Great, it's just a lackey, we're saved!

Chapter 137 Is it all the woman's fault?

"Open court? Who told my royal sister that we should open court?"

The Crown Prince abandoned Mei Xingyue and couldn't wait to ask Jiang Yueli.

"The newly appointed Imperial Noble Consort said it herself at the investiture ceremony," the eldest princess said, leaning closer to the crown prince and whispering, "I think this Imperial Noble Consort is extraordinary. She was able to coax Father Emperor into holding court as soon as she entered the palace. She's even more capable than your Mei Xingyue!"

The Crown Prince was preoccupied and ignored Jiang Yueli's sarcasm.

If the court opens tomorrow, his plans will be disrupted. Most importantly, Lady Li is dead.

Li's father, Li An, was the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. If he were to dwell on Li's death during the morning court session, he would surely be questioned by the Emperor of the Great Zhou.

Looking at Li Shi in Zhou Wei's arms, the Crown Prince said, "Elder sister, Li Shi is my concubine. Where are you taking her?"

“Li is your concubine and also the daughter-in-law of the Jiang family of my Great Zhou. Now she has been forced to death by Mei Xingyue and her son. No matter where she goes, she does not want to stay in the East Palace anymore.”

After Jiang Yueli finished speaking, she ignored the Crown Prince and turned to leave.

The Crown Prince wanted Zhu Zhen to seize Li's body, but Zhou Wei glared at him and stopped him.

"Commander Zhu, you don't mean to test my footwork, do you?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zhen stopped what he was doing and said to the Crown Prince, "Your Highness, I am no match for Commander Zhou."

"Useless!" the crown prince cursed, but there was nothing he could do.

He could only watch helplessly as Jiang Yueli left.

The group carried Li's body to Hexi Palace.

Jiang Yueli was in a low mood throughout the journey. In her previous life, Li Shi also died, but she died after Mei Xingyue became the Crown Princess.

Jiang Yueli had assumed that Mei Xingyue, whose appearance had been ruined, would keep a low profile after entering the Eastern Palace. However, she had overestimated the woman's character and the Crown Prince.

In his previous life, the Crown Prince also allowed Mei Xingyue and her son to torment Li Shi without intervening, which ultimately led to Li Shi's tragic death.

Zhou Wei was also thinking about the original plot. In the original plot, Li's death was like an insignificant speck of dust.

It is the Crown Prince's pledge of loyalty to Mei Xingyue, who is his favorite!

After Li's death, Li An, the father of the Li family, submitted a memorial impeaching the crown prince, but it was rejected by the Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The Great Zhou Emperor even issued an edict reprimanding Li An, saying that he had failed to properly educate his daughter, causing unrest in the Eastern Palace.

Unable to seek justice for his daughter, Ang Lee ultimately died by crashing into a car outside the Fengtian Hall.

For Zhou Wei, Li Shi was not as memorable as Jiang Yueli and the other heroines.

Yet this living, breathing person died right before her eyes.

This gave her a different feeling about the plot that was only briefly mentioned in the book.

Zhou Wei doesn't consider herself a saint and unable to save everyone, but Li's death made her truly feel the reality of this world.

Jiang Yueli noticed Zhou Wei's emotions.

He asked in a low voice, "Weiwei, is something on your mind?"

Zhou Wei nodded: "Princess, did I do something wrong? When Hu Youniang died, she left behind a wisp of fox spirit charm, which I chose to give to Mei Xingyue. Mei Xingyue charmed the Crown Prince, causing him to lose his mind, which ultimately led to Li's suicide."

So Zhou Wei was blaming herself for this?

"Weiwei, do you think that a cold-hearted man is simply being himself, or is it because he's been bewitched by a fox spirit?"

This question is a bit beyond her scope; Zhou Wei doesn't have much experience with it.

Seeing that Zhou Wei did not answer, Jiang Yueli continued, "Throughout history, people have always blamed women for their crimes."

"The emperor is incompetent because he is bewitched by a seductive concubine; a man favors his concubine over his wife because the concubine deliberately seduces and instigates him; even the downfall of a family is said to be due to the woman's lack of virtue, that her children are not smart enough to continue the family's glory. But is this true?"

"Why can't we just admit that men are inherently of inferior character?"

Jiang Yueli could not tell Zhou Wei that she was a reborn person.

In her previous life, she had witnessed firsthand just how much the Crown Prince doted on Mei Xingyue.

Not only did he take whatever he wanted from her, but he also wouldn't say a word to anyone in the Eastern Palace whom Mei Xingyue wanted to torment.

Back then, there was no fox spirit bewitching the prince!

What Zhou Wei did was merely hasten the exposure of the Crown Prince's true nature.

"Princess, Lady Li cannot die like this."

Jiang Yueli looked at Zhou Wei and understood what she meant.

"No, murderers must pay with their lives. I will make the Mei family pay the price."

Inside the East Palace.

The Crown Prince picked up Mei Xingyue and shouted for the imperial physician.

Mei Xingyue always remembered what Jiang Yueli had said.

She said sadly, "Your Highness, is what the princess said true? Am I no longer able to stay with you?"

