Upon hearing this, Xue Heng immediately realized something was wrong, and sure enough, Ciyuan Palace quickly burst into flames.

He paused for a moment, then saw Chen Wangchao give him a provocative smile before rushing out of Ciyuan Hall.

Xue Heng had deliberately tricked him into revealing the Emperor's location in the Ciyuan Palace, but he hadn't expected Prince Chen to be so ruthless. He immediately disregarded Prince Chen's escape and led his men into the burning palace.

The thick smoke billowing from Ciyuan Hall alarmed the side hall.

After being summoned to the palace, the women waited for the Empress to appear in a side hall of Ciyuan Hall. However, the Empress did not appear for a long time. Instead, a thick smoke rose straight into the sky from the main hall. The women panicked and pushed each other as they fled outside. As luck would have it, they bumped into Prince Chen, who looked like a demon.

Prince Chen took off his outer robe, revealing a newly made dragon robe underneath. He set fire to the Ciyuan Hall, knowing that Xue Heng and the Imperial Guards would not be able to care about him now, and left in a very swaggering manner.

Seeing the women he was bumping into, he relished the look of terror on their faces and fixed his gaze on Yang Chun in the crowd.

He had summoned the entire Yang family to the palace today, intending to settle accounts with them after resolving the major issues, but unexpectedly, this has now happened...

Although some changes have occurred, it's not too late to settle things now.

He walked toward Yang Chun with his sword in hand. Yang Chun realized his purpose and was so frightened that her legs went weak. She gritted her teeth, lifted her skirt, and ran away with the crowd.

The noblewoman was dressed in elaborate attire when entering the palace, making it difficult for her to run fast. In Prince Chen's eyes, chasing her was as easy as chasing a bird with clipped wings.

Yang Chun was chased by him and was so scared that he almost lost his mind. He could only run desperately towards a place with more people.

Prince Chen followed Yang Chun at a distance of one step: "Your Highness, why are you running away when you see me?"

Yang Chun was startled by his neurotic tone and trembled as he turned around to look. When he saw the man's half-burned face, he was terrified. Seeing the man raise his sword to stab him, he grabbed the person next to him and shoved him violently towards Prince Chen.

Xie Qinglan was running ahead of her when she was suddenly grabbed by the arm and pulled backward. She lost her balance and fell backward, just as Chen Wang grabbed her by the collar.

When Prince Chen saw that it was her, he immediately exclaimed "Ha!" and instead of rushing to chase after Yang Chun, he said, "Xie Qinglan? I remember that you and Shen Youying were close friends?"

Xie Qinglan trembled with fright, but she was stronger than Yang Chun. She secretly clutched the hairpin hidden in her sleeve. She was frantically thinking about when to stab out the hairpin when she saw Prince Chen suddenly groan and then let go of her hand.

Xie Qinglan reacted extremely quickly. With her eyes closed, she fiercely stabbed the hairpin at Prince Chen. Regardless of where she hit, she scrambled and ran in the opposite direction.

Her hands were covered in blood, and she was terrified. She ran forward purely on instinct, but then someone suddenly jumped out from around the corner and restrained her. She screamed in fright and struggled desperately.

"Qinglan, it's me!"

Cui Zichen hugged the person tightly, still shaken, and comforted them, "Don't be afraid, it's me."

Xie Qinglan opened her eyes to look at him with tears streaming down her face, and suddenly burst into tears: "You scared me to death..." She was so frightened that she couldn't speak coherently: "I just, almost..." She sobbed and gasped for breath, unable to speak coherently at all.

Both hands were still stained with bright red blood.

"I know, I saw it all, it's alright now." Cui Zichen took out a handkerchief to wipe the blood off her hands.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the wounded Prince Chen pull the sword from his shoulder, hold the blood-stained sword in his hand, and instead of heading towards Cui Zichen, he went in the direction of Yang Chun.

But this time, Cui Zichen did not move.

