Chapter 90: A Major Event in the Palace — What Are You Doing!

Dong Sheng ultimately couldn’t refuse Yun Chu and prepared a hot water bath in the room at the side of the small courtyard.

Taking advantage of the doctor’s absence to prepare medicine, Yun Chu was helped into the bathing room by Dong Sheng. He pulled the curtain, changed out of the prison clothes, and washed every wound thoroughly.

Dong Sheng helped him out and placed him on the couch, his eyes red as he poured out the bathwater, which was almost entirely blood.

When the doctor returned, Yun Chu was lying on the couch, his face as white as paper, his lips pale.

The doctor was startled, thinking Yun Chu had passed away. He quickly checked his body temperature but found him burning with fever, his temperature alarmingly high.

At the same time, he noticed the wounds were thoroughly cleaned, and the dirty clothes had been replaced.

The doctor sighed, “I’ve never seen anyone like the Consort, whose life is less important than their body.”

Although Yun Chu felt much cleaner after the bath, he had inevitably lost more blood and was both in pain and exhausted.

He turned his head, slowly opened his eyes, and gave a humble smile, “If I didn’t clean it, you wouldn’t be able to apply the medicine.”

The doctor was furious, “Is this really about applying medicine? Clearly…”

Clearly, it was to clean the dirt from the wounds and avoid scarring!

But no matter how angry he was, he couldn’t take it out on a patient like that. Seeing Yun Chu’s weak appearance, his anger subsided. His tone softened, and the doctor helplessly said, “Well, it’s better this way, so it won’t fester.”

He had prepared an external medicine and had it ready for Dong Sheng to apply.

Yun Chu had been burning with fever all day, but he kept himself awake and didn’t close his eyes.

At night, the doctor worried that he couldn’t sleep due to the pain and was about to prescribe a sedative, but Yun Chu refused.

“Let me stay awake. I don’t need the medicine.”

Faced with such a disobedient patient, the doctor was so angry he stomped his foot but couldn’t do anything. He stormed out, not wanting to deal with it anymore.

The moon rose in the east and sank in the west.

On the first day, Li Yunli did not come.

Everything in the consort’s courtyard proceeded as usual. Yun Chu was severely injured, so he only had a simple porridge and vegetables, just like when he was newly reborn.

The herbs ordered by Zhi Lan arrived on time, and the small courtyard was filled with the fragrance of medicine.

The transplanted plum trees outside had shed their blossoms, leaving only fallen petals scattered on the ground.

On the second day, Li Yunli still didn’t come.

By the third day, Yun Chu’s fever had subsided, but he suddenly developed a high fever again in the evening.

The fever came on strong, and that night, after being forced to drink a whole bowl of medicine, Yun Chu suddenly turned his head and vomited a mouthful of blood, falling unconscious.

The body that had been slowly recovering deteriorated rapidly.

The doctor was skilled, and although Yun Chu had been severely injured, he had been getting better with the medicine over the past few days. But no one expected this sudden setback. The doctor was anxious, like ants on a hot pan, and had someone go to look for Zhi Lan. However, when they arrived at the Long Princess’s residence, it was eerily quiet, filled with a tense atmosphere, as if a storm was brewing.

Outside the residence, all the side gates were closed.

The guards were surrounding it, and no one could get through.

Li Yunli, who had not returned to the residence for three days, now led his men to the palace gates.

The King of Changling had originally planned to force a confession from Yun Chu that would lead to Li Yunli’s death, but on the same day, Li Yunli attacked his outpost outside the city, almost taking down Zheng Siyuan and the Wei Kingdom’s assassins as well.

A memorial from the Minister of Justice accusing him was sent to the emperor’s court, and the King of Changling also learned that the Long Princess had once again smuggled Yun Chu out of prison.

Soon after, news of Li Yunli seizing military power reached the King of Changling.

Zheng Siyuan sent several urgent letters, and with attacks from both sides, the King of Changling was forced to rebel. With the help of the Duchess of Yongcheng, he raised an army and revolted.

Aside from the assassins, he also mobilized a faction of soldiers who were loyal to him to surround the capital, claiming to fight for the sake of purging the emperor’s faction.

The emperor, of course, was Li Yunli.

Li Yunli waited for three days, and finally, he officially confronted the King of Changling.

The battle began less than thirty miles from the city gates. The common people were all on edge, and the Long Princess’s residence was sealed tight, with no information coming out to the Consort’s courtyard.

Meanwhile, there was turmoil inside the palace. The young emperor was confined to his bedchamber.

The rebels outside the city were being fought back by Xiao Linjia and Ji Wenxun, with Li Yunli leading the troops to protect the emperor and pressing towards the palace gates.

