Chapter 339: Is She Dead?

Chapter 339: Is She Dead?

Well, this is more like the style of the one ruling the palace.

Someone who could kill his nephew to seize the throne and exterminate close friends and kin—what’s one more Qin Yuanqing to him?

As the summer wind suddenly blew in, threads of light danced, swaying gently over Lu Mingchao, flickering between brightness and shadow. Her eyes gleamed coldly.

“What are you thinking about?” Lu Yao held a scroll, lifted the gauze curtain, and asked softly.

“The emperor,” Lu Mingchao said, her voice heavy.

Her voice was as somber as the dusk outside.

Lu Yao stiffened for a moment, stammering, “The emperor?”

Lu Mingchao gently stroked her abdomen. “Second Brother, does the person sitting on the throne still count as human?”

“No.” Lu Yao didn’t even hesitate; the answer came instantly.

“What about Huaiqian?”

Lu Yao fell silent.

Lu Mingchao smiled and let it go.

More days passed.

The news that the emperor had forcibly summoned the Young Bodhisattva into the palace, only for her to be forced to jump off a cliff—her survival uncertain—spread rapidly across the land.

Even Xie Yan, far in the northern territories, got word of it.

Though Xie Yan had long known Lu Mingchao’s plans, he couldn’t shake his unease.

His worry was ice-cold on his face, his entire demeanor growing increasingly icy and gloomy, his actions more ruthless than ever. Liu Jingyuan was at his wits’ end.

After endless waiting, Prince Duan Xiao Fei arrived in the northern borderlands with a secret decree. Liu Jingyuan had hoped Xiao Fei would lend him a hand.

Yet, Prince Duan remained as immovable as a boulder, unmoved by persuasion or coercion, completely ignoring his overtures.

Aloof and indifferent in front of him, yet bowing and scraping before Qiao Song.

Liu Jingyuan nearly blew his top.

That night, Prince Duan threw yet another banquet—for Qiao Song, no less.

Hah! The mighty Northern Frontier General wasn’t even invited.

All this time, he had pulled every trick, burned through men, yet he still hadn’t managed to eliminate Qiao Song.

Zhenzhiguan hadn’t become the death trap he had hoped for; instead, it flourished against all odds.

The letters he sent to Tian Binjun might as well have been tossed into the ocean, not a word in reply.

Liu Jingyuan couldn’t bring himself to believe that Tian Binjun, whom he had personally promoted, had betrayed him.

But the truth stared him in the face.

The sole silver lining: Qin Yuanqing was dead.

With Qin Yuanqing dead, no one cared anymore about the young General Qin's disappearance.

Thinking it over, this wasn’t exactly good news either.

Qin Yuanqing’s death had been so gruesome, sparking panic and wild rumors. He couldn’t help but wonder if it was the work of diehard Xie loyalists.

After all, the way he died was identical to that of Xie Erlang.

The Qin family was the Xie family’s enemy—so what about him, the Northern Frontier General who had replaced the Xie family?

Night after sleepless night, paranoia ate at him. He dreaded that the moment he closed his eyes, a blade would come out of nowhere, sever his head, and hang it from the battlements of Shengyan Pass.

Tonight, sleep eluded him again.

The candlelight flickered.

Liu Jingyuan bolted upright, drenched in cold sweat.

He scanned the room—no one there, utter silence.

Liu Jingyuan shrugged on his robe, pushed open the door, and called to the torch-bearing patrol soldiers, “Be thorough. Don’t miss a thing.”

Then he returned to his room. Before he could even remove his outer robe, he noticed a wine jug that hadn’t been there before.

The next moment, a sharp pain exploded at the base of his skull, and everything went dark.

Before collapsing, he caught a glimpse of who’d struck him.

Not Qiao Song?

Liu Jingyuan was even more bewildered.

Xie Yan, who should have been attending Prince Duan’s banquet, gripped Liu Jingyuan’s jaw and poured the spiked wine down his throat.

Mingchao had said: Mixing cephalosporin with booze? Instant death.

As long as he added enough of the drug, Liu Jingyuan would be a dead man walking.

His Mingchao, walking straight into the lion’s den, had given him the justification to rise in rebellion.

