Chapter 447

"What are you all looking at me like that for?" Ye Qingran asked, amused.

Gu Huanghou and Dongfang Ling'er slightly restrained their expressions. Gu Huanghou shook her head with a smile, "Seeing you eat to your liking, I'm happy inside."

Ye Qingran thought, "Are you happy that I ate the poison?"

She calculated the dosage; normally, there would still be some time before it took effect, so she asked, "I heard you and my mother used to have a good relationship? I wonder if you could tell me something about my mother's past?"

Upon hearing Yun Sui Feng's name, Gu Huanghou felt intense hatred.

"Of course."

Gu Huanghou then pretended to recall, a nostalgic expression appearing on her face, and casually mentioned a few things to Ye Qingran.

"Back then, it was really good—we were so young, and in the blink of an eye twenty years have passed; sigh, indeed life is like a dream!"

She shook her head, sighing.

Ye Qingran smiled faintly and continued, "Yes, my mother has been dead for ten years!"

Gu Huanghou twitched the corner of her mouth, truly feeling happy inside.

Although Yun Sui Feng is more beautiful and more capable than her, so what?

No matter how outstanding she is, she still died earlier than her.

"Beauty with a short life"—that's exactly her!

"Not to hide it from you, Empress, a couple of days ago I had a dream in which my mother said she died with unresolved grievances, so I went to the Imperial Tomb to prepare to examine her corpse—guess what I found?"

Ye Qingran said this in a low, sombre voice.

Both Gu Huanghou and Dongfang Ling'er showed curiosity.

They only knew that Ye Qingran had entered the Imperial Tomb, but they didn't know exactly what she did there, nor would they know that Yun Sui Feng's corpse had already gone missing.

Ye Qingran fixed her gaze on Gu Huanghou and said, word by word, "I discovered that my mother's corpse... had actually gone missing!"

Gu Huanghou's pupils contracted sharply, her eyes flashed, and she was overwhelmed by a great shock.

"This is impossible..." she whispered involuntarily.

Seeing Gu Huanghou's reaction, Ye Qingran became even more certain that Gu Huanghou must know something.

Otherwise, she wouldn't be so shocked.

"Empress, what do you mean by that?"

Gu Huanghou averted her gaze, lowered her head to take a sip of tea, and said, "The Imperial Tomb has always been heavily guarded; how could anyone possibly steal your mother's corpse without anyone noticing?"

Ye Qingran slowly nodded, "But this is exactly how it happened..."

"Empress, do you know who my mother might have offended in life, such that they would be so ruthless as not to spare even her corpse?"

Gu Huanghou's eyes flickered slightly, "I don't know that."

Dongfang Ling'er beside them snorted coldly, "Ye Qingran, it must be because your mother committed countless evils in life—she died young, and even after death someone still bears a grudge against her; what is that called? It's called evil begets evil!"

As she spoke, she was inwardly anxious, thinking, Ye Qingran had clearly eaten the osmanthus cake and drunk the tea, so why hasn't the poison taken effect yet?

"Ling'er!"

Gu Huanghou gently scolded.

"How could you say that? General Yun is a great hero of our Donglin Country!"

Dongfang Ling'er stuck out her tongue, unconvinced.

"What a so-called great hero—just a shameless fox spirit!"

Ye Qingran knew Gu Huanghou was deep‑schemed; at this moment she couldn't get anything from her, so she gauged the time, feeling it was about time for the poison to act, she shook her head, looking uncomfortable, then reached up to hold her forehead, swaying as if about to collapse.

"Ah, Qingran, what's wrong with you?" Gu Huanghou asked anxiously.

"I, I feel a bit unwell..."

Dongfang Ling'er's eyes lit up.

Has the medicine finally taken effect?

Ye Qingran, you're not usually so self‑important? This time, aren't you still falling into my hands just the same?

"Quick, quick, summon the imperial physician!" Gu Huanghou shouted, putting on an act.

In fact, no one actually went to summon the imperial physician.

Ye Qingran shook her head, tried to stand up, but staggered, fell back into her seat, and lay motionless on the table.

"Qingran?"

Gu Huanghou lowered her gaze to look at Ye Qingran's head resting on the table and called out tentatively.

"Ye Qingran, what are you doing?" Dongfang Ling'er raised her eyebrows and shouted feigned anger.

However, she received no response.

Gu Huanghou and Dongfang Ling'er exchanged a glance.

"Mother, you say she really fainted, right?"

Dongfang Ling'er asked in a lowered voice.

Gu Huanghou's face grew grave as she shook her head.

Ye Qingran is a Guest Minister Elder of the Divine Medicine Sect, yet she isn't entirely sure whether the poison in the tea and osmanthus cake has really taken effect.

After a while, upon confirming Ye Qingran still showed no movement, Gu Huanghou's expression gradually eased.

"It should have taken effect, after all we used the best kind of poison—colorless and tasteless, so even Ye Qingran couldn't detect it."

Her voice was no longer deliberately lowered.

"Ah~" Dongfang Ling'er let out a long breath, her face breaking into a smile.

She slowly rose, a sinister expression appearing on her face.

"Ye Qingran, Ye Qingran, even if your medical skills are superb, you still fell victim to my poison, didn't you?"

"Alright, no delay—hurry and send Ye Qingran to Xuan'er's place!"

「Mother, don't worry, I've already prepared! 」

Dongfang Ling'er finished speaking, snapped her fingers, and two guards came in from outside.

「Take her to the Crown Prince's room immediately! 」

After the two guards agreed, they wrapped Ye Qingran in a pre-prepared straw mat, lifted her onto their shoulders, and hurriedly ran out.

Watching Ye Qingran being carried away by the guards, both of them revealed smiles of success.

However, what they didn't notice was that Ye Qingran had never fainted; instead, while pretending to faint, she secretly used the Recording Stone to record their conversation.

Crown Prince's Eastern Palace

Dongfang Xuan stood beside the bed.

On the large bed, Dongfang Qingxuan's upper body was naked, revealing his slender physique, and his lower body wore only a pair of underpants.

He lay on his back on the bed, eyes closed, a thin sweat beading on his forehead, his breathing hot, uttering moans and incoherent words, his body writhing uncomfortably.

「Older brother, hold on a little longer, Ye Qingran will be here soon! 」

Upon hearing the name Ye Qingran, Dongfang Qingxuan's rationality seemed to return a bit; his eyelids twitched as he struggled to open them, but to no avail.

The dose of the aphrodisiac and intoxication drug he had taken was too strong; his rationality had long since vanished, leaving him adrift in a phantasmic sea.

Dongfang Xuan said while opening his right palm, on which lay a pill.

This is a top-grade aphrodisiac, which he has treasured for a long time.

He swallowed it without hesitation, then said to Dongfang Qingxuan on the bed, "Older brother, although Ye Qingran is the woman you like, the saying goes women are like clothing, brothers like limbs; we are brothers, so sharing a woman isn't excessive, is it?"

After saying that, Dongfang Xuan revealed a lewd smile.

He had long coveted Ye Qingran's beauty, but merely lacked the opportunity.

Now, thanks to his older brother's favor, he can finally have his wish fulfilled and taste the beauty!

Thump thump thump~

A few faint knocking sounds came from outside the door.

Dongfang Xuan's eyes lit up.

The beauty has arrived!

He couldn't wait to open the door, and the two guards carried the person inside.

「Put her on the bed. 」

Ye Qingran was placed on the bed.

She opened her eyes in the dark straw mat, and upon hearing Dongfang Xuan's voice, a chill like ten-thousand-year-old ice flashed in the depths of her eyes.

Is it Dongfang Xuan?

You're dead!