Gyeongbokgung Palace, the main hall.

"Leader, do they really point out that the witchcraft was done by the princess?" Li Xuan looked at Li Ji who was sitting at the bottom of the place with a shocked expression, with a look of disbelief, he never imagined that those Shang Gong did not choose to be loyal to the princess, but became a shameful traitor.

"Your Royal Highness, now that the human and material evidence is there, the mother of the middle temple will not be able to get away with the crime this time." Li Ji groaned for a while, and said to Li Xuan with a helpless expression, "The middle temple lady is now only eating a small amount of food and water every day, which can be described as physically and mentally exhausted, and in the long run, her body will definitely not be able to bear it, and she will not be able to last too long." ”

"Your Highness, it doesn't matter what the truth is, what matters is how to keep the safety of the middle temple and His Royal Highness." As he spoke, Li Ji knelt down with his legs bent and said solemnly, "Please persuade His Royal Highness the Lord to persuade the Lady of the Middle Temple, with the current situation, even if the Lady of the Middle Temple dies unfortunately, she can only leave with the charge." ”

"Please get up!" Li Xuan's face suddenly changed when he heard this, and a look of concern appeared in his eyes, this was the first time he had learned about the princess's recent situation since he was under house arrest, he didn't expect the princess's situation to be so bad, and then hurriedly stepped forward to help Li Ji, and now the only person he can rely on is Li Ji.

"Prime Minister, did Lord Zhong want the life of this king?" After staring at Li Ji for a while, Li Ji's eyes suddenly showed a gloomy look, and asked faintly, in his opinion, since the princess had "committed" such a serious mistake, then he, the king of Joseon, had the responsibility to bear the brunt of the impact.

"Your Royal Highness is too worried, Lord Zhong is a benevolent person, and he will never take the lives of His Royal Highness the Lord and the mother of the middle hall, otherwise he would have done it a long time ago." Hearing this, Li Ji hurriedly bowed down and said, "Lord Zhong asked his ministers to come this time, just to hope that His Royal Highness the Lord can explain the matter clearly and properly handle this matter." ”

"Tell me clearly?" The corners of Li Xuan's mouth suddenly showed a bitter smile, if the princess used witchcraft to murder Li Yuntian, how could he, as the king of Joseon, say it clearly?

"Your Royal Highness, Lord Zhong said, if His Royal Highness is willing to confess, His Royal Highness will surrender himself, and he can be punished with a reduced crime." Li Ji felt a trace of sadness in Li Xuan's words, shook his head helplessly, and then said, "The minister thinks that His Royal Highness the Lord should seize this opportunity and strive to get out!" ”

"Walk away?" Li Xuan smiled bitterly, stared at Li Ji and asked, "Prime Minister, do you think this king can still get out of this whirlpool?" ”

"Your Royal Highness, the matter is man-made, besides, the loyal prince intends to leave a way back for His Royal Highness, His Royal Highness must not be discouraged!" Hearing this, Li Ji hurriedly encouraged Li Xuan in a deep voice, obviously Li Yuntian didn't want to put Li Xuan to death, otherwise he would not have treated Li Xuan and the princess in such a gentle way.

"As long as this king admits to knowing about witchcraft, Prince Zhong will let this king and the princess go?" Li Xuan was silent for a long time when he heard this, and looked at Li Ji with a gloomy expression and asked.

"Your Highness, Lord, just tell the truth." This question stumped Li Ji, and whether Li Xuan was guilty or not was not something he could mix, so he answered it euphemistically, cleverly avoiding this question.

"You tell Lord Zhong that this king is willing to confess, but whether you can meet the princess before that, this king wants to know if she is okay."

Li Xuan knew that Li Ji was avoiding his question, so he smiled helplessly and solemnly put forward the condition, if something happened to the princess, he would choose to fight to the death, and break the net with Li Yuntian, and would rather die than admit the trumped-up charge.

Originally, the young and vigorous Li Xuan still wanted to fight with Li Yuntian over the matter of witch Gu, but when the soldiers of the Xiaowu Army surrounded Gyeongbokgung Palace, causing him to lose his personal freedom, he knew that he was simply an ant-like figure in front of Li Yuntian, and his life and death were completely in the hands of Li Yuntian, which made him deeply shocked.

Especially when he learned that the reason why Li Yuntian was under house arrest was the small note handed by the Yi Forbidden Mansion to the Middle Palace to the Mishang Palace, Li Xuan completely died of the mind of fighting with Li Yuntian, and now I think about it, I am afraid that Li Yuntian asked him to go to the Yi Forbidden Mansion to see the princess on purpose, so he led him to take action, and he was still complacent at that time thinking that he had taken a big advantage.

