Chang Lili reacted quickly. Through her teary eyes, she glared at the woman in black, her tone even more resolute, as if Meng Yuxiu's appearance made her fearless.
"If you dare take another step closer, I'll cut you down!" she said sharply, and before she finished speaking, the blade pressed even tighter against her neck.
The small wound, when squeezed so hard, became larger, and the blood flowed more freely.
Meng Yuxiu felt his breath catch in his throat, and his hurried and terrified voice roared like a furious cry: "Chang Lili!"
Guo Yan froze, too afraid to move.
The men in black, who had been orderly, finally broke up when faced with the onslaught of a large number of guards.
Meng Yuxiu rushed to Chang Lili like lightning, grabbed her hand holding the knife, and without regard for the strength of his grip, twisted Chang Lili's wrist. A low cry was heard from Chang Lili and the sound of the knife falling to the ground was heard.
The madness on his face finally dissipated, and he pulled Chang Lili into his arms, his face full of grief.
Seeing Chang Lili's resolute expression as she faced death, he was terrified. He had gone to great lengths to save her, so how could he let anything happen to her?
Chang Lili's face was wet with an indistinguishable mixture of tears and sweat. She was panting, as if she had exhausted all her strength. At this moment, she nestled in Meng Yuxiu's arms, as obedient as a kitten.
Not long ago, she almost fell to the ground in human form. She never expected to see Meng Yuxiu again. She thought she would never see him again.
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she didn't make a sound.
Meng Yuxiu felt her frail body tremble slightly, and a murderous aura emanated from her eyes.
He looked at the men in black. There weren't many of them, but the number of guards was countless. If the guards got on their heels, these men in black would be in for a tough time.
Meng Yuxiu also became hostile towards them. Although he did not realize that they were the people who were going to assassinate him in the hunting grounds, Zhou Sheng's murderous intent was terrifying.
With a group of troublesome guards and Meng Yuxiu holding Meng Li in his hands, the men in black were forced into retreat, with no chance of winning.
Chu Moyu did not step forward to help. His black clothes were soaked through, and his jet-black hair was now even blacker, making his fair cheeks look like snow and his lips red, giving him a captivating beauty.
But his gaze was cold, fixed on the black-clad men and guards who were still fighting, and on Meng Yuxiu, who was holding Chang Lili and moving around the crowd with ease. His eyes revealed impatience.
He never expected things to go wrong at this critical juncture, and all his plans from the past few days have fallen through.
Seeing several of the men in black's corpses fall, his frustration intensified.
"You all step back. Swords have no eyes; don't get hurt by General Meng's divine weapon." Chu Moyu suddenly stepped forward and said coldly, maintaining an indifferent attitude from beginning to end.
At this moment, Meng Yuxiu only wanted to capture the man in black in front of him alive and find out the whole story. As for Chu Moyu, he just hoped that nothing would come to interfere or obstruct him.
But the men in black were all extremely skilled. The woman in black lowered her voice and said in a short, sharp voice, "Go!"
One by one, the group quickly withdrew, and in the end, Meng Yuxiu was not left behind.
The guards stood to one side, their faces filled with hostility as they looked at Meng Yuxiu and Chang Lili.
The men in black who infiltrated the palace escaped, but Meng Yuxiu still wanted to capture them.
Chu Moyu, however, lost interest and turned to leave without giving any more orders to the guards, leaving them bewildered in the rain.
“Deputy Commander…” a guard called out, but the latter seemed not to hear him.
Just then, a person rushed out from the rain. The person was in a hurry, as if he had something urgent to attend to. Behind him was an old man, who was walking unsteadily. Both of them were soaked to the bone.
The man who rushed out was startled to see so many people. He turned to retreat, but then seemed to remember something and turned back, hesitatingly calling out, "General?"
Meng Yuxiu looked at the man, dressed in gray clothes, with a fairly handsome and familiar face. He then glanced at the panting Imperial Physician Jiang behind him and calmly asked, "Is the matter settled?"
His calm and composed demeanor was as if he were in the study of a general's mansion.
He always bowed respectfully.
At this moment, the guards looked at each other in bewilderment. The matter of General Meng breaking into the palace at night had not yet been resolved, and now another person had appeared, who seemed to be General Meng's subordinate. Things seemed to be getting complicated.
Without a commander to direct them, they could only do their duty and do everything in their power.
The group exchanged glances, frowned, and prepared to act.
Meng Yuxiu said in a calm tone, "Then let's go back."
The atmosphere became tense, but he seemed oblivious, or rather, he disregarded the guards, which truly angered them.
Just as they were about to rush towards Meng Yuxiu and capture him, the elderly Eunuch Guangde, exhausted, ran over. In his haste, the young eunuch who was holding an umbrella for him dropped the umbrella on the ground, and he didn't even have time to go up and say anything to the young eunuch.
"Imperial edict has arrived... Imperial edict has arrived!" Eunuch Guangde shouted with difficulty.
Although he had doubts, the guard dared not say anything. He simply knelt down respectfully and kept looking at Meng Yuxiu. Meng Yuxiu pulled Chang Lili to kneel down with a blank expression. The latter's heart skipped a beat, and the fear of her head almost falling to the ground came back to her.
However, this imperial edict did not reward or punish anyone for their actions; it merely summoned Meng Yuxiu and Chang Lili.
As for why the emperor knew why the two of them were there, that remains unknown.
Chang Lili had a bad feeling, but Meng Yuxiu thought it was a good opportunity.
He grasped Chang Lili's trembling hand and said, "Don't worry, the truth about your matter has been found out. Now you're going outside to see the Emperor so that he can clear your name."
Chang Lili then stood up with her lips tightly pressed together and followed Meng Yuxiu toward the Hall of Mental Cultivation, with Ke Shou and Physician Jiang following closely behind.
Inside the Hall of Mental Cultivation, all the palace lanterns had been lit, making the vast palace as bright as day.
Chang Lili was not used to such bright light. After all, the brightest thing she could see in the dungeon these days was the torches hanging on the black walls.
The two knelt down to pay their respects, but the emperor graciously stopped them.
Looking at the emperor's beaming smile, Chang Lili's goodwill towards him quickly vanished. She knew that the emperor was the most ruthless and heartless person.
"Meng Yuxiu, I promised you several days to investigate the truth of the matter, but instead of investigating honestly, you tried to kidnap people?" the Emperor said with a stern face, but Chang Lili felt that his stern face did not mean he was blaming her at all.
Meng Yuxiu knelt down and said sincerely, "Your Majesty, the matter is urgent. If I had arrived a few steps later, Lili's life would probably be in danger."
"Your lives are in danger?" The Emperor glanced at Meng Yuxiu and Chang Lili with amusement. "Didn't I give you time?"
Meng Yuxiu said with utmost respect, "His Majesty gave it to me, so I came here specifically to tell you the truth of the matter as soon as possible."
After he finished speaking, he beckoned Ke Shou to bring Physician Jiang forward. Physician Jiang was quite old, and at this moment he was soaked to the bone, his lips were bluish-purple, and he looked disheveled.
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