Upon hearing this, Hua Jing looked up at the Emperor with terror and shook her head repeatedly. She kept saying, "Don't come near me! Don't touch me!" While speaking, she moved to a corner of the bed and curled up.
On seeing this, Yun Shang frowned. If she couldn't see that Hua Jing was pretending madness, she would be a fool. Yun Shang hesitated for a moment but said nothing. She just fixed her eyes upon Hua Jing's countenance.
"Talk!" The Emperor roared at Hua Jing in anger. Hua Jing who was sitting huddled in the corner trembled all over and stared at the Emperor with tears in her eyes. She seemed to be shocked.
The Emperor snorted and said coldly, "Since you are reluctant to name the father of your baby, I won't let you stay in the Imperial Palace. You will be relegated to a civilian and be exiled to the frontier as labor."
Yun Shang perceived a strong resentment in Hua Jing's eyes when the Emperor uttered those words. Yun Shang smiled grimly as she was now sure that Hua Jing was pretending madness. What an ingenious idea. Yun Shang lifted her eyes and said, "Father, there is something wrong with my sister. Why not call for an imperial physician to check her?"
At the mention of imperial physician, Hua Jing was thrown into consternation. She shouted, "Don't touch me! Don't touch me!"
The Emperor frowned and snorted, "Call for an imperial physician right now!"
The eunuch standing by nodded and retreated. As they waited for the imperial physician, an imperial bodyguard entered and reported, "Your Majesty, Your Highnesses, the physician has checked Prince Jing's horse. I have also sent someone to check the food eaten by the horse. We have found something unusual…"
"Tell me!" On hearing this, the Emperor turned around and asked, "What?"
"Your Majesty, the physician said the horse must have eaten some purgatives. I have checked the food kept for the horse, but I found nothing special. However, I did find black beans mixed with some purgatives in the forest. I think the horse must have eaten those black beans, " replied the bodyguard.
The Emperor's face darkened when he thought that someone was trying to harm Yun Shang on such an important occasion. He roared furiously, "Find the culprit who mixed the black beans with the purgatives."
The bodyguard made a quick bow and withdrew from the room. Prince Jing said in a low voice, "My valuable horse likes eating black beans. Only those who are expert in horses' habits know this. So I guess that the culprit is a person who knows my horse well. Moreover, the culprit must know that Shang'er would ride my horse."
Yun Shang knew who did it, but she couldn't tell the Emperor directly. She h
t Prince Qingsu came here for Princess Hui Guo. I had not thought that he came here for Princess Hua Jing. But I think Prince Qingsu didn't expect such an incident to happen. I have no idea what Prince Qingsu is going to do to solve this problem. But does Prince Qingsu really think he could become Crown Prince of the state of Yelang with the support of the State of Ning after marrying Princess Hua Jing?" said the man standing on the other side of the folding screen. His statement had a mocking air.
The man in black meditated for a while before he said, "Master, what should we do now?"
A long interval elapsed. A cold voice came from the other side of the folding screen. "We take no action now. The Grand Councilor won't let Princess Hua Jing marry Prince Qingsu. But we have to be alert. If Prince Qingsu publicizes his relationship with Hua Jing, the Emperor would have no choice but to let Hua Jing marry Prince Qingsu, even if he was reluctant."
After a long pause, the voice spoke again. It was mild but somewhat cold. "I won't let that happen. If Prince Qingsu did that, I would think of a way to make Emperor Ning relegate Princess Hua Jing to a civilian. Then the Li family will renounce Hua Jing. If that doesn't work, get rid of her."
The man in black nodded and replied, "Yes, Master." After this, the man in black withdrew from the room.
The man standing on the other side of the folding screen muttered, "I should forsake somebody that is no longer useful to me just as I abandon useless chess pieces; otherwise, it will bring me trouble." After saying this, several chess pieces rolled to the other side of the screen. Then a pale and skinny hand stretched out from the side of the screen to pick up the pieces. As soon as he picked them up, he threw them out the window.