Chapter 523: Preserving Life

Chapter 523: Preserving His Life

"You've always wanted to go down to the underworld to see your empress, haven't you? I refuse to let you have your way."

Emperor Chu listened, his face instantly turning red with rage as his hands trembled. His lips quivered, and a low growl escaped from his throat.

"You... you killed Yi'er?"

"Lady Yuan, aren't you afraid of heaven's punishment for doing this?"

Empress Dowager Yuan let out a cold laugh. "Heaven's punishment? Why should I fear such an illusory thing?"

"My only fear is failing to take revenge and failing to seize your Chu clan's throne. If there's gain to be had, I'll seize it."

"Though I am a woman, my abilities are no worse than any of you royal heirs. The Chu clan has held power for over a hundred years—it's time for the great clans to take over this throne!"

The veins bulged on Emperor Chu's forehead as he choked out a few words.

"Yuan... Lady Yuan, the Xishu Kingdom was carved out with blood and sacrifice by the Chu clan's ancestors. This is treason—you'll die a dog's death!"

Empress Dowager Yuan gave him a cold glance. Far from being angry, a smug look crept onto her face.

The more Emperor Chu hated her, the more thrilled she felt inside.

His rage only fueled her satisfaction.

After all, no matter how furious he was, it was nothing more than the death throes of a dying man—it changed nothing.

The Chu clan was destined to be destroyed at her hands!

Watching Emperor Chu's face turn purple with rage, a mocking smile curled on Empress Dowager Yuan's lips.

"I advise you to save your breath. You might live a few more days that way, and you can watch with your own eyes as your son is buried, and see how the Xishu Kingdom you protected changes hands."

Emperor Chu's eyes bulged with fury, his gaze sharp as daggers, as if he wanted to eat Empress Dowager Yuan alive!

"Lady Yuan, even if I become a ghost in the underworld, I won't spare you!"

Empress Dowager Yuan sneered disdainfully: "Do you think I'm afraid? At least a thousand members of the Chu clan have died by my hand—have any of them come back as ghosts to haunt me?"

Aside from Chu Yi, who had scared her earlier that night, Empress Dowager Yuan grew more convinced that Chu Yi wasn't a ghost, but someone deliberately playing a part.

However, once inside this palace, don't expect to walk out in one piece!

The palace was filled with her people both inside and outside. Since someone was rushing in to die, she couldn't be blamed for showing no mercy!

Shaking off her thoughts, Empress Dowager Yuan let out a cold snort and continued speaking to Emperor Chu: "Since you're about to die anyway, I might as well tell you the truth—I'm not the one stealing the throne, and someone else will take it. What can you do even if you're angry?"

"Your Chu clan is finished. I kept you alive to use your son's pure yang blood to open the gate to the forbidden land. But not a single one of your family's bloodline could activate the forbidden formation's switch."

"Now I've seen the light. Rather than fixating on the treasure map in the forbidden land, I might as well annihilate the Chu clan and back someone to firmly sit on the throne of the Xishu Kingdom."

"Worst case scenario, I'll give up on the things in the forbidden land. After all, if I can't get them, others probably can't either."

"The game of cat and mouse has gotten old—it's time to bring it to an end!"

"Pfft!" At these words, Emperor Chu was so enraged that he spat out a mouthful of blood.

He knew Empress Dowager Yuan was ambitious, but he never imagined she'd back someone else for the throne.

Empress Dowager Yuan had no heirs of her own—wasn't this just handing the Xishu Kingdom's throne to an outsider?

Emperor Chu's eyes were bloodshot as he bellowed: "Lady Yuan, do the people know about this?"

Empress Dowager Yuan sneered contemptuously: "A pack of lowly peasants. What do I care if they know or not? Do you think I care?"

"In this world, might makes right. Since those commoners revere me, they should back my decisions."

"After all, if I hadn't been running the entire court, the Xishu Kingdom would've been swallowed up by other nations long ago. Where would they be living in peace now?"

Emperor Chu clenched his jaw and said no more.

He could see it now—Empress Dowager Yuan had come to his chambers purely to provoke him.

She was filled with an overwhelming sense of superiority, and only by saying these things in front of him could she achieve her goal of showing off.

Seeing that he had fallen silent, Empress Dowager Yuan found the matter dull.

She taunted him a few more times, then picked up her lantern and turned to leave.

After confirming that Empress Dowager Yuan had gone far away, Ji Yuntang moved her mind and released Hua Feixue from the space.

The moment he came out, he rushed to Emperor Chu's side, grabbing his hand and calling out: "Father, Father, are you alright?"

After calling several times with no response from the man on the bed, Hua Feixue quickly looked at Ji Yuntang.

"Princess Ye, what's wrong with my father? Please take a look at him."

Ji Yuntang had Hua Feixue step aside, then placed her fingers on the emperor's wrist and began taking his pulse.

After a moment, Ji Yuntang withdrew her hand and said: "His body was already severely weakened, and just now, stimulated by Empress Dowager Yuan, he was overcome with rage and fainted. I have a Vitality Preservation Pill here that can temporarily keep him alive."

With that, she took a black pill from her space and placed it into Emperor Chu's mouth.

Then she continued: "Your guess was correct—your father's hand and foot tendons have been severed. I can perform surgery to reconnect them, but not right now."

"A single surgery would take at least five or six hours—there simply isn't enough time."

"Moreover, his current condition makes it inconvenient to move him. To perform the surgery, we'd need to find a way to unlock the iron chains on him, or the operation can't proceed."

Hua Feixue's gaze fell on the four iron chains, each thicker than a baby's arm. He gritted his teeth and said: "The keys must be with that Old Witch. I'll go get them."

Ji Yuntang grabbed his sleeve and said: "Don't rush. Leave getting the keys to me—I'll find time tomorrow to steal them. I've already used medicine to preserve your father's life, so he won't be in danger for now."

Learning that his father could still undergo surgery, Hua Feixue felt much more at ease.

He asked Ji Yuntang, "So what do we do next?"

Ji Yuntang countered with a question instead: "Your Highness, did you just hear Nanny An say that Empress Dowager Yuan was going out tonight to visit the National Advisor?"

She had been too far from Empress Dowager Yuan earlier and had vaguely overheard that sentence, but she wasn't entirely sure she'd heard correctly.

After thinking it over briefly, Hua Feixue nodded: "Yes, I heard it too. Is there a problem with that?"

Ji Yuntang narrowed her eyes and said in a low voice: "If you think there's no problem, that's exactly the biggest problem. What normal person stays out of their own chambers in the middle of the night and goes to another man's palace?"

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