"Where is the Emperor? I must see him." The Empress called out toward the window, knowing the Emperor would have left Secret Guards to watch her.
Suddenly, a Secret Guard dressed in black appeared outside.
He bowed respectfully and said, "Replying to Your Majesty, the Emperor has left the palace himself to capture assassins. Before leaving, he instructed that Your Majesty need not worry. Although Princess Anyang has been placed in the dark dungeon, the Emperor has given strict orders to take good care of her. By tomorrow morning at the latest, the Princess will be released, and this so-called rebellion will be put to rest."
"No matter what he is plotting, he should not have dragged Yuer into this and thrown her into the dark dungeon."
A fierce and unignorable wrath and dignity blazed in the Empress's eyes. "Tell the Emperor that I want to see Yuer right now. If Yuer has suffered even the slightest injury, I will make the entire Ji clan pay with their lives!"
The Secret Guard's pupils dilated in shock. "Your subordinate will go find the Emperor at once."
"Your... Your Majesty... You must hold on!"
Nanny Qin's eyes were red-rimmed. "Who knows how long it will take the Secret Guard to make a round trip? To the outside world, you have been cast into the Cold Palace, and this old servant cannot enter the dark dungeon to see the Princess. What are we to do?"
Feng Wan clenched her hands into fists, her entire body trembling.
No wonder he had allowed her to move into the Cold Palace in advance, leaving only Nanny Qin to wait on her, with the entire Cold Palace guarded by the Imperial Guard and completely isolated from the outside world.
It turned out he was afraid she would catch wind of his plans and stop him from using Yuer.
The pain of her fingernails digging into her palms helped clear her mind.
A piercing, ruthless cold light flashed across the corners of her eyes, as unfamiliar and deadly as a dagger.
"Send word to the Prime Minister's estate. I want to see Xie Yizhou, right now."
"This old servant is going at once."
***
When Xie Jiuli arrived at the Cold Palace, apart from the Imperial Guard stationed at the perimeter, the desolate Cold Palace held only the Empress.
She was still standing quietly by the window, except that her dim phoenix eyes were now filled with absolute resolve and a murderous aura.
"You've come sooner than I thought..."
The Empress turned around, the word "fast" still unsaid before she froze completely.
"...Lier... Lier."
She hurried over, pulling Xie Jiuli into her grip. Her eyes held not only disbelief but also deep worry. "Why did you suddenly return at a time like this? ...Could it be that you know—"
"I know everything."
Wearing her mask, Xie Jiuli had not expected the Empress to recognize her at a single glance.
In the past, the original owner would return to the Capital almost every year in private to see the Empress and her younger sister, Jiuyue.
Though she herself had visited the Capital during the five years since her transmigration into this soul, she had never truly met them face-to-face.
Everything she knew about the Empress and Princess Anyang Ji Jiuyue came entirely from the original owner's memories.
"Where is Divine Doctor Xue? Listen to your mother, Lier, and leave the Capital with Divine Doctor Xue to return to Phoenix Valley as soon as possible."
Xie Jiuli did not dwell on the fact that the Empress called herself "Mother" to the original owner and "Empress Mother" to Princess Anyang.
She stared at the Empress for a long while, making sure she had not been broken or left in despair by the so-called rebellion and her banishment to the Cold Palace.
Hesitating for a moment, she said, "I will take my sister and you away from the palace and out of the Capital. I can guarantee it will be foolproof. Will you come with me, Mother?"
The Empress shook her order. "The Emperor pulled this stunt to flush out the mastermind behind the assassination and to purge political dissidents. He is using Yuer, and I must settle accounts with him, but you should not be dragged into this. Leave quickly."
With that, she began pushing Xie Jiuli toward the exit.
"Aren't you curious why I used to come to the Capital to stay for a short while every year, but never once in the past five years?"
The Empress stopped dead in her tracks. "Did something major happen?"
"Phoenix Valley was wiped out five years ago, and Aunt is nowhere to be found."
Xie Jiuli's sudden words made the Empress's head spin. Although her daughter hadn't returned once in the past five years, they had exchanged letters every year, so she had suspected nothing.
Thinking of the Emperor's sudden abnormalities, countless possibilities flashed through her mind.
