Chapter 437

The chief guard behind Bu Yonghan had a troubled expression. “Second Princess, this is really…” Although Princess Zhaohua was locked up, who knew how things would turn out in the end? He was just a low-ranking official, after all. Others could easily demolish him with just a flick of their fingers. He couldn’t risk offending anyone.

Bu Yonghan frowned. “Hurry up and open the door. What are you waiting for?”

Nurse Wu quickly stepped forward and said anxiously, “Your Highness, this is not the right place. Moreover, Princess Zhaohua has not been convicted yet. If you hurt her…”

Bu Yonghan suddenly swung her whip and lashed it at Nurse Wu. “Are you helping her or me?”

Nurse Wu felt a pang of pain in her body. She took a few steps back and almost fell to the ground. Despite that, she was still painstakingly trying to change Bu Yonghan’s mind. “Your Highness, you can’t…”

Bu Yonghan did not care at all. She had nothing to care about now. “Didn’t Baili Jinchuan and Noble Consort Qi accuse me of having hysteria? In that case, I will show them how crazy I can be! Shen Ninghua, I have made up my mind! Let’s see how you can seduce people after I whip your face!”

“Your Highness, you can’t. If you hurt Princess Zhaohua today, the limelight might change tomorrow, and it will be even more difficult to clean up this mess.” Nurse Wu was about to go crazy from her anxiety. Wasn’t the Second Princess looking for trouble if she acted this way?

Bu Yonghan frowned impatiently. “Where did you get all that nonsense from? Get out of the way!” She looked at the chief guard who was so scared that he looked like a mouse. She approached him, pulled the key from his waist, and opened the door.

“Shen Ninghua, do you know that homewreckers have never had a good ending since ancient times?” As she spoke, she swung her whip at Shen Ninghua. The strength of this whip carried merciless fury and was extremely fast. However, Shen Ninghua managed to dodge at the right time. The whip ruthlessly struck the ground, leaving a white mark.

Since Bu Yonghan didn’t manage to get her, she became even more furious. She approached Shen Ninghua and forced her to the corner of the wall. Bu Yonghan roared fiercely, “Let’s see where you can hide now!”

Bu Yonghan raised her hand high and wanted to swing it at Shen Ninghua but realized her wrist was grabbed from behind. She whipped her head around fiercely and met Baili Jinchuan’s furious eyes.

Baili Jinchuan’s eyes were as cold as ice. He dared not imagine what would have happened if he had been a step late and the whip had struck Shen Ninghua. “Bu Yonghan, how audacious you are!”

Bu Yonghan widened her eyes slightly, and a sneer surfaced from her lips. Her heart was full of resentment. “Your Highness, I have never seen you so worried about someone.”

“Yes. I will let you see this side of me today.” Although his martial arts skills had been crippled, his basic moves and techniques remained. With a bit of force, he grabbed the whip from Bu Yonghan’s hand and whipped it at her!

“Ah!” Bu Yonghan never thought he would actually hurt her. As she could not dodge in time, the side of her body was ruthlessly whipped. At that moment, she only felt half of her body burning with pain. “Baili Jinchuan, I can’t believe you have actually hurt me!”

“How can you be in disbelief after seeing what I did?”

Nurse Wu quickly crawled over, supported Bu Yonghan, and begged for mercy, “Your Highness, calm down. The princess was just a little reckless. She was just using the whip to scare Princess Zhaohua. She didn’t mean to hurt her!” The whip didn’t hit Shen Ninghua, so it seemed as though Nurse Wu was telling the truth.

Baili Jinchuan’s expression was cold. “I didn’t want to hurt your princess. I just wanted her to know that there are some people she can’t touch.” After he whipped Bu Yonghan, his gaze fell on the kneeling chief guard. This time, Baili Jinchuan did not hold back. He swung the whip as hard as he could, and it didn’t take long for the chief guard to be covered in blood.

Nurse Wu was frightened. She supported Bu Yonghan and stood against the wall. After Baili Jinchuan was finished with the guard, he looked at Bu Yonghan and Nurse Wu. “Nurse Wu, take your princess and scram. Without my orders, you are not allowed to take another step out of the mansion.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Bu Yonghan lowered her head. Her face was almost distorted from her bitter expression, and the resentment in her eyes was chilling.

Baili Jinchuan looked at Shen Ninghua. “Ninghua, I’m sorry. Are you hurt?”

Shen Ninghua shook her head. “I’m fine. Thank you, Second Prince, for saving me in time.”

“You…” Baili Jinchuan had a lot to say at first, but once he saw Shen Ninghua, he stammered. “Don’t worry. I will get you out of here.”

Shen Ninghua lowered her eyes. “True blue will never stain. I didn’t do it, so I will get my justice at the end of the day.” Many things had happened between her and Baili Jinchuan. She couldn’t tell if she felt grateful or hateful. She couldn’t promise the man in front of her anything, so why should she be involved with him? She believed in Junyi. He would save her.

Baili Jinchuan was silent for a moment. He walked out of the cell and kicked the chief guard on the ground. “Get up and leave!”

The chief guard hurriedly endured the pain to get up and ran away in a panic.

“Ninghua, take… take care of yourself.”

“Okay, I will.”

Baili Jinchuan pursed his lips, swallowed the bitterness in his mouth, and strode out of the prison.

When everyone left, Shen Ninghua sat on the bed with a frown. She slowly regulated her breathing to relieve the pain in her abdomen area. She had accidentally twisted her body while dodging Bu Yonghan’s whip. The child was kicking wildly, causing a throbbing pain in her belly.

