However, Song Ting had drunk too much and didn't even have the strength to cry. In less than half a cup of tea's time, she slid down the tree trunk.

At that time, he was almost completely unconscious. Qi Zhou dragged him back to his room. Song Ting had calmed down by then. Qi Zhou helped him take off his shoes and wiped his face.

Just as he was about to leave, the man suddenly mumbled something. Qi Zhou thought he was calling him and asked, "Sir?"

Song Ting wasn't speaking to him, but rather to herself: "Your Highness, it's my fault. I've betrayed your trust. I've lost the young master, and I can't find him..."

After saying that, Song Ting turned over and fell asleep completely.

Qi Zhou was stunned by those words and stood there for a long time, unable to come to his senses.

“That’s when I started to have doubts,” Qi Zhou said. “Although I had no evidence, and it was just a vague, drunken remark, but…”

But that's enough to make it clear.

Chu Huaixu understood almost instantly.

“I don’t believe it,” Chu Huaixu said. “I don’t believe it. I want him to tell me himself.”

His eyes were red-rimmed, and his hands were clenched into fists so tightly that the imperial edict was torn to shreds.

"Take me to see him." After a while, he suddenly grabbed Qi Zhou's collar, forcing himself to remain calm. "I want to see him."

"My lord has ordered me to keep an eye on the young master. The mausoleum is not peaceful today. My lord asks the young master to wait for him to return at the manor," Qi Zhou said.

"What if he doesn't come back?" Chu Huaixu's voice was extremely cold.

A hint of pain flashed in Qi Zhou's eyes: "If the plan fails, the young emperor's edict of self-reproach will be sent to Dayan territory at top speed, and the old prince's crimes will soon be cleared."

The events of that year remain a knife stuck in Chu Huaixu's heart, one that Song Ting herself plunged in. It has never healed over the years, tormenting him day and night.

But at this moment, someone told him that he might have hated the wrong person, resented the wrong person, and that all his love and hate over the years was a joke.

How could he wait any longer? He wanted nothing more than to grab that person and bring him to his feet, hold a knife to his neck, and force him to explain himself clearly, leaving no stone unturned.

“I can’t wait,” Chu Huaixu stood up and said through gritted teeth, “I’ll go myself.”

Qi Zhou blocked his way: "Young Master—"

"Get out of the way!" Chu Huaixu's eyes were bloodshot, and blood was faintly seeping from the corner of his mouth.

Qi Zhou was taken aback by his unexpected emotional outburst.

This is Song Ting's ancestor, and even Song Ting is helpless against him. How can he possibly stop the other party?

“Song Ting would never let you wait for me here, much less let you say these things to me.”

"Let me guess, his original plan was to use this opportunity to exonerate me while eradicating the Red Lotus Cult."

“If he can come back, the emperor will find other reasons to protect him, but I still think he is the culprit and I will still hate him.”

If you hate him, you'll try every means to kill him, but if you can't kill him, you can keep entangled with him like this.

If he succeeds someday, then they will go to the underworld together.

"But if he doesn't come back, he can find other excuses, such as fleeing to avoid punishment. Then I will be even more determined to find him."

Qi Zhou remained silent: "..."

Chu Huaixu continued to sneer, "You've really played your cards right, scheming to get me involved in both life and death." He stared at Qi Zhou, "Am I right?"

Qi Zhou remained silent.

"He won't let you tell me the truth; he'll only let you mislead me, making me feel that even if my father's crimes are no longer proven, he's still the executioner, isn't he?"

"He told you not to tell me, but you did. You actually wanted me to know the truth, to bring him back, didn't you?"

"You don't want me to misunderstand him, you don't want me to hate him, but have you ever thought about what would be the point of what you're doing if their plan failed today and he died? I will not forgive him, I will only hate him more."

Qi Zhou's body stiffened.

“You can’t stop me unless you knock me out, tie my hands and feet, and watch me every moment. Otherwise, I’ll crawl over there even if I have to. I have to make him tell me the truth about what happened back then.”

Whether he guessed right or wrong, he had to ask Song Ting for an answer in person.

"Get out of the way!"

...

The Dayan dynasty had an ancestral rule of "the inferior does not move the superior," so although the empress dowager could be buried in the imperial mausoleum, she could not share a bed with the late emperor. Instead, she had to be buried in a pre-reserved mausoleum, together with the late emperor's other concubines.

The funeral procession set off from the palace and, after two hours, had reached the foot of the mountain. However, at that moment, a loud rumbling sound was suddenly heard.

The commotion was so great that the ground trembled, and the guards carrying the coffin lost their footing, causing the coffin to fall heavily to the ground.

Everyone was startled by the commotion. The first few civil officials were trembling, clutching their heads: "What...what happened?!"

"What's going on? Where's that sound coming from? Did the mountain... did it collapse?!"

Song Ting, at the head of the group, grabbed a member of the Imperial Guard and shouted, "Go scout!" He drew his soft sword and yelled at the panicked crowd, "My lords, don't panic—"

Before he could finish speaking, huge boulders rolled down from Dragon Roar Mountain with tremendous force, raising clouds of dust that caused the ground beneath the feet of the departing procession to tremble once more.

This time the commotion was even greater than before, with everyone and everything thrown into chaos. Song Ting rode on, calming things down one group and then another.

A moment later, the Imperial Guard who had gone to scout the way returned: "Sir, someone has blown up the mountain!"

Song Ting gritted his teeth and stared in the direction of the imperial mausoleum, never expecting these people to be so crazy!

"Minister Song..." Chu Minghuan rushed over, escorted by several Imperial Guards. "What happened? What's going on on the mountain?"

Song briefly recounted the findings of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to the Emperor. Chu Minghuan looked ashen-faced: "What should we do?"

Seeing the situation, it was clear that they could no longer ascend the imperial mausoleum. Song Ting instructed several Imperial Guards: "Escort His Majesty to a safe place. The rest of you, follow me up the mountain!"

"Lord Song!" Gu Yi caught up from the back of the group. His face was smeared with blood, but he looked excited. "It seems we'll have to fight side by side today."

Since those people dared to come, it couldn't have been as simple as just blowing up a mountain; they must have had other plans.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Explosions rang out one after another. This time, the explosions did not occur on Dragon Roar Mountain, where the imperial mausoleum was located, but on the mountain in front of them.

The boulder fell without warning, and before anyone could react, they were blown to pieces, with severed limbs scattered all over the ground. At the same time, a dozen men in black descended from the sky and headed straight for Chu Minghuan.

"Protect His Majesty!"

"Protect His Majesty!"

"Your Majesty, come with me!" Gu Yi nodded to Song Ting and quickly left with the young emperor.