Zhan Luori was indeed hesitating — but when the sword arrived at her chest, instincts honed from years of martial training made her twist aside.
The blade swept across her shoulder, and once again the scene was drenched in red.
Fortunately, it was only the shoulder that was wounded. Her vital organs had not been touched.
But to think the Empress would leave it at that — that would be a grave mistake.
Seeing Zhan Luori dare to dodge, her fury blazed even hotter. With a backhanded motion she thrust again, making clear her complete intent to kill the Seventh Princess before this day was done.
At that very moment, the urgent voice of the Head Eunuch carried in from outside: “His Majesty the Emperor arrives!”
Everyone stopped at once and prepared to bow in greeting to the Emperor.
Only the Empress, still stubbornly fixed on driving her sword through Zhan Luori, refused to yield.
That woman had descended completely into madness.
Zhan Luori’s hesitation a moment ago had been the reason she’d been wounded. Now, she simply raised one slender finger, and with a light flick, the Empress’s sword flew spinning out of her hand, deflected away by her inner force.
Such formidable inner force…
Empress Rong’s hand went numb with sharp pain at the hilt — before she could react, Emperor Qiwen arrived in the company of a group of attendants, striding over quickly.
“What is going on here?” This was the execution ground. Word was that the Empress had ordered Feng Jiu’er brought here ahead of schedule, yet now the ninth young miss of the Feng family was nowhere to be seen. Instead, members of his own household — his own daughter and the Empress — were trading blows right here. What a disgrace.
“Your daughter pays her respects to Imperial Father!” Zhan Luori bowed at once.
The Empress merely let out a cold snort, not even bothering with the gesture of greeting.
This woman was growing more and more brazen by the day.
Emperor Qiwen suppressed the anger churning in his chest and said with displeasure: “We personally issued the decree to execute Feng Jiu’er at the hour of Chen. Empress, why did you have Feng Jiu’er brought here ahead of time?”
“This consort only wished to relieve His Majesty of trouble by bringing her here early to await His Majesty’s arrival. Is there anything wrong with that?” The Empress’s expression carried not even the faintest trace of respect.
Emperor Qiwen’s gaze fell upon her face, his expression startled. “Empress, your face…”
“I…” The Empress only then remembered that her face had been wounded by Feng Jiu’er earlier. A wave of anguish surged over her, and she nearly could not hold back tears.
In the fury of the fighting earlier, the desire to kill had been so overwhelming that she had even forgotten the wound on her own face.
Now, with so many people present, so many eyes watching…
The Empress let out a sharp cry, raised her hand at once, and pressed her sleeve over her face.
“It was Feng Jiu’er!” Her teeth ground together, her gaze venomous as if soaked in poison.
“Feng Jiu’er actually dared to take this consort hostage! She dared to lay hands on this consort!”
“Feng Jiu’er wounded you?” Emperor Qiwen was not fully convinced, and instinctively turned to look at Zhan Luori.
He was looking at her — what did that mean? Was he saying he did not believe her own words?
The Empress was about to speak, but Zhan Luori had already said calmly: “Last night your daughter went to the secret prison — only wanting to see this supposed culprit who had supposedly attempted on the Crown Prince’s life. Unexpectedly, I encountered several men about to defile Feng Jiu’er.”
“What?” Emperor Qiwen was shaken to the core.
That something so vile had been taking place in the secret prison of his own Surveillance Bureau!
Zhan Luori glanced at the Empress, a flash of anger crossing her face — yet she pressed it firmly down.
“Your daughter had not imagined that someone so malicious could be found inside the secret prison. That person was able to send away the guards on duty there, so their identity is surely no simple matter.”
The Empress couldn’t be bothered listening to any of this. Even if everyone knew perfectly well that it was her doing — so what? This spineless Emperor would not dare touch a hair on her head. What did it matter that he knew?
Emperor Qiwen was truly furious — so furious the tips of his fingers were trembling, his body shaking faintly.
The Head Eunuch watched with a heavy heart and could not help but murmur softly: “Your Majesty, your imperial health must come first.”
The Empress acted with such reckless abandon, and afterward showed not a shred of remorse — did not even place the Emperor in her eyes.
This not only made the Emperor seethe, but even those of them in service could not bear to watch, yet were powerless to do anything.
Emperor Qiwen drew a deep breath, then slowly let it out. It was only after some effort that the stifling oppression in his chest began to ease.
He was about to speak when the Empress got there first: “It is clear that Zhan Luori and Feng Jiu’er are in league together, and so is that masked man who came to rescue her earlier. They may well have connections to that sect in the martial world — the Night Underworld Palace, the Heavenly Venerate Sect.”
Though she held her sleeve over her face, she still kept her gaze fixed on Emperor Qiwen from behind the fabric: “Your Majesty, this matter must be thoroughly investigated. This consort requests that Your Majesty issue an immediate order to seal the city and apprehend Feng Jiu’er. Anyone who resists — to be executed on the spot!”
In short, she would not allow Feng Jiu’er to go on living in this world.
That wretched girl had disfigured her face to this state. Unless she watched her die, the hatred burning in her heart could not be put to rest.
If it were possible, she would have liked to drag her back and torment her to death — but the Ninth Imperial Uncle would likely return very soon.
Once he arrived, getting rid of Feng Jiu’er would inevitably become far more difficult.
So right now, before that happened, she had to eliminate her first!
Emperor Qiwen was about to speak when Zhan Luori suddenly knelt down with a thud, and said in a grave voice: “Imperial Father — it was I who administered the poison to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.”
“What?” The world went dark before Emperor Qiwen’s eyes, and he nearly fainted on the spot. “Luori, what are you saying? Stop talking nonsense!”
“It truly was I who did it. That is precisely why, knowing that Feng Jiu’er is innocent, I came to disrupt the execution — I could not stand by and watch an innocent person die a terrible death!”
No one had expected it — that Zhan Luori would be willing to take the crime upon herself for the sake of one Feng Jiu’er, and so willingly at that. This was too reckless!
“Is it worth it? Are you out of your mind!” The Empress stamped her feet in rage. “What is Feng Jiu’er to you, that you would throw away even your life for her?”
Was Zhan Luori mad? If she wanted to save Feng Jiu’er, there were other ways. Did she really need to claim she had administered the poison herself?
Poisoning the Crown Prince was a capital offense — a crime punishable by beheading. What madness had seized her that she would saddle herself with such a charge?
Did she think that just because she was a princess, the Emperor would not punish her? Could a princess of the realm truly be so naive?
This crime was absolutely a capital offense!
Seeing the Seventh Princess confess, the dozen-odd followers who had come with her were equally stunned. They had never expected this.
What on earth was the Seventh Princess doing? If she wanted to save Feng Jiu’er, there was no need to drag herself down with her!
This was an abyss from which there would be no return — once you stepped in, there was no coming back!
Emperor Qiwen fixed his gaze on Zhan Luori as well, his eyes reddened with rage. “Do you know what you are saying? Do you truly need to throw away your own reputation and your life for someone you’ve known only a matter of days and met only a handful of times?”
Yet Zhan Luori only lowered her gaze, and her voice was steady and resolute: “It is because your daughter has long despised the Empress’s conduct…”
“What did you say!” The Empress nearly could not restrain herself from landing a kick on her.
But after Emperor Qiwen shot her a sharp look, though seething and furious, she just barely managed to hold back.
Zhan Luori’s expression was blank, and she continued on in the same even tone: “Your daughter resented the Empress for ruling the court with an iron hand. Administering the poison to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was simply to strike a blow against the Empress.”