The Phoenix is Back - Chapter 206

Chapter 206 King Ning Is Dead
At the end of the ugly period, Wu Qi hurriedly entered the palace, and news of King Ning being diagnosed with smallpox spread throughout the palace. Zhang Shichang, who had been waiting for news from the Yongchun Palace, immediately ordered the Emperor to close the palace and no one who had come into contact with King Ning was allowed to take a step out of the palace.

When Chu Yanzhi arrived at the Yongchun Palace, the doors of the Yongchun Palace had already been locked. Xiao Xiwei stood in front of the tightly shut doors of the Yongchun Palace with her hair disheveled. In the cold wind, her eyes were red and swollen. Her originally clear and translucent eyes had now completely lost their vitality, like a lifeless puppet. As for Zi Yan and Bi Yun, one of their faces was pale and the other wiped away their tears.

“Xiwei” Chu Yan called out to her in a low voice.

Half a day later, the person in front of him did not move at all.

Chu Yanzhi frowned and stretched out his hand to uncloak her. “Don’t worry, Wu Qi helped Uncle Prince Lu cure smallpox. This palace believes that he will help Ye’er overcome this obstacle this time.”

Finally, those dull eyes moved.

Xiao Xiwei slowly raised his head. A terrifying haze suddenly surged out of his originally dull eyes. His voice was so cold that it seemed as if it came from hell. However, there was a faint hint of crying in his voice. “Your Highness, will you really let Tianye pass this trial?”

Chu Yanzhi’s eyes suddenly sank. He held Xiao Xiwei’s hand and unconsciously increased his strength. He stared at Xiao Xiwei for a long time before a cold voice popped out from his lips. “What do you mean? Are you suspecting this palace?”

Tears suddenly surged out of his eyes like a flood that broke through a levee.

Chu Yanzhi could feel the trembling of the person in front of him and the unconcealable fear and despair in his eyes. Suddenly, his palm sank, and he saw Xiao Xiwei suddenly kneeling in front of him.

“Your Highness, I beg you … Please let go of Tianye. He is just a child who has just had a full moon … He doesn’t know anything and can’t threaten you. I beg you, please let him go …” Xiao Xiwei suddenly bowed and kowtowed to Chu Yanzhi.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Dull sounds could be heard from the ice-cold bluestone slab.

Bi Yun and Zi Yan also hurriedly knelt down.

Chu Yanzhi knitted his eyebrows and stretched out his hand to grab Xiao Xi, forcefully pulling him up.

His originally smooth forehead had already been torn to pieces, and his bright red blood slowly slid down his cheeks, taking advantage of that pale face to become even more seeping.

When Chu Yanzhi’s originally furious face touched that bright red, the anger in his eyes finally dissipated. He took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and pressed down on the wound on Xiao Xiwei’s forehead. Then, he said in a low voice, “It’s not me.”

“I don’t care if it’s you or not. I just want Tianye alive right now.” Xiao Xiwei knocked off Chu Yanzhi’s hand. She stretched out her hand and tugged at her hair forcefully. Big drops of her eyes rolled down non-stop, and her entire body was on the verge of collapse. “I just want Tianye to live well! I don’t want anything, I just want my child to live well!”

Zi Yan’s heart ached and she was worried. She hurriedly ran over and hugged Xiao Xiwei’s hand. She knelt in front of her and cried, “Princess, don’t be like this. Little Prince is lucky. He will be fine! He will definitely be fine …”

“My Ye’er … My Ye’er …” Xiao Xi collapsed into Zi Yan’s embrace and cried out in tears.

“Princess” Bi Yun also ran over to hug Xiao Xiwei.

The master and servant cried.

Not far away, Chu Yanzhi looked at all of this with a cold expression. A moment later, he squatted down and stared at Xiao Xiwei with a serious expression. “Is that so? No matter what I say, you still believe that I did this.”

He used’me ‘instead of Ben Gong.

Xiao Xiwei gritted his teeth, his body trembling.

