The mistress is reborn, no one who bullies me can escape

In Ling Yan's eyes, which were originally as calm as water, the emotions suddenly brightened up like lightning across the night sky, just like the twinkling stars in the night sky, which seemed to contain wisps of hope.

He stared at Old Madam Xue and asked impatiently, "Just what? Tell me quickly!" His voice was anxious and full of expectation.

Old Madam Xue pursed her lips slightly, her face looked a little solemn, as if she had a thousand troubles in her heart.

Even so, she knew that this matter was of great importance and could not be concealed at all, so she took a deep breath and said slowly: "When I first saw that person, I accidentally discovered that he had a plum blossom pattern on his body."

Hearing the words "plum blossom pattern", Ling Yan's heart was shocked and the light in his eyes dimmed a little.

Could this person be the rootless person mentioned by Master Tiandao?

That mysterious existence in the legend that has no destiny and is independent of fate?

Thinking of this, Ling Yan couldn't help but fall into deep thought, his mind constantly recalling the rumors and speculations about the rootless man.

You know, Concubine Hui once said with certainty that there is no such thing as exchanging fate in this world. It is just a witchcraft technique that came from southern Xinjiang.

However, after careful improvements by Master Tiandao, this set of witchcraft techniques became more and more mysterious, and was said to be as magical as the magic of gods.

Eventually, he was used by the sinister imperial teacher, who used his lies to confuse the people and attempt to disrupt the peace of the royal family.

So, is this rootless person really, as the rumors say, a key figure who can specifically crack the art of witchcraft?

Ling Yan frowned, his hands unconsciously clenched into fists, still thinking hard about this crucial question.

At this moment, his brain was working rapidly, with various clues and possibilities intertwining and colliding in his mind.

Mrs. Xue saw that Ling Yan remained silent for a long time and her expression became more and more anxious, mistakenly thinking that he was doubting what she said.

She hurriedly explained, "Your Highness, everything I said is true. I can still remember what I saw vividly. The plum blossom pattern is clearly visible. There is no way I could be wrong."

Her body trembled, her legs softened, and she fell to her knees again with a "thump". Her forehead hit the cold, hard ground heavily, making a crisp and heart-pounding sound.

She raised her head, her face full of tears, and looked at the prince with horror and helplessness. She said in a trembling voice: "Your Highness, everything I said is true. Those things that I can't bear to look back on are simply a great shame and humiliation for me. Under that situation, how could I have kept any keepsakes? If I can completely erase that painful memory from my mind, I am willing to pay a huge price. I don't want to think about that dark and gloomy day again in my life..."

Time flies, and several years have passed.

However, these long years did not heal the wounds deep in her heart, but made them even more unforgettable.

Countless nights, when it was late at night and everyone was asleep, she was always haunted by nightmares and could not sleep peacefully; even every time she saw Xue Jinhua's face that was similar to that man, the terrible night before would flood into her mind like a tide, and the humiliation she suffered that night would bite her heart like a poisonous snake, making her feel unbearable pain.

This torture was like a chronic poison, corroding her soul and body bit by bit, making it impossible for her to live or die.

At this moment, Ling Yan's eyes were wide open with veins bulging on his forehead. His originally handsome face seemed distorted and hideous due to extreme anger.

He stared at Madam Xue, who was kneeling on the ground in a state of embarrassment, and shouted, "Even if the facts are as you said, what on earth did Xue Jinhua do wrong? For so many years, you have always treated her coldly and ignored her. Now, when your life is hanging by a thread, you actually want to beg me to spare your life for the sake of you and your daughter! Madam Xue, Madam Xue, don't you feel the slightest bit of shame and humiliation?"

Hearing this question, Mrs. Xue cried even more bitterly.

She wiped the tears that kept flowing out of her eyes with her sleeves and sobbed as she argued, "She was born by me. I gave her life. Since she is my daughter, she should be grateful to me and repay my kindness!"

"Oh? Then why did you choose to live in disgrace when you had the opportunity to die to prove your integrity in the face of such a great humiliation?"

Ling Yan roared in rage. He felt that all this was extremely absurd and ridiculous!

The woman in front of him was clearly a coward, but even now, she was still trying to shift all the blame onto Xue Jinhua.

"How shameless! You have no sense of shame at all!" Ling Yan was so angry that he was shaking all over and cursing in his heart.

"Someone come! Take Madam Xue away and execute her immediately!" Following Ling Yan's order, a group of majestic imperial guards filed in.

Madam Xue, who had been crying her heart out, finally stopped crying when she saw this. She looked at the Crown Prince with horror and disbelief, and begged in a trembling voice, "Your Highness, you promised me before that as long as I told you the truth, you would forgive me. Please show mercy... and let me live!"

Ling Yan snorted coldly, his face gloomy as he said, "I did promise to spare your life, but the Xue family has committed such a serious crime. Although the death penalty can be exempted, the living punishment is inevitable."

Upon hearing this, Madam Xue's eyes widened instantly. She could never have imagined that the prince would actually play word games with her.

“No...don’t...” Old Madam Xue pleaded at the top of her lungs, but the well-trained imperial guards were unmoved and dragged her out mercilessly.

After Madam Xue left, the beggar master slowly walked into the room again.

Ling Yan's face was so gloomy that it seemed like water could drip out of it. He stared coldly at the plain-looking beggar in front of him and asked, "Little Master, does this so-called exchange of fate really exist?"

The beggar master's expression was equally solemn and ugly. His lips trembled slightly as he said, "Your Highness, all I have learned in my life was taught by my master, but now my master has passed away... I know nothing about this!"

At this moment, who can truly understand the pain and entanglement in his heart?

