Chapter 42 The Gentle Young Marquis is Actually the Mastermind, the Second Prince!

"Little Yu'er! What nonsense are you spouting!" Mu Fang roared hoarsely, his eyes bloodshot.

"No! Princess! Even if we die, we will never let you fall into their hands!" Xiao Beichen said urgently.

Chu Huaijin and Xuanjizi on the city wall exchanged a glance, both seeing ecstasy in each other's eyes.

They never expected that their biggest problem would surrender on its own initiative.

"Is this true?" Xuanjizi asked, stroking his beard, his tone tinged with a hint of probing.

“Really?” Mu Yu replied calmly, “but I have conditions.”

"explain."

"First, request all the imperial physicians of the Imperial Medical Bureau to conduct a joint consultation to ensure that the Emperor is safe and sound."

"Second, immediately remove the Ninth Prince from the prison and have him treated personally by Xie Zhiwei, the grandson of Physician Xie."

"Third, my father and the Xuanjia Army must leave safely, and you must not pursue them."

Chu Huaijin was about to agree without thinking, but Xuanjizi raised his hand to stop him.

“Alright.” Xuanjizi looked at Mu Yu, his eyes gleaming with calculation. “But I have one condition.”

"you say."

"To prevent you from playing any tricks, you must seal your meridians and disable your sorcery. Then our people will put specially made black iron chains on you."

This is to turn her into a helpless cripple.

"Okay." Mu Yu answered without the slightest hesitation.

She jumped off the tiger king's back and planted the spear that belonged to Xiao Beichen in the ground.

Then, in front of everyone, she raised her small hand and pressed hard on several important acupoints on her body.

"puff."

She spat out a small mouthful of blood, her face instantly turning deathly pale.

The seven-colored halo faded and disappeared.

"Little Yu'er!" Mu Fang's heart ached as he watched, wishing he could rush up to the city wall and tear those two traitors to pieces.

"Father, don't come any closer." Mu Yu turned around and gave him a weak smile. "Little Yu'er is not afraid."

She turned around, took small steps, and walked step by step toward the slowly opening city gate.

Inside the city gate, two heavily armored soldiers emerged, each carrying a pair of black chains that gleamed with an eerie light.

Those were shackles forged with a century-old black iron, specially designed to restrain highly skilled bandits, weighing over a hundred pounds.

They walked up to Mu Yu and roughly handcuffed the chains, which were incredibly heavy even for an adult, to her slender wrists and ankles.

"Clang!"

The chains dragged on the ground, making a grating sound.

Mu Yu's small body was almost knocked over by the weight.

She gritted her teeth and used all her strength to barely stand.

"take away!"

Soldiers, one on each side, supported her as they entered the imperial city, which to her felt like the maw of a giant beast.

The city gates slowly closed amidst the despairing gazes of Mu Fang and the others.

"Your Highness, are we just going to let Mu go like that?" a general asked Chu Huaijin unwillingly.

"What do you know?" Chu Huaijin sneered. "Mu Fang is a tiger, but this little girl is his life! With his life in our hands, does this tiger dare to turn the world upside down?"

"Your Highness is wise!"

...

The Heavenly Prison.

This is the darkest and dampest place in the Great Chu Kingdom.

The air was always filled with a mixture of blood, decay, and despair.

Mu Yu was imprisoned in the deepest cell.

There were no windows here, only a tiny oil lamp that flickered in the corner.

Her small body was curled up on the stone bed covered with moldy straw, and the black iron chains on her hands and feet were icy cold.

With her meridians sealed, she is now no different from an ordinary, or even weaker, child.

She was so hungry and so cold.

But she doesn't regret it.

She sacrificed herself to give her grandfather, the emperor, and her brother, the ninth prince, a chance at survival.

worth.

After an unknown amount of time, faint footsteps were heard outside the cell.

Mu Yu opened her eyes warily.

A man dressed as a jailer, carrying a food box, opened the cell door.

"Princess, are you hungry? His Highness the Third Prince is kind-hearted and specially ordered me to bring you some food."

The jailer placed the food box on the ground, opened it, and inside was a bowl of steaming hot meat porridge and several delicate side dishes.

