Time Travel: Pampered by the Aloof Prince
Chapter 192: Can You Explain Now?

Chapter 192: Chapter 192: Can You Explain Now?

As her words fell, Cai Qin suddenly collapsed to the ground.

Qi Yu wiped her hands, slightly lowered her eyes, and looked at Cai Qin’s reasonably pretty and delicate face, now painted with thick terror.

She spoke in a soft and detailed manner, "When in the capital city, there were also many who wanted to poison this Princess, but none of them succeeded. Do you know why?"

Cai Qin looked at her with a terrified expression.

Qi Yu stopped talking and chuckled lightly, "Can you confess now?"

Cai Qin swallowed hard and, very sensibly, kowtowed, "Please spare me, Princess, I admit my wrongs!"

Qi Yu said indifferently, "Speak."

Cai Qin confessed in detail how she bought the poison and how she administered it, and though Qi Yu had largely guessed the process, hearing her say it out loud still made her feel she had been too kind.

So, the only reason others wanted to poison Li Mingjue was that poisoning her was taking too long and was too slow to take effect.

After Cai Qin finished speaking, she did not dare to look directly at Qi Yu and kept kowtowing, "Please spare my life, Princess, I won’t dare again!"

Qi Yu propped her chin, looking somewhat weary.

It was getting late, and she was truly getting sleepy.

As for this Maid...

Qi Yu lowered her head to look at the person whose forehead had been kowtowed to the point of bleeding and pulled out a silver needle from her sleeve, the very one that Ling Xiao had dropped on the floor earlier.

While having the Maid clean up earlier, she had discovered that Ling Xiao actually carried quite a number of weapons on her.

Apart from Soft Muscle Powder, an extremely difficult poison to counteract, she had also hidden a poison needle.

But it was inaccurate to call it a poison needle, for the silver needle was coated with some herbal juice, which was not lethal and could at most make a person feel weak and itchy all over.

She thought it was the perfect thing to use on Cai Qin, to let her suffer for a few days before antidoting her.

Cai Qin, with her head down, sobbed softly, convinced that her end was near.

Suddenly feeling a prick on her arm, she hastily looked up and saw the silver needle in front of her face, nearly fainting from shock.

Qi Yu waved it in front of her eyes and smiled, "Don’t worry, this poison needle won’t kill you, it will only make you suffer for a few days."

Cai Qin stared blankly, and even after everyone had left, she hadn’t snapped back to her senses.

Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain on her head and a weakness in her arms as if she had contracted some severe illness.

In a state between sleep and wakefulness, she was carried to the firewood shed and spent several agonizing days there.

Qi Yu antidoted her and sent the person away.

As for her equally devious uncle, he too was taken care of.

How could someone so blinded by self-interest serve as a doctor?

Having witnessed Cai Qin’s fate, no one dared to harbor any ulterior motives any longer, and the residence grew much quieter.

But this peace did not last many days before Qi Yu received a secret letter from the capital city.

She unfolded it to see prominently written, "The Empress has sent another assassin to Gusu."

Qi Yu twisted the letter into a ball, her expression indifferent, "The Empress certainly has some nerve."

Li Mingjue burned the crumpled secret letter she was holding and said in a light tone, "Father must not know about this yet."

Qi Yu had little interest whether Li Tianze knew about this or not, because even if he did, he was unlikely to do anything to the Empress.

The most probable outcome was that it would all blow over, as the Empress was not like An Ruoya; a Noble Consort could be deposed, but to depose the Empress was nearly impossible.

It was up to them to be prepared for their own defense.

However, according to the content of the secret letter, the Empress probably didn’t know that Heifeng had switched sides.

Moreover, the news of the assassination attempt on Prince Qi had already spread in the capital; at such a critical moment, the Empress still dared to send people, which meant she must have resolved to eliminate them.

Qi Yu shook her head silently and said to Li Mingjue, "The Empress now fears you and wants to seize the opportunity of your absence from the capital to get rid of you."

Li Mingjue slightly raised an eyebrow, "How does the Princess plan to protect me?"

Qi Yu glared at him, annoyed, "The Empress hates me even more than she hates you, can we not compete over this right now?"

Li Mingjue chuckled softly, pulling her into his embrace and reassuring her, "Don’t be afraid, with me here, no one can hurt you."

Qi Yu felt a warmth in her heart and decided not to argue with him.

She patted Li Mingjue’s hand, signaling him to let her go first, "The Empress’s people will be here soon, what’s your plan to deal with them?"

She was not one to sit and await doom, but she wanted to feel out Li Mingjue’s intentions first.

Li Mingjue’s eyes curved with amusement, a coldness swirling within his peach blossom eyes, but his tone was gentle, "Your maternal grandfather is almost here."

"What?" Qi Yu turned to look at him, wondering if she had heard wrong.

Who was coming?

Li Mingjue teasingly tweaked her ear, the lobe turning slightly red as he rubbed it between his fingertips.

Qi Yu slapped his hand away, glaring at him, "Stop fooling around!"

Li Mingjue rolled his fingertips as if savoring the touch from before, his expression serious, "Your maternal grandfather leads his troops back to the capital, he’ll pass through Gusu in half a month."

Qi Yu understood this time, feeling relieved, "With your maternal grandfather coming, you’ll have backup."

She had heard from Li Mingjue before, the Great General Zhenyuan might be old but his reputation was still imposing.

In the borderlands, his name made the enemies tremble, and even in the capital city, the Emperor gave him his due respect.

Li Mingjue looked down, his expression slightly faded, "My maternal grandfather has fought abroad for decades; this time returning to the capital, I’m afraid the Emperor will not allow him to leave again."

Qi Yu immediately knew that Li Tianze must be wary of him gaining too much power and wanted to hold military authority tightly in his own hands to feel secure.

She wasn’t interested in power struggles, but unfortunately, she was now part of the game, whether she liked it or not.

However, what worried her more at the moment was, what if the old general didn’t like her?

Li Mingjue glanced at her, laughing softly to reassure her, "Don’t worry, your maternal grandfather will definitely like you."

Qi Yu looked at him skeptically, clearly not convinced, "What if he doesn’t?"

Li Mingjue flicked her forehead with his finger, causing Qi Yu to glare at him again, displeased.

She had come to realize that this man couldn’t seem to keep his hands to himself around her.

Before she could voice her complaint, Li Mingjue leaned close to her ear, whispering a promise, "Your maternal grandfather won’t dislike you."

Qi Yu felt somewhat reassured, but still wanted to tease him, "Why is that?"

Li Mingjue laughed softly, emphasizing each word, "Love me, love my dog."

This completely annoyed her. Qi Yu pushed him away, not wanting to deal with him anymore.

She decided to head to the backyard to find Shi Zhou.

She would definitely show this shameless man how to spell ’mistake’!

Shi Zhou had just finished practicing swordplay when she saw Qi Yu approaching angrily and curiously asked, "What’s wrong with you?"

Qi Yu waved it off, "Let’s not talk about that. How are things going with Shen Xiheng?"

Shi Zhou’s expression paused and she slowly exhaled three words, "Pretty good."

Seeing the change in Shi Zhou’s demeanor, Qi Yu raised an eyebrow slightly, "What’s the matter? Did Shen Xiheng make you angry again?"

They had just reconciled a few days ago, could there already be another issue?

But Shi Zhou shook her head, "No."

Qi Yu pressed her for more details, but Shi Zhou remained silent.

After a while, she looked at Qi Yu hesitantly and asked, "What are the women like in the capital city?"