area51novel Page 135
Page 135
"However, he is now a Heavenly Vein user, and it is already rumored that Prince Yong is far stronger than the Crown Prince and should inherit the Mandate of Heaven!"
At this point in Li Yunrui's speech, Emperor Qing suddenly shouted coldly, "Enough!"
Emperor Qing picked up a memorial from the table and threw it at Li Yunrui's feet again.
"Someone has offered themselves to me, wanting to succeed you as the head of the Imperial Treasury!"
Li Yunrui smiled as he picked up the memorial. "Besides those family members I just mentioned, I'd like to see who else dares to covet the Imperial Treasury!"
After Li Yunrui finished reading the brief memorial, his gaze remained fixed on the signature.
"Hehehe! I never expected that!"
"Your Majesty, I truly never imagined it was her!"
Li Yunrui truly did not expect that the one who volunteered to take over the Inner Treasury was none other than her own daughter, Lin Wan'er.
Princess Yichen, Lin Wan'er, is Emperor Qing's adopted daughter and appears to be deeply favored.
“Wan’er is a member of the royal family, but she doesn’t belong to any faction, and she doesn’t have the same high reputation as Li Chang’an.”
"But, Your Majesty, Wan'er has been in poor health since childhood... does she have the ability?"
Emperor Qing said to Eunuch Hou outside the door, "Go and summon Wan'er, and have the Crown Prince, the Second Prince, and Prince Yong await your orders outside the Imperial Study!"
Then, he continued to say to Li Yunrui, "You spend all your time worrying about scheming and backstabbing, but you don't pay attention to your own daughter."
"You, as her mother, have seen her less often than I have!"
"Ever since Lin Gong was assassinated, Wan'er has started learning how to run a business, and in the past six months, things have already improved quite a bit!"
Li Yunrui's heart skipped a beat. She had only heard from the female official that Lin Wan'er was busy with the shops, but she didn't expect that she could achieve results in just a few months.
Most importantly, her daughter had been like a fragile vase since she was little, and she never thought that Lin Wan'er could do anything.
Not long after, Lin Wan'er, dressed in white and looking delicate and frail, arrived at the Imperial Study.
"Your Majesty, this humble woman pays her respects!"
To Li Yunrui's surprise, Lin Wan'er did not greet her, and there seemed to be a hint of hatred in her eyes.
The two had rarely met before, but Lin Wan'er treated her with respect... however, that was two or three years ago.
When Emperor Qing saw Lin Wan'er, his expression softened considerably.
"Wan'er, tell me, why did you take over the management of the Imperial Treasury in place of your mother?"
Lin Wan'er said respectfully, "Your Majesty, I have been frail and sickly since childhood, and I thought I was going to die soon."
"Later, thanks to Your Majesty's great fortune, after Your Majesty recognized Wan'er as your goddaughter, my illness was miraculously cured."
"Ever since I recovered from my illness a year ago, I have been thinking that as a member of the royal family, I should share Your Majesty's burdens!"
"Your Majesty, I wish to take over the management of the Imperial Treasury because Li Yunrui's management of it has been ineffective and has caused you great concern!"
Upon hearing this, Li Yunrui immediately flew into a rage.
If anyone else had said that, she would have smiled and refuted it.
But the woman in front of her was her daughter, a daughter who had completely lost the obedient and gentle nature she had as a child.
Li Yunrui was very surprised. Some things in Lin Wan'er's eyes were very similar to her own!
"Wan'er, what are you talking about? What do you know? How am I incompetent in managing the Imperial Treasury?"
Lin Wan'er replied with a cool expression, "If you manage it well, why would His Majesty need to find someone else to take over the Imperial Treasury!"
"His Majesty said four years ago that whoever marries me will inherit the Imperial Treasury from you!"
"You are still in your prime, with plenty of energy. For His Majesty to make such a promise, there must be a problem with the Imperial Treasury under your management!"
Li Yunrui sneered as she looked at her aggressive daughter and the silent Emperor Qing.
Emperor Qing asked again, "Wan'er, you want to take charge of the Imperial Treasury, do you understand the Imperial Treasury?"
Lin Wan'er replied, "His Majesty said that my husband will take over the Imperial Treasury, and I am naturally aware of that."
Over the next half hour, Lin Wan'er recounted all the internal information that could be obtained through public channels.
The article specifically mentions aspects such as production, product share, marketing methods, and even the risk of smuggling.
