What?

Prince Gao Li was assassinated?

Upon hearing this news, Yuwen Lan jolted awake from his sleep, immediately threw off his covers, and walked several steps to the outer chamber, saying, "What happened? Come in and explain!"

Fu Hai hurriedly pushed open the door and entered with an anxious expression, "Your Majesty, the Commander from the embassy just reported that there was a bloody incident at the embassy tonight. The night guards first heard screams, and after investigation, they found Prince Gao Li stabbed in the abdomen, blood everywhere..."

Stabbed in the abdomen?

Yuwen Lan urgently asked, "How is he now?"

Fu Hai quickly replied, "The embassy physician is treating him, but he's lost a lot of blood. I'm afraid the outlook isn't good..."

More likely to die than live?

Yuwen Lan's brows furrowed immediately.

...

Meanwhile, on the bed in the inner chamber, Yanshu was still drowsy. She had originally turned over intending to continue sleeping when she heard the system chime, [Hey, Prince Gao Li got stabbed, want to hear this juicy gossip?]

What? Prince Gao Li got stabbed?

She became fully awake and immediately opened her eyes wide, saying, [Yes, yes, yes! Quick, tell me what happened!]

Could it be that the Gao Li Princess, seeing she couldn't get rid of the maid, decided to take direct action and stab her husband?

But the system said, [No way, unless the Gao Li Princess had a death wish. Besides, none of her people are that loyal. Who would dare stab a crown prince for her? If they accidentally killed him, she'd end up a widow.]

That made sense, but Yanshu was confused, [Then who stabbed him? Surely not real assassins!]

The system replied, [It was those two "ladyboys" from East Wa, not assassins.]

What?

The ladyboys did it?

Yanshu was completely stunned, [Why would the ladyboys stab this perverted Gao Li? How did they even end up together???]

System: [...you already called him a pervert, do you really need to ask?]

Yanshu paused, pondering, [Could it be that the pervert took a liking to those two ladyboys, and since East Wa was looking to cause trouble, they stabbed him?]

System: [That's exactly what happened. Li Taichu had his eye on those two ladyboys since they first appeared two nights ago. Since the Emperor didn't want them, he sent people to make contact these past couple of days, and tonight he called them to his room when no one was around. But before anything could happen, he discovered something wasn't right about those two, and it scared him so badly he started screaming. Then the ladyboys took the opportunity to stab him. Fortunately, the embassy guards reacted quickly when they heard the screams and rushed over immediately, otherwise he would have been stabbed to death by those two.]

Yanshu: [....]

What, that pervert was scared enough to scream?

Tsk, that's quite the mental image.

Goodness, this must have been the first time Prince Gao Li encountered something like this - the psychological impact probably won't be easy to get over.

Thank goodness it wasn't her little Emperor, close call.

After such reflections, she asked the system, [Then what happened?]

System: [Well, now we have the current situation. Those two ladyboys were skilled fighters and quickly escaped when they heard the guards coming. Right now the embassy guards haven't discovered the truth and think it was outside assassins.]

Yanshu drew in a sharp breath, thinking this wasn't good at all - he was still a prince after all, and if he died in Da Liang, wouldn't that cause huge problems?

So she asked the system again, [How is Li Taichu's condition now?]

System: [He's lost a lot of blood, they need to hurry. If it's much later, he might not make it.]

Yanshu was startled and quickly got out of bed, rushing to the outer chamber to say to Yuwen Lan, "Your Majesty, Prince Gao Li absolutely cannot die. To be safe, we should send Doctor Jiang to examine him!"

As it turned out, they had thought alike, and Yuwen Lan said, "I've already sent someone to call him."

Yanshu breathed a sigh of relief, but then saw him finish speaking and start walking toward the inner chamber, hurriedly telling her, "This matter is extremely serious. I need to go to Qianming Palace."

Yanshu quickly followed, lowering her voice to say, "I've already found out what happened - it wasn't outside assassins who did it."

Yuwen Lan paused and looked at her, "What happened?"

Yanshu coughed and lowered her voice again, "Actually, it was those two ladyboys from East Wa who did it. This Prince Gao Li is a lecher who had already taken advantage of their own women, and as soon as he saw these two ladyboys, he immediately had impure thoughts. Tonight he secretly called them to his room, and since the two ladyboys wanted to cause trouble for Da Liang anyway, they took the opportunity to stab him!"

