Chapter 59

A Qingluan Army soldier came over with shackles, and Yan Donghuang signaled him to put them on Yan Ming.

“Yan Donghuang, how dare you!” Yan Ming stared at Yan Donghuang in disbelief, shouting angrily and humiliated, “I am the Emperor. How dare you humiliate me like this?!”

“Humiliate?” Yan Donghuang tightened the whip, pulling him over and throwing him to the ground, then stepped on his back. “Is this humiliation? Yan Ming, you will soon know the price you will pay for your cruel decisions.”

The hall fell silent.

The palace servants, pale with fear, knelt silently on the ground, holding their breath, wishing they could bury their heads in a hole.

The soldier with the shackles stepped forward and deftly put them on Yan Ming.

Yan Ming had practiced martial arts for a few days to strengthen his body, but it was only to leave a good impression on his father as a well-rounded scholar and warrior. His meager skills were nothing compared to Yan Donghuang, a general with a talent for martial arts.

The shackles were heavy, making it difficult for Yan Ming to move.

Yan Donghuang withdrew her foot, coldly watching Yan Ming struggle with the heavy shackles, looking so humiliated and undignified, far from the image of an emperor.

A sound of frightened crying arose.

Yan Donghuang turned to see the women of the harem, led by Empress Qi Fangfei, being escorted by the Qingluan Army, walking over, trembling.

Yan Donghuang’s chest pain intensified. She closed her eyes lightly and turned to sit on a chair brought by the soldiers.

“Which one is Consort De?” Feng Yaoguang walked over, his cold eyes sweeping over the concubines, his gaze filled with a murderous aura that made people shiver. “Come out.”

Consort De’s face turned pale, and she took a step back involuntarily.

Feng Yaoguang saw her movement, narrowed his eyes, and walked up to her, his voice as cold as frost: “Are you Consort De?”

Consort De was almost scared out of her wits: “I… I, I…”

Feng Yaoguang grabbed her and dragged her in front of Yan Donghuang, then kicked her behind the knees, causing Consort De to fall to the ground in a humiliating manner: “Ah!”

How could a concubine withstand a kick from a general?

The Empress’s face changed slightly, and she instinctively stepped forward: “General…”

Feng Yaoguang turned and looked at her coldly.

Qi Fangfei felt a chill in her heart. Her words stuck in her throat, and she couldn’t say a word.

Looking at Consort De lying on the ground, her face pale, her forehead drenched in cold sweat, her body trembling with pain. The other concubines were terrified by Feng Yaoguang’s rough actions, and the timid ones started crying.

“Shut up!” Feng Yaoguang turned and shouted coldly, “Anyone who makes a sound, I will be the first to kill her!”

The concubines trembled, tears welling up in their eyes, instantly falling silent like cicadas in winter.

At this moment, Feng Yaoguang resembled a demon from hell, his strikingly handsome face unable to mask his brutality and coldness. He wasn’t always like this. Although he had a bad temper, Feng Yaoguang always respected women and despised bullying the weak. However, Yan Donghuang’s incurable poisoning and imminent death had driven him to lose all reason. The fact that he hadn’t dismembered the dog emperor on the spot was a result of his extreme self-control. He squatted in front of Consort De, grabbed her hair, and forced her to straighten up. “Was it you who gave Shen Yun the poison?”

Consort De, drenched in cold sweat and pale with fear, stammered, “No… no, it wasn’t me. It was the Emperor who gave it to me. The Emperor ordered me to do it. I… I didn’t dare to disobey…”

“You wretch!” Yan Ming struggled to kick her, the shackles on his hands clanking. “When did I ever authorize you to do this? You clearly wanted to harm the Grand Princess and pinned the blame on me, you wretch!”

Yan Donghuang, looking impatient, said, “Rong Ying.”

As soon as she spoke, Yan Ming received a heavy punch to the face, splitting his lip and causing blood to spread.

Yan Donghuang closed her eyes slightly, waiting for the wave of excruciating pain to pass before opening them again. She looked at Consort De, who was forced to kneel before her, her voice cold and ruthless. “Because of you, the entire Shen family will pay the price.”

Consort De, pale-faced, suddenly looked up at her. “It has nothing to do with them! Grand Grand Princess, I did it all by myself! The Emperor ordered me to do it. The Shen family knew nothing—”

“They couldn’t possibly not know.” Yan Donghuang’s voice was indifferent and ruthless. “Your sister Shen Yun has been living in the Duke’s mansion for nearly three months, pregnant for two months. Do you think the Shen family wouldn’t know? Do you take me for a three-year-old?”