She did not reply to Chu Yanzhi’s words.

Chu Yanzhi’s eyes turned gloomy. He sneered, “Actually, I’m asking this question completely unnecessary. Have you ever believed me? Since he was born, everything he wore and used was personally done by the person you trusted the most. Even if I really wanted to do something to him, how could I find an opportunity?”

The corners of Xiao Xi’s lips moved slightly, but she still did not say anything.

“Since you suspect that this palace is doing something, then you can go and investigate. If you find any evidence, you can take it to the Chongde Palace. It just so happens that he has some doubts about this palace recently.” After Chu Yanzhi finished speaking, the corners of his lips curled up coldly. Then, he turned around and left without turning back.

The winter night’s cold wind blew past one after another, causing tears to fall from the corners of his eyes, landing in an unknown corner.

Yuanwu 37th year, 12th month, 8th day, commonly known as Laba festival.

Apart from offering sacrifices to the ancestors and worshipping the gods, the folk also had the saying that Twelve Moons beat drums to expel In the past, the emperor would send a prince to the temple to worship his ancestors and gods. But this year, the emperor decided to personally go to the temple because of King Ning’s sudden infection with smallpox.

At five o’clock, many people had already gathered in front of the temple.

The moment Xiao Xiwei entered, he instantly attracted the attention of many people.

The news of King Ning blooming suddenly spread in the streets of the capital in recent days, not to mention that King Ning was just a full-moon baby, but more importantly, Princess Yan gave birth to King Ning prematurely and had to be rescued with great difficulty. At this time, there was smallpox again. The woman whispered that King Ning would probably die this time.

“Imperial Sister-in-law.” Seeing Xiao Xiwei enter, Chu Muzhi hurriedly walked over and whispered to her.

Xiao Xi glanced at him and nodded gently.

At this moment, Xiao Xiwei could not conceal the haggard and pale look on her face even with a layer of powder on her face.

Chu Muzhi looked at Xiao Xiwei and opened his mouth a few times, but he couldn’t say anything.

“Your Highness,” At this time, the crowd suddenly became lively.

Chu Muzhi turned around and saw Chu Yanzhi walk in expressionlessly wearing a bright yellow robe embroidered with five-clawed golden dragons. The surrounding ministers all came forward to salute him. Chu Yanzhi answered casually and walked towards Chu Muzhi and Xiao Tong.

“Brother Huang, you’re really early.” Chu Muzhi smiled faintly at Chu Yanzhi and said.

Chu Yanzhi curled his lips slightly and looked at Chu Muzhi meaningfully. “Is it early? Compared to Eighth Brother, I’m still late.”

“I don’t dare to compete with you, Royal Brother.” Chu Muzhi raised his hand and replied with a smile.

“Is that so?” Chu Yanzhi raised his eyebrows and smiled. Suddenly, he seemed to recall something and opened his mouth to say to Chu Muzhi, “Oh right, what did eighth brother say to Xiwei just now?”

Hearing this, Chu Muzhi suddenly frowned, “Royal Brother, isn’t it inappropriate for you to call Seventh Emperor Sister-in-law by her name?”

Chu Yanzhi still raised his eyebrows, as if he didn’t understand the meaning behind Chu Mu’s words. He smiled and said, “Oh, what’s wrong?”

Chu Muzhi frowned and stared at Chu Yanzhi with a gloomy expression. “Brother Huang really doesn’t understand, or is he pretending not to understand? It’s fine if you aren’t afraid of others criticizing you. Don’t implicate Sister-in-law’s reputation.”

Chu Muzhi’s words were not spoken lightly. In addition, even if these people stood apart, they would be the eye-catching intersection, not to mention that they were still gathered together. As a result, when he finished speaking, the expressions of the surrounding people instantly changed, and the looks in their eyes as they looked at Xiao Xiwei became even more strange.

Looking at Chu Muzhi, a faint smile suddenly appeared on the corner of Chu Yanzhi’s lips. “Are you saying this for Xiwei or for yourself?”