Yuwen Lan frowned, "So that's what happened?"

She nodded, "It's definitely true. Otherwise, with so many guards at the embassy, how could outside assassins easily get in? And how would they immediately find the most prestigious Prince Gao Li?"

Yuwen Lan nodded, thinking that since she said so, it must be true.

But then he saw her grin mischievously and say, "I heard Prince Gao Li was so scared by the ladyboys that he screamed his head off. He probably has psychological trauma now, hehe..."

Yuwen Lan: "..."

At a time like this, how could she still be thinking about such things?

He looked at her helplessly, "Stop thinking about such nonsense. I still need to go to Qianming Palace. It's still early, you should get some more sleep."

She nodded but asked curiously, "How does Your Majesty plan to handle this matter?"

After all, directly arresting the two ladyboys didn't seem appropriate - they would probably still need to investigate and go through the proper procedures.

Yuwen Lan said, "The urgent matter is to first save Prince Gao Li's life. As for the real culprits, since they're not outside assassins, it will be easier to handle. As long as we don't let the East Wa people escape, we can have the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Punishment investigate."

Although his beloved consort had such special abilities, the court officials still needed their training - otherwise, what was the point of keeping them?

Hearing him say this, Yanshu nodded and helped him dress before seeing him out, then returned to bed to sleep.

Get enough rest, and continue enjoying the drama tomorrow.

Several hours later, Yuwen Lan was waiting in the imperial study when the Junior Minister of Justice, Minister of Court Ceremonial, and Commander of the Imperial Guard arrived.

What he cared most about at the moment was naturally Li Taichu's life or death, so he first asked them, "How is Prince Gao Li now?"

The Minister of Court Ceremonial quickly replied, "Your Majesty, after Doctor Jiang arrived last night, he immediately treated the Prince. Currently, the Prince's bleeding has stopped, but his body is still very weak. Doctor Jiang has remained at the embassy, not leaving his side."

Seeing that he hadn't died, Yuwen Lan relaxed slightly and then asked the Minister of Justice, "How is the investigation going?"

The Minister of Justice hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, after examining the embassy inside and out, including the doors and windows of the room where the incident occurred, we suspect the assassin did not enter from outside but was likely already inside the embassy. We will need to conduct a thorough search within the embassy."

Yuwen Lan made a sound of acknowledgment and said, "Then conduct the search."

However, after he spoke, the Commander wore a troubled expression and said, "Your Majesty may not know, but since last night when we tried to search the embassy, we've met with much resistance. Except for Nanzhao King Mu who actively cooperated, the people from East Wa, Dangxia, and even Gao Li's own people refuse to let us search their rooms. Especially the Gao Li Princess - since last night she has insisted that it was the court's security failure that led to her husband's injury, and she won't even let us question Prince Gao Li's attendants, showing extreme resistance."

Hearing this, Yuwen Lan frowned.

According to what Yanshu said last night, Prince Gao Li's close attendants must have known about him seeking out the East Wa ladyboys. Was the Gao Li Princess obstructing them like this to cover up her husband's shame?

But she was still an honored guest, and a woman at that - it wouldn't be appropriate for the guards to force their way in...

While he was pondering this, a palace servant announced from outside, "Your Majesty, Consort Yi requests an audience."

Hmm? Why has she come?

Yuwen Lan gathered his thoughts and said, "Enter."

Soon, Yanshu appeared before him, and after paying her respects said, "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager heard about last night's incident at the embassy and is very concerned. She has specially sent me to console the Gao Li Princess."

Yuwen Lan raised an eyebrow, "The Empress Dowager sent you to console the Gao Li Princess?"

Yanshu quickly confirmed, "After all, with her husband in such a state, it's understandable that the Princess would be anxious and upset, perhaps not thinking clearly. Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will do my best to reason with her and persuade her emotionally, to help her come to her senses and cooperate with the court's investigation."

In her heart, she thought anxiously, [Hurry up and agree! I have leverage over that Princess, I can definitely make her behave!]

