Cold-faced Empress

The late Crown Prince is dead and has been granted burial in the imperial mausoleum, mainly because he "did not commit any wrongdoing." However, this is not the case for Empress Yuan of Donglai. Fifteen years ago, Empress Yuan was forced to flee after being convicted of poisoning a concubine!

Moreover, the Queen of Donglai was a tough nut to crack; when asked for the antidote to the poison, she only laughed wildly and refused to give it to her even at the cost of her life.

This time, the Empress Dowager personally fed Lady Yuan various poisons, all of which had been found on her body. After mixing them together and administering the mixture, Lady Yuan bled from all seven orifices within moments. She first appeared delirious, then collapsed and convulsed, dying in the blink of an eye.

Even after the man died, the Empress Dowager was still not satisfied and ordered the Emperor to desecrate the body outside the imperial mausoleum, leaving it to be devoured by wild animals.

An unexpected stroke of good fortune was that soon after, an envoy from Donglai visited them. Upon hearing that the Queen of Donglai had been executed by Daechang, Donglai immediately elected a new emperor and sent a letter of state to establish friendly relations with Daechang.

The letter stated that the Queen of Donglai was proficient in the art of Gu poison, causing chaos and constant strife within the Donglai royal family. The new emperor of Donglai had already decreed the destruction of all Gu poison, Gu-making equipment, and secret techniques in Donglai, leaving only the antidote, and had even sent a copy to the Daechang royal family.

Upon receiving the "Collection of Formulas for Curing Gu," the Emperor naturally entrusted it to Master Guo Xian for thorough study. After reviewing the "Collection of Formulas for Curing Gu," Master Guo Xian was full of confidence, stating that he would develop a method to cure the Cold Gu in Mo Canglan's body and the Flame Gu in Fu Siying's body within two years!

Fu Siying was very happy.

In Shun'an Palace, the Empress Dowager nagged at Fu Siying, who had come to pay her respects, for a long time, but could only end with the words "this poisonous woman" in resentment, and could not say anything more.

"The person is dead, don't be angry. Cang Lan will survive anyway, we don't need to beg her, let her be smug."

Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager nodded and then hugged her tightly with heartache: "It's just that I've dragged you into this, silly girl. You were able to take the Flame Gu and be willing to be mutually restraining with Lan'er. Lan'er is truly fortunate to have you!"

Fu Siying smiled and said, "It is my great fortune."

The Empress Dowager calmed down and clapped her hands: "Hurry up and get married, I can't wait! The Imperial Observatory has already chosen a date, and the palace has long been preparing wedding supplies under the guise of a marriage alliance with Northern Xia. I hope you will get married soon."

Fu Siying nodded shyly, without saying a word.

"But we can't have a child right away!" Suddenly, the Empress Dowager said seriously, "We can't be impatient. We must wait until the poison in both of your bodies is cleared before having a child! Otherwise, if we pass it on to the child, wouldn't we be passing on the calamity to the next generation?"

"Don't worry, we won't take it..." Fu Siying's cheeks flushed, and she quickly reassured the Empress Dowager to stop her.

"By the way, His Majesty and I have discussed your father's background. The fact that your father voluntarily resigned from his post is enough to show his loyalty to Dachang. His Majesty and I still trust your father and are willing to let him continue to serve as the prime minister of Dachang to bring benefits to the people of Dachang."

Upon hearing this, Fu Siying could see the Empress Dowager's sincerity, but she did not readily express her opinion: "Empress Dowager, I am grateful for your and the Emperor's trust and favor, but my father is unable to overcome his own conscience. He wants to serve as an official with an honest and upright character, and does not want to be suspected or speculated about because of his background, which is completely different from his background as an adopted son of the Fu family. Therefore, you and the Emperor should allow him to consider this matter carefully."

"Alas, your father was just too upright."

Although it is uncertain whether Prime Minister Fu will continue to serve as prime minister, and there is ongoing debate about this both inside and outside the court, the marriage between Fu Siying and Prince Mu is a done deal.

The Emperor and Empress Dowager both issued decrees, ordering everyone inside and outside the palace to hurry up and prepare for Prince Mu's marriage.

Just then, a down-on-his-luck beggar struck the grievance drum in the government office, accusing the prime minister of colluding with the outer court and betraying the country, and frantically claiming that the evidence was in the prime minister's residence.

