Chapter 767 - 769: Love letters that Appear out of Nowhere
"Hold on, bring Li Yuande here, I want to see if he is really drunk." The Emperor spoke.
The Imperial Concubine Liu’s face changed, and she said softly, "Your Majesty, he is usually fond of making a fuss, being drunk makes it worse. Please, don’t let him spoil your and the dowager’s good mood."
"Not to worry. I want to see what Li Yuande is up to and teach him one or two lessons." The Emperor responded.
Imperial Concubine Liu opened her mouth to argue, but eventually closed it. She stared at Li Yuande, thinking wasn’t he supposed to be romancing a woman? How come Bai Ruozhu looked unfazed while he was the one drunk? Was he really drunk? A cold light flashed in her eyes—she had to watch carefully.
Li Yuande was dragged to the Emperor by the guards, still muttering and cursing, "What are you dragging me for? Be careful or I’ll paddle your asses!" He then spouted a series of vulgarities that made the women at the scene blush.
The Emperor Tang Yin, also known as Wuning, was now irritated and ordered the guards, "He’s talking nonsense, give him ten lashes to see if that sobers him up."
Imperial Concubine Liu’s face turned red with embarrassment. Li Yuande had completely lost her face. Although she really wanted to skin him, it would seem the Emperor was publicly humiliating her by issuing this command. As she thought about this, she glared at Bai Ruozhu across the room, blaming her as well.
Li Yuande screamed as he was hit, shouting between painful howls, "Hit me to death if you dare. I’m not afraid of death. I’m already afflicted with venereal disease. Anyone who dares touch me, I’ll spit my poison on his face!"
All faces at the scene turned pale, the guards pulling him showed a look of disgust.
"If I die, I’ll make you suffer even in death!" He shouted while bursting into manic laughter.
"Give him ten more lashes! And summon the imperial physician to check if Li Yuande is really drunk or suffering from any ailment." The Emperor ordered with a stern face. Li Yuande’s use of ’grandpa’ and ’old man’ had thoroughly annoyed him. Of course, the Emperor meant also to put Imperial Concubine Liu and the Liu Family in their place.
After being brutally beaten with twenty strokes, Li Yuande’s yells turned into shrill cries similar to slaughtering a pig. He then started to regain some consciousness, realizing he had gotten himself into trouble. He was feeling dizzy and had no idea what he had done wrong.
Imperial physicians were always present during banquets. One quickly came over to check Li Yuande’s pulse then reported to the Emperor, "Majesty, Lord Li has indeed drunk too much and is not thinking clearly, also..." he then paused, casting a cautious glance at Imperial Concubine Liu.
The Emperor’s face darkened further at the physician’s reaction.
"Has he contracted a venereal disease?" He asked coldly.
The imperial physician wiped the sweat off his forehead and responded, "Your Majesty is insightful."
A gasp went through the crowd, everyone knew that Li Yuande, the young lord of the Li family, was fond of leading a wild life, but no one had expected that a young lord from an important official’s family could contract such a disease. This was clearly a disgrace to his family’s reputation.
Bai Ruozhu silently smirked in her mind. She hadn’t had a chance to test the pill she had made until now—Li Yuande made a perfect testing subject.
Back when she lived in Mountain Village, she had tricked her uncle Bai Yibo into getting drunk, leading him to spill his secrets while being intoxicated. He even went around rambling and writing nonsense on fences and walls within the village. Finding her stratagem effective, yet aware of the risk of chance involved, she chose to make pill-forms of these concoctions to ensure their effects. Of course, apart from inducing drunken-like states, the pill also contained ingredients that cause agitation and incoherent behaviors.
"Absurd!" The volume of the Emperor’s voice increased slightly in irritation, "Take Li Yuande back home and remind Li Xiuren to not attend the court for a few days. Instead, let him educate his son at home!"
"Please calm down, Your Majesty, do not let this obscure matter upset you. He is still young and used to misbehaving. Do not misinterpret it as disrespect towards Your Majesty." Imperial Concubine Liu advised gently, clearly not wanting the Emperor to blame the Li family.
The Emperor snorted coldly and said, "He’s already 21, not a child anymore. He needs to learn a lesson from this incident."
By now, Li Yuande had sobered up somewhat and realized that Bai Ruozhu had done something to him. He groaned and spoke, "Your Majesty, please see reason. I’ve been framed. It’s Madam Jiang from the Bai family who lured me for a secret rendezvous and drugged me. I didn’t drink any alcohol, she must have knocked me out and gave me a drink!"
"How dare you!" Jiang Yichun answered abruptly, "How dare you slander my legal wife?"
"I’m not lying. Her servant gave me a letter to meet her in secret!" Li Yuande claimed as he struggled up from the ground and fished out a thin piece of paper from his robe.
The eunuch took the paper and presented it to the Emperor. The Emperor glance at it, where it was written: The mountain has wood, the wood has branches; my heart yearns for you, but you don’t know it. I am waiting for you in the back garden, I hope you care for me.
The Emperor read it out loud. Bai Ruozhu listened and felt her skin crawl with disgust. She had never written such cringe-worthy things even to her husband, and she considered Li Yuande and her husband were on completely different levels; did he really think she would actually write such a letter?
"Is this indeed Jiang Madam’s handwriting?" The Emperor asked Bai Ruozhu coldly after glancing at her.
Imperial Concubine Liu seized the opportunity to say, "It seems that Madam Jiang did leave the banquet for a while."
Upon hearing this, Bai Ruozhu stepped forward a little, respectfully curtsied, and calmly said: "Earlier, a servant made an error which wet my dress with fruit juice. An eunuch said he’d find me another official robe, and led me to the dressing room out back."
Leng Wanhua also quickly stepped forward and added, "Your Majesty, I accompanied Madam Jiang at the time. But the eunuch carelessly brought a fourth-rank official robe. Madam Jiang didn’t dare to wear it, so I went to find the eunuch. However, I got knocked out by someone."
This was what she and Bai Ruozhu had discussed before. Bai Ruozhu and Leng Wanhua went to change clothes but came back without having changed. They had to make this clear.
"While I was waiting for Lady Leng in the room, I got worried and went looking for her. Fortunately, I ran into Princess Diao Bin, who helped me find Lady Leng, but the fourth-rank official robe that she originally held was no longer with her." Bai Ruozhu added.
Upon hearing that, Princess Diao Bin also stood up and confirmed, "My brother, it’s indeed as Madam Jiang described. I initially thought it was strange and wanted to report it to you after the banquet, but I didn’t expect..." She didn’t finish her sentence, instead glancing over at Li Yuande lying on the ground.
"Who was the eunuch that led Madam Jiang and Lady Leng away? Bring him to me!" The Emperor’s expression grew even colder. The palace was getting more chaotic, with such plots and scheming happening right under his nose.