The Phoenix is Back - Chapter 148

Chapter 148 Turn Of The Road
Hearing Lu Haiyang’s reply, the corner of Xiao Xiwei’s lips curved into a faint arc.

Most of the time, you think you are a yellow bird, but the reality is often the opposite. Lu Haiyang thought that he knew her very well, so he laid a big net to wait for her to fall in, but was she so stupid that Xiao Xiwei was willing to fall into his net?

Before a cup of tea could be drunk, the people sent by Lu Haiyang to Yu Li Palace came back.

There was no need to ask. Just by looking at the expressions of those people, one could tell that they had definitely returned with no success this time.

At this moment, Lu Haiyang’s expression was extremely ugly.

After expending so much effort, he thought that his prey had fallen into the net, but he didn’t expect that he would become someone else’s prey instead.

Thinking of this, Lu Haiyang looked at Xiao Xiwei with a complicated expression.

He had underestimated this woman.

“Lord Lu, it seems that the Yu Li Palace does not have the corpse of Li Dai Tao, and the Ninth Princess is unharmed. In that case, can you prove my innocence?” Xiao Xiwei smiled as he looked at Lu Haiyang.

Lu Haiyang’s eyes were as sharp as a dagger. He looked at Xiao Xiwei with rapt attention, as if he wanted to cut her apart.

At this moment, a low cry of alarm came from the red sandalwood chair beside him. Chu Zuizhi supported his forehead and faintly woke up.

“Princess, you’re awake.” Zi Yan hurriedly went over and helped Chu Zuizhi up.

Hearing Zi Yan’s voice, Chu Zuizhi’s chaos seemed to have cleared up a bit. She opened her hazy eyes and said to Zi Yan, “Zi Yan, why is it you? I, why am I here?”

Zi Yan smiled. “Ninth Princess, you’re drunk. Have you forgotten?”

“Zi Yan, go pour a cup of tea for the Ninth Princess to wake up and sober up.” Xiao Xiwei walked over to Chu Zuizhi and said.

“Yes.” Zi Yan blessed her body and immediately poured a cup of tea for Chu Zuizhi to drink.

Chu Zuizhi took a sip of tea with Zi Yan’s hand. Chaos gradually became clearer and clearer, “Sister-in-law Huang, why am I here?”

Before Xiao Xiwei could answer, a loud’pa ‘sound came from above.

Chu Zuiyi trembled. He turned around and saw the Emperor staring at her with a gloomy expression. She subconsciously trembled and timidly shouted, “Father … Father Emperor.”

“Speak! What’s going on with Yuli Palace’s fire?”

Chu Zuiyi trembled and slid down from his chair. “I, I don’t … I don’t know.”

“You don’t know!” The Emperor stood up from his chair and walked step by step to Chu Zuizhi.

A huge shadow shrouded Chu Zuizhi. Under the Emperor’s pressure, Chu Zuizhi’s entire body trembled in fear, and his small face was as pale as paper.

“Your Majesty, it’s getting late. I believe the Northern Desert envoy has also received news of the fire in Yuli Palace. Do you want to send someone to the Northern Desert envoy’s side to condolence?” Just as Chu Zuizhi was scared out of his wits, Imperial Concubine Yan stood up and looked at the Emperor.

The Emperor’s cold gaze swept towards Imperial Concubine Yan, but when he saw that her expression of concern did not seem to be fake, he nodded when he thought that it was indeed inappropriate for the Northern Desert envoy to misunderstand what had happened last night. Being interrupted by Imperial Concubine Yan, the Emperor naturally couldn’t blame Chu Zuizhi anymore. Unexpectedly, this marriage was definitely going to happen. Before that, Chu Zuizhi couldn’t afford to make any mistakes.

Thinking of this, the Emperor sat back in his chair. “Tell me, what exactly happened?”

Chu Zuizhi lowered his head and bit his lips without saying a word.

At this time, Zi Yan suddenly knelt in front of Chu Zuizhi and said, “Ninth Princess, please tell the story in front of the Emperor. Otherwise, this basin of dirty water poured on our princess will never be washed clean.”

