Li Youlan's casual reply made Consort Li frown: "Li Youlan, your husband is Prince Zhan, whose power is immense. He can easily find a death row inmate to replace me. Don't tell me he can't do something so small."
“My cousin is exceptionally capable; of course he can do this. But why should we help you?” Li Youlan raised an eyebrow at Consort Li, her expression a half-smile that displeased Consort Li. “We are allies; shouldn’t we help each other?”
"So-called allies are based on mutual benefit. The Empress is already a prisoner and will not be of any help to us for the next twenty years. Our alliance should end here."
Li Youlan's voice was loud and clear, which made Consort Li so angry that she almost vomited blood: "Li Youlan, are you planning to cross the river and then burn the bridge?"
"I'm ungrateful?" Li Youlan suddenly raised her eyes, her chilling gaze sending shivers down one's spine. "You're the Fifth Prince's man, yet you kept it a secret and pretended to cooperate with us, deceiving us completely. Now that you're in trouble, you accuse us of ungrateful? Do you have any conscience?"
Consort Li felt a little guilty, and her eyes flickered unnaturally: "The Fifth Prince and I are only mutually attracted, nothing more. I have never told him about your relationship."
Li Youlan only asked her to help deal with Shen Lixue, which was of no help to the Fifth Prince's ascension to the throne, so she didn't say anything.
"Alright." Li Youlan waved her hand to interrupt Consort Li: "The past is the past, so let's not bring it up again. From now on, you go your way and I'll go mine, and we won't interfere with each other."
Consort Li's beautiful face instantly turned as black as ink: "Aren't you afraid I'll expose all the despicable things you've done?" In the past, she and Li Youlan would have broken off their relationship, but now, she was imprisoned and needed help. For Li Youlan to break off their relationship was to abandon her.
"I'm afraid you have the desire, but not the opportunity!" Li Youlan's dazzling smile was unsettling, sending chills down one's spine.
A bad feeling suddenly rose in Consort Li's heart: "What do you mean?"
"Now that things have come to this, I won't hide it from you anymore. Actually, the fact that you and the Fifth Prince were caught having an affair was all orchestrated by my cousin, the Prince Zhan..."
Consort Li stared in shock, her eyes wide: "How could this be?"
"Do you remember when I prepared the ointment for you to remove your scars? I examined the scars on your hands carefully. Some time ago, by chance, I saw the same scars on the Fifth Prince, so I suspected that the two of you were in contact. Then, my cousin orchestrated the scene that happened earlier today, and you fell for it..."
Consort Li looked up in shock, meeting Li Youlan's mocking smile: "There are two potted plants by your room's door. On their own, there's nothing wrong with them, but when they're placed together, they act like a potent aphrodisiac..."
Consort Li suddenly realized why the usually vigilant Fifth Prince hadn't noticed the Emperor's approach; it turned out he had been drugged by the aphrodisiac produced by the flower, which led to their affair being caught red-handed: "Did you come to the prison tonight just to tell me this?" Consort Li's intuition told her that Li Youlan's purpose in coming to the prison was not simple.
"The matter of Prince Zhan's scheme against the Fifth Prince is a secret and must not be known to any other people. Your Majesty has lived in the palace for a long time, so you should know who is best able to keep the secret, right?" Li Youlan smiled brightly.
Consort Li's mind went blank, and her whole body went cold. Subconsciously, she tightened her clothes. Who is the best person to keep a secret? Heh, of course, it's the dead!
Several rough-looking maids stepped out from behind Li Youlan and walked towards her expressionlessly. Li Fei's anger flared up. When Li Youlan came to the prison, she had already made up her mind to kill her to silence her: "Li Youlan, you'll regret killing me!"
Chapter 213: A plot to usurp the throne, and a natural disaster strikes.
A bone-chilling cold spread through her limbs, and Consort Li suddenly felt a suffocating sensation in her neck. The maids had tightened the white silk ribbon, making it difficult for her to breathe. Her small face flushed red, and her chest felt like it was about to explode, a heavy, uncomfortable feeling.
Li Youlan stood to the side, smiling brightly and maliciously: "Consort Li, your affair with the Fifth Prince has long been known throughout the streets and alleys. Everyone in Qingyan despises you. Rather than living such a pathetic life, you might as well die and be reincarnated sooner. Maybe in your next life you can be husband and wife with the Fifth Prince openly and honestly."
"Li Youlan, I'll kill you!" Consort Li was furious, her eyes burning with rage, and she charged towards Li Youlan with all her might.
Li Youlan smiled as she looked at her, neither dodging nor avoiding. Two rough-looking old women stepped forward, one on each side, and grabbed Consort Li's arms, pressing her firmly to the ground. Another old woman expressionlessly tightened the white silk ribbon again.
Consort Li's beautiful face turned a deep purplish-red as she struggled desperately, but she couldn't break free from the rough maids' grip. Her neck burned with pain from the tight bindings, and her lungs felt heavy and suffocated from the lack of fresh air, as if a heavy stone was pressing down on her. Her vision blurred, and the aura of death swept over her. Fear gripped her, and she glared at Li Youlan, shouting angrily, "Li Youlan, you will regret this!"
