Yuán Méng Dié fell deeply in love with the feeling of having great power, just like her father, and she couldn't help herself. She looked forward to becoming a princess one day. After learning about her father's thoughts, she listed several names of former ministers who had participated in her affairs. The prime minister took a look and found that some of them were indeed tough nuts to crack, so he nodded in agreement.

  The next day, the five ministers' memorial enraged the emperor, who was furious and ordered the execution of the five men. Still not appeased, he further ordered the extermination of their entire families. This incident shocked the entire capital city. At the same time, a bandit uprising broke out in Jiangnan, with the bandits claiming that the current ruler was cruel and disregarded human life, making him unfit to be emperor.

  The prime minister learned of the news and sent troops to suppress the bandits, but they were repeatedly defeated. The bandits gathered more and more, occupying three cities from south to north in Jiangnan. The whole court was filled with voices calling for punishment, but no matter who the prime minister sent, they all ended in failure, causing people's hearts to be disturbed.

  Chu Lian seemed to know that all these were the prime minister's tricks, and Xi Yang had not yet arrived in the capital, nor was it time for her to take action, so she continued to rest in the palace, probing into various movements.

  Xu Rong's body was getting worse and worse, with less than three hours of wakefulness every day. Li Gonggong was secretly anxious and had come to the evening palace several times to ask Chu Lianruo when she would take action. Chu Lianruo used the strict guard of the palace guards as an excuse, and Li Gonggong could do nothing about it.

  On this day, Yuan Mengdie sent medicine to Chu Lianruo with Li Gonggong. Li Gonggong brought one of his trusted palace maids and arrived at Xiyang Palace again.

  After entering the palace, Li Gonggong expressed his own plan and let Chu Lianruo disguise herself as a palace maid to leave the palace.

  Chu Lianruo learned that Xuyang would arrive in the capital the next day, so she exchanged clothes with this palace maid. Fortunately, the poison given to Chu Lianruo by Yuan Mengdie was not lethal, but a kind of soft muscle relaxant. Yuan Mengdie planned to give Chu Lianruo a few days' worth of medicine to trap her, and after Xuyang's death, let Chu Lianruo hang herself.

  The whole thing was handed over to Li Gonggong, and the guards outside the palace didn't pay much attention to the palace maid beside Li Gonggong, they just let her go without asking anything.

  Chu Lianruo followed Li Gonggong with her head down, and the two of them arrived at a secluded garden. Li Gonggong pressed something like a mechanism under a clump of trees, and a cave entrance slowly appeared beneath the trees. Chu Lianruo looked at Li Gonggong in surprise.

  "Your Highness, this secret passage has been passed down since the previous dynasty. Currently, only you, me, and His Majesty know about it. The exit is located in a remote area of the capital, and the entrance is a civilian residence. However, please be assured that the residence has been empty all along. His Majesty wishes for your safe journey, and I hope you can return to the palace soon." Li Gonggong sincerely looked at Chu Lianruo, privately hoping that His Majesty would summon him, as this was a great merit. But he just thought about it and let it go.

  "Prince Li, please be at ease. I will definitely return early. Please take care of the Emperor for me and tell him that I will bring troops back to rescue him." After finishing speaking, Chu Lianruo walked down into the tunnel. Seeing her leave, Prince Li quickly covered up the entrance and left the garden, looking around cautiously before heading to Xū Róng's place to report.

  Chu Lianruo walked along the path after entering the secret passage, which had not been used for a long time. The dust inside was very thick, and the entire passage was filled with a strange smell. At this time, Chu Lianruo also knew it wasn't the time to be sentimental, so she could only cover her nose and quickly rush through the passage.

  It wasn't until she finally emerged from the secret passage that Chulian realized she had no idea where she was. The residential area was indeed remote, with no one in sight. Fortunately, the house was relatively clean inside, and there were many clothes in the cabinet. Chulian found a simpler-looking women's outfit to change out of her palace maid attire. As the sky gradually darkened, Chulian began to get anxious.

  At this time, a faint voice came from outside, Chu Lianruo hastily walked out of the house. Two hunters were walking in the distance, and when they saw Chu Lianruo coming out of the house, they found it very strange. This house had been vacant for many years, although some people had entered and exited, but they had never seen this woman before.

