At the moment danger arrived, memories sparked like scattered fireworks, and Yu Lingxi recalled many details. For instance, after the assassination attempt during the Lantern Festival in her previous life, Ning Yin didn’t go out for several days.

“…There was poison on that hidden weapon. To survive such a serious injury is truly rare.” “The old chronic illness remains dormant, but sooner or later it will collapse like a great building. Who knows what the future holds.”

The imperial physicians passed by, speaking in hushed tones. Yu Lingxi leaned against the window, silently setting down the book in her hand.

Not long after, she saw Ning Yin walking out with a cane, leisurely leading his subordinates to confiscate property and exterminate clans.

He still maintained his noble composure, his pale and cold countenance showing no signs of weariness or deterioration, so formidable it seemed as if nothing in this world could destroy or kill him.

But hearts and flesh grow together—where in this world is there a truly indestructible body?

When she saw the paper umbrella dancer secretly manipulating the mechanism in the umbrella handle, Yu Lingxi found strength from somewhere unknown and instinctively tackled Ning Yin to the side.

Almost simultaneously, a dozen or so silver needle-sized projectiles scattered like pear blossoms, pinning into the spot where Ning Yin had just been.

Yu Lingxi held Ning Yin tightly, fearing that like in her previous life, he would be wounded in the arm by those poisoned projectiles.

Something wet and sticky dripped onto her neck, so hot it made her whole body tremble.

Yu Lingxi instinctively raised her hand to touch it. In the bright, festive candlelight, the crimson on her fingertips pained her eyes.

She suddenly looked up, staring at the thin line of blood flowing slowly from Ning Yin’s nose, her dilated pupils trembling slightly.

“How could this…”

She had blocked those poisoned needles, so why was Ning Yin still bleeding?

Ning Yin caught her fingertip, wrapping it in his palm and squeezing it.

“Don’t touch it, it’s dirty.”

He calmly raised his hand to wipe away the blood at his nose, then nonchalantly wiped it clean on a nearby corpse. “Just now this prince was wondering why the fire-breather’s flames were bluish-purple and the smoke so acrid. Now I understand—Her Majesty the Empress put poison in the fire-breather’s drink?”

Yu Lingxi followed his gaze and immediately tensed her body.

The Empress had arrived from somewhere, followed by an unfamiliar unit of Imperial Guards.

Only these Imperial Guards’ blades were not pointed at the assassins, but pressed against Ning Yin’s neck, then restraining several officials who had tried to call for help.

The rest were either trembling in fear and silence—the neutral faction—or they were secret allies whom the Empress had won over.

“Indeed, Prince Jing is cautious and cunning, so I had no choice but to use some methods, mixing a special drug into the fire-breather’s drink.”

Seeing that she had control of the situation, Empress Feng no longer concealed anything. She entered the hall, trailing her magnificent phoenix robe, and said, “This drug is undetectable when dissolved in alcohol. Only when it passes through intense flames does its smoke become a marvelous poison that can paralyze the entire body and invade the five organs?”

This was information Yu Lingxi hadn’t known in her previous life.

Things had ultimately slipped from her control.

“Brilliant.”

Ning Yin applauded in admiration. “Even I must admire how cleverly this poison was administered.”

This little madman, how could he still be smiling?

Not knowing how dangerous the poison was, Yu Lingxi suppressed the panic in her heart and said calmly: “The harem should not interfere in politics. I implore Your Majesty to reconsider, for the young prince’s sake.”

For now, the only option was to buy as much time as possible for Ning Yin’s subordinates and her brother’s Imperial Guards.

Empress Feng’s gaze fell on Yu Lingxi.

She still appeared kind and gentle, but amid the hall filled with gleaming swords, her calm eyes revealed an eerie serenity.

“You’re here too, which saves me the trouble of having to find you.”

Empress Feng fingered the Buddhist beads in her hand, immediately piercing through Yu Lingxi’s thoughts. “If you’re trying to buy time, I advise you not to waste your efforts. Yu Huanchen has colluded with external enemies and has already been captured by Cui An, to be executed on the spot.”

Yu Lingxi wrung her fingers tightly.

With assassins infiltrating the Lantern Festival, the young General Yu responsible for security would naturally be implicated and further charged with ‘conspiracy with assassins.’

Empress Feng intended to use one stone to kill two birds, eliminating the Yu family along with Ning Yin.

This was a perfect and vicious plan, even more meticulous and detailed than the Hongmen Banquet during the Lantern Festival in her previous life.

Affected by the poison, Ning Yin’s body was numb and weak, and he could no longer support himself, beginning to fall to the side.

Yu Lingxi quickly moved closer to him, catching his falling body, and asked in a low voice: “How are you?”

Ning Yin looked at her, a faint light dancing in his pitch-black eyes. He seemed to want to raise his hand to touch her cheek, but halfway up, his arm fell weakly.

Yu Lingxi quickly caught his falling hand, holding it tightly.

“If I were Lingxi, I would distance myself from this prince now and surrender proactively,” Ning Yin said with a soft laugh.

“Shut up.” Yu Lingxi wished she could cover his hateful mouth.

An Imperial Guard rebel came from outside the hall, closed the door, and reported: “Your Majesty, the Imperial Guards have been subdued by Superintendent Cui; everything is under control.”

Hearing this, Yu Lingxi’s heart sank halfway.

“Clean it up,” Empress Feng ordered without hesitation.

Several of the prince’s guards immediately fell at her command.

Meanwhile.

Yu Xinyi descended from the palace tower and came face to face with a fair-skinned young man in golden robes.

Ning Zizhuo had just slipped away from the Lantern Festival banquet, carrying an endearing tiger lantern, when his eyes suddenly lit up: “Commander Yu! I was just looking for you, look at this lantern…”

“No time!”

Yu Xinyi glanced at the commotion at the base of the wall and was about to pass by Ning Zizhuo when she suddenly stopped.

Remembering something, she turned back, looking him up and down: “Can you go to Shangyang Palace now?”

Ning Zizhuo nodded: “I’m His Majesty’s nephew, of course, I can…”

Before he could finish, Yu Xinyi grabbed him and pulled him away.

“Don’t speak, don’t ask why.”

Yu Xinyi pulled Ning Zizhuo along, walking as fast as flying, and said in a low voice, “Take me to see the Emperor, quickly!”

…

In the eastern hall of Xuande Gate.

With a clink, a bloodied dagger fell at Yu Lingxi’s feet.

Ning Yin’s gaze fell on the dagger, his eyes reflecting a dark red.

Memories from seven years ago surfaced in his mind, lingering like a nightmare that couldn’t be dispelled.

“Only one of you, mother and son, can live.”

In the endless darkness, a woman’s pitying voice came through: “Kill your son, and I will let you live.”

“Does this dagger look familiar?” Empress Feng looked at Ning Yin.

She displayed a compassionate expression as if admiring the death throes of her prey. “Back then, when only one of you, mother and son, could live, Concubine Li didn’t hesitate to plunge the blade into your chest.”

Yu Lingxi suddenly raised her eyes, looking at Ning Yin in disbelief.

She recalled the story Ning Yin had told her in the storehouse amid the Jile incense.

“The big wolf caught the mother wolf and her cub, then threw a dagger down in front of them. They told the cub’s mother that between her and her son, only one could live…”

Yu Lingxi had once asked Ning Yin how the story ended.

At that time, he had thought for a long time before replying with a cold, mocking smile: “The cub’s mother would probably have plunged the dagger into her own heart.”

He had asked in return: “In stories, all mothers would do that, wouldn’t they?”

Yu Lingxi remembered the narrow old scar on Ning Yin’s chest and felt an inexplicable pain twist through her.

Ning Yin wasn’t a child “in a story.”

He had always lived in hell.

“I’ll give you a chance to redeem yourself.”

