Chapter 35: The Canary Captured by the Enemy Emperor 22

Everyone ran for their lives, while the Imperial Guards protecting Lin Muqing clashed fiercely with ten black-clad assassins.

Lin Muqing quickly pulled the Empress Dowager back to safety—only to have a small child suddenly cling to the Empress Dowager’s leg, stopping her from moving.

At that moment, one of the assassins hurled a sword like a flying arrow in their direction.

The Empress Dowager panicked and tried to shield Lin Muqing, but the child at her leg held her back.

“Consort Shu, be careful!”

Without hesitation, Lin Muqing yanked out the golden hairpin from the Empress Dowager’s hair, her gaze sharp, and flung it.

Clang!

The sword, coming with deadly force, was knocked to the ground.

Everyone was stunned—but the Empress Dowager let out a sigh of relief.

However, these attackers were clearly well-prepared. Seeing Lin Muqing’s quick reflexes, they threw a bag of strange white powder directly at them.

The smell was odd.

“It might be poisonous—be careful!” the Empress Dowager shouted, pushing the child into a maid’s arms and stepping in front of Lin Muqing to shield her.

Lin Muqing stepped up instead. As the powder reached them, she covered the Empress Dowager’s nose and mouth, but was a split second late and inhaled a little herself.

“You foolish girl!” the Empress Dowager cried, flustered and panicked.

The assassins thought they had succeeded and began to retreat.

But Lin Muqing swallowed a detoxifying pill—a divine-grade antidote. The poison barely reached her throat before it was neutralized.

“I’m fine.”

Two more squads of the Imperial Guards arrived. Realizing escape was impossible, the assassins tried to bite their hidden poison capsules.

“Not so fast.”

Lin Muqing picked up a fallen sword and threw it with precision—the blade pierced one assassin’s mouth from left cheek to right, preventing suicide, but not killing him.

That one man was caught alive. The rest were dead.

The Empress Dowager, frantic, shouted, “Quick, restrain him! Summon the imperial physician!”

“Are you hurt anywhere? Get His Majesty right away!”

Lin Muqing shook her head. “Maybe it wasn’t very poisonous?”

…

Later at Shuyu Palace

“The physician said it was powdered crane’s red crest—even a small amount is deadly!” The Empress Dowager was as anxious as a cat on hot bricks.

After examining her, the physician reported, “Consort Lin inhaled very little. Her body is currently stable, and the babies are unharmed.”

Lin Muqing lay on the bed with her eyes closed, trying to rest. The Empress Dowager had talked nonstop.

Oddly, the detox pill not only neutralized the poison but also seemed to purge internal heat and dampness—she felt lighter, her body completely relaxed, and drifted off into deep sleep immediately.

She thought, Had I known it worked this well, I’d have used it as a beauty supplement!

The system chirped in her head:
[Even more beautiful? Aren’t you afraid everyone who sees you will fall in love?]

Lin Muqing: Compliments are always welcome. Beauty? The more the better.

[Stack a few more world buffs, and you’ll be real-life irresistible.]

Lin Muqing: Noted.

Seeing she was asleep, the Empress Dowager stepped outside to continue speaking with the physician.

Just then, Jun Yuanming rushed into the palace, his imperial robes fluttering wildly, all kingly composure gone, his face full of panic. He brushed past the Empress Dowager and stormed into the bedroom.

“Yuan’er, the physician says it was crane’s crest powder—”

Jun Yuanming saw Lin Muqing lying motionless on the bed. His expression darkened—his stunning face drained of color, as if struck by a massive blow.

“Qing’er…”

A tear slipped silently down his cheek.

Crane’s crest poison? That’s fatal…

“Even if we lose the babies, she must be saved…” he said with complete resolve.

“But Consort Lin seems fine. The physician says she’s okay for now,” the Empress Dowager clarified quickly.

Eunuch Qin nearly had a heart attack earlier—Your Majesty, please don’t phrase it like that!

Jun Yuanming sat beside her. But Lin Muqing was fast asleep.

“From now on, I won’t let anything happen to you again…”

He stayed by her side for a long time, watching her peaceful sleeping face, but his fury needed release.

At the same time, he received word of a riot in the military camps.

He immediately left the palace with the Imperial Guards.

“But Your Majesty, we haven’t found the mastermind behind the assassins yet—”

Jun Yuanming’s voice was cold as ice. He unsheathed his sword and mounted a horse.

“No need to investigate. Kill first, ask later. Start with the Chen family.”

He had endured for a year—suppressing his violent tendencies to “play the game” with them. But clearly, some people thought they wouldn’t lose their heads anytime soon.

A wise ruler uses caution and diplomacy. A tyrant? Just draws his sword and ends it all.

He didn’t want to be labeled a tyrant—had waited patiently, gathered evidence, and only then thrown traitors into prison.

But tonight, seeing Lin Muqing lying there unmoving…

That moment of heartbreak unleashed all his rage.

That night—

The capital was shaken.

General Chen and General Li were executed by Jun Yuanming himself for plotting to harm the royal heirs. Their military power was revoked.

All secret guards and private soldiers under the Chen family were wiped out.

Consort Hui, terrified, confessed everything and was imprisoned—awaiting execution.

Consort Rou’s father, the Ministry of Justice’s deputy, was also beheaded for facilitating the assassin infiltration.

They had believed supporting the Emperor’s rise and fighting alongside him would grant them lifelong privileges.

They forgot: the dragon has a reverse scale—touch it, and you die.

…

All of the capital trembled before the Emperor’s wrath.

At morning court, officials were so obedient it was laughable. They badmouthed the executed generals while scrambling to promote their own people into the vacant positions.

Too bad for them—Jun Yuanming had already replaced them with loyal men he had groomed himself.

He would never give them another chance.

…

The next morning, Lin Muqing woke up to find the palace unusually quiet.

She used to occasionally see consorts walking past her gates.

Today, only palace maids remained.

Xiao Yu returned from the Wardrobe Bureau and rushed to her.

“My lady! Did you hear? This morning, Consorts Hui, Wan, and Yun weren’t just demoted to the Cold Palace—they’ve been thrown into the dungeon!”