The fragrance instantly filled the entire cell.

Mu Yu's stomach started growling uncontrollably.

But she didn't move.

She simply looked at the jailer with those eyes that remained bright even in the darkness.

"Who sent you?" she asked.

"I...I'm just a food deliveryman." The jailer's eyes darted around.

“No.” Mu Yu shook her head. “The scent on you doesn’t belong to the Third Prince.”

Although her meridians were sealed, the koi's sensitivity to smells remained.

The jailer in front of me had a very faint, almost imperceptible sweet fragrance about him.

It smelled exactly like the Western Region candy she had once smelled at the Marquis of Suiyuan's residence.

They are Sikong Ming's men!

When the "jailer" realized his identity had been exposed, he simply stopped pretending.

He slowly straightened up, a gentle smile that Mu Yu knew all too well appearing on his face.

He tore off the human skin mask from his face, revealing a handsome, refined, and harmless face.

It was none other than Sikong Ming, the young master of the Suiyuan Marquis's mansion!

"Truly worthy of being called the Koi Princess, she is indeed exceptionally talented." Sikong Ming clapped his hands and exclaimed in admiration, "Even in this situation, she can still smell my scent."

"What are you doing here?" Mu Yu shrank back warily.

"I came to see you." Sikong Ming squatted down to meet her gaze, his smile still warm. "And, by the way, to see you off on your journey."

"You want to kill me?"

"There's nothing I can do." Sikong Ming shrugged, looking helpless. "Who told you... to know too much?"

He said with a smile, "I was the one who administered the Heart-Eating Gu to your father, Mu Fang. The plague in the southwest was a collaboration between Ling Lan and me. Even this palace coup was orchestrated by me behind the scenes, giving the Third Prince a push."

Are you curious why I did this?

He continued talking to himself without waiting for Mu Yu's reply.

"Because this world should rightfully belong to me. I am the Emperor's second son, Chu Chongyuan!"

Mu Yu's pupils contracted.

Second Prince?

Didn't they say the second prince died young?

"Are you surprised?" Sikong Ming seemed to enjoy her shocked expression. "My father was wary of my mother's family's power, so he announced to the public that I was dead and secretly sent me out of the palace to be raised by the Marquis of Suiyuan. He thought that in this way, he could protect his beloved country and his most valued ninth brother."

"But he's wrong. What belongs to me, I will take back with my own hands!"

His eyes gleamed with a mad, obsessive light, devoid of any gentleness.

"Everything was going well until you came along."

He reached out and pinched Mu Yu's chin with such force that he almost crushed her bones.

"You little variable, you've ruined my plans time and time again. You cured the poison I gave Chu Chongjin, you saved Mu Fang who was supposed to die in the southwest, and you even saw through my identity..."

"Therefore, you must die."

He pulled a dagger that gleamed with a ghostly blue light from his pocket.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt much," he said in an almost gentle tone. "I'll make a very, very small incision in your heart, and your blood will slowly drain out, just like when you're asleep."

The tip of the dagger, icy cold, was pressed against Mu Yu's chest.

The shadow of death completely enveloped her.

Mu Yu closed her eyes.

She was unwilling to accept it.

She hadn't yet seen her father marry a new wife, hadn't yet swindled all of her Ninth Prince's secret stash of money, and hadn't yet had her brother Xiao Beichen carry her to every rooftop in the capital...

Is she really going to die like this?

Goodbye, my little lucky star.

Sikong Ming's laughter rang in my ears.

He raised the dagger, ready to stab down forcefully!

At this critical moment!

"BOOM—!!!"

A deafening roar came from the top of the prison!

The entire prison shook violently!

Gravel and dust fell in a rustling sound.

Sikong Ming paused, looking up in astonishment.

What appeared to be a huge hole in the incredibly sturdy dome of the prison, built of massive stones!

A huge, yellow figure, bathed in moonlight, descended from the sky!

"roar--!!!"

The deafening roar of the tiger created a violent sonic wave in the narrow prison!

It's the Tiger King!

It actually... smashed through the roof of the prison and came down from the sky to save her!