There is a god in the sky

Chapter 348 Palace Change 1

"When did you find out she was in the palace?" Shen Zhiyuan asked without any joy or sorrow.

Shen Lan made him turn his back and changed Lin Miaoniang into a clean dress.

"A few months ago, when she was still a beauty in the harem."

"Is she...doing well in the palace?"

"Perhaps it's all glamorous on the surface."

Even the favored Consort Li, among the concubines in the harem, could hardly be said to have a good life.

Lin Miaoniang was also favored, but that was all superficial; the emperor didn't even flinch at her death.

He could so easily dismiss the death of Consort Li, so why would he care whether Lin Miaoniang was alive or dead?

If the Crown Prince cannot overcome this hurdle, it can only mean that the Emperor wants to depose him, and it is definitely not because he killed Lin Miaoniang.

Shen Lan tidied up Lin Miaoniang and said to her cousin, "You and her stay alone for a while, we'll leave the palace together."

Shen Zhiyuan asked in a low voice, "Does she not like it here?"

"Yes, she wants to go home."

"Okay, I'll take her home!" Shen Zhiyuan bent down to pick up Lin Miaoniang's body, but Shen Lan stopped him.

"Don't say such hurtful things. The journey back home from here is long and you won't make it."

"We'll get there eventually."

Shen Lan brushed Lin Miaoniang's bangs aside and said softly, "She probably wants to see us avenge our great enemy even more. It's a wish she'd give her life for."

Shen Zhiyuan lowered his head and pressed his cheek against Lin Miaoniang's, tears sliding down his cheeks.

"If I could, I would rather be the one who dies, and I would rather you all live well!"

Shen Lan looked up at the roof covered in cobwebs and sighed softly.

Each of them was prepared to die, and they were determined to die, but in this world, life and death were no longer in their own hands.

After all that, Shen Lan's back injury worsened, the effects of the medicine wore off, and every inch of her flesh and bone ached.

She forced herself to say, "Take her out of the palace first, while the Emperor is too busy to attend to anything else. Otherwise, we won't even be able to take her body with us later."

"how about you?"

"Of course I want to see what happens to the perpetrators."

Shen Zhiyuan stared at her with deep, unfathomable eyes.

There were rumors circulating on the street today that someone was beating a drum to appeal for justice, but he didn't take it seriously.

He hadn't expected this when he was summoned to the palace, but now he understood perfectly well that the person who beat the drum to appeal for justice was Shen Lan.

"Do you want to be the next Miao Niang?"

"I won't. I want to live to see Guli Town exonerated, to see our enemies get their just deserts. We all want to go back alive and offer our condolences to our elders and fellow villagers!"

Shen Zhiyuan was persuaded and left the palace with Lin Miaoniang's body.

With someone arranged by Li Ge leading the way, they encountered no obstacles along the way.

Just as Shen Lan said, there are more important things to do in the palace now, and the death of a concubine has not attracted much attention.

That night was destined to be a sleepless one in the palace.

When Shen Lan found Xiao Ji, he was interrogating the servants of Shuyu Palace.

The Emperor had been working intensely all day and had collapsed. He claimed to the public that he had been angered by the Crown Prince.

The Tong family father and son knelt outside the emperor's bedroom.

The entire imperial city was deathly still, shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere, foreshadowing the coming storm.

Li Ge sent someone to invite Shen Lan to Kunning Palace.

When she arrived, she thought Li Ge was taking care of the Empress, but she didn't expect that all the lights in and out of Kunning Palace were off, and she couldn't see a single servant.

When she met Li Ge, he was sitting under the moon drinking.

Shen Lan took a glass of wine and drank it.

The strong liquor burned her throat, bringing tears to her eyes.

"If you can't drink, then don't drink." Li Ge put down his wine glass and took Shen Lan's wine glass away as well.

"Did you kill Consort Li?" Shen Lan asked bluntly.

Li Ge didn't answer, but changed the subject, asking, "Did you consider the possibility of dying before you beat the drum?"

"I had thought about it, but I came fully prepared."

What preparations will allow you to withstand fifty lashes?

Shen Land wore several layers of thick clothes and put a layer of leather padding on her vulnerable areas, but even someone with bones of steel would feel pain when the board hit her.

She is in a lot of pain all over her body right now.

She picked up the wine jug and took a sip of wine; alcohol can numb the nerves to some extent.

"Sigh... I never expected we'd meet like this. You won't talk about Consort Li's matter, but what about the Empress's illness? She must have been poisoned, right?"

"Yes, it's a slow-acting poison that can devour a person's vital energy, making them weaker and weaker until they die silently in their sleep."

"When did you find out that this matter was related to the Crown Prince and the Empress?"

"I discovered this soon after I joined the Empress's side. They sometimes spoke to me without any regard for my privacy. Later, I sent people to investigate, and they were able to guess most of what was going on."

What are the plans for the future?

"I'm going to see the Crown Prince in a bit. You should leave the palace too. The capital is about to descend into complete chaos."

Shen Lan thought he was referring to the deposed crown prince. Since the crown prince's faction held half the power in the court, they certainly wouldn't sit idly by.

The emperor is old and his energy is waning, so it's really hard to say who will win or lose this battle.

"If possible, you should leave Bianjing. Didn't you say you were going to take Miaoniang back to her hometown?"

"how about you?"

"Me?" Li Ge was surprised that she would ask him; he had never considered his future.

He was already a eunuch.

The only fate for eunuchs was to die in the palace.

He laughed and said, "I'll just keep stirring up trouble in this palace."

Shen Lan felt as if she were seeing Li Ge from her childhood.

He was always so confident that he stood out from his peers from a young age, and no one could bully him.

They found the way out of the town together, thinking they would have time to lead the entire town to a secret evacuation, but they were too late.

"I thought you would blame me."

Shen Lan did not speak.

“There are many things you don’t know. I’ve killed many, many people, both good and bad. Half of the evil deeds the Crown Prince has committed were done by me. Are you afraid of me?”

Shen Lan rolled her eyes at him. "I'm not a saint either."

She also has several lives on her hands. Who is kinder than whom?

Li Ge chuckled, feeling much more relaxed. "Do you still remember the post station you visited when you first left Jianzhou City?"

"Those cult members?" That case is still unsolved.

They headed north all the way, without even having time to capture the fugitives.

Shen Lan also remembered the one-eyed old woman who ran away, but she didn't know who was behind her.

Now, hearing Li Ge mention that incident, she casually asked, "Were those the people you arranged?"

"No, I arrested the people you were looking for. After interrogation, I found out they were remnants of the original cult, just with a new leader who was recruiting followers in various places."

"Those gunpowders aren't something ordinary people can get their hands on."

"Yes, I also found some clues by following those gunpowder, but the trail always stopped when it came to the old man of the Tong family."

“Him?” Shen Lan frowned. “He does indeed have many secrets that are hard to fathom.”

"So it was absolutely right of you to target the Tong family this time. If we can take this opportunity to eliminate the Tong family, then no matter how many secrets they have, it won't matter."

"He can't possibly be without a backup plan."

Li Ge nodded. "He is indeed a smart man, but as long as you have a bad teammate, even if you are smart, it doesn't matter."