Chapter 26: Cold Lotus

Cinnabar red locks the palace walls, counting the sorrows in the deep palace, the resentful woman is silent and unknown to anyone.

Chang'an seems to be a prosperous place, but it is full of powerful people and is a forbidden area of ​​the imperial palace. No one knows how many beauties have been trapped here.

Li Yuanying was led by Zhang Qingchen as they crossed one palace gate after another. Zhang Qingchen had already known Qilang and Bingyi's identities from the glimpses of the mirror flowers and water moons, but Bingyi had cast a silence spell on her, preventing her from speaking to her junior sister along the way.

And that night, when they were staying at the inn outside the palace, Bingyi's words made him even more worried.

"I'm afraid your junior sister won't survive this summer. She looks fine now, but she's relying on my young master's demonic power to keep her alive."

For some reason, Bingyi suddenly told him about this.

"My master is kind-hearted. Since she is about to die, he will not make things difficult for her."

Bing Yi finished speaking and tapped Zhang Qingchen on the head. "So, there's no need to rush to tell your junior sister about the Young Master and me. Out of sight, out of mind."

"Why is Junior Sister dying?" Zhang Qingchen was unable to speak, so he wrote on a piece of paper.

Bing Yi sneered: "Isn't it just you humans who are selfish?"

Then she shook her head. "Forget it, there's no point in saying more. I'm just telling you, no matter how powerful my young master is, he can't keep her alive. So... you better prepare yourself!"

In another quarter of an hour, Bingyi's silencing spell will lose its effect.

Zhang Qingchen held Li Yuanying's hand, just like when they were children, he held her hand and she followed him, but now everything is gone.

"Senior brother, if the emperor asks you if you know about the Arctic Cold Lotus, just say you don't know." Li Yuanying suddenly spoke. Her voice was very low and soft, but Zhang Qingchen could hear it clearly.

She was like this when she was little, taking everything on herself without considering the consequences.

Although I am older than her, I am always protected by her.

As expected, as Li Yuanying expected, the emperor attacked the Li and Zhang families as soon as he saw them.

"The Li family is truly powerful. They were summoned by the imperial edict, but they were late and even lost the people I sent."

When Li Yuanying heard the emperor's voice, he seemed to have suppressed his anger and tried not to show it.

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty. The Li family has been loyal for generations, and we would never dare to neglect the imperial order." Li Yuanying kowtowed.

"Oh? It seems that Miss Li has some unavoidable difficulties?"

Zhang Qingchen looked at Zhao Yu. He was over fifty years old and had already grown gray hair, but he was still energetic and domineering. He truly had the aura of an emperor. The elders said that he had the style of the former King Yongning.

"Your Majesty. I passed by Shengle Township and found that there was a big monster lurking here. The Wanjin Water that is popular in Chang'an now is produced here. I and my senior brother worked together to kill the monster and finally captured the Shengle monster. It's a pity that Eunuch Li and two guards died unfortunately." Li Yuanying explained.

"Yes, Father, you see Wanwan is injured, and Zhang Qing has a broken arm. They both sacrificed their lives for their country!"

Li Yuanying frowned. Prince Fu was actually here too. After not seeing him for a long time, he was still so impatient.

This is good, as it saves her from having to talk too much.

Seeing that the emperor was hesitant to speak, Li Yuanying continued, "Your Majesty, I have figured out how to repair the Great Seal of the Nine Provinces, and I have come here to do just that."

"Tell me about it."

The emperor did not continue to make things difficult for them. After all, the Li family had been putting it off for five years and five years, and it would be difficult to refuse this time.

"Your Majesty, the Great Seal of the Nine Provinces was broken because the evil spirit of the Evil God was present. Therefore, to repair the Great Seal of the Nine Provinces, we must first find the purest purifying artifact in the world—the Arctic Cold Lotus. Although this flower is called the Cold Lotus, it grows on the top of Flame Mountain. To obtain it, one must walk on fire."

"It sprouts once every fifty years and blooms once every fifty years. Three days from now, the Arctic Winter Lotus will be in full bloom. As long as we obtain this flower, we can repair the Great Seal of the Nine Provinces."

"I guess the Li family didn't just come up with this idea?"

Li Yuanying knew that the emperor was not easy to fool: "No."

"Then why did it take so long? Are you making fun of me?!"

"Your Majesty, please calm down!" Li Yuanying kowtowed again. "I would never dare to treat Your Majesty in this way. However, the Flame Mountain is suppressed by the Frost Lotus. Without the Frost Lotus, the world will be engulfed in the flames of the Flame Mountain."

"I've never heard of the Polar Cold Lotus. Lord Zhang, have you heard of it?"

Zhang Qingchen remembered what Li Yuanying had told him, and replied, "No."

"Look, even our knowledgeable Commander Zhang doesn't know about this. I guess the Li family has been inquiring about this thing for a long time. Whenever the emperor asks about this, Li Zhongdao always makes an excuse, saying that you have already known about it and deliberately did not repair the Jiuzhou Seal, right?" The eunuch beside the emperor spoke out, his aura was aggressive and he relied on the power of his master.

"I dare not!" Li Yuanying knew that Zhao Yu was so suspicious and would definitely think so.

"You don't dare?" Zhao Yu was furious. "You don't dare, yet you marry the demons? Are you colluding with the demons and planning a rebellion?!"

"Your Majesty is wise! The Li family would never do such a thing!" Seeing that things were going badly, Zhang Qingchen quickly defended the Li family and begged for mercy.

Li Yuanying knew that Zhao Yu would never completely trust them. The imperial decree came the day after her wedding, which must be related to her marriage.

"Your Majesty, calm down. The reason the Li family knows about the Polar Frost Lotus is because during the reign of Emperor Yongning, the evil spirits attacked and eventually retreated to Chang'an. They used the Polar Frost Lotus as a lure to transfer the souls of three generations of the Li family."

Li Yuanying paused and said, "And my daughter is the cold corpse that had no soul before she was born."

After Li Yuanying finished speaking, the emperor, the eunuch, and Zhang Qingchen remained silent, and the hall fell into complete silence.

"This is an ancient forbidden technique. The first is body binding, the second is soul binding, and the third is weeping blood. Body binding can bind everything, soul binding can be used to sacrifice souls to fulfill wishes, and weeping blood can annihilate all living things."

Li Yuanying continued to explain, "The Li family braved the wrath of the world to save the people, and we have already paid a great price. I am a dead body, with no descendants whose souls can be used as sacrifices. Therefore, even if we find the Extremely Low Frost Lotus, we cannot restore the Great Seal of the Nine Provinces, so I have not informed Your Majesty of this matter."

"Then why do you say it's okay now?" asked the emperor.

"The Li family and the demon race have no ulterior motives in marrying each other. It's just that my father discovered that the demon race's power can restore my daughter's body, so he captured this person. In this way, I can sacrifice the soul of the future generation and recreate the Great Seal of the Nine Provinces."

"Wanwan...this..." Zhang Qingchen wanted to say something, but was stopped by Li Yuanying.

According to Bingyi, Qilang's magic could not bring Li Yuanying back to life, but why did Wanwan say so?

"Since that's the case, we should quickly retrieve the Extremely Low Frost Lotus and establish the Great Seal of the Nine Provinces."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Li Yuanying accepted the emperor's order.

"Since both you and Commander Zhang were seriously injured due to the affairs of the imperial court, I will not pursue some matters for the time being. However, if you still have second thoughts, I will not let you off easily!"