When he reached the gates to the general’s manor, he dispersed his people and knocked on the gate alone. The moment the gatekeeper opened the door and saw him, he was somewhat surprised. “Pass the information that I want to see General Ye Li!” The gatekeeper was frightened by Mo Linyuan’s imposing manner and went to spread the news without saying anything.
Wen Feng who was hiding in the dark thought that replacing Official Liu would have been a risky move. And the crown prince had planned to stay in the Liu Residence for a while longer, but all of this was changed because of a girl named Ye Mu who was in danger.
To alter his plans for someone—what kind of girl was she?
***
Meanwhile, Ye Mu had finally made it to the end of the banquet without a fiasco happening. However, when everyone left one by one, the Imperial Consort Rou, who had been accompanying the emperor, suddenly sent someone to stop her.
“Young lady Ye, is it? Please wait a moment, our imperial consort has invited you.”
Ye Mu turned around and discovered that not only had they kept her, but there was also another girl who had stay behind; this girl only looked to be about ten years old.
Since she couldn’t bring her servant girl with her, Ye Mu let little Qiu stay behind. She braced herself and followed the palace maid, making winding detours. In the end, they arrived at a heavily guarded imperial garden with Imperial Consort Rou and the Emperor inside.
“All of you should go. The imperial consort is waiting for you!”
The ten-year-old girl lowered her head and obediently walked over. Ye Mu paused for a moment before walking over as well.
There was the fragrance of sandalwood lingering in the air outside the pavilion. The pavilion was covered by a curtain; therefore it was difficult to see the emperor and what he was eating inside.
After he finished consuming it, Consort Rou, who had been accompanying the emperor, walked out. She looked at the two girls who were waiting outside and smiled sinisterly. “Little girl, do you know why no one else is staying behind other than you?”
Ye Mu did not say anything, but the little girl beside her shook her head and timidly answered, “This servant…doesn’t know.”
Consort Rou smiled proudly. “Why are you so afraid? To tell you the truth—your best days are coming. Do you know what His Majesty fancies recently? His majesty likes girls like you the most! When you have served His Majesty well, you shall not miss your good fortune!”
She had said it so straightforwardly—she wanted them to offer their lives?!
Ye Mu was startled and hastily said, “Esteemed imperial concubine, could there be a mistake somewhere? I am my father’s most beloved daughter, not an ordinary concubine-born daughter!”
Could it be that they were not afraid of Ye Li and dared to wantonly harm her life?
“You really think he doesn’t know?”
She narrowed her eyes and sized up Ye Mu like a poisonous snake, “I originally thought that Ye Li regarded you highly and didn’t hesitate to make an enemy out of the Prime Minister’s Estate for your sake. Unexpectedly, as long as His Majesty asks for it, he will offer it up with both hands. You can only blame yourself for offending my Prime Minister’s estate!”
The gloomier her smile was, the more the girl beside Ye Mu trembled. Then…she had been sold by Ye Li?
Why?!
***
Meanwhile, inside the genera’s manor, Ye Li was looking at the youth before him in shock, “You actually came back alive? Moreover, you are not a mute?!”
That piece of flesh…Ye Mu was lying to me again!
“I may not be a mute as you initially believed, but I’ve always been working faithfully for you. Now that I’ve helped you get the map; how would you treat Ye Mu?”
Ye Li’s expression changed a few times as he said furiously, “Ye Mu lied to me! I don’t know who she is, but she tricked me into thinking that the emperor was in critical danger. But the emperor is fine and I almost got exposed!”
This was also the reason for his newfound loathing. He had never trusted anyone as much as he trusted Ye Mu. However, it was only the day before yesterday when the Emperor had secretly summoned him that he found out that the Emperor was completely fine and in good health! It was laughable that he had thought that the Emperor was about to die. After so many consecutive deployments, he had almost decided to take action. In the end, it was clearly all a sham!
“She didn’t lie to you!”
Mo Linyuan seized him with an arctic gaze, “The Emperor really wouldn’t be able to live for long anymore.”
“Heh, no?” Ye Li approached Mo Linyuan step by step, “Do you know that the Emperor even participated in the Second Prince’s consort selection banquet today?”
How could a spirited person die? Ye Li couldn’t still believe the youth’s words.
Mo Linyuan didn’t bother with him and quickly said, “Cold Food Powder has the ability to strengthen the male body, cure impotence, and after adding some rare herbs, it has the miraculous effect of reviving a dying person! However, that is only temporary. Healthy people who take it for a long period of time get sick within a few years, let alone those who are already sick.”
