Chapter 268: Don't Go Back

Minghui seemed to sense a familiar aura and lifted his little head.

Seeing Xu Yanchuan, his black‑grape‑like big eyes blinked, he stretched out his chubby little hand, cooing for a hug.

Looking at Minghui's small face that resembled Wan Tang's so closely, Xu Yanchuan's eyes suddenly reddened, his throat choked.

He suppressed the bitterness in his heart and croaked to Hui Guifei, "Noble Consort, move aside."

"I will go to Cining Palace and get to the bottom of this!"

"Go back!"

Hui Guifei's voice was not loud, yet it left no room for doubt.

She fixed her sharp phoenix eyes on him, deliberately raised her voice, each word clear, as if speaking for any ears that might be listening:

"General Xu, please remember your status."

"You and Virtuous Consort are enemies."

"Whether she lives or dies, what does it have to do with you?!"

"Your haste—are you trying to make people suspect something?!"

Xu Yanchuan, his emotions stirred, was about to argue.

Hui Guifei, however, stepped forward sharply, her voice pressed down to a whisper:

"That layer of window paper has already been broken."

She stared at his suddenly changed expression and continued coldly, "Otherwise, you think, given the Emperor's past favor toward Virtuous Consort, why this time he is so indifferent, even tacitly allowing her disappearance?"

"Your causing a scene now—what are you trying to prove?"

Xu Yanchuan felt as if struck by lightning, his whole body trembling, looking at Hui Guifei in disbelief.

At that moment, Hui Guifei suddenly raised her hand, "Slap!"

A crisp, loud slap struck Xu Yanchuan's face hard!

The slap was merciless; Xu Yanchuan's cheek instantly swelled red.

After the strike, Hui Guifei's voice remained low but carried a tone of anguish: "This slap I dealt for your sister!"

She raised her volume again, scolding harshly, each word like a poisoned needle: "Scram back to your General's Residence."

"Mo family remnant, this is not a place for you."

"If you dare approach the Imperial harem again, don't blame my sword for being merciless!"

The four characters "Mo family remnant" were gouged deep into Xu Yanchuan's heart.

His pupils contracted; the Emperor knew everything…

His gaze slowly shifted from Hui Guifei's cold, stern face to finally rest on Minghui's innocent, clueless face that she held tightly.

Xu Yanchuan looked at her, a profoundly bleak and bitter smile tugging at his lips.

He understood.

He no longer looked at anyone, slowly turned his back, his silhouette rigid and heavy, step by step, as if dragging a thousand‑pound burden, walking toward the outside of the palace.

At the foot of the snow mountain.

Su Yanci still slept, his complexion pale, but his breathing had steadied considerably.

Wan Tang sat at the bedside, gently fanning the soup medicine in the bowl, preparing to feed him.

The herbalist's granddaughter, that delicate‑faced mute girl, stood quietly beside him, holding a clean cloth in her hands.

Her gaze, however, couldn't help drifting again and again toward the handsome visage on the couch, unmarred even by illness.

The maiden's budding affection was clearly visible.

Wan Tang took it all in, unable to name the feeling in her heart.

She lowered her head, looking at Su Yanci's coat riddled with arrow holes and dried bloodstains.

She glanced again at his bloodless face and felt her chest tighten with panic.

【Dog Emperor, that's how it is, and yet still doesn't believe they didn't know beforehand.】

【Xiao Sihai has already submitted a report; Xu Yanchuan's identity was uncovered, and he has now been thrown into the big prison!】

【Dog Emperor, actually really agreed, to have Xu Yanchuan interrogated and executed!】

【With Xu Yanchuan already sentenced, it confirms that all Mo family descendants should die. Even Tangtang, even if she goes back, it's a dead end!】

【Wuwuwu, the situation can't be changed. Wan Tang, stay here, and live well with Su Yanci.】

Interrogation…

Yanchuan…

Wan Tang's hand that was feeding the medicine suddenly trembled, the medicinal liquid almost spilling out.

