Translated by Erie (me) and sponsored by Kris P. and Mylinh B. :)
1栽赃陷害: place evidence to frame others – literally means to frame
2三人成虎:when three people say there is a tiger, this becomes the truth – literally means a lie turns into the truth
3添油加醋: add oil and add vinegar – literally means to exaggerate and add colors
Chapter 63: Imprisonment turns into disaster
Li Wei Yang walked out from the main hall and slowly breathed a sigh of relief. Bai Zhi was waiting outside, when she saw Li Wei Yang coming out, she hurriedly rushed over: “Xiaojie.”
Li Wei Yang gave her a glance and saw tears flickering in the corners of her eyes. She unconsciously sighed and said: “You are still upset over what happened to Zi Yan?”
Bai Zhi wiped her tears, she said: “Xiaojie, Nubi and Zi Yan entered the residence together, of course, our relationship is unlike others. Even though she bought it onto herself, she died so miserably, Nubi really feels …”
Li Wei Yang nodded, when San Furen sent someone to tell her that Da Shaoye punished Zi Yan and they even tortured her until she died, she immediately thought of this idea. She knew Li Xiao Ran well; when there was someone who threatened to jeopardize his reputation and position, there was no need to discuss!
Li Wei Yang’s eyes looked around and then she suddenly frowned: “Did Min De and San furen leave?”
Bai Zhi’s face was blank, she said: “San furen returned but San Shaoye was not seen.”
Since the start of the banquet, this child was acting weirdly, Li Wei Yang thought over it and still felt that there something wrong, she said: “Come with me and look for him.”
They walked back as they looked for him. Ultimately, they saw a familiar figure on a step of the pavilion in the still garden.
Li Wei Yang was stunned, she quickly strolled over.
“Sanjie.” Li Min De was sitting on the step as he lowly spoke.
The moonlight was shining on his face, making it seemed like his lips was faintly whitening.
“Why are you sitting here alone?” Li Wei Yang reached out for him. Her hand had just reached him when it was startled by the cold temperature of his body; she told Bai Zhi to bring her cloak over.
Bai Zhi turned around and then darted away, leaving the two of them alone at the pavilion.
Li Min De didn’t lift his head, his long lashes were drooping, “Sanjie, what happened today, you planned this with mother, right?”
Li Wei Yang stared blankly, she didn’t know how to respond. Da fang has openly and secretly thought about San fang’s a.s.sets, earlier, San furen was not well and that was all Da furen’s doing. Now San furen was simply returning what she endured, there was nothing wrong with that, but Min De, was still a child after all, would he be able to understand?
“Min De, you shouldn’t worry about these things, quickly return home, don’t catch a cold.” She pulled him again.
He still didn’t move and only furrowed his brows, he said: “I want to stay here a little longer.”
“What is going on with you tonight?” Her face revealed a layer of light anger, “Are you going back or not!”
“I won’t go back!” Li Min De suddenly spoke with a loud voice and Li Wei Yang’s eyes were turning cold. She wouldn’t be good-hearted towards anyone without any reason, if she and Li Min De didn’t establish a relationship on good terms, she wouldn’t even care if he froze to death.
“Fine, if you are not leaving, then I will leave.” Li Wei Yang turned.
A reluctant whisper was heard from behind: “You hide everything from me ……”
Li Wei Yang suddenly turned her head and stared at Li Min De; she was thinking this child was not old yet his mind was mature.
“We didn’t mean to hide it from you, it’s just that it’s better for you to know less of these actions used to frame others1.” We also couldn’t let a child be involved in this.
“You only think of me as a child.” Li Min De frowned.
If you are not a child, then what are you! Li Wei Yang’s head started hurting, “In the future we’ll do our best to ---“
Li Min De suddenly lifted his head, his shining eyes looked at her until Li Wei Yang felt inexplicably guilty.
Whether it was San Furen or her, they wouldn’t let Min De be in danger.
“Stop making a scene, get up.” Li Wei Yang blinked her eyes as she spoke in a serious tone.
“I am not making a scene.” Li Min De’s lashes were like a fan, his tender face was expressionless; it seemed like his face revealed a serious aura inconsistent to his age.
