Chapter 444

“Your Highness, we are a married couple. Why are you doing this to me?” She knelt on the ground as tears streamed down her face. She was in a humble posture. She would not have done this in the past, even if she might be beaten to death. But now, after experiencing the despair of death, she was willing to do anything as long as she could survive.

Baili Jinchuan’s cold gaze swept across her face, and he slowly bent down. “When you decided to attack Ninghua, you should have expected this day to come.”

“Your Highness, do you not care about our relationship at all? Are you truly this cold and heartless?”

Baili Jinchuan could not help but chuckle. “I have always been this cold-blooded and heartless. You are not the first to say that.”

“Who else said that?”

“Yang Yingxue.”

Bu Yonghan’s lips trembled, and her body shuddered involuntarily. “Your Highness, so Yang Yingxue died because…”

“She was just like you. It was because she hurt Shen Ninghua.”

“It is impossible between you and Shen Ninghua. Why are you still helping her? Don’t you think you’re being pathetic?”

Baili Jinchuan stood up and raised his hand. His sleeves slid down, revealing his wrist that was filled with scars. He clenched his fists tightly and felt a burst of pain in his veins. As he had to endure this pain every moment, he was constantly reminded of Shen Ninghua. This kind of torture had become a part of his body and soul. It could not be erased or forgotten. How could he not think about her?

“Pathetic? I have become pathetic long ago, so it won’t matter to be a little more pathetic. It’s just a pity that you won’t have the chance to witness that day.”

“No, Your Highness. Let me go. If you spare me, I will mobilize the Great Yue Kingdom’s authority to help you get the throne. As long as you are in that position, you will be able to see Shen Ninghua.”

Baili Jinchuan turned his head as he stared at her ridiculously. “Do you think Shen Ninghua is like you? She is a pearl, not a piece of scrap. As much as I want her, I don’t need your help.” He could take advantage of Yang Yingxue, but he would never do that to Bu Yonghan because besides being a man in desperate pursuit of an unattainable woman, he was also the Da’an Kingdom’s Second Prince!

Bu Yonghan sat on the ground dejectedly. Her eyes were empty. She was utterly doomed…

Inside the Southern Imperial Study, Baili Jinyi suddenly threw the memorial at his hand to the ground and looked at the Imperial Scholars kneeling below with a ferocious expression. “Is this the result of your research? Didn’t you say that there was no problem with this article? Didn’t you confirm that there would be no problem? How are you going to explain this now? What is this?”

As he spoke, he suddenly threw the large piece of paper beside his hand to the ground. On the paper, it was an article that had been scrutinized to be flawless by the Imperial Scholars. Unfortunately, the article was carefully made into a copy, revealing a large “kill” word written in red, and the words linked together formed two lines.

“Retribution will come upon those who stole the country. He, the villain, will be killed tomorrow as a sacrifice to the Heavens!”

The two lines and the crimson “kill” word sent chills down everyone’s spine. They had studied the article word by word and found no mistakes at that time. However, who would have thought they would have to read across the “kill” word? Only then did they realize the trickery.

“Crown Prince, please forgive us. We truly didn’t expect this.”

“Yes, please forgive us, Your Highness.”

They had given their best, but the person who wrote the article was too brilliant. How could they be blamed for this?

Baili Jinyi suddenly threw the inkstone on the table. The ink splashed everywhere, and one of the droplets landed on his bright yellow clothes. The dark black color spread out, covering a patch of golden dragon embroidery on his clothes.

“Get out! All of you, get out of here!”

When the hall quieted down, Baili Jinyi slowly sat back in his seat. A murderous glare flashed in his eyes. “Baili Junyi, it must be him. It must be him! He was taking revenge for Shen Ninghua. If I had known earlier, I would have cut her open, dug her child out, and thrown her in front of Baili Junyi the moment I caught her!”

The more he thought about it, his eyes gradually turned red as they were slowly filled with overwhelming anger. “Baili Junyi, I will let you be proud for a few days. I won’t deal with you just yet. In a few days, Father Emperor’s funeral will be over. At that time, I could ascend the throne. Even if you hide in the cracks of the wall when I am the Emperor, I will dig you out and tear you into pieces!”

Meanwhile, in Sucheng City, Shen Ninghua had just finished examining Baili Qingcang’s pulse. Her expression was serious. Baili Junyi asked softly, “How is it, Ninghua? What kind of poison is Father Emperor poisoned with?”

“Father Emperor is not just poisoned. The poison in his body is only one of our concerns. The poison has seeped into his nervous system and made him unconscious. It will take some effort to cure him, but it is not difficult.”

“Why do you look so pale then?”

“I’m afraid that even if Father Emperor is cured, he won’t be able to wake up.”

Baili Junyi was stunned. “Why is that?”

