Crown Prince…

Hearing these words, Mu Yunjin raised an eyebrow slightly. As expected, they had directed the focus toward Chu Li.

Involuntarily, she looked up at Chu Li before her.

Chu Li stepped forward, his thin lips parting, his tone humble. “How does this Crown Prince need to cooperate, Master?”

Black Robe smiled slightly, taking out two black spheres from his hand. “This humble one needs to use these two spheres to summon a divine creature to exorcise the evil spirits from the Emperor. I request that the Crown Prince and Prince Chen each take one.”

After speaking, Black Robe extended his hand, offering the spheres to Chu Li and Chu Qing.

Mu Yunjin was startled, her gaze fixed on the black spheres in Black Robe’s hand, her heart suspended high with anxiety.

Summon a divine creature?

Could it be something like those blood bats again?

…

…

With this thought, Mu Yunjin looked toward Chu Li.

Chu Li pressed his lips together without saying anything else, expressionlessly reaching out to accept the black sphere.

Seeing this, Empress Dowager Zheng couldn’t help speaking up. “Master, will this summoning of a divine creature harm Ye’er and Qing’er?”

Hearing this, Black Robe showed a smile. “Empress Dowager, please be at ease.”

Hearing this definitive answer, Empress Dowager Zheng nodded, finally feeling somewhat relieved.

“Please, Prince Chen and Crown Prince, stand in the middle,” Black Robe then looked toward Chu Li and Chu Qing.

Chu Li and Chu Qing walked to the middle of the table. They extended their hands as Black Robe draped a gray robe over each of them. Then, the two pressed their palms together, enclosing the black spheres within their hands, and closed their eyes.

At the same time, Black Robe began to chant incantations. As the incantations left his mouth, the black spheres in their hands erupted with black light, which shot upward into the sky.

Mu Yunjin watched the black light, ghostly and bewitching, emanating an awe-inspiring aura.

The next moment, gusts of wind gradually began to sweep in from all around, and the sky darkened. On this harsh winter day, several peals of thunder suddenly echoed across the heavens.

Mu Yunjin hugged herself, focusing intently on Black Robe and Chu Qing’s movements. What were they trying to do?

…

Moments later, a dragon’s roar sounded at the edge of the sky.

“Look quickly!”

Someone shouted first, pointing toward a direction in the sky.

Everyone looked up, and the next second, exclamations of surprise erupted from the gathering of officials, their tones filled with shock and astonishment!

Mu Yunjin clenched her fists and looked up. She saw a dazzling five-clawed golden dragon fiercely flying toward them, carrying the momentum of mountains and seas, incredibly majestic.

Was this a dragon?

Were her eyes deceiving her?

Mu Yunjin could hardly believe it. This was her first time seeing a creature like a dragon.

But what was even more unbelievable was that this golden dragon had been summoned by Black Robe…

At this moment, the five-clawed golden dragon flew closer and closer. Soon, it was circling above Jingming Palace, flying over everyone’s heads.

“A true divine dragon has manifested!”

Empress Dowager Zheng, seeing this scene, exclaimed excitedly. She stood up, tears welling in her eyes as she gazed at the five-clawed golden dragon overhead.

Upon hearing this, all the officials knelt, paying homage to the five-clawed golden dragon.

Along with them, all the palace maids and eunuchs on the side also knelt.

Mu Yunjin looked around. Posing as a palace maid, despite her extreme displeasure, she could only obediently kneel with everyone else.

Just as everyone was paying homage to the five-clawed golden dragon, the dragon in the sky suddenly flew down toward Chu Qing’s direction.

Flying close to Chu Qing, the five-clawed golden dragon encircled him with its body, gently nuzzling Chu Qing with its head. At that moment, golden light suddenly emanated from all around Chu Qing’s body.

“This golden dragon is surrounding Prince Chen. Could it be that it has a connection with Prince Chen?” Prime Minister Yan Qiuhuai suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

At these words, some people instinctively looked toward Chu Li’s direction.

Logically speaking, Chu Ye was the Crown Prince, the future ruler of the country, the true dragon son of heaven.

But now, when a true dragon manifested, it surrounded Chu Qing. Could it be that Prince Chen was the one with the destiny of an emperor? Was Prince Chen the one meant to shoulder the weight of the kingdom?

Inevitably, many people began to feel awkward on behalf of Chu Ye.

Mu Yunjin hadn’t expected Black Robe and his cohorts to create such a grand spectacle, even summoning this golden dragon. Regardless of whether it could dispel the evil spell on Emperor Ximing, just the fact that this golden dragon now encircled Chu Qing was enough to shake people’s hearts and make them firmly believe that Chu Qing was the one destined to rule the Western Yuan State.

With this thought, Mu Yunjin bit her lip and stared at the golden dragon for a while longer. The golden dragon was still surrounding Chu Qing, unwilling to leave him.

Chu Qing looked at the golden dragon and reached out to stroke its head. “Golden dragon, can you help me remove the evil spell cast on Father Emperor?”

The golden dragon seemed to understand his words and nodded.

Then, with a flick of its tail, it left Chu Qing and prepared to fly into Emperor Ximing’s Jingming Palace.

Empress Dowager Zheng was extremely excited. “A true dragon has manifested! Truly, heaven shows its mercy!”

“Yes, Mother Empress. The Emperor will certainly get through this safely,” the Empress also chimed in from the side.

Mu Yunjin frowned and looked toward the silent Chu Li, wanting to see his reaction.

To her surprise, when she looked at Chu Li, she saw his lips slightly curled upward. On his face, which typically revealed neither joy nor anger, there was a faint smile.

Upon meeting Mu Yunjin’s gaze, Chu Li even raised an eyebrow at her.

