Mad Queen Leaves the Palace

Chapter 107 Xiao Lan Collects Debts

The Ye family has been incredibly unlucky lately! They're under strict control, their gates tightly shut, and no one can easily step outside. Even buying everyday necessities requires the help of the soldiers surrounding the Ye residence. Forget about a living person; even a small dog trying to sneak out and run around is a pipe dream!

However, as the saying goes, there's always a way out. In this seemingly hopeless predicament, the experienced and resourceful old nanny by Madam Yuan's side actually found a glimmer of hope. She racked her brains and finally came up with a brilliant excuse, successfully delivering Ye Zijian's letter out of the mansion and all the way to the mysterious Huanlou.

Speaking of these pleasure houses, they are no ordinary places. They are not merely the kind of places that simply provide sexual services; behind them lie enormous secrets and a complex network of power. As for who founded these pleasure houses, it remains a mystery to this day, and no one can say for sure.

What's astonishing is that Huanlou is a powerful civilian organization that combines assassination and espionage. Its branches are spread like a spider web throughout the Jiangnan region, but no one knows the exact location of this mysterious organization's headquarters.

However, as long as you are willing to spend enough money, Huanlou will absolutely do everything in its power to help you achieve your wishes. Whether it's murder to silence witnesses or stealing confidential information, Huanlou will find a way to fulfill any request you make. But there is only one thing to note: Huanlou never gets involved in court politics. Perhaps because of this, despite Huanlou's widespread fame and high prestige among the people, it has never attracted the attention and concern of the government.

However, it was precisely because of Huanlou's astonishing omnipotence that Ye Zijian and Ye Yuanshi, after careful consideration, resolutely took out a full 500,000 taels of silver and issued an extremely cruel order—to take Xiao Lan's head! And they specifically emphasized that this must be disguised as a seemingly flawless accident.

However, when Ye Zijian conveyed this task to Huanlou, he played a little trick. He did not truthfully tell Xiao Lan her real identity and background, only claiming that she was merely the daughter of a fifth-rank official. According to him, this woman had deceived the sincere feelings of the employer's son, to the point that the infatuated young master wrote a resolute letter home, expressing his intention to completely sever ties with his biological parents.

In reality, eliminating a single person, especially a frail and defenseless woman like Xiao Lan, would be a piece of cake for Huanlou. They possess countless methods to make their targets disappear from the world without anyone noticing. Normally, the cost of handling such a matter would be no more than two hundred thousand taels of silver.

But this time, the situation was unusual. First, the mysterious employer hadn't revealed his true identity; second, the person who commissioned the task clearly seemed to be just a low-level henchman following orders; and most importantly, the reward offered was outrageously high, a whopping 500,000 taels of silver! Faced with such an abnormal situation, the leader in charge of the mission naturally dared not be careless. Therefore, he didn't immediately strike, but cautiously sent men to secretly follow Xiao Lan, trying to find out her true background first, and to ensure that she wouldn't cause any unexpected trouble before deciding whether to take action.

Unexpectedly, when the personnel sent out to carry out the assassination mission conducted an in-depth investigation, they were surprised to discover that although this woman named Xiao Lan was indeed just the daughter of a fifth-rank official, she had a more astonishing identity hidden behind her—she was actually the granddaughter of the Xiao Marquis's family! Even more shockingly, the current emperor had just bestowed her upon the fifth prince as his wife, and soon she would be officially registered in the imperial genealogy, becoming a noble princess consort.

It's important to know that brothels have an unwritten rule: they never get involved in official matters and will not accept commissions from officials of the third rank or above, or their relatives. Unless the person involved is extremely wicked and unforgivable, even then, the brothel will carefully consider whether to accept the commission based on the specific circumstances.

As a first-rank duke, Marquis Xiao holds a high position of power and influence, and is also one of the eight pillars of the court, making his status extremely prestigious. Once Xiao Lan marries, her status will be comparable to that of a first-rank minister. Furthermore, since she has already been betrothed to a prince by His Majesty, how could she easily become entangled with other men? If she were to engage in such behavior, there would be no need for the man's family to come knocking on the door to demand an explanation; the royal family would punish him severely, perhaps even executing him to uphold the law.

Therefore, once the people from Huanlou confirmed Xiao Lan's true identity, they did not hesitate to return to report to their master and did not continue with the assassination plan. However, Ye Ziquan was completely unaware of all this. He was overjoyed, believing that Xiao Lan must have met with misfortune. After all, he had deliberately chosen the time when Xiao Lan left Xiwu Prefecture to secretly contact Huanlou to carry out the assassination, thinking that he had gotten away with it and that no one would know Xiao Lan's true identity.

Just as Ye Zijian and Ye Yuanshi were overjoyed, believing that Xiao Lan was most likely dead, suddenly, a series of light footsteps approached from afar.

It turned out that after careful planning the previous night, the two had specifically instructed the servants to prepare a lavish meal this morning. Furthermore, Ye Zijian, contrary to his usual behavior, stayed overnight in Yuan's room. Although he had long since lost interest in his wife, only the two of them knew the truth. Therefore, their secret joy and pride could only be shared between them.

Last night, although the couple did not consummate their marriage, they talked all night in bed, pouring out their hearts to each other. So much so that when someone approached, they didn't even notice who it was. Only when the person was close did they snap out of their reverie and look closely. There stood Luo You and Yue Jiangchuan! The couple exchanged a glance, secretly wondering: Could it be that they had already taken care of things? Although the Emperor had issued a decree stating that Xiao Lan was the aggrieved party and had come to demand compensation from the Ye family, if Xiao Lan had truly disappeared, then they could simply offer a token amount, apologize to the Emperor, and hand over a million taels of silver as compensation, which should easily quell the turmoil.

