"Your Highness, it's been a while. I hope you've been well."
Liang Sheng looked at Yun Xi with a gentle gaze, a faint smile creeping onto his otherwise serious face.
"Thank you, Lord Liang, for agreeing to see me."
Yun Xi knew that in others' eyes, she was undoubtedly a troublemaker at this moment. Even though she thought of coming to the Prefecture of the Capital right away, she wasn't fully confident.
However, Liang Sheng's willingness to receive her truly filled her with gratitude.
Just like last time, Liang Sheng ordered someone to pour tea for Yun Xi and even took the time to introduce the tea in front of them.
Yun Xi listened quietly and replied from time to time, showing no sign of impatience.
She understood that rescuing her father wouldn't happen overnight. She had to stay calm and take things step by step.
Otherwise, a single misstep could lead to irreparable consequences! Moreover, it might even implicate those who were helping the Prime Minister's Mansion get through this difficult time!
After chatting with Yun Xi for a while, Liang Sheng couldn't help but show a glimmer of admiration in his eyes as he saw her calm and composed demeanor.
Although he had long known that the young girl in front of him was no ordinary person, the Prime Minister's Mansion was facing such a great crisis, yet she could remain so calm and patient.
Without such determination, how could she take charge of the overall situation?!
"Your Highness, did you come this time to rescue the Prime Minister?"
Liang Sheng got straight to the point without any preamble.
Yun Xi also didn't shy away from her purpose. She stood up and solemnly bowed:
"Yes. I hope my lord can help me so that I can have a chance to see my younger sister."
She knew that although Liang Sheng was the Prefect of the Capital, he had no way to deal with the imperial bodyguards of the court. Moreover, the imperial prison of the bodyguards was directly under the jurisdiction of Emperor Qi Hong. Once the emperor found out that someone was trying to interfere with his actions, that person would surely bring disaster upon themselves!
Therefore, although she wanted Liang Sheng's help, she didn't want to put him in danger!
Yun Ni was different. She was currently locked up in the death - row prison of the Prefecture of the Capital, awaiting the emperor's verdict. If Liang Sheng gave his consent, Yun Xi would have a chance to go in and ask Yun Ni clearly about the matter of the crown prince.
Perhaps this could be the key to unlocking her father's charges!
As the Prefect of the Capital in charge of all the prisoners in the prefecture, Liang Sheng naturally had the authority.
However, after hearing Yun Xi's words, Liang Sheng showed a hesitant look on his face:
"The laws of the Liu Kingdom stipulate that one must have an official document from the court to visit a death - row prisoner. Your younger sister poisoned the crown prince, a serious crime. I can't easily allow Your Highness to meet her."
Liang Sheng's words disappointed Yun Xi, but she didn't get discouraged. She continued:
"Alright, since I can't meet my younger sister, I request to look through the files of her trial. I want to know the whole process of her poisoning the crown prince."
"As her family member, this request should not be excessive, right?"
If there were problems in the files, as a family member, she could also appeal to the government for a retrial.
By then, she would have a chance to see Yun Ni!
Liang Sheng smiled and silently nodded.
Yun Xi's request was reasonable. Even if the emperor asked about it personally, he would have an excuse, so it didn't count as showing favoritism.
Yun Xi looked through the files of Yun Ni's interrogation. Yun Ni had confessed without hesitation to poisoning the crown prince, which made Yun Xi more and more surprised as she read.
Did Yun Ni do this out of love - turned - hate because she couldn't win the crown prince's heart?
Yun Xi continued to read with doubts in her heart.
It was recorded that Crown Prince Qi Yu had visited the Prime Minister's Mansion half a month ago. After learning that Prime Minister Yun hadn't returned to the capital yet, Crown Prince Qi Yu was originally going to leave, but was then detained by Yun Ni.
Then, Yun Ni put poison in the tea she served to the crown prince...
"This can't be possible?!"
Yun Xi tightly pursed her lips, and her face turned pale.
She had originally thought she could find some clues from Yun Ni's confession, but the actual situation was not optimistic.
Liang Sheng, standing aside, couldn't help but shake his head and sighed:
"Your younger sister said that she had been in love with the crown prince for a long time, but the prince had his heart set on Your Highness and was cold to her. Therefore, she became jealous and took a risk. She listened to a wandering sorcerer's words and thought that if she fed the prince poisoned water, he would change his mind..."
Since Liang Sheng had served as the Prefect of the Capital, he had seen many cases of love - turned - hate and murder out of passion.
However, for the daughter of a prime minister to poison the crown prince like this was really shocking and made people sigh.
"A wandering sorcerer?"
Yun Xi frowned, grasping the key point in Liang Sheng's words.
"Why a wandering sorcerer? Did Yun Ni prepare those poisons in advance specifically for the crown prince?"
This just didn't seem right!
If Yun Ni had planned to poison the crown prince in advance, it meant she had been plotting for a long time.
However, it was no secret that Yun Xi liked the crown prince. Why didn't she take action before, but instead choose this time to poison the crown prince?
"Don't you think that wandering sorcerer is very strange, my lord?"
If Yun Ni poisoned the crown prince to win his love instead of harming him, the current fact was that Yun Ni had been used!
In response to Yun Xi's question, Liang Sheng nodded.
"I've already ordered people to search the whole city for the whereabouts of that wandering sorcerer. According to your younger sister's description, we've posted the portrait of that person all over the city. But after searching for more than half a month, we haven't found him. That person seems to have vanished into thin air, and we can't find a single clue."
Liang Sheng had already reported this matter to the emperor truthfully and even quietly expanded the search scope to the whole country, but the situation still hadn't progressed.
This was also the main reason why Yun Ni had been locked in the death - row prison but hadn't been sentenced yet.
According to Yun Ni's confession, although she couldn't escape responsibility, all the signs indicated that Yun Ni had been used, and the mastermind behind the attempt to poison the crown prince was someone else!
If the real mastermind couldn't be caught, the crown prince's danger still couldn't be eliminated, and the antidote for the poison left on the crown prince couldn't be found either!
Yun Xi closed the file. After a long silence, she said:
"Can my lord give me a copy of that wandering sorcerer's portrait?"
She had quite a few shops under her. If she mobilized everyone under her to keep an eye out for this person, they might get some unexpected results!
"Of course, there's no problem."
Liang Sheng readily agreed. Soon, he ordered someone to fetch a portrait and handed it to Yun Xi.
After quickly scanning the physical features of the man, Yun Xi rolled up the portrait and handed it to Yu Zhu beside her. Then, she respectfully bowed to Liang Sheng and said:
"I've troubled you today, my lord. I have something to attend to, so I'll take my leave now. If you make any progress later, I hope you can inform me."
"Okay."
After getting Liang Sheng's promise, Yun Xi left the Prefecture of the Capital. Then she went to the embroidery shop and summoned Aunt Qin and Zhao Chunsheng. She ordered them to make rubbings of the portrait of the wandering sorcerer.
But this time, Yun Xi changed her story. Instead of helping the government arrest this person, she offered a hefty reward!
Anyone who could provide information about this person could get different amounts of silver according to the value of the information, which would be settled immediately.
If someone could capture this person, they would receive ten thousand taels of gold!
Yun Xi believed that under a hefty reward, there would surely be brave men. As long as the reward was high enough, she wasn't afraid of not getting a response.
The outcome showed that she had made the right bet! Because not long after, that wandering sorcerer who had "vanished into thin air" came to the door in person!