But the bottle of medicinal fluid that Lei Chen gave to Lei Xi had completely crushed the Empress' last ray of hope.
Lei Xi found that he could not understand why Lei Chen would do this.
Lei Chen raised his head looking highly forlorn as he stared at the Imperial Guards rushing into the main hall, quickly surrounding him and Lei Fan heavily.
In his heart, he was laughing bitterly at himself.
The Emperor had clearly overheard the truth about the secret behind Lei Fan's birth from the Empress herself previously, but he had still chosen to believe Lei Fan based just on the face he carried. But when the Empress had just revealed the circumstances about his own birth, the Emperor had not doubted it at all, and had not even hesitated in the slightest or suspected otherwise before he had adamantly judged him guilty.
No questions, not a single attempt at verification, before he believed everything!
As expected, in the Emperor's heart, he was nothing at all.
The little sliver of yearning in his heart for that slightest bond between father and son to exist, had just been heartlessly severed.
The Imperial Guards had already come to stand right beside Lei Chen, and it was seen that Lei Chen would be grabbed the very next moment.
But right at that moment, a clear voice tinged with a cold tone suddenly rang out within the main hall.
"Your Majesty is really resolute and merciless in ordering executions."
"Who is that?" The physically and mentally exhausted Emperor suddenly turned to look towards the voice, and saw the person who had gone missing for a long time, Jun Xie, suddenly standing in a corner of the main hall. No one had noticed when he had come into the main hall at all!
In the instant that he saw Jun Xie, the Emperor gasped loudly and his eyes suddenly filled with alarmed.
"Jun Xie! How did you come in here! ?" The Emperor stared at Jun Xie, his voice growing shrill.
Jun Wu Xie walked slowly to the centre of the main hall and swept her gaze over the chaotic turmoil within the place, then she slowly said, seemingly in no big hurry: "I heard that Your Majesty was looking for me, so I came here to see Your Majesty."
"Yuan Biao! Yuan Biao! Capture him!" The Emperor screamed, suddenly leaping to his feet. Jun Xie would forever be a thorn in his heart! Only when Jun Xie is eradicated, and the Ring of Imperial Fire taken from him, would he be able to feel secure.
Yuan Biao immediately charged towards Jun Xie!
But before Yuan Biao could even get close to Jun Xie, a white figure was suddenly standing before Jun Xie to block his way, and with Yuan Biao's charging in, the figure in white suddenly threw out a single palm strike that flung Yuan Biao upwards, sending him flying through the air!
Yuan Biao fell heavily as he landed on the floor, and he vomited out a whole mouthful of blood!
The Emperor stared wide eyed in utter disbelief at what he was seeing. He saw a highly handsome looking youth dressed in all white standing before Jun Xie, and he could see that the youth's cheeks were faintly tinged with a pinkish flush.
"I have been idle for so long, it's finally time to stretch myself a little." Drunk Lotus gestured with his hand at Yuan Biao, his chin lifted up in arrogance, as he stared down at Yuan Biao who was vomiting blood out of his mouth.
"An insignificant pest like you and you think yourself fit to lay your hands on my Master?" **
Although Yuan Biao wasn't the most powerful fighter in the Fire Country, but he was nevertheless considered to be extremely strong. So, no one would have ever thought that the revered Commander of the Imperial Guards would be struck down by a slenderly built and weak looking handsome young youth with just one move, and had even vomited out blood from the strike! That was just too incredulous to believe!
The Emperor was suddenly at a loss on what to do. At that moment, he suddenly noticed that Lei Chen was walking on his own accord to stand beside Jun Xie.
"Lei Chen!"
Lei Chen stood silently beside Jun Xie.
Jun Wu Xie lifted an eyebrow as she looked at the startled Emperor, before turning her gaze over to see the Prime Minister still kneeling upon the ground, the shivering Lei Fan sprawled in a writhing heap and the highly malevolent expression on the Empress' face. She then slowly opened her mouth to speak: "Is Your Majesty satisfied with the great performance I have arranged for you today?"
"What are you saying….." A cold sensation of unease began to grow within the Emperor's heart. The foreboding dread was so strong that it suddenly caused his temples to throb painfully.
**( In Chinese its"Owner"–主人 ) Misty Cloud Translation's note: was contemplating 1) Owner 2) Mistress 3) Master, and went with "Master" as Drunk Lotus is an intelligent being capable of coherent thoughts, hence, he should know enough not to give Jun Wu Xie's identity away. I might be wrong though… X D