She bit her lower lip hard, preventing herself from losing composure.

Emperor… in the end, he never believed her.

No, perhaps he never truly believed her.

Leave?

What about her Minghui then?

And Yanchuan, he is the Mo family bloodline that his mother would fight to death to protect, the Mo family's last hope!

How could she watch him being pushed onto the execution platform with her eyes wide open?

How could she stay here with a clear conscience.

Even to hope for a warmth that doesn't belong to her?

The mute girl, seeing her expression off, offered the cloth with concern.

Wan Tang looked at her eyes, pure yet shy and Yanmu, and then glanced at Su Yanci on the couch, oblivious to all this.

She took a deep breath, suppressed the choke in her throat, and gently placed the medicine bowl back into the mute girl's hands.

He smiled at her: "Miss, from now on… I'm afraid I'll be troubling you, please take good care of him."

While speaking, she took off the pristine white jade bracelet on her wrist and, without a word, thrust it into the mute woman's hand.

The mute woman widened her eyes in surprise, tried to push it away, but Wan Tang gently held her hand.

Wan Tang no longer looked at her, bent down, and leaned close to Su Yanci's ear.

She whispered in an extremely soft voice:

"Su Yanci, you can also choose your own life."

Her voice carried an imperceptible tremor, yet was unusually firm:

"With me here, I won't let anyone from the Su Family get into trouble."

"You… don't go back."

After speaking, she straightened up and took one last deep look at his sleeping face.

She tightened the blood‑stained outer robe of Su Yanci, and, following the secret path pointed out by the herb‑gathering elder, spurred her horse toward the Capital.

Along the way, thanks to the voices in her mind constantly warning her, she avoided possible searches and treacherous terrain and arrived in the Forbidden City without incident.

She knocked open the back door of Qifu.

Qi Qi himself came to the back door.

When he saw Wan Tang standing in the moonlight, dust‑covered yet with a resolute gaze, his face instantly filled with shock and disbelief.

"De…" he almost blurted, then abruptly stopped, glanced warily around, and lowered his voice, urgent: "Why… quickly! Please come in!"

He hurriedly ushered Wan Tang inside, leading her to a secluded study.

After closing the door tightly, he asked anxiously, "Your Majesty, why have you returned?"

"Being outside now is safer than being in the Imperial Palace."

"Lord Qi," Wan Tang interrupted him, her voice hoarse from days of travel yet decisive, "make it brief."

"Where is Xu Yanchuan being held?"

"What is the situation?"

Qi Qi's expression grew solemn as he succinctly delivered two weighty pieces of news:

"The Emperor will marry tomorrow, installing Xiao Yurou as Empress."

"General Xu… in three days, will be beheaded at Wumen."

Imperial harem, Qiankun Palace.

Tonight is the grand wedding of the Emperor and Empress; the entire palace is festooned with lanterns and ribbons, red silk hangs high, a scene of joyous celebration.

Inside the Sleeping Hall, red candles burn brightly.

Xiao Yurou, dressed in elaborate and splendid Empress ceremonial attire, wore a phoenix crown surrounded by jade and emerald ornaments, and sat gracefully beside the dragon throne covered with a large red mandarin‑duck brocade quilt.

She lowered her head, her cheeks flushed, her heart filled with anticipation and pride for the upcoming wedding night.

The hall doors were pushed open, and Chu Yunzheng, reeking of wine, entered with slightly heavy steps.

He waved away all the palace staff; the vast Sleeping Hall now held only him and the newlyweds.

Wax oil dripped slowly like blood‑tinged tears.

Chu Yunzheng stood in the hall, arms spread, his gaze hazy with lingering wine, signaling Xiao Yurou to come forward and loosen his robe.

Xiao Yurou's heart leapt with secret joy; she quickly rose, took graceful lotus steps, and approached with a tender, charming bearing.

Her eyes fluttered, becoming ever more like flowing water.