Instantly, she stopped asking about Phoenix Valley and didn't mention Divine Doctor Xue at all.
Instead, her tone grew even firmer. "Leave the Capital and return to the Jiuli Tribe as soon as possible. Wait for my news."
"Does Mother know who is behind the destruction of Phoenix Valley?"
Xie Jiuli stood her ground, her gaze fixed on the Empress's face, refusing to miss a single flicker of expression.
Over the past five years, fighting Japanese pirates, building her own forces, searching for her aunt...
She had certainly considered whether the massacre of Phoenix Valley might be connected to the imperial court—after all, the original owner's identity technically made her a Great Zhou princess.
Yet the intelligence gathered from the captured pirates contained not the slightest hint regarding her identity; instead, the intruders had targeted the Sacred Artifact of the Jiuli Tribe.
Divine Doctor Xue, the aunt who raised the original owner, was ostensibly the master of Phoenix Valley, known throughout the pugilistic world as a divine doctor.
In reality, her aunt was the current chieftain of the secluded Jiuli Tribe of this world, and had raised the original owner from childhood to be the next chieftain of the tribe.
Upon discovering that those pirates were after the Sacred Artifact of the Jiuli Tribe, she had questioned Uncle Li.
Learning that the Jiuli Tribe indeed possessed such a sacred artifact, and that it was coveted by those with malicious intent, she had stopped suspecting whether the pirates had any other motives.
Yet the Empress's expression clearly told her there was an unknown connection hidden within all this.
"Lier, Mother will not let anything happen to you sisters. Yuer will be released from the Imperial City Bureau's dark dungeon as soon as possible. Right now, the situation in the Capital is far too dangerous for you."
The concern in the Empress's eyes was genuine, and her mind was already formulating several plans of action.
"What if I told you my sister might not make it until dawn?" Xie Jiuli's voice was calm.
"What... Your sister..."
The Empress reacted instantly. In this palace, and indeed the entire Capital, there was no shortage of people ready to kick someone when they were down.
Right now, Yuer was imprisoned in the Imperial City Bureau's dark dungeon under the charge of rebellion, and the Cold Palace was sealed off by the Imperial Guard, barring outsiders.
Inevitably, someone would seize this opportunity to bully Yuer.
She immediately turned and rushed toward the door in a panic.
Xie Jiuli quickly stopped her. "My sister is safe for the moment. Tell me, who is the person behind the destruction of Phoenix Valley?"
The Empress paused, then quickly asked with frantic urgency, "Have you seen Yuer? Is she alright? She has always been afraid of the dark! In that dark dungeon..."
"She is in no mortal danger for now."
Just seven short words made it clear to the Empress that Yuer had not been having an easy time in the dark dungeon over the past two days.
Ji Xuan! ! !
Is this what you called taking good care of her? ! ! ! !
You have sat on the imperial throne for too long, haven't you? You've forgotten what kind of worthless dog you really are!
Hatred filled the Empress's eyes, and she longed to tear the Emperor into a thousand pieces.
Suppressing her fury, she forced herself to calm down. "Perhaps the Emperor or the Empress Dowager found out about the twins, and that's why they made a move against Phoenix Valley."
"The ones who massacred Phoenix Valley were Japanese pirates."
"Japanese pirates?!"
The Empress frowned slightly, pondering for a moment. "This matter must be discussed at length. If someone in the palace made a move because of your identity, and yet the perpetrators were Japanese pirates, it proves that someone in Great Zhou is colluding with the enemy and committing treason."
Her expression grew grave, as if she had just made a momentous decision, and her eyes flashed with fierce resolve. "I am the Empress of a nation. I cannot sit by idly and watch someone collude with the enemy and commit treason without lifting a finger."
Especially since that person might be the Son of Heaven or the Empress Dowager herself.
Even more so, she would never allow anyone to ruin Great Zhou's foundation of a thousand years by colluding with wolves and inviting them in, driven by selfish motives and the absurd, inauspicious superstition surrounding twins.
If the Empress Dowager is colluding with the enemy, then she will butcher the Empress Dowager!
If the Son of Heaven is colluding with the enemy, then she will change the Son of Heaven!