The Eastern Palace was solemn, and everyone had changed into mourning clothes. Before even stepping into the main hall, Chu Ning heard the Empress crying.
The cries were heart-wrenching and evoked deep emotions.
He went in and saw the Empress lying on the bed, tightly embracing Chu Yi, whose eyes were closed and whose face was pale.
The emperor stood to the side, his face also filled with sorrow.
In fact, Chu Yi was the emperor's first child and the eldest son before the emperor ascended the throne. The emperor had high hopes for him, so even though Chu Yi had been ill for so long, he was reluctant to replace him.
Now that Chu Yi is gone, the emperor seems to have aged several years.
Seeing this scene, Chu Ning knew it couldn't be fake.
He walked over, bowed to the emperor and empress, and then pretended to cry.
Of all the princes who came, none cried more "sadly" than him.
The emperor saw it all.
The Crown Prince quickly set up a mourning hall. The coffin was made of the finest golden silk wood. The once gentle and refined Crown Prince lay motionless inside, as if he were just asleep.
During the vigil at night, the Empress fainted from excessive grief, while most of the other princes had gone home to rest due to exhaustion from the past few days.
Only two or three princes and some palace servants were still guarding the place. Although Chu Ning was exhausted, he still forced himself to stay by the side.
Seeing that everyone else was so tired they could barely keep their eyes open, he said, "You guys go back and rest first, I'll take care of things here."
"But……"
"No buts. If Father asks, I'll tell him I wanted to talk to my elder brother and spend some time alone with him," Chu Ning said. "You can come back in two hours to relieve me."
Seeing that there were other palace servants around, and realizing they were all exhausted, the princes went to a side hall to rest.
After they left, Chu Ning glanced at the hibiscus cake in front of the coffin, frowned and said, "The Crown Prince likes osmanthus cake. Replace this one and have someone make some new ones."
Upon hearing this, the palace maids quickly replaced the hibiscus cake with osmanthus cake.
Chu Ning then summoned the other servants away under other pretexts.
Soon, he was the only one left in the mourning hall.
He rose from the prayer mat, walked around to the side of the coffin, looked at the person lying inside, and a smile appeared on his lips.
He reached into the coffin and grasped Chu Yi's hand.
It was chillingly cold, the kind of body temperature only the dead have.
"Brother, your death really surprised me."
With no one around, his smile widened. "Go in peace. I will take your place as crown prince and will even use the rhinoceros horn that can save you to make soup."
...
The secret room set up by Chu Ning could not trap Nan Zhi.
The room was pitch black, without any light. She could tell from the sound of the arrows that they were coming out, so she easily destroyed the mechanism.
However, getting out will still be somewhat difficult.
It took her some time to find the switch to go outside, and she ran into Nightblade shortly after she stepped outside.
Chu Yi's "death" made Chu Ning lower his guard, not expecting that Nightblade and his group would secretly come to the mansion to look for the Spirit Rhinoceros Horn.
At that time, Nightblade and the others had already found the Spirit Rhinoceros Horn.
Instead of using it to save Chu Yi, he handed it to Nan Zhi.
Nanzhi thought it would take a lot of effort to get it from them, but it turned out to be so easy.
Besides giving her the Spirit Rhinoceros Horn, Nightblade also handed her a large stack of silver notes, estimated to be worth tens of thousands of taels.
She looked at Nightblade with some confusion: "Why didn't you use it to save your master, and instead gave me so much money?"
Nightblade said, "I would like to do the same, but I cannot disobey my master's orders."
"The master said you can take the rhinoceros horn and this money and leave. May you live a carefree and happy life from now on."
Nightblade left with a single sentence and turned to leave with the others.
Nanzhi asked instinctively, "And what about him?"
Nightblade did not answer her, and hurriedly disappeared into the night with the others.
Nan Zhi looked at the rhinoceros horn in her hand and thought of the countermeasures she had discussed with Chu Yi.
Chu Yi faked his death to set a trap and reveal the whereabouts of the Spirit Rhinoceros Horn.
She was so happy when she found out she could find the rhinoceros horn that she forgot to ask him what would happen after she faked her death.
How will he handle this?
Nightblade went back and told him that he had found the Spirit Rhinoceros Horn, and that the man should wake up and continue living.
Nan Zhi didn't know what she was thinking. After obtaining the Spirit Rhinoceros Horn, she didn't rush to take it, nor did she leave the imperial city. Instead, she casually found a place to stay.
After waiting for two days, instead of hearing news of Chu Yi's resurrection, they saw a procession carrying his coffin passing by on the main street.
At the very front of the procession, she saw the empress with her graying temples, and the aged and haggard emperor…
And inside the coffin is... Chu Yi?
Looking at the large, dark coffin, Nan Zhi's expression unconsciously faded. She touched her chest, feeling uneasy for some reason.
She didn't believe Chu Yi was really in that coffin, and went straight to the East Palace.
The Eastern Palace was draped in white mourning clothes, desolate and quiet, with hardly anyone around.
She habitually climbed through the window and subconsciously looked up at the opposite window. Several times when she came, Chu Yi would be sitting there reading a book. When he saw her, he would smile and wave her over.
At that moment, Chu Yi appeared before her. A smile appeared on her face, and she knew that Chu Yi was not dead.
She had only taken two steps when Chu Yi's figure disappeared from the window.
The smile on her face vanished, and as she stepped into the bedchamber, she didn't see Chu Yi anywhere.
She searched other places Chu Yi would go, but still couldn't find him. When she returned to the main hall, her face was colder than ever.
She wanted to ask Nightblade, but she couldn't sense Nightblade and the others lurking in the shadows.
Where did this guy go?
If she catches him, she'll definitely kill him.
Nanzhi sat in the main hall for a while, and just as she was about to leave, her hand accidentally touched a button by the bed. Suddenly, she heard a sound, and saw the bed slowly move to the side, revealing a dark room.
She frowned, unable to understand why these members of the royal family liked to set up secret rooms.
The thought that Chu Yi might be inside made her eyes light up, and she stepped inside.
After entering, Chu Yi was not seen.
Although the dark room was not as bright as the outside, it still had a light, which came from a luminous pearl placed on the shelf in the center.
The enormous bead was priceless, and its deep blue light was exceptionally beautiful, making Nanzhi touch it with great affection.
Apart from the luminous pearl, I didn't see anything else of value, but I did see several locked cabinets.
Nan Zhi used her internal energy to easily open the lock and see what was inside.
In the first cabinet was the prince's python robe that she had torn to shreds.
In the second cabinet were two sets of wedding attire, the ones they wore together that day…
So he didn't wear this on his wedding day.
Nan Zhi's eyes darkened as she opened the last cabinet.
It's a painting of her by the river that night, her hair flowing down, seemingly gazing at someone with eyes full of love.
There is a sentence next to the painting.
If we were not destined to be together in our past lives, let us renew our vows in the next.
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