The warm, cozy atmosphere in the hall, amplified by the wine, and the face before him, strikingly resembling Bai Li, with its deliberately mimicked frown and smile…

Chu Yunzheng's gaze grew increasingly vague, as if through the richly dressed red‑clad woman he saw the cold figure forever lodged deep in his memory.

Instinctively, he reached out, his hand brushing her cheek, and murmured unconsciously, "Li'er…"

That call caused Xiao Yurou to, without resistance, cling to him with a supple, bone‑light grip.

Her jade‑white hand trembled slightly as she began to undo the dragon robe's clasp.

The outer robe slipped onto the floor…

The chief inner attendant, Xiao Dongzi, pale as ash, staggered in.

With a "splash" sound, he fell heavily to his knees, his voice trembling with unprecedented panic, sharply piercing the room's vague atmosphere:

"Emperor, Emperor."

"Virtuous Consort… Virtuous Consort has returned to the palace."

Upon hearing the four words "Wan Tang returns," Chu Yunzheng's heart jolted, like a stone tossed into a lake, instantly sending ripples and sobering him from most of his drunkenness.

He almost reflexively turned to walk out.

"Emperor!" Xiao Yurou, seeing this, felt both jealousy and hatred, hurriedly seized his arm, her voice urgent and warning, "Emperor, haven't you forgotten?"

"How has the Virtuous Consort deceived you?"

"Her background, her relationship with Xu Yanchuan—each and every matter is a crime of deceiving the ruler!"

Chu Yunzheng's steps halted, his brows knit tightly.

Seeing his expression relax, Xiao Yurou seized the moment, her tone laced with worry yet each word cutting to the heart: "Moreover, now that she has returned, what do you intend to do with her, Emperor?"

"Do you intend, for her sake, to overturn the already decided treason charge against Xu Yanchuan and retry the case? And the Hundred Thousand Army of the Northern Border…"

The light in Chu Yunzheng's eyes cooled rapidly, settling into a bottomless, dark gloom.

Imperial authority, military morale, the old Mo Family case…

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his face was already cold and hard.

He shook off Xiao Yurou's hand, waved at the still‑kneeling, breath‑less Xiao Dongzi, his voice revealing neither joy nor anger:

"Since she's back, let her first return to Changle Palace to rest properly. Without my decree, she may not come and go at will."

Yet Xiao Dongzi did not immediately obey; he lifted his head, his face bearing fresh, wet tear marks.

Her voice choked, grieving: "Emperor… Virtuous Consort… she… she also brought back Lord Su Yanci's bloodstained coat and warhorse."

"Lord Su, he, to save the Consort, is likely already died in the line of duty!"

"What?!"

Chu Yunzheng's pupils contracted sharply, he whirled around, looking at Xiao Dongzi in disbelief.

Su Yanci is dead?!

That young minister in bright clothes and a raging horse, who once stood shoulder to shoulder with him, whom he regarded as an arm yet also feared, is actually dead?

Intoxication, scheming, and suspicion at this moment were thrown into disarray by this sudden tragic news and the fact of Wan Tang's return.

He staggered, about to rush outward.

"Emperor! Tonight is our grand wedding…"

Xiao Yurou, seeing that he truly intended to leave, felt a sudden urgency and stepped forward again to try to stop him.

"Get out!"

Chu Yunzheng suddenly swept his sleeve, the force immense, laced with unabashed annoyance and fury, and shoved Xiao Yurou away harshly.

Xiao Yurou, caught off guard, let out a startled cry, staggered and crashed into the nearby table.

Her phoenix crown tilted, and the elaborate ceremonial dress looked a mess.

She looked at Chu Yunzheng in disbelief, her eyes instantly filling with tears of humiliation.

Chu Yunzheng didn't even glance at her, as if she were merely an obstructive ornament.

Inside Qiankun Palace, the red candles still burned high, yet only Xiao Yurou remained alone…