Chu Muzhi’s expression darkened, “Royal Brother, what do you mean by that?”

Chu Yanzhi curled his lips obliquely. He suddenly raised his voice, “What do you mean? I, Dayue, have never advocated the so-called martyrdom. The High Ancestor Emperor’s Imperial Consort Wang is remarried. Does Eighth Brother want Xiwei to guard the festival for Seventh Brother for the rest of his life?” At this point, Chu Yanzhi smiled again. “Even if you really want to keep the festival, you shouldn’t have said those words in your mouth, right?”

Actually, the Crown Prince and Princess Yan had also secretly spread quite a few anecdotes in the capital. However, because of the Crown Prince and Princess Yan’s special identities, everyone felt that this matter was unlikely to succeed. Therefore, everyone only dared to discuss it in private. However, they did not expect that on such an important festival today, the Crown Prince would actually say such a thing.

Could it be that the Crown Prince really wants to accept Princess Yan?

But then again, if the Crown Prince really had feelings for Princess Yan, then what did King Qin do to get involved at this time? He couldn’t. Did he also take a fancy to Princess Yan?

Chu Muzhi’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot. He never expected Chu Yanzhi to say such a thing in front of so many royal relatives and officials. Immediately, he could only turn his gaze to Xiao Xiwei and say, “Sister-in-law, what do you say?” He thought for a moment and felt that it was still a bit inappropriate. Thus, he added, “Sister-in-law, don’t forget that Tian Ye is still locked up in the Yongchun Palace.”

Hearing him mention Chu Tianye, Xiao Xiwei raised his head. The phoenix hairpin that had accumulated beads swayed abruptly and drew a sharp arc in her ears. She stared at Chu Muzhi, her pitch-black eyes surging with countless secrets.

Looking at Xiao Xiwei’s expression, the corner of Chu Yanzhi’s lips inadvertently curved into an imperceptible sneer.

“Imperial Sister-in-law, I have no other intentions?” Sensing that Xiao Xiwei’s expression was not right, Chu Muzhi unconsciously panicked. The more he panicked, the deeper Xiao Xiwei’s eyes became.

“Your Majesty has arrived.”

At this moment, a shrill voice broke the silence in the room.

He saw the emperor wearing a bright yellow dragon robe walk in step by step, followed by the harem’s highest ranked imperial concubine, Xiang Fei.

In front of the temple, the royal relatives, civil and military officials, and even the imperial madams of the various prefectures stood up according to their grades and bowed their heads respectfully to welcome the emperor. The Emperor climbed up the stairs and didn’t turn around until he reached the highest point.

Below, consort Baiguan Mingfei knelt down and bowed, “This official (concubine) greets the Emperor. Long live our Emperor! Long live our Emperor!”

Long live the sound of a mountain cry rang out in front of the spacious temple.

“Flat up.” The emperor’s low but dignified voice rang out in front of the temple.

Everyone stood up.

Immediately after, everyone continued to follow the emperor into the temple.

The emperor walked to the tablets of the previous emperors of the Great Yue Empire and knelt down. Then, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites recited the ancestral sacrifices loudly.

Xiao Xiwei followed the crowd with a blank expression. She worshipped the previous emperor first, and then went to the altar behind the temple to worship the gods. Then, some masked Shaman Zhu ran out of nowhere and beat the drum while dancing. He didn’t know what he was singing …

The remaining light at the corner of Chu Yanzhi’s eyes had been secretly staring at Xiao Xiwei. From beginning to end, there was only a blank look in her eyes except for worry.

Looks like Gu An really did what he said.

At this time, the priest suddenly heard a shrill voice, “Ritual…”

Everyone stood up. Xiao Xiwei also regained her senses in a trance. She was about to get up when a young eunuch hurriedly ran in and whispered a few words into Zhang Shichang’s ear. Zhang Shichang’s expression changed greatly. He walked to the Emperor’s voice and said with a stiff face, “Your Majesty, His Highness Prince Ning is … dead.”