While everyone was still in shock, the two people who had entered earlier were now standing on either side of the door. As they moved, Xiao Lan and Yan Nanhui, who had been hidden behind the door, slowly came into view. When everyone's eyes fell on Xiao Lan, their faces showed astonishment, as if they had seen something unbelievable. However, what was even more astonishing was what Xiao Lan said next. She called out in a clear and loud voice, "Patriarch Ye, Madam Ye, this gentleman before us is His Majesty's Fifth Prince! How dare you two remain seated here? Are you trying to show disrespect to the Fifth Prince?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Zijian and Ye Yuanshi were startled. They exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with fear and unease. Then, like startled rabbits, they rushed to Yan Nanhui and knelt down with a thud, bowing respectfully.

However, unexpectedly, Yan Nan Hui did not rush to help the couple up as one would normally do. Instead, his face was ashen, and he coldly questioned, "Patriarch Ye, as far as I know, your Ye family dared to plagiarize the poetry collection written by my future princess, and even impersonated 'Young Master Lan' to deceive many nobles in the capital. Even my mother was not spared from being fooled. Hmph, your Ye family is truly audacious! Not only that, but look at the fine daughter you raised, her behavior is also so despicable!"

Yan Nan's words struck Ye Zijian like a thunderbolt, sending a shiver down his spine. Others might not know the truth, but Ye Zijian, as the head of the Ye family, was acutely aware of it. After all, the Ye family, as imperial merchants, needed to travel to the capital every few years, and they were well aware of the complexities involved. Faced with the Fifth Prince's questioning, he knew that if this matter wasn't handled properly, the entire Ye family might face annihilation.

Back in the early years of his career as a royal merchant, Ye Zijian was arrogant, domineering, and reckless. Just because his sister was a highly respected imperial concubine, he thought he had a solid backer and could act arbitrarily.

However, as the saying goes, "arrogance breeds trouble," and one day, the overconfident Ye Zijian foolishly provoked a prince. The result was predictable: he was severely beaten. Everyone assumed that, given his sister's position in the palace, the emperor would punish the prince to avenge him. But to everyone's surprise, the emperor not only didn't punish the prince, but instead ordered Ye Zijian to be flogged and made him personally apologize to the prince.

This incident was a wake-up call for Ye Zijian. He finally began to temper his arrogance and became more cautious. After some clandestine investigation, he was surprised to discover that his sister, Ye Yanran, was far less favored in the palace than rumored. In reality, the emperor rarely visited her chambers more than a few times a year. However, if Ye Yanran made some reasonable requests, the emperor would grant them, leading her to mistakenly believe that the emperor was deeply in love with her and showered her with affection.

Shortly afterward, through deliberate cultivation of interpersonal relationships, Ye Zijian successfully forged a deep friendship with a palace eunuch. From this eunuch, he learned a shocking secret: the emperor spent nearly a third of the year staying in Consort Tong's palace! Even more astonishing was the fact that Consort Tong was no ordinary woman—she came from the mysterious, reclusive Tong family and had once been the crown princess before the emperor ascended the throne!

The Fifth Prince standing before her was none other than the only child born to Consort Tong. Consort Tong had previously given birth to twins! Tragically, one of the children died just days after birth. From that moment on, various rumors circulated in the palace, all claiming that the deceased child had been murdered by his own sister, Consort Ye. But Ye Zijian knew perfectly well that while his sister might sometimes be simple-minded and reckless, she was utterly incapable of such a malicious scheme. Or, to put it more bluntly, with her limited intelligence, she could never have conceived of such a vicious and ruthless method.

But who could have foreseen that not only was Xiao Lan unharmed, but she had also appeared here with Consort Tong's only son. It must be known that the Fifth Prince's status was incomparably noble; in this world, only the current Emperor, Empress, and the Crown Prince could surpass him, and everyone else had to give him a wide berth. Thinking of this, Ye Zijian dared not be negligent in the slightest, and hurriedly bowed, speaking with trepidation, "Your Highness, please calm your anger. That Ye Lanyi is merely a concubine's daughter from a collateral branch of my family. I truly never expected that this woman would be so audacious as to commit such a heinous crime."

Yan Nan turned to look at Xiao Lan, his gaze lingering for a moment before he sighed softly and said with emotion, "Alas! It's truly lamentable! You know, even if you use a pen to write, you can't write two completely identical 'Ye' characters. She's surnamed Ye, you're surnamed Ye, even that Consort Ye was surnamed Ye. In the end, we all share the same surname, Ye!" These words sounded rather convoluted, but Ye Zijian understood perfectly. He knew exactly what Yan Nan was trying to say—anything committed by anyone in the Ye family was an internal matter, and no one could escape responsibility.

Upon hearing this, Ye Zijian, who was standing to the side, quickly and respectfully replied, "The Fifth Prince is absolutely right. I will definitely strictly discipline the Ye family members in the future and never allow such a thing to happen again."

Just then, Xiao Lan, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up, "It's truly excellent that Patriarch Ye has such awareness. Since you've realized your mistake, then quickly return the full amount of gold as compensation. To be honest, I happened to meet His Highness the Fifth Prince here today. His Highness is here in Jiangnan on the Emperor's orders to handle important matters. Fortunately, I'm quite familiar with this place and can assist His Highness in successfully completing his mission. Therefore, we really don't have much time to wait for the Ye family to slowly raise the funds for compensation. I hope Patriarch Ye can understand and make up the money today, so that the Fifth Prince and I can set off for the capital as soon as possible to report to His Majesty."