kingnovel Chapter 259 Take action
Chapter 259 Take action
And so, the Sixth Miss forcefully moved into Li Xiaonuan's courtyard. That very afternoon, she began to test Xiaogang's pharmacology knowledge in a very serious manner.
When Li Xiaonuan saw the young princess off, the princess said to her, "The Qi family wouldn't send their precious child here for no reason. They must have encountered some problem. I'll go back and find out, and then I'll tell you."
The young princess's words plunged Li Xiaonuan into a state of panic.
If even Qi Ji's family were implicated, the situation in the capital would certainly be very tense, and the scope of the impact would be quite wide.
After the sixth young lady moved into the villa, she did some very strange things.
For example, she would order her maids to fetch a bowl of water from all the water sources in the courtyard, and then carefully smell it.
At first, Li Xiaonuan thought the little girl was carrying water to drink. But every time they ate, the little girl insisted on tasting everything herself before letting everyone else eat.
If Li Xiaonuan didn't realize at this moment that the little girl was testing poison, then Li Xiaonuan would be a complete idiot.
But every time Li Xiaonuan tried to probe, the little girl would say that she was tasting the dishes so she could decide which one to eat.
Having no other choice, Li Xiaonuan stopped asking.
Even someone as carefree as that little girl knows to stick to her bottom line, so Li Xiaonuan naturally wouldn't pry too deeply.
However, Li Xiaonuan did one thing. Every time a meal was prepared, she was always the first one to eat it in the kitchen.
After that, when it was served again, it was the little girl who would test it.
Although the little girl was outspoken, she was quite clever. Under the pretext of playing, she spent her days wandering around the entire villa, checking every possible route of poisoning.
And so, on the morning of the third day after the little girl's arrival, she finally found what she wanted from a basket of white radishes.
That night, everyone in the villa slept soundly.
The next morning, when the Li family woke up, they found that some people were missing from the villa.
Then, another extra edition was announced on the street.
The eldest prince attempted to rebel last night and was imprisoned.
General Wang defied the imperial decree and secretly led his troops back to the capital, only to be stopped by the Imperial Guards in the western suburbs outside the city.
However, General Wang returned with 80,000 troops. The Imperial Guards and the Imperial Guards defending the city together numbered less than 50,000.
The outcome of this standoff remains uncertain.
In the capital, officials at all levels lived in constant fear. Among them, the Empress's faction was the most active.
I heard that Chu Feng led his men to raid the estate where Zhao Wangchuan and his mother lived.
Unfortunately, by the time they arrived, Zhao Wangchuan and his mother had already vanished. Zhao Wangchuan even had the words "Fool" painted in red on the back of the manor gate.
In order to counter General Wang's 80,000 troops, the emperor had to borrow bodyguards from officials at all levels to make up the numbers.
Some loyal officials immediately offered up two-thirds of their guards. But other officials had their own ideas, and after much hesitation and evasion, they finally gave up less than half of their guards.
In fact, the Empress Party had already started its activities as soon as General Wang appeared.
They triumphantly lobbied the hesitant officials to side with the eldest prince and the empress.
However, no matter how much pressure the Empress's faction put on the Emperor, he refused to release the Empress and the eldest prince.
Before the officials could even react, the emperor had already sent troops to completely surround their residences.
Of course, all of this was shared with Li Xiaonuan and the others by the young princess who came through the secret passage that afternoon.
As she listened, Madam Su kept patting her chest, exclaiming, "Heavens above, how could this happen? What if this war breaks out, won't there be war everywhere?"
Upon hearing this, the young princess scoffed and said, "With that bunch of good-for-nothings from the Wang family, this war won't even start. However, I heard from my father that an imperial uncle seems to be involved, so there might be some bloodshed in the capital."
Upon hearing this, Madam Su added, "I'm worried that this war will go on and on. My son, Xiaoyang, and my mother-in-law are still in the countryside. What will they do if the fighting reaches them?"
Li Xiaonuan quickly comforted Su Shi: "Mother, don't worry, this battle can only be fought in the capital, not in the prefectural city. Also, the soldiers fighting are all from Qisong, and they won't make things difficult for the people of Qisong."
Knowing the situation outside, Li Xiaonuan and her family spent another two days in a daze.
During this time, the young princess never came again. The villa was now even short of staff.
However, the sixth young lady stopped doing those strange things.
Li Xiaonuan guessed that the little girl was trying to lower the other party's guard so that she could catch them all in one fell swoop.
However, unexpectedly, the little girl told her, "Don't worry, Sister Xiaonuan, the people who poisoned us have been dealt with. From now on, those people will not dare to make a move easily again. As for now, since everything we eat and use in the villa has been prepared in advance, we don't need to be on guard anymore."
Li Xiaonuan was surprised by the little girl's keenness. She knew what information Li Xiaonuan wanted and conveyed that information to her.
Two days later, things started to get lively outside the villa. Li Xiaonuan stood curiously at the base of the wall and listened for a long time before she realized that General Wang had finally decided to attack the city.
The reason it was so lively outside was that many city dwellers were heading to the Imperial City Square, where there was a refuge camp specifically set up for ordinary people.
Li Xiaonuan felt that the people were probably too panicked. It all started with the throne in the imperial city.
Therefore, hiding near the capital was the most dangerous situation for them. If they had stayed obediently at home, they might have escaped this calamity.
After all, those people's target was only the imperial city. They also needed the people, so they shouldn't have indiscriminately killed innocent people.
So those people just went and stayed on the outskirts of the capital? However, it's hard to guarantee that innocent people won't be caught in the crossfire.
In fact, this is another mistake in Li Xiaonuan's understanding.
The refuge camps in the imperial city were quite far from the palace. There, there were places similar to air-raid shelters, providing refuge for the people during the war.
However, they cannot stay there for too long, since the supply of food is time-limited.
Generally speaking, the food stored in the shelters can feed 50,000 to 60,000 people for a year without them starving.
Moreover, there is an underground river inside that connects directly to the moat outside the imperial city. This way, the people living inside will not lack water resources.
That's right, there's a shortage of firewood for those people.
Li Xiaonuan learned this from the young princess afterward.
Although Li Xiaonuan didn't know much about the situation, she knew that this was the most tense moment in the capital.
Only by winning this battle can Prince Jing and his allies retain the emperor's throne.
However, with such a huge disparity in manpower, victory would come at a very heavy price.
Just as Li Xiaonuan was lost in thought, Wei Yu suddenly appeared at the villa.
As if he already knew where Li Xiaonuan was, he landed lightly in front of her.
"Why are you here?" Li Xiaonuan asked curiously when she saw Wei Yu.
At this time, shouldn't Wei Yu be protecting the emperor or on the front line of fighting the enemy?
“I brought you some things, and I've put them all in your room. You know how to use them, so I won't go into details. Also, I've come to say goodbye. I'm going on a long trip and won't be back for a few months,” Wei Yu said, looking directly into Li Xiaonuan's eyes.