Chapter 1309 Step Onstage One After Another
Chu Liuyue looked at the Emperor indifferently. During this period, the Emperor often vomited blood. He was used to such a scene. He fainted again, but so what?
He walked up to pull the Emperor up and said, “Father, you’d better write it carefully so as not to cause me more trouble…”
The next moment, his hand paused before the Emperor. Abruptly, Chu Liuyue reached out to feel his breath, and his face changed drastically.
“Your Majesty… Your Majesty…” Derong was terrified and looked at Chu Liuyue. Likewise, he reached out to feel the Emperor’s breath and knelt on the ground in a panic. “His Majesty… passed away!”
Chu Liuyue looked sullen and reached out to feel his breath again. He found it hard to believe that the Emperor would die of anger because of him. Although he had said he was not afraid of this result, it became more difficult for him to clear up such a messy situation when the Emperor died. Since he was in the Emperor’s resting palace now, he could hardly purge himself of suspicion.
“Prince Yue plots to murder His Majesty.”
“Hurry up to rescue His Majesty!”
“Save, save His Majesty.”
It was eerily quiet in the resting palace when faint shouts came from outside.
A guard of Prince Yue’s Mansion rushed over and said, between gasps of breath. “Your Highness, many people come at us. What should we do now?”
“Who are they?” Chu Liuyue ignored the Emperor and asked harshly.
“I don’t know, but they have completely surrounded us. Our people are trapped inside!” The guard said anxiously and reached out to press his arm. Just now, he was accidentally pieced by a sword and looked pathetically embarrassed, with his blood spreading from the cut.
“Who… who are they?” With a pale face, Chu Liuyue turned around and strode away. He had thought he was the last force hiding to achieve success, but to his great surprise, another group emerged…
Shao Wanru helped the Empress Dowager into the secret passage. There were many turns in this desolate tunnel. It could be seen that no one had been here for a long time, and the air inside was a little stuffy. Huiqing was walking before them with a lantern to illuminate the road.
Along the way, Shao Wanru tripped several times and almost fell. Even Huiming, who supported the Empress Dowager on the other side, also stumbled on the uneven ground. After many times of such mishaps, Huiming asked Shao Wanru to follow behind them.
They walked forward along the tortuous secret passage. Arriving at a place, Huiqing stopped, put down the lantern, and looked around. A door was opened when she pressed hard on a moss-covered triangular stone.
Shao Wanru, in a sorry plight, lifted the hem of her dress and came out. Seeing a Buddha statue, she slightly rolled her watery eyes and thought this place should be the Buddha hall of the Palace. It didn’t take long for them to get there.
Voices were heard outside. She narrowed her eyes and looked around. There was no one else. After leaving her and the Empress Dowager here, Huiqing and Huiming ran out in a hurry.
Shao Wanru turned around and patted the wall behind her five times, three long and two short. Just now, she had walked out of it.
Someone behind the wall echoed with three long and two short knocks. Afterward, the wall opened again. Qiu’er and Dong’er came out carefully and breathed a sigh of relief when seeing only Shao Wanru and Empress Dowager in the room. They had chased after Shao Wanru all the way here. Shao Wanru walked as slowly as possible so that they could keep up with her.
“My Lady, this is the Buddha hall of the Palace!” Qiu’er looked at the scenery outside and said in a low voice. She wiped the cold sweat on her forehead and added a few reassuring words. “His Highness has placed some people here. There is nothing to worry about, My Lady!”
“Let’s go there!” Dong’er said, pointing to a lock at the side door.
This side hall had a side door, but a lock was on it. Since Huiqing and Huiming went out from the front door, they couldn’t go after them.
Qiu’er walked to the lock, twisted it hard, and broke it. She poked her head out to look outside and waved to them.
Dong’er helped the Empress Dowager up, and Shao Wanru followed her closely. They walked out of the side door. This place was so dangerous that Empress Dowager and Shao Wanru must leave quickly.
After leaving the side door, they looked around but found nowhere to go. All of a sudden, a man in black appeared before them. Seeing him, Qiu’er and Dong’er were relieved — he was on their side.
“Your Highness, please come with me!” The guard in black bowed to Shao Wanru and said in a low voice, “His Highness has arranged everything there.”
It was not the time to talk. Shao Wanru lowered her head and left with the guard. After a few turns, they entered a small tunnel underground. At its end, an exit appeared on a wall.
As soon as Shao Wanru came out of the exit, she saw Chu Liuchen. Shao Wanru stepped forward excitedly. Although she had been very calm and steady just now, she couldn’t help trembling slightly at this time. When she saw Chu Liuchen and was held in his arms, she tightly hugged him back. No matter how meticulously they planned, some unexpected accidents might happen.
Fortunately, she was fine, and so was the Empress Dowager.
They moved the Empress Dowager to the couch, and Mingqiu Nun was already waiting there. After feeling her pulse, Mingqiu Nun smiled.
“How is she?” Shao Wanru pushed Chu Liuchen away and stepped forward. This time, she especially went there to rescue the Empress Dowager.
“Don’t worry, Your Highness. It’s nothing serious.” Mingqiu Nun comforted her softly.
Finally, Shao Wanru felt very much relieved and her legs went weak. After such a thrilling change, she had such a panic fear. Honestly, she was not so bold.
They were speaking in low voices. Suddenly, there came a loud noise from next door. Shao Wanru was startled and immediately looked behind her. Only then did she see a huge screen there. She would think it was a wall if she didn’t observe closely.