  "Two big brothers, I'd like to ask which direction is the way to Beijing? This young woman followed her brother here as a guest, and when she just returned from strolling outside, she found that her brother and the host were nowhere to be seen, leaving only a note saying they had left in a hurry." As the two men approached, Chu Lian bowed slightly and asked them about the route to Beijing.

  "A careless brother, how can he let his sister travel alone? We two are going to Beijing to sell some hunting goods, it's not safe for a girl to travel alone. Why don't you come with us?" said one of the older hunters. He thought that although this place is close to Beijing, there are no people around, how could they let a woman be alone here? He secretly suspected but didn't say anything. Chu Lian thought about it and thought it was better to travel with the two men, so she wouldn't run into any trouble on the road, so she nodded her head, and the three of them headed towards Beijing together."

  After walking for more than an hour, she finally saw the capital city. Chu Lianruo was also a pampered and spoiled person, and today she had walked so far that she was already exhausted, with blisters on her feet. She endured it all, and after parting ways with the two hunters in the city, she asked passersby for directions to the Wang Mansion, and then hurriedly made her way there without delay.

  The distant palace gate guard saw Chu Lian Ruo, and at first thought it was his own eyes playing tricks on him. Upon closer inspection, it really was the Consort Wang. However, wasn't the Consort Wang already deceased? The astonished gate guard hastily reported to Wei Qu in the palace. Before leaving, Xi Yang had instructed that any major events within the palace must be reported to Wei Qu, and only then did he feel at ease leaving the palace under Wei Qu's management.

  Wei Qu received the message and told the gatekeeper to bring Chu Lianruo into the study of the Wang Fu, hinting that this matter must not be known by anyone. The gatekeeper was puzzled but also knew that he should nod in agreement and retreat at this time.

  "The princess has something to tell you, and it's okay to inform her without putting herself in danger. The king will arrive in the capital early tomorrow morning." Wei Qu was extremely opposed to Chu Lian risking her safety by sneaking out of the palace. He knew that the king cared deeply for the queen, and if anything happened to her, he would not be able to bear the consequences.

  "There's nothing to worry about, I'm leaving the palace this time because of a secret order from the Emperor. The King will also arrive in the capital soon, and I must discuss important matters with him." Chu Lian said calmly, the current situation in the palace is not good, let alone, it was the Emperor who ordered Li Gonggong to do so. With her understanding of Xū Róng, even in such a situation, he would not be without any means.

  At this time, she was exhausted from her long journey, her clothes were slightly wrinkled, and the embroidered shoes on her feet had also been stained with blood. Wei Qu saw Chu Lianruo's fatigue and sent someone to send a message to the palace to see what had happened, then called several trusted maidservants to arrange for Chu Lianruo to go down and rest after washing up.

  Chu Lianruo also knew that her current appearance was quite disheveled, so she took her maid and left the study, soaking in the warm spring water of the bathing pool until drowsiness overcame her, her consciousness becoming increasingly blurred. She knew she should get up and rest on the bed, but she had no strength to move, and gradually, Chu Lianruo fell asleep by the side of the pool, feeling more at ease in the Wang estate than in the imperial palace.

  Wei Qu was organizing the latest intelligence in the study, planning to report to him after Xi Yang arrived at the Wang Fu early tomorrow morning. Suddenly, the door of the study was pushed open, and Wei Qu became furious. In the Wang Fu, this study was a forbidden place, who would be so bold? He raised his head and saw Xi Yang standing in the doorway.

  "Wei Qu, you've been working hard lately." Xū Yáng smiled slightly, his somewhat gaunt cheeks making his features appear more deep-set. Wei Qu was taken aback for a moment when he saw Xū Yáng, and stared blankly at him without reacting.

  "What? Not seen for several months and the king's most favored male concubine doesn't even recognize the king?" Xú Yáng said with a different tone, and Wèi Qū finally had a reaction.

  It must be said that the past few months have been the most stressful time for Wei Qu. He had to comfort those below him, plan big things, gather information from all sides, and worry about Chu Lian's situation in the palace. He sent people to find out news of Wang Ye, and various things made Wei Qu feel like he couldn't breathe. What kept Wei Qu going during his most desperate times was his faith that Xuyang was still alive. If Xuyang had really been harmed, Wei Qu didn't know if he and Chu Lian would collapse.

