In the carriage returning to the palace, the young lady leaned against the emperor’s shoulder: “It must have been hard on you. Leaving the palace in broad daylight, I’m afraid you didn’t escape the chief minister’s nagging, did you?”

Yan Zheng raised his sword-like eyebrows: “So what if they nag? I am here on official business.”

Chu Ruoyan chuckled softly. Yan Zheng called out to Meng Yang, and the miserable-looking commander of the imperial guards said, “Your Grace, the Emperor really is here on official business. He inspected the capital’s defenses, took a tour of the Wardens’ Office of the Five Wards, and oh, he also selected a dozen elite fighters from the imperial guards to follow Duke Chu… Lord Chu all the way to protect him, just in case Yun Zihao strikes again.”

Chu Ruoyan was startled: “You are so thoughtful. Yun Zihao hasn’t made a move lately, I almost forgot about him!”

It should be known that when her father and the others entered the capital, they were ambushed, and Lady Jiang the Younger was severely injured because of it.

Yan Zheng raised his hand to stroke her hair: “It was my fault for forgetting to tell you. The rumors about the empress’s relatives interfering in politics were spread by him.”

Chu Ruoyan paused, pinching her forehead with a headache: “Do you think this cousin of mine is really that obsessed with restoring his nation? The Yun family was destroyed decades ago, and the Murong family has already changed emperors twice, yet he still hasn’t given up.”

“If it were just restoring the nation, I could agree to it. Have you forgotten? The era name for the new dynasty still hasn’t been decided.”

Yan Zheng said this casually, but Chu Ruoyan’s eyes widened: “You don’t mean to…”

“Yes, for the new dynasty’s era name, I still want to use the character Sheng.”

Chu ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‍Ruoyan was so shocked she couldn’t speak. It took her a long while to find her voice: “No! My father just quelled the rumors by resigning from his post. If you do this, wouldn’t all his efforts be wasted? Besides, Yun Zihao doesn’t just want to restore the nation; he wants the Yun family back on the emperor’s throne. Can you agree to that too?”

“Who says I can’t,” Yan Zheng said, looking solemnly into her eyes. “A-Yan, if it is you who becomes the emperor, I would have absolutely no objections.”

Chu Ruoyan choked on her words, suddenly remembering how Pei Ji or some other imperial censor had scolded her, saying a hen crowing in the morning brings ruin.

Looking at it now, it seemed they weren’t entirely wrong.

Their emperor was truly willing to just give it away!

She glanced sideways at Meng Yang, hoping this subordinate would persuade his master to stop being crazy. But to her surprise, Commander Meng looked at her with burning eyes: “Your Majesty, that’s a great idea! When the time comes, Your Grace can set up an all-female imperial guard, and then this subordinate won’t have to be the commander anymore! Brilliant!”

Chu Ruoyan: “…”

Fine, she thought too highly of Meng Yang.

She poked a certain someone’s chest with her finger: “Yan Zheng, have some conscience. You want me to bear your children and also toil over state affairs for you. Don’t you think you’re going a bit too far?”

The emperor hurriedly pulled her into his arms: “I wouldn’t dare. I only wanted my wife to enjoy the power, not for you to suffer exhaustion.”

Chu Ruoyan snorted before saying, “Let’s get back to business. What about my second brother and the others? Is there still no news of them?”

Yan Zheng’s eyes darkened. He hesitated for a moment before speaking: “The Shadow just reported that someone saw your second brother near the Tianyi Restaurant a few days ago.”

Chu Ruoyan trembled all over: “Second brother is back? Why didn’t he come to see me?”

Yan Zheng held her hand and said, “A-Yan, calm down. The Shadow also said that it wasn’t just your second brother; even Yun Zihao has appeared in the capital. They were completely untraceable before, and now they’ve suddenly popped up out of nowhere. They must be planning something big.”

Chu Ruoyan frowned: “So that’s why you went to inspect the capital’s defenses and the Wardens’ Office of the Five Wards? You’re afraid Yun Zihao will cause a rebellion?”

Yan Zheng hummed in agreement, and the woman’s face grew even paler: “If that’s the case, then second brother should have come back and told us! He returned without a word and refuses to see me, could it be…”

A certain guess surfaced in her heart, and she felt a chill run down her spine.