Empress Feng’s voice interrupted Yu Lingxi’s thoughts, employing the same tactic again. “Kill Prince Jing, and I will let you live.”

Yu Lingxi only looked at Ning Yin, her eyes wet and red.

Empress Feng not only wanted to kill Ning Yin but to do it in the most heart-wrenching way… she was enjoying the final moments of sadistic pleasure!

Yu Lingxi’s breathing began to shake violently.

Whether it was rushing into the hall to deliver a message to Ning Yin, or being threatened with a knife by the rebels, she had never lost her composure as she did now.

Ning Yin also looked at her, his eyes as calm as black ice.

Yu Lingxi didn’t know how much pain and despair the young boy from seven years ago must have felt to become the Ning Yin before her, so calm it bordered on cruelty.

Yu Lingxi tremblingly extended her fingers and grasped the dagger.

Ning Yin still reclined lazily, giving her a gentle smile.

“If I die, Lingxi will be free.”

Ning Yin chuckled softly. “If this strike doesn’t kill me, Lingxi will be bound to this prince’s side for all time, life after life, for all eternity.”

Madman!

This little madman!

Yu Lingxi tightened her grip, her gaze gradually becoming determined.

She suddenly raised her hand, using all her strength, without hesitation, and stabbed fiercely at the Imperial Guard who had his blade against Ning Yin’s neck!

—This was her answer.

The sharp dagger cut through the cold air by her ear. Ning Yin looked at the delicate but brave young woman before him, momentarily puzzled.

Yu Lingxi was the unexpected element in this scenario.

She had chosen him.

This time, he had not been abandoned.

Then came a clang.

The Imperial Guard reacted, hastily raising his sword in alarm, knocking the dagger from her hand.

Now!

Yu Lingxi covered her wrist and stumbled back a step, shouting: “Ning Yin! How long do you… intend to keep acting!”

The knocked-away dagger fell accurately back into Ning Yin’s hand.

Then he swept it across horizontally; two Imperial Guards who had approached suddenly widened their eyes, blood trickling from their throats before they fell to their knees like puppets with cut strings.

Almost simultaneously, several arrows came flying from outside Xuande Gate.

The ropes connecting the lantern tower to Xuande Gate snapped, and hundreds of lanterns fell like shooting stars, tracing an arc before crashing heavily against the palace wall.

The lantern tower teetered, sparks and wooden splinters flying in all directions like dancing fireflies, attracting the attention of the common people and the soldiers stationed at the gate.

The swaying firelight illuminated the flashing blades and blood in the hall. People cried out in alarm, and Cui An’s troops lost their formation.

Drums thundered like thunder, and hearing the signal, Chen Feng and Zhe Ji each led a small team charging up to the hall.

Seizing this opportunity, Yu Huanchen drew his sword and charged into the encirclement, shouting: “Assassins! Follow me to save His Highness!”

Realizing that the situation was about to be exposed, Empress Feng’s hand, which had been turning her Buddhist beads, paused.

Cui An had failed to stop Ning Yin’s people; something must have gone wrong.

Seeing blood seep from Ning Yin’s nose again, Empress Feng no longer wished to continue fighting and retreated through the western hall door under the protection of her eunuchs.

Seeing that Ning Yin’s people had finally arrived to rescue them, Yu Lingxi finally released the breath she had been holding and collapsed to the ground as if all strength had left her body.

Ning Yin caught her waist with one hand, his gaze lingering on her pale face still streaked with tears and frowned slightly.

“Kill them all.”

Ning Yin wiped his fingers clean, then bent down to scoop up Yu Lingxi’s knees, lifting her entirely in his arms and walking toward the hall door, stepping on clean tiles.

Yu Lingxi buried her face tightly against his chest, her fingertips cold and trembling.

Feeling her fear, Ning Yin tightened his arms and kissed the top of her head.

“It’s alright now, Suisui.”

He said softly, ignoring the blooming flowers of blood behind him.