“Who?”
“Regent Prince Xue Wenjie.”
Xue Zining trembled, her blood turning to ice. She stiffly turned her head to look at Yan Zhao, who was also looking at her, slowly uttering, “Your Majesty, the Xue family army has always been trained by Xue Wenjie. They recognize only the Tiger Tally and Regent Prince Xue Wenjie. Xue Zixuan is Xue Wenjie’s illegitimate son…”
Xue Zining shivered, having forgotten this fact.
She looked at Yan Zhao, who met her gaze, his eyes like stars, not flinching at all.
Now, she had to verify something.
“Yan Zhao, come with me to the palace,” Xue Zining said.
Yan Zhao was stunned. “Your Majesty, you cannot. The palace guards are all people loyal to Prince Mingxian. If you go, it will be a dead end.”
“It won’t be. Besides, can’t the Imperial Tutor protect me?”
Yan Zhao’s gaze faltered. The young girl before him, with her clear and brilliant eyes, made it impossible for him to refuse.
He lowered his gaze, leaned down, and said, “This subject will never let anyone harm Your Majesty.”
“Let’s go…” Xue Zining said.
The Imperial Tutor’s mansion was not far from the palace. In less than the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, she and Yan Zhao arrived outside the palace walls.
Indeed, the palace was already surrounded.
Xue Zining leaped up and onto the parapet of the palace wall. Yan Zhao followed.
She tried to move in places where patrolling guards wouldn’t notice.
Soon, she arrived outside the Zhaoyuan Palace.
Leaping into the apricot blossom tree within Zhaoyuan Palace, the leaves perfectly concealed her.
She felt a weight on her feet and turned to see that exquisitely handsome face appear before her.
“You…”
“Your Majesty, look.” Yan Zhao suddenly interrupted her.
Xue Zining looked in the direction Yan Zhao indicated. She trembled, staring intently at the person in white within Zhaoyuan Palace.
She turned to look at Yan Zhao behind her and asked, “Which of you is the real Yan Zhao?”
Yan Zhao’s eyes flashed with a brilliant light. “Your Majesty, can’t you see it now? Prince Mingxian wants to utterly crush you.”
Xue Zining felt her blood surge, and a metallic taste filled her throat. She coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Yan Zhao trembled and quickly stepped forward to support her swaying body, asking with concern, “Your Majesty, what is wrong?”
Xue Zining shook her head, wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth. She saw the young girl grasp his hand, very, very tightly, and utter each word slowly, “Yan Zhao, I was wrong to blame you…”
Yan Zhao was taken aback. He saw tears streaming down the young girl’s face, her clear eyes filled with regret. She bit her lips fiercely, turning her once plump and rosy lips pale and bloodless.
“Your Majesty, you did nothing wrong. It was the perilous situation at the time,” Yan Zhao said slowly, as if his words had the magic to sweep away all her gloom.
“Who?” someone inside Zhaoyuan Palace shouted.
Xue Zining’s gaze turned cold. She leaped down. “It is I.”
Xue Zixuan sneered upon seeing her appear. “Imperial Sister, you’ve finally shown yourself.”
Xue Zining’s eyes were clear and alluring, filled with a bone-chilling coldness.
Xue Zixuan trembled. The current Xue Zining should not be like this; she should be fearful.
But why was she able to stand before him so calmly?
“Good Imperial Sister, this place is already surrounded by my men. You had best issue a decree of abdication, and I might spare your life. Otherwise…”
Xue Zining coldly interrupted him, “Xue Zixuan, is this what you want? To ascend the throne, that supreme position, and watch your relatives depart one by one?”
Xue Zixuan sneered, “Imperial Sister, what use is there in saying such things now? This throne is mine to take.”
“Zixuan, you are not Father Emperor’s son. Are you not afraid of sitting on this throne with an illegitimate claim and being subjected to endless criticism?”
Xue Zixuan trembled. “You… you’re talking nonsense…”
“I am not talking nonsense. You were born from the illicit affair between Consort Chao and the Regent Prince. If you don’t believe me, think about whether Father Emperor treated you coldly.”
Xue Zixuan stumbled back a few steps, his face contorting with rage. “You’re lying, you’re deliberately trying to trick me.”
“Trick you? What meaning would it have for me to trick you at this moment?”
“So what? The victor becomes king, the loser becomes a bandit. It is I who has won now,” Xue Zixuan roared.
Xue Zining shook her head and said faintly, “We don’t know who will win. Xue Zixuan, you will not win.”
Xue Zixuan laughed heartily. “Now all these people are mine. Outside the palace, the Xue family army has us firmly surrounded. Imperial Sister, you are trapped with no escape. Moreover…”
He looked at the person behind him and sneered, “With the Imperial Tutor’s assistance, I will be invincible.”
“Yan Zhao” walked over and bowed to Xue Zixuan. “Your Highness, the Xue family army is now in my hands and awaits your command!”
Xue Zining narrowed her eyes. This was the last sentence she heard in her past life.
She clenched her fists tightly. Because of a fake Yan Zhao, she had hated someone for so many years in vain.
She looked at the person in the apricot blossom tree. “Yan Zhao, won’t you break the legs of your imposter?”
The leaves of the apricot blossom tree rustled, and a figure in white descended from the sky, accompanied by falling leaves.
White as snow, stunningly beautiful.
Yan Zhao looked at the fake Yan Zhao, his eyes like stars now radiating an extreme, chilling coldness. “It was you who made me be hated for so many years in vain.”
Xue Zining: “…” Why did it feel like there was a hidden meaning?
Yan Zhao suddenly attacked, as swift as lightning.
Two white figures intertwined.
Xue Zining looked at Xue Zixuan. “Zixuan, I give you one last chance. Submit to me now, and I will spare your life.”
Xue Zixuan laughed, his eyes filled with mockery. “Imperial Sister, these words should be said by me to you. Abdicate, and I will give you…”
Before he could finish speaking, he felt a cold wind and his neck was cut by a dagger emanating coldness.
“You…”
“Since you are obstinate, I cannot let you live.”
He struggled to lift his eyelids and saw the young girl before him, high and mighty, like a god, looking down at him, who was now like an ant.
At this moment, he finally understood that an emperor would always be an emperor, and he would never be one.
“Xue Zixuan, this life’s grievances and grudges between us are over. In the next life, I hope you will remember your words and always submit!”
Xue Zixuan didn’t understand. The next life? Was there even a next life?
Xue Zining watched him slowly close his eyes. She sighed softly, removed her cloak, and draped it over him.
“Zixuan, goodbye for this life.”
“It’s you…”
Xue Zining heard Yan Zhao exclaim in surprise. She turned and saw that the mask on the fake Yan Zhao’s face had been removed. She felt a sense of familiarity, but the fake Yan Zhao immediately attacked Yan Zhao.
Yan Zhao retreated a few steps. The fake Yan Zhao leaped away.