The man’s face grew gloomier as he hugged her: “A-Yan, don’t worry. I’ve already sent the Shadow to investigate, and that master from the Western Frontier we invited has also arrived.”

Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Before they could even step inside, they heard screams coming from within, and all the palace servants swarmed out.

“Help!”

“There are snakes!”

Yan Zheng immediately stepped in front of her to shield her. Meng Yang rushed in, only to see that there were far more than just snakes inside the hall.

Red scorpions, giant centipedes, poisonous toads…

Hundreds and thousands of them, densely packed, all swarming out of the hall as if driven by some force.

Meng Yang’s scalp went numb at the sight. He viciously slashed the two closest ones with his sword and shouted, “Aunt Luo, are you crazy?”

Inside the hall, an old woman wrapped in a red robe and wearing a hood didn’t even turn her head; her withered fingers were still controlling them in mid-air.

Yan Zheng’s brows furrowed sharply: “Escort the Empress back to her palace!”

But the old woman suddenly let out a hoarse, piercing shriek: “No one is allowed to leave!”

As soon as she finished speaking, those venomous creatures went mad and swarmed toward Chu Ruoyan. The guards stepped forward to intercept them, but they couldn’t stop them at all; the creatures bypassed them and attacked Chu Ruoyan.

The woman felt a burning sensation in her stomach and couldn’t help but shout, “Stop it right now!”

A bizarre thing happened.

Those venomous creatures that were supposed to rush over all stopped in their tracks, as if they had received some kind of command.

The old woman’s ten fingers trembled even more violently.

But the venomous creatures seemed to be afraid of something; they shivered and refused to take another step forward.

Finally, the old woman’s body shuddered, and she lowered her hands.

The poisonous snakes, centipedes, and scorpions dispersed cleanly in an instant. Yan Zheng’s face was covered in frost, and the long sword in his hand radiated a chilling killing intent: “Explain!”

The old woman finally turned around and walked tremblingly toward the two of them. Thud.

She dropped to her knees just like that: “Luo of the Western Frontier greets the Little Master.”

Everyone’s eyelids twitched in unison. Chu Ruoyan blinked blankly. It took her a long while to remember that her biological mother, Lady Ji, seemed to be a princess of the Western Frontier?

“Aunt… Aunt Luo, what is the meaning of this?”

The old woman said, “The Western Frontier reveres women. The daughters of the royal family can all control Gu insects and command the five poisons. This old woman only wanted to test the Little Master’s authenticity, please forgive me.”

After saying that, she raised her left index finger and snapped it with a crack, as if to apologize.

Chu Ruoyan cried out in alarm and covered her mouth. Yan Zheng’s expression improved a bit: “You wanted to test her, so did you get your result?”

Aunt Luo respectfully bowed her head again: “Although the Little Master has never learned the secret arts of the Western Frontier, she can still command the five poisons to retreat. This is an innate instinct of her bloodline, there can be no mistake!”

Chu Ruoyan covered her forehead, feeling a throbbing pain in her temples.

These people from the Western Frontier put their lives on the line right from the start without a word, and then broke their own fingers to apologize afterwards. Were they all this ruthless?

She opened her lips to say something, but felt a bout of discomfort in her stomach, so she had to return to her palace to rest first.

She slept straight from noon until nightfall.

In her dream, she vaguely caught a glimpse of a woman in red. She was stunningly beautiful, but her expression was deeply sorrowful…

She tried hard to see more clearly, but was awakened by the tap-tap sound of approaching footsteps.

Opening her eyes and looking over, a figure with red clothes and white hair, wickedly charming and handsome—who else could it be but Yun Lang?

Chu Ruoyan was overjoyed: “Second Brother?!”

Yun Lang lifted his chin in response and carefully looked her up and down for a moment: “Not bad, you’ve gotten fatter again!”

Chu Ruoyan’s forehead twitched, but then she saw her brother suddenly lean forward. A cold light flashed in his amorous peach-blossom eyes: “I heard that Yan Zheng suspected you and stripped Chu Huaishan of his official position?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep