CH 92

Chapter 92: I’m Well Aware Of My Own Honor And Disgrace, I Don’t Care What Other People Say.

“Father, what are you doing….?”

Yu Muyao shouted in bewilderment.

The Bei’an County King turned around only to find none other than his daughter, Yu Muyao. There was a hint of surprise filling his eyes, but he soon managed to suppress his emotions as he beckoned to Yu Muyao.

Yu Muyao jumped towards him and handed the pastry in her hand to the County King: “Father can’t sleep either? Why are you wearing armor?”

The Bei’an County King reached out and caressed Yu Muyao’s hair as he replied softly: “Father has to do something important.”

“So late in the night?” Yu Muyao was puzzled.

The Bei’an County King nodded: “Yao’er, do you still remember when you were 9 years old and Father took you on a hunting trip on horseback?”

Yu Muyao chuckled: “I remember. I made a big fuss at that time.”

The Bei’an County King nodded.

That was a great hunt. In addition to Yu Muyao, there were several other Generals’ sons. However, the Bei’an County King had been the only one to bring his daughter.

In theory, the most appropriate thing would have been for Yu Muyao not to accompany him, since she was a girl. However, the Bei’an County King, regardless of the criticism, let Yu Muyao go with him.

Yu Muyao, who was only 9 years old at the time, traveled in a sedan chair, marching in the middle of the procession. But then she made a big scene.

Yu Muyao pointed angrily at the Generals’ sons who were traveling by horse and said with righteous indignation: “Why can they ride a horse and I can only travel in a sedan chair? What makes me inferior to any of them?” 

Yu Muyao still felt a bit embarrassed after this old story was mentioned after so many years, so she smiled a bit awkwardly.

The Bei’an County King looked at her gently and then said: “The words you said at the time have lingered in your Father’s mind for a long, long time. Now, Father will be carrying out an important mission, something that will prove that Father is not inferior to any of them.”

‘Rather than craving for an ordinary burial in a valley tomb, I would prefer the future generations to mourn over my corpse.’

‘I’m well aware of my own honor and disgrace, I don’t care what other people say.’

…

Past midnight, a chilling and eerie wind rose throughout the Capital.

At that moment, Lin Baihu had also awakened.

However, unlike Qi Ci and Yu Muyao, Lin Baihu didn’t wake up suddenly. Instead, he was woken up by the person lying next to him.

For the past few days, Qin Yicang used the excuse of taking care of Lin Baihu to stay in his room, lying on his bed and sleeping next to him every night.

But now, Qin Yicang was holding his own chest with one hand, while with the other, he was squeezing the wooden edge of the bed tightly, gasping in pain.

Lin Baihu’s face warped in panic and confusion: “What’s wrong with you?”

Qin Yicang frowned in complete pain, and since he was unable to speak at all, he could only point at his chest. When Lin Baihu opened his clothes, he found the word ‘Death’ engraved on his chest shining with a red glow!

“Is this….!?” Lin Baihu shouted out. “The word spell….?”

In the beginning, when Bian Zhonghua got stuck on the Naihe Bridge to wait for a ‘certain someone’, he ended up wearing out his mind. Because of this, two of his three souls ended up returning to earth, leaving only one soul behind to keep watch over the Naihe Bridge.

When State Master Li noticed this, he summoned Lin Baihu and Qin Yicang to search for them. Then, the three loyal men searched all over the world until they could find the two souls of Bian Zhonghua.

However, since the three of them were too little and too slow to find Bian Zhonghua, State Master Li found Empress Dowager Xianyi and made a deal with her. In this way, Empress Dowager Xainyi put them in charge of the Secret Servant Division established by the former Emperor. State Master Li, under the pretense of working for the Imperial Court, sent several people to search for Bian Zhonghua’s souls.

After all, in the world of humans, you always had to depend on them to accomplish certain things.

However, Empress Dowager Xianyi had a condition.

To cure the Crown Prince’s illness.

In order to gain the trust of Empress Dowager Xianyi, one of the three had to make a word contract sealed with a spell with Empress Dowager Xianyi.

Once the word contract sealed in a spell was formed, both parties had to fulfill what was promised. Otherwise, both of them would feel immeasurable pain, as if 10 thousand arrows pierced their hearts. Day after day, the pain would get worse, until, eventually, they would end up dying of pain.

Originally, State Master Li wanted to make the spell contract with the Empress Dowager, but Lin Baihu was worried that if something were to happen to State Master Li, and he was no longer present, there would be no one who could control the overall situation. Therefore, Lin Baihu proposed to make the spell contract with Empress Dowager Xianyi.