“Before Father Emperor was poisoned, he was in a rage. He was poisoned suddenly, and his anger didn’t disperse yet. His blood flow was irregular, and his liver was weak. In addition, he consumed too much food of the cold nature since coming back from the hunting ground. It conflicted with the heat in his body and destroyed his well-being. Most importantly, he was old, after all.”

Baili Junyi slowly sat down. He felt a stabbing pain in his heart. Ever since he had returned to the royal family, Baili Qingcang had treated him with changing attitudes. Baili Qingcang had even thought about sacrificing Baili Junyi’s children to save that vicious woman he was possessed with, which caused their relationship to worsen. However, looking at Baili Qingcang’s aged appearance, Baili Junyi was heartbroken. “Ninghua, do you have a way to wake up Father Emperor?”

Shen Ninghua looked up at him with a serious gaze. “There is a way, but Father Emperor won’t have much time left after waking up.”

Baili Junyi looked at the old Baili Qingcang on the bed. Baili Qingcang’s eyes were closed, and his face was pale and ghastly. His former dignified appearance completely disappeared. “Father Emperor should not be in this state.” He led millions of people in their country. He had once fought bravely on the battlefield and killed enemies. He controlled the life and death of everyone in the country. Therefore, he should die with glory instead of passing away unknowingly in his sleep, even if he had to die.

Shen Ninghua nodded, and her eyes became heavy. “I understand. Uncle Chen has already prescribed medicine to help Father Emperor recuperate these past few days. He still needs to take medicine for a few more days. However, it’s unknown how long Father Emperor can last once he wakes up. You can’t place all of your hopes on this, and you should plan ahead.”

Baili Junyi nodded. “Yes, I understand.”

Escaping the capital was to solve a temporary problem. Even if Baili Qingcang woke up, wanting to overthrow Baili Jinyi was no different from a fool’s dream without sufficient support. What he needed to do now was to control Jiangnan!

In the capital, Baili Jinyi forced himself to be patient. It was all for waiting for the country to end the mourning period. After ascending the throne, he would deal with Baili Junyi. However, Baili Junyi would not stand around and do anything.

When Baili Junyi fled the capital, he shut down every Huajun Pharmacy outlet. Even some of his side businesses had been closed down. He wanted to wipe clean of his traces, making it impossible for anyone to investigate.

In the first few days, this matter barely had any impact, but as time passed, the result was finally fruitful.

First, it was Jiangnan. A large amount of money was taken away from the market. The medicinal herbs were in excess. Also, a large sum of money was cashed out from the banks. Besides, inflation in goods sent the people into a spiral of panic, making the economy even more unstable.

By the time the matter was written into a memorial by the officials and delivered to Baili Jinyi, Jiangnan was already in a mess. The affected merchants ranged from medicine merchants to supply merchants, and later, various industries were affected. Moreover, the affected areas continued to expand, and panic spread from Jiangnan to the capital.

Baili Jinyi was dumbfounded. He could not understand how the closure of Huajun Pharmacy left such a huge impact.

Xiao Jingran tried his best to comfort him. “Your Highness, there is no need to care about this now. You have to calm down. Once you can hold out to your enthronement, everything will become better.”

“Everything will become better?” Baili Jinyi had the same thought before, but now looking at the situation described in the memorial, he could not help but be doubtful. Would the panic disappear once he was the Emperor? Would the prices of goods turn stable once he was the Emperor?

Xiao Jingran noticed his doubt and hurriedly said, “Your Highness, the panic is triggered by His Majesty’s death since there is no one to lead the country. Once you ascend to the throne and become the Emperor, the people will have someone to lean on. Their faith will no longer waver, and everything will become better.”

Baili Jinyi was silent for a long time and finally nodded. “Yes. That’s the only thing we can do now.”

The imperial family’s inaction caused panic among the people. There were even rumors that the current situation occurred because the Heavens were dissatisfied with Baili Jinyi. If Baili Jinyi were allowed to ascend the throne, Da’an Kingdom would be in ruins.

They recalled the lines stringed together by the “kill” word in the article. “Retribution will come upon those who stole the country. He, the villain, will be killed tomorrow as a sacrifice to the Heavens!”

“This was the Heavens seeking revenge. The Crown Prince used despicable means to seize the throne, which triggered the Heavens. The only way to appease the Heavens’ anger was to kill the Crown Prince!”

This sort of comments quickly spread like wildfire as soon as they came out.

Baili Jinyi was furious after hearing it. He ordered Xiao Jingran to arrest the people who created the rumors and publicly execute them at the entrance of the market so that everyone could watch it. However, this behavior aroused the people’s anger further. More people spread the rumors and their rage could barely be contained!

Baili Junyi tore the note in his hand bit by bit, and a vicious glare flashed in his eyes. “The counterattack has begun!”