Liu Mei was dressed in a low - cut outfit, the neckline almost reaching down to her abdomen. As the weather got warmer, her clothes became even more revealing than in winter. Even the fluffy white fox fur had been replaced with a slightly thinner mink fur.
She was sitting in the courtyard of the Shen Mansion, sipping tea leisurely. As she drank, she kept looking around and throwing flirtatious glances at Shen Yu, who was sitting in front of her. Shen Yu had a look of annoyance on his face and didn't dare to meet her eyes.
Shen Yu had never seen Liu Mei before, but with her well - known reputation, he had a rough idea of what she looked like. However, he never expected that her outfit this time would be even more revealing than the rumored "half - exposed bosom". It made him fidgety, with cold sweat on his palms. He kept repeating "Don't look at what is improper, don't listen to what is improper" in his mind, hoping that Shen Qingfeng would come soon.
That's right, Liu Mei was here to find Shen Qingfeng.
Actually, Liu Mei rarely left the Shifang Pavilion. If it weren't for Xia Chuli's request, she wouldn't have bothered to make this trip.
"Give this to Shen Qingfeng." Earlier, Xia Chuli came to the Shifang Zhai. Without announcing his arrival, he walked straight into the Shifang Pavilion and pushed open Liu Mei's door.
Although Liu Mei was dissatisfied with her little nephew's behavior, she stopped in her tracks when she saw the small crystal bottle.
The crystal bottle was only the size of a thumb, tightly sealed. One could faintly see some transparent liquid inside.
Liu Mei stared at it intently. Suddenly, the usually laid - back woman jumped to her feet and took several steps back. She shouted sharply, "Where did you get that thing!"
Xia Chuli looked at Liu Mei, clutching the small bottle in his palm. He smiled and said, "Don't be scared. This is just diluted Qianhua Silver Water. Even if it's not well - sealed, just taking a whiff won't kill you."
"You..."
Just a whiff of pure - concentration Qianhua Silver Water could kill a person instantly. Princess Liuli had died this way back then, which was why Liu Mei hated this thing so much.
Liu Mei still stood far away, her face looking a bit ferocious. "Who gave it to you?"
Xia Chuli raised his eyebrows and said, "Qi Mengmeng gave it to me. It was an order from Xia Yonglin."
At this point, Xia Chuli suddenly smiled disdainfully. "That fool doesn't know that Qi Mengmeng is already on my side. Even in the death - row cell, he still wants to drag me down with him. How ridiculous."
Liu Mei was stunned. "Xia Yonglin? Why does he have this thing?"
Xia Chuli said in a deep voice, "All the Qianhua Silver Water in the world was made by 'Lan', the former leader of 'Wuhen'. King Xia Jie got it back then, and now he has given it to Xia Yonglin. What's so strange about that?"
Liu Mei was heart - broken. She cursed, "What do you mean what's so strange? Don't you forget how my sister died? The father - son pair must have colluded with Lan long ago! How could you..."
Liu Mei suddenly stopped. In front of her, Xia Chuli had his head down, seemingly lost in thought. Different from Liu Mei, his expression was calm, as if everything was under his control.
"What did you know from the very beginning?" Liu Mei stared at him intently.
Xia Chuli slowly raised his eyes. There was a hint of mystery in them, and the deep look in his eyes made Liu Mei shiver involuntarily.
"I only know a little." Xia Chuli slowly sat down at the table and placed the crystal bottle on it. "Back then, when the Nanxiang Kingdom was destroyed, 'Wuhen' scattered, and its leader Lan traveled around. At that time, King Xia Jie already had the intention to kill my mother. In order to make it look seamless, he spent a fortune and sent people everywhere to look for Lan. Unfortunately, he didn't find Lan but found the Qianhua Silver Water instead."
Liu Mei widened her eyes. "Lan never had any contact with King Xia Jie?"
Xia Chuli shook his head. "As far as I know, no."
"As far as you know?" Liu Mei suddenly noticed something. She asked suspiciously, "How old were you when my sister died? Did you find this out in the past few years? How did you manage to do that?"
Xia Chuli suddenly laughed. Of course, this wasn't something the current Xia Chuli could have investigated. It was something he learned after he ascended the throne, but he wouldn't tell Liu Mei.
"Don't worry about how I know. Anyway, if you really want revenge, remember, our only enemy is King Xia Jie." Xia Chuli paused for a moment. "Xia Yonglin's Qianhua Silver Water was given to him by King Xia Jie."
Liu Mei looked at Xia Chuli doubtfully. After a while, she also walked over and sat down at the table. Staring at the bottle, she asked, "So what do you want me to do now?"
Xia Chuli's eyelashes fluttered. "Take this bottle to Shen Qingfeng. He doesn't know about the Qianhua Silver Water. Let him investigate it slowly."
