Chapter 261: Returning the Phoenix Seal

The warm chamber's cozy atmosphere vanished completely, replaced by utter panic.

The Guanren were so frightened their faces turned pallid, kneeling on the ground in a tremor, they stammered, "I… I just saw the Princess by the window…"

"Find her quickly!"

Even if they knew where she was, they couldn't go there immediately.

To guarantee Minghui's safety, the only way was to make the incident even bigger.

"Here!"

"Your Majesty," a young eunuch guarding the hall door shouted sharply, his voice trembling, "There… there is a little shoe of the Princess here."

Everyone looked toward the voice and saw, at the edge of the narrow doghole, a Minghui's tiny shoe abandoned there.

Li Ping'er went black in front of her eyes, her legs went weak and she almost collapsed, but the Guanren hurriedly steadied her.

She snapped her head around, her gaze like a poisoned blade, fiercely flinging at the several nanny‑grandmothers responsible for watching Minghui.

She rushed forward and, without a word, delivered several resounding slaps.

A hoarse voice shouted, "Useless, you can't even watch a child. If the Princess suffers any mishap, I'll take your lives!"

The nannies were beaten until blood seeped from their mouths, kneeling on the ground, pounding their heads like crushing garlic, crying and begging for mercy.

"Wait!" an older, slightly calmer Mamu suddenly cried, "Where is Zhang Mamu? The Zhang Mamu who has been holding the Princess, why hasn't she been seen?"

【That nanny had long been bought off by the Empress Dowager and taken straight to Cining Palace.】

【The Empress Dowager is planning a pincer attack, immobilizing my side, while Xiao Yurou calmly sits in the Empress's seat.】

【My biggest worry isn't the Empress Dowager, it's Xiao Yurou; this woman is like a madwoman, fearing she might go berserk at any moment.】

"All of you, shut up!" Wan Tang barked, halting the cries and chaos inside the hall.

She inhaled deeply, seized Xiao Luzi's wrist with astonishing force, "Xiao Luzi, you go yourself with a team to search Zhang Mamu's residence."

"Don't let even an inch slip by!"

"Huh!" Xiao Luzi scrambled away, rolling and crawling.

A moment later, his face ashen, he returned cradling a coarse cloth bundle.

His voice trembling, "Your Majesty… in the brick gap beneath her bed, we found this…"

The bundle opened, revealing several snow‑white silver ingots.

"Who could be so vicious to lay a hand on a child!" Li Ping'er's eyes widened to the brink of tearing.

Outside the hall came a rapid rush of footsteps, accompanied by the harsh screech of metal scraping the floor.

Hui Guifei brandished her gleaming long sword, her face radiating murderous aura as she stormed in.

Her phoenix eyes swept the hall, her voice like cracking ice, "Who dares to touch Minghui? I will cleave them myself!"

She saw silent tears sliding down Wan Tang's pallid face.

She paused, let out an irritated "tsk," yet stepped forward another pace.

Her tone was rigid, with undeniable force, "Why are you crying!"

"If you have time to cry, better think about how to retrieve the child!"

"Rest assured, even if I overturn the entire Imperial harem, I will find Minghui for you!"

She paused, then added viciously, "If you dare shed another tear, once Minghui is found, I'll whisk her to Jingren Palace so you'll never see her again!"

Wan Tang seemed not to hear the threat, trembling as she reached out.

Pointing at the spread silver and cloth on the floor, her voice barely audible, "Don't… don't search any more."

"What did you say?!"

Hui Guifei could hardly believe her ears, her fury spiking instantly.

Li Ping'er anxiously glanced at Wan Tang.

Xiao Luzi and Xiao Shunzi exchanged bewildered, uneasy looks.

Wan Tang did not look at them; her gaze fell on Li Defu, who had been huddled in the corner, trying to minimize his presence.

A voice, oddly calm, said, "Li Gonggong, come and take a look."

Li Defu froze, hesitating before stepping forward.

Under Wan Tang's piercing gaze, he carefully lifted the cloth bundle and brought it to his nose to sniff.

In an instant, his cloudy old eyes widened sharply, then drooped again swiftly.

His complexion turned extremely grim, his lips trembling, sinking into a death‑like silence.

"Speak!" Hui Guifei's sword tip hovered near his nose.

Li Defu shivered all over, finally raising his head, his face full of solemn dread.

His voice hoarse, he said haltingly, "The scent on this cloth bundle… is the specially made 'Canaan Incense' constantly offered at the Fotang of Cining Palace."

"This fragrance is unique; I would never mistake it…"

Cining Palace!

Hui Guifei was first stunned, then as if hearing the world's biggest joke.

She laughed outright in anger, the laugh brimming with ferocity and sarcasm: "Fine! Fine!"

"Truly despicably shameless, does she even have a face left!"

Wan Tang slowly rose at that moment, the tear tracks on her face still wet, yet her gaze had already regained composure.

She gently restrained Hui Guifei, who was about to draw her sword and rush to Cining Palace:

"Sister Hui, don't get angry."

She inhaled deeply, her gaze sweeping over the glaring silver coins and cloth on the floor, her tone terrifyingly calm:

"I now know what to do."

"As long as… Minghui's safety can be restored, nothing else matters."

Fēng xuě grew fiercer, and the white jade stone steps outside Yangxin Hall were icy and bone‑piercing.

Wan Tang shed her ornate robes and jeweled ornaments, wearing only a plain white shirt, her ink‑black hair unbound and draped over her shoulders.

She was barefoot, stepping step by step over the packed snow.

