Chapter 92
Yan Shu replied with a mischievous smile, "Don't understand? Would you like me to call the interpreter to translate for you?"
Then she looked around the room and said, "Should I let them listen as well?"
The Gao Li Princess was taken aback again. She paused before responding in slightly stiff Chinese, "How could it possibly be my fault that the Prince is harmed?"
Perhaps due to excessive shock, her speech was not as fluent as it had been the previous days.
Yan Shu smiled once more, "Whether I am right or wrong, you know in your heart. If it wasn't you who caused harm, then why don't you allow our officials from Da Liang to investigate the case? Your husband is injured so severely, aren't you angry? Don't you want to know who the murderer is?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw the other party clearly hesitate but did not speak immediately.
Yan Shu then turned her gaze to the door and said, "Your ministers can understand Chinese. Otherwise, I will speak with them later. But even if they don't understand, it doesn't matter because I have an interpreter here who can translate everything for them."
Upon hearing this, the Gao Li Princess frowned and said, "I have no grudge against you, why would you accuse me like this?"
Yan Shu smiled again, "Rest assured, we only wish to uncover the real culprit and prevent the innocent from being wrongly accused in our Da Liang. As for matters between you and your husband, we couldn't care less."
After these words, the Princess hesitated for a moment before finally speaking, "Alright, I hope you keep your word and find the true criminal."
This was an agreement, and Yan Shu nodded immediately, "Rest assured, Da Liang always keeps its promises."
Yuwen Lan felt relieved and promptly said, "Summon the people from the Ministry of Punishments."
He then instructed the interpreter, "Stay by their side and help translate whenever necessary."
The interpreter agreed, and when the officials from the Ministry of Punishments arrived, they began investigating the case.
There were many people accompanying the Gao Li Prince, and questioning each one took some time. Additionally, Prince Seopi was still acting erratically in bed, which was quite frightening. So, Yan Shu went with Yuwen Lan to wait in the courtyard.
The envoys from various vassal states watched from the sidelines, all showing great curiosity.
Yan Shu observed quietly and noticed that the envoy from Dongwo was also watching, looking completely unafraid.
Well, enjoying the spectacle, huh?
She thought to herself, 'I'll make sure everyone gets a good show.'
Fortunately, they didn't have to wait long. Soon, the Minister of Punishments hurried over and reported to the Emperor, "Your Majesty, just now, the attendant close to the Gao Li Prince confessed that last night the Prince called two women brought by the Dongwo envoy into his room for drinking. At that time, besides the Gao Li Prince himself, there were only those two women in the room. Not long after, the Prince was injured, but those two women were no longer in the room."
Upon hearing this, the onlookers also heard and raised their eyebrows in surprise—
The Gao Li Prince invited Dongwo women for drinks? What kind of game is this?
Yuwen Lan then said, "If that's the case, we should question the Dongwo envoy and those two women."
However, before the Minister of Punishments could respond, the Dongwo envoy suddenly panicked and shouted, "What does this have to do with us? This is clearly a problem with your Da Liang's security! Please, Your Majesty, do not make unfounded accusations!"
Before he finished speaking, another person chimed in, "Yes, how is this related to Dongwo? Isn't this because Da Liang cannot find the assassin and is planning to frame someone among us?"
Yan Shu looked and saw that it was the same Partya envoy who had been sarcastic earlier.
Due to the presence of the Emperor today, the officials of Da Liang felt much more confident. Hearing this, the Minister of Punishments immediately said, "Please, both envoys, remain calm. When Da Liang investigates cases, we never make unfounded accusations; everything is based on evidence. The Prince's attendant just confessed that the Prince met those two women last night. We merely wish to question them. If they are not involved, we certainly won't blame them. Since you are within the territory of Da Liang, please respect the orders of our Emperor."
His tone was firm, and the two envoys finally remained silent.
Yuwen Lan, however, had lost his patience and directly instructed the Central Commander, "Bring out those two women and thoroughly search their rooms and courtyards."
The Central Commander agreed and led the guards into the Dongwo envoy's courtyard, quickly bringing out the two women.
The Minister of Punishments then approached to question them.
No matter what was asked, even when translated into Dongwo language by the interpreter, the two women only shook their heads in response.
Everyone watching wondered if Dongwo had sent two mute women to the capital city.
Only Yan Shu knew that the two were pretending to be stupid. Losing her patience, she directly addressed Yuwen Lan, "Your Majesty, since the Gao Li Prince has woken up, bring them to him and let the Prince and his attendants identify them."
Yuwen Lan also didn't want to waste any more time and nodded, "Alright, bring these two to the Prince."
The Central Commander agreed and led the two forward.
The Dongwo envoy followed nervously.
The others who were watching also stealthily followed.
Yan Shu originally wanted to follow as well, but unfortunately, Yuwen Lan didn't move...
