Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Song Lianwei could not hold back any longer.

In a mournful voice, she said, “Eldest Cousin, you once gave me a coral bracelet…”

First Imperial Brother hurriedly cut her off. “It was only a bracelet. I gave Yunle plenty of things too. A token from an older brother to a younger sister, that was all. You needn’t take it to heart.”

Second Imperial Brother added, “A few little trinkets exchanged between family, nothing more than play. It can’t be taken seriously.”

Only Third Imperial Brother was silent for a moment before saying firmly, “Empress Mother, your son is willing to accept punishment. But I have no romantic feelings for our cousin. At the time, I was merely muddleheaded.”

Song Lianwei froze.

Then she let out a sneering laugh, her voice thick with madness and despair.

“So it was all my own wishful thinking. So siblings of the same family can do such absurd things as well. I was wrong. I was wrong…”

She struggled to her feet and slammed her head toward a pillar in the hall.

As she passed by me, I instinctively reached out and grabbed at her, tearing off a strip of her hem, but I still heard a heavy thud.

Blood splattered across my face.

It was warm, then quickly turned cold.

Empress Mother barked for people to come in.

Palace attendants rushed over, and the imperial physician stepped forward to examine her.

After a flurry of panic, Song Lianwei gave a soft moan and woke.

I stood up and struck the three imperial brothers kneeling beside me with all my strength.

“Red coral is priceless, and you just give it away? That pile of junk you gave me could compare to red coral?”

“If you wanted to sleep with her, why didn’t you openly ask to marry her? Or are the three of you dogs, finding it fragrant only when you have to fight over it?”

The three imperial brothers, enraged by my blows, shoved me away hard.

I crashed heavily to the floor, unable for a moment to tell east from west.

Second Imperial Brother blurted out, “Zhao Yunle, don’t go too far! If you hadn’t sent someone to summon me, how could I have made such a terrible mistake? This was clearly you harboring evil intentions! You meant to ruin us!”

After so many years as siblings, today the mask was finally torn away.

I touched my aching palm, pushed myself up, looked in his direction, and could not help a cold laugh.

“I ruined you? That’s right, I was the one who ordered someone to summon you. But did I order you to go sleep with a woman?”

“If you were truly an upright gentleman, then upon seeing a woman being bullied, you should have pulled the assailant away, draped a garment over her, and beaten the assailant half to death. Not conspired with him to violate her, then turned around and accused someone else of harming you.”

“As a man, you have no virtue. As an elder brother, you have no sense of responsibility. A vile scum like you is a disgrace to me.”

Second Imperial Brother flew into a rage. “Enough! You scheming, venomous woman, spouting lies and framing your elder brothers. Where is even the slightest trace of womanly obedience in you? Today, I will teach you a lesson.”

He charged at me.

However, the answer he received was a kick from Empress Mother. He let out a muffled groan and seemed to come to his senses.

Empress Mother said mildly, “Second, why don’t you first teach me what womanly obedience is?”

The imperial brothers hurriedly knelt properly on the floor.

Second Imperial Brother endured the pain and said in a trembling voice, “Empress Mother, your son would not dare. Little Sister relies on being favored and even dares plot against her elder brothers. I only wanted to frighten her a little. I would never dare hurt her. Please see the truth.”

First Imperial Brother said urgently, “Exactly, Empress Mother. Look at how lawless Little Sister is. She alone has turned the entire palace upside down. Even if Lianwei and I lost control of ourselves and did something wrong, she should not have called Second Brother and Third Brother over. She clearly wanted to use Lianwei to drive a wedge between us brothers.”

Third Imperial Brother also said solemnly, “That is right. Cousin Lianwei and we were perfectly fine before this. It was Little Sister who grew jealous that Sister Lianwei was close to us, so she deliberately set a trap to frame us. The moment I went in, I smelled a strange fragrance inside. How do we know she hadn’t arranged this from the very beginning to destroy us?”