Chapter 270 - Chapter 270: 270. Please don’t hurt me

Chapter 270: 270. Please don’t hurt me

Translator: 549690339

Xing Yusheng arranged for Qi Yan to drive over to pick up Su Liang, who left the Heavenly Prison with Ren Dong and returned home.

As she pushed open the gate, a burning fire basin came into view.

“Sister Su, step over the fire basin, and all the bad luck will go away!” Lin Xueqing stood on the other side, waving at Su Liang.

Su Liang lifted her skirt and stepped over the fire basin, only to be hugged tightly by Lin Xueqing, “I hope the person who hurt Sister Su will disappear!”

Su Liang chuckled and patted Lin Xueqing’s back, “Every person has their time to die, everyone will disappear eventually.”

Xing Yusheng standing nearby facepalmed, “Su Liang, you really are heartless; it’s as if nothing happened to you.”

“Otherwise? Should I cry and wait for you guys to save me?” Su Liang retorted.

Xing Yusheng shook his head, “No matter what happens, you always solve it on your own. We worried for a few days, but it was all useless.”

Su Liang smiled, “It’s because I know that even in the worst-case scenario, someone will come to save me with a life-saving token, so I’m not afraid, and I can calmly think about how to solve the problem.”

In fact, the main credit should go to Gu Ling… Su Liang thought, but she couldn’t tell anyone about some things she and Gu Ling had done previously.

The marks left by Duanmu Che pinching Ren Dong’s neck were still purple and green. The moment Su Liang returned to Yuanming Pavilion, she fetched a bottle of ointment for Ren Dong and told her to treat it as soon as possible.

Wan Hui brought Zhengzheng over to see Su Liang, and only relaxed after seeing that she was unharmed. Zhengzheng happily told her that his grandfather was coming to the capital city for the New Year, and his uncles and cousins were also coming.

Wan Hui ordered the restaurant to deliver a feast, and everyone celebrated Su Liang’s escape from danger together.

While they were in high spirits, Duanmu Che’s life was not so good on the other side.

He was “escorted” into the palace by Duanmu Yi’s people from the Heavenly Prison, with no chance to return to the Fifth Prince’s Mansion.

If one could say that Su Liang was simply under house arrest in a cold palace for three days, Duanmu Che was more like being imprisoned. The doors and windows were sealed, and heavily guarded soldiers would not allow him to step out of the room.

However, outsiders only knew that Su Liang had been cleared of suspicion and released and still didn’t know who the real culprit behind Duanmu Qianqian’s death was. Duanmu Yi has always valued the reputation of the royal family, and only a few people knew about it in the first place, and then a gag order was issued.

Su Liang was not surprised by this, and even guessed that Duanmu Yi would eventually spread the word that it was the doing of the Yin Country royal family in secret, trying to break the marriage alliance between the Qian and Liang countries. This explanation seemed very reasonable, and it also made sense for the Liang Country’s side as well.

As for the marriage alliance between the two countries, it would not be canceled just because a princess had died. Without Duanmu Qianqian, there would be other diplomatic princesses.

Under Duanmu Yi’s orders, Duanmu Chen brought people to thoroughly investigate the Fifth Prince’s mansion and took control of everyone in the mansion.

Receiving a report from his subordinate, Duanmu Chen entered Duanmu Che’s study and saw that the normally hanging calligraphy and paintings were replaced with pictures of Su Liang. There were more than ten pictures of her from front, side, and back angles, with half of them being intimate pictures of Duanmu Che and Su Liang together.

Chang’an was dumbfounded, “Fifth Prince… Are you… out of your mind…?”

Duanmu Chen said coldly, “Take them down, pack them up, and send them to the palace for Father to see.”

Before this, Duanmu Chen thought that Duanmu Che had come to his senses and planned to compete with him for the Crown Prince’s position. However, he didn’t expect that the calmer Duanmu Che seemed on the surface, the crazier he was deep down.