When Li Yunli appeared in the palace, the empress dowager knew the situation was dire.

The remaining soldiers retreated, and after the battle, the palace was desolate. The empress dowager, standing in front of Li Yunli, had her hairpins scattered, smiling madly as she stared at him.

“You’ve succeeded today. Tomorrow, you will ascend the throne as empress! A female emperor!”

Li Yunli frowned at her.

With the memories of two lifetimes combined, she still didn’t understand the person in front of her. In the previous life, she had tragically lost to her, and now, standing here, Li Yunli felt no waves inside.

“It’s just because of this imagined danger, the empress dowager insisted on holding on to power and wouldn’t give it to the emperor, even foolishly allying with the Duchess of Yongcheng and the King of Changling, plotting to eliminate me?”

Li Yunli spoke with sarcasm.

“Have you forgotten that the King of Changling is also a Li family prince? With the young emperor above, if he usurps the throne, you won’t even be able to keep your position as empress dowager.”

“If the King of Changling wants to sit on that throne, it would be regicide and rebellion! But you’re different, you’re the daughter of the late emperor’s consort, and in Great Chu, men and women have equal rights since a hundred years ago. If Ah Han ascends the throne, no official would object!”

This was the empress dowager’s obsession. When the late emperor passed away, he still had fond memories of Princess Nian An. She was capable in both civil and military matters, more fit for leadership than the princes.

The empress dowager laughed loudly, then stared at Li Yunli with a sinister look: “How unfortunate! I wish Great Chu were like Northern Wei, not allowing women to inherit the throne! That way, I wouldn’t have had to give up my life to push you out of the succession, forcing you to never be able to call the late emperor ‘father’!”

Li Yunli’s eyes moved slightly.

She had long suspected the story of fate from that time, and hearing the empress dowager admit it in person today, it seemed reasonable.

She looked down and gave a short laugh.

“So it was for this reason.”

But looking back, the empress dowager had been just a palace beauty who didn’t have much favor from the late emperor. Yet, she had already prepared a path for her future son, never resigning to fate.

It seemed she had never accepted her destiny.

Li Yunli couldn’t help but sigh in her heart, thinking that the empress dowager was a ruthless person.

But it was precisely because of her ruthlessness and arbitrary behavior that she had brought about the present disaster for the court.

It was a pity that the empress dowager didn’t know that after two lifetimes of experience, Li Yunli had already submitted to fate once and would never submit to it again.

Li Yunli drew her sword and took two steps forward.

The empress dowager’s eyes became defensive: “What are you doing!”

“It’s a pity that you never accepted fate. When you kept resisting, you should have known that others would not accept it either!”

Li Yunli stepped forward. The empress dowager panicked, pulling out a hairpin to use as a weapon.

Li Yunli chuckled.

“Moreover, even if, as you said, Great Chu were like Northern Wei, with men above women, do you think the daughters of Great Chu would ever submit to the flow and bow down to others?”

The empress dowager took a step back: “You!”

“There is no such thing as innate inferiority. You should know this best. Even though most people are bound by societal views and accept their fate, there will always be someone who stands up to resist. Wasn’t that what you did back then?”

Li Yunli stared at her.

“And I, too, am one of those.”

The empress dowager stood frozen, as if she couldn’t understand what Li Yunli was saying.

At that moment, the young emperor was released by the soldiers.

Li Han stood at the steps, looking at the tense scene and calling out.

“Big sister!”

The empress dowager suddenly turned around.

Li Yunli spoke calmly and finished her sentence.

“Your Majesty, as well.”

“Shut up! He just doesn’t understand!” The empress dowager shouted, her words full of weakness as she was obviously losing her composure, “He’s been deceived by others. He doesn’t understand! He doesn’t know that you want to harm him! He’s just too sentimental! He doesn’t understand!!”

The young emperor had already run over.

“Stop!” The empress dowager turned around frantically and shouted, holding the hairpin against his neck. Li Han stopped in his tracks, his eyes filled with fear and confusion as he stared at her.

“Remember this, today it was Li Yunli who forced your mother to die! Forced me to die, and will force you to die!”

The empress dowager’s voice was chilling, and the hairpin was driven into her neck!

Li Han stood frozen, his eyes blurry, and suddenly, Li Yunli was crouching in front of him, blocking his view of the horrific scene, reaching out to cover his eyes.

She squatted down, her child trembling violently in her arms.

“Your Majesty, don’t be afraid.”

Li Yunli’s hand was warm as Li Han’s eyelashes fluttered lightly, then became moist.