Rescuing the Villainous Boss with a Little Dirty Master

The journey, which originally took more than half a month, was compressed into ten days. Upon arriving at the Eastern Capital, Dongling Yu returned to his princely residence, leaving the Ministry of Rites officials to escort Dongting Lan into the palace themselves.

As the carriage traveled along the road, the people all knew it was Dong Tinglan's carriage, and they spontaneously made way for him, kneeling and bowing by the roadside. If it weren't for the Fifth Prince's willingness to be a hostage, the war back then wouldn't have ended so quickly, sparing them from such a life of displacement.

Through the occasionally swaying carriage curtain, Jiang Heng looked at the scene outside and sighed inwardly, thinking that the common people were indeed the most honest and simple people.

When the carriage arrived at the capital, a group of officials were already lining up to wait. This was probably the first, no, the second time Dong Tinglan had received such treatment in Dongli. The first time was the day he was sent as an envoy to Qilan.

"Your Highness, the King is already waiting."

Jiang Heng and Zhao Yi followed him into the palace. As they walked deeper into the Dongli Palace, Jiang Heng felt a strange sense of familiarity and a slight sense of unease. A sudden ringing in his ears made him stop and shake his head vigorously, trying to get rid of the discomfort.

"what happened?"

"Host, are you alright?"

The sound seemed to come from a distant place. He steadied himself, refocused his gaze, and saw that the group had stopped, with Dong Tinglan looking at him with concern.

"Should I have Zhao Yi take you to rest first?"

Jiang Heng shook her head to indicate that she was fine, and Dong Tinglan had no choice but to continue walking forward.

Walking along the road, Jiang Heng carefully observed his surroundings, but he was certain he had never been here before, and there was no similar place in any of the worlds he had experienced. Why, then, did he feel a connection to this place?

"Host, what's wrong? You scared me to death!" 886 was extremely anxious in the consciousness space. Just a moment ago, it felt that it had lost contact with its host.

Jiang Heng told 886 about her feelings just now, but even with one person and one system, she was completely clueless. In the end, she could only attribute it to a bug that appeared in the closed beta. After this world ends, she will need to submit a report to the main system explaining the situation.

Inside the main hall, Jiang Heng and Zhao Yi were left outside, while only Dong Tinglan and all the officials were summoned in.

"Tinglan, you've worked hard these past four years."

On the dragon throne, King Dongli looked majestic, but it was still clear that he was not in good spirits and was not in good health.

"For the sake of the nation and its people, I do not feel the hardship."

The surrounding officials nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this, thinking that the Fifth Prince was indeed sensible.

Only Dong Jingming stood aside, subtly observing his nominal younger brother, the emperor. Four years ago, this man had seemed weak and timid, but in the past four years, he had become a completely different person. However, he was not someone to be feared.

"Good! The Fifth Prince's residence is ready. Someone will take you there later. Rest for a few days first, and then your father will host a welcome banquet for you."

"Thank you, Father."

Once outside the main hall, Dong Jingming approached Dong Tinglan, looking at him with a gratified expression.

"Fifth brother, you've suffered these past few years. How are you after all this travel?"

"Everything is fine, thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. It's just that Fourth Brother is feeling a little unwell."

Dong Tinglan changed his cold attitude towards Dong Lingyu, and was quite friendly towards Dong Jingming.

"Oh? Is that so? Then I'll have to go see my fourth brother. I'll visit your home another day to catch up."

Having obtained the information he wanted, Dong Jingming casually offered a few perfunctory words before heading off to see Dong Lingyu make a fool of himself.

Meanwhile, at the Fourth Prince's residence, Dongling Yu tried to get up in his carriage, only to find that he had almost no feeling below his knees. He took a deep breath, comforting himself that he had been sitting for too long, and rested in the carriage for a while, massaging his legs, eventually turning into pounding them, but it still had no effect.

He suddenly overturned the small table, the clanging and clattering sound echoing throughout the carriage. The servants outside the carriage looked at each other, wondering what was wrong with their master.

"Bring the sedan chair over and help me down from the carriage."

The attendant, bewildered, complied nonetheless. The carriage curtain was lifted, revealing Dongling Yu's bloodshot eyes. Startled, he lowered his head, unable to look any longer.

"My lord, the sedan chair has arrived."

"Have someone go to the palace to summon the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, and tell him that I am ill from the long journey."

Dongling Yu leaned his full weight on the servant and spoke in a hoarse voice. He wondered if it was just his imagination, but he could hear a slight tremor in his master's voice.

After being carried to the bed, Dongling Yu dismissed the servants and kept Li Lian and a few of his trusted men.

"Has the person who poisoned us been found?"

"We've found it. It does indeed have some connection to the Third Prince's residence."

A gloomy expression crept across Dongling Yu's brow as he lowered his eyes to examine his legs. "Where is that dancer?"

Li Lian glanced at his expression and carefully spoke, "They are from Qilan Palace. I was unable to take them away. But I have verified that there are no problems."

Dongling Yu picked up a teacup and smashed it over someone's head, saying, "If there were no problem, I wouldn't be like this now!"

Li Lian stood still, letting the teacup smash a gash into his forehead, blood trickling down his face. He lowered his eyes to hide the coldness in them.

"Could it be that one from Chunhua Palace?"

Dongling Yu stared at him with his dark eyes. "Are you saying that Dongting Lan poisoned me right under my nose? Does he have that kind of ability?!"

Li Lian fell silent, lowering his head and remaining silent. Fortunately, the physician arrived as well. Dongling Yu appeared calm as the physician examined his legs, his hands at his sides already tightly crumpling the hem of his robe.

"Does Your Highness feel anything?"

The physician inserted several needles into his knee. Even without Dongling Yu's reply, he already knew the other man couldn't feel it. His heart pounded; he was already preparing for the worst.

"Head of the Imperial Academy, just tell me directly whether my leg can be cured."

"It is my incompetence," Headmaster Lin said, taking off the golden needle and kneeling to apologize.

"Get out."

Dongling Yu's voice was calm, but his eyes were a deep, dark black, carrying a dangerous aura that made it impossible for anyone to guess what he was thinking.

Just then, a servant came to report that the Third Prince had arrived. Dongling Yu sneered and looked up at Li Lian, "Cut off the legs of those who poisoned him, throw them in front of Dong Jingming, and tell him to get out."

Dong Jingming got off the carriage and stood outside the Fourth Prince's residence. His face was as amiable as ever, and he didn't care about being stopped outside. His fourth brother had always been arrogant and domineering.

A short while later, the door opened, and he was about to step forward when he was stunned by what he saw.

Several guards carried three bloodied figures, only their upper bodies remaining, out the door and hurled them at him without a word. He retreated quickly, but his clothes and shoes were still stained with splattered blood. His subordinates, who were protecting him, were covered in blood, and a nauseating stench of blood filled the air.

"Outrageous!" Dong Jingming roared. This was simply, utterly outrageous!

"I'm sorry, Third Prince, but this is the master's order, and we have no choice but to obey." With that, she closed the door before Dong Jingming could react. Dong Jingming was left standing there, his chest heaving with anger.

He looked down, suppressing his discomfort, at the bloodied figure still groaning on the ground, then glanced at his guards. "Can you tell who it is?"

The guard crouched down and took a look, then whispered, "Your Highness, it seems to be someone mixed in with the Fourth Prince's entourage."

Dong Jingming's eyes flashed, he kicked the person on the ground hard, and left in a huff. He didn't get to see the joke, but instead got himself into trouble.