Upon hearing this, the General and others quickly said, "Your Majesty, this is a good idea. Perhaps with Consort Yi's persuasion, the Gao Li Princess will come to her senses sooner, allowing us to catch the culprit quickly."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Seeing this situation, Yuwen Lan had no choice but to say to Yanshu, "Then I shall go with you. You're with child, so you must be careful."

Yanshu quickly agreed.

Yuwen Lan ordered the preparation of carriages, and soon they were sitting in a carriage together, leaving the palace gates and heading straight for the Envoys' Residence.

The Envoys' Residence was also an important government location, not far from the imperial palace, and they arrived shortly.

Yanshu descended from the carriage with Yuwen Lan and looked up to see the residence heavily guarded inside and out, so tight that not even a fly could get through.

As they entered the residence, following the announcement of their arrival, everyone inside came out of their rooms to greet them with proper courtesies.

Yuwen Lan first greeted Nanzhao King Mu Zhengping, "Did King Mu rest well last night?"

Mu Zhengping nodded, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. All is well with me."

Just as he finished speaking, someone nearby complained dissatisfied, "Now we've truly seen it - the Gao Li Prince was severely injured for no reason, and instead of catching the assassin, you want to search our rooms? Is this how the Emperor treats his guests?"

Yanshu looked over and saw the speaker was a tall, thin man whom she vaguely remembered as being the envoy from Dangxia.

Following this person's remarks, the envoys from Tibet, Rouran, and other countries also began to chime in.

"Indeed, it was clearly due to your Great Liang's guards' negligence, so why investigate us? Are you suggesting we were the ones who injured the Gao Li Prince?"

"Exactly! We demand an explanation from Your Majesty!"

Even the Eastern Japanese envoy joined in the clamor, and quite loudly at that.

Yanshu watched all this, inwardly sneering.

Hmph, not bad acting - just wait until we expose your true colors for everyone to see.

Yuwen Lan: "..."

Of course, he didn't need to speak at this moment, as the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial immediately stepped forward and said, "Please remain calm, honored envoys. His Majesty is deeply concerned about last night's events, and his personal visit today is to express his concern for all of you."

After these words, Yuwen Lan ignored everyone else and looked toward Doctor Jiang, who had come to pay his respects, asking, "How is the Gao Li Prince now?"

Doctor Jiang replied, "Your Majesty, the Gao Li Prince has regained consciousness, and his condition has stabilized for now, though he will need some days of rest to recover."

Yuwen Lan nodded, "I shall see him."

Everyone agreed, and the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial personally led the way, guiding them to the courtyard where the Gao Li Prince was staying.

They arrived after a few steps.

Yanshu saw the Gao Li Princess keeping watch by the bedside, while Li Taichu lay on the bed, indeed with his eyes open but looking very pale, muttering something in the Gao Li language, appearing quite frightened.

Yuwen Lan looked to the translator beside him, who quickly reported, "Your Majesty, the Gao Li Prince is saying words like 'monster' and 'demon.'"

Aliali: 67277ace7a33ae862b4e70d7

Monsters and demons?

Yuwen Lan secretly raised an eyebrow - it seems he was truly frightened by that Japanese "human demon"?

He unconsciously glanced at Yanshu again, only to hear her thinking, [Oh my, this pervert might end up impotent after this, tsk!]

Yuwen Lan: "..."

He really didn't want to hear that word.

He thus instructed the translator, "Tell the Gao Li Princess that I am very concerned about what happened. The doctor just said the Prince is out of danger and only needs some days of rest to recover. The urgent matter now is to request the Princess's full cooperation so we can catch the culprit as soon as possible."

The translator agreed and repeated everything in the Gao Li language to the Princess.

However, after hearing this, the Princess responded emotionally, "It was Great Liang's fault that my husband was injured! Why are you investigating us? Great Liang has been such a disappointment!"

It seemed she was still unwilling to cooperate.

Yuwen Lan's brow furrowed, and he was about to speak again. But then Yanshu stepped forward and said to the Princess, "Enough, your husband is now frightened out of his wits, so no matter how much you act, he can't see it. Our Great Liang and Gao Li have always been friendly nations. If this incident damages our relationship and allows others to take advantage, it won't benefit you either. I know you've wanted to get revenge on your husband because of his philandering ways, which is why you sent those two maids to our Emperor. If you continue to obstruct our investigation like this, we'll have reason to suspect that you're the one who harmed your husband!"