Early the next morning, the news that Yuan Zhen, the third prince of Kekeqin, had attempted to assassinate the Empress Dowager instantly spread like wildfire in the capital!
To show punishment, the emperor ordered Yuan Zhen's body to be hung above the city gate for public display to announce the crime to all.
Hearing the news, the eldest prince Yuan Qi and the fifth princess Yuan Zhu rushed to the city gate and looked at Yuan Zhen's body in the distance. Yuan Zhu almost fainted.
She wept uncontrollably and couldn't believe that her always calm and composed third brother would do something so reckless.
Moreover, just last night, she had visited her third brother in prison. At that time, he was in good spirits, happy to be transferred out of the death - row cell. How could he suddenly decide to assassinate the Empress Dowager in such a short time? It was simply unbelievable!
Yuan Zhu even suspected that the imperial court had deliberately fabricated lies to get rid of her third brother.
She was certain that if her third brother had attempted to assassinate the Empress Dowager, there must have been a reason or he was under threat!
The fifth princess Yuan Zhu wanted to enter the palace to seek an explanation for her third brother, but was stopped by the eldest prince Yuan Qi.
"We don't know the exact situation yet. If you act rashly, you'll only put yourself in danger."
Yuan Qi stopped the fifth princess's reckless behavior, but she didn't appreciate it.
"Now that my third brother is dead, it's clearly beneficial to you. You're happy and don't want to get involved in trouble, but I'm not afraid! I'm going to seek justice for him!"
Yuan Qi remained silent. Now that Yuan Zhen was dead, he felt a sense of relief.
However, regardless of whether Yuan Zhen's attempt to assassinate the Empress Dowager was true or not, since the emperor had announced it like this, it was extremely unfavorable to Kekeqin!
Obviously, the emperor didn't intend to give Kekeqin an explanation because of Yuan Zhen's death. Instead, he wanted to use this incident to deliberately suppress Kekeqin.
This matter was rather tricky. He had to ease the relationship with the royal family before his father, the Khan, came to the capital!
Therefore, the fifth princess must not cause any more trouble at this critical moment!
"I won't deny that Yuan Zhen's death has made me feel much more at ease. Just last year, he tried to kill my wife and children several times."
Saying this, Yuan Qi showed his left hand, which was horribly scarred from the burn, to the fifth princess. He said calmly:
"This is the scar left when Yuan Zhen tried to burn my wife, children, and me to death. My left hand is still not very flexible. I managed to hide them in a well to escape, but dozens of neighboring villagers were burned to death. How innocent they were!"
"To you, he's your third brother, but to me, he's a cruel beast."
As the elder brother, Yuan Qi never thought of seizing the Khan's throne because of his humble birth. It was Yuan Zhen who had forced him step by step into this position.
Only in this way could he survive and ensure the safety of his wife and children!
"Now that he's dead, I don't have to worry about the safety of my wife, children, and myself anymore. I'm only worried that your recklessness will bring greater disasters to Kekeqin!"
Yuan Qi didn't hide his thoughts at all. This usually taciturn man had left the fifth princess speechless.
Looking at the serious and imposing Yuan Qi, the fifth princess felt that she was seeing this elder brother clearly for the first time. Her previous anger subsided because of Yuan Qi's words.
At this moment, a carriage slowly drove in from outside the city. Inside were Qi Rong and Yun Xi.
Because she had eaten too much the previous day, Yun Xi still felt bloated in the stomach even in the morning. She had no appetite for the sumptuous breakfast.
But even though she couldn't eat, Yun Xi was reluctant to waste the rare game on the table. So, on Qi Rong's suggestion, she packed the food to take away.
Yun Xi's gluttonous nature made Qi Rong laugh. He had been teasing her all the way.
Yun Xi was both angry and annoyed. She taunted Qi Rong:
"You're so inconsistent. It was you who told the servants to pack the food for me. Now you're blaming me for being greedy? You're so annoying!"
Yun Xi's charming and pouting expression as a young girl was very interesting to Qi Rong.
He gently tapped the tip of her nose and said playfully:
"I was just joking with you. Who would have thought you'd actually do it!
Thinking of the kind expressions of the servants when they packed the food for Yun Xi and their reluctant looks when they offered her various snacks as she left, Qi Rong couldn't help but smile:
"Is it because I'm too annoying, or is it because you're too cute?"
At that time, he had directly carried her into the carriage horizontally and pulled down the curtain to block the sight of others.
His little fox could only be taken care of by him. No one else could even think about it!
Hearing Qi Rong's flattering words, Yun Xi felt very awkward and didn't know how to respond for a moment. She pouted her lips, glared at him, and said:
"I just couldn't bear to waste such delicious food. You seize every opportunity to laugh at me. You have no gentlemanly manners at all!"
Qi Rong always liked to tease her. It was simply a bad habit!
As soon as Yun Xi finished speaking, she suddenly felt the carriage shake violently. She was caught off - guard and fell forward.
"Ah!"
Seeing that her face was about to hit the carriage floor, Yun Xi let out a scream. She instinctively covered her head with both hands and closed her eyes.
Qi Rong was quick - witted. He quickly grabbed her into his arms. Seeing that Yun Xi still kept her eyes tightly closed, Qi Rong smiled and patted her head, saying playfully:
"The danger is over. You can open your eyes now."
With him around, how could he let her get hurt?
The expected pain didn't come. Hearing Qi Rong's words, Yun Xi slightly opened her eyes and suddenly met Qi Rong's teasing gaze.
Realizing that she had been too timid just now, Yun Xi smiled awkwardly and changed the subject:
"Why did the carriage suddenly stop? We were still outside the city just now. We can't have reached the mansion so soon, right?"
As she spoke, Yun Xi struggled out of Qi Rong's arms, turned around, lifted the carriage curtain, and poked her head out. Suddenly, she saw a large crowd gathered outside the city gate.
"Why are there so many people?"
Yun Xi was surprised. She followed everyone's line of sight and looked up at the city gate. She couldn't help but gasp!
"Ah! Why is there a dead body hanging on the city gate?!"
Looking at the blood - stained body in the distance, Yun Xi didn't dare to look closely. The next moment, she shrank back into the carriage.
Although she had become bolder since she had been with Qi Rong for a long time, it didn't mean that she liked to get involved in such things!
"It's Yuan Zhen."
Looking at the dead body on the city gate through the window, Qi Rong's tone was full of mockery.
"He's quite good at this trick of making a formal accusation."
Yun Xi didn't understand the meaning of Qi Rong's latter words, but she noticed his previous words. Her expression was filled with surprise:
"You mean the dead body hanging on the city gate is Yuan Zhen, the third prince of Kekeqin? How is that possible? He was just sent to the death - row cell yesterday. How could he be executed so soon?!"
Yun Xi's mind was full of questions. She just couldn't figure it out.
However, when she looked at Qi Rong's calm expression, an idea suddenly flashed through her mind:
"It was you, right?!"
Although Yun Xi was asking a question, she was basically certain in her heart.
Because only Qi Rong had the ability to make someone whom the emperor didn't originally want to kill and the Empress Dowager was trying hard to protect turn into a dead body overnight!