Chapter 44

◎Xue Lingyu was thrown into a mass grave◎

Jiang Wanyi had long anticipated that something would go wrong, so she personally left the palace and indeed stopped Jiang He at the most crucial moment.

If Jiang He kills the Fifth Prince, no matter how favored he is by the Emperor, not only will Jiang He be doomed and his future ruined, but the Jiang family will also be implicated.

Jiang Wanyi softened her voice and said to Jiang He, who was on the verge of collapse:

"He'er, come to your brother."

The brother and sister had a very good relationship since childhood. Jiang Wanyi always loved his sister very much. If he hadn't been frail and sickly, even as a boy, he could have contributed to the Jiang family, and Jiang He wouldn't have had to work so hard.

Jiang He might not listen to her parents, but she would definitely listen to her older brother, Jiang Wanyi.

Jiang He put down her sword and walked step by step toward Jiang Wanyi, a bitter smile on her face.

The Fifth Prince had narrowly escaped death, and with Jiang Wanyi present, he was completely at a disadvantage. He was so frightened that he didn't dare to breathe loudly and wished he could hide in a corner and curl up.

Jiang Wanyi gently tidied Jiang He's hair behind her ear, looking at her only sister with heartache, and comforted her, "He'er, everything will be alright, you still have your brother. Don't get too agitated, we should ask about things first."

Jiang Wanyi, despite being heavily pregnant, was leaving the palace to resolve this matter for Jiang He.

Seeing her brother's gentle smile and his protruding belly, Jiang He became much more sober.

Jiang Wanyi is pregnant with twins, so it was already inappropriate for her to leave the palace rashly. Now she has to personally deal with the matter of the Fifth Prince. Wouldn't that be exhausting and a huge drain on her health?

Jiang He wanted to refuse, but Jiang Wanyi gave her a reassuring look. Then she nodded to Wu Yueling and said, "Commander Wu, I hope you will do me a favor. If anything happens, I will take full responsibility."

Wu Yueling knew how much the Emperor valued Jiang Wanyi, and since he was Jiang He's brother and an old acquaintance, he held genuine respect for him. He took a few steps back to make way for Jiang Wanyi and said with lowered eyes, "Your subordinate obeys."

Wu Yueling waved to signal the Imperial Guards to put away their swords to avoid accidentally injuring Jiang Wanyi.

Supported by a servant, Jiang Wanyi slowly walked up to the Fifth Prince. She first looked him up and down, then said in a cold voice, "Today you sent your trusted servant with someone out of the palace, but now we only see your trusted servant and not the person. What happened here is something Your Highness knows best."

The person who was taken out was already dead, and it was a double tragedy. The Fifth Prince certainly knew this best, but he wouldn't be foolish enough to say it. He deliberately changed the subject, staring at Jiang Wanyi's belly and smiling, "Since you still have time to leave the palace, why don't you take care of the child in your womb first? If His Majesty knew that you were neglecting the imperial heir in your womb, I wonder if he would still treat you as before."

If it weren't for Emperor Wei protecting him, he would have disliked Jiang Wanyi's unborn child long ago. There are so many men in the harem, and if Emperor Wei hadn't favored Jiang Wanyi for three years, how could there not have been any new children born?

The royal family has no shortage of men who can bear children. The Fifth Prince always felt that Jiang Wanyi was of lowly birth and did not deserve her current status and favor.

Jiang Wanyi met his gaze calmly. The Imperial Guards were surrounding them, and if the Fifth Prince dared to lay a hand on her, he would likely be in grave danger.

"If Your Highness is unwilling to speak, let me speak for you." Jiang Wanyi had already received the news beforehand and could tell at a glance that the Fifth Prince was pretending to be stupid. "You have been hiding Yang Tao in the palace all along. As for why you took her out today, I do not know, but my people found Yang Tao dead in a house, along with her unborn child."

"My physician Yang happens to be out of the palace today on business. Fifth Prince, do you think there's anything suspicious about this?"

