C80

For five days and five nights, Xiao Jiu'an chased after the rebellion's mastermind, the Marquis of Guangping. From his mouth, he found out that the mastermind behind everything was the Emperor.

He believed that the chaos in the Yanbei Army must have been partially caused by the Emperor. After all, the money that the Marquis of Guangping had used to bribe the people in his army was provided by the Yun Family.

What the Emperor wanted was total control of the Yanbei Army. With just the people that the Emperor had bribed over the years, he would be able to control more than half of the Yanbei Army in a few more years. There was no need for the Emperor to use the Marquis of Guangping to incite rebellion and seize power now.

In addition, Ye Cang Qiong's appearance was also a flaw.

What the Emperor really wanted was not only to control the Yanbei Army, but also to publicly punish him and to seize the rights of Prince Yanbei's Mansion. That way, he would be able to destroy the entirety of Prince Yanbei's Mansion. How could he find a a person from the Jianghu to kill him under such circumstances?

Even after he died, the Yanbei Army would still be under Prince Yanbei's Mansion. There was still Shiqing. Even if he did not have an heir, Shiqing could still inherit the Yanbei Army, and Shiqing's son could still inherit the Yanbei Army.

"Shiqing!" Xiao Jiu'an sat in front of his desk, closed his eyes, and gently stroked the ring on his left thumb with the thumb of his right hand. All of a sudden, it became rhythmic, causing people to involuntarily focus their attention on his hand.

Xiao Shaorong's attention unconsciously focused on Xiao Jiu's ring, and did not even hear what he said to himself. Only after a long while did he suddenly react.

"Prince, what did you say? Infanta Shiqing?" Xiao Shaorong's eyes instantly became sharp and fierce.

With Xiao Jiu'an's reminder, what Xiao Jiu'an could think of, he could think of as well.

"Who is the biggest beneficiary of This King's death?" Xiao Jiu'an did not open his eyes, his fingers still stroking the ring.

He did not easily trust others, but once he gave someone his trust, he would always trust them. Currently, the only person who had his full trust was Xiao Shaorong. Not even his sister could obtain it.

"If nothing unexpected happens, it should be Infanta Shiqing." Xiao Shaorong was in charge of pacifying the Prince Yanbei army's rebellion, so no one understood better than he did, even Xiao Jiu'an, on just how suspicious all of this was.

The Yun Family had spent a lot of money to help the Marquis of Guangping buy off his men, but other than the Marquis of Guangping, no one else knew who their real master was. They only listened to the Marquis of Guangping.

The Marquis of Guangping said that the master backing him was the Emperor and all the evidence indicated that this matter was indeed related to the Emperor. But still, it was better for the Emperor for Xiao Jiu'an to live than to die; however, if it really was the Emperor, he definitely would not arrange for Ye Cang Qiong to take Xiao Jiu'an's life.

Of course, there was also the possibility that the Emperor had wanted to take Xiao Jiu'an's life. But, Prince Yanbei's Mansion had two masters, so if one of them were to die, the Yanbei Army might not necessarily end up in the Emperor's hands. Instead, it would stimulate the Yanbei Army to become even more loyal to the people of Prince Yanbei's Mansion.

"She refused to marry, and just happened to lose her mind after the incident." Xiao Jiu'an's seemed to be saying these words to Xiao Shaorong, but it was more like he was saying this to himself.

Though he did not completely trust Shiqing, he truly treated her as his little sister. Even though he was not close to Shiqing, he had always unconditionally indulged her, even so far as to giving her military authority and helping her to stand firmly in the army.

He did not want that person behind everything to be Shiqing.

"What did the Emperor have or said to make Marquis Guangping betray you?" Xiao Shaorong threw out another doubtful point.

As long as Xiao Jiu'an had always been a Prince Yanbei who held great power, then this uncle of his, the Marquis of Guangping, would always be able to hold a high position. It was very unreasonable for him to betray Xiao Jiu'an and throw him at the mercy of the Emperor.

"Go and check on Shiqing. This King wants to know everything that has happened to her recently, and what has happened between her and Feng Qi." If Shiqing had not lost her mind at this moment, he would not have doubted her so much.

The Shiqing he knew did not lose to any man, and she definitely would not lose her mind with attempted violence or disgrace acted upon her.

Ji Yunkai did not know how long she had been out, but the inside of the house was dark. Outside of the house the moon and stars were out; however, she was dizzy and could not see anything.

Ji Yunkai did not immediately stand up. Instead, she leaned against the wall and sat for a moment. After she recovered from the dizziness, she leaned against the wall and stood up.

There were no complaints, no dissatisfaction, and no anger. Ji Yunkai slowly walked back to her room. Once there, she lit up a candle to see in the darkness, found her medicine chest, and placed the copper mirror in the middle of the room.

This was the same situation she was in when she was living in the Ji Manor. What was there to be angry about?

But when she took off her clothes and looked at the bruises and swollen joints on her body, Ji Yunkai could not control her tears any longer and started crying, her tears falling one after another.

It was painful, so very painful. There was not a single part of her body that did not ache. She suspected that her ribs were broken, but there was no way she could set the bone out by herself.

She also suspected that she had internal bleeding, but she could not make herself a bowl of medicine.

She told herself not to be angry, not to be wronged, but she could not help feeling sad.

Just who did she offend?

Just how many sins had she committed in her previous life for her to be in such a situation?

She knew her surname was Ji and she was the granddaughter of the Yun family, but did the Ji Family and the Yun family ever think of her as family?

The Yun family did give her a large amount of silver taels and gifts each year, but was that really for her? Her situation in the Ji Manor was something that anyone who was interested would be able to find out. She refused to believe that the Yun Family was unaware of her situation in the Ji Manor.

She was only a pretense to them. A pretense for the Yun Family to send silver to the Emperor in the capital.

"I definitely owed Xiao Jiu'an a lot in my previous life." Ji Yunkai bit her lips, forcing the tears in her eyes back. In her moment of the greatest resentment in her heart, she pressed down her left hand, borrowing the force from the corner of the table to make a *ka* sound, and brought the displaced bone back to its place.

"Ahh...!" Ji Yunkai screamed in pain, nearly biting her tongue.

But even so, no one from Prince Yanbei's Mansion bothered to check on her.

A maidservant could not bear to see this, and quietly ran to find the Steward, "Steward, the Princess' injuries are so severe, are we really not going to call a doctor for her? I don't think the Princess can take it anymore."

When the Princess fainted earlier, she had wanted to go and help, but was stopped by the Steward.

"Didn't you hear the orders of the Prince?" The Steward coldly looked at the maidservant and scared her to the point that her face turned pale. She kneeled down and repeatedly shook her head, saying that she did not dare to disobey the Prince.

"If you don't dare, then scram." The Steward said with a murderous look in his eyes.

The maidservant was so frightened that she scrambled out, swearing in her heart that she would not sympathize with the Princess anymore and plead for her.

The Steward nodded his head in satisfaction. He was confident that no one would speak up for the Princess again after tonight.

The Prince had said that no one was allowed to interfere with the life and death of the Princess, so they would not!