Half in the river wind, half in the clouds

Chapter 137 The Art of the Emperor

Li Longye then realized that this little girl was interesting: she acted timid and timid, which made him let down his guard and think that he was just facing a young girl who was ignorant of the world. But in fact, she was very smart, and she planned every step carefully and answered every question very cleverly.

The first step is to show that saving people is not to oppose the prince: she didn't know Dou Ding assassinated the prince before saving people, and then she continued to save people after knowing that he assassinated the prince but the prince was fine. The second step is crucial. She tried to distance Dou Ding from the group of people who really threatened her, and hinted that the other party was just trying to compete with him for the throne, and Dou Ding was just a young man blinded by family hatred and was not to be feared. The third step is to protect her family. She did it alone, and everyone else respected and obeyed her.

Li Longji never liked smart women, and the Li Dynasty was almost ruined by those women. But this girl was also very smart, and he did not feel disgusted with her, but rather admired her. It turned out that there was an essential difference between smart women and smart and beautiful women. He had already understood the outline of the matter, but he was in the mood to tease the girl.

Then he said with a gloomy face: "You have never disobeyed me? I don't think so. You secretly hid the criminal and tried to let him go. How can a girl of fourteen or fifteen years old like you accomplish such a big thing?"

Jiang Feng's eyes widened in horror. Was she really going to kill her whole family? What else could she say? How could this emperor change his mind with just a few words? Two lines of hot tears flowed down her cheeks onto Li Longji's fingers, burning hot.

Li Longji was shocked. Well, a woman crying looks cuter.

Jiang Feng suppressed her fear and panic, and begged, "I have rashly committed a serious crime and deserve death, but my family is really innocent. I cannot prove my family's innocence, so Your Highness is suspicious of them. But I believe Your Highness is a wise ruler and will never wrongly accuse a good person! Please don't make a decision so quickly, send someone to investigate carefully and interrogate them one by one. We will definitely find out the truth, and then we will know that everything I said is true."

Li Longji let go of Jiang Feng, paced a few steps in the room, then looked at Jiang Feng and said, "In fact, I don't want to believe that my father-in-law's family would hide a fugitive, but if I say that you did it alone, it would be difficult to stop everyone from talking. The first person who jumped up to question me was Wang Maozhong, who captured you."

Jiang Feng waited for Li Longji's next words.

As expected, the proud son of heaven said, "My aunt moved to Luoyang, and she always thought it was my doing. Plus the incident at Mount Zhongnan, my aunt hated me so much that she wanted to change the crown prince all the time. You are my aunt's adopted daughter, and you have an extraordinary friendship with her. Did my aunt instigate you to save the man who stabbed me?"

People still need to put themselves in other people's shoes.

Given Jiang Feng's situation, she only wanted to avoid implicating the Jiang family.

As the crown prince, he hopes to seize every opportunity to defeat his political opponents.

Jiang Feng's harboring of Dou Ding and trying to help him escape is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Jiang Feng knew that the aunt and nephew would eventually fight to the death.

But she didn't want to be the fuse. She said righteously: "Your Highness, please understand. Maybe those black-clothed men were really the princess's. Maybe, like what happened in Zhongnan Mountain, someone deliberately created a misunderstanding between the prince and the princess so as to reap the benefits. However, I saved Dou Ding. It was only my own act. I didn't lie at all."

Li Longji said after a long while: "When we were in Mount Zhongnan, my aunt suspected me. What happened last night made me suspicious of my aunt. What should I do?"

This chain of suspicion is as endless as “There is a temple on the mountain, and there is an old monk in the temple”.

Seeing Jiang Feng didn't say anything, Li Longji said, "Why don't we do this? I'll give in first. I'll just treat what happened last night as nothing to do with my aunt. But you saved Dou Ding, and that's unacceptable anyway. Even if I don't say anything, others will think you did it on my aunt's orders. I have a way to have the best of both worlds. Do you want to hear it?"

Jiang Feng naturally knew that this was not a good idea, but he still kowtowed and said, "Your Highness, please explain clearly."

Li Longji said with a serious face, "How about you say that you love Dou Ding, so you saved him and want to elope with him and live in exile? I will announce to the public that I pity your love and grant you two marriage and let you live together forever, how about that?"

Jiang Feng was shocked and said, "How can this be possible? Where does this put the prince?"

Li Longji snorted and said, "Why didn't you think of Wu Lang when you rescued him?"

Jiang Feng then began to feel scared. Compared to Princess Taiping, he was closer to Li Longye.

Li Longji suspected Princess Taiping, so could he not also suspect Li Longye?

Others' suspicions about Princess Taiping can also be directed at Li Longye.

It's really suicidal!

She could only say: "The prince is loyal to Your Highness. If Your Highness doubts him because of my stupidity, wouldn't I be a sinner?"

Li Longji said: "That's why I came up with this idea."

Jiang Feng was thinking about it. Is there a better way? It would not implicate his parents and siblings, nor would it affect Princess Taiping and Li Longye, and he would not lose his head. Instead of passively being beaten, it would be better to have a quick death. Li Longji would not embarrass him, so he would not embarrass himself.

Without any hesitation, she straightened her skirt, touched the ground with her head, and said in a loud voice: "Your Highness, I have hidden Dou Ding, which is an unforgivable crime. But if I say that I saved him because I love him, then where is the sincerity of King Xue! However, King Xue's loyalty cannot be tarnished by my stupidity. I am willing to become a monk for you, and accompany you in this life with green lamps and ancient Buddhas! Please grant me your permission, Your Highness!"

Li Longji was stunned and asked, "You want to become a monk?"

Jiang Feng bowed his head and said, "Yes."

"What a heartless girl! Wulang treated you so lovingly, but you became a nun for the man who took half his life!" Li Longji said angrily and hatefully.

Jiang Feng looked up in astonishment and said in disbelief: "Li Longye is injured?"

"Ahem..." Gao Lishi coughed a few times. This girl actually dared to call the prince by his name directly.