The immediate aftermath of the handling was interrupted by the faint sounds of commotion and clashing swords from outside.
A guard rushed in, "Lady Yu Liu, Prince Ru Nan has brought troops and is storming in!"
Ling Yao, hearing the noise, emerged from her room and sternly demanded, "What is going on? Where are the Imperial Guards?"
"It was the Second Prince who ordered the palace gates opened. We didn't expect Prince Ru Nan to bring so many soldiers; they're from the Western Suburb Barracks!"
"Idiot!"
She was furious.
Her man was diligently working to maintain the capital's stability, her elder brother was negotiating with the Turkic envoys, and he, as the Crown Prince, had opened the gates to welcome wolves into the fold!
Ling Yao, radiating an aura of sharp resolve, strode out of the Feng Luan Palace. She saw a dense, dark mass of soldiers. The Imperial Guards were shielding the Second Prince, retreating step by step towards the palace entrance.
"Halt!" Prince Ru Nan shouted.
He pushed through the crowd and stepped forward, clad in military attire, his former elegance completely gone. Stubble graced his cheeks, and his dark, sullen eyes were fixed on Ling Yao.
"Where is she?"
"Prince Ru Nan, must you cause trouble at this moment?"
The Emperor's coffin was still in the palace, the Turkic envoys had entered the capital, the court was unstable, with internal and external threats.
As a member of the royal family, he was still preoccupied with personal feelings, completely disregarding the perilous situation Jing Guo was in.
The most tragic part was that he didn't know the woman he loved had already fallen for someone else.
"Ling Yao, I didn't expect Uncle to bring so many—"
"Slap—"
The Second Prince received a heavy slap.
It was Ling Yao who struck him.
Song Bei Ting was stunned but said nothing.
"Your Highness, the Second Prince, when will you ever grow up? Father is still in the palace, watching you, watching you open the gates to invite thieves!"
"I strike you, as a Divine Maiden, striking down the incompetent ruler above and the corrupt officials below. Do you submit or not!"
"I..."
Under the gaze of everyone, the Second Prince lowered his head. The imprint of five fingers was starkly visible on his fair face.
Ling Yao turned to Prince Ru Nan, "Fortunately, Grandfather did not pass the throne to you, otherwise, Jing Guo truly wouldn't have lasted until now!"
Prince Ru Nan glared at her with fierce hostility.
At that moment, several arrows shot towards Ling Yao from different directions!
"Princess, be careful!"
"Princess, be careful!"
Song Bei Ting, Yu Liu, and Yu Shan knocked down the arrows respectively. The guards formed a protective circle, shielding Ling Yao and Qing He behind them.
Ling Yao sneered, her exquisite face like a vibrant rose covered in frost. "Very well, it seems Prince Ru Nan truly intends to rebel."
Prince Ru Nan turned and roared, "Who ordered you to fire! Stop! Do not fire!"
"Your Highness! Kill them, and we will support your ascension!"
"Yes! The throne was rightfully yours!"
"Silence! Silence! This King has never wished to be Emperor! Do not fire again!" Prince Ru Nan turned back, "Ling Yao, I only wish to take her away. Do you agree!"
"Impossible!"
"Ling Yao!" Prince Ru Nan was enraged.
Ling Yao raised her arms, and the blue flames, just like that day, surged from her palms.
Her eyes were like paintings, her hair lifting, her demeanor so indifferent as if she were a deity ruling over all beings.
A commotion rippled through the crowd, and Prince Ru Nan's pupils contracted.
A great fear enveloped his chest. The roaring collapse of that day still echoed in his ears. No, she couldn't do this.
"No!"
He bent his knees, actually kneeling on the spot, "Ling Yao, Divine Maiden, please, don't, don't!"
"Your Highness!" The soldiers beside him looked on in disbelief.
Qing He stepped forward and shouted loudly, "The Divine Maiden's status is above the Emperor. While the Divine Maiden exists, Jing Guo exists. Those who defy the Divine Maiden are equivalent to traitors, and their entire clans will be exterminated!"
This meant that even if the Prince became Emperor, he would have to obey the Divine Maiden?
The generals who had just shot the arrows faltered, their arrows falling to the ground.
They didn't know, they didn't know there truly was a Divine Maiden!
"It is all my fault. I failed to uphold my principles. I beg you, let me see... them."
Prince Ru Nan's face was ashen, and he pleaded humbly.
Originally, he could have been a spirited and carefree Prince Ru Nan, whether standing in court or indulging in the beauty of mountains and rivers, he could have lived a life of freedom.
But because of a fleeting infatuation from his youth, he trapped himself in this cage, slowly eroding his open-mindedness, losing family affection, losing himself, and ultimately crossing the line of ethics and morality.
Ling Yao waved her hand, and the guards cleared a path.
Prince Ru Nan stood up excitedly and headed towards the opened palace doors.
"Your Highness..." the soldiers beside him attempted to stop him, but then clenched their fists and sighed in frustration.
Song Bei Ting stared blankly at the person before him. The most familiar face now seemed so strange he dared not recognize it.
She was the Divine Maiden.
This was the true Divine Maiden.
He had been designated the Divine Lord of Da Yao since childhood, the Divine Maiden's husband, yet he never knew the Divine Maiden was like this.
Everything had changed.
It felt as though something was being ripped from his body. He felt a pain so intense it was as if his body had lost all sensation, a thousand times more painful than being stabbed by a knife. His handsome face, like rolling mountains, was as pale as a ghost.
From within the Feng Luan Palace, Prince Ru Nan's grief-stricken roar echoed.
Ling Yao slowly walked over, watching the man's back suddenly bend, aging at least ten years.
"The child? Where is the child?"
Prince Ru Nan crawled up from the Empress, his bloodshot eyes regaining a flicker of hope.
However, fate seemed to never favor him.
"Stillborn!" Ling Yao gently parted her red lips, uttering words that were enough to break him.
"Stillborn... stillborn..." Prince Ru Nan muttered repeatedly, his body recoiling. Then, he suddenly stopped, his face contorted, crying and laughing.
"Hahaha—Stillborn! Is this retribution? Retribution! Why, why would Heaven do this to me, why!?"
He had gone mad!
In his frenzy, his once black hair visibly turned white.
It turned out that people could truly be driven to the depths of despair.
"Prince Ru Nan led troops into the palace, attempting rebellion. Arrest him!"
"Rebellion, rebellion... Hahaha, if I truly rebelled, would I have ended up like this? Ling Yao!" Prince Ru Nan looked at her intently, "Do you love General Shen Wu? If you understand love, how can you not know the pain of loving someone and being cruelly torn apart?"
She loved him, of course, she loved him. If someone had torn them apart, she would have been in unbearable pain.
She had experienced that before.
Ling Yao seemed lost in thought and waved the guards away.
"But you should have taken her away then! If you didn't take her away, then don't get entangled afterward. But you lacked judgment, ruining her and yourself, and what about Father?"
"Yes, I didn't have the courage to take her away then! I considered brotherhood, I considered the royal family's reputation, I accepted my fate, accepted it. I still had Ling Yin; I truly thought I had let go."
"But Ling Yin died, she died. Heaven is too cruel. She was so weak, so small. I painstakingly raised her, and she died. Even in death, she did not have a good reputation! It's all because of you!"
"My pure daughter, even in death, carries a stigma! You were the one who killed! You were the one almost violated!"
"When my Imperial Brother told me to use Ling Yin's name, do you know what I thought? For the first time, I felt resentment towards him!"
"I gave him the throne, I gave him the woman, why couldn't he even spare my deceased daughter!"