After hearing Lin Wan'er's words, Li Yunrui angrily asked, "Who taught you all this?"
Li Yunrui was shocked because Lin Wan'er's knowledge far exceeded her expectations.
With tears welling in her eyes, Lin Wan'er said angrily, "When my second brother was alive, he would always find something for me to learn!"
"And you, as my mother, treat even a single visit to me feels like an expensive act of charity! And what have you ever taught me?"
"Not only do you not teach me, you're also trying to harm me!"
Li Yunrui was completely bewildered. Although she didn't care much about her daughter, how could she be accused of harming her?
Just then, Eunuch Hou cautiously said, "Your Majesty, the two princes and Prince Yong have arrived."
Without even looking up, Emperor Qing said, "Let them in."
After Li Chang'an and his two nephews came in, they all stood aside, looking at the two mother and daughter who were at odds with each other with incomprehension.
Li Yunrui practically screamed, "When did I ever want to harm my own daughter!"
Lin Wan'er just kept her eyes brimming with tears, head down, and didn't answer.
Li Chang'an nodded to himself. Wan'er's acting skills were really good, no less than the Crown Prince's.
Emperor Qing suddenly said, "If Wan'er can't say it, let me say it."
Then he said to Li Chang'an and the other two, "Listen to what the Princess has to say!"
Under normal circumstances, Li Yunrui is confident in any situation.
But today is an exception.
First, Emperor Qing inexplicably obtained information about the Junshan Society, and then Lin Wan'er made inexplicable accusations.
She couldn't help but doubt herself. Had she done so many bad things that she had forgotten them all?
Emperor Qing asked Lin Wan'er, "Where did your maid, Xiao Ying, go?"
Lin Wan'er replied bitterly, "There has been no trace of them since the night before last. They were probably silenced."
Li Yunrui said blankly, "You silly girl, your maid is gone, why do you hate your mother?"
Emperor Qing said coldly, "Who said it has anything to do with you? Why are you so eager to admit it?"
Li Yunrui looked completely innocent. "I don't even know what happened, why should I admit anything?"
She glanced up at the expressions of the Crown Prince, the Second Prince, and Li Chang'an, and her heart sank.
The three men had expressions that said, "You did it, you're really good at pretending."
There's nothing we can do about it; that's just how she acts when she's pretending to be innocent.
The problem is, she's truly innocent now!
Emperor Qing continued, "The day before yesterday evening, Wan'er met the second young master of the Liang family at the villa."
Li Yunrui suddenly felt like she had been tricked, and muttered, "It was arranged by me."
"Fan Xian is no longer capable. Is there anything wrong with me introducing other talented individuals to Wan'er?"
"But what does this have to do with Wan'er's maid?"
"Wan'er has already met with three noble sons in the past month. Is there anything wrong with that?"
These sons of noble families were all Li Yunrui's own people, and she wanted to continue to control the inner treasury's finances through her son-in-law.
Emperor Qing said, "There's nothing wrong, but an accident happened the evening before last."
"When the young master of the Liang family was about to leave, Wan'er suddenly fell ill."
At this moment, Lin Wan'er suddenly said, "Mother, you may not know this, but every time I see the people you arrange, I have Ling'er hide in the shadows with the guards!"
"I can't believe you would actually drug your own daughter!"
If Ling'er and the others hadn't been there that day, who knows what would have happened!
In fact, Li Chang'an was in the shadows the whole time, and Lin Wan'er was only taking a drug to speed up her metabolism.
Li Yunrui's eyes widened. "Drug your own daughter? Am I that crazy?!"
She looked at Emperor Qing, who snorted coldly!
That tone seemed to say, "Don't you know whether you're crazy or not?"
She then saw the Crown Prince, who was meek and submissive, not daring to utter a sound.
Li Chengze kept grinning, as if to say, "Auntie, you're really ruthless."
Li Chang'an rolled his eyes. "Hard to say."
Emperor Qing continued, "Later, Ye Ling'er secretly took Wan'er's food to Huichuntang for testing, and it turned out to contain aphrodisiacs!"
"However, when Ye Ling'er returned, her maid Xiao Ying had already disappeared."
Lin Wan'er did not report the whole incident; it was all witnessed by Emperor Qing's inner court guards.
Li Yunrui laughed in exasperation, "That's ridiculous! Since the maids have all disappeared, how can His Majesty assume it was me?"