Chapter 19

Seeing the reaction of the mother and son, Yan Donghuang no longer needed to ask more questions. Asking more would only be like rubbing salt into the wound. She raised her hand and ordered, “Mo Lin, remove the chains from his hands.”

Mo Lin walked over to Mingzhu, squatted down, and, after examining the chains on his wrists, turned to Yan Donghuang with some difficulty: “Your Highness, the chains have been on for too long and have embedded into the flesh. If we break them without a key, it might damage the bones in his wrists.”

Mingzhu’s voice trembled, “I… I’m not afraid of pain. Just do it.”

Seeing his miserable state, Mo Lin believed he was indeed not afraid of pain.

After all, judging by the state of the chains embedded in his flesh, he had lost his freedom for at least five or six years. The new and old wounds on his body showed what kind of life he had been living all these years.

“Go and get the key from Chu Yuanzheng,” Yan Donghuang said calmly. “If he doesn’t give it, cut off one of his hands.”

“Yes.” Mo Lin turned and walked out.

Mingzhu knelt on the ground, head bowed, saying nothing more.

“Since you don’t bear the surname Chu and are not on the family register, I will spare you and your mother today,” Yan Donghuang said indifferently. “You look decent. Can you read and write?”

Mingzhu’s voice was hoarse and sounded somewhat self-abased, “No, I can’t.”

Yan Donghuang frowned.

At this moment, there was a sudden sound of urgent hoofbeats outside, accompanied by a high-pitched voice, “An imperial decree has arrived!”

Madam Chu’s spirit lifted.

“The Emperor’s verbal order!” The eunuch’s urgent voice came closer, “Your Highness, the Emperor has a verbal order!”

Feng Yaoguang turned his head to look outside, his expression mocking.

“Your Highness!” The chief eunuch stumbled in, almost tripping over the threshold, but was steadied by a young eunuch behind him. He hurriedly steadied himself, “The Emperor has something to say to you, and the Empress Dowager also has instructions. Please, Your Highness, do not act impulsively!”

Yan Donghuang looked at him coldly, her expression indifferent, saying nothing.

After entering, Li De’an bowed to Yan Donghuang and cautiously began, “Your Highness, the Emperor already knows the truth. Sheng Jing’an poisoned you on your wedding night on his own initiative, committing treason. His purpose was to sow discord between the Emperor and you. The Emperor had no intention of harming you!”

Feng Yaoguang lazily said, “The Emperor is trying to shift all the blame onto Duke Zhen?”

“No, no, no, absolutely not,” Li De’an said in a frightened tone, raising his hand to swear. “Your Highness, the Empress Dowager has always treated you like her own daughter. When she heard the news, she immediately questioned the Emperor. The Emperor said you were rebelling, but the Empress Dowager refused to believe it.”

He swallowed hard, “The Emperor carefully interrogated some people and found out that Duke Zhen indeed poisoned you. The Emperor was furious and immediately ordered the confiscation of the Duke’s mansion and the execution of the entire family. This shows that the Emperor was completely unaware of this matter. Please, Your Highness, see the truth. As for that concubine Shen Yun, who was disrespectful to you, although she is the half-sister of Consort De, the Emperor will handle it impartially and will not favor the Shen family!”

Hearing Li De’an’s words, Madam Chu quickly understood the situation and looked at Yan Donghuang with hope in her eyes, “So it was all a misunderstanding, Your Highness! Empress Dowager has always treated you like her daughter, and the Emperor sees you as his sister. How could they harm you? It was all Sheng Jing’an’s scheme. He deserves to die a thousand deaths!”

Yan Donghuang sat silently in her chair, resting her chin on her hand, “If that’s the case, let the Empress Dowager come out of the palace and talk to me face to face.”

“Wha-what?” Li De’an was stunned, “Your Highness?”

