Ultimately failed to live up to expectations
Qi Luo's chanting soothed Xie Lang's restless mind and stabilized his condition.
Qi Shang patiently guided her, "Very good, you saw her. What did she say to you? Did she ask about your child?"
The sorcerer will not know who the person seen in the illusion will actually be. But the person they see at that moment must be the person closest and most important to them. The most appropriate and commonly used approach is to guide the questioner to ask about that person.
No one expected that this question would lead to such a dramatic change.
Xie Lang, who had been in a daze, suddenly turned pale upon hearing this question. He no longer cared about the Ancestral Dragon Sword, and used all his strength to throw the sword away and retreat.
He spoke again, but his voice was shrill and like a beast's roar:
"I didn't do it! I didn't kill the child! Ah Xiu, please don't blame me!"
At this moment, A Qiu couldn't help but think coldly that he had never personally harmed anyone; he had merely taken the child to Liyang Palace and abandoned him to Zhulong.
Therefore, even in the afterlife, when he meets his Ah Xiu, he will still have something to say.
This person has managed to absolve himself of all responsibility.
I just don't know if he can fool his own conscience.
The bell rang more and more urgently, and Xie Lang roared in grief, his eyes wide with rage, turning blood red, and two streams of bloody tears flowed down his cheeks.
Even an outsider like A Qiu could see that the spell was at a critical juncture. Qi Luo was exerting all her strength to unleash the illusion, while Qi Shang was constantly slamming his bone staff on the ground, intensifying the pressure and coercion on Xie Lang.
Since Zhao Lingying had given the order to extract the child's whereabouts from Xie Lang at any cost, the wizard naturally carried it out.
Qi Shang suddenly roared, "Tell me, where is that child?"
His shout, accompanied by the heavy slam of his bone staff on the ground, caused even Ah Qiu in the forbidden room to feel stars flash before his eyes and his mind to be shaken.
The scene in the bronze mirror seemed fragmented, with many shadowy figures.
A clear whistle suddenly rang out.
A sharp, graceful sword light was reflected in the bronze mirror, as ethereal as white gauze and as mysterious as moonlight.
Ah Qiu had only seen this sword drawn once in his life, yet he had never forgotten its elegant and unpretentious style.
In this world, besides Consort Chen Li Lanxiu's "Xiuyi", whose sword has such elegance?
The sword flew out and struck Zhao Lingying squarely in the back.
Zhao Lingying's bruised back trembled slightly, but she did not fall to the ground. Instead, she very slowly squatted down, hugging her knees.
Consort Chen's gentle and graceful voice rang out, but her tone left no room for doubt.
"Zhao Rong has committed treason and has been executed. You two evil men, stop now!"
Ah Qiu didn't need to look to know that the spell had been broken.
At the end of the palace road, a dense mass of imperial guards surged in. Leading them were the stern-faced "Black Swan" Mu Huaying and the silver-armored, white-robed "White Crane" Sikong Zhao.
The spell has been broken.
When the Imperial Guards arrived, Qi Luo and Qi Shang knew they had no power to reverse the situation, so they did not resist. They quietly closed their eyes and waited for these people to deal with them.
Logically speaking, since Qi Luo and Qi Shang had already given up control over Xie Lang, he should have immediately come to his senses.
But Xie Lang still stood there, his eyes, filled with blood and tears, empty and lifeless, as if searching for some focal point in the void.
A moment later, he suddenly hissed, "I remember! I remember why I came here!" He lunged forward, frantically groping and grabbing at the walls, shouting wildly, "Where's the door? Shouldn't there be a door here?"
Separated by only a wall, the three people inside dared not utter a sound as they listened to him pounding away outside, their nerves on edge and extremely tense.
In truth, given Zhao Lingying's abilities, she shouldn't have been so easily struck by "Xiuyi," but at that time, she was standing with her back turned and her mind was elsewhere, so Li Lanxiu easily pierced her with his sword. Now, enduring the pain, she collapsed to the ground. Hearing Xie Lang's words, she immediately forced herself to ask, "You led us all the way here, is that child inside the gate?"
Consort Chen finally shouted, "Lingying, if you continue to interrogate him, you will be taking his life! We are still siblings, how can you disregard our relationship like this?"
Mu Huaying's cold voice rang out behind Consort Chen: "You treat her as a younger sister, but she may not treat us as sisters. I wonder who it is that has been undercover for so many years and has finally revealed their true colors."
Upon hearing the word "undercover agent," Zhao Lingying's eyes flickered. She looked at Consort Chen thoughtfully, her lips moving as if she wanted to defend herself, but then she stopped speaking.
Sikong Zhao spoke up to advise, "Sister Lingying's actions are most likely a misunderstanding. Fortunately, only a few of us know the truth at the moment. Let's rescue His Majesty first!"
Mu Huaying could no longer bear to listen and coldly retorted, "She poisons His Majesty daily, controls the court, and instigates her cousins to rebel, threatening the capital. Even when His Majesty made her empress, she refused such a tempting offer. What she's after is the power of the realm. The Zhao family of Eastern Wu has been planting pawns in this palace since the time of Emperor Xian Huan, meticulously planning their moves to carve out a share of the Jiangzuo regime. That's forgivable, but you are a pawn of the Lanling Hall, the source of all evil. The Grand Commandant of Dayan will not let you go!"
The moment the words "Lanling Hall" were uttered, a strange stillness lingered both inside and outside the forbidden room.
The first thing that came to A Qiu's mind was that he had just brandished the Lanling symbolic assassin, "Assassinate Qin," in front of Shangguan Yuqi.
Feeling guilty, she glanced at Shangguan Yuqi, only to find that Shangguan Yuqi was also glancing at her.