Sigh, she had no choice but to stay with him.
Unexpectedly, shortly after, several terrifying shouts came from the Gao Li Prince's courtyard.
Startled, Yan Shu quickly said, "Your Majesty, let's go see."
Yuwen Lan could only hum in agreement and got up, leading her over.
When they arrived, they saw the Gao Li Prince with a grayish-blue face, trying hard to hide under the bed, while desperately saying something.
The interpreter hurriedly translated for everyone, "Prince calls them monsters and tells them to leave quickly."
Hearing this, the Gao Li Princess also said urgently, "The Prince is very afraid of them. Please ask them to leave and stop scaring the Prince!"
Seeing this scene, everyone silently thought that according to this situation, it seemed that the Gao Li Prince indeed met these two women last night, and it was highly possible that they were the culprits.
But why did he call them monsters?
For a moment, everyone couldn't help but scrutinize the two women.
Suddenly, the Emperor spoke, "Since they refuse to confess, take them away for interrogation."
The guards agreed and moved forward.
However, the Dongwo envoy protested, "Is His Majesty planning to extract a confession through torture? Even if the Gao Li Prince met them last night, they are just weak women. How could they harm such a strong man like the Prince?"
Yan Shu couldn't resist saying, "Maybe the women from your country are different from ordinary women?"
The Dongwo envoy was taken aback and looked at her suspiciously, "What do you mean, Your Highness?"
Yan Shu ignored him and directly ordered the guards, "Don't waste time, act quickly."
The guards agreed and moved forward with ropes to tie up the two women.
The Dongwo envoy, unable to do anything, jumped up and said, "How can you treat our women like this? They are beauties carefully selected by our ruler. Even if the Emperor doesn't want them, they are still human beings!"
Yan Shu couldn't hold back and said, "That's a good point. Since you know they are human, why turn them into playthings for your ruler?"
Unexpectedly, the two women, who had pretended to be weak moments ago, suddenly resisted. Taking advantage of the guards' lack of vigilance, they managed to knock down three or four of them in an instant.
Everyone was startled and hurriedly stepped back. Yuwen Lan instinctively shielded Yan Shu behind him and ordered the guards, "Subdue them at all costs!"
The guards agreed and charged forward again.
With numbers on their side, it didn't take long to subdue the two women and bind them with thick ropes.
Still shaken, everyone exclaimed, "Dongwo actually presented women skilled in martial arts. What is their true intention!"
Yan Shu thought to herself, 'This is just the beginning. If they knew these two were actually...'
Cough, cough, she hoped everyone had strong enough nerves and wouldn't end up like the cowardly Prince Seopi, driven mad with fear.
While thinking this, she noticed a guard checking the ropes around the two women's waists and said, "Their waists are bulging. Could they be hiding weapons?"
Hearing this, everyone looked over.
The Central Commander immediately ordered, "Search them!"
Thinking about the danger just now, if these assassins had harmed the Emperor and Empress, he wouldn't be able to save his own head.
So, for him, there was only one task: eliminate all threats!
Regardless of gender norms, assassins were to be executed, not distinguished by gender.
The guards immediately started searching.
However, they soon froze.
This... this...
This seems to be...
Seeing this, everyone became even more curious.
What exactly did the guards touch? Why were they all stunned?
The Central Commander, losing his patience, personally stepped forward to check.
After examining, he was also stunned and incredulously drew his sword to cut open the women's clothing.
At that moment, Yan Shu paused and instinctively reached out to cover Yuwen Lan's eyes.
Almost simultaneously, a large hand appeared in front of her eyes, covering them as well.
Everything went dark.
And immediately, a chorus of screams filled her ears—
"Monsters, monsters..."
She could tell that the loudest voice belonged to the Central Commander.
Sigh, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him, hoping he could get through this.
But at the same time, she struggled harder to keep the small emperor's hands covering her eyes.
After all, he was her own man, and she couldn't let him be traumatized, affecting their future happiness. Cough.
Yuwen Lan, "..."
He also earnestly covered her eyes, ensuring she wouldn't see anything.
Fortunately, the Central Commander seemed to have decent mental fortitude. After shouting, he quickly ordered the guards, "Quickly cover them up!"
Then he turned to report to the Emperor, "Your Majesty, these two are... hermaphrodites!"
The Emperor, whose eyes were covered by his beloved consort, responded, "How dare they! Dongwo dares to insult Me in such a manner! Moreover, they deliberately harmed the Gao Li Prince and attempted to sow discord between our two countries! Immediately arrest all personnel and imprison them in the Heavenly Prison!"
Everyone agreed and immediately took action.
Yuwen Lan then removed the small hands covering his eyes and held them, saying, "Alright, we shouldn't stay here any longer. Let's return to the palace quickly."
Saying this, he pulled her away swiftly.