This was not a bad thing for Duanmu Chen. It was well-known that Duanmu Che used to be the child Duanmu Yi loved the most, and if Duanmu Che had vied for power, it would have posed a great threat to Duanmu Chen, even without the support of his maternal relatives.

But clearly, Duanmu Che’s physical health had improved, but his mental illness had only become worse.

He had it too easy… Duanmu Chen thought. Duanmu Che had been protected by Duanmu Yi since he was a child, and apart from being sick, he could get whatever he wanted without anyone daring to offend him, including Duanmu Cheng and Duanmu Ao, who would avoid him.

On the other hand, Duanmu Chen was not born of the legitimate wife and had to be cautious since childhood, fearing that he would say a wrong word or do a wrong deed. He had to dodge Duanmu Cheng’s faction while carefully showing his abilities to Duanmu Yi.

Furthermore, having seen the fickleness and disloyalty in the royal family, Duanmu Chen had always believed that one could not have both fish and bear’s paw. If he wanted power, he had to give up feelings; otherwise, he would be dragged down by them.

Duanmu Che, who always got what he wanted, could hardly be said to have fallen into Su Liang’s hands; rather, Su Liang’s appearance merely exposed Duanmu Che’s dark, selfish, paranoid, and morbid nature.

In the study, besides Su Liang’s portraits, Chang’an also found a cloth doll hidden in the desk’s secret compartment, covered with birth dates and filled with needles.

It was obviously the witchcraft that the world, especially the royal family, despised the most.

When Chang’an brought the cloth doll to Duanmu Chen, he instinctively shuddered, recalling the scene he had witnessed as a child in the palace, when a concubine was beaten to death for a similar reason…

“I don’t know what this is…” Chang’an’s voice trailed off when he flipped the cloth doll over. saw the writing on its back. and silentlv held it uD in front of Duanmu Chen.

Duanmu Chen could only say that he shouldn’t be surprised that Duanmu Che targeted Gu Ling with the cloth doll.

It was because Duanmu Chen was here today due to Duanmu Che killing

Duanmu Qianqian and framing Su Liang. And based on the gibberish Duanmu Che said in the Heavenly Prison when facing Ren Dong disguised as Su Liang, he was obviously provoked by Su Liang’s enthusiastic pursuit of Gu Ling.

Duanmu Chen even thought that maybe Duanmu Che initially planned to secretly scheme to seize the position of the Crown Prince or even the Imperial Throne. In that case, he could do whatever he wanted, and his chances of getting Su Liang would naturally be greater. However, Gu Ling’s return and Su Liang’s change of heart caused Duanmu Che to lose his sanity.

Pictures of Duanmu Che and Su Liang intimately hung on the wall, and a Gu

Ling cloth doll full of needles was hidden in a secret compartment. If Duanmu Che only wanted Gu Ling dead, Duanmu Chen would barely consider him human. However, Duanmu Che’s first target was actually Su Liang, which was truly insane!

“Pack this up as well, and send it to the palace for Father Emperor to see,” Duanmu Chen ordered.

After the search of the study and Duanmu Che’s residence was completed, Chang’an asked Duanmu Chen how to search other places.

“Dig up the garden and see if anyone is buried there,” Duanmu Chen suddenly thought of the missing Duanmu Cheng and decided to dig up the ground, hoping for some new discoveries.

Chang’an asked, “Should we search the lake in the garden?”

Duanmu Chen nodded, “Search it! Thoroughly search all places where people and things can be hidden!”

Late in the night, Duanmu Chen received a report of a new discovery and personally went to the Fifth Prince’s Mansion once more.

Seeing the two skeletal hands pieced together, Duanmu Chen’s eyes shrank fiercely, and he immediately thought of Ning Jing, who had been murdered several months ago.

Chang’an whispered, “Should we inform Miss Su? I’m afraid this might be

Young Master Ning’s… ”

Duanmu Chen let out a deep sigh, “Present it to Father Emperor. As for Su Liang, let’s talk about it tomorrow.”