He looked down at Xie Qinglan, who was terrified and clinging to him tightly, and gently patted the back of her hand. But what he saw in front of him was the scene of Yang Chun shoving Xie Qinglan away.

He's petty and always holds grudges.

*

Because of the fire at Ciyuan Hall, the palace was in chaos.

Prince Chen was clearly prepared. He had poured oil all over Ciyuan Hall, and the emperor and empress were tied up with ropes and thrown on the ground. If Xue Heng hadn't arrived in time, the two of them would probably have perished in the fire.

When Emperor Cheng'an was carried out, he was both shocked and frightened. In addition, due to his old age and the fact that he had inhaled a lot of thick smoke, he was choked and immediately fell into a coma.

Empress Zhou was carried out by the guards, and she was also seriously injured, but being younger, she was more anger and sorrow than fear. She clearly hadn't expected that Prince Chen really intended to kill her as well.

She had previously thought that Prince Chen had imprisoned her with the emperor to separate her from the emperor, but she only realized when Ciyuan Palace caught fire that her son was determined to kill his father and mother.

Xue Heng handed the two men over to the imperial physician, while arranging for manpower to put out the fire and ordering the imperial guards to seal off the city gates and impose martial law to search for the whereabouts of Prince Chen.

The fire at Ciyuan Hall burned for a day and a night before it was extinguished.

As Xue Heng listened to the various Imperial Guards tallying the casualties, and when they mentioned that four or five officials' wives were injured, one of whom was particularly seriously wounded, he finally raised his eyes and asked, "Whose wives were injured?"

The Imperial Guards said, "The one who was most seriously injured was the eldest daughter of the Yang family. Her face and body were slashed by swords. It is said that Prince Chen chased after her like a madman, but for some reason he did not kill her, only injuring her. The other three women were injured in the process of fleeing or were too frightened."

Xue Heng sighed and said, "Let the imperial physician take a look. If there are any good medicines for removing scars in the palace, send them to the Yang family as well." He then asked, "Is there still no news of Prince Chen?"

The Imperial Guards shook their heads: "We've searched the entire city, but there's no trace of the rebel king. The Chen Prince's mansion is already deserted. According to the surviving Consort Zhou, the Chen Prince had already prepared a backup plan, and he should have already left the city with a Lady Yu by now."

"Madam Yu?" Xue Heng recalled for a moment, then asked uncertainly, "Shen Muyu? The half-sister of the Princess Consort of Qin?"

The Imperial Guards said so.

Xue Heng looked surprised, wondering why Prince Chen had taken Shen Muyu with him when he fled in such a hurry.

Prince Chen was clearly mentally twisted and no longer a normal person. After his rebellion failed, he went on a killing spree. Before leaving, he did not even spare the women in his household. His own cousin, Consort Zhou, was disfigured and locked in the latrine where the servants relieved themselves.

It was only after several surviving concubines mentioned it that the Imperial Guards were able to find the person.

Unable to understand the intricacies, Xue Heng could only say, "Issue a widespread arrest warrant, ordering all prefectures and counties to cooperate in the arrest."

The imperial guards received the order and withdrew. Just as they left, another eunuch rushed in to report: "Your Highness, after returning to the capital, the Prince of Qin heard about what happened in the palace and is currently requesting an audience outside the palace."

Xue Heng then remembered that Xue Shen had left the capital before the new year.

I just got back.

He was getting up to go out to greet them when he suddenly stopped. He suddenly remembered Shen Muyu, the only one who had been taken away by Prince Chen... He had heard a little about Shen Muyu and Prince Chen's affair. Prince Chen took Shen Muyu as his concubine mostly because he couldn't get Princess Qin, so he settled for second best.

I heard that Prince Chen treated her badly afterward, but now, even though he was in a hurry to escape, he still took Shen Muyu with him.

Xue Heng's expression changed, and he thought of Xue Shen's coincident return to the capital.

He closed his eyes slightly, his emotions churning.

Is all of this really just a coincidence?