Now that he'd been exposed, the Fifth Prince completely tore off his mask, snarling, "Strange? Hahaha, the one who died was just a lowly servant girl. It's just that she was carrying a child from the Jiang family, but who told that child wouldn't have the good fortune to survive?"

The Fifth Prince was unaware that Physician Yang had left the palace. He was too lazy to argue against this fabricated charge, knowing that Yang would inevitably be punished.

The Fifth Prince, undeterred, looked at Jiang He and said something unpleasant to hear: "Jiang He, I didn't lie to you. Xue Lingyu is indeed dead. Look how pathetic you are. Your concubine and your child are all dead. Hahahaha."

Jiang He had never touched Yang Tao, and the child in his belly had nothing to do with her. Now that she was being slandered like this, Jiang He couldn't help but look at the Fifth Prince with a mocking gaze.

She finally understood that the Fifth Prince wanted to use Yang Tao's unborn child as leverage to force her to marry into the Jiang family.

“I haven’t touched Yangtao,” Jiang He said succinctly.

Her patience had almost worn thin, her eyes were bloodshot, and she pressed the Fifth Prince one last time, "Where exactly is Xue Lingyu?"

"Fifth Prince, even if Xue Lingyu is really dead, where is his body now? You should know that if you continue to be so stubborn, you will suffer a lot."

Jiang Wanyi whispered something to the Fifth Prince, and the Fifth Prince's face suddenly turned deathly pale.

While instructing her subordinates, Jiang Wanyi said, "This palace has no shortage of ways to make people wish they were dead. Fifth Prince, you should think this through carefully."

Jiang Wanyi appeared very easygoing, and his tone was gentle, making it impossible to guess what he was saying.

The methods of tormenting people in this palace are incredibly varied and bizarre.

The Fifth Prince still wanted to put on a brave face; he didn't believe Jiang Wanyi would really dare to lay a hand on him.

"Since Your Highness is still unwilling, then let's first have your servant beaten to death so that we can see some bloodshed."

No one expected that the seemingly gentle and weak Jiang Wanyi would be beaten to death with a single word.

"I'll speak! I'll speak for Your Highness!" The servant who followed the Fifth Prince was so frightened that he lost control of his bladder, kneeling on the ground trembling. Looking at Jiang Wanyi, his eyes were filled with terror. "The...the person was thrown into the mass grave..."

The fifth prince wanted to stop it but it was too late; he could only glare angrily at his servant.

Jiang Wanyi's brows furrowed in surprise as she repeated the three words, "mass burial ground..."

Upon hearing this, Jiang He immediately mounted his horse and set off.

Before Jiang Wanyi could even call out to her, she had already disappeared from sight.

Su Yawan nodded to Jiang Wanyi, indicating that he didn't need to worry too much, and then immediately mounted his horse to chase after Jiang He.

With both of them gone, only the Imperial Guards, Jiang Wanyi, and the disheveled Fifth Prince remained at the scene.

The Fifth Prince kept looking in the direction Jiang He had left. At this moment, he seemed to have suddenly realized that Jiang He really liked Xue Lingyu and was willing to do anything for him.

It's a pity that Xue Lingyu is already dead.

The Fifth Prince curled his lips into a smile, as if mocking his own naiveté.

Wu Yueling stepped forward and asked, "My lord, what should we do now?"

As the commander of the Imperial Guards, she wasn't unaware of how to handle the situation; it was just that Jiang Wanyi was the highest-ranking person present, and she was also pregnant with a child, making her extremely noble.

Jiang Wanyi showed no sympathy for the Fifth Prince and coldly ordered, "I trouble Commander Wu to take the Fifth Prince back to the palace and hand him over to His Majesty for disposal."

Jiang Wanyi suddenly lost all strength, and her hands and feet became increasingly cold. She could only lean on her personal attendant and was helped into the carriage to return to the palace.

Su Yawan was a civil official, and his horsemanship was already slightly inferior to Jiang He's. After being left far behind, he barely managed to catch up with Jiang He.

Jiang He cracked the whip forcefully, each strike sending shivers down Su Yawan's spine. The speed was so fast that Su Yawan felt she was about to be thrown off her feet. Su Yawan felt that Jiang He was no longer acting normally.