Ye Li was unpredictably shocked when he heard this! “You—you mean, the Emperor took some medicine that’s why…”
“That’s right! If you consume this kind of enhanced Cold Food Powder, it will excite you so much, making your body turn hot and dry and your sense of touch extremely sensitive. You will need to ingest the cold food together with warm wine, take off your clothes and sweat to fully spread the effects of this medicinal power—I think you have already seen the Emperor. Think about it, does his symptoms not match the ones I mentioned?!”
Ye Li’s heart thumped when he recalled the time when he was summoned by the Emperor and saw his appearance. So, so…it wasn’t Ye Mu who had lied to him, but the emperor was only clandestinely consuming a secret medicine?
Then…wasn’t he blaming the wrong person?
Mo Linyuan heatedly replied, “It looks like you already understand. Besides, I’m right, am I not? You were wrong about her—I want you to save Mu’er right now!”
“It’s too late…” Ye Li muttered to himself, “The Emperor wants a girl and despises slaves. She’s already been in the palace for half a day, I’m afraid—”
“I don’t care! Now, bring me to the palace. Otherwise, I guarantee that you won’t be able to obtain this forbidden map of the Imperial Guard!”
“You…you dare to threaten me? ” Ye Li stared at Mo Linyuan and said, “You lied to me. You’re not a mute. And you still dare to threaten me now—you really have the iron guts!”
With the sound of a paper being torn in half, the map almost halved in front of Ye Li’s eyes. At that moment, Ye Li’s expression became extremely dangerous. “Stop!”
Behind the map were Mo Linyuan’s serious eyes. “I want you to bring me to the palace now!”
***
“Someone come! Send them in to serve His Majesty!” Consort Rou raised her voice and laughed.
Ye Mu took a step back. “No, I’m not going!”
“Heh, once you enter the palace, the decision will no longer be up to you!” She continued, “Your Majesty needs someone to vent his rage once he takes the medicine. Quick, send them in, don’t waste time!”
At her command, the guards immediately came to arrest her. Ye Mu was surprised and hurriedly dodged! Fortunately, she still had some skill, so she was able to nimbly evade the guards hot on her trail. But seeing that she was hard to grab, more and more people began to surround her.
But what was more pressing is that other girl had already been captured!
Just then, a restless voice sounded from inside the veiled pavilion, “Hot…this Emperor feels feverish!” When she heard this disoriented voice, Consort Rou panicked a little. “Quick, quickly send her in!” When the guard saw that Ye Mu was hard to catch, he first brought the little girl urgently inside the pavilion, but before he could get close, the emperor had rushed out. His hair was in disarray and his face was flushed red.
The moment he saw the little girl, the emperor’s eyes lit up and without saying a word, he hurried over. The little girl was scared silly and did not know how to escape from the guard’s strong grip.
The girl cried out miserably. And when Ye Mu saw this scene, he suddenly understood how those two princesses died!
The girl was shouting and screaming in agony. She couldn’t break free no matter how she tried and the more she struggled, the more blood she bled. At this rate, she would undoubtedly die!
The emperor bit her so hard that his entire body was covered in her blood. The surrounding guards did not expect to see such a crazy scene, and they all stopped in their tracks with varying expressions. Ye Mu took this opportunity to smash a person’s head who had been protecting the emperor and rushed forward to push him away!
The emperor fell brusquely to the ground, and the girl that he had caught tripped over. At this moment, her clothes had been torn to pieces and the remaining clothing covering her was covered in dark bloodstains.
Ye Mu’s heart turned cold as she quickly dragged her to the side.
Consort Rou came back to her senses and when she saw the emperor sit up on the grass, she backed off in fright. “If you can’t even catch the two girls, do you want to be sent to His Majesty instead?!”
When Ye Mu heard Consort Rou’s command, a trace of killing intent flashed past her eyes. She had given her all to escape by all means possible, yet the enemy was still unrelenting on stepping on her every step of the way.
Did she really think she was so easy to bully?
Just as everyone was closing in on Ye Mu, Ye Mu used all her remaining inner strength to rush towards Consort Rou!
One of the guards noticed her intention and immediately wanted to stop her, but at that moment, she was in high concentration and her body’s intuition and strength seemed to have doubled; her opponent’s concentrated attacks appeared in slow motion in her eyes.
Although her back and wrists were still hit by the attack, relying on her strange movement technique, she was able to break through the layers of defense and arrive in front of Consort Rou!
Her figure was faster than ghosts!
Consort Rou jumped in fright and wanted to run away, but she stepped on her skirt, her legs twisting as she stumbled to the ground. This happened to be convenient for Ye Mu—otherwise, with Consort Rou’s height, she really wouldn’t be able to hold her down.
