Chapter 17: The Prime Minister Has Gone Insane

“How unbridled could a paper tiger be? You said that female corpses are occasionally appearing in the palace? What do you mean?” Yao Mowan wasn’t surprised by the fact that Yao Suluan had regained imperial favor.

“This servant is also secretly investigating this matter. Those palace maids either died from all seven apertures of their head bleeding or their face were filled with bruises. It’s an extremely gruesome sight. Originally this servant was suspecting that it was An Bingshan’s doing, but this is very different from An Bingshan’s past methods. In addition, An Bingshan has been in the pill refining room this entire time and rarely comes out, so… This servant has a bold guess. It’s very likely that these palace maids ended up like this because they had been used to test the medicine,” reported Liu Xing solemnly.

“Humph. Ye Hongyi in his desire for eternal life has caused so many innocent people to die young. He wouldn’t be able to make up for the crimes he’s committed even if he dies a thousand times!” said Yao Mowan coldly as her eyes gradually chilled. She was gripping the edge of her seat so hard, her knuckles were white.

Right at this time, Ting Yue jogged in from outside.

“Reporting, Your Highness, news has come from the imperial prison that the prime minister has become severely ill and is making a ruckus demanding to see a doctor! The jailers didn’t dare to make the decision on their own so they reported this to His Majesty and His Majesty seemed to have sent Imperial Physician Li to the prison.” Ting Yue reported all the information that she had gathered.

“What could possibly treat a blackened heart? This consort is a little tired. You guys can withdraw.” Yao Mowan wearily had Liu Xing and Ting Yue withdraw as she got up to head to her bedroom.

Past midnight, the night was dark and the wind was heavy. Black clouds covered the sky. Two figures flashed through the sky, then instantly vanished.

“Hey, did you see something just now?” The first jailer swallowed hard and looked towards the roof timidly.

“I did!” replied the second jailer.

“Then what are you still standing there for? Hurry and sound the gong!” Just as the first jailer was about to lift the hammer, the second jailer stopped him while jeering.

“What’s there to worry about? Isn’t it just a couple of wandering ghosts? In this imperial prison, there’s not much of most things, but there are plenty of lingering ghosts, so stop panicking over every little thing!” When the first jailer heard what the second jailer said, he couldn’t help but wipe at his cold sweat.

Yao Mowan could not describe her feelings as she looked past the iron bars at the almost unrecognizable man with messy hair and a dirt-covered face who was crouched on the ground drinking medicinal soup.

“Father, now that you’ve fallen to this point, do you feel any regret?” Yao Mowan looked at Yao Zhenting, her gaze expressionless. No emotions could be heard in her voice. It might have been due to Kubu Zheer’s influence because her heart was wavering slightly.

“Moli? Moli, you wretch! You actually dare to appear again in front of me!? I’ll beat you to death! I’ll kill you!” The instant Yao Zhenting heard that voice, he abruptly lifted his head and glowered at Yao Mowan. Yao Mowan saw that there were around seven fist-sized pustules on Yao Zhenting’s face and more all over his body.

“How did Moli wrong you, for you to want to kill Moli so much?” Yao Mowan’s heart turned completely cold as she looked over with a frosty expression in her eyes.

“Medicine… I need to eat medicine… Damn you, Moli! If you hadn’t given birth to those two wretches, how could I have fallen to this point? I’ll kill you and those two bastard children of yours! I can’t die… I can’t die…” Yao Zhenting crawled over on all fours like a dog and used his tongue to lick the medicine that had spilled onto the ground as he muttered incoherent words.

“Master, he’s probably been bitten by a rat. He’s completely delirious,” said Yin Xue in a low tone.

“Dou Xianglan… Why are you here? Are you looking for Lou Yuxin? Hahaha! You’re too late! I’ve already killed that gigolo… He sure died tragically! You can give up on ever finding him again!” Yao Zhenting looked towards Yao Mowan with a sinister smile.

“This is medicine. If you eat it, all of your wishes will be granted.” Yao Mowan took out a green porcelain vial from her sleeve and expressionlessly tossed it through the bars.

“Medicine… My medicine! I have to live! I still want to be prime minister, I still have to give birth to a son!” Yao Zhenting scrambled to pick up the medicine Yao Mowan tossed inside and shakily opened the lid to pour all its contents into his mouth.