Noble Consort Lan came out of nowhere and knelt before the Empress Dowager’s bed with a nervous look. Seeing Shao Wanru, she waved to her.
Shao Wanru stood up and walked up to her. Before she bowed to her, Noble Consort Lan grabbed her hands and stopped her.
Noble Consort Lan’s hands were icy cold, trembling slightly. She pulled Shao Wanru so hard that Shao Wanru almost fell.
Chu Liuchen looked displeased. When he was about to protest, he saw Shao Wanru smiling and waving at him. A trace of impatience flashed across his eyes, but he didn’t say anything more.
Shao Wanru made use of this momentum to sit near Noble Consort Lan. Holding her hand instead, Shao Wanru comforted her in a low voice, “Relax. It’s all right. Everything will be okay!”
However, Noble Consort Lan didn’t respond and bit her pale lips silently. The rims of her eyes turned slightly red, but she had a look of steely determination. She looked up at Chu Liuchen and muttered, “If… If something terrible happens to him… I… I won’t live alone…”
Chu Liuchen gave a cold snort but made no comment. His face turned gloomy, but he didn’t say anything.
“Your Grace, nothing serious will happen. It’ll be okay!” Shao Wanru never stopped comforting Noble Consort Lan.
The noise outside grew louder and louder. Chu Liuchen stood behind the screen and listened quietly. Shao Wanru unconsciously stopped talking and listened quietly to the noise outside.
She was surprised to hear Chu Qing’s voice. Not just him but Consort Dowager Qing also came. In silence, Shao Wanru raised the corners of her mouth and looked up at Chu Liuchen’s back with her watery eyes.
As Chu Liuchen had expected, the winner was not Commandery Prince Cheng or Chu Liuyue, but the most inconspicuous Chu Qing. She reached out to hug Noble Consort Lan, knowing she was worried out of her wits.
The Emperor was still on the imperial bed outside…
Indeed, he was still there, lying motionlessly on the imperial bed.
Before the bed, Chu Liuyue was pinned to the ground by swords on both sides, his hair in disarray. Chu Qing helped his mother to enter. At the sight of Chu Liuyue, he stepped forward and gave him two hard slaps, sneering, “You killed your father. How dare you think about taking the throne? How did you know all the civilian and military officers at court would agree with it?”
While they were talking, several high-ranking officials were brought over, including three of the six ministers and Prime Minister Zhang.
“Prime Minister Zhang, what punishment should Chu Liuyue bear for killing his father?” Chu Qing watched the people around him and asked in smug satisfaction. Among these officials, Prime Minister Zhang held the highest rank.
“Don’t talk nonsense, Your Highness.” Prime Minister Zhang said coldly, “Let Prince Yue go, now.”
“Even at such a critical time, you are still partial to your son-in-law. But he is such a heartless lover to your daughter. I’m surprised to see you help him. You are indeed loyal!” His decision amazed Chu Qing. “Prince Yue killed his imperial father, so he and his relatives should have been put to death. Are you one of them?”
“Your Highness, His Majesty’s dead body is still warm. How can you kill the descendants of the royal family at this time?” Prime Minister Zhang was furious and scolded harshly.
“But the Emperor also ascended the throne when my father’s body was scarcely cold. Don’t you know that? Besides, he sent me to the Yuhui Nunnery. I wonder why no one stepped forward to stop him back then?” Commandery Prince Qing raised the corners of his mouth and laughed presumptuously.
Then he pointed to the resting palace and said, “From now on, this will be my resting palace. I am the deceased emperor’s son, the most suitable prince to inherit the throne. Others, like Chu Liuyue, are the sons of the unjustified Emperor. How could any of them inherit the throne?”
“You… you are the son of the deceased emperor, not the Emperor,” Prime Minister Zhang gritted his teeth and said.
“So what? His Majesty was even willing to pass the throne to Chu Liuchen. Since Chu Liuchen could get it, why couldn’t he pass it on to me? We are both the descendants of the deceased emperor. My background is not inferior to Chu Liuchen’s!” Chu Qing said with an increasingly complacent smile. He had received reports from all sides and knew the Palace was basically under his control. In this case, he was fearless.
As for the bad news from Pushan Nun, he didn’t take it seriously. They were just two women. According to his previous plan, he could depend on the Empress Dowager and Princess Chen if anything went wrong. But now he didn’t need to do that. After all, his plan went smoothly.
Both Commandery Prince Cheng and Chu Liuyue were nobodies at his mercy. He could ask them to do anything. The two women could never sabotage his plan.
There was Chu Liuchen, who hadn’t yet been found. But it was just a matter of time before they found him. After all, the whole Palace was in his hands. At that time, he could kill Chu Liuchen and shift the blame onto Chu Liuyue. No matter how capable Chu Liuyue was, he couldn’t turn the tables.
Chu Liuyue would be cut into pieces for murdering his father and younger brother.
“My son with a noble status has the right to become the new emperor!” Consort Dowager Qing said with a bright smile. She squinted sideways at the several important ministers kneeling on the ground and added, “If you don’t want to die, stand on my son’s side. You will also enjoy no end of wealth and honor. Otherwise, not to mention you, all your family members will not be able to stay alive!”
“Commandery Prince Qing indeed has a prominent identity. As a remaining evildoer, he represents more than a noble Prince!” A sinister and ruthless voice was heard when a wall was opened. Behind the wall, Chu Liuchen showed his pretty face with a tyrannical expression…
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