A moment later, Zhao Zhen rushed over with the imperial physician. “What happened to He’er?”
Luo Xu quickly had the physician examine Tang Qi, shaking her head slightly. “It should be poison. I don’t know the rest. Only Luo Ping knows the full story, except she…” Zhao Zhen stepped outside and saw Luo Ping, who had been tied up.
The ropes bit deep into her flesh, causing her immense pain. She could only wail continuously to vent the agony. The guards, annoyed by the noise, had gagged her.
Now, she was like a fish on a chopping block, twisting her body incessantly to find some comfort, constantly calling out for her System in her mind. But the System had already vanished.
When questioned, she either refused to speak or kept exclaiming in shock, “Devil!”
“Has His Majesty not arrived yet?” Zhao Zhen asked the guard behind her. The guard bowed and replied, “Someone has been sent to report at the main hall, but they have not returned.”
Zhao Zhen frowned. Her bedchamber was burned, and Tang Qi was poisoned. None of this seemed ordinary. A thought suddenly flashed through her mind, and she spun around. “Whose subordinates are the Palace Guards on duty today?”
Before the guard could answer, shouts of killing erupted from all sides. Flames ignited simultaneously around the Imperial Palace, their soaring heat illuminating the entire palace as if it were daylight.
The two words “palace coup” appeared in Zhao Zhen’s mind. Her face paled, and she turned back into the room. Luo Xu was still watching over Tang Qi.
Zhao Zhen spoke rapidly, “Xu’er, Zhao Chengfeng is staging a coup. The situation is unclear; we need to move.”
Luo Xu blinked, quickly grasping the problem. They didn’t know how many men Zhao Chengfeng had. They currently had barely a dozen people under their command, including several palace maids with no combat ability.
Such numbers were practically useless for self-preservation in a coup, not to mention that some among these few might have been bribed by Zhao Chengfeng or Luo Ping.
“Mother, let’s leave through the back door.” Luo Xu made a swift decision. “To the Cold Palace.”
This courtyard had a small back door. Walking for a while would lead them to the Cold Palace. That gloomy, terrifying place wouldn’t attract many people. Zhao Zhen understood Luo Xu’s reasoning. Luo Xu removed a door panel for two guards to carry Tang Qi, and they led the group away hastily.
They left the immobile Luo Ping behind.
Not long after they left, a squad of Imperial Guards indeed arrived. Unable to find Tang Qi and Luo Xu, they had no choice but to take the stark-naked Luo Ping back with them.
Luo Xu and the others quickly made their way to the Cold Palace. It had long been abandoned, carrying an indescribable gloom, as if the boundless moonlight couldn’t even reach here.
Even the warm summer breeze turned chilly and gloomy when it blew through this place.
They quietly hid in a room, listening intently to the sounds outside.
“Imperial Brother has experts protecting him. But the Imperial Guards, not the Palace Guards, are on duty today. Zhao Chengfeng spent some time training with the Imperial Guards before and likely bribed many of them,” Zhao Zhen analyzed calmly. “About fifteen hundred men are on duty daily. If he bribed them all, things will be difficult.”
Luo Xu remained silent. Zhao Zhen paced in the room. Seeing that Tang Qi still wasn’t waking, anxiety gnawed at her. If Tang Qi were awake, she might have a solution.
Inside Tang Qi’s mind at that moment, the System was shouting frantically.
The instant Tang Qi was in danger, it had sensed it, but its orders prioritized protecting Luo Xu. It hadn’t anticipated a major problem, but when Luo Xu took that problematic path, it detected the aura of one of its own kind—a deeply hidden aura of a similar entity.
Although it was a kindred spirit, its role was different from its own “stabilization” duty: a “destruction” aura.
As a high-level System that had worked for millions of years, it easily captured the other and imprisoned it. However, it couldn’t wake Tang Qi no matter what. Without Tang Qi’s command, it had no authority to use items.
“Host, if you don’t wake up, Luoluo will cry herself to death. Host, if you don’t get up, Luoluo is going to remarry!” The System hopped anxiously.
“Host, you’re so stupid. You fainted from this kind of bewildering incense? Can’t you do anything without me?” The System muttered, scratching its ears and cheeks in frustration, hating that it couldn’t get up and slap Tang Qi awake.
It could sense the outside movements and knew Luo Xu’s group had reached the relatively safe Cold Palace. Worried, it ran out again to check on Zhao Yi’s situation.
As Zhao Zhen had said, Zhao Chengfeng’s biggest asset in this coup was the Imperial Guards. He had bribed roughly a thousand of them to guard key routes and blockade the Emperor’s bedchamber.
Zhao Chengfeng’s thousand men and the experts around Zhao Yi had reached a strange stalemate. Zhao Chengfeng couldn’t enter, and Zhao Yi’s men couldn’t get out. Even with thousands of troops outside, Zhao Yi was currently helpless.
When the System arrived, Zhao Chengfeng was pressuring Zhao Yi to abdicate. He had also captured many ministers, using their lives to threaten Zhao Yi.
The System had seen this drama countless times before and found it unremarkable, until Luo Ping was brought to the Emperor’s bedchamber.
Seeing Luo Ping covered in blood and her body exposed to so many, Zhao Chengfeng was utterly disgusted. When he heard from Luo Ping that Tang Qi was poisoned, he finally smiled and even sent many men out to search for Tang Qi.
He intended to use Tang Qi to threaten Zhao Yi.
