Blood and Tears of Heaven
The night was as thick as ink, hanging heavily over the imperial city.
In the distant palaces, flames danced restlessly, dyeing the sky a dirty dark red. Shouts and faint cries, wrapped in the nauseating smell of burnt and thick rust, filled the air within the solemn palace walls.
Inside the East Palace, the candlelight flickered.
Crown Princess Shen sat upright in the hall. The surging noise outside the hall hit her tense heartstrings, shaking her internal organs.
"Ji'er, still in Zichen Palace..." She stood up, and the last trace of blood on her face faded away.
"Your Highness, you can't go!" The maid hugged her arms tightly, her voice filled with tears, "There are rebels outside..."
The Crown Princess broke free, staggered to the palace gate, and tremblingly opened a gap.
At the end of the long palace road leading to the Purple Palace, there were rows of weapons and armor, swords and spears, coldly reflecting the jumping flames, surrounding the Purple Palace tightly.
She stood stiffly in the cold wind blowing through the crack in the door. Outside the door was a deadly place, but outside the door were her husband and her son.
After a moment, she turned around and said, "Let's go to Fengyi Palace!"
Inside Fengyi Palace, candles were brightly lit.
The queen sat upright on the phoenix throne, her clothes were meticulously decorated, her hair neatly combed, as if she was just sitting quietly.
"Mother!" The Crown Princess almost fell in. "The palace is in chaos! Ji'er...Purple Palace..."
"Why are you panicking?" The queen slowly raised her eyes.
"Just sit tight. The sky won't fall. Everything will eventually settle."
Her gaze passed over her frightened daughter-in-law, penetrated the tightly closed vermilion lacquered palace gate, and went out the window. Her voice was as light as a sigh.
"Just wait."
"But, Ji'er..."
"Jier will be fine. After all, Jier is the prince's son." The queen didn't know whether she was talking to herself or the crown princess.
The Crown Princess was stunned, and in an instant, she understood.
The Queen was not unaware of this, but had already seen through it - the one who rebelled was actually the Crown Prince?
The two most noble women in the deep palace have become the two most miserable women at this moment. Their husbands and their sons are fighting each other, and they can only leave it to their fate.
"The blood is flowing outside the forbidden gate, and the blade is pushed against the relatives..." The Crown Princess sat down in front of the palace, laughing and crying.
The hall fell into dead silence again.
However, the silence did not last long.
The rebels' footsteps, accompanied by the rubbing sound of armor, came from far away and finally stopped outside the closed palace gate.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The rough knocking sound caused the door frame to rustle with dust, followed by the sharp sound of the bolt breaking! The palace door was knocked open!
A cold wind rushed in, carrying with it the smell of blood.
A group of murderous soldiers rushed in, led by an officer, whose eyes swept through the hall like a hawk, and finally fixed on the Crown Princess.
He placed his right hand on his sword, cupped his left hand, and saluted in the direction of the throne. "I am in armor, please forgive my courtesy. I am following the order of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to arrest the Crown Princess Shen! This is an emergency, so please forgive me for disturbing the throne!"
The Crown Princess subconsciously shrank back, her back hitting the cold palace pillar.
The Queen's hand on the armrest suddenly tightened. She sat upright, her eyes brimming with sternness. "Fengyi Palace, since when did you become a place you can trespass on? Arresting the Crown Princess? What ancestral family law, what imperial decree?"
The officer's face tightened, and he lowered his head slightly at the piercing gaze, but he immediately raised it again firmly: "Your Majesty, please calm down. I am only following orders! Your Highness has ordered that the family of Crown Princess Shen has committed treason and must be brought back for punishment."
"Oh, what a joke!" the Queen scoffed. "The rebels actually accused him of treason? I thought the Crown Prince was so bold as to rebel, but it turns out it's you who are rebelling in his name."
Seeing the Queen's rage, the officer secretly thought that even if the Crown Prince ascended the throne, the Queen would still be the Empress Dowager, and killing him would be a piece of cake. After some thought, he knelt and said, "Your Majesty, please come to the Purple Palace with the Crown Princess! Everything will be decided by the Emperor!"
The Queen sneered inwardly. Holy Judgment? A puppet could also be Holy Judgment?
She slowly stood up, straightened her sleeves, and said to her frightened daughter-in-law, "Come on, follow me and see. Your husband is going to be the emperor."
The people from Fengyi Palace were half pushed and half shoved away by the soldiers.
The soldiers were not polite to the Crown Princess. As they were tugging at her, her hair became disheveled and a pearl hairpin fell silently to the ground, rolling into the dust.
The queen always kept her back straight and walked steadily, and no one dared to touch her.
Around the corner of the palace wall, deep in the shadows.
A pair of eyes were fixed on the backs of the Queen and the Crown Princess as they were escorted away.
Ning Lingyi held her breath and pressed herself against the cold palace wall. Like the most nimble shadow, she avoided teams of ferocious-looking soldiers and finally slipped into the slightly opened door of Xue Han Palace.
The palace door closed heavily behind him.
