Chapter 521: Finding Emperor Chu

Chapter 521 Finding Emperor Chu

Instead, Chu Yi, afraid she would call for people, knocked her unconscious with a single blow from his palm.

Empress Dowager Yuan said coldly, "It was just an assassin pretending to be a ghost. I've already sent the imperial guards to catch him. I'm sure they'll have him soon."

Although she trusted Nanny An, tomorrow was the day of the False Crown Prince's burial. She still couldn't risk word getting out that she'd seen Chu Yi, afraid Nanny An might blab and cause a panic.

Since the Empress Dowager had already spoken, Nanny An didn't dare object. She could only obediently nod.

"You're right, Your Highness. I guess I must have been seeing things."

With that, she remembered why the Empress Dowager had come out tonight.

She asked cautiously, "Your Highness, shall we still go to the National Master's place?"

The Empress Dowager's face darkened, and she clenched her fingers. "Go? Of course we will. But I want to stop by Chongming Palace first to see that person."

"It's been ages since I saw him. I wonder if he's dead yet?"

She turned her head slightly, her gaze fixed in a certain direction, her eyes full of hatred and venom.

Nanny An knew who was held captive in Chongming Palace. She didn't dare say anything else and quickly picked up the lantern from the ground, stepping forward to help the Empress Dowager.

Ji Yuntang and Hua Feixue followed behind the Empress Dowager, watching where she was headed.

No matter how the imperial guards outside searched, they could not find any trace of Hua Feixue hiding in the hidden space.

The two followed at an unhurried pace, keeping about ten meters behind the Empress Dowager.

But Ji Yuntang noticed that the Empress Dowager seemed to be walking deeper and deeper into the middle of nowhere, until she stopped at a desolate spot.

A cold wind blew, and only the lantern in Nanny An's hand flickered weakly, lighting up a dark stretch of the path.

Looking up, in the middle of the desolate area sat a palace, with the words "Chongming Hall" inscribed above it.

The palace before them was unlike the other grand halls. Its exterior was black, but patchily so, and it even looked a bit run-down.

Even the ginkgo tree at the entrance had a black trunk, completely lifeless.

Despite that, Ji Yuntang sensed something was wrong.

She sensed the auras of over a dozen masters around the palace.

This aura was almost the same as the shadow guards outside the Empress Dowager's Cining Palace, but they didn't show themselves.

Ji Yuntang was even more puzzled. She was certain these people had been placed there by the Empress Dowager.

She wondered, "Why is the Old Witch here in the dead of night?"

But Hua Feixue recognized the palace. He said, "This used to be a library, but after a fire, all the books burned, and the palace ended up looking like this."

"As far as this Crown Prince knows, this place has been abandoned for a long time. Hardly anyone ever comes here. Now that the Old Witch is here, this Crown Prince has a bad feeling."

At that, Ji Yuntang and Hua Feixue both froze, exchanging a look, as if they'd guessed something.

Hua Feixue's eyes flickered, a flash of blood-red in his ink-black phoenix eyes.

He glanced at the charred black gate, his eyes already wild with madness.

Ji Yuntang quickly tugged him along. "The Old Witch has gone in. Let's follow and see."

The moment the door opened, the Empress Dowager felt a cold wind brush past her. She immediately got goosebumps and called out warily, "Who's there!?"

It wasn't that she was overthinking. This felt too much like when Chu Yi had flown at her earlier!

But when she turned to look, there was no one else in the palace besides her and Nanny An.

Nanny An looked at the Empress Dowager's wary expression and asked in confusion, "Your Highness, what's wrong?"

The Empress Dowager shook her head. "Nothing. Let's go in."

Once inside, the place was even worse.

Charred tables and chairs, broken cabinets, and the air reeked of smoke.

Nanny An quickly found the candlestick and lit it. The Empress Dowager continued walking deeper inside.

When she reached a desk, she reached out and twisted a mechanism on the inkstone stand beside it, and a half-meter-wide passage opened up beneath the table.

The Empress Dowager took the lantern Nanny An handed her and instructed, "You wait outside. I'll go in and be right back."

Nanny An nodded. "Yes, Your Highness."

The Empress Dowager stepped in first, and Ji Yuntang and Hua Feixue followed right behind her. The secret passage door closed behind them.

Looking ahead, the stone staircase was very long, with a few dim eternal lamps hanging on the stone walls, faintly lighting the path underfoot.

After walking for about half an hour, they finally reached the end of the passage.

What came into view was a stone room, with an old man in white lying on a stone bed.

The old man was disheveled, gaunt, with a scraggly beard. He looked haggard and unkempt.

His limbs were chained with iron. When he saw the Empress Dowager, a fierce hatred surged in his cloudy eyes, and a hoarse, ugly cough rattled from his throat.

"You... you... it's you..."

The Empress Dowager set down her lantern, walked gracefully to his side, and leaned down slightly.

"It's been three months. You're still this worked up to see me."

Suddenly, he spat right in her face, and the iron chains clanked loudly as he yanked them.

A raspy voice came from his throat, "I... I'll kill you..."

Caught off guard by the spit, the Empress Dowager flew into a rage. She raised her hand and slapped him across the face, sending teeth flying.

She gritted her teeth and said, "At a time like this, you still think you're the emperor of Xishu?"

"If it weren't for me pushing you to be Crown Prince back then, with your status and qualifications, what right did you have to take the throne, and what right did you have to talk back to me?"

"I didn't kill you outright, and that's already more than you deserve. A useless piece of trash like you, who couldn't even protect your own children and empress, how could you ever protect the kingdom of Xishu?"

The old man on the bed breathed heavily, his hands clenched into fists under his sleeves, his body trembling slightly.

Seeing this, Hua Feixue was on the verge of collapse!

"Father, Father..."

He pressed against the screen of the dimensional space, the hatred in his heart surging like a mighty river, no longer containable. His bloodshot eyes blazed with madness.

His pale lips were stained with traces of blood as he stared intently at Ji Yuntang.

"Let me out! Let me out right now—I'm going to kill her!"

Ji Yuntang frowned and said in a low voice, "Hua Feixue, calm down. Even if you go out now and kill Empress Dowager Yuan, it won't do any good..."

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