Chapter 535: The Truth Comes to Light
Chapter 535: The Truth Comes to Light
Meng Qianqian and Tang Er headed to the forest where Shangguan Ling was trapped.
Tang Er planted her hands on her hips and looked up at Shangguan Ling, who was hanging like a silkworm cocoon. "Hey, sword guy, do you want me to save you?"
Shangguan Ling opened his mouth but couldn't utter a single word.
"Tang Er", Meng Qianqian said softly.
"Got it." Tang Er put on the silver silk gloves given to her by the goddess and flew up, swiftly tearing apart the poisonous net.
Shangguan Ling fell to the ground with a thud.
Meng Qianqian fed him a Detox Pill and then used the Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles to force the poison in his body to his left hand. She then cut his fingertip to let the poisoned blood flow out.
Shangguan Ling's face regained its color, and the swelling in his throat subsided. He finally managed to speak: "You little brat... cutting with a knife would have been fine, but you had to tear it with your hands..."
Tang Er tilted her head. "I like it! I saved you, and you're still picky!"
As the numbness in his body gradually subsided, Shangguan Ling took deep breaths. "I almost suffocated... I was so close to suffocating..."
Meng Qianqian put away the silver needles. "For the next three hours, don't use your qi to avoid the residual poison spreading through your meridians."
Shangguan Ling nodded, still panting. "Thank you, Young Lady... Speaking of which, are you hurt? That horse was quite wild, did it hit you anywhere?"
Meng Qianqian said, "The person in the carriage wasn't me."
Shangguan Ling was taken aback. "Why did Shang Wuyou tell me the bride was you?"
Meng Qianqian smiled. "I asked him to say that."
Shang Wuyou had grown up with the two sisters; there was no way he couldn't tell the difference between their auras.
Xiao Rong'er thought she had threatened Shang Wuyou with Shang Changle, but in reality, Shang Wuyou just didn't care about Gongsun Ziyu.
Afterward, he immediately went to find Shangguan Ling and met Meng Qianqian along the way.
Upon hearing the entire story, Shangguan Ling was in awe.
Truly, a woman who could stand shoulder to shoulder with the Grand Marshal, her intelligence was truly unmatched.
Shangguan Ling then asked, "Did the Young Lady tell the Grand Marshal that the substitute was Gongsun Ziyu?"
Meng Qianqian shook her head. "No."
Shangguan Ling's face changed. "Then he..."
Meng Qianqian replied, "He can guess."
Shangguan Ling felt as if he had been shot by a thousand arrows.
Being around the young couple often made him feel like a fool.
After all, he was once the top spy in the capital!
Meng Qianqian bent her index finger and whistled. The Hunting Hawk circled in the sky and led them to an abandoned brewery, where they met Lu Yuan and Chen Long.
A while later, the Hunting Hawk brought Ji Li and Si She as well.
When they arrived, Chen Long was fighting with Lu Yuan, more accurately, chasing after him with his sword.
Lu Yuan only defended himself. "Although you're my brother-in-law, if you keep this up, I'll fight back for real."
Chen Long coldly said, "Today, either you die, or I do."
Tang Er sat on the doorstep, her fists propping up her cheeks, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "Fight! Fight!"
"Hey, the little brat is here too."
Ji Li glanced at Tang Er, walked to Meng Qianqian's side, and pointed at the two fighters with his fan. "What's going on with them?"
Si She also found it strange.
Meng Qianqian said, "It seems the brother feels Lu Yuan deceived him."
Chen Long slashed at Lu Yuan. "Not letting me lift the veil, was it because you already knew it wasn't Xiao Jiu?"
Ji Li looked at Meng Qianqian in shock. "The person in the carriage wasn't you?"
Meng Qianqian said, "It was Gongsun Ziyu."
Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow. "Let's get one thing straight—I guessed, I didn't know for sure."
Chen Long's expression turned cold as he demanded, "When did you guess?"
Lu Yuan replied nonchalantly, "When I got the ribbon."
Chen Long swung his sword again.
Lu Yuan quickly dodged and glanced at the three-foot crack in the ground. "Can't even tell the truth?"
Chen Long continued, "On the carriage... that mechanism..."
Lu Yuan explained, "Oh, I went in to check, and it wasn't Xiao Jiu. So I pretended there was a mechanism."
Chen Long gritted his teeth. "Pretended? You set up the mechanism?"
Lu Yuan nodded. "Yes."
Chen Long's sword cut even deeper.
Ji Li sighed, "Lu Yuan, that was wrong of you. If you guessed the substitute wasn't Xiao Yinhu, you should have told us sooner. You know, we worked really hard to kidnap her. If we had known it was Gongsun Ziyu, we would have just put on a show."
Si She said, "Only by doing it this way could the kidnapping be convincing."
Ji Li looked at him hurt. "A She, you were deceived too, and you're still defending him?"
Si She replied calmly, "He did the right thing."
Ji Li let out a long sigh. "A She, do you even have emotions? As long as it's the right thing, being played is okay?"
Si She said, "It's a strategy."
Ji Li threw his hands up in frustration. "Ugh, I can't communicate with you... I don't care if it's right or wrong, being kept in the dark is just annoying... Count me in!"
He joined the group demanding answers from Lu Yuan.
Si She asked Meng Qianqian about the details of the substitution. "So, she had two goals: to kill you and have Lu Yuan kidnap Gongsun Liuying."
Shangguan Ling was puzzled. "Why make it so complicated? Wouldn't it be easier to kill you at the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion? Why go through all this trouble?"
Meng Qianqian explained, "I am Zhaozhao's teacher, and I took the Phoenix Daughter title from Gongsun Liuying. If I died at the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion, His Majesty would investigate thoroughly. Only if I died during an assassination attempt at the Crown Prince's Mansion could the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion clear its name. That's the first reason."
"Second, to make you believe the person in the sedan was me, you would put in the effort to kidnap me. If my guess is correct, Gongsun Liuying was waiting near the cliff. Once I fell, she would take my place. By the time Lu Yuan reached the cliff, the witnesses Xiao Rong'er had prepared would appear on cue."
Shangguan Ling was enlightened. "Now it all makes sense. What a grand scheme! Xiao Rong'er is not to be underestimated, but all her scheming ended up backfiring. This is going to be interesting."
He paused and asked curiously, "Madam, how did you convince Gongsun Yanming?"
Meng Qianqian said, "I told him that if I married into Prince Jin's Manor, I would unite with Prince Jin and the Hu family to oppose the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion. If Prince Jin refused to cooperate, I would kill Lu Qi and confess to His Majesty that the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion's master ordered me to do it, as a pledge of loyalty to return to the Crown Prince's side."
Shangguan Ling gave her a thumbs up. "Brilliant."
Thank goodness Madam isn't the enemy; otherwise, who could stand against her?
"But why was Gongsun Ziyu chosen in the end, instead of Gongsun Liuying?"
Meng Qianqian looked in the direction of Prince Jin's Manor. "Because Gongsun Liuying would really have killed Lu Qi."
(End of Chapter)
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