As soon as Chu Rui’s voice fell silent, Yun Chu heard the palace’s front doors open, followed by the footsteps of at least seven or eight people.

“Quick, go through this door!”

Chu Rui stepped forward to lead the way but stumbled and fell to the ground.

He struggled to rise. “Let’s go, I’ll lead you.”

Tingxue hurried to help him up.

His body was simply too weak. Combined with the excessive blood loss from earlier, he had to gasp for breath after every two steps. Before they had gotten very far, the people from the palace entrance had already reached them.

“So you’ve been hiding here. You few, seize her!” The leader was an old nanny. She took a quick step to Chu Rui’s side. “Why has Your Highness come to this place? Be careful not to catch a chill from the wind.”

Two eunuchs came forward to support Chu Rui.

The remaining people surrounded Yun Chu and her servant.

“Stop!” Chu Rui commanded angrily. “Not her!”

“Your Highness, her birth characters are perfectly suitable, and she is the legitimate eldest daughter of the Yun Family. Her fate is more precious, so her heart’s blood will surely cure Your Highness’s chronic illness.” After the old nanny finished persuading her master, her expression turned cold and severe as she looked at Yun Chu. “If Miss Yun cooperates well, we’ll let you die quickly. Otherwise…”

Yun Chu’s gaze was ice-cold. “Since you know I’m the Yun Family’s legitimate eldest daughter, where do you get such audacity?”

“Does Miss Yun know what place this is?” The old nanny laughed. “Any woman who enters this palace cannot possibly leave alive. Do you see those autumn chrysanthemums growing over there? They bloom even more beautifully than the flowers in the Baihua Pavilion. Does Miss Yun know why? Because, you see, they were nourished by the corpses of countless women. How could they not be beautiful?”

Yun Chu’s heart turned cold.

The old nanny was telling her all this because she was certain Yun Chu would die here and wasn’t afraid at all of a dead person knowing these secrets.

“If Miss Yun’s heart’s blood can cure our prince, it would count as a great meritorious deed.” The old nanny’s tone shifted. “What are you all standing around for? Seize her!”

“I dare you to try!”

Chu Rui forced himself to straighten his body and stood in front of Yun Chu.

“What does Your Highness intend to do?” The old nanny looked puzzled. “The Empress Dowager is not only trying to extend your life but also for the greater plan. Your Highness mustn’t be willful.”

Yun Chu understood instantly.

She had been thinking wrongly earlier—this scheme involved far more than she’d realized.

Now that the Yun Family was in trouble, if the Yun Family’s legitimate eldest daughter died in the depths of the palace, the Yun Family would certainly not let this rest, and the Yun Family Army would also riot.

As long as the Yun Family’s treason was confirmed, the Empress Dowager would temporarily win a round against the Emperor.

She would become a sacrificial pawn in the struggle between the Empress Dowager and the Emperor.

Chu Rui’s expression turned ugly. “Whoever dares to touch a single hair on Miss Yun’s head, this prince will take his wretched life.”

The old nanny smiled. “They’re just a few lowly lives. If Your Highness wants them, take them. The wind is strong outside. Someone come and escort His Highness away.”

Two eunuchs forcibly took Chu Rui away without further discussion.

Chu Rui was sickly and weak—how could he be a match for them?

Yun Chu watched as that group of people gradually closed in, and she couldn’t help but take a step back.

She steadied her mind, placed the longsword she had seized from Prince Zhuang into Tingxue’s hands, then drew out the short sword hidden in her sleeve.

“It seems Miss Yun must resist a little.” The old nanny laughed contemptuously. “Move quickly, everyone. Be careful not to damage Miss Yun’s heart.”

Several palace servants rapidly closed in.

Tingxue gripped the longsword and charged out.

She stabbed the blade into the belly of the eunuch in front of her.

Tingxue gritted her teeth.

Even if she died, she would take one with her to reduce the pressure on her young miss.

A eunuch nearby raised his long blade to slash at the back of Tingxue’s neck.

A sharp glint flashed in Yun Chu’s eyes.

She kicked out, sending the attacking eunuch flying, then pulled Tingxue to her side for protection.

But she saw a nanny at the side holding a large rock, hurling it straight at Yun Chu’s face.

Yun Chu had to deal with four or five eunuchs in front of her and had no way to dodge. Just as that rock was flying straight toward her face—

Suddenly!

A spray of warm blood splattered on her face.

At the same time, that large rock rolled to the ground. Immediately after, the nanny collapsed on the ground, her eyes wide open, already lifeless.

Before Yun Chu could react to what had happened, she saw those small eunuchs fall to the ground one after another, each with a bloody line across their necks—killed in a single strike.

She turned her head and saw Chu Yi rushing toward her.

“Yun Chu, where are you hurt?”

Chu Yi’s voice trembled slightly.

Seeing her face covered in crimson blood, in his anxiety he forgot all propriety and called her by name directly.

Yun Chu wiped the blood that belonged to others from her face and shook her head. “I’m not injured.”

“P-Prince Pingxi!” The leading old nanny standing nearby was shocked. “This is a forbidden area of the palace. How can Your Highness trespass here? This old servant must report this to the Emperor!”

A cold smile curved Chu Yi’s lips. “If I kill you, who would know this prince came here?”

The old nanny clearly saw the murderous intent in his eyes and instantly became submissive. “This old servant is someone close to the Empress Dowager. Before Your Highness acts, you should consider… Ahhhhh!!”

Before she could finish speaking, she let out a pained scream and collapsed on the ground, writhing.

She wasn’t dead.

But both her arms had been severed from the shoulders by Chu Yi.

Blood flowed like a river.

Yun Chu’s eyes were covered by a scalding palm with thick calluses.

She heard Chu Yi speak. “This prince will spare your life for now. Crawl back and tell the Empress Dowager that this matter is far from over.”

The old nanny howled from deep in her throat from the pain, crushing a large patch of chrysanthemums beneath her.

Chu Yi released his hand from Yun Chu’s eyes, his voice hoarse. “I apologize. If I had discovered this earlier, you wouldn’t have had to suffer through this.”

Yun Chu asked with some curiosity, “How did Your Highness arrive so quickly?”

Although many things had just occurred, in reality only about a quarter-hour had passed. The chrysanthemum-viewing banquet likely hadn’t officially started yet, which meant that temporarily no one would know she was missing.

This man had found her so quickly—it truly exceeded her expectations.

That he had, for her sake, slain seven or eight of the Empress Dowager’s trusted confidants and severed the arms of the Empress Dowager’s most trusted nanny also exceeded her predictions.

“If the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review wanted to find me, he would never question a eunuch in the inner palace.” Chu Yi spoke. “Moreover, my reputation is terrible. Most people in the palace try to hide when they see me—they wouldn’t initiate conversation at all. Yet that eunuch who led the way talked too much.”

Speaking of it, he had been too foolish, only discovering the irregularity after separating from Yun Chu.

Yun Chu suddenly understood.

It seemed her thoughts were still not careful enough. She only discovered something was wrong when the situation was critical and had nearly lost her life.

Chu Yi felt heartache over what she had just experienced, his voice gentle. “I’ll escort you back.”

“No need.” Yun Chu shook her head. “I came as promised to attend the Empress’s flower-viewing banquet. Appearing there intact and whole is the best response to the Empress Dowager. I just need to trouble Your Highness to find me a change of clothes.”

Chu Yi understood her thinking.

If she were frightened by the Empress Dowager and went back to hide, it would be equivalent to losing the Yun Family’s proud backbone.

She wanted to tell the Empress Dowager that the Yun Family Army had an unyielding backbone, and the Yun Family’s daughters were exactly the same.