However, Shangguan Yuqi's expression remained calm and composed, showing no particular change, more like an instinctive surprise upon hearing those words.
After all, Zhao Lingying, as one of the previous Flying Phoenix Guards, was arguably the most loyal subject of the Dayan Dynasty. She had accompanied Xie Lang through countless life-and-death struggles, laying the foundation for the dynasty's rule. If even she was a spy for the Lanling Hall, then the dynasty truly had no one left to rely on or trust.
But Mu Huaying was incorruptible and impartial; she herself was a living penal code, adhering to the principle of presumption of innocence and guilt. Her words were never baseless.
A Qiu's second thought was: If Zhao Lingying really was a member of Lanling Hall, why would Master Wanqiqing not mention it at all?
Master aside, the eldest brother Gongyi Xiu and Zhao Lingying were colleagues who met every day. If Zhao Lingying was truly a colleague of Lanling Hall, Gongyi Xiu should have mentioned him at least once or twice.
Sikong Zhao and Consort Li Lanxiu were probably hearing about this for the first time, and given that it was indeed unexpected, they both remained silent and could no longer say anything to defend Zhao Lingying.
Zhao Lingying was severely wounded, and blood dripped continuously from her clothes, soaking a large area of her back. She only gave a slight, cold laugh and said, "May I ask, Sister Huaying, where did you hear this news?"
Mu Huaying coldly said, "The phrase 'The Southern Dynasty's Flying Phoenix has a spy in Lanling' refers to someone shooting a silk scroll with a powerful arrow into the Dongguang Marquis's residence. I didn't believe it at first, but the person who came was extremely skilled, no less than me. Such a person must have some basis for their words, not just baseless rumors. At first, I thought the problem lay with Yu'er's generation of Flying Phoenix, but your actions during your time in the palace couldn't be clearer. Zhao Lingying, what else do you have to say?"
At this moment, Zhao Lingying calmed down, a carefree smile appearing on her lips, and asked in return, "If I have nothing to say, will Sister Huaying torture me to force me to reveal the secrets of Lanling Hall?"
Mu Huaying was speechless. Anyone could see from Zhao Lingying's appearance that if she wasn't treated quickly, she wouldn't last long, let alone be tortured.
Before Consort Chen could speak, Xie Lang reached down and groped around on the ground, grabbing the "Ancestral Dragon Sword" he had thrown to the ground earlier. He then began hacking and slashing wildly at the wall, shouting, "There used to be a door here! The child is inside! That old servant Chu Yuanyi hid the child here!"
The Ancestral Dragon Sword was probably the heaviest sword in the world, not only because it was over seven feet long, but also because it was made entirely of gold. This chopping motion shook the wall, causing lime to fall from it.
The three people inside the forbidden room exchanged glances, and even Chu Yuanyi was no longer sure whether cutting down like this would reveal the mechanism inside the wall and expose the secret room.
Seeing Mu Huaying's deep gaze and his step forward, Qi Luo spoke up, "So many years have passed. Even if the door Your Majesty spoke of still exists, the child cannot still be here. If he is alive, he would have grown into an adult. If he is dead, he would just be a skeleton. Your Majesty's mind is in turmoil right now. You should quickly return to your palace to calm him down and soothe his nerves."
Her tone was gentle, carrying a tender and persuasive quality. Only now did A-Qiu realize Qi Luo's brilliance: her ability to subtly influence people, making them naturally lower their guard and become willing to listen to her. Of course, this wasn't intentional; it was simply her natural talent.
As expected, even Mu Huaying agreed with her reasoning and stopped. Most of the people present were more concerned about Xie Lang's safety than the child from over ten years ago.
Among the crowd, Mu Huaying was the eldest. She frowned and said, "Then take His Majesty back." She then lifted her skirt, turned around and left. Sikong Zhao also hurriedly stepped forward to help Xie Lang up, and led the Imperial Guards to escort Qi Luo and Qi Shang, and hurriedly followed Mu Huaying.
At this point, only Zhao Lingying remained. Neither Mu Huaying nor Sikong Zhao spoke, so none of the Imperial Guards dared to touch her.
Consort Chen, Li Lanxiu, was about to leave with the others, but she hesitated for a moment and stood in front of the door without moving.
Zhao Lingying sat on the ground and said quietly, "It's a pity that I've been busy for nothing and still don't know the child's whereabouts. I've failed... my old friend's request."
A Qiu didn't understand her meaning. With Consort Chen seemingly about to leave, was Zhao Lingying asking for her help to fulfill her wish?
In A Qiu's opinion, although Mu Huaying's words were harsh, she ultimately did nothing to Zhao Lingying. Otherwise, given Xuan Hu's cold-hearted and ruthless nature, he would have immediately sent her to the Court of Justice. The Court of Justice has a thousand ways to save people, and a thousand ways to torture them. According to the law, Zhao Lingying committed regicide, deserving to die a hundred times over.
The same logic applies to Sikong Zhao. As the commander of the Imperial Guards protecting Xie Lang, Zhao Lingying's actions were tantamount to assassination, and she had the same authority to arrest and deal with him on the spot. But she did nothing.
Leave Zhao Lingying here and let her live or die as she pleases.
Perhaps it is also a final remembrance of the sisterhood of the past.
Upon hearing Zhao Lingying's words, Consort Chen remained silent for a moment before saying, "With your intelligence, even a sober His Majesty could easily get what you want from him."
Zhao Lingying's eyes flickered, and she slowly said, "You mean..."
Consort Chen's back trembled slightly, but she still tried to speak in a calm tone: "If you asked him normally, he probably wouldn't tell you. But now... things are different." By the last sentence, her voice was slightly choked.
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