During this period of house arrest, after the initial anxiety, Li Xuan gradually calmed down, and found that although he was the king of Joseon, he was so lonely and helpless, not only was he defeated in front of the powerful Li Yuntian, but also the civil and military officials of Joseon were not loyal to him, making him a real loner.

At this time, Li Xuan had time to spend on the rhythm, playing the piano and composing, and his life became leisurely and comfortable again, and his mood was much more cheerful.

Originally, Li Xuan thought that he was going to die this time, he didn't think that the witch Gu incident was as simple as it seemed on the surface, others might not know it, but he knew very well that the princess couldn't do that kind of vicious thing, and how could the concubines in the harem dare to be disrespectful to the prince of Daming.

Therefore, things have become very simple, Li Xuan does not think that the witch Gu thing was done by the people in Gyeongbokgung Palace, so it is not difficult to suspect that it is related to Li Yuntian, except for Li Yuntian, he really can't think of anyone else who has this motive and ability, but there is not the slightest evidence, even if there is evidence, he does not dare to question it, because doing so is undoubtedly looking for death.

After figuring out the huge gap in strength, all Li Xuan could do was silently wait for his fate, which was completely a kind of torment, which made him bear huge psychological pressure.

In fact, Li Ji's reversal today has made Li Xuan much easier, no matter what, he can know Li Yuntian's purpose, so he will not be thinking nonsense.

To tell the truth, Li Yuntian's attitude was beyond Li Xuan's expectations, Li Xuan thought that Li Yuntian would put him to death, but he never expected that Li Yuntian wanted to let him and the princess go, so he had no choice but to agree to Li Yuntian's request when he was desperate.

Although he had no choice, Li Xuan proposed to see the princess for the sake of his last dignity, and in addition to his concern for the princess, he also wanted to save the last trace of face.

Seeing that Li Xuan promised to "confess truthfully", Li Ji couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief in his heart, and hurriedly reported to Li Yuntian.

Li Yuntian agreed to Li Xuan's request without the slightest hesitation, and it was not a big deal anyway, so Li Xuan was able to leave Gyeongbokgung Palace and put on a guard of honor to go to the Yiban Mansion to see the princess.

The people along the way paused to see Li Xuan's guard of honor and talked with each other, and vaguely Li Xuan heard that people were talking about the witch Gu in the palace, and his mood couldn't help but sink down, and a sadness rose from the bottom of his heart.

Originally, Li Xuan thought that he would cause a shock among the people after he was placed under house arrest, but now that the people are talking about him after seeing him, it is indeed a witch incident, which makes his heart full of chills, and it seems that his presence as the king of Korea among the people is really too bad.

After arriving at the Forbidden Mansion, Li Xuan saw the haggard and weak princess in the room last time, lying on the bed resting with her eyes closed, and some pastries on the table next to her, but unfortunately she did not move.

"Your Highness!" The two palace maids were taking care of the princess in the room, and when they saw Li Xuan coming, they hurriedly saluted.

"Your Highness?" After hearing the voices of the two palace maids, the princess couldn't help but open her eyes, and a look of surprise appeared on her face, as if she didn't expect Li Xuan to come here.

"Lie down!" After seeing Li Xuan, the princess struggled to get up and salute, but Li Xuan walked a few steps to the side of the bed to stop him, and said with a look of pity.

"Your Highness, why are you here?" The princess felt very strange about Li Xuan's arrival, and couldn't help but ask suspiciously, but she knew that Li Xuan was also caught in the witch Gu incident because of the small note, and it stands to reason that it would be difficult for the two to meet again.

"This king is ready to confess the truth to Prince Zhong, the matter of witchcraft is the king's idea, and the concubine is just acting according to the king's orders." After Li Xuan asked the two palace maids to step back, he said to the princess gloomily that since Li Yuntian was coming for him, then he had to carry this matter.

"Your Highness, this is absolutely impossible, you are the king of Korea, how can you fall into such a thing? It's good that everything is borne by the concubine. When the princess heard this, she immediately became anxious and hurriedly objected.

"This witch Gu incident is very strange, this king suspects that it is coming for this king, the concubine is just suffering from an unwarranted disaster, if this king does not come to take responsibility, this matter will not be good."

Hearing this, a wry smile flashed at the corner of Li Xuan's mouth, and he reached out and stroked the hair on the princess's head and said, "Don't worry, Concubine Ai, the leader has already confessed to this king, as long as this king confesses, then he can be dealt with leniently." ”

"Your Highness, you can't do that, if you admit it, the throne will be deposed!" The princess was shocked when she heard this, and hurriedly stopped her, she was willing to sacrifice her life for Li Xuan to carry down the witch Gu incident, anyway, she no longer has any chance to get away with her crimes, why bother to catch Li Xuan again.