Before the morning court session, Duanmu Yi saw the painting of Su Liang, Gu Ling’s witchcraft doll, and the pair of skeletal hands, one by one.

This perfectly corroborated what Su Liang said about picking up the jade pendant of Duanmu Che’s most trusted subordinate in her own garden. As for “Ning Jing” having his hands chopped off, it certainly wasn’t done by Duanmu Cheng or Wan Cong. That meant the half-blood character must have been left by Duanmu Che’s men.

Looking at the pile of hand bones, Duanmu Yi was furious, deeply suspecting that Duanmu Cheng’s disappearance had something to do with Duanmu Che! Duanmu Yi had known everything from the beginning and was constantly stirring up trouble in secret, doing everything he could to frame Su Liang!

When Duanmu Yi learned that Duanmu Che had killed Duanmu Qianqian just to frame Su Liang, he had completely lost hope in this son.

One by one, the evidence that proved Duanmu Che was insane was brought to Duanmu Yi. “Ning Jing”‘s death was indeed related to him. He cursed Gu Ling and even wanted Su Liang dead. The calmer Duanmu Che appeared in recent months, the crazier he became inside.

That completely deterred Duanmu Yi from looking for Duanmu Che to talk today, not wanting to see him anymore. Instead, he instructed Duanmu Chen to visit and inquire whether Duanmu Che was related to Duanmu Cheng’s disappearance.

“You’re here to laugh at me.” Duanmu Che, with disheveled hair, looked coldly at Duanmu Chen.

Duanmu Chen sat near the door, looked at Duanmu Che’s appearance, and sighed deeply, “Fifth brother, why bother?”

“Stop pretending! You dare say that you don’t want Su Liang?” Duanmu Che sneered.

Duanmu Chen shook his head, “Don’t think that everyone is like you. You clearly disliked her at first, was it worth going mad over?”

“I can’t control it…” Duanmu Che said gloomily, “She must have poisoned me and bewitched my heart…”

Duanmu Chen sighed, “You killed Ning Jing, right?”

Duanmu Che muttered, “I wanted to kill him, but it failed. However, it succeeded as well, hehe.”

Duanmu Chen snorted, “Was it because Wan Cong took the lead, and you reaped the benefits, even falsely accusing Eldest Imperial Brother?”

“What did you say?” Duanmu Che looked up at Duanmu Chen.

Duanmu Chen shook his head, “The evidence is irrefutable, so I won’t ask about this. Father Emperor sent me here to ask if you are related to Eldest Imperial Brother’s disappearance?”

Duanmu Che clenched his teeth and said, “Of course Su Liang did it! How could

Su Liang possibly let Duanmu Cheng go! She must have already killed Duanmu Cheng! ”

Duanmu Chen shook his head and got up, “Forget it, I knew you would say that.

You said that Qianqian was killed by Su Liang, but it was you who killed her. She was our own sister, how could you do it?”

As Duanmu Chen left, he ignored the accusations that Duanmu Che was making against Su Liang: Xiao Muyun was killed by Su Liang, as well as Duanmu Ao and Duanmu Cheng.

Duanmu Chen sneered in his heart. In fact, he also thought that the deaths of Duanmu Ao and Duanmu Cheng were related to Su Liang, as if she was secretly taking revenge. However, her tactics were clever, with motives but without leaving any evidence. The fact that Duanmu Che had killed Duanmu Qianqian was enough for Duanmu Yi to blame it all on him.

That is to say, after this setback, although Su Liang appeared to be very passive, she had managed to clear all the previous doubts about her.

Although Duanmu Che seemed to have the upper hand, his own actions were not clean, and he was obviously regarded as someone to be guarded against by Su Liang long ago. She even left a trick for him, causing him to lose everything.

At this moment, Duanmu Chen marveled at the depth of Su Liang’s schemes, but did not fear her. He simply reminded himself once again to win her over and not to offend her. This must be the lucky star sent by Heaven to clear the obstacles for him to ascend to the throne.