The Crown Prince sighed inwardly. Jiang Yueli was now incredibly powerful and was also the Grand Master of Ceremonies.

She issued an order in the name of the Grand Clan Chief forbidding Mei Xingyue from entering the Imperial Jade Tablet, and the Grand Clan Chief had no choice but to comply.

But seeing Mei Xingyue's pitiful appearance, the Crown Prince couldn't bear to upset her any further.

"Don't worry, Xingyue, I will definitely let you stay in the East Palace. My elder sister is just a princess, and I am the crown prince."

"When I ascend the throne, even my elder sister, the Grand Clan Head, will not be able to disobey my orders."

Mei Xingyue was relieved to hear this.

He felt even more anxious, wanting the crown prince to ascend the throne as soon as possible.

She used to think that everything would be fine once she reunited with the Crown Prince and entered the Eastern Palace as the Crown Princess.

But now it seems that the status of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess is far from sufficient!

The crown prince must sit on that supreme position so that she won't have to look after anyone else's feelings.

After letting out a long sigh, Mei Xingyue thought of Jiang Nianmei.

She hadn't seen Jiang Nianmei since she arrived at the small garden, and wondered where the girl had gone.

"Your Highness, Nianmei has disappeared!"

The Crown Prince had not seen Jiang Nianmei along the way, so after thinking for a moment, he asked the people in the Eastern Palace.

Have you seen the young lady?

Everyone in the Eastern Palace lowered their heads, and no one answered; the atmosphere was somewhat awkward.

When Mei Xingyue first arrived, everyone didn't want to tell her. They wanted Jiang Nianmei to stay in the pond a little longer, or better yet, to die.

But so much time has passed, and the Crown Prince has returned.

What I didn't want to say suddenly became what I can't say!

If someone were to say it, then no one would survive.

But if we don't say anything, everyone will pretend they don't know. Even if Jiang Nianmei is discovered later, we can say that she accidentally fell into the water.

The palace staff, who had been tormented countless times, remained silent.

The blizzard continued, and the temperature plummeted. The ice that had just broken off was now covered with another layer of ice.

After being covered by the snow, not a trace could be seen.

The Crown Prince became somewhat angry when he saw that no one knew Jiang Nianmei's whereabouts.

"All the maids who serve the young lady will each receive thirty strokes of the cane!"

Jiang Nianmei's two personal maids immediately knelt on the ground to accept their punishment, showing no intention of revealing the truth.

At this moment, Zhou Wei, walking on the palace road, pulled herself out of her grief over Li's suicide.

Suddenly, I realized she seemed to have forgotten something important. What was it?

Seeing her frown, Jiang Yueli asked, "Weiwei, what's troubling you?"

Zhou Wei waved her hand with a smile: "It's nothing, I just feel like I've forgotten something and can't remember it for a moment! It's alright, don't worry about it."

After speaking, he turned his gaze to the young monk Zhu Qi.

"Zhu Qi, you saw Yuanxing, did you gain anything?"

“Yuan Xing must have transferred his soul to Jiang Nianyue’s body, but I did not find any trace of the Heavenly Mystery Stone on him.”

"Perhaps he hid it?" Zhou Wei guessed.

“That’s possible, so I can’t do anything to him yet,” Zhu Qi said, then mentioned the Mei family mother and son again. “Moreover, I saw some kind of opportunity in Yuanxing, but that opportunity is like a root system, connected to the Mei family, which is quite strange.”

After a moment's thought, Zhou Wei realized that the opportunity Zhu Qi mentioned must be Su Yunjin's space.

However, this opportunity was unexpectedly related to the Mei family mother and son.

"What kind of connection can you see?"

Zhu Qi said uncertainly, "I can't tell, but..."

Seeing Zhu Qi hesitate, Zhou Wei encouraged her, "It's okay, you can say whatever you want. Just think it over and it won't matter if you're wrong."

“It’s strange, though this opportunity is auspicious, I can sense some kind of malice in it,” Zhu Qi said, also finding it unbelievable. “This malice seems to be directed at Yuan and the Mei family mother and son. Sister Zhou Wei, don’t you think that’s strange?”

Zhu Qi had keen eyesight and could see things that were indescribable.

It's not really about seeing, but rather about feeling.

He could sense the malice of the integral system on Yuanxing, but he didn't understand why.

Zhou Wei instantly realized the reason: this opportunity was not meant to be auspicious; he had taken it from Su Yunjin.

It's only natural that they would be hostile towards him!

Most importantly, this malice extended to the Mei family mother and son.

Zhou Wei immediately said to Zhu Qi, "This opportunity is a good thing. Let's look for the Heavenly Secret Stone while observing the situation."

As they were talking, the group had already arrived outside Hexi Palace.

Looking at the magnificent palace before her and the towering Star Gazing Tower in the northwest corner, Zhou Wei couldn't help but marvel at the power of the Great Zhou Dynasty!

However, after checking the location of Hexi Palace, she suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

The northwest—isn't this the direction from which the nation's destiny slipped away during that grand cultural ceremony?

Could it be that the person who competed with her for the nation's fortune and cultivation lived in Hexi Palace?