Chapter 534: The Wind Rises

The emperor stared at Xiao Zirui, his face turning pale.

Xiao Zirui's eyes were cold, and he counted down loudly:

"Three! Two..."

The emperor suddenly took a deep breath and said loudly with all his strength:

"Imperial Guards, listen to my orders!"

Yan Ning led more than a hundred imperial guards and immediately responded and stood by.

Xiao Zirui stopped counting, a smug smile on his lips, just waiting for him to give the order for the imperial guards to capture the Regent.

Given the regent's character, with the lives of the civil and military officials present at stake and the emperor giving the order himself, he would never resist.

The emperor looked at Xiao Changheng deeply.

He looked at Xiao Zirui with cold eyes and said word by word:

"Imperial Guards, listen up! Protect the Regent! No matter what happens today, we must not let him get into any trouble!"

Xiao Changheng's eyes were originally fixed on Yun Qingqing, and he was thinking about something. Suddenly, when he heard this, he turned his head abruptly, retreated to the emperor's side without saying a word, held a knife in his hand, and spoke in a deep voice:

"Commander Yan, the king is fine, protect His Majesty!"

Yan Ning said nothing upon seeing this, and directly ordered the Jin army to protect Xiao Changheng and the emperor in the center.

Xiao Zirui's expression changed drastically:

"Father, is this your choice? You actually abandoned all the civil and military officials just for Xiao Changheng?!"

The emperor looked older and more tired than ever before, but his voice was as powerful as ever, with full determination mixed in with his anger:

"As long as the Regent is here, Daliang will be safe! If you, the traitor, insist on forcing me to choose between the Regent and the civil and military officials today, I will be a tyrant for once!"

Xiao Zirui listened to him speaking in amazement, his facial muscles twitched, and he suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha... With a great regent here, Daliang will be safe!"

"Father! Sure enough, in your heart, he has always been the heir to the throne! Right!"

"When I was made the crown prince, it was simply to let me be the first to take action and protect Xiao Changheng from disaster, right?"

“Hahahahaha…it’s my fault for waking up too late!”

Xiao Zirui had a ferocious look on his face and laughed shrilly. He waved his hand violently:

“Shoot!!!”

Surrounded by archers with their arrows ready to shoot, all the civil and military officials present were terrified and could only gather together. Yan Ning led more than a hundred imperial guards to surround the emperor and the regent in the center, tense and alert, waiting for the rain of swords to fall.

However, at the same moment Xiao Zirui gave the order, the sound of rumbling war drums suddenly came from outside the archers!

Immediately afterwards, there was a sudden commotion in the archer camp, and sounds of fighting were heard. Only a few arrows were shot, and most of them missed the target. Only a few arrows caused limited injuries, which were not serious.

"What!" Xiao Zirui was startled and looked around frantically to see the archer's situation.

But before he could see the situation clearly, Xiao Changheng had already rushed to him at lightning speed and struck him hard in the dantian with a palm, knocking him flying.

Xiao Zirui flew backwards several feet like a kite with a broken string, fell to the ground and spit out blood. His martial arts skills were completely wasted and he almost broke all his bones!

He struggled but couldn't get up, and was soon held down and tied up tightly by Yan Ning and the imperial guards. He was brought in front of the emperor and forced to kneel on the ground.

He knew the situation was hopeless, and roared in anger:

"How could this happen! I don't believe it! Where did these soldiers come from? My plan was flawless, and not a single piece of information was leaked! How could you have reinforcements!"

Yan Ning walked up to the emperor, knelt on one knee in salute, and said in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty, it was the Regent Princess who reminded me before the salute was fired that there might be trouble today, so I was able to secretly dispatch the Imperial Guards to protect you in advance."

The emperor was stunned for a moment, nodded and let out a long breath:

"I see! Fortunately, we have the Regent Princess. She has done a great deed today! She is worthy of being the Phoenix who protects the destiny of our Daliang!"

All the civil and military officials present were still in shock, and when they heard these words, they were simply overwhelmed with admiration for the Regent Princess!

"I've heard that the princess is very accurate in fortune-telling and can predict the future. Today, I am so grateful to her!"

"Fortunately, we still have Tianfeng in Daliang, otherwise the rebellion of King Rui would have succeeded today!"

"The Heavenly Phoenix protects my Daliang fortune!"

"The Princess Regent is simply the patron saint of Liang!"

Amidst the waves of praise, Xiao Zirui turned his head abruptly and looked at Yun Qingqing with a pale face:

"It's you...it's you again..."

But Yun Qingqing was looking coldly in the direction of the outer archers, without even glancing at herself.

Xiao Zirui's eyes dimmed, and he was once again overwhelmed by regret and unwillingness.

He almost married the real Tianfeng!

If he hadn't broken off the engagement, how could he have ended up like this today!

Everything Xiao Changheng has now should have belonged to him!

But how did he know that Yun Qingqing was actually Tian Feng!

Why is this happening! Why is this happening...

Obviously, all of this should belong to me!

Xiao Zirui was filled with anger, hatred, regret and unwillingness. All his emotions were stuck in his chest, causing him severe pain. Suddenly, he spat out a mouthful of blood, fell to the ground and fainted, losing consciousness.

The emperor looked at Xiao Zirui falling to the ground with cold eyes, anger and disappointment intertwined in his eyes, and said in a cold voice:

"Take him to the prison and wait for his punishment! Bring people to search the Prince Rui's mansion immediately!"

Yan Ning and the Dali Temple Minister responded at the same time and went to do it.

Watching everything finally settle.

But at this moment, a strong wind suddenly blew outside the square and dark clouds filled the sky!

Yun Bailian, who had been pressed to the ground, suddenly burst into laughter:

"Master! You are finally here! Quick! Kill her!"