Crowned by the Treacherous Big Shot

Chapter 844: Chapter 692

Ji Li widened his eyes: "What’s the situation? Has Emperor Liang passed away?"

Chen Long glared at him, about to retort that he was the one who passed away, but then remembered this chicken wasn’t qualified to pass away.

"Go tell my sister."

Chen Long said.

Ji Li clicked his tongue: "Sister, sister, you call her like she’s your biological one."

Chen Long ignored him.

After a pause, he sympathized and asked, "Have you finished kneeling on your washboard?"

Ji Li, feeling stabbed deeply: "..."

Chen Long summoned Qing Shuang and had her go to the main courtyard.

Though he didn’t want to disturb his sister’s rest, the Emperor Liang’s safety was at stake, not allowing any delay.

Meng Qianqian and Lu Yuan arrived quickly.

After feeling Emperor Liang’s pulse, Meng Qianqian checked for any internal injuries, finding none.

"Strange, the pulse is normal, and there are no injuries, no poisoning either."

She said thoughtfully, "It’s the first time I’ve encountered such a peculiar situation, especially with the emperor being my grandfather."

With his grandfather’s power, even if poisoned or injured, he wouldn’t lose consciousness so easily, let alone everything seeming normal.

"Look at this."

Chen Long took the black object wrapped in a cloth from Ji Li’s hand.

Ji Li looked at his hand frozen in mid-air, just taken out, and you’re quick, aren’t you!

Meng Qianqian reached out to take it.

Lu Yuan beat her to it, placing it in his own palm.

Chen Long realized his sister was pregnant and it was inappropriate for her to touch the object, allowing Lu Yuan to take it.

Meng Qianqian put on silver thread gloves and pressed it gently; it felt like dough about to dry out, more resilient, impossible to tell what it was made of, but it didn’t have a medicinal smell.

She used a silver needle to test for poison; the needle didn’t change color.

"No poison."

She said.

Lu Yuan’s expression relaxed slightly.

He told Chen Long and Ji Li, "Can you two not wait until the thing is shoved into my grandfather’s mouth before acting next time?"

Ji Li said, "Wasn’t it to avoid alerting them? Besides, who would’ve thought the Emperor of Liang lost consciousness? We thought he did it intentionally."

This was not an excuse; both he and Chen Long thought that at the time.

They feared appearing too early would ruin Emperor Liang’s plan to lure the enemy out.

Chen Long cluelessly asked, "Since there’s no poison, then why won’t Emperor Liang wake up?"

Lu Yuan said, "The question should be, when was my grandfather stupefied?"

Indeed, if the black-clad person had entered the residence while His Majesty was already unconscious, then when did this happen and where?

Meng Qianqian fell into deep thought.

She meticulously recalled the details of today’s outing, from getting on the carriage to returning to the residence.

Firstly, there was no risk of being plotted against before arriving at Weiyang Building.

After entering Weiyang Building, her grandfather hadn’t interacted directly with the Loulan people.

On the way back from Weiyang Building to the residence, they weren’t followed or ambushed.

"Was there anything unusual during Emperor Liang’s dinner?"

Ji Li asked.

After leaving Weiyang Building, he had returned to the Princess Mansion and sneaked out again at this point.

Meng Qianqian shook her head: "Dinner was in my great-grandmother’s courtyard, and at that time, my grandfather was completely normal."

The mother and son chatted happily, played a game of leaf cards, read a storybook, fully enjoying family bliss.

"On the way back, what was Emperor Liang doing while we were negotiating a deal with Yucheng Building?"

Ji Li continued to ask.

He was never one to meddle, but since Si Snake left, it seemed he had taken over Si Snake’s role, becoming more concerned with Meng Qianqian’s affairs.

Perhaps, this was no longer just Meng Qianqian’s issue.

It was a mystery for all of them.

Meng Qianqian called over Cui Hu.

Cui Hu said, "After returning from Tinglan Courtyard, His Majesty practiced two sets of martial arts, then cleaned up and went to bed."

Meng Qianqian asked, "No abnormalities?"

Cui Hu looked puzzled: "None!"

Meng Qianqian paused, then said, "Though I don’t know how it was done, this matter must be related to the Loulan Witch."

Chen Long pondered for a moment and said, "Shall we capture Yucheng Building for questioning?"

Lu Yuan weighed the black object in his hand and said, "Instead of asking him, why not ask someone else?"

Chen Long asked, "Who?"

-

Weiyang Building.

Duan Wenliang had been busy for most of the night, finally finishing today’s accounts.

"A huge loss today!"

"The silver spent on the ring, the cost of repairing the damage they did to the tables and chairs, plus the drinks... all a pile of bad debts!"

He was extremely depressed.

"Never mind, I’ll go find Xun Wu for money tomorrow."

Doing business is so hard, I really don’t know how Xun Wu made so much silver.

He stretched lazily, rubbed his sore shoulder, and planned to return to his room to rest.

As he passed his elder brother’s chambers, he noticed the candlelight was still on, and the door was ajar.

He asked bewilderedly, "Fourth Brother, you’re not asleep?"

"Not asleep."

A clear voice from Duan Mingyue came from inside.

No hint of drowsiness at all.

"Then I’m coming in."

Duan Wenliang pushed the door and entered.

Duan Mingyue was sitting in a wheelchair, with a large table before him, filled with exquisite and delicious refreshments, along with several plates of freshly cut fruits, chilled with ice basin.

In addition, tea, water, wine, everything was complete and comprehensive.

