Although they were sitting relatively far apart, the door was closed, so people outside had no idea what the two of them were saying or doing inside.
The Empress Dowager was his mother, so he dared not do anything to her; but Zhang Lie was merely a subject to him now. He angrily pointed at Zhang Lie and roared, "You traitorous scoundrel! As an outsider, how dare you venture into the palace so late at night? If I don't teach you a lesson today, you'll really think my royal family has no one to rely on! Guards!"
The hall was completely silent.
The young emperor was taken aback, not expecting that he couldn't even command a mere servant. He called out again, "Someone come here!"
This time, Wen Wan couldn't bear to watch any longer and quickly stepped forward to advise, "Your Majesty, the Marquis of Weiwu has come by imperial decree, and besides, he is your uncle-in-law, and he has always been very courteous..."
"What right does he have?" The young emperor impatiently interrupted Wen Wan, pointing at Zhang Lie and shouting angrily.
Zhang Lie glared at him and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. The Empress Dowager and I were just discussing state affairs."
"What state affairs do you want to discuss behind closed doors?" the young emperor shouted.
Chu Nian said from behind the curtain, "Your Majesty, I only had business with Lord Zhang..."
"Shut up!" the young emperor interrupted her angrily. "I've warned you more than once, yet you still disregard the dignity of the royal family!"
"I...I wail..." Chu Nian started crying again, mimicking the original owner's manner.
The young emperor stopped pressuring Chu Nian and turned to Zhang Lie, gritting his teeth as he said, "You treacherous scoundrel who has brought chaos to the palace, today I will..."
"What exactly happened? Why is everything in such a mess?" At that moment, a woman's authoritative voice rang out from outside, interrupting the young emperor.
The voice was familiar to Chu Nian; it belonged to Baili Xi, the original owner's eldest sister. The reason she had made Zhang Lie wait outside for so long was that she had used that time to meet Baili Xi and even called her son into another room for a private conversation.
Her main purpose in summoning this family of three to the palace was to probe the male and female protagonists' backgrounds and assess their true abilities. Additionally, she wanted to make some casual contact with Zhang Qi to facilitate the execution of her future plans.
The female protagonist, Baili Xi, already possesses Xuan Qi strength comparable to Zhang Lie and has reached the Quasi-Saint level.
Even without military power, these two near-saint level Xuan Qi experts alone are enough to rival a thousand troops on the Xuanwei Continent. Moreover, Zhang Lie currently commands hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
Chu Nian felt a headache coming on just thinking about this.
In fact, when it comes to true power, the Xuanmen is far more powerful than any country on the Xuanwei Continent. If Zhang Lie really had ambitions and wanted great power, why didn't he conquer the Xuanmen and become king?
Ultimately, the reason for Xuanwei Kingdom's weakness lies in the fact that its former emperor was sickly and the young emperor had not yet matured. Zhang Lie and Baili Xi's rebellion against Xuanwei Kingdom stems from their inherently opportunistic nature—they are a pair of bullies who prey on the weak and fear the strong.
Looking back now, if the young emperor hadn't grown up, even without Zhang Lie and Baili Xi, someone else would probably have rebelled in Xuanwei Kingdom.
As Baili Xi spoke, he strode in, walking into Cining Palace without being summoned. No one else could do that.
The young emperor sneered when he saw her and said, "So it's Lady Weiwu. You've come at the right time. As the mistress of a household, you should keep your husband in check and not let him think he can seduce women everywhere just because he's handsome. You don't feel ashamed, but I do!"
Chu Nian cried even louder: Even if there really was something like lewdness in the palace, you wouldn't be shouting it out so loudly! Sure enough, no matter what, this guy is always so unreliable—but this is exactly what she wanted!
Baili Xi was also an exceptionally beautiful woman. Although she was over thirty and had given birth, her profound energy was extremely high, making her look several years younger than the original owner's younger sister, like a young woman in her twenties.
Hearing the emperor's words, she was not angry. She just glanced coldly at Chu Nian behind the curtain and asked in a cold voice, "May I ask Your Majesty, what does the emperor mean by these words?"
Chu Nian sobbed briefly, then stopped crying and said, "Sister, you don't know this, but just now the Lord came and told me about wanting to divorce you..."
"Divorce?" Baili Xi looked at Zhang Lie in utter shock.
Zhang Lie said urgently, "Empress Dowager, you..."
Chu Nian interrupted him, saying, "I think that although the Earl speaks nicely, saying it's a divorce, how is that any different from divorcing my sister? This is a disgrace to our Baili family. So I closed the door and spoke with the Earl alone, hoping to persuade him to change his mind..."
The young emperor couldn't help but ask Zhang Lie, "Lord Zhang, you actually want to divorce my aunt?" He had heard that the two of them had a very deep relationship.
Chu Nian said, "I was quite shocked when I heard that the Lord wanted a divorce. But he said that my sister is too domineering and tyrannical in her daily life. Not only does she forbid him from taking a concubine, but she also forbids him from keeping a woman outside. In addition, although my sister is beautiful, she does not have any gentleness or charm as a woman, which makes it difficult for him to bear."
The young emperor chuckled and said, "Indeed, if I were to encounter such a domineering woman, I would probably also want a divorce. Lady Weiwu, no wonder Lord Zhang, despite having a beauty like you in his household, still runs to the palace all the time, and even lingers in the Empress Dowager's palace so late."
"Zhang Lie," Baili Xi's face turned pale and then purple with anger, she stepped forward and grabbed Zhang Lie's ear, "You'd better come back to the manor with me right now, I want to see how you're going to divorce me!"
Xiao Zhangqi was already a teenager, very close to the emperor's age. He rolled his eyes at the young emperor, didn't even offer a greeting, and quickly followed his mother, Baili Xi, and the three of them left together.
As soon as they stepped out of the Cining Palace gate, they saw Grand Tutor Jiang Bai standing at the entrance. Baili Xi asked, "Lord Jiang, what brings you here?"
Jiang Bai hurriedly said, "I heard that His Majesty came to Cining Palace and made a scene, so I came to see what was going on. However, it was already late, and as an official from outside the capital, I could not enter without being summoned, so I had to wait outside."
Baili Xi sneered and said to Zhang Lie, "Look at Lord Jiang, he knows it's not appropriate for an official to enter Cining Palace so late, but you're making quite a few trips."
She didn't hold back, and Zhang Lie cried out in pain from his ear. This family of three was like a moving spectacle in the palace, attracting the attention of many palace servants. Only after they left the palace and got into their carriage did Baili Xi release Zhang Lie.
Zhang Lie said helplessly, "Madam, it was the Empress Dowager who framed me. You must not believe her. She clearly told me that she had already asked you to propose a divorce, and she would only agree to it on that condition... Alas! She is deliberately trying to sow discord between us, probably because she is afraid that I will not keep my promise after the matter is settled."
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