“Master…” Yin Xue looked towards Yao Mowan worriedly.

“This consort is still not ruthless enough. Let’s go…” Yao Mowan glanced back one last time at Yao Zhenting, who had gone insane. In this lifetime, she had never made an unreasonable request as to have a father like Kubu Dan, but she also never imagined that she would have a father like Yao Zhenting.

The news of Yao Zhenting’s sudden death only spread from the imperial prison the next day. The prime minister of the court had actually died that tragically, without even a coffin. He had just been wrapped up with a grass mat and tossed into Disorder Burial Mound.

Inside the imperial garden, Yao Mowan was sitting in the pavilion while holding Fluffy. She was leaning against the railing, feeling inexplicable stifled.

“Ting Yue said that you didn’t eat breakfast, so this is for you.” Yao Mowan smiled faintly upon seeing the flaky pastry offered to her.

“Since when did Prince learn to care about Mowan?” Yao Mowan took the pastry as she lifted her eyebrows and looked towards Ye Junqing.

“This prince has always cared about you, it’s just that…” Before Ye Junqing could finish his words, Fluffy suddenly jumped out of Yao Mowan’s arms. Yao Mowan was caught unprepared so Fluffy ended up scratching the back of her hand.

“Tsk tsk, dear sister, why are you so careless? You’ve ended up causing the esteemed prince so much heartache!” At this time, Yao Suluan was walking over, her face glowing, while holding the leash of a fierce-looking dog.

“Mowan, are you alright?” Ye Junqing’s brows furrowed when he saw the scratch on the back of Yao Mowan’s hand, then he glared at Yao Suluan.

“You did this on purpose!” said Ye Junqing angrily.

“That’s right. This consort did do it on purpose, but this consort had done it for your sakes. It’s broad daylight, yet you guys aren’t showing any restraint and are actually boldly having a lovers’ rendezvous in the imperial garden. You’re lucky it was this consort that saw. If it had been His Majesty passing by, would you guys still have a chance to live?” As Yao Suluan walked forward arrogantly, the dog next to her had already started charging towards Yao Mowan.

Whimper…

The dog that Ye Junqing had kicked flying struggled for a few moments, then fell still. Yao Suluan was furious.

“Ye Junqing, you sure have a lot of guts! You actually dared to kill this consort’s pet dog!” shouted Yao Suluan indignantly.

“This prince not only dares to kill that animal, this prince also dares to kill you!” Whenever Ye Junqing recalled how Yao Moxin died, he would feel the urge to just snap Yao Suluan’s neck.

“Prince, calm down. All karma comes around, it’s just a matter of time. Mowan still has something to say to Second Older Sister so Mowan will have to trouble you to return first.” Yao Mowan glanced over at Ye Junqing meaningfully. Although Ye Junqing was furious, he knew that Yao Mowan wouldn’t let Yao Suluan off easily so he turned and left.

Yao Suluan only dared to move once Ye Junqing had walked far away. Ye Junqing’s cold-blooded murderous glare from just now had honestly frightened her.

“Since Second Older Sister knows to be scared, you should just behave and stay in Pure Flowers Palace. Esteemed Prince’s temper is nowhere as good as Yao Mowan’s.” Yao Mowan used a handkerchief to wipe the scratch on the back of her hand as she said this lightly.

“Humph! Yao Mowan, you never expected this, right? Not only did this consort not die, this consort even managed to be promoted to noble consort again! How is it? Do you feel very disappointed?” Yao Suluan walked towards Yao Mowan like she was seeking death as she said this in an arrogant tone.

“Rather than keeping you restrained in Pure Flowers Palace and allowing this pointless deadlock to continue, he’s chosen to temporarily win you over and keep you as a trusted aid. It had been within Mowan’s predictions that Ye Hongyi would come up with this plan, but Second Older Sister couldn’t have been stupid enough to think that Ye Hongyi is sincere in favoring you again, right?” Yao Mowan looked towards Yao Suluan with mockery in her eyes.

“Why wouldn’t he be sincere? His Majesty and this consort are now ants on the same boat. His Majesty has no other choice!” Yao Suluan refuted Yao Mowan’s words confidently. At that time, she had spent so much effort to make Ye Hongyi finally understand this.

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