  "Your Highness, you... have finally returned." Wei Qu's voice was choked with emotion, and her eyes were slightly teary. Xi Yang knew that Wei Qu must have been going through a tough time lately, and he felt deeply apologetic. Just then, he heard Wei Qu mention that Chu Lian Ruo was inside the palace, which made Xi Yang extremely excited. He took a look at his own disheveled appearance and decided to leave the study to clean up a bit.

  The hot spring pool was located in a separate courtyard, and normally only Xuyang could come here to take a bath. When Xuyang took a bath, she didn't like the maidservants to be close by, so except when the hot spring pool needed to be cleaned, no one would approach. As Xuyang walked closer, she vaguely saw someone inside, and at first thought it was some bold maidservant, but as she got closer, it turned out to be Chulianruo.

  She was seen leaning against the edge of the pool, her raven-black hair revealing half of her delicate, rosy face. Her wet, dark locks cascaded down her back, and her body appeared and disappeared in the misty warmth of the hot spring. Perhaps the water was a bit too hot, for her skin had taken on an enticing pink hue. Xi Yang's heart burned with desire as he gazed at her, longing to approach and alleviate his lovesick sorrow. Yet, fearing that the beauty might awaken and be overcome with shame and anger, Xi Yang reluctantly turned away from the pool, instructing two maidservants to attend to Chu Lian in case she stirred. Although the hot spring water was delightful, prolonged soaking could also harm her.

  Chu Lian got up and returned to her room after being woken up by the maid, the garden where she used to live was still kept in its original state, she lay on the bed but couldn't fall asleep, at this time Chu Lian didn't know that Xū Yáng had returned to the mansion, it wasn't until midnight that she fell into a daze and fell asleep.

  The next day, before dawn, Chu Lianruo woke up leisurely and didn't know if Xie Yang had arrived in the capital. Just as she got up to wash her face, a maid came to report that the king asked her to move to the study room.

  Chu Lian, upon learning that Xu Yang had arrived at the mansion, finished her toilette and hurried to the study without having breakfast. As soon as she entered the study, she saw Xu Yang discussing matters with Wei Qu. Unbeknownst to her, he must have suffered a great deal in the border town, for he looked much thinner, his skin tone was darker than before, and he seemed even more masculine.

  Today, Xū Yáng's body was dressed in a black robe, looking extremely stable, with an air of majesty around him, more and more like a superior person. Just as Chǔ Lián Ruò was sizing up Xū Yáng, Xū Yáng was also looking at Chǔ Lián Ruò, she was still so beautiful and unmatched, no matter what kind of skirt she wore, she always had a special temperament. I don't know if Xū Yáng thought of the beauty of last night, his face turned slightly red, fortunately, Xū Yáng's skin tone was relatively dark, so it couldn't be seen clearly.

  Wei Qu saw the two of them staring at each other in silence, and tactfully excused himself. His departure also dispersed the ambiguous atmosphere surrounding the two, and Chu Lian Ruo's face turned red with shyness as she stopped looking at Xū Yáng.

  "Lotus Ruo, I've been worried about you lately. Wei Qu has told me everything." Xū Yáng's words were filled with deep affection as he looked at Chǔ Lián Ruò, and upon learning of her anxiety after his disappearance, his heart felt exceptionally sweet. Lotus Ruo had him in her heart; it was just that major events were still unfolding, but once the situation was settled, he would definitely think of a way to have Lotus Ruo stay by his side together to gaze at the picturesque landscape.

  "Your Highness, the Emperor's body is getting weaker and weaker, and he is only awake for less than three hours a day. Yesterday, Lee Gonggong brought me a secret decree to lead the troops with the Tiger Symbol outside the capital to rescue the throne. However, with my own power alone, this task is indeed difficult." Chu Lian avoided the implication of Xu Yang's words and directly spoke about leaving the palace, and Xu Yang also knew that it was not the time for romantic feelings.

  Both of them are well aware that Xi Jinping has been able to stay in power for so many years, and his tactics go far beyond this.

  Although this tiger tally is now in Chu Lian Ruo's hands, once it leaves the city, there will be arrangements made by his trusted subordinates. Therefore, at this time, one must not be careless.

  (

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