The beggar made a huge fuss, attracting a large crowd of onlookers. He was quickly recognized as having stayed outside the Prime Minister's residence for some time.

Unable to make a decision, the prefect immediately rushed to the palace to report to the emperor. Prime Minister Fu was right beside the emperor, and upon hearing the matter, he immediately knelt down and requested an imperial decree to search his residence to prove his innocence.

When the soldiers brought the beggar to the Prime Minister's residence, Fu Siying immediately recognized him as Da Lin, who had been missing for a long time. She thought Da Lin had long since frozen to death in the freezing cold.

Dalin was covered in frostbite and looked pitiful, but he was screaming wildly, "Search! Search quickly! Search this traitor's study! There must be evidence, there must be!"

Fu Siying was completely bewildered. Just because her father had recognized the Xi family as relatives, did that mean he was guilty of treason? They had only just recognized each other as relatives, how could he be guilty of treason?

She was about to step forward to refute him, but Mo Canglan pulled her back and whispered, "He's gone mad."

After saying that, the commander ordered his soldiers: "Search."

Da Lin staggered and leaped forward, leading the way straight to Prime Minister Fu's study. Despite having his eyes gouged out, leaving only two black holes, he seemed to see perfectly well, demonstrating his profound knowledge of the Prime Minister's residence.

This greatly alarmed Fu Siying, who was following behind. She thought to herself that during the time she stayed outside the Prime Minister's residence, the family had been careless and this person had sneaked into the residence countless times!

She followed him nervously, asking in surprise and doubt, "You know he's crazy, yet you still listen to his ramblings?"

Mo Canglan returned her a reassuring look: "It's something else."

What else?

What else could it be?

Following Da Lin's directions, the soldiers searched Prime Minister Fu's study thoroughly and found a cloth bag in a hidden corner. Upon opening it, they discovered it was full of letters and official documents. Da Lin had just let out a hoarse laugh when he was suddenly pinned down by the soldiers and tied up tightly.

Mo Canglan stepped forward, casually picked up a calligraphy brush from the table beside him, and used the end of the brush to brush away the messy hair on Da Lin's face, revealing his horrifyingly damaged and disfigured face once again.

With no eyes, a face completely burned, and not even a mouth, its appearance, comparable to a vengeful ghost, immediately terrified the soldiers.

Mo Canglan took the official documents and letters containing evidence of treason and collusion with the enemy, looked at them, and then looked at Da Lin, saying calmly, "Chu Ziqi, it really is you."

"Chu Ziqi?"

Fu Siying was startled. She couldn't bear to look directly at him, but then she stared in astonishment at Da Lin's face. This face bore no resemblance to Chu Ziqi whatsoever!

"How could he..."

"When Hua Rao heard that he had poisoned you, she wanted to use him to harm you. He died in the private prison of the Prince's Mansion, but in reality, Hua Rao tricked him into faking his death and taking him away. Therefore, the fact that you met him in Kaifeng City was all a trap set by Hua Rao."

Looking at Dalin, who was listening to all this but remained unresponsive and was still muttering words of treason and incriminating evidence, Fu Siying knew that he had clearly gone mad.

Mo Canglan continued, "After Hua Rao escaped, he had no one to rely on, so he could only follow you back to the capital and wait for an opportunity to hide the evidence of his father, Marquis Ping'an's, treason in your father's study. He was already gradually losing his mind, and after he went completely insane, he thought that Marquis Ping'an was framed by your father, so he could testify against your father."

Fu Siying took the evidence from his hand and glanced at it. She saw that they were all letters with dates and signatures, which could only prove that they were evidence of the Marquis of Ping'an's crimes and had nothing to do with her father.

"Is this the evidence you've been trying to obtain by relentlessly hunting him down and interrogating him?"

Mo Canglan nodded: "Although the entire Ping'an Marquis family has been executed, the evidence clearly shows who else is involved. Chu Ziqi has been carrying this evidence, trying to either seek refuge with or threaten those involved."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Da Lin, who had been muttering to himself, suddenly looked up to the sky and shouted, "My father did not betray the country! It was the prime minister who betrayed the country! My father is innocent! My father is innocent!"

"He's really a young master who's been well protected at home."

