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Gu Youan raised her eyes to look at Emperor Huaming, a hint of helplessness in them, and said, "I am a princess sent for a political marriage. Does Your Majesty intend to wage war against Dayong?"

Emperor Huaming smiled slightly and said, "Princess Hezheng, your true identity is the Xuanji Envoy of the Emperor's Palace. If this identity is revealed to the Dayong Dynasty, who can protect you?"

Gu Youan smiled but remained silent, saying, "Your Majesty, I am Sheng Jingche's fiancée. The Sheng family is the most powerful clan in the Sheng Kingdom. Your Majesty has laid a trap for me tonight. Do you intend to make trouble for the Sheng family?"

Emperor Huaming glanced at her disdainfully and said, "She's just a woman. If you die, I'll arrange for someone else to take her place."

Gu Youan's eyes flickered. Did Emperor Huaming not know that Sheng Jingche was also a member of the Emperor's faction?

After a moment's thought, she suppressed her doubts about his whereabouts, looked up at Emperor Huaming, and a hint of disbelief flashed in her eyes.

"Since Your Majesty knows I am the Envoy of Xuanji, why did you still attack me?"

Emperor Huaming's face twitched as he said, "You people who call yourselves emperors proclaim that peace and prosperity will inevitably lead to chaos, but this world belongs to the emperor, not the people." What he wanted was not peace and prosperity, but the unification of the Central Plains.

"I am but a mere woman, why does Your Majesty wish to kill me?"

Emperor Huaming looked at the tomb beside him, smiled slightly and said, "This is my warning to you. You people of the Emperor's Palace are really audacious, daring to try to seize the royal bloodline. This is my warning to you."

A hint of heartache appeared on Gu Youan's face as she looked at the Fifth Princess who had fainted beside her and said, "She is your child!"

The people on the Emperor's Ship of the Great Yong only kill people. Gu Youan didn't know what mission the members of the Emperor's Ship of the Sheng Kingdom were carrying out, but a man shouldn't treat a woman who bore his child like this.

Gu Youan looked up at him and said, "My imperial name is unwilling to be an enemy of the royal family, so why does Your Majesty want to exterminate us?"

Emperor Huaming leaned down to look at him, his eyes filled with ruthlessness and ferocity, his lips twitching, his mouth crooked and his eyes slanted.

"I've heard that you've made the head of the Xie family fall deeply in love with you. I'll see if the Great Yong will back down for you. As long as you reveal the whereabouts of the rest of the Emperor's crew, I'll let you marry Sheng Jingche."

Gu Youan smiled contemptuously and said, "The Emperor's Name has long been destroyed, and the Xuanji Envoy no longer exists. I am just Gu Youan."

Consort Lin has now chosen suicide between her daughter and the Emperor's Throne. Sheng Jingche is unaware of Emperor Huaming's conspiracy. The truth about the Emperor's Throne of Dayong is still unclear. The Emperor's Throne of Shengguo cannot afford any more accidents.

Emperor Hua Ming raised his hand and slapped Gu Youan across the face. She fell to the ground, tears welling in her eyes from the pain. She gritted her teeth and remained silent.

Emperor Huaming waved his hand and said, "I don't know if it's the princess's stubbornness or the torture instruments of my Sheng Kingdom that are so tough. Take her away."

"Take her away!" Emperor Hua Ming gave the order, and the iron cage slowly rose. Two men in black descended from the sky and lifted Gu You'an up.

She struggled desperately, gathering all her strength in her dantian, and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Gu Youan stared blankly at the bloodstains on the ground. She possessed half the internal energy of the others, and even those around Emperor Huaming were helpless against her.

The Fifth Princess opened her eyes slightly and looked at Gu Youan, who shook her head and smiled.

She lowered her head weakly. As expected of a ruler who had risen from the royal family, she was truly ruthless.

Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth onto the snow, resembling blooming plum blossoms.

Fortunately, Sheng Jingche didn't come tonight, and fortunately, Ye Qingchen wasn't caught. As she thought this, suddenly someone was thrown over. Gu Youan looked down and saw that Ye Qingchen had been thrown into the snow.

Emperor Huaming's voice came, saying, "Princess, I never imagined that the princess was so charming."

Gu Youan remained silent. She sighed. Both of them had been captured, and Da Yong might not be able to rescue them. With both of them inside, escaping would be too difficult.

Gu Youan lay weakly in the dungeon, not knowing how many days she had been imprisoned. She could only quench her thirst with water dripping from the stone wall.

Ye Qingchen was injured and had a persistent high fever. Gu Youan took out the gold hairpin from her hair and put it in his mouth to prevent him from biting his tongue.

She leaned weakly against the stone wall, her face swollen and her eyes drooping listlessly.

Suddenly, footsteps approached again. Gu Youan looked up and saw a beam of light. She rubbed her eyes. Had she entered heaven?

A face loomed large before her, and Gu Youan opened her eyes, looking at her and asking, "Your Majesty the Empress!"

Empress Mingzhao brushed the stray hairs from her face and looked at her with heartache, saying, "Princess, you have suffered."

Gu Youan was stunned. She never expected that the Empress Mingzhao would appear here tonight. Would this dignified and noble empress also appear in such a dark and damp place?

Empress Mingzhao helped her to her feet, took off her cloak and draped it over her shoulders, and gently held her hand.

"Your Majesty, have you come to save me?"

Empress Mingzhao placed a finger on her lips, making a shushing gesture. Gu Youan suddenly understood, and she looked down at Ye Qingchen.

