Li Hongyuan fell silent for a moment, then suddenly raised his hand—
Jiang Ning dodged backward: "Let's talk. There's no need for physical action!"
Li Hongyuan paused, letting his hand drop to her head and stroked her hair bun, smiled and said, "They call you smart, and indeed you are. They call you foolish and you're charmingly foolish."
"What do you mean?"
"You thought that just by leveraging a lowly monk, you could bring the Empress down?"
"Of course not, I'm just presenting a reason for the Emperor to dispose of her." Jiang Ning tilted her head to avoid his huge palm and straightened her own hairpin.
"Even if you prove that Jieming is indulged in wine and women, can you prove that everything he's said is false?" questioned Li Hongyuan.
"What kind of twisted logic is that? His actions show that he's not an enlightened monk!" Jiang Ning frowned, "Am I the one who's dense, or are you not thinking straight? Doesn't avenging your concubine mother matter to you anymore?"