Chu Zuizhi gritted her teeth and looked at Zi Yan in surprise. She pursed the corner of her mouth and whispered after a while, “This, what does this have to do with Sister-in-law Huang?”

“Princess, you were drunk last night, so you naturally didn’t know. Lord Lu identified my princess as resisting the decree to bully you in front of the Imperial Court and set fire to Yu Li Palace to steal you out of the palace. Ninth Princess, please do me a favor. My princess can’t bear the charge of resisting the decree to bully you!” As Zi Yan spoke, she lowered her head and kowtowed to Chu Zuizhi three times.

“No, Royal Father, this matter has nothing to do with Royal Sister-in-law.” Hearing that, Chu Zuizhi hurriedly raised his head and said to the Emperor. Seeing that the Emperor’s face was still cold, she gritted her teeth and took a deep breath, as if she had gathered enough courage to say, “That fire … I set it.”

“What are you talking about!” The Emperor slammed the table.

The loud noise caused Chu Zuizhi’s face to turn pale. However, she still gritted her teeth and continued to face the Emperor’s gaze without retreating. “Father, I don’t want to marry into the Northern Desert.”

“How dare you!”

“Royal Father!” Chu Zuizhi’s tears gushed out. She knelt a few steps in front of the Emperor and reached out to hug his thigh. “I beg you, I haven’t begged you for anything even when I’m so big. But this time, I beg you, please don’t marry me to the Northern Desert.”

The emperor’s pitch-black eyes were suffused with a faint chill. Every time Chu Zuizhi said a word, the chill in his eyes deepened a bit.

Suddenly, Chu Zuizhi flew out.

“Drunk.” Xiao Xiwei cried out in alarm and hurriedly stepped forward to help Chu Zuizhi up. She raised her eyes to look at the Emperor’s cold face, and countless resentment suddenly arose in her chest.

Whether it was towards Chu Zuizhi, Chu Xizhi, or even the crippled Crown Prince, was he so heartless? It was true that Chu Yanzhi was his child. Wasn’t it true that Xi Zhi and Zui Zhi were drunk? Why didn’t he have any warmth towards them other than using them?

“Your Majesty, the Ninth Princess is young and sensible. Please don’t argue with her.” Imperial Concubine Yan hurriedly advised.

“Someone, bring the princess to Chu Xiu Palace and let Concubine Xiang take a good look.”

No! Father Emperor, please … please … Chu Zuizhi, who was kicked away by the Emperor, ignored the pain and pushed away Xiao Xiwei’s hand, kowtowing towards the Emperor.

The Emperor stared coldly at Chu Zuizhi, his cold face completely unmoved.

Very quickly, a guard stepped forward and forcefully dragged Chu Zuizhi out of the room.

The room fell silent again.

“Father Emperor, the matter has already come to light. Please return my innocence.” Xiao Xiwei straightened up and knelt on the ground as he looked at the Emperor.

The Emperor’s cold eyes carried a hint of ruthlessness as he swept his gaze towards Xiao Xi.

Xiao Xiwei’s expression did not change as she stubbornly welcomed the Emperor’s gaze.

A cold smile slowly crept into the corner of his mouth. The Emperor’s dense sword-like eyebrows raised and he looked at Xiao Xiwei with a sharp aura. “Oh, what do you want?”

Xiao Xiwei’s gaze did not move at all. Under the Emperor’s sharp gaze, he was still unmoved. “I just want justice.”

As soon as Xiao Xiwei said those words, the air in the room seemed to suddenly freeze. The surroundings were so quiet that even a needle could be heard falling to the ground.

“Your Majesty, Lord Yushi Xu of the Imperial Academy and Prime Minister Zhang request to see you.” Suddenly, the eunuch’s voice rang out from outside the door.

The Emperor’s eyes widened as a trace of killing intent flashed across Xiao Xiwei’s gaze.