Consort De shook her head violently. “Grand Princess, it’s all my fault! I was possessed by a ghost. I was wrong. I was wrong! I forced Shen Yun to do it. She… she…”

Feng Yaoguang roughly pulled her hair. “Is there an antidote for the Seven-Day Poison? If you dare lie again about the antidote you gave Shen Yun, I’ll give you to the Qingluan Army soldiers to let them taste what it’s like to have an imperial concubine.”

Consort De, terrified out of her wits, shook her head violently. “I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you, the antidote is fake. I only used it to coax Shen Yun into action. There is no antidote! The Seven-Day Poison has no antidote. The Emperor wants the Grand Princess dead…”

Feng Yaoguang’s face stiffened, his eyes cold and sharp.

No antidote, no antidote.

These four words sealed Yan Donghuang’s fate.

Feng Yaoguang slapped her to the ground, stood up, drew the long sword from the waist of a nearby soldier, and walked towards Yan Ming like the god of death.

Yan Ming, frightened by his violent demeanor, involuntarily retreated.

“What… what are you going to do? Donghuang! Donghuang, Doctor Wen is coming soon. He will detoxify you. He will detoxify you! Feng Yaoguang, calm down—ah!”

The sword rose and fell, blood splattering.

An arm was severed at the shoulder.

After a scream, Yan Ming blacked out from the pain.

“Ah!” The concubines could no longer contain their fear, screaming in terror. Two young concubines fainted on the spot.

Chapter 60

Blood splattered on Feng Yaoguang’s face, making him look like a blood-soaked demon, exuding a chilling, bloodthirsty aura.

Yan Donghuang frowned and spoke, “Yaoguang.”

Feng Yaoguang paused, suddenly waking from his loss of control. He turned his head, staring at Yan Donghuang with a look of despair and helplessness.

“Don’t worry too much,” Yan Donghuang said calmly. “Everyone dies. As long as the revenge is taken and the guilty are dead, there will be no regrets.”

How could there be no regrets? How could there be no regrets?

Feng Yaoguang lowered his eyes, nearly drowning in remorse and self-blame. If he had investigated the Duke’s mansion more thoroughly before her marriage, ensuring everything was foolproof, or if he had detected the Emperor’s intentions earlier, perhaps none of this would have happened. He hated himself for his carelessness, which allowed her to fall victim to the schemes of a vile person.

Yan Donghuang turned to Qi Fangfei. “Empress.”

Qi Fangfei’s heart skipped a beat. She walked up to Yan Donghuang, trying to remain calm. “Grand Princess.”

“Yan Ming is dying. Whether you are the empress or concubines, starting today, your titles are nullified,” Yan Donghuang said, her gaze sweeping over Qi Fangfei and the other concubines. “I heard the empress is pregnant. Who else is pregnant? Step forward now.”

The fainted concubines were awakened with water, and all the concubines were like frightened birds, anxious and uneasy.

“I give you two choices: either die with Yan Ming or abort the child,” Yan Donghuang said coldly. “He doesn’t deserve to have children.”

“Grand Princess, Grand Princess!” Consort Liang knelt with a thud.

“Please—”

Yan Donghuang said coldly, “Perhaps you want to choose to die with him?”

Consort Liang’s face turned pale, not daring to say another word.

“Grand Princess, the imperial physicians have arrived.”

Feng Yaoguang turned to see several imperial physicians rushing in, his expression slightly restrained. “Let them in.”

The imperial physicians entered the hall and looked around in horror and unease. When their eyes fell on Yan Ming, they nearly fainted. “Is this… the emperor?”

Although his clothes were stained with blood, they could still recognize the dragon robe. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have known it was the Emperor.

“It’s the emperor,” Feng Yaoguang said coldly. “If you don’t want to end up like him, you’d better answer honestly.”

The imperial physicians, their legs weak, averted their eyes from the Emperor, unable to comprehend how things had turned out this way.

Overnight, the world had turned upside down, and the throne had changed hands?

The Emperor had even lost an arm.
The Grand Princess had indeed gone mad.

Feng Yaoguang said coldly, “Which of you is skilled in detoxification?”

