The Side Character Wants to Lie Flat-Chapter 116: Man Proposes, God Disposes

Once everyone had arrived, the evening’s banquet began.

Palace maids filed in, carrying wine ewers, and filled the cups of the guests.

The Emperor was the first to raise his cup.

He took a sip and praised it with a smile.

"It’s mellow and fragrant, with a lingering aftertaste. Truly a fine wine!"

Seeing this, the others followed suit and raised their cups.

Yichongyuan stared at the cup before her, feeling quite uneasy.

Her tolerance for alcohol wasn’t particularly high, but it wasn’t especially low either.

A single cup like this shouldn’t be enough to get her drunk.

But she still hesitated.

All the wine tonight had been presented by Prince Zhao.

She was afraid Prince Zhao might have tampered with the wine—for instance, by adding something unsavory to her cup.

Wen Zhaorong, seated beside her, turned and said with a smile.

"Why aren’t you drinking, sister? This is a fine vintage specially presented by Prince Zhao. They say it’s a rare, top-quality wine that’s usually very hard to come by."

An idea sparked in Yichongyuan’s mind.

She picked up the cup in front of her.

"To be honest, it’s that time of the month for me, so I cannot drink alcohol.

But I’d hate to waste such a fine wine.

Why don’t I make a gift of it to you, sister?"

With that, she offered the cup to Wen Zhaorong.

But Wen Zhaorong just smiled. "Thank you for the kind thought, sister, but I’m not much of a drinker. My own cup is more than enough. You should keep yours."

Having navigated the intrigues of the harem for so many years, she had long made it a habit not to eat or drink anything given to her by others.

’You can never know what’s in a person’s heart. Who knows what she might have put in that wine?’

Seeing this, Yichongyuan knew she couldn’t insist.

At that moment, the Lady, seated on her other side, spoke up, her tone carrying its characteristic pride. "If Yichongyuan cannot drink today, then she shouldn’t. It’s just a cup of wine, what’s the big deal?"

Yichongyuan felt a wave of relief at her words. She immediately put down her cup, turned to the Lady, and thanked her.

At the same time, Yichongyuan secretly made up her mind.

’Tonight, I won’t eat or drink a thing, just to be safe. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Later, I’ll find an excuse to leave early.’

But things rarely go according to plan.

The Empress, seated at the head of the banquet, overheard their conversation. Learning that Yichongyuan was indisposed to drink, she ordered someone to bring her a cup of warm red date tea.

Yichongyuan’s heart sank.

Though she resisted with every fiber of her being, she had to put on a grateful expression as she rose and curtsied to the Empress.

"Thank you for your concern, Empress."

She took the teacup from the palace maid. The tea must have been freshly brewed; thin wisps of steam were still rising from it.

The Lady remarked with an ambiguous sigh, "The Empress is truly so considerate."

The Empress, however, only smiled and did not respond.

Seeing Yichongyuan’s hesitation, Wen Zhaorong asked in confusion.

"Why don’t you drink it, sister? Red date tea should be drunk hot. It won’t taste good once it’s cold."

Just then, the Emperor also spoke. "Indeed. This is a token of the Empress’s kindness. Yichongyuan, you mustn’t let it go to waste."

Yichongyuan was now caught in an impossible situation. She had to drink it, whether she wanted to or not.

She silently comforted herself. ’This red date tea was a gift from the Empress. There shouldn’t be anything wrong with it.’

It wasn’t that she trusted the Empress so much, but rather that the Empress had presided over the harem for many years and had always been cautious and meticulous. Even if the Empress truly wanted to harm her, she wouldn’t do it so openly.

Yichongyuan took a deep breath, lifted the cup, and took a small, delicate sip.

The warm tea, with the unique sweet fragrance of red dates, flowed down her throat and into her stomach.

She held her breath and waited for a moment, but noticed nothing wrong.

’Am I just overthinking things?

If that’s the case, then that’s wonderful.’

Just as Yichongyuan was secretly breathing a sigh of relief, Prince Zhao, Li Ji, suddenly looked over.

Though his face wore a smile, his gaze carried an inexplicable sense of pressure.

Yichongyuan involuntarily held her breath, her nerves tightening.

The next moment, she heard Prince Zhao speak.

"Why isn’t the Sixth Prince here tonight?"

The question was rather abrupt.

Many people present turned to look at Yichongyuan, including the Emperor and the Empress.

Yichongyuan gave a helpless smile, intending to say that the Sixth Prince had an upset stomach tonight and couldn’t attend the banquet.

But when she opened her small mouth, the words that came out were—

"I was the one who kept him away. I was afraid you would poison the wine."

The moment she said it, the entire hall was stunned!

But no matter how shocked they were, none were more shocked than Yichongyuan herself.

She instinctively clapped a hand over her mouth, her face filled with terror.

’How could I have said what I was thinking out loud?!’

Before she could think of a way to retract her statement, Li Ji immediately followed up.

"We have no grievances between us. Why would you think I would want to poison the Sixth Prince?"

Yichongyuan lowered her hand, wanting to explain that she was only joking, but her mouth refused to obey her, once again speaking words that shocked everyone.

"Who says we have no grievances?

I bribed Jin Zhi to hide a Fake Jade Seal in your residence to frame you.

That is the grievance between us!"

The moment the words were out, Yichongyuan knew she was utterly finished tonight.

She instinctively looked toward the Emperor.

Sure enough, the Emperor’s expression had turned incredibly grim, and his gaze was filled with loathing.

In his eyes, she was no longer the gentle, considerate, and well-mannered Yichongyuan, but a venomous woman who would stop at nothing to achieve her goals.

Yichongyuan’s vision swam with darkness. She wished she could just faint on the spot.

Wen Zhaorong stared at her, dumbfounded, and asked in disbelief.

"It was you who framed Prince Zhao? I never would have thought you were that kind of person."

Yichongyuan seemed to have resigned herself to her fate.

She decided to throw caution to the wind and stopped struggling, letting her mouth open and close, spilling all the true thoughts from the depths of her heart.

"And you think you’re any better?

You knew perfectly well that the story about Li Zhaoyuan being possessed was fake, yet you deliberately went along with me and said those things to provoke Li Zhaoyuan into causing trouble for Lady Hua.

Weren’t you just trying to take advantage of the situation, to stab Prince Zhao in the back and avenge your brother’s death at his hands?!"

Wen Zhaorong never expected her to know all this, let alone say it in front of everyone.

Instantly, the color drained from Wen Zhaorong’s face.

She wanted to defend herself, but before she could speak, Prince Zhao cut in.

Li Ji asked, "Jin Zhi’s death... was that your doing?"

Yichongyuan gave a miserable smile. "Yes. I was afraid Jin Zhi would expose me, so I had to silence her permanently."

Li Ji: "How did you do it? Do you have an accomplice within the Flying Dragon Cavalry?"

At this point in the conversation, Yichongyuan should have had nothing left to lose.

But she suddenly began to struggle again.

She clamped her hands over her mouth, trying to stop herself from speaking the truth.

The Emperor ordered his men to pull her hands away.

The Flying Dragon Cavalry was under the Emperor’s direct command, responsible for his personal safety. The Emperor would absolutely not tolerate a traitor in their midst.

He had to get to the bottom of this!