The mighty emperor who once stood high above all now lay sprawled on the ground like an old dog clinging to life, unable to move and at the mercy of others.
Xu Bao'er waved the precious sword in her hand, in no hurry to tell the emperor the truth. Heh, she was simply having fun.
The more the emperor wanted to know, the less she was willing to tell him.
“Although your other imperial princes can no longer have children, you won’t necessarily die without descendants.”
“Because Prince Duan wasn’t poisoned, and his child is in my belly.”
“This will be your only grandchild. Aren’t you happy?”
As she spoke, Xu Bao'er gently patted her belly, as if showing it off.
Upon hearing this, the emperor panted furiously with a “heh, heh.” If only Prince Duan could have children, he might as well die without descendants.
“Dead old man, you trusted the wrong person too.”
“You trusted him so much, yet he acted long ago, planning and carrying out Consort Jing’s curse step by step.”
The emperor felt that he was about to die. His old eyes had grown terribly clouded, and he had no mind to listen to Xu Bao'er’s nonsense. She had said so much without getting to the point, making him anxious enough to die.
“I’m tired from talking. I’ll have a drink of water first.”
Xu Bao'er was deliberately teasing the emperor like this. She knew he was anxious, but she was not.
He had already been struck in the neck by a sword, and now he was terribly anxious as well. Under the assault of his fury, the emperor vomited blood, widened his eyes, and died just like that.
After drinking her water, Xu Bao'er set down the cup and leisurely walked over to the emperor’s corpse.
From the very beginning, Xu Bao'er had deliberately been teasing the emperor. She had never intended to tell him the truth. Not knowing the truth until the moment of death—that was the true suffering.
Xu Bao'er had no intention of letting the emperor die so easily. The evils he had inflicted upon Zhou Jin had to be repaid upon him.
After tapping the emperor’s head, Xu Bao'er spoke slowly.
“It’s all right. The crown prince will soon go down to keep you company.”
The person who had poisoned the imperial princes and rendered them unable to have descendants was none other than the Imperial Preceptor.
The Imperial Preceptor loved Consort Jing. Consort Jing did not trust the emperor, and in order to ensure that her child, Qin Lü, could survive in the imperial palace, she gave herself to the Imperial Preceptor.
The Imperial Preceptor’s love for Consort Jing was obsessive and frenzied. To fulfill Consort Jing’s final wish—in other words, her curse—
The Imperial Preceptor had secretly administered a slow-acting sterility drug to the imperial princes long ago, except for Zhou Jin.
The emperor disliked Zhou Jin, and Zhou Jin was Consort Jing’s only living descendant, so the Imperial Preceptor spared Zhou Jin.
After killing the emperor, Xu Bao'er fled. Tomorrow, they would see whether the crown prince would take the blame.
“Ding-dong, congratulations, host, on personally killing the great villain.”
“The system rewards you with ten beauty pills and twenty childbearing pills.”
“One gold mine, one bottle of Resurrection Potion, and one mysterious planet.”
The system suddenly appeared and announced the distribution of the rewards.
“What does one mysterious planet mean?” Xu Bao'er was hearing of such a reward for the first time.
“It means you have been rewarded with a planet. Everything on the planet belongs to you. You are the creator.”
The system was really going all out today, giving such ferocious rewards.
The emperor had died. The eunuch who saw his corpse was nearly scared to death and hurried away on hands and knees to summon others.
Not long afterward, the crown prince was captured by the commander of the imperial guards.
“Release me! Do you know who I am?”
“I am the crown prince. The emperor will not let you off.”
The crown prince was hauled away by the imperial guards like a chick being carried off.
The commander of the imperial guards who came to arrest the crown prince was none other than the second prince’s maternal uncle.
“Don’t think I don’t know that you’re abusing your authority to settle a personal grudge.”
“Once I tell my imperial father, I’ll have him kill you all.”
The commander of the imperial guards gave a cold laugh, completely ignoring the crown prince.
“Stop pretending.”
