Emperor Yongye’s concerns were not just that. With Dongfang Jin dead, dealing with Feng Bailing could likely infuriate the great dical Buddha behind him.
If the dical Buddha beca enraged, the already unstable situation in Great Chu would beco even more precarious, sothing Emperor Yongye didn’t want to see.
Thinking of these matters, Emperor Yongye felt even more drained.
Noble Consort Dugu hurried forward to gently massage Emperor Yongye’s temples, and he instantly felt a wave of relief, his complexion slightly improved.
"Your Majesty, the Crown Princess Consort has requested an audience several tis. She says that Princess Consort Xiuxiu, she..."
Li Qing hesitated outside for a mont before gathering the courage to speak again.
Hearing the na Dongfang Xiu, Emperor Yongye wondered, had sothing happened to Xiuxiu?
"Let her in."
Emperor Yongye pondered for a mont, he also knew that Nalan Yan’er had just lost her husband and son. If sothing happened to Dongfang Xiu... It wouldn’t be easy for her.
Nalan Yan’er, dressed in plain white, walked in and imdiately fell to her knees with a thump before Emperor Yongye, knocking her head on the ground repeatedly.
"Father Emperor, I beg you to seek justice for your child."
She cried with swollen red eyes, appearing even more haggard.
Seeing her state, Emperor Yongye sighed softly.
"Crown Princess Consort, I will certainly give you an explanation for the Crown Prince’s death."
"I am not here because of the Crown Prince, but for Xiuxiu. Xiuxiu, she..."
Nalan Yan’er choked up.
"What happened to Xiuxiu?"
Emperor Yongye was stunned.
Although he had several sons, there weren’t many grandchildren, and even fewer stood out.
This was why he had been so fond of Dongfang Jin and Dongfang Xiu.
Nalan Yan’er was sobbing inconsolably.
"Xiuxiu is gone."
Emperor Yongye was shocked.
"What are you saying? Who’s gone? How could a perfectly fine person just be gone??"
"Father Emperor, Jin’er and Xiuxiu were twins. Ever since Xiuxiu learned of her brother’s death, she beca listless and dejected. The day after Jin’er’s death, Xiuxiu cried ceaselessly. This morning, she sneaked out, and by the ti the nanny found her dead, Xiuxiu had accidentally fallen into the lotus pond and drowned. It must have been because the child was too heartbroken that she beca distracted and fell. She used to love catching butterflies beside the lotus pond with Jin’er."
At this point, Nalan Yan’er was crying violently.
"All of this is because of Feng Bailing. If he hadn’t slandered Jin’er, Xiuxiu wouldn’t have... and now I have lost both my husband and children, I no longer wish to live alone in this world."
As Nalan Yan’er spoke, she suddenly stood up and rushed to hit her head against the wall.
"Crown Princess Consort!"
Noble Consort Dugu quickly stepped forward to stop her, and Li Qing also hurriedly held Nalan Yan’er back.
"Do not hold . My husband died tragically, and both my children died unexplained deaths. I might as well join them."
Nalan Yan’er nearly fainted several tis.
"Your Majesty, I also heard that twins share a spiritual connection. If one cannot survive, I’m afraid that the other... Ah..."
Noble Consort Dugu could not help but shed tears, her face filled with sympathy.
"Father Emperor, is the life of my children to be wasted just like this?"
Nalan Yan’er continued to weep and wail, causing Emperor Yongye a headache. After a mont, Emperor Yongye finally sighed deeply.
"I will grant you justice."
"Li Qing, go draft the decree. Have the second son issue a nationwide manhunt for Princess Consort Wu. Also, take Princess Consort Wu’s twins into custody. If anyone obstructs, they will be charged with the sa cri."
Emperor Yongye had heard about the upheaval at Prince Shun’s Mansion last night. Nalan Yan’er had taken people there to arrest Dugu Xiaojin and Feng Xiaoli, but they were suppressed by Princess Consort Shun invoking the Iron Scroll and returned empty-handed.
Prince Mansion’s existence of the Iron Scroll was also known to Emperor Yongye.
Although he allowed the existence of the Iron Scroll, he did not acknowledge it as superior to imperial power.
Nalan Yan’er, after hearing this, a glint of joy faintly flashed across her face overwheld by grief.
Noble Consort Dugu, too, was secretly delighted on the side.
Both thought to themselves that Feng Bailing would not be able to escape this ti, even if he grew wings.
Nalan Yan’er left the Imperial Study feeling completely satisfied.
The mont she stepped out, her expression turned ice-cold.
"The body of Crown Princess Consort Xiuxiu has already been retrieved," whispered a servant at her side.
"Have it cremated imdiately, and send the nanny’s entire family down to accompany Xiuxiu," commanded Nalan Yan’er with a voice cold as ice, causing the nearby servant to shiver uncontrollably.
Nalan Yan’er took a few steps.
"Please hold, Crown Princess Consort, the Empress Dowager requests your presence," said a little eunuch who approached her. Nalan Yan’er gave him a glance and then put on a devastated appearance.
She knew that the Empress Dowager wanted to plead for Feng Bailing.
That old crone of an Empress Dowager outwardly showed love for him and Jinjin, and even Xiuxiu, but in her heart, she favored Feng Bailing and Prince Wu’s illegitimate children even more.
She wanted Feng Bailing dead and this ti she would not relent, no matter what.
Nalan Yan’er turned and headed towards the Empress Dowager’s palace, passing through the imperial garden. After walking for a bit through the garden, she frowned.
She had been to the imperial garden countless tis, yet the trees and flowers in front of her seed unfamiliar. She continued forward, but after a few more steps, the vegetation remained the sa.
Nalan Yan’er’s frown deepened.
"What’s going on? I don’t rember this path in the imperial garden. Go ahead and ask," she said to her servant. The servant replied with a nod and walked briskly ahead.
Nalan Yan’er was about to question the eunuch who brought the ssage, but she found that he had disappeared.
After waiting for a quarter of an hour and her servant had not returned, Nalan Yan’er grew impatient.
She had been in the palace long enough, and Xiuxiu’s body was still in the Crown Prince Mansion; she should hurry back to handle it.
For so reason, even though everything was going smoothly, Nalan Yan’er suddenly felt extrely anxious, as if she sensed sothing was about to happen.
The garden was deserted, with not a soul in sight.
Nalan Yan’er felt even more uneasy, and after a few more steps, she realized she had returned to the path where she had initially entered the imperial garden.
She looked around and for so reason, the trees and flowers seed to emit a ghastly and eerie feeling.
Nalan Yan’er quickened her pace, yet she still couldn’t find her way out of the garden, and her heart pounded with increasing terror.
A rustling sound ca from the bushes beside her, setting off an alarm in her mind.
"Who’s there? Quickly, lead out," Nalan Yan’er demanded.
No sooner had she spoken, than her pupils contracted sharply.
From the bushes in front of her, a small figure erged, and when she saw the person, Nalan Yan’er’s heart leaped into her throat.
She couldn’t help but step back.
The person who ca out of the bushes was a child, wearing a beige robe, resembling Nalan Yan’er’s features.
The child looked intently at Nalan Yan’er and steadily advanced towards her.
Nalan Yan’er let out a scream and stepped back, but there was no way back, only the disorienting plants and flowers.
"Jinjin, how could you be here?"
Nalan Yan’er’s voice faltered in fright.
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