On the outside, the Crown Prince had spread the news about Shen Ninghua to the public. It was different from what he had imagined. The people seemed highly protective of Shen Ninghua, and they all said she had been wronged. Moreover, she was pregnant with the imperial child now! Therefore, many people sat quietly at the palace gate to ask the Crown Prince to have mercy on Princess Zhaohua’s imperial child and release her.

Upon hearing this phenomenon, Baili Jinyi threw the writing brush in his hand. “Have those people lost their minds?”

Xiao Jingran was now injured at home. The officials Baili Jinyi took in were incompetent as they were usually eloquent and actively involved in corruption and bribery. However, none of them was helpful when it came to proper business. With his current position, he finally experienced what it truly feels like to be powerless. He didn’t know how his father managed to control such officials back in the day!

As night fell, a masked figure dressed in black appeared in the imperial palace’s secret passage. He came out of a remote palace and used it as a hiding spot to quickly lurk toward Chengqian Hall’s courtyard.

Chengqian Hall was surrounded by guards. The Dragon Scale Army and the Imperial Guards were guarding outside in groups, and it was impossible for anyone to sneak in. It was just that the number of guards now was much less than a few days ago, as the Crown Prince had scattered some of the Imperial Guards to deliberately weaken the defense.

The figure quietly lurked in the dark. After waiting about a quarter of an hour, the Dragon Scale Army began changing their shifts. He used the gloomy night to his advantage and quietly approached the courtyard like a shadow. Then, when the guards changed shifts, he rushed into the hall like wind.

The eunuchs keeping watch in the hall had fallen asleep while leaning against the pillar. Then, the figure took out a powder and put it close to their noses. Only then did he walk to the bed.

On the bed, Baili Qingcang lay unconscious. In just a few days, his health had visibly deteriorated. The man in black lowered his mask, revealing a handsome face. It was Baili Junyi. He whispered, “Father Emperor… Father Emperor…”

Baili Qingcang did not react at all. Baili Junyi took out a silver needle and drew blood from his father’s finger. Then, he took the incense from the hall and the remaining herbs from his father’s leftover tonic from the table. After that, he sighed and left silently.

When he returned to Fifth Prince Mansion, Chen Yun was waiting in the side hall. When he saw Baili Junyi coming in, he suddenly stood up. “Did you get it?”

“Yes. Uncle Chen, is there anything wrong with these herbs?” Baili Junyi took the things he had taken and handed them to Chen Yun for inspection.

Chen Yun secretly gritted his teeth and slammed the table. “Unskilled doctors! This prescription consists of herbs with a cold nature. Although it benefits the body, the damage is even greater. His Majesty is now unconscious, and it is inconvenient for him to ingest anything. Wouldn’t it harm him more to use this medicine since his body is already so weak? However, I can’t tell anything from the blood, and there is no problem with the incense either.”

Baili Junyi sneered, “I’m afraid it is not that the imperial doctors are unskilled, but someone has instructed them to do this.”

Chen Yun raised his head. “Are you suspecting the Crown Prince…”

“It’s not a suspicion. I’m sure it’s the Crown Prince! I’ve investigated the imperial doctor responsible for treating Father Emperor these two days. All of them work for the Crown Prince. Moreover, the Crown Prince is in charge of the courtyard and has isolated Father Emperor from everyone else. He truly has ulterior motives!”

“If that’s the case, we must save His Majesty as soon as possible. Otherwise, he might be in danger.”

Baili Junyi frowned and said, “The security in the palace is too secure. I have to be very careful when I go in alone. It is impossible to send Father Emperor out without alerting anyone. If I force my way in, winning a fight against the Dragon Scale Army and the Imperial Guards is not easy either. Moreover, as I’m saving Father Emperor, I have to save Ninghua. It is extremely difficult to succeed in both plans at the same time unless I have someone to help me from the outside.”

Chen Yun thought for a while and said, “I am familiar with people from the Academy of Imperial Physicians. Will they be useful to you?”

“Uncle Chen, give me a list of people who can be trusted first. I will let someone look through it. This time, we cannot make a single mistake. I am going to look for someone now.”

“Look for someone? Who are you looking for?”

Baili Junyi nodded, and a complicated look flashed through his eyes. “Xiao Fengjue!”

The Crown Prince was almost angered to death in the imperial palace by the people’s reactions. Finally, he could not hold back and ordered Xiao Jingran to come in. “Old General Xiao, if I had a way, I would not have troubled you at this time. How are your injuries?”

Xiao Jingran had a bandaged arm, and his expression was terrible. “Don’t worry, Crown Prince. I am fine. I will be okay after resting for a while. Are you worried about the matter of Princess Zhaohua?”

“Yes. The people outside are asking me to have mercy on Shen Ninghua well. It’s such a headache.”

Xiao Jingran narrowed his eyes. “Crown Prince, the people want you to have mercy on the imperial child, not Shen Ninghua.”

“Well, what’s the difference?”

“Shen Ninghua can be pardoned when pregnant, but what if she has a miscarriage?”

The Crown Prince was stunned. “Ninghua is pregnant with Fifth Brother’s child. How can I be so ruthless?”

Xiao Jingran raised his head with determined eyes. “Crown Prince, you are kind, but you can’t treat people who are heinous with kindness. If you can’t bear to hurt the Fifth Prince’s child, let me help then!” He had already sent people to make a move in secret, but nothing had been done until now. Could there be a mistake? It seemed that he would have to go and take a look later.