"Jiang He, calm down!" Su Yawan shouted, but Jiang He remained unmoved.

Her gaze remained fixed ahead, silently urging herself to hurry, even faster, lest she miss Xue Lingyu if she was too late.

But she didn't want to see Xue Lingyu in the mass grave.

The mass grave is filled with nameless corpses who died under mysterious circumstances. The place is filled with an extremely yin energy, and every two days someone comes to dispose of and cremate them.

Jiang He refused to believe that Xue Lingyu was dead; she had to see it with her own eyes to put her mind at ease.

There were no living people in the mass grave. Even from a distance, one could feel the deathly stillness within. Jiang He was both shocked and frightened. She searched anxiously for a long, long time, but could not find even a trace of Xue Lingyu.

Jiang He stayed in the mass grave and refused to leave, but she had already searched through all the corpses. The stench of decay filled the air, and staying there for even a moment longer was torture.

Su Yawan couldn't stand it anymore and tried to persuade him countless times: "Although the Fifth Prince is vicious, I don't think he would dare to do anything to Xue Lingyu in public. Maybe he's lying to you. Xue Lingyu was once a young master from a noble family. Maybe he sensed danger and ran away?"

Jiang He slowly stopped moving, and she suddenly felt that this possibility was very high.

Xue Lingyu didn't like the Fifth Prince either, so how could she obediently let him do as he pleased? Perhaps he had already escaped and was now waiting for her to come find him.

Su Yawan finally pulled Jiang He out of the mass grave and tried his best to comfort her: "Don't worry, with Brother Wanyi here, His Majesty will not let the Fifth Prince off the hook. Just based on his disregard for human life and the fact that he caused Yang Tao's death along with her unborn child, it is enough to refute his title."

Su Yawan believed in Jiang He's character and her affection for Xue Lingyu.

Moreover, the child in Yang Tao's belly is that of his old flame, and many people in the Jiang family can testify that it has nothing to do with Jiang He. The Fifth Prince's attempt to use this to threaten Jiang He into marrying him is simply wishful thinking.

“I will keep sending people to search for Xue Lingyu in the city. You have to trust me and Brother Wanyi.” Su Yawan looked at the bloodshot eyes of Jiang He and could feel her exhaustion. He patted her shoulder and said, “Go back and rest first. I will give you an accurate message tomorrow.”

Jiang He glanced gratefully at Su Yawan, but refused to rest.

If she had woken up earlier and gone out with Xue Lingyu, perhaps today's events wouldn't have happened.

Jiang He was consumed by endless guilt.

Su Yawan knew that this was all the persuasion she could offer, and could only let Jiang He have her way.

After the two left the mass grave, a black figure suddenly emerged from behind a tree. This person was wearing a black cloak, making it impossible to see their face. They walked very carefully, as if afraid of being discovered.

The mass grave was filled with corpses, and the stench was unbearable, but this man seemed unfazed by it. He even sniffed the ground carefully, as if he had made a new discovery and identified his target.

A note from the author:

Dramatic scenes are about to unfold, so please be careful! Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2022-01-27 20:56:06 and 2022-01-28 20:44:06!

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Goodnight my baby 10 bottles; jyxsxlyjh 2 bottles; 57028157 1 bottle;

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!

◎Latest Comments:

Is today's update going to be late again?

[Moonlight shines before my bed, I update my writing on Jinjiang Literature City, and with the help of nutrient solution, my word count doubles!]

[Please update!]

[When Physician Yang found Yu Yu, he discovered upon taking her pulse that she was pregnant.]

[What if Physician Yang is captured and unable to reach Xue Lingyu in time? Will the black-cloaked figure who appeared take Xue Lingyu away?]

[Just passing by?]

Is dog blood a sign of pregnancy?

[The dramatic twist is that the male lead discovers he's pregnant?]

【Here it comes! Here it comes! Here it comes!】

【Dribbling the ball^】

I can accept any relationship as long as there's no second male or female lead between the male and female leads.

-over-