“All of you, stop!” The sharp hairpin Ye Mu had on her topknot was pressed closely against Consort Rou’s neck, and the guards looked at each other in apprehension. Sure enough, they instantly came to a halt.
Consort Rou didn’t expect Ye Mu to know martial arts and have exceptional ability, thus she was struck with panic! However, before she could say anything, the emperor had already staggered to his feet.
“Hot…so hot, this Emperor feels so hot!”
Because the girl from before was crying loudly, the emperor was attracted with her wailing voice and walked with unsteady steps towards her while holding his head in confusion.
Ye Mu suddenly shouted, “Your Majesty, you’ve found the wrong person!”
The emperor’s murky red eyes looked over and landed on Consort Rou’s body, making the hair on her entire body stand on edge. She wanted to run away, but Ye Mu’s hairpin held her back! The other side of the hairpin had been sharpened to an exceptionally sharp point by Ye Mu.
With a slight move of her hand, a fresh wound appeared on Consort Rou’s neck.
“Your Majesty, this is your woman!”
“No…no! Quick, quick! Protect the emperor! Protect the emperor!” When Consort Rou heard this, she covered her wound and screamed in fear. She was still pregnant and could not endure the madness of the emperor! However, the surrounding guards didn’t dare to approach because they were afraid of Ye Mu holding Consort Rou hostage. After all, Consort Rou was still very favored by the emperor, and when the emperor saw the blood flowing from her body, he was obviously provoked.
“Women…I want a woman! ”
His incoming approach scared her out of her wits, causing Consort Rou’s soul to immediately cry out, begging Ye Mu, “Don’t No! Please! I beg of you—let me go! I still have a child in my womb!”
Ye Mu didn’t even move her hand that was holding her neck. And only an unsympathetic gaze was pinned on her.
“When you placed the other girls in the hands of the beast, did you even remember that they were children?”
With that, the emperor pounced towards Consort Rou with a lewd smile. Ye Mu hurriedly took a few steps back, while Consort Rou was caught by the emperor.
Consort Rou screamed, punched and kicked everywhere like she had become a crazy person, begging for help with a flustered look on her face, “Hurry and save me…quickly, someone save me!”
However, the surrounding guards were all hesitant because they were all people of the Emperor’s family. Therefore, they only listened to the Emperor and respected his wishes more. At this moment, the emperor obviously wanted to…do it with his beloved imperial concubine.
Why should they interfere?
Only Ye Mu stood to the side, gasping for breath. Her hairpin was still dripping blood, and her chest was heaving violently.
Regardless of whether or not Consort Rou would die in the hands of the Emperor in the end, she had seen the Emperor go crazy and now knew the truth about the deaths of the noble ladies that recently entered the palace.
And because there was no one to stop the emperor, before long, Consort Rou’s clothes were also torn apart, and an ear-piercing wail echoed throughout the garden.
She didn’t expect that she would one day lift a rock and smash her own foot by feeding the Emperor the medicine and finding a girl to vent the aftereffects of the medicine! These Imperial Guards all served the emperor, and it was an established fact that in every situation they only placed the emperor’s best interest at heart…
Could it be that she was going to die here today?!
But when she thought of her child and her future plans, Rou did not know where she got the strength to push the emperor away, but before she had run far enough the emperor had caught her again, and she fell once more to the ground.
Not far away from Ye Mu’s figure.
At this moment, Ye Mu’s expression was very complex. The child inside her womb was innocent, but the child’s mother had almost wanted to kill her.
“Save me…please, save me!” Right now, Consort Rou couldn’t care about anything else. Since the Imperial Guards hadn’t moved to save her, she could only futilely seek help from Ye Mu.
And in order to stimulate Ye Mu’s compassion, her eyes filled with tears, she kept saying, “My stomach—I still have a child in my stomach…he is innocent!”
Seeing that Ye Mu hesitated, Rou felt there was still a little bit of hope left and her fingers moved forward to grab onto her skirt. Ye Mu looked down at her from above and then towards the crazed emperor. Finally, just as Consort Rou’s hand was about to reach her skirt, Ye Mu squatted down and placed the hairpin in her hand inside Consort Rou’s palm.
Consort Rou held onto the hairpin and raised her head abruptly to look at Ye Mu. She felt that the girl before her had a pair of clear eyes that were as cold as ice.
“Pain can help a person wake up quickly if they had taken too much medicine. You can stab him in the shoulder, or even in the heart.”
The low, hasty words of the young girl was clearly heard by Rou. She was lying on the ground in a sorry state as the Emperor tore at her clothes like a madman.
With the hairpin in her hand clung in a strong grip, a sharp light passed through her eyes.