Chapter 353 - You Owed Me

Qu Yi walked in from the outside, took the cape, and helped Baili Anning put it on. “Thank you, Princess Zhaohua. I will never forget your great kindness.” Had it not been for Shen Ninghua’s help to take him back from the border through her connections and influence, he would have died by now.

“Anning and I are sisters. Take good care of her and treat it as returning this favor to me.” Shen Ninghua directed the topic to Baili Anning.

Baili Anning held her hand. “Ninghua, after I leave, I do not intend to participate in the matters in the capital anymore. You and Fifth Royal Brother must be very careful here. Although Father Emperor did not pursue the matter this time, he doesn’t feel good about it, after all.”

As an Emperor, how could he not have the slightest fear in his heart when a prince could bring his men into the Palace successfully and stop a rebel? In addition, his fear would probably deepen after witnessing Shen Ninghua’s poison technique.

Shen Ninghua naturally understood this principle. “Okay, I know. Don’t worry, I will watch out.”

Baili Anning was silent for a long time before saying with slight hesitation, “Ninghua, Second Royal Brother and I are biological siblings after all. I know a little about his personality. It seems that he hasn’t let go of his feelings for you. I have no other meaning in saying this, and I don’t want to damage the relationship between you and Fifth Brother. I just want to remind you that the current Second Royal Brother is different from before. You must be more… careful.”

“Yes, I will take note of that.” Shen Ninghua smiled and nodded. She held her hand tightly. “Take the prescription I gave you to nourish your body on time. The weather is too cold, and your health is not good. Hurry up and leave.”

Baili Anning nodded and looked at Shen Ninghua gratefully. She held Qu Yi’s hand and walked out. Shen Ninghua watched her get on the carriage and leave. Only then did she withdraw her gaze.

Bai Ruo looked at the departing carriage with some envy. “It is a wise choice for Princess Anning to leave the capital. I’m afraid that the capital will be even more chaotic after this. I don’t know how dangerous it will become in the future.”

Shen Ninghua sighed slightly, “The chaos will inevitably take place sooner or later since His Majesty is old and the Crown Prince has yet to be determined. It’s good that the chaos comes earlier. Bai Ruo, Baili Jinze also left the capital today, right?”

“Yes, I asked Hong Ling about it. Everything has been arranged according to your instructions.”

“Well, then let’s go back.”

There were heavy shackles on Baili Jinze’s neck. The frustration and hatred in his heart almost exploded in his chest. He refused to accept this! He never thought that he would be reduced to such a miserable state. His mind was controlled by hatred. Out of exasperation, he stopped abruptly, and the soldiers behind him immediately whipped him. “What are you doing? Hurry up and go!”

Baili Jinze suddenly turned his head and stared at the soldiers behind him with his blood-red eyes. The soldier was so shocked that he took two steps back. Then, he became angrier and angrier and whipped Baili Jinze a few times. “What the hell?! How dare you glare at me! Who do you think you are to glare at me?! Hurry and go! Stop being stubborn, or you’ll suffer along the way!”

The soldiers in charge of escorting the prisoners were full of resentment. Generally, when criminals were exiled, their families would bribe the soldiers so that they could take care of the criminals on the road. This man looked quite imposing, so the soldiers thought that he was from a rich family. However, after waiting for so long, no one came to bribe them. They didn’t get any benefits at all, and they had to escort him to a place so far away, so they had to beat the man up a few times to vent their frustration.

Baili Jinze gritted his teeth, and the veins on his forehead were exposed. “You damned servants, how dare you treat me like this! I am the Sixth Prince! I am the prefectural prince that the Emperor personally bestowed! You…”

Before he could finish speaking, several officers and soldiers burst into laughter. They laughed so hard that they were out of breath. “Prince? Prefectural prince? Haha, are you kidding? His Majesty personally issued a decree, saying that the Sixth Prince has already passed away. Who do you think you are? How dare you claim to be the Sixth Prince? Watch your tongue, or we’ll beat you to death. Hmph, hurry up and go!”

These soldiers had seen all kinds of people. The man claimed to be a prince, but he was exiled just like that, which meant that he was not as powerful as he thought he was. With that, the soldier whipped him again. This time, Baili Jinze could not dodge in time, and the whip landed right on his face. Immediately, a bloody scar appeared on his face.

That night, after they fell asleep, two figures appeared swiftly. They dropped a human-shaped object on the ground, hit an acupoint in Baili Jinze, and quickly disappeared into the night with him in tow.

The next day, the soldier escorting them woke up and saw a bloody corpse on the ground. They were so shocked at the sight that they almost fainted. Then, as a soldier checked the corpse’s clothes, he spat out in annoyance, “What a short-lived jerk. He couldn’t withstand the punishment and committed suicide. Alright, our job is done here. Just report it directly.”

After he finished speaking, he directly asked someone to buy a straw mat and rolled up the body without examining it carefully. Then, he swiftly wrote a document to bring it back to the capital. One of the soldiers was a rookie who was in charge of escorting the criminals for the first time. He sensed that something was off and muttered anxiously, “S-Sir, the body looked a little weird…”

“Shut up! What is weird about it? There’s nothing weird!” The chief in charge rebuked angrily.

