Chapter 430: Kidnapping Queen Lu
"That's not up to him."
Xiao Yan sneered: "If he wants to appease the orphans of the He family, he can't take away my power, not to mention he has the Dragon Jade Order."
"Once Shang Qin enters the capital, he will be unable to cope. Without the Dragon Jade Order, he will need me, the orphan of the He family, to act as a shield for him. Without me, how can he suppress the Dragon Court Guards?"
He would take the military power legitimately, and Emperor An would willingly push him to the throne.
Xiao Yan did not hide his plan from Tang Ning, and also whispered to her about the risks involved.
"Of course, these aren't foolproof. Perhaps the He family can also make him take action. Perhaps he cares too much about his reputation as an emperor and would rather see rivers of blood flow than have his past exposed. He'd rather fight Shang Qin and the others to the death than be threatened."
"Although I can understand Emperor An's character, when a person is in a desperate situation, nothing can be predicted. If it really comes to that, war is inevitable."
Xiao Yan looked down at Tang Ning and said, "I will find a way to get you out of the capital when the time comes."
Tang Ning nestled in his arms, listening to his words. She looked up at him intently, "If it really comes to the situation you described, with the world in chaos and nowhere to rest, where else can I go if I leave the capital?"
"Tang Ning..."
Tang Ning didn't let Xiao Yan speak, but just sat up straight.
"I know it's a bit foolish to tell you that I want to stay in the capital and share your fate. If you really fail, I should find a way to leave the capital to plan your revenge and help you complete your unfinished business. But then I think about it, I'm not as capable as you."
"You've taught me a lot and given me everything you have, but I still can't do what you did, brother. If the world really were in chaos, I wouldn't be able to save the people, let alone endure for decades like you did, starting over step by step."
"So, brother..."
Tang Ning took Xiao Yan's hand and said seriously, "You will definitely succeed. Otherwise, a lazy person like me will probably end up sleeping in the capital with you."
What she said was extremely shameless, but Xiao Yan tightened her hand little by little.
Nothing in this world is foolproof. From the moment he escaped from the fire in the palace, he knew how dangerous the road he was about to take was.
He shouldn't have dragged her into this, and he knew that only by staying away from her could she live a peaceful life. However, he became selfish and seduced her into falling in love with him little by little. He watched himself fall and dragged her to accompany him into this dark abyss.
Xiao Yan held her hand in return, and his face, which had been hesitant just now, was now determined.
He will succeed.
His little Haitang deserves to stand on a high place with him and be worshipped by people all over the world!
…
Xiao Yan hugged Tang Ning tenderly for a while. The two didn't say anything else, but they became closer to each other.
Xiao Yan didn't say anything discouraging. He just wanted to think over the things he had thought of before, so that he would be more confident. He said softly to Tang Ning:
"Emperor An has deposed the Empress and ordered the death of the Fourth Prince. Earlier, Song Jinxiu kidnapped someone from the Song family on the way. When do you plan to find him?"
When Tang Ning heard Song Jinxiu, his face turned colder: "Where did he hide Song Hong and the others?"
"He's in a farmer's house outside the city. He was given some money and asked to be taken care of."
"Oh, he is filial!"
Tang Ning sneered. Even though Song Jinxiu was such a cold-blooded and vicious person, he still protected him. After all, they were a family.
Song Jinxiu felt ashamed and regretful towards her, but he never held back when it came to harming her, and he would never hesitate to step on her and use her to get to the top. He could say with red eyes that he was wrong, but at the same time, he knew that Song Hong and the others were involved in the death of her parents and turned a blind eye to it, and even intercepted them and took care of them halfway.
Is this what he calls having a clear conscience?
This is what he calls confession?!
Pooh!
Tang Ning felt that mentioning him would be like dirtying her mouth.
Xiao Yan also disliked Song Jinxiu and felt that he had misjudged Song Jinxiu in the first place.
"Before, because the Empress was still alive and Song Jinxiu was useful, it was difficult to investigate your mother and the others' affairs. Now that the Empress has been banished to the cold palace, the Song family no longer needs to be cautious."
"Later, I'll have Empress Lu brought out of the palace and have her meet the Song family. Your parents' past affairs should finally be resolved."
Tang Ning thought of the messy corpses of A Niang and others in the coffin that day, and his eyes were filled with murderous intent.
Xiao Yan touched her hair and pulled her into his arms.
…
No one dared to question the decree to depose the empress. After the imperial decree to execute the entire Lu family was issued, Jinyun led people to guard the imperial prison. Lu Chongyuan did not know the emperor's intention yet, and he was still hoping that Emperor An would remember the past and be cautious and "show mercy" to him.
Since the fire in Fengxi Palace, Empress Lu was burned and disfigured and was moved to Xiangshui Palace, not far from Fengxi Palace. She was treated by the imperial physician every day and served by palace maids. Although she was in unbearable pain, she still held on to a glimmer of hope, hoping that Emperor An would release the Fourth Prince for her sake.
But no matter how long she waited, Emperor An ignored her and said nothing. Later, even the palace maids and imperial doctors around him disappeared.
Queen Lu was carried and thrown into the cold palace, and only then did she realize that she had been deposed.