Mu Yunjin was startled, her mind a bit confused.

Just as she was feeling bewildered, a loud ‘bang’ suddenly sounded in her ears, accompanied by several tremors in the ground.

Along with the thunderous noise, clouds of dust erupted all around. Mu Yunjin immediately covered her nose and mouth, instinctively stepping back a few paces.

When the surrounding dust settled a bit, the sky, which had darkened earlier, suddenly cleared, and the wind around them also ceased.

People now came to their senses and looked toward the place where the loud noise had come from. One by one, their jaws nearly dropped in shock.

This…

This, this, this…

The five-clawed golden dragon, which had been so imposing just now, was now lying on the ground…

Moreover, it had turned into a dead pig…

Where was the dragon?

Where had it gone?

Seeing a pig that had suddenly appeared at the entrance of Jingming Palace, Mu Yunjin was so shocked that her mouth fell open. What was going on? The dragon was just transformed from a pig?

Black Robe’s magic was impressive indeed!

He could even make a pig transform into a dragon…

Thinking of this, Mu Yunjin turned her head to look at the expressions of Black Robe and Chu Qing.

Black Robe also seemed not to have anticipated this development. Looking at the dead pig on the ground, his face alternated between shades of green and white, his eyes filled with intense embarrassment and anger.

Chu Qing’s expression was equally unpleasant. One moment he was being revered by everyone, and the next, all sorts of mockery came his way.

“Master, what does this mean?” Chu Li stepped forward, looking at Black Robe with a bewildered face.

Hearing Chu Li’s words, Mu Yunjin almost burst out laughing.

“What is this pig about?” Empress Dowager Zheng regained her composure, her face dropping as she looked displeasedly at Black Robe.

Black Robe was taken aback for a moment, then bowed. “I report to the Empress Dowager, this humble one does not know either.”

“You don’t know? Wasn’t that golden dragon summoned by you? Now the dragon has turned into a pig. Explain this to me! If you can’t explain properly, I will, on behalf of my son the Emperor, charge you with the crime of deceiving the sovereign!” Empress Dowager Zheng was furious.

Emperor Ximing had already been under an evil spell, causing her great worry. Now with the dragon turning into a pig, such a ridiculous and ominous event—if word got out, what would become of the imperial family’s face!

Black Robe’s expression grew worse and worse as he exchanged a glance with Chu Qing.

Chu Qing, his face tense, stepped forward. “Grandmother, there must be some mystery to this. The Master would surely not play such a low-level trick in front of so many people.”

A low-level trick.

These words made Mu Yunjin bite her lower lip hard to prevent herself from laughing out loud.

These people had truly lost all shame!

“Hmph!” Empress Dowager Zheng turned her face away.

“Alright, let’s not pursue this minor interlude for now. It’s more important to ask the Master to remove the evil spell that Father Emperor is under,” Chu Li stepped forward to change the subject, looking at Black Robe.

Black Robe was startled, sighed slightly, and bowed, looking at Empress Dowager Zheng. “Please, Empress Dowager, give this humble one another chance.”

“Very well. I will give you one more chance. If you cannot remove the evil spell from my son’s body, then for this absurd incident of a dragon turning into a pig, I will certainly punish you for your crime!” Empress Dowager Zheng said angrily.

Black Robe nodded.

To the side, Chu Qing’s eyes darkened as he clenched his fists.

Mu Yunjin secretly exchanged a glance with Chu Li, giving him an admiring look.

By now, she understood what was happening.

The evil spell on Emperor Ximing must be connected to Chu Qing.

Today, Chu Qing had brought in Black Robe, originally planning to direct and perform a play where he was the true dragon son of heaven with imperial destiny. This way, not only would Emperor Ximing be healed by the five-clawed golden dragon, but when Emperor Ximing recovered and learned of the true dragon’s manifestation, he would certainly view Chu Qing in a new light and might even change the Crown Prince.

But unfortunately, things went awry. Who would have thought that halfway through the performance, the five-clawed golden dragon would suddenly turn into a dead pig…

This was an extremely inauspicious event.

Now, both Black Robe and Chu Qing were trapped in a dilemma of their own making.

If they couldn’t truly remove the evil spell from Emperor Ximing and regain some reputation, then by tomorrow in Diehua City, the joke of a dragon turning into a pig would likely overshadow the recent hot topic of Prince Ning’s mansion…

Thinking of this, Mu Yunjin slightly curled her lips. This slap in the face was truly resounding.

“Someone, take this pig away first!” Chu Li glanced at the pig on the ground and looked toward the Imperial Guards nearby.

Several Imperial Guards immediately ran over and together dragged the dead pig away.

At this time, among the officials, someone couldn’t hold back and let out a snicker…

…

After removing the evil spell from Emperor Ximing, Black Robe and Chu Qing each made an excuse and hurriedly left Jingming Palace.

Chu Li stayed in Emperor Ximing’s bedchamber for a while before also making an excuse to return to the Crown Prince’s mansion.

In the carriage leaving the palace, Mu Yunjin leaned against the carriage wall, looking at Chu Li without blinking. “That dragon, perfectly fine, how did it suddenly turn into a pig?”

Chu Li raised an eyebrow, looking at Mu Yunjin. “It was transformed from a pig in the first place.”

“Black Robe is truly formidable, knowing such advanced magic. But how did you silently turn the dragon back into a pig?” Mu Yunjin lowered her voice, her face full of curiosity.

Chu Li, in an exceptionally good mood, rubbed Mu Yunjin’s face, curled his lips, and pulled her into his arms. Bending down, he kissed her red lips.

“I’ll tell you when we get to the mansion,” Chu Li said, the corners of his lips turning upward.