Someone pulled the rookie aside and whispered, “Stop talking. There are a lot of things you don’t know about the job. Be careful, or you’ll be killed.”

“O-Okay.”

The chief knew what the actuation situation was like. They had seen such a thing before. The chief knew that a lowly soldier like him could not offend someone who had the guts and ability to do this. Since that was the case, they could just turn a blind eye to it.

When Baili Jinze woke up again, he found that he was in a room. The room was decorated exquisitely and beautifully, and the decoration was very particular.

The shackles on his neck had been removed, and his coarse clothes had been replaced with precious satin fabric. When he saw everything around him, his eyes flashed with a hint of ecstasy. Did his subordinates save him? Wonderful! As long as he had this chance, he would have a chance to make a comeback. When the time came…

Before the joy on his face could dissipate, he heard footsteps coming from the door. He hurriedly tidied up his clothes, and a modest and grateful smile appeared on his face. He was trying to create the best image.

The door of the room was slowly pushed open, and Shen Ninghua, dressed in gorgeous clothes, walked in.

The smile on Baili Jinze’s face instantly twisted. “Shen Ninghua?”

Shen Ninghua’s hair was fluttering in the wind, and her red dress was blazing like fire. The vibrant color made her beautiful facial features appear even more stunning. “What? You seem to be surprised to see me. Who do you think you’ll see?”

The expression on Baili Jinze’s face twisted even more. “Why do you save me?”

“Who else will save you if it’s not me? Your wife has already requested to be sent to the temple praying. All the officials you have tried to rope in are now in grave danger. You have some loyal subordinates, but I’ve killed them all, so they couldn’t save you even if they wanted to. Don’t tell me that you’re still daydreaming about someone helping you make a comeback?”

The ridicule in Shen Ninghua’s eyes was too obvious. Baili Jinze wanted to rush over and strangle her, but he recalled her unpredictable poison technique. He forcibly restrained the impulse in his heart and shouted angrily, “What do you want to do?”

“I’m here to give you a lift.”

“W-What?”

Shen Ninghua’s expression was extremely cold, and her dark eyes were filled with coldness. “Didn’t you hear me clearly? I want to give you a lift, which means…to kill you!”

“Y-You want to kill me? Do you hate me?”

“Yes, I want to tear you into pieces!” Shen Ninghua’s gaze was terrifying. She had thought of ignoring Baili Jinze before, but he had targeted her children. How could she let such a scourge live?

“But other than this time when I threatened you and wanted to kill you and your children, I did not have too much of a grudge with you. Why do you hate me so much?”

Shen Ninghua smiled coldly. “Baili Jinze, you only have yourself to blame because of everything you’ve done. When you reach the underworld, you can ask the King of Hell why I kill you.”

“No, Ninghua. The first time I saw you, I felt that you were very familiar. I don’t think the relationship between us should be like this.”

Shen Ninghua sneered, “Oh? Are you trying to convince me to let you go?”

“No, what I said is true. Recently, I have been dreaming all night. Many things happened in my dreams, but I couldn’t remember them when I woke up. However, I vaguely remembered that my relationship with you should be very close. I should… should… should…”

Shen Ninghua lowered her voice, with a hint of guidance. “You should be trusted by Father Emperor, loved by the people, and supported by the officials. First, you should overthrow the Crown Prince, then plot against the Second Prince, and get the position of Crown Prince step by step. Then, Father Emperor dies, and you justifiably ascend to the throne. Am I right?”

Hearing Shen Ninghua says this, Baili Jinze widened his eyes in awe. “Yes, it should be like this. It’s definitely like this. Ninghua, you can help me, right?”

Looking at Baili Jinze’s appearance, Shen Ninghua felt a wave of nausea. Rather than wasting time talking to him here, it was better to be with her children. “Qing Que, do it.” After that, she walked out directly.

Baili Jinze got up and wanted to pull her. As soon as he stood up, he felt weak all over and almost couldn’t stand up. “Drug? Did you drug me?”

Qing Que closed the door expressionlessly, then ordered her subordinates outside to pour oil around the house. She directly lit the fire and threw it over with a bang.

Baili Jinze wailed at the top of his lungs, “Let me out, let me out. Shen Ninghua, you bitch, let me go!”

Shen Ninghua came back to her senses. Her cold eyes reflected the rising flames. The fire in the posthouse made Baili Junyi suffer a lot, so much so that he almost died. She had to return the favor and give Baili Jinze a doze of his own medicine.

The fire burned into the room, and Baili Jinze struggled to climb out. The more he tried, the weaker he felt he was. In the end, he could only watch as the fire burned his body. Then, a scene that he could not see clearly in his dreams suddenly appeared in front of his eyes. The scene was fixed on a rainy night.

He was wearing a dragon robe and holding the beautiful Shen Linghan. Behind him was an extravagant and gorgeous palace. They stood on the high steps and looked down at Shen Ninghua, who was in an extremely miserable state. They were smiling particularly pleasantly…

A dose of his own medicine, retribution…

Fifth Volume: Legitimate Daughter Became the Empress