I thought that what I had been studying for many years was a profound and mysterious art of numerology, and that with this art I could even change my destiny and turn the world around.

However, today, someone unexpectedly told him that what he learned was not some mysterious art of fortune-telling at all, but some kind of witchcraft!

The beggar master stared at his rough hands with a dull look, his heart filled with disbelief and fear.

These hands, which were once used to explore the mysteries of fate, now seem to be stained with sin and darkness.

"That's it!"

Ling Yan swung his sleeves violently and said sternly, "I order you to go to Southern Xinjiang and thoroughly investigate this matter of witchcraft. If you still cannot find out the truth this time, I will kill you!"

Hearing this, the beggar trembled all over as if struck by lightning, and then he knelt on his knees without hesitation, kowtowed and thanked him, "Thank you, Your Highness, for not killing me! When I go to Southern Xinjiang this time, I will do my best to get to the bottom of this matter, and I will never let Your Highness down!"

The beggar master originally thought that the prince would be furious and would take his life without mercy, but unexpectedly, he escaped this disaster!

It was like walking around the gates of hell and coming back safe and sound. He couldn't help but secretly congratulate himself on his extremely good luck.

"Don't be in a hurry to thank me. In addition to thoroughly investigating this matter, I have another thing I need you to do." The prince said seriously.

At this moment, for this person who has just saved his life, as long as he can continue to live, he would go through fire and water, even if it means going through mountains of swords and seas of fire.

The beggar knelt on the ground without saying anything, and banged his head repeatedly, raising dust all over the ground. He hurriedly responded, "If Your Highness has any orders, I will do my best. Please let Your Highness know."

"Go to southern Xinjiang to find the man with the plum blossom mark on his body." Ling Yan's mind echoed with Madam Xue's words, and he added, "As for his age, he should be around fifty years old."

Hearing this, the beggar master couldn't help but complain in his heart. Southern Xinjiang is a vast area with a large population. It is harder than climbing to the sky to find such a specific person in the vast sea of ​​people! This is tantamount to finding a needle in a haystack. How easy is it! However, facing the cold eyes of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, how dare he show any reluctance?

The beggar master kowtowed quickly and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness. I will find this man even if it means sacrificing my life."

After arranging this matter, Ling Yan returned to the East Palace.

Looking at the place where Xue Jinhua once lived, Ling Yan couldn't help but recall her gentle smile like the spring breeze, and his heart suddenly felt as if it was being gnawed by millions of ants.

"Your Highness, the court minister requests an audience."

Ling Yan frowned, "I'm really annoyed right now, tell those old bastards to get out of here right now!"

The palace maid was embarrassed. The prince's displeasure was like a heavy dark cloud pressing down on his heart. "Why, are you turning a deaf ear to my words?"

The palace servant was so frightened that he knelt down with a plop, like a startled rabbit. "Your Highness, I dare not do that. But Minister Zhang said that if Your Highness does not come to see them, they will kneel down forever."

Ling Yan's anger instantly surged up in his heart like a volcano erupting, "These ministers are clearly forcing me into a desperate situation."

He knew that even if he sat down again, that group of ministers would surely act like that clown and come up with more tricks.

So Ling Yan just walked away.

"Minister Zhang, what do you want to do?"

Ling Yan's face was as cold as ice, his lips were tightly pursed, and his face was so gloomy that it seemed as if water could drip out.

At this moment, there was no need to explain the cold and irritable expression on his face. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that he was burning with rage in his heart.

Zhang Shangshu, who was standing by, saw this and said fearlessly, "Your Highness, the Emperor and the Empress have both died. This is a serious matter! Your Highness has only transported their bodies back. Shouldn't you give a reasonable explanation to the ministers in the court?"

Hearing this, Ling Yan suddenly raised his head and stared straight at Zhang Shangshu, with a cold light flashing in his eyes, and the murderous intent contained in them was not concealed at all.

His voice was low and cold, as if it came from the Netherworld: "Minister Zhang, are you doubting this prince?"

Sensing the chill in Ling Yan's eyes, Zhang Shangshu suddenly felt a chill on his neck. He trembled all over and quickly knelt on the ground, saying in panic, "How dare I doubt His Royal Highness the Crown Prince? I hope His Royal Highness will calm down."

However, Ling Yan did not give up because of Zhang Shangshu's surrender. Instead, he snorted coldly, and his tone became more severe: "Humph! In my opinion, it's not that you don't dare, but that you are very bold! The Xue family conspired to rebel, and their crime should be executed. The state teacher personally went out and captured the emperor to Wuyou Valley. But who knew that when the state teacher brought the emperor back, the emperor was already seriously injured, and eventually he passed away. As for the queen..."

At this point, Ling Yan paused for a moment, but in the end he did not mention the Queen's murder. He continued, "The Queen and the Emperor have always loved each other deeply. Now that the Emperor has suddenly passed away, the Queen is naturally heartbroken and unable to bear this huge blow, so she followed the Emperor. In this situation, what else needs to be explained?"

"But at that time, His Royal Highness was the only one there, and His Royal Highness's words were the truth. How dare we not believe them?"

Ling Yan's eyes were as cold as a knife, as if they could cut a person's throat, "Minister Zhang, do you mean that I am just talking nonsense?"

"I would never dare to do that, but I feel that such a big matter must be made clear to everyone."

"Who do you think your Zhang family is?" Ling Yan was furious, like a volcano erupting. "You are just an insignificant bureaucrat, and you dare to expect the royal family to give you an explanation? Someone, Minister Zhang is making wild remarks and blaspheming the royal family. Take him away and execute him."

The ministers kneeling below looked pale and regretful.

Minister Zhang was so angry that his face turned pale. "Your Highness, please don't act like this."