"Otherwise, none of us will be able to escape this fate!" Li Xuan naturally knew the princess's intentions, shook his head and said helplessly, "Prince Zhong wants to support a puppet to be the king of North Korea, but this king wants to take back power and thus violates his interests, so if this king does not fall, how can he give up, the witch Gu incident is just a cover to cover people's ears!" ”

"Your Highness, are you saying that the witch Gu thing was done by the loyal prince?" The princess understood the meaning of Li Xuan's words, her eyes showed a look of shock, and she guessed that she might not think about Li Yuntian, because in her opinion, Li Yuntian was the prince and there was no need to do this.

"Shh Hearing this, Li Xuan hurriedly put his index finger to his mouth and made a silent gesture, and whispered to the princess, "Be careful, the wall has ears." ”

"Your Royal Highness, will Lord Zhong let us go?" The princess hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand, and the righteous forbidden mansion was full of Li Yuntian's people, and it would be terrible if someone heard what she had just said, and then said worriedly.

"Although this king has a lot of prejudices against the loyal prince, I have to say that the loyal prince is a person who promises a thousand gold, and he is generous and does not love killing, which should give us a way to live."

After two years of contact with Li Yuntian, although he was unwilling to admit it, Li Yuntian's personality still made him quite admired, he was fair and honest, and he was a model for all officials, so he was worthy of his trust.

"It's okay, we don't want this throne." Hearing this, the princess couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and opened her mouth to persuade, "Your Royal Highness, since the concubine moved into this Gyeongbokgung Palace, she has not slept peacefully every night, and she has been walking on thin ice every day, for fear of doing something wrong. ”

She had also heard about Li Yuntian before, and knew from the palace maid's discussion that Li Yuntian had a very good reputation among the people, and the reason why Seoul's economy was able to recover and develop so quickly was due to Li Yuntian, and it was Li Yuntian who brought vitality to Seoul and even the eight provinces of Korea.

Therefore, with Li Xuan's previous words, the princess felt that she should be able to trust Li Yuntian, so that she and Li Xuan still had a way to live.

"But in this case, we will be charged with using witchcraft to murder Prince Zhong, and I don't know if there will be a chance to wash it away in the future." Li Xuan stroked the hair on the princess's head lovingly, and said a little unwillingly, he really didn't want to accept this trumped-up charge imposed on him.

The princess couldn't help but fall into silence when she heard this, the price of the two lives was the loss of reputation, which couldn't help but make her feel like she was lost, and this kind of loss of reputation was really uncomfortable.

"Lord, the king of Joseon has already met the princess." At the same time, a guard entered the door and reported to Li Yuntian, who was reading the official documents.

Li Yuntian couldn't help but put down the official document in his hand when he heard this, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, I'm afraid that Li Xuan and the princess are now worrying about the future, and he has already arranged a place for the two of them, a place that Li Xuan and the princess would never have imagined.

"Lord Wang, just now the prince of the plains came, and he wanted to recognize the concubine as his godmother, but he was politely rejected by the concubine." At this time, Liu Zhen walked in with a smile, and the maid behind him was holding a bowl of frozen lotus seed soup, ready to give Li Yuntian heat, July is the hottest time.

"This must be Li Ji's idea, Li Xuan is about to fall, so he will definitely push the prince of Pingyuan to the throne of the king of Joseon." Li Yuntian immediately laughed when he heard this, and said with a smile while tasting the cool and delicious lotus seed soup.

Since the witch Gu incident in the middle palace came out, Li Ji, who has a keen sense of smell in the officialdom, began to take precautions and found the fifteen or sixteen-year-old Pingyuan Maharaja, in order to make the Pingyuan Maharaja ascend the throne of the king of Joseon, he actually thought of recognizing Liu Zhen as his godmother, which is really thick-skinned enough.

However, it is also appropriate to be the godmother of the Plain Lord at Liu Zhen's age, but because of the complex interests involved, Liu Zhen naturally wants to shirk it.

"By the way, this king remembers that in the past, you and the king of Joseon often met friends with songs, and when the case of the Righteous Forbidden Mansion was tried, you invited him and the princess to reminisce about the past." After drinking a few sips of lotus seed soup, Li Yuntian remembered something, and couldn't help but say to Liu Zhen.

"The concubine understands." Liu Zhen knew that Li Yuntian wanted to take this opportunity to meet Li Xuan, so he agreed with a smile, and Li Yuntian would definitely have a showdown with Li Xuan at that time.