231 Falling Out, Crisis of Trust
Lin Ran and the empress were deep in thought, but Li Tianyi started to go on a tangent.
“To be honest, this request is actually not high, but His Majesty is not in the palace, so no one dares to make the decision to cede the cities? Therefore, I discussed it with Lord Song…”
Li Tianyi rambled on for a long time without getting to the point. Lin Ran didn’t feel anything, but the empress was getting impatient.
“Get to the point!”
Li Tianyi was shocked. After a few seconds, he said, “Later on, Lord Song and I felt that finding His Majesty was the most important thing. At that time, the war at the border was tense, so the emperor of Great Yong definitely couldn’t cross the border easily. If we acted quickly enough, we might be able to find His Majesty.”
“Therefore, Lord Song and I sent people out to look for His Majesty, but not long after, His Majesty returned.”
Lin Ran asked, “What happened Later?”
“Later?”
Li Tianyi was confused when he heard this. “What later? With His Majesty safe and sound, who cares what the emperor of Great Yong wants?”
Lin Ran didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He paused for a moment and asked, “Then what did ‘His Majesty’ do after returning to the palace?”
Li Tianyi looked puzzled. “What else can His Majesty do in the palace? Of course, it’s the usual things.”
“Has she ever issued an imperial edict?”
“No.”
“Did she announce any decision?”
“No.”
“Did she do anything to damage the image of the emperor?”
“Of course not!”
…
Lin Ran asked more than ten questions in a row, but the answer he received was “No.” Then, he looked at the empress and shrugged. “It seems that there’s indeed nothing wrong with her.”
The empress looked suspicious and did not say anything.
Xiao Wan sat on the dragon throne with a calm expression. “You’ve asked everything you wanted. Can you do it now?”
Lin Ran looked at the empress and asked for her opinion. After a moment of silence, the empress frowned and said coldly, “There is no point in killing you, but I can’t keep your face.”
Hearing this, Lin Ran couldn’t help but look troubled.
If he was asked to kill Xiao Wan here, he would definitely not hesitate. However, he could not bring himself to disfigure a girl’s face.
“Your Majesty…”
Lin Ran said softly, then pulled the empress a few steps to the side. “Do you want to consider it again?”
The empress frowned. “Consider what?”
“Think about what to do with her.”
Lin Ran pointed at Xiao Wan and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, “Killing someone is easy. You’re also a girl. Disfiguring her face… isn’t a good thing.”
Lin Ran thought that the empress would reconsider after hearing his suggestion, but he did not expect her to frown. “What’s there to consider? She should thank me for not killing her.”
“You might as well kill her!”
Lin Ran rolled his eyes and said angrily, “She’s a girl. How can she live after her face is ruined?”
“Live?”
The empress sneered and looked at Lin Ran strangely. “Lord Lin, when did you become so naive?”
Lin Ran was stunned. “What do you mean?”
“Do you think Xuan Wushang will still let her live after she returns to Great Yong?”
The empress glanced at Xiao Wan and continued with a dark expression, “If people find out that Xuan Wushang spent so much effort to nurture someone who looks identical to me, what will people think of him?”
Lin Ran narrowed his eyes. He could roughly guess what the empress was going to say.
As expected, the empress only paused for half a second before continuing in a louder voice, “I know she’s innocent, but since she’s involved in the battle between the two countries, how can she get away so easily?”
“I destroy her face so that Xuan Wushang won’t be able to find her again. Otherwise, she will never be able to live like a normal person.”
Lin Ran lowered his head and didn’t say anything because he knew that the empress was right, but…
As if knowing that Lin Ran was in a dilemma, the empress sighed and extended her right hand. “I’ll do it myself. Can I borrow your sword, Lord Lin.”
“Then what’s the difference between you doing it and me doing it?”
Lin Ran suddenly looked up at the empress. Apart from being troubled, there was obvious anger on his face because he knew that the so-called “borrowing a sword” was actually a test!
The empress knew that Lin Ran was against this idea and suggested borrowing the sword just to see if he was still loyal to her.
Otherwise, since Xiao Wan had already admitted that she was an imposter, the empress only needed to reveal her identity and hand Xiao Li over to the Ministry of Justice or the guards in the palace to deal with. There was no need for her to do it herself!
Seeing the anger in Lin Ran’s eyes, the empress’s expression did not change at all, but her eyes had already turned cold. “Lord Lin, do you want to refuse?”
Lin Ran waved his hand. “This has nothing to do with refusing or not! This is a matter of trust!”
Hearing the word “trust”, the empress’s eyes darkened. Then, she forced a smile and said thoughtfully, “Born in the royal family, I was always taught to not trust because trust can get you in danger.”
Just as Lin Ran was about to say something, Xiao Wan suddenly spoke.
“You two, there’s no need to argue anymore.”
As Xiao Wan spoke, she stood up and bowed respectfully to the empress. “Heavenly Saint Emperor, I appreciate your kindness, but I’ve been lonely since I was young. If not for His Majesty saving me, I’m afraid I would have died of hunger in that dilapidated run-down house.”
“Therefore, my life belongs to His Majesty. Even if you spare my life I will still go back.”
At this point, Xiao Wan looked at Lin Ran and said seriously, “Lord Lin, I do admire His Majesty. That’s why I was in a daze when you asked me if His Majesty has done anything bad to me.”
“However, His Majesty has always been respectful to me and has never done anything improper. I hope Lord Lin won’t talk nonsense. If you tarnish His Majesty’s reputation, I’ll fight you even if I have to turn into a malicious ghost!”
Lin Ran rubbed his nose awkwardly. He was really just asking casually. He didn’t expect Xiao Wan to take it so seriously.
Just as Lin Ran was thinking about what to say to ease the awkward atmosphere, Xiao Wan nodded slightly at the empress. Then, without warning, she suddenly turned around and banged her head on the pure golden dragon throne!
“No!”
Lin Ran’s expression changed. However, he was a few steps away and couldn’t stop her in time.