You May Need to Treat Your Brain
"Yes, but he isn't very familiar. He came to Liang's Mansion to survey the situation, and we met once."
"Maybe I act too much, but he doesn't believe I will help him." Ye Wuchen laughed sarcastically. "I told him, hehe, in a few days, someone will die in the mansion. I said it was my letter of vote to him."
"If he hears this news outside, he will definitely know we are on the same side."
"After Hong Liang died, we increased the dosage of the old man's aphrodisiac. He didn't know it, but he never noticed."
"Of course, it's because I acted quickly. I said I'd find out how Hong Liang died within two days, then kill him directly. He probably never expected that he would die at my hands—the person he looked down on the most—the cowardly, poor, obedient grandson."
Ye Wuchen laughed out loud at his own words.
His eyebrows were well-shaped, but his eyes were always gloomy. When he smiled, there was a hint of madness.
Yu Linlang silently looked away.
"Why aren't you looking at me? I'm sitting right across from you. Why won't you look at me?"
This man must be a lunatic in modern times… Yu Linlang had no doubts.
"Look at me! You think I look like a lunatic, don't you, Miss Yu?"
"Did your King Liang call the Secret Guard to dismember the body?" Yu Linlang turned to face him.
"Of course not. How could I let someone else do such an interesting thing?"
Yu Linlang narrowed her bright eyes, then glanced down at his legs.
"Miss Yu, you are the smartest woman I have ever met in my life!" Prince Pingkang, Ye Wuchen, laughed. He lifted the blanket covering his legs and stood up slowly.
Outside the pavilion, the servants and guards all lowered their heads, remaining silent.
Judging from their reactions, Prince Pingkang's closest confidants already knew the truth.
"You know martial arts, and your internal strength is not weak. The cuts on the old prince's limbs were clean and precise, guided by sword energy." Yu Linlang was impressed.
Clearly, this man had been pretending to be a cripple. He even managed to deceive her—no wonder he fooled everyone else.
"You really fooled everyone. Everyone thought you were deeply filial to Old Liang. When he died, you beat your chest, stamped your feet, and wailed as if your heart was breaking. Your acting skills are incredible."
Ye Wuchen smiled again. "But you figured it out in the end."
Yu Linlang wanted to call him insane.
If he hadn't found her today and said so much, she never would have guessed that the true murderer was Prince Pingkang—the seemingly obedient and overly devoted grandson.
"You deliberately increased the dosage that day and used some kind of laxative, didn't you? I smelled Mrs. Zhao's jasmine scent on Old Liang King. But that alone isn't proof."
"Everyone in the mansion knows that Mrs. Zhao is highly favored. It's normal for her to stay by the old prince's side and have her jasmine fragrance rub off on him."
"And the old prince was indeed suffocated to death by his own vomit before he was dismembered. Your plan was perfect."
"Even if we found out that the aphrodisiac dosage was incorrect, you could easily blame Old Liang. He was always showing off his knowledge, insisting on adjusting the medicine himself. There's no evidence, no defense at all."
"What's more, Wang Baitian arrived as expected and started another fire to create chaos. That was enough to shift suspicion onto him—quite the flawless plan."
Ye Wuchen suddenly swept a table full of teacups to the ground in rage. "I went through all this trouble, planned everything so carefully, only to find that he had already died! He was supposed to suffer! He should have struggled, watching his flesh and blood being stripped away, like Wang Baitian, who was cut piece by piece!"
Before he could strike again, Yu Linlang grabbed a porcelain cup first. She lowered her gaze and calmly took another sip.
Ye Wuchen looked at her and chuckled. "You really aren't afraid of death."
"Actually, I set the fire in the Liang Palace myself," he admitted. "Yes, it was to lure you here and force you to witness the scene."
"Wang Baitian came to the meeting, but I told him the old man was already dead and had him flee through the back door. It served two purposes—drawing you here and distracting my grandfather's guards."
"The reason Butler Liang Quan was caught by the prince and the others is because I had my people watching him. The moment that fool tried to crawl through the dog hole, my men made enough noise to alert the Marquis's guards."
"You didn't take action until now because you wanted to ensure your own escape, didn't you?"
"Exactly. Otherwise, why should I suffer for killing that scum? Everything now falls on Wang Baitian, so this prince remains uninvolved."
"Oh, by the way, did you save Wang Baitian? His skills would've made him a great secret guard for me. I wanted to recruit him, but you let him escape. How disappointing."
Yu Linlang looked at him blankly. "Prince, your thoughts are all over the place. I can't keep up with your logic."
"Did you know? I was the one who cleaned up the fire. Otherwise, do you think the chopped copper lock you left behind would have disappeared without a trace?"
Ye Wuchen suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist. His grip was strong enough to leave red finger marks on her fair skin.
"Prince, please mind your manners," Yu Linlang said coolly, her expression unchanged.
"What if I refuse?"
Ye Wuchen leaned in, scrutinizing her closely. "Why is there no true qi in your meridians?"
"Maybe… because I don't know martial arts? I'm just naturally suspicious."
Ye Wuchen stared at her for a long moment, then shook his head. "People who are this mysterious are never good people."
"The little girl only knows some basic medicine," Yu Linlang said sincerely. "That's why the cartilage powder in the first cup and the Hua Gong powder in the second had no effect on me."
"Besides," she added, looking at him seriously, "since I don't practice martial arts, using Hua Gong powder on me is completely pointless."
Ye Wuchen suddenly smiled, the gloominess in his expression dissipating, replaced by something much lighter.
Yu Linlang stared at him as if he were a madman. "Can you let go now, Your Highness?"
Ye Wuchen released her wrist, dusted off his sleeve, and sat back down gracefully. "Then treat my legs. I think I can fully recover in three months."
Yu Linlang's expression remained calm. "More than your legs, I think the thing that truly needs treatment is your brain."
Ye Wuchen stared at her for a long moment. The servants outside the pavilion held their breath, fearing their prince would fly into a rage.
Instead, he suddenly burst into laughter.