The elderly imperial physician withdrew his gaze and replied to Yan Donghuang, trembling, “We specialize in gynecological diseases, treating the concubines of the harem. The one skilled in detoxification is Imperial Physician Wen. He… he is off duty today, but someone has been sent to fetch him…”

“Yes, yes, Imperial Physician Wen is skilled in detoxification,” another imperial physician nodded repeatedly, nearly biting his tongue. “Imperial Physician Wen is on his way. Please wait a moment, Grand Princess.”

There weren’t many imperial physicians on duty at night. As soon as they received the message, they sent people out of the palace to wake up all the resting imperial physicians and called several renowned doctors from the city. They feared that if they couldn’t detoxify, the Grand Princess would start a massacre. Although they all knew in their hearts that the hope of detoxification was slim…

“Grand Princess,” the leading Imperial Physician Jiang said, his voice trembling, “the Emperor has lost too much blood and may die. Allow me to stop the bleeding first?”

At this moment, Yan Ming was a blood-soaked figure, his dragon robe stained red. He trembled, curled up on the ground, the pain from his severed arm causing cold sweat to drip from his forehead. His body was soaked with sweat, mixed with blood, making him look as if he had been fished out of a pool of blood.

The concubines, seeing this scene, were already pale, their feet seemingly rooted to the ground, suppressing the urge to scream and flee. Even if they ran, where could they go?

Qi Fangfei turned to look outside the hall. Countless torches illuminated the square outside, where soldiers in hard armor stood in neat rows, exuding an imposing, awe-inspiring presence. She turned back to look at the Emperor, who had lost an arm, feeling a moment of sorrow.

The Grand Princess had rebelled, and the Emperor had become a prisoner. The Grand Princess acted ruthlessly; her general was cruel and merciless, even cutting off the Emperor’s arm. Even if there wasn’t a river of blood tonight, such a bloody scene would be enough to give people nightmares for years to come. What kind of fate awaited them, the empress and concubines?

Yan Donghuang did not stop Imperial Physician Jiang, allowing him to perform a simple bandage on Yan Ming skillfully.

Before long, Qin Yang hurried into the hall. “Your Highness, Sheng Jing’an and his mother have been brought here. The civil and military officials have gathered outside the south gate, requesting an audience with the Grand Princess. Please give your orders.”

The Grand Princess’s residence was close to the palace, so the Sheng family’s mother and son were brought faster than the Shen family.

“Let them in,” Yan Donghuang said calmly. “Order the civil and military officials outside the south gate to come in as well.”

“Yes.”

Sheng Jing’an and his mother were soon brought into the hall and forced to kneel before Yan Donghuang.

The old lady’s face was as pale as a sheet. After kneeling, she began to plead in fear, “Grand Princess, Grand Princess, Jing’an is innocent. He has deep feelings for the Grand Princess and has no intention of harming her. Please see clearly! Jing’an was deceived by Shen Yun. He was deceived by Shen Yun!”

Yan Donghuang said nothing, the fierce pain in her chest rolling over and over, making her face paler, and almost unable to speak. She just looked coldly at Sheng Jing’an, gripping the armrests of her chair tightly.

“Old lady, calm down,” Feng Yaoguang said coldly. “The civil and military officials will arrive soon. You can plead for your son in front of them.”

Tonight, dark clouds covered the sky, and the air was chilling.

The news of the Grand Princess’s sudden coup had already spread to all the major residences in the capital, and the entire imperial city was immersed in an unsettling atmosphere of impending doom.

Which official could sleep? Even without orders, they had already gathered outside the south gate, waiting for news. Regardless of whether the Emperor or the Grand Princess emerged victorious, they had to enter the palace.

If the Emperor was in trouble, it meant a change of dynasty, which required the presence of officials.

If the Emperor won, it meant countless people would be buried with him, and the imperial city would be awash with blood. A shadow of dread loomed over the officials’ hearts.

Upon receiving the order, officials led by Prime Minister Pei and Grand Tutor Qi entered through the south gate, walking in line to the square in front of the hall under the sharp and cold gazes of the Qingluan Army.

The surrounding Qingluan Army stood tall and imposing, making them dare not act rashly. The palace was already Yan Donghuang’s palace.

Feng Yaoguang walked out of the hall, the dried blood on his face adding a few more degrees of bloodthirstiness to his aura. Even his voice, delivering orders, carried a murderous tone. “The Grand Princess orders officials of the third rank and above to enter the hall.”