From the moment the Northern Desert envoy entered the palace to propose marriage, regardless of whether it was Honored Concubine Yan’s refusal, Lu Haichuan’s sudden request for marriage, the Yu Li Palace’s fire, or even the ministers outside, all of this had been carefully arranged by her. If it was really as he had guessed, then this woman’s scheming was truly too terrifying.

Xiao Xi lowered her lips slightly, her face still obedient and gentle.

At this moment, regardless of whether the Emperor and Lu Haiyang had realized that all of this was just a trap that she had set up, it was meaningless to her. The reason for that was because once Lord Xu and Prime Minister Zhang appeared, it meant that Lu Haiyang’s crime of slandering Princess Yan had spread throughout the court. Even if the Emperor wanted to protect him again, in front of so many officials, especially King Yan, he was still ordered to relieve Su Yang of the disaster. No matter what, it would be impossible for this matter to be settled gently.

She had expended so much effort to lure Lu Haiyang into the bureau step by step, so how could she let him escape so easily?

It was already dawn when he came out of the palace. The faint golden sunlight fell on the golden glazed tiles, and the palace behind him was gathered in a brilliant light. However, Xiao Xiwei knew that no matter how gorgeous and bright the palace was, its interior was already rotten and gloomy.

Before he could step into Prince Yan’s mansion, a figure hurriedly came out to greet him.

“Sister-in-law, are you alright?”

Xiao Xiwei looked at the person and pursed his lips and smiled, “I’m fine. Why are you here?”

“Sister-in-law Huang, you are really too risky this time. Tell me, if there is a chance, how should I explain it to Brother Huang?” Chu Muzhi frowned as he looked at Xiao Xiwei. A trace of reproach appeared in his eyes, but he was more worried.

“Your Highness, if you have anything to say, you should go back to the manor and talk about it.” Zi Yan hurriedly said.

Chu Muzhi looked around and nodded.

“Sister-in-law, Brother-in-law has already arranged everything. Why did you suddenly change your plan? Forget it, why are you still hiding it from me?” At that moment, Chu Muzhi said impatiently.

Actually, Xiao Xiwei had indeed set a big fire in Yu Li Palace as Lu Haiyang had expected, causing chaos and then hiding Chu Zuizhi in a corner of the palace. She was betting that even if Lu Haiyang knew her plan, as long as he could not find Chu Zuizhi, there was still room for rebuttal. Until Chu Xizhi sent someone to deliver a secret letter to Xiao Xiwei overnight. After the news of the Emperor wanting to marry Chu Zuizhi to the Northern Desert was spread, Chu Xizhi, like Xiao Xiwei, immediately thought of the reason. Therefore, he had already planned everything. The other prince of the Northern Desert who had secretly contacted him would immediately come to the Northern Desert and slaughter all of them, rescuing Chu Zuizhi from the Great Desert as soon as he stepped into the Northern Desert. But when Xiao Xiwei learned of Chu Xizhi’s plan, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind. She knew that Lu Haiyang’s plan had already been laid out. Since that was the case, she could not disappoint him.

Therefore, he decided to take advantage of the situation.

The fire in Yu Li Palace still had to be set, and Chu Zuizhi still had to disappear for a short period of time. However, there was no longer a corpse in Yu Li Palace that could replace Chu Zuizhi.

“I’m just afraid that it might implicate you. I’m sure that the Emperor has a lot of suspicions about you right now.”

“Involved? Sister-in-law, do you think that if something happens to you, he won’t suspect me? In his eyes, I have already become a thorn in his eyes like Seventh Brother.” Chu Muzhi stared into Xiao Xiwei’s eyes and said,

“So, Sister-in-law, you must tell me anything in the future, okay?”

He wasn’t afraid of the so-called implication, because he knew long ago that there was only one relative in this world, and that was Seventh Brother.

“Yes, I won’t in the future.” Xiao Xiwei naturally saw the sadness in Chu Muzhi’s eyes. She reached out and patted Chu Muzhi’s arm gently. “Fortunately, the result wasn’t good. Right now, Lu Haiyang has been snatched the position of deputy commander of the Imperial Army. However, I wonder who will be sent to fill this position by the person from the Chongde Palace next.”