Mystery at Lanting Chapter 4

Imperial City, Prince's Palace.

David Li sat blankly behind a rosewood nine-dragon bathing screen. The current Crown Prince's Palace was like a gorgeous golden bird cage, imprisoning him under his mother's eyes. Moreover, outside the cage were wolves, snakes, tigers and leopards everywhere. They would occasionally extend their sharp teeth and claws into the cage, trying to devour the canary to be slaughtered, and then lie down comfortably.
 
"Your Highness, this is the porridge that the Emperor asked the Imperial Kitchen to send. Please have some!"

The maid brought an emerald jade bowl, in which the exquisite porridge exuded an enticing aroma through the steam.

David Li looked at it indifferently, sighed lightly, and did not answer. He just waved his hand, signaling the maid to bring the porridge over.

He took a small ivory spoon, scooped a small spoonful of porridge from the bowl, blew it and prepared to put it into his mouth.

The eunuch next to him curled his lips and asked in a shrill voice: "Your Highness, this is the porridge that the emperor specially ordered to nourish your body. You should drink it while it's hot!"

David Li felt a pang of bitterness in his heart. In fact, his life was no longer his own. The so-called "Crown Prince" status was just a nominal position set up by Victoria Wu to appease the old ministers of the Tang Dynasty.

This ambitious and extremely cruel "Queen Mother" could kill herself at any time and for any reason.

Even with the efforts of many old ministers to protect him, there are only a few descendants of the Li family left. He has been trembling with fear and treading on thin ice all these years, living in seclusion and keeping a low profile, just hoping that one day Victoria Wu will truly return the Li Tang artifact to him. But how easy is that?

Thinking of this, David Li smiled bitterly at the eunuch: "Thank my mother for me." Then he drank the porridge spoonful by spoonful until it was all gone. The eunuch was satisfied and called the maid to take the bowl away.

"You go ahead. I need to rest." David Li looked at the eunuch.

"Okay, Your Highness, please have rest!" The eunuch bowed slightly to David Li and slowly left the room.

"What a poor, downtrodden creature! His situation is worse than ours!"

The eunuch glanced at the prince's room with contempt, snorted, and turned to walk towards the servants' rooms.

Just after leaving the prince's bedroom, a dark shadow quickly passed by him. The eunuch felt a chill on his neck and was unable to speak.

Then he saw blood spurting onto the exquisite marble floor like a fountain, as if a strange and bright flower had bloomed. Then he fell heavily like a sandbag. The black shadow drew out a sharp knife, and there was a flash of white light. The eunuch's right arm and fingers were cut off. The black shadow picked up his right arm and disappeared into the darkness again.

The maid who had just collected the bowls was walking in front of the eunuch. She suddenly heard a heavy fall from behind, so she turned around curiously to see who it was. When she turned around with the tray in her hand, she saw the eunuch's blood was about to flow to her feet. Before she could scream, the black shadow came back. The maid saw her blood mixed with the eunuch's blood and flowed to the low-lying area of   the corridor. She wanted to throw down the tray weakly, but the black shadow grabbed it steadily and helped her fall down slowly...

The next morning, above the Golden Palace.

"Bang!" An exquisite tea bowl fell heavily from the exquisite dragon desk at the feet of the captain of the palace guard, Wan Hu, and immediately broke into pieces. The scalding hot tea splashed on the captain's face. Wan Hu was so frightened that he dared not even breathe. He knelt at the feet of this murderous empress, his body shaking like a sieve.

"The maids and eunuchs in the Prince's Palace can all be killed! What use is there for me to have you as the captain of the guard? Today you killed people from the Prince's Palace, but tomorrow you might kill the Prince, or me!"

Victoria Wu looked at the captain of the guard angrily, as if he was just a poor cockroach that could be crushed to pieces by her at any time.

"What are you waiting for? Go and get Lord Di for me!" Victoria Wu shouted to Wan Hu.

"Yes, yes, yes..." The captain of the guard kowtowed like pecking at rice, and crawled out.

"Report! Lord Matthew Wu comes to greet you!" The long voice of the chief eunuch Oliver Hu came slowly from outside the hall.

"Xuan." Victoria Wu said without turning her head.

Matthew Wu came into the hall very respectfully and bowed his head: "I, your nephew Matthew Wu, pay my respects to the emperor. Long live the emperor..."

"Okay, get up." Victoria Wu didn't even raise her eyelids. In fact, in her heart, she looked down on this nephew. He had neither the talent of Jonathan Di nor the decisiveness of Nathan Li. He could only form cliques, eliminate dissidents, and do some shameful things.

That is to say, relying on his own protection, he can have a place to survive in the territory of the Wu family. If he does not know how to restrain himself, a hundred years later, this so-called "nephew" will become a punching bag for the ministers who support Li Tang, and eventually die without a burial place!

"I heard that a bloody incident had occurred in the palace. I was worried about your Majesty's safety, so I rushed here early in the morning to pay my respects!" Matthew Wu said with his head lowered.

"Oh?" Victoria Wu's eyes turned and she looked at Matthew Wu with a sharp gaze, which made Matthew Wu's heart tremble, wondering what he had said wrong again.

You know, Victoria Wu didn't even let her own daughter and son go, let alone her nephew? !

But he had to rely on her and beg her. Matthew Wu even hoped that he would have a chance to replace her!

However, Matthew Wu hated and feared this murderous aunt, but he could do nothing about it: he hoped she would die so that he would have a chance to become emperor, but he was also afraid that if his aunt really died, he would become the target of criticism from Li Tang's ministers. This seemed to become a paradox for Matthew Wu when facing Victoria Wu, and it often made him feel conflicted.

"You are well-informed!" Victoria Wu looked at Matthew Wu expressionlessly, her expression clearly saying: How did you know? Did you plant spies in my palace or did you do this in the first place? !

Matthew Wu felt that he had done the stupidest thing in his life. He felt a chill on the back of his neck, as if an invisible sharp blade was pressed against the back of his collar.

But he also knew that Victoria Wu would not kill him for the time being, because he was the only one who unconditionally and sincerely supported Victoria Wu. Even if he occasionally committed corruption and abused the law, as long as he did not commit treason, his aunt would not kill him. He secretly calmed his mind, cleared his throat involuntarily, and continued: "I dreamed of ghosts entering the palace last night. After waking up, I was very worried about your health. I was afraid that my emperor would be plotted against by evil people, so I came to pay my respects before the morning court!"
 
"Well, I am in good health. The only ones killed were two servants from the Prince's Palace." Victoria Wu looked coldly into Matthew Wu's eyes, as if she wanted to see through every bone and even every thought of his through his eyes.

"Oh...that's good, that's good, I'll take my leave!" Matthew Wu quickly said.

"Well, go ahead." Seeing Matthew Wu's timid look, Victoria Wu couldn't help but sigh in her heart, and turned to Oliver Hu and said, "Go and call Jonathan Di to me!"