"Didn't I already tell you? I've already found someone."
"But I can still..."
Before he could finish speaking, he was forcibly dragged a few steps away by the other hand.
The intense heat of the flames inside the room instantly moved far away from him.
Looking up, she saw a man standing beside her mother. "Uncle?"
The prime minister stood silently beside Consort Yun, coldly watching the raging fire ahead without uttering a word.
The young emperor didn't have time to think about why his uncle was there; all he wanted to do was save people.
"Uncle, let me in! I can bring the little princess out with me!"
He cried out and tried to rush inside, but Consort Yun grabbed his shoulder and scolded him loudly:
"Don't you understand?! It's hopeless! They're all going to die! I was the one who drugged them, and you were the one who set the fire! Tonight, Consort Yu, and all the princes and princesses, they must all die here!"
The young emperor turned pale upon hearing this, shaking his head in fear and anxiety, tears streaming down his face.
"You...you drugged me? I set the fire? How could this happen? Why?"
"A cotton thread is attached to the bottom of the candlestick, and the thread is coated with kerosene. The sleeping potion is in the food. Everyone in the Mingyang Palace has eaten it, and they will sleep like the dead." Consort Yun sneered mercilessly. "I told you long ago, you have to be the emperor. How can you be the emperor if they are alive? I am clearing obstacles for you. Don't you understand?"
The young emperor shook his head frantically, "I won't be him! I want to save them! Let me go!"
Tears streamed down his face as he waved his hands frantically, but he could not break free from Consort Yun's grasp.
"Listen! You'll become emperor whether you like it or not!"
The young emperor, his face ashen, cried out helplessly, "Mother, I beg you... save them! I will be emperor, I really will! Consort Yu is a good person, and my eldest brother is a good person too. As long as I... as long as I tell them, they will let me be emperor. Please, please, save them..."
He let out a choked roar, and his sobs were so loud that they brought tears to one's eyes.
But Consort Yun remained unmoved, gripping his shoulders tightly and growling in his ear, "Just watch from here! Your mother wants you to watch them die with your own eyes!"
"Those are all people who are blocking your path! You don't need those relatives! You want to be an emperor, and the road to becoming a king is a lonely one!"
"I will now teach you that a ruler should be ruthless!"
The young emperor shook his head, still pleading, "Mother, I beg you, I promise I'll listen to you from now on, really..."
But he could only watch helplessly as the fire inside the house shot up to the roof, and the roof beams collapsed with a creak, raising a cloud of ashes.
A smug smile appeared on Consort Yun's lips.
After the ashes settled, a figure suddenly appeared in the firelight.
Everyone outside changed their expressions, even Gu Jiangli was slightly surprised.
She thought... the story ended here, but is there more?
The young emperor sobbed, staring at the beam of light and shadow in shock, even forgetting to cry.
The woman inside the house, seemingly holding a child in her arms, stood in the firelight, disheveled and panting heavily, her figure gradually becoming clearer.
The young emperor was overjoyed and couldn't wait to shout, "Consort Yu!"
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