Empress Mingzhao gently patted her hand to reassure her.

Gu Youan smiled softly, then leaned on Empress Mingzhao's shoulder and fainted. She was starving and freezing; she had been in this cold and damp place for far too long.

She was lying on a soft blanket, covered with a gold-threaded quilt. She slept so soundly that she dreamed of her parents and the events of the past. She wanted to go home.

"You'an, You'an!" came the repeated calls.

Gu Youan slowly opened her eyes. A bright light flashed, and she covered her eyes. Through the blur, she saw Madam Wang.

"Mother..." she called out hesitantly.

Madam Wang's eyes were red and swollen, and she covered her mouth with her hand, sobbing softly. Gu Youan panicked for a moment. In her eyes, Madam Wang was a weak and incompetent mother who put her husband first and never dared to fight for her daughter's interests. She was a virtuous wife and loving mother under the feudal system.

"You'an, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have agreed to your marriage alliance." She lay on Gu You'an's body, sobbing.

Gu Youan remained silent. Her identity as the Emperor's Envoy of the Xuanji had long been known back to the Great Yong Dynasty. Even though Xie Daoqing had some affection for her, in the face of national righteousness, she was nothing more than a discarded pawn.

Xie Daoqing is loyal to the Dayong royal family, Sheng Jingche wants to protect the title of Emperor of Sheng Kingdom, and Gu Youan touches Madam Wang's hair.

"Why is Mother here?"

Madam Wang said, “You are my only daughter, the only biological child of the Gu family. You are my own flesh and blood. I know you resent your father, brothers and me. You are a piece of my flesh. Come back with your mother, give up your identity as Gu Youan, forget everyone on the Emperor’s Ship, and come back with me to live in anonymity.”

"Mother, I can't turn back. I came here to find out the truth. I'm not worth saving!"

Empress Mingzhao secretly rescued her without Emperor Huaming's knowledge. Even though the Gu family had connections everywhere, this was the Sheng Kingdom, and Sheng Jingche had not yet appeared. She could not leave, and they could not get out of here either.

She gently pressed Madam Wang's hand and said, "I cannot commit this crime, Mother. The path back has already been reversed since my marriage alliance."

The Gu family cannot be punished because of her, and the Dayong and Sheng Kingdoms cannot go to war because of her. The situation is unclear, and she cannot leave here.

She gently wiped away the tears on Madam Wang's face, shook her head and said, "Mother, go back. You can't take me with you."

She reached out and knocked Madam Wang unconscious.

Empress Mingzhao emerged from behind the screen, and Gu Youan stood up, knelt, and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for allowing me to see my mother!"

Empress Mingzhao looked at her with amusement and said, "I never imagined you were so resolute, unwilling to leave!"

Gu Youan said weakly, "I can't leave, Your Majesty. Are you here to persuade me as well?"

Empress Mingzhao shook her head and said, "His Majesty wants you to reveal the whereabouts of the Emperor's Name, but I hope you won't. The Sheng family is closely connected with the Emperor's Name, and this move is intended to uproot the Sheng family, not to mention that it involves people from the Emperor's Name."

Empress Mingzhao took out a bottle of medicine and said, "Drink this, and His Majesty will not suspect you."

Gu Youan smelled the fragrance of the medicine, his expression hardened, and he said, "Does Your Majesty want me to commit suicide?"

Empress Mingzhao smiled and said, "You shouldn't have come in the first place, Envoy Xuanji. You are someone everyone is trying their best to protect. Your battlefield should be in Dayong, not Shengguo. Go back. The Gu family sold their property to plead for mercy. If you still consider yourself a member of the Gu family, you shouldn't have gotten involved in this mess."

Gu Youan looked at Empress Mingzhao, who was wearing a phoenix hairpin. Her face did not resemble Sheng Jingche at all. She lowered her head and pondered. Empress Mingzhao knew about the existence of the Emperor's Ship. Could she also be a member of the Emperor's Ship?

"Since Your Majesty knows of the existence of the Emperor's Ship, you should know that the members of the Emperor's Ship will never back down." She took the medicine bottle from her hand and threw it on the ground.

Empress Mingzhao was shocked and said, "So many people have risked their lives for the Emperor's mission, but what was the result? What makes you think you can enter the Emperor's mission for training so easily? Why do you think your biological mother is here? What do you think your Gu family is? Do you really think you are a savior? If you didn't have protection, do you think you could have survived until today?"

Empress Mingzhao rebuked, and Gu Youan looked at her angry face and these reckless words. Gu Youan raised her head and processed all the information in her mind.

In her panic, Empress Mingzhao realized she had spoken out of turn. She suddenly stepped forward, grabbed Gu Youan's hair, and said, "I know you're reluctant, but this is your fate, Gu Youan. You are the Xuanji Envoy; you shouldn't be here."

Gu Youan struggled desperately, her rough fingertips tracing her face. She swayed left and right frantically. This empress must have practiced martial arts in her early years.

Suddenly the door was flung open with a loud bang, and Emperor Huaming slowly entered, saying, "The Empress has gone mad. From tomorrow onwards, she will be confined to Fengyi Palace."

Following closely behind, Sheng Jingche held Gu Youan in his arms. She gripped his arm tightly, clung to his neck, and bit him hard until blood flowed into her mouth before she finally fell asleep contentedly.

She had been starving during her imprisonment, and it was like a long-awaited rain after a drought; she was so grateful for Sheng Jingche's timely appearance.

Emperor Huaming stared in shock at the scene, unconsciously touching his neck.