The scumbag was secretly having an affair, while I was openly having an affair with the prince.

Chapter 84 Tooth for Tooth

"What's wrong?" Ye Shijun turned to look at her.

"Want to die?" Gu Simo glanced at him irritably, then checked the two side dishes to make sure they were okay. She gave them to him, saying, "You eat this."

"how about you?"

Gu Simo didn't say anything, but just started eating her steamed bun in front of him.

Ye Shijun's expression changed drastically. He pounced on her, trying to snatch the steamed bun and pry the one she had bitten into her mouth. "I think you're the one who wants to die! Spit it out!"

Gu Simo quickly hid the steamed bun behind her back, while shaking her head to prevent him from taking it.

Ye Shijun was in such a hurry that he simply pinned her down, trapping her beneath him, and tried to pry open her mouth like he was prying open a fish's mouth.

Gu Simo couldn't swallow any longer and quickly spat it out, then gritted her teeth and said angrily, "What are you doing? Have you forgotten what happened at the tavern?"

Ye Shijun was suddenly stunned.

That time at the tavern?

“You can’t eat it, but I can. Those things are useless to me,” Gu Simo said again.

Ye Shijun had already remembered, and chuckled dryly, "I was just worried something might happen to you!"

"Get out of the way right now!"

"Uh……"

With a muffled sound of annoyance, Ye Shijun finally noticed their position...

This isn't just ordinary ambiguity!

The next moment, he sat up abruptly, his face flushed, "I...I didn't mean to..."

Gu Simo also sat up, pouted and rolled her eyes at him.

Then she continued to bite into the steamed bun, and while eating, she said to him in a voice only the two of them could hear, "There is poison in this steamed bun, but not much. Even if you eat it every day, it won't take effect in the short term."

It may not flare up in the short term, but who knows what will happen in the long term.

Ye Shijun's handsome face was taut and cold. "What do you think they mean by this? If they want to harm me, why don't they just give me a quick death?"

Gu Simo glanced at him. "Does harming people have to involve taking their lives? We were imprisoned here because of the Crown Prince. If something happens to us here, wouldn't the Crown Prince become a suspect?" She squeezed the steamed bun in her hand. "The poison in here will erode our internal organs if we take it for a long time, causing unbearable pain. I think the Crown Prince and his gang's goal is to make us wish we were dead, and then use the antidote as bait to control us."

Ye Shijun felt a chill run down his spine and a shiver run down his back when he heard this.

From the several groups of spies on the day of Prince Cheng's wedding, to the treasonous items hidden in the gifts by the Gu family, to his being falsely accused of 'arson against the Crown Prince' and imprisoned, everything clearly tells him that the Crown Prince and Consort Lan are very dissatisfied with the marriage between the Ye family and Prince Cheng!

No, it's not dissatisfaction.

It's not that they can't tolerate them!

He was puzzled. Wasn't Consort Lan the mother of Prince Cheng?

With her own son gaining more support in court, shouldn't she, as the mother, be happy for Prince Cheng?

Why would Consort Lan be so anxious for the Crown Prince, even more so than the Crown Prince, about the marriage alliance between Prince Cheng and the Ye family?

"Shi Jun." Gu Simo noticed that he was suddenly lost in thought, and waved her hand in front of his eyes. "What are you thinking about? Hurry up and eat those two side dishes, don't leave them to arouse suspicion."

Ye Shijun snapped out of his daze and reached out to pick up a plate from the ground.

Actually, he had no appetite at all, but after Gu Simo's analysis, since they had guessed the Crown Prince's intentions, they had to play along.

If the Crown Prince finds out they didn't eat these foods, he'll definitely try to find another way to get them.

Gu Simo didn't finish those two steamed buns; she kept half of one hidden on her person.

Not long after, the jailer came to check on them. Seeing that they had finished eating, he looked at them with a strange smile, then picked up the empty plates and left.