Regarding the matter of the white bone hand, Duanmu Chen had asked for Duanmu Yi’s instructions, and then personally went to inform Su Liang after leaving the palace.

As for how to deal with Duanmu Che, Duanmu Chen did not ask Duanmu Yi because it was no longer important. Not to mention that Duanmu Che could not escape, if he really caused any more trouble, he would only die faster.

Lin Xueqing had originally brought the Chinese knot that she had made for Su Liang to talk to her. When Ren Dong said that Duanmu Chen had come, Su Liang guessed what it was about and let Lin Xueqing go first.

When Lin Xueqing left, she bumped into Duanmu Chen and saw Chang’an carrying a wooden box. She thought it was a gift for Su Liang and didn’t think too much about it.

After sitting down on the first floor of Yuanming Pavilion, Chang’an put the wooden box on the table and then left.

“What is this?” Su Liang asked knowingly.

Duanmu Chen sighed before speaking, “It’s Ning Jing’s hand.”

Su Liang’s expression changed slightly, “What did you say?” As she finished speaking, she opened the wooden box, saw the hand bones inside, and frowned deeply, “This is…”

“It’s Ning Jing’s hand. It was dug up from the lake in the garden of the Fifth

Prince’s Mansion.” Duanmu Chen said, ‘Wan Cong killed Ning Jing, and Duanmu Che’s men cut off his hand, wrote half of the blood word, and framed it on Duanmu Cheng.”

Su Liang closed the wooden box and did not speak.

“Father Emperor ordered me to hand this over to you.” Duanmu Chen said.

“How does His Majesty plan to deal with Duanmu Che?” Su Liang asked. Duanmu Chen shook his head, “I don’t Imow, but he should not die.”

Duanmu Yi would not execute his own son for any reason, whether it was the previous Duanmu Cheng, Duanmu Ao, or the current Duanmu Che.

Su Liang was not surprised. Even ordinary parents would want their children to live, no matter how serious their mistake.

Duanmu Chen told Su Liang about the things that were found in Duanmu Che’s mansion, “You don’t need to look at those, Father Emperor has already ordered them to be burned.”

Su Liang nodded, “I might have thrown up if I saw the paintings you mentioned. ”

Duanmu Chen suddenly frowned, “He didn’t send someone to assassinate Gu Ling, did he? I forgot to ask about that, but even if I did ask, he wouldn’t admit it.”

Su Liang scoffed, “How skilled is Miss Gu? If someone goes to kill her, they will never return.”

Duanmu Chen’s mouth twitched slightly, “Indeed, Gu Ling is very strong. Do you think she is perfect?”

However, Su Liang shook her head, “Not really, she is not perfect.”

Duanmu Chen was curious, “What are you not satisfied with about her?”

Su Liang nodded slightly, “Everything else is perfect, except for the fact that she doesn’t like me.”

Duanmu Chen got up to leave, but turned back at the door, standing there and looking steadily at Su Liang.

“Does Crown Prince have any other orders?” Su Liang asked.

Duanmu Chen’s eyes narrowed slightly, “I’m saying, you’re so infatuated with

Gu Ling, if Gu Ling never accepts you, you won’t end up becoming as crazy as Duanmu Che, will you?”

Su Liang snorted lightly, “Comparing me to Duanmu Che, you are insulting me.

But it doesn’t matter, thank you for the Crown Prince’s concern.”

“Just joking.” Duanmu Chen shook his head and really left this time. It was indeed a joke, he knew Su Liang was not the same kind of person as Duanmu

Su Liang was just about to arrange for Song Qi to go back to the Ning Family in Xunyang City, so he called him over, handed him the pair of bone hands, and asked him to bring them back and put them in “Ning Jing’”s coffin.

In a few days, the news that Duanmu Qianqian was killed by the Yin Country’s spy was indeed reported. It was even said that it was the female general of the Yin Country and the imperial concubine of the crown prince, Man Ya, who arranged for the person to kill Duanmu Qianqian and frame Su Liang who had once defeated her.