"Yier!" Concubine Yu rushed over like a frightened bird and hugged her tightly, "Where have you been? Outside..."
"Mother, I'm fine." Ning Lingyi quickly recounted what happened outside the city and what she saw when she returned. "Mother, how is the palace?"
Concubine Yu held her daughter's cold cheek, confirming she was alright before she let out a long sigh, her face grim. "What else can I do? With all this commotion, heading straight for the Purple Palace, I suspect it must be the Crown Prince's allies. Their true intentions are finally revealed."
She lowered her voice to a very low level, filled with endless sorrow, "Your Majesty and the Crown Prince, I'm afraid..."
"Wait?" Ning Lingyi realized her mother's intention and broke free from her embrace. "Mother, when the nest is overturned, how can the eggs remain intact? If the regicide succeeds, this deep palace will become an even greater prison!"
"Before I entered the palace, Pan Hao had already gone to look for General Pan. I assumed that loyal officials and soldiers were already outside the palace to rescue me. I must go to the Purple Palace!"
"Yier, that's a dangerous place!" Concubine Yu grabbed her sleeve tightly.
"If you stay here, you'll just be a piece of meat on the chopping board!" Ning Lingyi held her mother's cold hand. "I want to see it with my own eyes. Maybe God has not given up yet."
She hugged her mother's frail body tightly, turned around resolutely, and disappeared into the darkness outside the hall again.
Relying on her familiarity with the secret passages of the palace, she sneaked on the edge of chaos and killing and quietly approached the Purple Palace.
The guards outside the palace were as tight as an iron barrel, and the atmosphere was stagnant and suffocating.
Ning Lingyi curled up under a window frame at the side and looked inside through the gap.
The hall was crowded with people. Besides the fierce-eyed rebels, a group of high-ranking officials and members of the royal family, dressed in court robes, were cornered, their faces ashen. The leader, an old man with white hair and beard, was none other than Prime Minister Wang.
Under the Danbi, the prince was slumped on the ground. He had changed into a dragon robe at some point, and the bright yellow robe was covered in stains.
He stared blankly into the void, unaware of everything around him. A bright yellow imperial edict and a jade seal lay on the gold bricks at his feet.
A man in official robes stood beside the steps, trying his best to maintain a steady voice as he read the imperial edict in front of everyone:
"I am deeply concerned and vigilant, my illness is incurable, and I deeply understand the importance of the divine throne, which cannot be abandoned for a single day. The Crown Prince Ning Yanqing is endowed with benevolence and filial piety, and is wise and intelligent... He will inherit the great foundation and ascend the throne... I will honor him as the Supreme Emperor and move my palace to the Western Garden to rest and recuperate..."
"The Crown Prince, Ning Chengji, is young and inexperienced. He should be given more grace and care, and be granted the title of Prince of Anle..."
Ning Lingyi ignored all this. Her eyes searched the hall anxiously and finally stopped on the throne.
The emperor slumped against the wide dragon throne, his face an ominous grey, white foam lingering at the corners of his mouth. The crown prince huddled at his feet, his eyes glazed over, saliva glistening at the corners of his mouth, unresponsive to his surroundings.
No, something's wrong!
What's going on? Father, Ji'er?
She pushed open the broken window frame and rushed into the political whirlpool regardless of everything.
"shut up!"
The sudden scolding made everyone suspicious and all eyes focused on her.
Ning Lingyi ignored the blades pointed at her and rushed straight to the throne.
She leaned over and touched the emperor's lifeless wrist with her fingertips. Her eyes swept across the crown prince's empty eyes, and she felt a burning anger.
She raised her head and looked at the prince: "Prince!"
She raised her finger and pointed at the dying emperor and the foolish grandson, "Is this your benevolence? Is this your filial piety?"
"You killed the king and your father, and poisoned the heir to the throne! How dare you, a beast who defies human ethics, sit high on this nine-story throne and call yourself the Son of Heaven?"
Ning Lingyi pointed at the ministers again and said, "You, all of you, the entire court, both civil and military, have succumbed to the sword! Now the emperor and father are humiliated by a rebellious son, and the sacred weapon is about to fall into the hands of treacherous villains, and you have turned it into nothing but soft bones!"
Finally, she glared at the rebels and said, "You rats! Even if you draw your swords and seize the throne today, you will be hacked to pieces and your entire clan will be exterminated tomorrow!"
Without waiting for the prince's reaction, the ministers felt ashamed.
"Bold lunatic!" Chen Zhanshi's face turned pale as he roared, "Princess Mingzhu! Roaring at the Purple Palace and slandering the Emperor! Capture her now!"
Upon hearing the order, the rebels rushed forward like ferocious monsters!
Ning Lingyi stood tall, fearless, her eyes calmly facing the approaching blade.
If this is really the case in this world, then it would not be a pity to sacrifice one's life.
Don't call her disgusting!
Right now.
Outside the palace, the sound of dense horse hooves suddenly rang out, coming from far away and getting closer, like rolling thunder rolling over the bluestone ground of the palace!
Then, a command was clearly heard by everyone:
"Wait!"
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