye's face. A crisp "smack" rang out as the calligraphy struck Consort Ye's cheek heavily before floating lightly to the ground.

Then, Yan Zhen nodded slightly and gave a wink to the palace maid beside him. The maid understood and quickly stepped forward to carefully help Xiao Lan to her feet. At that moment, Consort Ye and Ye Lanyi, who were on the other side, saw this scene and their expressions changed drastically. Consort Ye knelt down without hesitation and said in a sweet voice, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger! Please forgive my sins! I truly did not know that Lanyi would do such a foolish thing. I beg Your Majesty to consider that Lanyi is still young and ignorant and to punish her leniently." After speaking, Consort Ye hurriedly kowtowed repeatedly, her forehead hitting the ground with a crisp sound. Seeing her aunt like this, Ye Lanyi was terrified and hurriedly followed suit, kowtowing and apologizing as well.