The idle king ignored Prince Ji's advice and, holding a ceremonial sword, trotted after him to the imperial palace.
Prince Ji gazed at the palace entrance from afar, noticing that the imperial guards at the gate had been replaced. He wondered about the current situation of the commander of the imperial guards, Jian Feng.
As Prince Ji fell into thought…
Yan Song suddenly appeared and called out to them. He, too, had arrived behind them with dozens of men.
“Lord Yan, did you not attend the morning court today?”
Prince Ji was slightly surprised to see Yan Song arriving with soldiers to assist.
“Your Highness Prince Ji, I sustained a minor injury a few days ago, and His Majesty granted me permission to rest at home. Therefore, I have not attended the morning court for the past two days,” Yan Song explained briefly to Prince Ji.
“Fortunately, you did not enter the palace today. Otherwise, the Third Prince and Lin Zhenfan would have captured all you court officials in one go,” Prince Ji sighed.
“Alas, it is my oversight that the matter of Prince Ning has come to this, allowing Princess Anle to switch prisoners with Prince Ning.”
Yan Song was now filled with immense self-reproach.
“Anle and Prince Ning are truly a pair of siblings. They dare to commit such treasonous acts. Your self-reproach is of no use now. The most pressing matter is for us to quickly dismantle the forces held by the Third Prince and Lin Zhenfan, and rescue His Majesty and my imperial brothers.” Prince Ji could only say so.
“Then, Your Highness Prince Ji, what should we do now? I heard that Lin Zhenfan has already led several hundred men to surround the entire imperial palace, and His Majesty is controlled by Prince Ning, while the Empress Dowager’s whereabouts are unknown.”
Yan Song was also deeply worried.
“We can only force our way in. The South and East gates of the palace are the most heavily guarded. We will charge in from the West Gate. Lord Yan, you will be responsible for holding off those people, while I and Ye Ying will directly charge in to find my second and fifth imperial brothers.”
“Agreed. It’s settled then.”
Yan Song nodded seriously upon hearing this.
Immediately, Prince Ji led everyone to the West Palace Gate and drew his sword, engaging in a fierce battle with the unfamiliar soldiers guarding the gate. Fortunately, the men brought by Yan Song were skilled in martial arts and numerous, making it entirely feasible to hold back the guards.
Prince Ji and Ye Ying, along with over a dozen guards from the Cold King’s manor, successfully entered the imperial palace. Even the idle king, who was the weakest in martial arts, managed to kill two or three guards.
After entering the palace, Prince Ji and Ye Ying headed straight for the Chaoyang Hall. They eventually spotted the Cold King, Prince An, and Leng Ruoli in a small garden not far from Chaoyang Hall.
At that moment, the Cold King and Prince An were locked in a fierce battle with Lin Zhenfan and his men. Leng Ruoli, wielding a black concealed weapon, was hitting her targets with precision against Prince Ning and Lin Zhenfan's subordinates. Prince Ji, the idle king, and Ye Ying were stunned by the chaotic scene, unsure how to help.
“What are you two still standing there blankly for? Hurry and assist your second imperial sister-in-law!”
Jun Mohan glanced at his two most unreliable brothers, Prince Ji and the idle king, and immediately urged them.
“Yes, yes, second imperial brother, we will go and help our second imperial sister-in-law immediately.”
With that, Prince Ji and the idle king, leading half of the guards from the Cold King’s manor, swords in hand, joined Leng Ruoli’s fight.
Ye Ying, meanwhile, led the other half of the guards from the Cold King’s manor and joined the fray between the Cold King and Prince An against Lin Zhenfan.
Seeing Prince Ji and the idle king come to her aid, Leng Ruoli immediately put away her handgun and said to the two of them, “Hold them off for now. I need to check on Father Emperor’s condition. Don’t let Prince Ning escape.”
“Understood!” Prince Ji and the idle king replied readily.
As a result, after their brothers joined the battle, both of them found themselves overwhelmed by Prince Ning and Lin Zhenfan’s subordinates. With their already inferior martial arts skills, they were quickly unable to cope, and had no time to notice if Prince Ning had escaped.
Meanwhile, Leng Ruoli managed to find some free time to examine the Emperor’s health.
She knelt beside the Emperor and carefully took his pulse. She found that his pulse was beating very rapidly, and at the same time, a worm was crawling deeper into his brain.
However, there was a faint energy within his body resisting the蛊虫 (gu worm). This was likely due to him having taken the antidote pill she developed after being poisoned by the蛊 (gu). Although her antidote pill did not have a significant effect on treating the蛊 (gu) poisoning, it at least managed to restore the Emperor’s consciousness for a brief period.
Upon learning that the Emperor had indeed been poisoned by the蛊 (gu), Leng Ruoli became worried again. This was because she could not directly use the millennium snow clam she had on hand to extract the蛊 (gu) worm from the Emperor. She needed to obtain the bamboo flute in Prince Ning’s possession, which could control the蛊 (gu) worm, before she could help the Emperor get rid of it.
This was because Leng Ruoli feared that during the process of removing the蛊 (gu) worm from the Emperor, Prince Ning might play the flute again. If the蛊 (gu) worm were to move uncontrollably in the brain at that moment, it would threaten the Emperor’s life. Leng Ruoli dared not take such a risk.
The only viable option for Leng Ruoli at this moment was to use silver needles and medication to forcefully induce a dormant state in the蛊 (gu) worm, so that the Emperor could regain consciousness.
The more Leng Ruoli thought about it, the more feasible this method seemed.
Therefore, she took out silver needles from her spatial dimension, along with a recently refined potion that could induce dormancy in the蛊 (gu) worm.
She first used silver needles to seal all the acupoints on the Emperor’s head, leaving the蛊 (gu) worm in his brain with nowhere to escape. Then, she administered the potion that could induce dormancy in the蛊 (gu) worm to the Emperor. Fifteen minutes later, she removed the silver needles from the Emperor’s head.
After Leng Ruoli removed all the silver needles from the Emperor, a moment later, the Emperor slowly opened his eyes. His once piercing gaze had returned to normal, no longer resembling the wolf-like eyes that seemed ravenous, as if he were about to devour someone, when he was controlled by the puppet蛊 (gu).
Upon seeing Leng Ruoli before him, the Emperor’s eyes instantly relaxed.
“Lier, your imperial grandmother is still being held in a secret chamber by that scoundrel Prince Ning,” the Emperor said to Leng Ruoli in a hoarse voice, his face filled with worry.
“Father Emperor, please do not worry. We will definitely rescue Imperial Grandmother,” Leng Ruoli promised him.
“That’s good!” the Emperor nodded weakly.
Then, he raised his eyes to look into the distance, only to see Jun Mohan and Prince An engaged in a fierce battle with Lin Zhenfan and his men. He then turned his gaze towards Prince Ji and the idle king, but he did not see Prince Ning anywhere.
“Lier, where is that scoundrel Prince Ning?” the Emperor suddenly asked.
“Father Emperor, isn’t he…”
Leng Ruoli also turned to look towards Prince Ji and the idle king, only to see the two brothers struggling to fight against the henchmen.
Prince Ji was slightly better, able to exchange blows with the henchmen for a few rounds at a time. However, the idle king was like playing hide-and-seek with the henchmen, dodging and weaving. Although the henchmen injured him, he was unable to kill them. The scene was quite comical, and Prince Ning had long since vanished without a trace.