“The emperor was assassinated last night and has passed away.”
The crown prince’s eyes widened. He finally understood why these people were arresting him.
“It has nothing to do with me. I didn’t kill my imperial father.”
“I’ve been wronged!”
The crown prince wailed, dragging his human legs along the ground and refusing to leave.
Xu Yu'er, who had hurried out, went weak in the knees upon hearing the commander of the imperial guards.
The crown prince had gone to see the emperor yesterday, and his arm had been injured when he returned. According to her information, the crown prince and the emperor had a fierce quarrel last night.
If the crown prince had truly killed the emperor, wouldn’t she be finished as well?
Watching the crown prince being taken away, Xu Yu'er collapsed onto the ground, her eyes dull and vacant.
It was over. Everything was over.
Because the emperor had passed away, all the officials of the Imperial Court gathered together. Even the empress dowager, who abstained from meat and devoted herself to buddhist devotion, was summoned.
“Empress dowager, you must clear the crown prince’s name.”
“He is innocent.”
“Although my son is foolish, he would absolutely never commit such an audacious act.”
The emperor was dead, yet the empress dowager was not sad in the slightest. The emperor was not her biological son, and he had committed countless evils; he deserved to die.
Speak for the crown prince? Heh, don’t even think about it.
The empress dowager wished the emperor would die without descendants. Her own son had died at a young age, so why had the emperor taken everything that originally belonged to her son?
“What did the imperial guards who stood watch last night say?”
“Empress dowager, I am Da Wu, a seventh-rank Deputy Supervising officer of the imperial guards who stood watch yesterday.”
Da Wu, whom Xu Bao'er had once saved, had now joined the imperial guards and obtained a middling official position.
“Last night, after the crown prince entered the imperial bedchamber, the emperor ordered everyone to stay away from it. The crown prince was the last person to enter the emperor’s imperial bedchamber, and when he came out, his arm appeared to be injured.”
The empress dowager looked toward the crown prince and asked in a deep voice, “crown prince, is what he said true?”
Da Wu had given a selective account, leaving the crown prince unable to refute it for the moment.
Everything Da Wu said about the matters he knew was true. As for the matters he did not know, the crown prince had no idea whether Da Wu was telling the truth.
Seeing that the crown prince did not refute him, the empress dowager delivered her final judgment.
“Crown prince, you murdered the emperor. Do you plead guilty?”
“Empress dowager, I’ve been wronged! I truly did not kill my imperial father.”
The crown prince struggled desperately. He had been wronged, but everything had aligned too perfectly, leaving him completely unable to refute it.
“Guards, take the crown prince away and await his punishment.”
Da Wu watched the crown prince being dragged away and thought to himself: crown prince, don’t blame me. If you must blame someone, blame yourself for being Prince Duan’s enemy.
Ever since Da Wu learned that Xu Bao'er was the Princess Consort of Prince Duan, he had been determined to repay her.
And now the opportunity had come. The second prince was dead, and the emperor was dead. As long as the crown prince shouldered the crime of regicide, the throne would belong to Prince Duan. After all, Prince Duan held the military authority, while the other imperial princes were no match for him.
When news of the crown prince’s arrest arrived, Xu Yu'er panicked instantly. She hurriedly picked up her bundle and tried to run, only to be stopped by the crown prince’s trusted aide.
“Crown princess, the crown prince is in a critical situation. You cannot leave.”
The crown prince’s trusted aide held knives and swords, leaving Xu Yu'er afraid to disobey.
“The crown prince has the military command token that can mobilize the military. Crown princess, please use the crown prince’s name to mobilize the military and rescue him with me.”
That was right. Xu Yu'er suddenly came to her senses. The crown prince had the military command token and could mobilize the military. Why should she fear those people from the Imperial Court?
Now that the emperor was dead, as long as she rescued the crown prince, she would become the future empress.
At this thought, Xu Yu'er threw down the bundle in her hand. Her gaze instantly grew resolute, and she accepted the military command token handed to her by the crown prince’s trusted aide.