Consort Li's neck was being strangled, and her voice was barely audible. Li Youlan only saw her mouth opening and closing, but couldn't hear what she said. She frowned and asked, "What did you say?"
“Kill me, and you’ll regret it.” Consort Li’s voice was hoarse, each word clearly uttered as if from between her teeth.
Li Youlan scoffed, "I, Li Youlan, never regret killing people."
"No...you will regret it...you will definitely regret it...hehehe..." Consort Li curled the corners of her mouth, revealing a sinister and eerie smile, her eyes also flashing with an unfathomable and strange light, making people's hearts tremble.
"Consort Li, don't try anything funny. I'm not easily intimidated." Li Youlan is the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister's mansion and the principal wife of the Prince of Zhan's mansion. She has a noble status and a superior position. She can solve any problem, no matter how difficult it is. Why would she need to ask a prisoner who was sentenced to twenty years in prison for having an affair with a prince?
Consort Li, having lived deep within the palace for a long time, was skilled in scheming. Her attempt to frighten him was merely a ploy to make him let her go, but he would not fall for her trick.
Li Youlan raised her eyes to look at the rough-looking old woman, her gaze turning cold as she said arrogantly, "It's getting late, hurry up and deal with her."
"Yes!" The rough-looking maid holding the white silk lowered her eyelids and instantly increased the force in her hand.
Consort Li's slender neck tightened again, her mouth gaped open but she couldn't breathe in any air. Her face turned dark purple, and her beautiful eyes gradually became bloodshot. She glared hatefully at Li Youlan, her lips moving rapidly without making a sound. Li Youlan, however, understood her lip movements. She kept repeating the same sentence: "You will regret it. You will definitely regret killing me."
Li Youlan's heart sank. She and Consort Li had only cooperated verbally once, and had no other connection. She was certain that Consort Li had no leverage over her, and Consort Li was no longer of any use to her. What did she have to regret? This cunning woman was definitely just playing tricks.
"Consort Li, today will be your death anniversary no matter what. So don't struggle in vain anymore. Die in peace. I will burn more paper money for you so that you can bribe the judge in the underworld and be reborn into a wealthy family in your next life."
Consort Li glared hatefully at Li Youlan, her desperate eyes blazing with fury. She stared intently at Li Youlan, as if trying to imprint her image deep into her mind, so that she would haunt her even in death.
Without realizing it, the burning pain in my neck suddenly stopped, and the dullness in my chest went numb. My bright vision gradually blurred, and I was about to fall into boundless darkness. My proud head drooped, and my body slumped softly onto the cold ground.
The maids wiped away any breaths from Consort Li's body and released her: "Your Highness, she is dead."
Li Youlan gave a faint reply, then looked down at Consort Li on the ground. Consort Li lay prone, her face turned toward Li Youlan, her eyes wide open as if glaring at her. She had been strangled to death with a white silk ribbon and was in great pain, yet a faint but eerie smile played on her lips, as if to say, "You will regret it, you will definitely regret it!"
A gust of cold wind blew by, and Li Youlan shivered. A bad premonition rose in her heart. She and Consort Li did not have much interaction. Why was Consort Li dead? She suddenly felt afraid. Yes, afraid. Although it was only a very slight feeling, she still felt it sensitively. She disliked this feeling very much.
"Dispose of Consort Li's body properly, without revealing any clues."
A dead person, devoid of consciousness and unable to do anything, still wants to hurt her? She was quite curious to see what tricks the dead Consort Li could pull.
"Consort Li is dead?" When the news reached the Holy Prince's residence, Shen Lixue was sitting on a soft couch sewing clothes. The cloud and sea pattern on the white brocade was pieced together into a complete design, reflecting the sunlight outside the window. It was noble and elegant, yet exuded an ethereal and otherworldly air. She paused and looked up at Dongfang Heng: "How did she die?"
“Hanging herself.” Dongfang Heng sat down next to Shen Lixue, his white jade fingers lightly stroking the half-sewn white brocade robe, and said casually, “The jailers said that after Consort Li entered the prison, she was in a daze and took advantage of their inattention to hang herself with her belt.”
Shen Lixue sneered: "If Consort Li wanted to die, she would have committed suicide by hitting her head against a pillar when the Emperor discovered her affair with the Fifth Prince. How could she have ended up in prison unscathed? It must have been murder to silence her."
Dongfang Heng smiled slightly, neither confirming nor denying: "I had my guards examine it carefully. There are two deep purple marks on Consort Li's neck." One was from hanging herself, and the other was naturally from someone else.
"Li Youlan killed the person!" Shen Lixue's words were not a question, but a statement. Before Consort Li was imprisoned, she gave Li Youlan a meaningful look, and then committed suicide that night. It was easy to guess what had happened. "What is the Emperor's attitude?"
Even a day as husband and wife is worth a hundred days of kindness. Consort Li was the emperor's favorite concubine. Her death was shrouded in mystery, and the emperor, being as intelligent as he was, would surely have sensed something was amiss.
"I remain indifferent and let it go." The Emperor was furious that Consort Li was having an affair with the Fifth Prince and had long wanted to kill her. Only after the Empress pleaded for her did the Emperor give her a lighter punishment. Her death in prison was well-deserved, so the Emperor would not care about it anymore.