The quicker he moved, the sooner Mingchao would no longer need to hide.

---

Shangjing.

A heated argument broke out in the grand princess’s residence.

“Grandmother, how could you be so heartless, just watching like a bystander?” Princess Lerong County’s eyes were red and swollen, tears streaming down her face, her voice thick with grief and indignation.

“Lu Mingchao always honored you like her own grandmother, showing utmost respect. Priceless gifts piled up at your residence almost daily.”

“Even if you didn’t wish to anger His Majesty, you should have at least considered past affections—secretly passing her a message, giving her a chance to flee and hide, rather than just watching like a bystander as His Majesty forced her into the palace, pushed her to jump!”

As she spoke, Princess Lerong County broke down into sobs.

Yongming Grand Princess froze, uncertain.

She had acted on Empress Dowager Xie’s instructions—to neither interfere nor obstruct, merely observe. She had assumed Empress Dowager Xie and Lu Mingchao had some grand scheme in place.

Yet...

Lu Mingchao had jumped off the cliff.

Behind Yicheng looms the towering Dalü Mountain, its sheer cliffs plunging thousands of feet into dense forests below, teeming with ferocious beasts. With no hope of recovering the body, anyone leaping from such a height would surely perish.

How did it come to this?

Did Empress Dowager Xie and Xie Yan, in order to tarnish the emperor's name, abandon Lu Mingchao and seek a legitimate pretext to depose the foolish ruler?

That was Lu Mingchao.

The Lu Mingchao who lived and breathed for Xie Yan.

The Lu Mingchao who risked her own life to save Xie Sanlang's unborn child for Empress Dowager Xie.

Has Empress Dowager Xie's hunger for revenge gone this far?

Yongming Grand Princess's lips trembled, her throat unbearably tight as she struggled to speak. "Princess Lerong, I..."

But she couldn't find the words. No matter what she said, it would sound like an excuse.

"I must go to the palace." Unable to bear Princess Lerong's gaze any longer, Yongming Grand Princess risked punishment and had the palace gates roused at night, requesting an audience with Empress Dowager Xie.

In Changning Palace, candlelight flickered, bright as noon.

Empress Dowager Xie knelt on a prayer mat, chanting sutras in endless repetition, her prayer beads clicking faster and faster.

Clearly, the chanting did nothing to calm the tempest in her heart.

She jumped.

She leaped into the bottomless chasm of Dalü Mountain.

How would she explain this to Xie Yan?

"Empress Dowager, Yongming Grand Princess requests an audience."

Empress Dowager Xie's hand suddenly trembled, and her prayer beads scattered across the floor.

"Denied," Empress Dowager Xie said numbly.

Amidst hurried footsteps, Yongming Grand Princess shoved aside the palace maids and rushed in, kneeling directly on another prayer mat.

"Leave us," Empress Dowager Xie waved her hand.

The attendants withdrawn in silence.

"Was Lu Mingchao's death part of your plan?" Yongming Grand Princess demanded point-blank.

*No.*

"It was not this widow's plan."

*It was her own.*

Yongming Grand Princess let out a mirthless laugh. "Empress Dowager means to say that Lu Mingchao volunteered as sacrificial bait for the Xie family's vengeance."

"Impossible."

"I've spoken with Lu Mingchao on multiple occasions and understand her character. She is not someone who would sacrifice herself for a man or for love."

"She always said, 'Lu Mingchao is first and foremost Lu Mingchao—everything else comes second.'"

Empress Dowager Xie was left speechless.

"The details of this matter, Even I don't know the full story."

"When everything settles, the truth will come to light."

"Yongming, it wasn't me."

"After that palace coup, few from the Xie family survived. How could I possibly—"

"She was not even a member of the Xie family!" Yongming Grand Princess interrupted Empress Dowager Xie. "As long as Xie Yan is alive, what does it matter if he takes three wives and four concubines, flitting from woman to woman? What does Lu Mingchao even matter?"

"Madam Dowager, Lu Mingchao is a truly endearing young girl."

"She is only sixteen."

"In the prime of her youth."

"The Northern Frontier Army rebelled."