Yan Donghuang casually looked at Mingzhu, “Go and get the key from Chu Yuanzheng. If he doesn’t give it, cut off one of his hands and have Chief Eunuch Li take it back to the Empress Dowager. Tell her that if she wants to prove the Emperor’s innocence, she must come to the Chu family in person and confront me face to face. Otherwise, I will not believe her words.”

Li De’an was shocked, “Your Highness, this is absolutely impossible! Young Master Chu is the Empress Dowager’s nephew—”

“Mingzhu, do you dare?”

Mingzhu looked up at Yan Donghuang, meeting her cold, almost merciless eyes. Thinking of the dark years he had endured, he slowly nodded, “I dare.”

“Then go.”

“You wretch, how dare you?!” Madam Chu lost control and lunged at him, “If you dare to harm a hair on Yuanzheng’s head, I will slice your flesh piece by piece and feed it to the dogs!”

Mingzhu looked at her calmly, his eyes filled with deep-seated hatred and a burning desire for revenge, making Madam Chu shiver with fear.

“I am a wretch, already low as dirt. Why would I fear being fed to dogs?” He seemed to mock and speak in a wooden voice in despair. He then stiffly got up from the ground.

The chains on his wrists clinked, their rhythm disrupted by his trembling body.

Feng Yaoguang thoughtfully watched him, then reached out to help him up.

“Thank you, General,” Mingzhu bowed his head in gratitude and turned to walk out step by step.

“You wretch, how dare you?” Madam Chu tried to grab him.

But she had just been kicked in the knee by Feng Yaoguang and had not yet gotten up when the pain struck again, causing her to fall back down in a mess, “No, you can’t do this. You will be struck by lightning…”

Yan Donghuang said nothing, and neither did Feng Yaoguang.

The elite guards in the hall also said nothing, silently watching the thin young man’s back. He was so thin, so weak, that he seemed ready to die at any moment. Due to long-term imprisonment, he walked unsteadily, but at this moment, there seemed to be a glimmer of hope ahead, giving him the courage to fight against fate. He walked with such difficulty yet with such determination.

“Your Highness,” Li De’an stammered, “the Chu family is the Empress Dowager’s maternal family. You used to call Master Chu ‘uncle’ when you were a child. Your Highness, please don’t act impulsively…”

Yan Donghuang coldly asked, “Did you come alone?”

“No, no, Commander Ying also came. He was stopped outside…” Li De’an shook his head instinctively, then suddenly seemed to remember something, “Commander Ying was ordered to confiscate Duke Zhen’s mansion. The Emperor wants to seek justice for you. We just came from the Duke’s mansion. There were too many guards, and the Imperial Guards couldn’t get in. Your Highness, the Emperor really wants to deal with the Duke’s mansion. Please believe the Emperor and the Empress Dowager…” He spoke so quickly and urgently that he became somewhat incoherent.

As the chief eunuch by the Emperor’s side, Li De’an had seen all kinds of storms over the years – The Emperor’s wrath, palace intrigues, the struggle for the throne, and the death of the previous Emperor. He had long been accustomed to facing everything. But today, he still couldn’t help feeling a deep sense of unease.

Yan Donghuang said indifferently, “What else did the Empress Dowager say?”

“The Empress Dowager said… she said that Your Highness’s actions were all due to Duke Zhen’s betrayal and that you were misled into misunderstanding the Emperor. She asked the Emperor not to pursue Your Highness’s crimes…”

Yan Donghuang coldly asked, “Did she say what she would do if I really rebelled against the Emperor?”

Li De’an’s face turned pale, “Your Highness?”

“Go back and ask the Empress Dowager,” Yan Donghuang smiled slightly, “tell her I want to sit on the Emperor’s dragon throne. Since she wants to be a loving mother, she shouldn’t refuse such a small request from me, right?”

Li De’an was so frightened that he almost fainted, “Your Highness, this… this this…”

“Silence,” Yan Donghuang leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes wearily, “if anyone disturbs me again, drag them out and beat them to death.”

Li De’an’s legs gave way, and he fell to his knees with a thud.