As Da Lin was taken away, Fu Siying murmured, "What will his fate be?"

Mo Canglan showed no pity: "The Marquis of Ping'an has already had his entire family executed. He was a man who should have died long ago."

Because of the commotion caused by Chu Ziqi's madness, Prime Minister Fu was quite alarmed, which further strengthened his resolve to resign.

The Emperor knew that he had made up his mind, so he did not try to persuade him further. He only suggested that he wait until Fu Siying and Prince Mu were married before resigning from his post.

The Prince Mu's Mansion and the Prime Minister's Mansion were both busy preparing for the wedding, and the people of the entire capital were also making preparations, as if every family was getting married. Red silk was hung everywhere, "double happiness" characters were pasted up, and red lanterns were everywhere. As night fell, the whole city was bathed in red light, extremely extravagant.

Jinxianglou even replaced all the plates, bowls, and chopsticks with auspicious tableware, and a sign at the entrance read: "Our restaurant intends to prepare a generous gift to congratulate Prince Mu. As long as you dine in the restaurant, it will be considered as your gift to Prince Mu and Miss Fu!"

Good heavens, once this sign was put up, business was booming like crazy. The line of customers waiting to eat and pay could stretch from the entrance of Jinxianglou all the way to the city gate.

Not far away, the Mingmen Tea House naturally couldn't admit defeat. After consulting with Fu Siying, Hu Fei also put up a signboard that simply read: "The owner of this shop is Miss Fu."

Immediately, Jinxianglou's business was halved by Mingmen Teahouse.

Upon learning of the outcome, Fu Siying sneered, "That shameless Mo Canglan, trying to make money off the wedding? Humph, I'll make money off him too!"

Hearing this, the maid Qingyin was speechless: Yes, you and Prince Mu are shameless together, and the whole imperial city's purse strings will be emptied by you two.

Shameless!

Madam Cao, who had always lived in Jinxiang Tower, looked at the joyous atmosphere filling the entire building, and with a sense of helplessness and guilt, turned to look at her eldest son. Bai Qingyu remained silent, looking dejected, lost in thought.

"Qingyu, if you really can't let go, I'll write a letter and send it back to your father so he can send someone to us to kidnap you!"

Bai Qingyu snapped out of her daze, turned to look at her birth mother, and gave a bitter smile: "What are you talking about? How could I possibly steal a bride?"

"Because you like her," Madam Cao patted her eldest son's shoulder. "Siying is indeed a good girl, and I like her very much too. Moreover, I can see that Madam Fu likes you as well. Qingyu, if you don't try to steal her away, you'll never let her go for the rest of your life!"

Bai Qingyu chuckled at Madam Cao's advice, nodded and lowered her eyes: "Mother, if this marriage were forced upon me by Prince Mu, I would risk my life to try. It's just a pity that the two of them are in love and it has nothing to do with me."

Seeing her son's increasingly gloomy expression, Madam Cao felt heartbroken and hugged him tightly, saying, "You will find your true love!"

Bai Qingyu lowered her gaze to her mother's shoulder and remained silent.

……

The day before the wedding, Fu Siying was pulled into the house by her mother, who handed her a picture book. Her mother's instructions were simple: "Just look at it by yourself tonight."

Fu Siying flipped through the picture book, glanced at her mother who looked uneasy, chuckled, and asked innocently, "Why do I have to look at this alone? There are two people in this painting. Don't I need to look at it with Prince Mu?"

Immediately, Li straightened her face and glared at her: "You brat, look at me however you want!"

He patted her on the shoulder and walked away with a serious and dignified air.

As soon as she stepped outside, she heard a voice from inside asking, "Mother, this picture album is old. Is it a family heirloom? Why didn't you pass it on to Yunzhi? Is it because the palace doesn't need it? Oh, the Prince Mu's mansion certainly doesn't need it either. Why don't you keep it for yourself? Or perhaps you and Father have many, and don't need this one?"

Li trembled, and in shame and anger, she roared and scolded her, displaying the demeanor of a tigress: "Shut up, you shameless brat!"

After Li left, Sun Dan, who had been waiting outside, went inside and asked, "Did Madam give you the family heirloom?"

In response, Fu Siying laughed slyly: "Hehehehe, it was passed on to me and Prince Mu together."