This news had nothing to do with Su Liang. It was Duanmu Yi who sent people to spread it. Because he had learned from Ren Dong that the poisoning of Gao Jiabao in the army that time was done by Man Ya’s spy.

As a result, Man Ya was splashed with dirty water, but it was not wrongful. She had indeed done similar things. It was not publicized last time, so it just happened to be used to blame her this time.

Su Liang did not let Ren Dong go to steal the Yan Country to kill Man Ya because Man Ya was pregnant. But that doesn’t mean that the accounts between them don’t have to be settled. Time will tell, there will always be opportunities.

When Gu Ling and his party arrived in Xuanbei City, it was a snowy day.

Xing Ji arranged for them to stay in the General’s Mansion, and Gu Ling stayed in the same courtyard where Su Liang had stayed before. He said he liked the pine tree in the courtyard.

Lian Shun brought good food and wine to find Gu Ling, and also brought Che Yun, and called Lin Bojun. Lin Boyan wasn’t used to the cold weather in the north, and he had a cough these two days.

“Gu beauty, do you remember me? We met in Huguo Temple’s back mountain in the capital city ten years ago. I wanted to play with you, and you asked me to stay away from you! Haha!” Lian Shun was very familiar with Gu Ling and sat close to him.

Gu Ling’s expression was faint, “I remember, I was watching the sunset, and you suddenly hugged me from behind.”

Lian Shun coughed lightly, “I just wanted to play with you! You are so good-looking! I even treated you to the oranges from my family’s garden!”

Gu Ling nodded, “I didn’t want them, but you insisted on giving them to me, and I thanked you at that time.”

Seeing Che Yun and Lin Bojun both laughing, Lian Shun didn’t feel embarrassed. He tilted his head and leaned it on Gu Ling’s shoulder, sighing, “I went to discuss with my grandfather about abducting you and bringing you home that day. My grandfather tied me to a tree and beat me. It is unforgettable.”

Gu Ling stood up when he heard the words, and Lian Shun almost fell to the ground.

“Do you like men?” Gu Ling asked with a faint expression.

Lian Shun blinked and smiled brightly at him, “Yes, I like you!”

Seeing Gu Ling frown, Che Yun hurriedly helped Lian Shun explain, “He’s just joking, he has a girl he likes. Gu Marquis, you should know her, Su Liang from the capital city! But she rejected him!”

Gu Ling nodded slightly and sat back down, “Is that so? Miss Su, she said she likes me.”

Che Yun and Lian Shun were both dumbfounded.

Lin Bojun lowered his head to eat his meat, thinking that this person was really good at pretending and really wanted to hit him!

Did Su Liang say it herself? She said she likes you?” Lian Shun grabbed Gu Ling and interrogated him.

Gu Ling nodded, “Wherever I go, she always follows me, and she even sends me the dishes she makes herself. I told her to stay away from me, but she seemed not to hear.”

Lian Shun slammed the table and stood up angrily, pointing at Gu Ling, “Ahhhhh! You’re too much! Su Xiaoliang likes you, she’s actively pursuing you, and you’re acting troubled! You don’t think Su Xiaoliang is good enough for you, so who do you want to find? Or do you really like men?”

Gu Ling’s expression remained calm, “It’s too noisy. Even if I like men, I wouldn’t like you. Don’t worry.”

Lian Shun: … I really want to hit him!

Lin Bojun couldn’t stand it any longer, “Brother Lian, sit down quickly.”

“I said it a long time ago,” Lian Shun’s voice was desolate, “I can accept that Su Liang doesn’t like me, but the man she likes in the future, at least has to be someone like Gu beauty. Otherwise, I won’t accept it. I didn’t expect, I really didn’t expect that she really likes you. I tell you Gu Ling, Su Liang is my best friend, and you cannot hurt her!”

Gu Ling pushed Lian Shun away, who had come close again, and said faintly,

“Please tell your best friend not to hurt me..”