However, how could Qin Yicang let Lin Baihu fall into such a fate? Therefore, he fought to be the one to make the spell contract with Empress Dowager Xianyi.

Lin Baihu hurriedly grabbed Qin Yicang’s wrist and tried to lessen his pain by pouring some qi into his body: “What’s going on? Has something happened to the Crown Prince?”

…

On the other side, in the Prince’s Residence.

Qi Ci heard a Secret Servant say at the other side of the door: “Your Highness, something has happened in the Imperial Palace! Empress Dowager Xianyi has summoned you into the Imperial Palace as soon as possible!”

As soon as Qi Ci put on his coat, he was hurriedly brought to a carriage, which then traveled all the way towards the Imperial Palace at full speed.

Although they were in panic, confusion, and haste, the surroundings were completely silent.

Without having the time to breathe, Qi Ci was led into the Crown Prince’s bedchamber.

However, inside the bedchamber, there wasn’t a single Palace maid, and not a single Imperial Bodyguard. Instead, there were a few trusted followers of Empress Dowager Xianyi, keeping watch.

The Secret Servant who brought Qi Ci to the Imperial Palace led him to the inner room of the bedchamber. But as soon as he opened the door for Qi Ci to pass through, the Secret Servant closed the door and left.

In the inner room, the first thing Qi Ci could notice was that State Master Li was drawing some symbols on the ground. There was sweat on his forehead, his hair was disheveled, and he also looked quite nervous.

The second thing he noticed was Empress Dowager Xianyi, who was standing by the bed, looking at the Crown Prince lying on the bed.

As for the Crown Prince, his face was covered with….a white cloth!

Beneath the white cloth, there was no movement of breath coming from his mouth and nose….

Qi Ci was so shocked to see this he stood frozen in place. His lips slightly opened, and his eyes were wide.

After hearing a sound, Empress Dowager Xianyi raised her head to see.

Even at a time like this, she still showed a dignified appearance. Like the stones in the mountains sculpted over time, that for thousands of years, had never feared turning to dust.

When Empress Dowager saw that it was Qi Ci who had entered the room, she waved at him.

Qi Ci had been frozen for so long that he just managed to slowly walk towards Empress Dowager, even forgetting to greet her.

Empress Dowager Xianyi didn’t reprimand him, and instead, said in a low voice: “Although the Crown Prince has met a violent death, we cannot make any commotion. I’m afraid that those who have bad intentions would take this opportunity to revolt. Except for a few of my closest confidants, no one else knows.”

“Vio-violent death….?” Qi Ci didn’t know what to say, so he just repeated the words of Empress Dowager Xianyi.

Empress Dowager Xianyi nodded: “This child has been suffering from a serious illness for too long. Did Rulan treat you well?”

The unexpected question took Qi Ci by surprise. Only after a while was he able to reply: “I…. My mother has always been very kind to me.”

“Did she make soup for you?” Empress Dowager Xianyi asked.

Qi Ci nodded.

“Did she teach you how to read and write?”

“Yes.”

“Did she hug you often?”

Qi Ci became more and more confused, but he still nodded.

Empress Dowager ‘hmm-ed’ and turned her gaze back to the Crown Prince. Then, she said: “Rulan has had a gentle personality since childhood, and I always knew she would be a good mother. But I’m not. I have never done any of these motherly-like things for this child.”

As Empress Dowager Xianyi spoke, State Master Li suddenly straightened up and said: “Empress Dowager, the talisman formation has been drawn!”

Qi Ci then turned his head around, only to see a formation drawn on the ground with blood. All the strange patterns and symbols were mixed together, looking both frightening and bizarre.

Empress Dowager Xianyi walked calmly to the center of the formation, and once there, she looked up at Qi Ci.

Qi Ci was still at a loss for words, when all of sudden, State Master Li pushed him towards the formation in a hurry: “Your Highness, it’s too late to explain, but in short, we need two blood relatives of the Crown Prince to pull him back from the Guimen Pass1. After you see the Crown Prince, take him to the bright light! Remember, no matter what you see, it’s all an illusion. Move forward with your eyes closed!”

Qi CI: “W-wait….!”

‘Wait!’

""

‘I’m not the Crown Prince’s blood relative!’

Before Qi Ci could say those words, he saw that the formation began to emit a sudden bright blood-red light that was able to illuminate the entire room. Then, this red light flickered in front of Qi Ci’s eyes. From one second to the next, Qi Ci fell rapidly into a void.

Yu Muyao’s dad is gonna rebel!! Qin Yicang is being tortured by the spell, and Qi Ci got himself involved in something dangerous (again) lol

Hope nothing backfires with the fact that Qi Ci is not the Crown Prince’s blood relative…….