Once the jailer left, Gu Simo leaned against the stone wall to rest. "We've 'eaten' those things, so the Crown Prince should be relieved. As long as he's at ease, we're not in any danger."

Ye Shijun moved to her side and patted his own shoulder.

Gu Simo didn't stand on ceremony and casually rested her head on his shoulder.

Ye Shijun lowered his eyes. From his angle, he couldn't see her full face, but he could see her long, thick eyelashes, slightly curled, which were very beautiful.

She was indeed plain-looking; even Madam Gu and Madam Li wanted her to use her beauty to serve men, but no one wanted her. In public, she always appeared humble and low-key, trying her best to minimize her presence.

In private, however, she is lively and energetic, even somewhat sharp-tongued. It's only when she reveals her true nature that people discover she has a pair of very beautiful eyes—bright, expressive, intelligent, and playful…

……

Cheng Wang Mansion.

Wen Yan reported, "Your Highness, Your Highness, before noon today, a maid from the Prime Minister's residence went to the prison, saying she was visiting her relatives."

The Prime Minister's residence is the maternal home of Crown Princess Zhu Huaning. Anyone with a brain knows that it's no good if someone from the Prime Minister's residence goes to jail.

Ye Shishu looked uncertainly at the man in the wheelchair, "Your Highness, are you sure my second sister-in-law can help my second brother get through this ordeal?"

He stopped everyone from going to the prison to protect her second brother, saying that with her sister-in-law there, her second brother would be safe and sound.

But he refused to give a reason, which made her suspicious, yet she had no choice but to believe him.

"Why would I lie to you?" Yu Chi Ling glanced at her.

"..." Ye Shishu remained silent.

As if worried that she would upset him, Yu Chi Ling cleared his throat and said, "We will make sure they come out safely within seven days."

He was always true to his word, so Ye Shishu could only suppress her worries and follow his arrangements.

Meanwhile, at the General's Mansion...

Yu Chi Ling had also informed Ye Gengxin and Ye Shiting, and the father and son felt much more at ease seeing his confident assurance.

Five days passed in the blink of an eye, and the emperor showed no intention of releasing the man, not even mentioning him once, as if nothing had happened.

Just as Ye Gengxin was leading his eldest son into the palace to plead for his second son, Liu Bo, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, came to the Imperial Study to see Yuchi Sheng.

Hearing that he had something extremely important to discuss, Yuchi Sheng asked the father and son to step aside and first summoned Liu Bo to an audience.

"Minister Liu, what brings you in such a hurry to see me?"

Liu Bo, ignoring the fine sweat on his forehead, reported, "Your Majesty, a family was massacred in the east of the city yesterday, and the authorities have promptly apprehended the murderer."

"Such a vicious criminal has been brought to justice, so he should be severely punished according to the law! You're asking to see me for this? Do you expect me to personally go to the Dali Temple to try him?" Yu Chi Sheng said somewhat irritably.

"Your Majesty..." Liu Bo took something out of his sleeve and held it up with both hands, "The constables found this at the crime scene!"

Ye Gengxin and Ye Shiting, who were standing nearby, looked on curiously, but because of the distance and the fact that the object was not very big, they couldn't see clearly what it was for a moment.

But Yu Chisheng stared at the purple object in his hand, then suddenly narrowed his eyes, got up, walked around the table to Liu Bo, and picked up the purple object.

"Qi Sui!"

"Your servant is here," Chief Steward Qi Sui hurriedly stepped forward and responded.

"Summon Consort Lan here!"

"Yes."

The purple object was a piece of purple jade, carved with a lifelike crane. It was the private seal that Yuchi Sheng had commissioned to be carefully crafted for Consort Lan many years ago!

Before long, Consort Lan entered the Imperial Study.

With a stern face, Yu Chi Sheng made Liu Bo repeat what he had said earlier. After Liu Bo finished speaking, he glared at Consort Lan and asked in a cold voice, "Why was your personal seal found at the scene of the murder?"