Li Wei Yang laughed and said: “Don’t you want me to think of you as an adult? Is this an action of an adult?”
He didn’t reply. Li Wei Yang reached out to pull him up.
Li Min De speechlessly flung her hand off, Li Wei Yang quietly mocked him, this child was not lovable at all!
Li Min De suddenly stood up, unfortunately, once he took a step, he fell down.
“Your legs fell asleep, right?” Li Wei Yang held onto him and successfully pulled him back, she helplessly let out a sigh, “San Shaoye, you want me to accompany you to catch a cold?”
Li Min De clutched his face, he was still upset.
What do you have in your arms, it is bulging.” Li Wei Yang asked suspiciously.
“Nothing ……”
She suspiciously looked at him, “It’s really nothing?”
He hugged his chest: “…… It’s only an invaluable toy, it’s incomparable to what the Crowned Prince has gifted.”
Li Wei Yang was still: “You --- also prepared a gift for me?”
A hint of red clouds appeared on Li Min De’s face, it wasn’t after a while that he affirmed.
Li Wei Yang was slightly shocked, she felt uneasy on the inside.
She realized Min De was a lonely child because of his precociousness, he was much more intelligent and sensitive than an adult, which made others couldn’t help but have affections for him.
Li Min De slowly took out a wood carving from his chest.
Li Wei Yang: “……”
It was a doll that looked like a rabbit, uh ……
“Does it look like you?” Li Min De pleasingly asked her.
Li Wei Yang didn’t have the heart to upset him and only said: “Yes, it looks very similar, you made it yourself?”
“Yes!” Li Min De happily smiled
“It’s made beautifully.” Li Wei Yang lifted his gift up to look at it meticulously; even though the wood work was choppy, every line and corner were rounded. It could be seen that lots of effort was put into this, “Min De is too kind to me.”
Li Min De smiled, she suddenly saw his curled up fingers and frowned. She immediately held onto his hand and her fingertip felt a finely broken and coa.r.s.e scar, “You’ve injured your fingers?”
Li Min De hid his hand: “I did not!”
It was obvious that he had injured his fingers yet he denied.
Li Wei Yang’s eyes was dark as the night, her long curling lashes jittered under her eyes forming a shadow. She eventually smiled cheerfully: “I will take good care of this gift.”
As the saying goes, once gossip was repeated often enough2, it would be accepted as the truth. An incident that had been spread through many people’s mouths would inevitably be exaggerated3. Also, that night at the banquet, present were many n.o.bles and the women of their family and they enjoyed gossiping about others. Soon, the entire capital had already heard about Prime Minister Li’s eldest son who had returned from his studies, was actually a dissolute man that took concubines before getting married and they didn’t know how he killed the yatou. Da Furen thought of all kinds of way to suppress the rumors from spreading, but the rumors had become more and more intense. Gossipers spread the news and continued to add in their own details, causing the incident to become more colorful and become a popular topic amongst the public. In the end, the version had evolved into this, Li family’s eldest son s.e.xually a.s.saulted a yatou, this yatou killed herself on the day of the banquet. The most frightening was that this version spread to the palace, which made the Emperor very furious since he had the intention of allowing Li Min Feng to become an official in the court. Not only did he shelved all proposals that supported his intention, he also scolded Tuoba Zhen, who also presented a proposal.
Third Prince, who was always cautious, thought that if he wrote a proposal to help, he would gain a favor from Prime Minister Li and would also gain an extra helper that could be used in the future. He didn’t expect that this would happen; this was a rare misstep in years.
Da furen bought Li Chang Le to the ancestral hall to visit Li Min Feng who was locked up for ten days.
Li Min Feng sat in front of a table in a trance, his complexion dull, his eyes white, and his face dispirited. In the past few days, he didn’t understand from his enriched knowledge gained from academics and travel experience, how could he be no match to a thirteen-years old girl and suffered a big loss?
He couldn’t believe that he continuously fell for Li Wei Yang’s schemes and was even led in circles by her. These great talents and political schemes, in her eyes, were nothing.
“Da ge, how did turn like this?” Li Chang Le was almost speechless.
Once he saw Da furen, he immediately rushed forward: “Mother, help me get out of here, I can’t stand this any longer!”
Next: Chapter 64