She held the heavy Phoenix seal aloft with both hands, walked to the tightly shut Gongmen of Yangxin Hall, slowly bent her knees, and knelt in the icy snow.

"I, Wan Tang, am deficient in virtue, unfit to hold the Phoenix seal or assist in managing the six palaces."

"Now I volunteer to return the seal and request imperial decree to be moved to the Cold Palace, from then on living by dim lamps and ancient Buddha, never again interfering in Imperial harem affairs."

"May the Emperor… grant me permission." Her voice was soft, yet clear enough to pierce the Fēng xuě and reach the hall.

Inside Yangxin Hall, a fierce argument was erupting at that moment.

"Emperor, the Virtuous Consort's lineage is now clear; she is a descendant of a criminal, and according to law she should be deposed!"

"Now that she knows her crimes and voluntarily resigns, why should the Emperor still go to the trouble of protecting her?" Xiao Sihai's voice carried an overbearing pressure.

"Indeed, Emperor, the Virtuous Consort's request to enter the Cold Palace shows prudence; the Emperor should follow Heaven's will and the people's hearts!" several ministers attached to the Xiao family echoed.

Chu Yunzheng's face turned iron‑blue as he sat on the Dragon Throne, lips tightly pursed, saying nothing.

At that moment, the eunuch Xiao Dongzi silently quickened forward.

He avoided everyone's gaze and presented a letter to Chu Yunzheng's side.

Chu Yunzheng unfolded the letter, its script the slightly slanted yet extremely urgent handwriting of Xiao Luzi.

In a few terse lines, it reported that Princess Minghui was possibly abducted, and that at the wet nurse's place two silver taels of a special Cining Palace spice were found.

Bang!

Chu Yunzheng slammed the letter onto the imperial desk, the huge sound instantly silencing the hall.

His chest heaved violently, his eyes roiling with shock, anger and boundless fury, and he sprang up, about to rush outward.

"Emperor!" Xiao Sihai, seeing this, immediately led the ministers to kneel, blocking the way, his words "earnest" yet laced with threat, "Your Majesty, think twice!"

"The Virtuous Consort's identity is sensitive; now the court and the realm all know it. If the Emperor now insists on protecting her, it will only chill the hearts of the people and be detrimental to the stability of the state."

"We… all act for the Emperor, for the sake of the realm."

Chu Yunzheng's steps halted; he slowly turned, his gaze like an ice blade sweeping over the kneeling officials beneath him.

A chilling snicker: "For me? For the realm?"

His voice was low, yet bore the unquestionable authority of an emperor, "As long as I sit upon this Dragon Throne, I will never allow anyone to touch my woman!"

He ignored the shocked cries and admonitions of the ministers behind him, forcefully pushed aside Xiao Sihai blocking his path, and strode toward the hall doors.

The heavy hall doors opened from within, and the Fēng xuě, wrapped in cold, slammed into his face.

In an instant, Chu Yunzheng saw Wan Tang kneeling in the snow, plain‑clothed and barefoot, her thin frame trembling, yet she still held the Phoenix seal upright.

A pain struck his heart; he staggered down the steps, disregarding imperial decorum, reaching out to lift her himself.

The Yangxin Hall doors burst open, the Fēng xuě howling in with its chill.

Wan Tang's plain garment was soaked with snow, her ink‑black hair loose, her bare feet turned blue‑purple from frost, yet her hands still firmly raised the Phoenix seal.

She bowed her head, tiny ice crystals clinging to her long lashes, fragile as if the next moment the Fēng xuě would devour her.

Chu Yunzheng's mind felt as if it were being violently yanked, the pain nearly choking him.

He hurried down the steps, unable even to mind imperial bearing, reaching to support her icy arm.

"Tangtang…"

His fingertips just brushed her cold sleeve when a steady, unmistakable voice from behind Xiao Sihai said, "Emperor, the Old Minister earnestly requests an audience with you, to see a person."

Chu Yunzheng halted, his fury flashing to his brows; without turning his head he barked, "Get out!"

Xiao Sihai did not retreat; instead he stepped forward, his voice dropping even lower.

Yet with the weight of a thousand pounds, he said, "Emperor, the Old Minister dares, this person you must see."

"Because… this concerns the life and death of the Northern Border Hundred Thousand Army, and the safety of my Fengqi realm and the state!"

The six words "Northern Border Hundred Thousand Army" were like the heaviest shackles, instantly halting Chu Yunzheng's steps.

His outstretched hand froze mid‑air, the heartache and anger on his face gradually giving way to immense shock and gravity.

He slowly turned his head, looking at Xiao Sihai, his gaze sharp as a blade.

Xiao Sihai met his stare without flinching, gave a slight nod, indicating he was no liar.

Chu Yunzheng's chest heaved violently as he looked again at Wan Tang kneeling in the Fēng xuě.

His eyes were filled with struggle, helplessness, and deeper compassion and remorse.

He leaned down, speaking in a voice only the two of them could hear, whispering with utmost tenderness:

"Tangtang, wait for me a moment."

He gave her a deep look, "Just a moment."

Having spoken, he abruptly straightened, all soft emotions collapsing from his face, leaving only the emperor's cold hardness and resolve.

He turned, strode back to Yangxin Hall, the hall doors slowly closing behind him, once again sealing Wan Tang away from the Fēng xuě and the unknown.

Inside Yangxin Hall, the charcoal crackled, yet could not dispel the heavy oppression.

A trembling old woman in coarse cloth was brought in.