After the matter was settled, Qin did not dare to delay and hurried back to the palace.

After the carriage left, a little girl with tears on her face and dirty body slowly crawled out of the Qin Mansion through a dog hole in the wall and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The fifth day of the first lunar month is the day for sacrifices in the Taimiao. Early in the morning, Chu Xuan and Lu Yanluo entered the palace.

In the open space in front of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, everyone had already gathered. In front were the princes and ministers, led by Chu Xuan, and in the back were the many female relatives, led by Consort Xian. The emperor stood in the front, and walked up to the altar step by step solemnly as the Minister of Rites chanted.

As for the female members, Lu Yanluo was dressed in the crown and clothes of a princess today, looking elegant and graceful. On her head, she wore twelve colorful glazed gold hairpins selected by Chu Xuan himself. Under the sunlight, they sparkled brightly, like a golden phoenix flapping its wings about to fly.

The women around him all looked at him, some with envy and some with jealousy.

Concubine Xian glanced at Lu Yanluo and gritted her teeth in her heart. Lu Yanluo's outfit today was extremely luxurious, far better than that of her, the imperial concubine.

"The princess is so elegantly dressed today. People who know that the princess is here to worship the ancestors, but those who don't know would have thought that the princess is here to participate in the selection of concubines. What a fuss!"

The female members of the family looked at each other in bewilderment when they heard this. Concubine Xian was openly and covertly criticizing Lu Yanluo for deliberately dressing up to attract attention here.

As if Lu Yanluo didn't understand the implication of Concubine Xian's words, she raised her hand to stroke the hairpin in her hair and said with a sweet smile, "I can't help it. My prince is so kind that I can't refuse him. He insisted that this sacrificial ceremony was important and only the precious seven-color glazed cloud gold hairpin could afford me, so he asked me to wear it to attend the ceremony."

Upon hearing this, Concubine Xian snorted sarcastically, "Really? It seems that King Ye and the princess really have a deep relationship!"

Lu Yanluo was so ashamed that she couldn't raise her head: "Your Majesty, please don't make fun of me." There was sneer under her lowered eyebrows. As long as the enemy was unhappy, she would be happy!

The minor quarrel among the women did not disturb the sacrificial ceremony ahead.

The emperor stood on the altar, holding three incense sticks high in his hands, and kowtowed to the Taimiao.

Enshrined in the Taimiao are the wise monarchs of all dynasties in Tianji Kingdom and ministers who have served the country and the people. The emperor slowly bowed and paid tribute to the heroic spirits.

Then they kowtowed to heaven and earth again, praying for good weather and good harvests in the new year.

After the tedious and lengthy sacrifice was over, the emperor heaved a sigh of relief and slowly stepped down from the platform. Suddenly, everything went dark in front of his eyes and he knew nothing.

The ministers below only saw the emperor suddenly sway and then fall to the ground.

Chu Xuan and other princes were the closest to the scene, so they rushed forward to check the situation. They found out that the emperor had fainted. Chu Xuan shouted, "Call the imperial physician! Quick! His Majesty has fainted!"

In the emperor's bedroom, several imperial doctors bowed their heads and took the patient's pulse. After a careful examination, they retreated to the table and after some discussion, they carefully picked up their pens and wrote down a prescription.

Everyone was waiting outside, watching the palace maids and eunuchs busying around with worried looks on their faces. Since the emperor was unconscious, no one dared to leave without permission.

After the medicine was ready, the eunuch carefully fed it to the emperor. After a cup of tea, the eunuch came out and told everyone that the emperor had woken up, but was not in good spirits, so he did not want to see outsiders.

Everyone then breathed a sigh of relief, and then looked at Chu Xuan, waiting for him to tell them what to do next. Unknowingly, Chu Xuan had become the backbone of everyone.

"Since the emperor has woken up, why don't you all go home today? You have been very tired today, so go back and rest. If the emperor has any instructions, I will send someone to the palace to pass them on."

Everyone was overjoyed when they heard this, and they were all grateful for Chu Xuan's consideration. They said goodbye and left one after another. Today's kneeling and bowing were really tiring.

Seeing that everyone had left, Chu Xuan looked at Liu Lin, the chief judge of the Imperial Hospital who had been standing nearby.

"What's going on?"

Liu Lin came over and said softly, "Your Majesty's health is not very good. You are very weak internally. It happened to be the New Year, and the successive events have aggravated your condition. I'm afraid..."

Chu Xuan turned sideways and secretly looked at the judge of Liu Yuan. After listening, he nodded to indicate that he understood.

The emperor's time is up and he won't live long. Chu Xuan doesn't know what he feels at this moment, but at least he is not sad.

The emperor had been suspicious all his life, and had always maintained a balance of power in everything he did. He tried his best to guard against those who coveted his throne. Now, he finally sat on the throne.

Seeing that Chu Xuan was lost in thought, Liu Lin did not disturb him any further and quietly left.

The reason why he told Chu Xuan alone about the emperor's illness was simply to surrender to Chu Xuan.

A new emperor appoints new ministers. Liu Lin is smart and has already secured his own career.

In his eyes, with Chu Xuan's ability and position in the court, he is the only one who can be the new emperor.

Why not do him a favor and let the new emperor remember his kindness?

After the imperial physician left, Chu Xuan stayed outside for another hour. When he saw that the situation had stabilized, he got up and returned home. Lu Yanluo was still waiting for him outside the palace.

At that time, the incident happened suddenly in the Taimiao. A group of female relatives headed by Concubine Xian were chattering and making a headache. Chu Xuan was furious and ordered all the female relatives to be sent away. Concubines like Concubine Xian were naturally sent back to the harem, and as for the families of other ministers, they were all sent out of the palace.

Chu Xuan walked out of the palace and saw the carriage of Prince Ye waiting outside. His heart suddenly warmed and he walked over.

In the carriage, Lu Yanluo had fallen asleep with a blanket wrapped around her. She must have been exhausted from today's sacrifice.

Chu Xuan lovingly stroked the rosy face of the person in front of him, and then instructed: "Go back to the mansion, go slowly on the way, the princess has fallen asleep."

The carriage drove steadily all the way to Prince Ye's Palace. After about a quarter of an hour, the carriage suddenly stopped. Lu Yanluo, who was sleeping soundly in the carriage, was suddenly thrown out by inertia and was about to fall out. Fortunately, Chu Xuan intervened in time, hugged her and held her in his arms.

Lu Yanluo was frightened and instantly became alert.

Chu Xuan was obviously a little unhappy. After confirming that Lu Yanluo was fine, he asked, "What happened?"

"Your Highness, an assassin suddenly appeared in the middle of the road and has been captured by the palace soldiers."

"Let me go! I want to see the Night King! Let me go! I am Qin Xuelin from the Qin family, and I want to appeal for my grievances!"

Upon hearing the sound, Chu Xuan raised his hand to open the curtain of the carriage, only to see a dirty girl with disheveled hair, who was being captured by the guards of Prince Ye's Palace and was struggling constantly.

This person was none other than the little girl who crawled out of the dog hole in the Qin Mansion after Qin left. She was Qin Xuelin, the second young lady of the Qin family who was rarely noticed.