As for Luo Ping, Zhao Chengfeng tossed her to the Luo Huaimin couple. The sight of Luo Ping in such a state broke their hearts, but hearing that she had poisoned Tang Qi terrified them.
The System shook its head. This couple still didn’t know that their real daughter had been killed long ago by wandering ghosts, and they had genuinely doted on this impostor for so many years.
It followed the search party, watching them draw closer to the Cold Palace, its worry mounting.
Inside the Cold Palace, Luo Xu held Tang Qi, letting her lean against her body. She continuously rubbed Tang Qi’s hands, trying to warm her up. Zhao Zhen, previously agitated, calmed down at this sight. Ignoring the dust covering the floor, she crouched before Luo Xu, her gaze shifting between the two. “You two are very close?”
Luo Xu nodded. “Little Seven said we were lovers in a past life.”
Zhao Zhen chuckled wryly. “So many men and women can’t make it to the end. Are you two certain you can walk this path forever?” She didn’t think highly of them. How many resentful couples started with deep sincerity and undying devotion? What happened in the end?
“It’s better than giving up from the start. Without trying, how do you know you can’t walk it?” Luo Xu lowered her eyes. “Meeting someone you like, and who likes you back, isn’t easy in a lifetime.”
“Aren’t you afraid others will look at you strangely?” Zhao Zhen asked again.
“Afraid, of course, I’m afraid! But compared to that fear, losing her is more terrifying.” Luo Xu smiled slightly. “When I first arrived at the Barren Mountain, I was afraid every day. Afraid Tang Qi would drive me away, afraid of dying, afraid of being disfigured or crippled. But even if you’re afraid, you have to face it.”
The one thing she wasn’t afraid of now was her feelings for Tang Qi. Without knowing when it started, it had become as intense and rich as aged wine. She believed she could love Tang Qi for a lifetime.
Similarly, she also believed Tang Qi could love her for a lifetime.
Zhao Zhen was noncommittal. She wanted to say more when the guard at the door suddenly spoke with terror, “Someone’s coming.” The palace maids were even more frightened, trembling and huddled together, not daring to make a sound.
Many Imperial Guards entered the Cold Palace, a rough count of about thirty men. They searched everywhere, on the verge of finding the room they were in.
The guards drew their blades. Several crept closer to the door.
Zhao Zhen and the others’ hearts leaped into their throats. Luo Xu, however, was calm and unhurried. Holding Tang Qi, she secretly handed a hidden weapon to Zhao Zhen, lowering her voice. “Mother, press hard if there’s danger.” She also took a hidden weapon for herself.
The Imperial Guards knew this matter was of grave importance and searched meticulously. After a few steps, one of them suddenly shouted, “There are footprints here!”
Before the words ended, a guard launched a sudden attack, flying out of the room and slashing at the Imperial Guards. The other guards also rushed forward, while the remaining few protected Zhao Zhen and the others as they retreated.
These guards were all experts. Though outnumbered three to one, they stubbornly stalled the enemy. Just as Zhao Zhen and Luo Xu were about to reach the entrance of the Cold Palace, one of the guards beside them suddenly turned his blade, drawing his sword and placing it at their necks.
“Stop, or I’ll…” Before he could finish his sentence, a slender silver needle had already pierced his chest, and he collapsed in an instant. All this happened in a flash. Luo Xu put away her hidden weapon. “Go!”
But it was too late.
The Imperial Guards outside, hearing the commotion, arrived in a force of a full hundred men and surrounded them.
The guards retreated, forming a protective circle around the three. Zhao Zhen stood before Luo Xu. “How dare you! This Palace is Grand Princess Anyang! How dare you pests act so brazenly?”
Her imposing aura momentarily cowed the Imperial Guards. The Imperial Guard Commander cupped his fists and bowed. “Your Highness, the Prince of Leisure requests Your Highness’s presence for a talk. Please, come with us.”
“What Prince of Leisure? A bastard dares to covet the throne.” Zhao Zhen sneered. “My Imperial Brother cultivated you, and yet you help a bastard rebel.”
The Imperial Guards looked at each other. They had heard rumors of the blood test for kinship. Could it be true?
For a moment, quite a few Imperial Guards hesitated and wavered.
The commander looked at Zhao Zhen awkwardly, wanting to act forcefully but still harboring an innate fear of the royal family. After hesitating, he said, “Please don’t make this difficult for your subordinate, Your Highness.”
Zhao Zhen’s heart went cold, but she didn’t dare show a hint of it.
The System was beside itself with worry. Luo Xu was also extremely anxious; her hidden weapon was useless at this moment. She protected Tang Qi, her mind racing for an escape plan, but faced with so many Imperial Guards, she was at a loss.
“Host, if you don’t wake up, Luoluo will be in danger.”
The System mumbled, mentally preparing itself. Tang Qi had given it emergency contingency rights; it could temporarily transform into a fierce beast to protect Luo Xu.
But perhaps this statement triggered some switch in Tang Qi’s heart. Tang Qi stirred and slowly opened her eyes.
“System, expel the toxin.” Tang Qi’s voice overjoyed the System. It quickly replied, “Expelling toxin. Cost: 100 Points.”
At this moment, the Imperial Guards, no longer caring, were about to act forcefully. Luo Xu retreated a few steps, shielding Tang Qi in her arms. Just as she moved, the weight in her arms suddenly vanished.
The person she had been supporting suddenly stood up straight and slowly drew the soft sword from her waist, shielding Luo Xu and Zhao Zhen behind her. Facing the lead guard, she spoke, “Who do you intend to take Gu to see?”