Duan Wenliang was dumbfounded. "Fourth Brother, in the middle of the night... you wouldn’t have prepared this for me, would you? You... you..."

His heart suddenly surged with endless heat waves, his nose stung, his throat swelled with pain, and tears of emotion flowed from the corners of his eyes!

"Fourth Brother, you finally see my efforts, right? You finally sympathize with my hardship. You finally know I’m not just eating for nothing, I’m really working hard for this family—"

Bang!

The room door was violently pushed open, crashing heavily against the wall, creaking incessantly.

Chen Long: "... didn’t do it on purpose."

Duan Mingyue smiled faintly, "Please sit."

Duan Wenliang’s emotion abruptly halted.

He glanced at the group of unexpected visitors arriving late at night, then looked at the teacups on the table.

One, two, three, four!

Meng Qianqian, Lu Yuan, Chen Long, Ji Li!

Duan Wenliang’s sadness turned into a river!

The four of them sat down.

Meng Qianqian said solemnly, "It seems you’ve guessed we’d come, so let’s not beat around the bush, I’ll say it directly."

Duan Mingyue smiled, "First, have something to eat."

"No need... slurp..."

Meng Qianqian looked at the sour apricots placed in front of her, tears of penitence flowed from the corners of her lips.

Lu Yuan moved the plate of sour apricots to her side, tossed a Brocade Bag to Duan Mingyue.

After opening the Brocade Bag, Duan Mingyue smiled meaningfully, "Third Brother is here to buy information from Big Brother?"

"Name your price."

Lu Yuan said.

Duan Mingyue smiled looking at Lu Yuan, "The friendship between us was used during the daytime, now discussing business, the price isn’t cheap."

Lu Yuan said calmly, "Name your price."

Ji Li snapped open the folding fan, covering his mouth as he softly asked Lu Yuan, "Hey, aren’t you afraid he’ll raise the price and demand exorbitantly?"

Lu Yuan stared straight into Duan Mingyue’s seemingly smiling eyes, "If he can name it, I can afford it!"

Duan Mingyue smiled, "Looks like the one affected by witchcraft has a close relationship with Third Brother."

Ji Li was surprised, "It’s really witchcraft? Does this mean that Loulan Witch did it?"

Duan Mingyue took out the black lump from the Brocade Bag, "This item is called witch soil, taken from north of Yin Mountain, it’s made from black soil mixed with cowhorn powder. As for what else is added, it’s the witch’s untransmitted secret, an outsider like me has no way of knowing."

"This item is occasionally used in witchcraft, generally only a small amount is needed. The more used, the more difficult and complex the witchcraft."

He said this while a probing gaze flashed past the few of them, "The person affected by witchcraft... could it be Emperor Liang?"

Ji Li’s motion of shaking the folding fan paused.

In terms of divine calculation, he ranks second, never admitting anyone can rank first.

But this Duan Mingyue, clearly not a magician, sometimes predicts even better than one.

Lu Yuan admittedly said, "Indeed, it’s my imperial grandfather."

Duan Mingyue smiled, "You discovered it quite timely, this piece of witch soil is quite new. In another three days or so, I’m afraid it might be beyond saving."

Ji Li mocked, "Putting soil into the mouth, they actually thought of it, aren’t they afraid of choking people to death!"

Meng Qianqian asked, "Is there a specific place to put it?"

Duan Mingyue shook his head, "Not really, keep it close, putting it in the mouth should only be to avoid detection."

He continued looking at the witch soil in his hand, "But since it’s reached the point of using witch soil, the Array must be almost done. Is Emperor Liang already unconscious?"

Lu Yuan nodded.

"So fast..."

Duan Mingyue pondered.

Chen Long asked, "Do you know when the Loulan people started using witchcraft on Emperor Liang?"

Duan Mingyue turned to look toward the long night, "Today."

All four were shocked.

Meng Qianqian asked confusedly, "Today? But the witch and Emperor Liang did not confront today, is it possible to cast witchcraft like this? If so, wouldn’t the witch be able to harm anyone easily? If it’s like this, why doesn’t he use witchcraft to kill the Great Zhou Emperor, kill the Loulan King, kill all the Vassal Kings who seem in harmony but are not in accord with Loulan?"

"Casting witchcraft also requires conditions and costs, the more distinguished the identity of the person killed, the higher the difficulty, and the more tragic the cost. Even in war, timing, location, and human harmony are essential; witchcraft likewise, isn’t something that can be used at will."

"If my guess is correct, Emperor Liang was affected by a type of witchcraft known as Curse Killing. They obtained Emperor Liang’s birthdate and character, physical and hair items, then lured Emperor Liang into the Array."

"Array?"

Meng Qianqian frowned, "Birthdate and character are easy to find, physical and hair items are not too difficult, but when and where is the Array?"

Emperor Liang was injured while in the underground palace, there was an opportunity to obtain his physical and hair items then.

Lu Yuan spoke, "Weiyang Building."

Everyone looked at him.

Lu Yuan gazed into the dark hall, "The entire Weiyang Building is a massive Array. So-called martial arts duel or fight, regardless of the result, Ayimulan wins."

Meng Qianqian said, "Because what she wanted was never to win against Liang Country, but to use the duel to delay time, allowing the Array to take effect, giving the witch enough time to cast the witchcraft."

Ji Li suddenly realized, "No wonder she didn’t show an ounce of worry even with successive losses of confidants, she was waiting here!"

Meng Qianqian clenched her fist, "Ayimulan... Ayimulan!"