Leap Forward Comics: Watch How I Become a Villainess

Chapter 140 Female Lead An Linqing

Gao Yi was in front of the ancestral hall, holding the family law and severely beating Gao Zhan.

"Unfilial son!" Gao Yi snapped a stick in half and shouted to the servants outside, "Bring me another one!"

Gao Zhan took off his shirt, knelt on the prayer mat, facing the ancestral tablet, head bowed and silent. His back was covered with bruises. Although Gao Yi was furious, he did not use excessive force, otherwise, he would have been severely injured.

"Where exactly is His Highness the Crown Prince?" Gao Yi took the rattan cane that the servant had just brought and pointed it at Gao Zhan's head.

But he gritted his teeth and remained silent.

"This child is hopeless!" Gao Yi angrily raised the rattan cane, this time with even more force.

Finally, blood was drawn.

Gao Yi struck several times with all his might, but he was exhausted and leaned against the table next to him, panting heavily.

"What an unfilial son! You ruined all my painstaking plans! You actually helped that little girl Li Cen hide the Crown Prince? I think you've gone mad!" Gao Yi was furious.

After much effort, they managed to notify the Deputy Envoy of the Imperial City and the Director of the Imperial Guard to return to the capital, hoping to rescue the Crown Prince, only to be outmaneuvered by their own son.

"You're not as useful as your brother!" Gao Yi had two sons. His second son, Gao Kuang, was a fifth-rank military officer and a junior captain in the military affairs department, working in the military camp.

Gao Kuang had already gathered his men, ready to cooperate with the two from the Imperial City Guard at any time, but now there was no one left in the prison.

It's really a big joke in the world.

"Father, please spare the Crown Prince. He doesn't want to fight with the Eldest Princess anymore. He's already gone. I know where he went. The world is vast, and he can go wherever he wants!" Gao Zhan remembered that before leaving the prison that day, Li Guangqi solemnly told him not to be enemies with Li Cen, otherwise the Gao family would be destroyed. If he had to choose a side, he should support Li Cen.

He kept it in mind.

"Now we can only cooperate with Chao Ying and the others to support the Third Prince as the Crown Prince... It's ridiculous. We've fought for half our lives, only to end up benefiting others. It's all for nothing!" Gao Yi felt really aggrieved and was quite angry.

"Father, instead of supporting the Third Prince now, why not support the Eldest Princess directly? It would be better than being forever subservient to others!" Gao Zhan used Li Guangqi's words to persuade Gao Yi.

“Absurd! How can a woman ruling be orthodox?” Gao Yi refused outright.

"What is legitimacy? The royal bloodline is legitimacy!"

"You're talking nonsense!" A resounding slap landed on Gao Zhan's face: "You're outrageous! Spouting such rubbish!"

"May I ask, Father, is Li Cen not His Majesty's son?" Seeing that Grand Tutor Gao was still obstinate, Gao Zhan had no choice but to bring up the Crown Prince: "His Highness the Crown Prince asked me to tell Father that if he wants to get involved in this vortex, he must choose the Eldest Princess to protect the Gao family!"

In fact, Grand Tutor Gao was not unaware that if he supported Li Yun at this time, he would not gain any benefits at all. All the credit would only go to Chao Ying and Nie Sheng. However, at present, he only had Gao Kuang in command of troops, and he was only a fifth-rank official. He Xiu, the commander of the inner guard, was originally a confidant of the crown prince. Now that the crown prince was gone, he wondered what this guy would do.

On the other hand, Chao Ying's General Chao Zhiyi commands a million soldiers, making him incredibly powerful. Furthermore, Nie Zhiyuan has volunteered to go to Nanxiang to contact the Prince of Hu, urging him to raise the banner of rescuing the Crown Prince and send troops. No matter how you look at it, Li Cen has no chance of winning.

At this moment, Nie Qing suddenly walked in from the door: "If you ask me, now that the Crown Prince is gone, their actions in his name are no longer legitimate. As long as the Eldest Princess announces that the Crown Prince is dead in prison, their cause will be without justification. If they come halfway, they can only change it to rescuing the Third Prince..."

"When did you come in!" Grand Tutor Gao looked displeased when he saw Nie Qing. It was bad luck for an outsider, especially a woman, to come to the ancestral hall.

"I've been here for ages. I was already at the door when you started the first batch. I didn't want to disturb you because I saw how loving you two were," Nie Qing said, adding a sarcastic remark.

"How rude of you! Now that the Crown Prince is gone, you are naturally no longer the Crown Princess. Please go home!" Gao Yi said, displeased, giving him the order to leave.

“That’s not right,” Nie Qing shook her head. “I don’t want to go back to the Nie family. They’ve committed treason, and their entire clan will be executed sooner or later. Why should I still be a member of the Nie family?” She stepped forward and offered an enticing deal: “Grand Tutor Gao, I have evidence that Nie Sheng slandered loyal officials. I can bring Nie Sheng down directly. If you take down Nie Sheng, and Nie Zhiyuan is in the King of the Swan’s army, sending someone to inform him to cooperate from within shouldn’t be difficult, right?”

Gao Yi, who had been glaring and bristling, quickly changed his expression: "You mean that if we capture the rest of the Nie family, we can force Nie Zhiyuan to become a spy?"

“That’s right, we can also get credit in front of the Princess, why not?” Nie Qing repeated everything Lu He had taught her to Gao Yi.

Gao Yi hesitated as expected.

Lu He had already had his undercover agents thoroughly investigate An Daohe's affairs. All the evidence was complete, enough to clear the An family's name and convict Nie Sheng. However, he hadn't told the female lead yet because he was waiting for a crucial development to occur.

While secretly plotting a rebellion with Nie Qing (also known as An Linqing), she informed the female lead that she had gathered all the evidence for the An family and was waiting for the Eldest Princess to take power so that An Daohe could be exonerated. Thus, she firmly secured the female lead's connection.

Gao Yi stroked his beard and finally nodded.

Gao Zhan happily stood up: "I'll go and inform my second brother right away!"

"Zhan'er, your injury..." Before Gao Yi could stop him, Gao Zhan had already disappeared.

"Looks like the beating didn't hurt much." Nie Qing teased, "The old man still loves his son, why won't he admit it?"

"Sigh." Gao Yi frowned, deeply troubled. Of all the children he had raised, only Li Guangqi was truly intelligent...