There was nothing in the cold palace. Her burns were already serious and she needed to take medicine every day and have someone to help clean the wounds. But in the past two days, not to mention taking medicine, there was not even a palace servant around her to do the chores.
Just two days after leaving the imperial physician's medicine, Empress Lu's skin began to fester and ooze blood, and her face was ulcerated and looked horrible. The constant pain made it difficult for her to sleep day and night.
She struggled to get out of the dilapidated house behind her and grabbed the door of the cold palace and knocked hard.
“Someone come…someone come…”
"I need to call the imperial physician, please come..."
She clapped again and again, and the sound was particularly loud in the night.
"What are you filming for? Are you trying to kill yourself?!"
There was a "bang" sound outside, as if someone had dropped a scabbard on the door.
Empress Lu grasped the crack in the door and said, "I am seriously injured. I need to call the imperial physician. Go and get the imperial physician here for me..."
"Bah, who are you to want to hire a doctor?"
"How dare you! I am the Queen..."
The people outside seemed to be amused by her angry scolding. Someone took a scabbard and pushed it inside through the crack of the door. Queen Lu, who was lying on the door, was hit and staggered, falling to the ground with a scream.
Seeing her miserable appearance, several guards outside burst into laughter.
"You are the queen, and whose queen lives in this cold palace? Look at you, you are uglier than a ghost."
"Everyone in the world knows that you are a slut who was slept with by Prince Cheng. Even if you give birth to a son, it won't be your Majesty's. A fickle, shameless bitch like you is still the Queen..."
"Bah!"
Someone outside spat, but the words were like a knife, cutting Queen Lu's face so pale.
"His Majesty has already deposed you. He's just leaving you here to die. Even the Fourth Prince was given poisoned wine. And you, a lowly creature, still want an imperial physician. You're flattering me."
Queen Lu widened her eyes.
The day before yesterday, she was suddenly deposed and thrown here. She didn't even know what had happened, but she never expected that Emperor An knew about her and Prince Cheng, and he even wanted to sentence Zheng'er to death.
That's his own flesh and blood!!
Queen Lu didn't know where she got the strength from, but she struggled to get up from the ground, rushed to the door and started knocking on it hard.
"I want to see Xiao Yan, I want to see Governor Xiao..."
"The Fourth Prince is your Majesty's bloodline, he is your Majesty's son...Ah!!"
The scabbard hit Queen Lu's head hard, and the person who was screaming just now fell down suddenly.
The people outside were watching the situation from behind through the crack in the door. Someone whispered, "What should we do? Could he have been beaten to death?"
"She's dead, so what's there to be afraid of? For someone like her, even if she dies in the cold palace, no one will care."
"But what she just said..."
"Tsk, just that, who would believe it?"
The affair between Empress Lu and Prince Cheng was a done deal. Even if the Fourth Prince was Your Majesty's son, so what? Would Your Majesty believe it? The poisoned wine sent to the Fourth Prince had probably already been used. Your Majesty would never have allowed Prince Cheng's "bastard" to live. Even if the Fourth Prince was truly wronged, he would have died an unjust death long ago.
The person who was speaking saw Empress Lu, who had fallen to the ground through the crack in the door, move. He said with disgust, "She's quite lucky," and reached out to pull the somewhat loose palace door, then said to the person beside him:
"Alright, don't meddle in things that shouldn't be your business. Just pretend you didn't hear what I said just now. The higher-ups didn't intend to let her live."
"Let's go. Just come back and have a look in two days."
Emperor An clearly wanted to torture Empress Lu to vent his anger. Anyone who stood up for her would be seeking death.
As for Governor Xiao...
Is Empress Lu worthy of asking for an audience in her current state?
Queen Lu heard the palace door being slammed shut. The surroundings were pitch black without even a trace of moonlight. She twitched in pain all over and tried to struggle to get up.
She wanted to see Xiao Yan. She hadn't lost yet. She still had leverage over Xiao Yan. As long as she saw him, he would definitely help her and Zheng'er...
Unfortunately, her burns were too severe. She stumbled several times but couldn't get up. She fell to the ground and scratched the wounds on her body. The severe pain made her faint. From beginning to end, no one from outside came to see her or ask her a question.
Canglang and Tubai jumped down from the roof of the cold palace. Looking at Empress Lu lying on the ground, Canglang sighed, "How pitiful."
Tu Bai: "If you weren't so gloating, I would have believed you when you said she was pitiful."
He squatted down and looked over, and found that Queen Lu was still breathing.
"He's still alive, let's go."
Canglang took a half step back: "You carry her, I'll go and settle the inside."
Canglang took the female corpse that had been prepared earlier and threw it into the cold palace, then sprinkled some kerosene on it and set it on fire.
He went out only after the fire started inside. Tu Bai had already carried the bloody Queen Lu up, and the two of them jumped onto the roof and left.
Cang Lang even glanced back halfway through the journey and chuckled, "How many beatings do you think Yu Yanfeng will receive this time?"
Tu Bai: “…”
"Hurry up and leave, or you'll be surrounded by the Imperial Guards. Be careful, the Governor will break your legs."
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