Liu Mei said, "Don't you know about Xiang Cheng beside him? He's a person whose body has been nourished by Qianhua Silver Water."
"Xiang Cheng? Humph." Xia Chuli didn't care. Having lived a past life, he of course knew that in the previous life, when King Xia Jie was caught in an avalanche during a sacrifice, Shen Qingfeng saved him at the foot of Jinding Mountain. When he was brought back for Yu Shuang to treat, Xia Chuli already knew that Xiang Cheng was a person whose body had been nourished by the silver water.
But so what? He once suspected that Xiang Cheng might be related to his mother's death. Later, he secretly sent people from the Tingfeng Pavilion to search Jinding Mountain, but found no trace at all. In the end, he placed Shen Qingfeng under house arrest. Even though he knew that Xiang Cheng was unfaithful to him, he still let him stay in the Tingfeng Pavilion in order to continue investigating him.
Unfortunately, he found nothing.
He also suspected the relationship between Xiang Cheng and Lan.
But when Shen Qingfeng died and he ordered someone to behead Xiang Cheng, Lan didn't show up.
It was said that Lan was a cruel and ruthless person who often associated with poisons and had no human emotions. That is to say, Xiang Cheng was very likely something Lan had raised for fun or a test subject.
So, Xia Chuli didn't take this matter to heart.
The reason he was in such a hurry to give the Qianhua Silver Water to Shen Qingfeng was just to stimulate Shen Qingfeng's sympathy for him. After all, Lu Yan would arrive in Lige City today, and tonight would surely be a sleepless night. Even if he didn't say it now, Shen Qingfeng would find out about Qi Mengmeng's attempt to poison him later. So, it was better to let him know now to strengthen Shen Qingfeng's determination to help him stage a palace coup and ensure everything went smoothly.
Unfortunately, God played a huge joke on them.
Xia Chuli didn't know what Shen Qingfeng had discovered behind Jinding Mountain, and Shen Qingfeng didn't know that Xia Chuli was also a reborn person.
Different from Xia Chuli, who blindly believed in his past life and was blindly arrogant because of his rebirth, thinking that he could manipulate everyone, Shen Qingfeng, who was also reborn, had already seen the changes in this life because of Lu Yan. This was destined to drive the two of them further and further apart until they finally faced each other on the battlefield.
Similarly, when Shen Qingfeng took the Qianhua Silver Water that Liu Mei handed to him, a flash of surprise and doubt passed through his eyes. That strange light was something that Liu Mei couldn't understand at all and couldn't explain to Xia Chuli.
-
Shen Qingfeng followed a fawning jailer slowly into the death - row cell of the Jielü Gate.
The jailer bowed and scraped as he led Shen Qingfeng forward. He nervously rubbed his hands, his mouth full of contempt for King Xia Yonglin and praise for Prince Xia Chuli.
Shen Qingfeng followed behind the jailer. He didn't say a word the whole time, and his eyes were as calm as water, but in his heart, he couldn't help but sneer contemptuously.
This was reality. When one was out of power, one was like a pile of mud, and anyone could step on it and spit on it when passing by. When one was in power, everyone would come to curry favor, showing the most brilliant smiles and saying the most noble praises, completely forgetting how they had stepped on the mud and spat on it before.
How ridiculous.
With a gloomy face, Shen Qingfeng slowly followed the jailer to the door of a cell. There weren't many prisoners in the death - row cell, especially in the Jielü Gate, which only dealt with major matters and only cared about things within the palace. Therefore, the whole cell was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, and there was also a stench of long - disusedness in the air.
"Mr. Shen, this is the place!" The jailer rubbed his hands excitedly and eagerly lit the torch beside him. "The two rebels are respectively locked on the east and west sides of the death - row cell. They can't see or hear each other."
Shen Qingfeng smiled and repeated the jailer's words. "Rebels?"
The jailer paused, with cold sweat on his back. He tentatively said, "Yes... They wanted the king's life, so they are naturally rebels..."
"Hehe..." Shen Qingfeng's smile was full of meaning. "Well said."
The jailer let out a long sigh of relief, his whole body sweating.
Shen Qingfeng ignored him and turned to look into the cell. In the dim light of the torch, he could faintly see that the person in the cell had long hair disheveled, his hands were hanging high up, and his whole body was forced to kneel straight on the ground. His clothes were all torn to pieces by the rattan whip, and the broken clothes were stained with dark red blood, sticking wetly to his rich and delicate skin. It seemed that Shan Chenghuai hadn't shown any mercy.
Shen Qingfeng looked appreciatively for a while and then said to the jailer, "You can go. I want to have a good chat with this'rebel'."
Hearing the word "rebel" from Shen Qingfeng's mouth, the person in the cell trembled all over. He slowly raised his head, revealing Xia Yonglin's blood - smeared face and a pair of eyes full of intense hatred.