Chapter 454 The Price of Innocence

In Mu Qing's memory, except for attending funerals, the words "Lu Xiang" always came with the pursuit in his life.

All his biological father brought to him was endless murderous intent.

Therefore, he wanted to avenge the Lu family, just to let both Lu's mother and himself let go of their grudges, and also because of the prince's relentless pressure.

As for hating the emperor? Sorry, he doesn't have that much free time yet.

He looked at the emperor and said bluntly, "I think Your Majesty should understand that blood ties are not the only criterion for testing family ties."

There are people in this world who are strangers to each other but are loyal to each other, and there are also people who are connected by love and never leave each other.

There are also people who share the same blood but have no friendship in their hearts and have no qualms about killing people.

"Are you trying to say that you have no feelings for Prime Minister Lu, so you don't hate me?" The emperor was still skeptical.

Our dynasty governs the country with filial piety. How can an unfilial person have normal human emotions? Thinking of this, he couldn't help but start to worry about Hu Xin'er.

Mu Qing hadn't expected to have to explain himself for so long, but he understood the emperor's concerns, so he slowly said, "If Your Majesty were truly the direct murderer of Prime Minister Lu, I might have struggled for a few more days due to the world's perspective. But that's not the case, is it?"

After all, the emperor did not intentionally put the Lu family in a desperate situation. He was also deceived by the prince and was even assassinated by the prince a few days ago. He reaped what he sowed.

Mu Qing had worked under the emperor in the past and knew his temperament very well.

The emperor was not a bad person, he could even be said to be a rare wise ruler. However, because he could not get over the knot in his heart from the past and did not want to be urged by his ministers to produce offspring, he created the illusion that he was obsessed with alchemy and had no interest in the harem.

He has always blamed himself for accidentally killing Lu Xiang, and has tried his best to give the greatest trust and help to the descendants of the Lu family. This favor is so great that people who don't know the truth even think that Lu Yunjue is his illegitimate son!

As for Lu Xiang, even if he had not been killed by mistake, he was destined to face Jiang Yao's revenge.

If Lu Xiangruo dies after the revenge, the prince will take advantage of the opportunity... It's a vicious cycle.

The emperor looked at him seriously, his expression quite shocked: "You, you really want to forgive me?"

At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps suddenly came from the door: "All of you slaves, get out of here! Xin'er, where are you?"

Soon, the door was kicked open and a woman with disheveled hair rushed in.

"You are... Nangong Yue?" Hu Xin'er couldn't believe it. The woman in front of her looked extremely haggard, and her eyes were surprisingly bright, as if she had been abused.

Her pale lips were bloodless, but the embroidered patterns on her body were as gorgeous as before. However, such gorgeous clothes would have made her look extremely noble in the past, but now they only made her look miserable.

She was actually the usual proud and willful eldest princess!

When the eunuchs and palace maids saw that the princess had the audacity to interrupt His Majesty's meeting and even kicked the door in, they were so frightened that they fell to their knees.

The maid who was taking care of the eldest princess trembled with fear: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. The eldest princess had been feeling better in the past few days, but today, she heard from somewhere that Madam Lu had come to the palace, so she suddenly fell ill and rushed here!"

The eldest princess had her long hair loose and her eyes were fixed on Hu Xiner. She wanted to pounce on her but was stopped by Mu Qing.

Mu Qing said sternly, "Princess, please respect yourself. Xin'er is pregnant and cannot stand being frightened."

The eldest princess seemed to be laughing and crying: "Xin'er, is that you? You finally came back to see me!"

"Nangong Yue, what's wrong with you?" Hu Xiner asked worriedly when she saw that she seemed to be showing some signs of mental disorder.

The eldest princess, however, seemed to be deaf to what others were saying. Her expression suddenly became agitated. "Xin'er, what were you doing out of the city? Did you go to capture the Crown Prince?"

When she mentioned the Crown Prince, she tilted her head and laughed a few times, but when the images of being strangled flashed back in her mind, fear flashed in her eyes: "No, Crown Prince, don't kill me! Yue'er will protect you and help you kill all those who hurt you, ah!"

She suddenly covered her head and screamed loudly, her eyes full of fear.

Hu Xin'er was stunned when she saw her former friend turned into such a madman. She could only turn her head and look at the emperor blankly: "How...how could Yue'er become like this?"

The emperor smiled bitterly. "Ever since you rescued her from the Crown Prince's clutches that day, she's had a high fever. Perhaps it was due to the overwhelming stress, so when she woke up, she was already in this state."

"Then didn't you go find the imperial physician in the palace?" Hu Xin'er couldn't help but question, "My godfather is also an expert in treating this kind of illness. Why didn't you send someone to take care of her?"

The emperor smiled bitterly and said, "Do you think I haven't tried all these? But the doctors all said that she was ill from worry and anger and needed long-term care..."

He looked at Nangong Yue, his eyes filled with unconcealable heartache: "Yue'er, come to your father! Xin'er is pregnant now, you can't hurt her."

Hu Xin'er called out with reluctance in her eyes: "Yue'er..."

When the princess heard her call, her body trembled violently, and tears began to fall: "Xin'er, you? Are you really back? Are you not angry with me anymore?"

"When did I get angry with you?" Tears welled up in Hu Xiner's eyes.

The eldest princess stared at her blankly, her eyes full of grievance. As soon as she spoke, her voice trembled and she cried, "You're not angry with me, so why did you leave without saying a word?"

Mu Qing personally helped her up from the ground, a hint of apology in his eyes: "The situation was urgent at the time. After we sent you back to the palace, we had no time to take care of other things and left the city directly."

Hu Xin'er also held her hand tightly: "Yue'er, I'm sorry."

If she had known that the eldest princess would have such a big reaction, she would definitely appease the eldest princess before choosing to leave the capital.

After what happened with the Crown Prince, the eldest princess's pride and reserve were shattered. She looked at the heartache and sadness in Hu Xiner's eyes, and her tears flowed more and more violently.

She choked and cursed, "You idiot, what do you have to apologize to me for? It's obviously me who should apologize!"

If it weren't for her willful behavior, the prince would never have been able to escape from the city.

She hated herself for not seeing through the prince's true face earlier, but only reacted belatedly after the prince had hurt everyone she cared about.

Hu Xin'er said very seriously, "Don't blame yourself too much."

The eldest princess was almost strangled to death by the prince. She was actually also a victim. At best, she was just blinded by family affection, so she seemed a little stupid.

In front of the insidious and cunning prince, she was as innocent as a little white rabbit, and eventually paid the price for her naive stupidity.