Chapter 439

Xiao Wei felt as if he had seen a ghost, and he brought all the guests together to the western side, ten people in a row.

Row after row walked to the east, but there was no sign of Gu Jiu Ling.

Unwilling to simply confine these people elsewhere, Xiao Wei surrounded them with wood like livestock.

Afterwards, he overturned the banquet tables in the central flower hall one by one; there was no way to hide anyone.

The tables were hollow underneath, and even if someone hid there, it would be impossible for three people to vanish completely at the same time.

Even the Ning'an Empress Dowager, who had been watching coldly from the side, showed a hint of surprise; no one else spoke, but she had personally watched Gu Jiu Ling enter the flower hall with great fanfare to attend the palace banquet.

The Ning'an Empress Dowager was quite wary of Gu Jiu Ling and Xiao Yin, ordering people to constantly monitor Gu Jiu Ling.

Unexpectedly, not only did Gu Jiu Ling vanish into thin air, but her two closest confidantes, Lin Ru Jun and Zhao Lang's wife Jinzhi, also disappeared, as if some unseen force had snatched the three of them away.

For a moment the atmosphere became tense and bizarre, even somewhat amusing.

Now the guests realized that Xiao Wei had tightly sealed off this flower hall and brought in so many assassins and killers in order to capture Gu Jiu Ling, the wife of General Zhao and the wife of Young Marquis Chengming.

Their purpose may fail, for the men behind these three women command military power that, combined, could swallow the whole world.

Only by capturing these three women could Chengming and Zhao Lang even threaten Xiao Yin; if so, Xiao Wei's rebellion now would have an eighty percent chance of success.

But the three key hostages seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving Xiao Wei dumbfounded.

While Xiao Wei was still anxiously searching the flower hall for Gu Jiu Ling's whereabouts, even swearing that once he found her he would cut her into ten thousand pieces and grind her bones to powder to quell his hatred.

The soldiers blocking the moon gate dispersed to both sides; the Duan family entered, swords at their sides, with Duan Yun leading. He glanced at the Ning'an Empress Dowager watching coldly from the side, then lowered his head—this time, the Duan family and Xiao Wei's rebellion did not even inform the Ning'an Empress Dowager, whom they had always trusted in the palace.

The Ning'an Empress Dowager had always supported the Duan family, but this time she actively demanded that they hand over their military authority and even accompanied the Third Prince Xiao Wei to Quzhou.

This made the Duan family unable to bear it; this time, Duan Yun, looking at the Ning'an Empress Dowager's advanced age, could barely stand there.

Duan Yun still endured, turning his gaze away and no longer paying attention to the Ning'an Empress Dowager.

The rebellion has now reached a critical moment; as for how the Ning'an Empress Dowager will be dealt with in the future, that is up to the Third Prince, but they now face a more pressing problem.

"Your Highness!"

Duan Yun stepped forward, leaned close to Xiao Wei's ear, and whispered softly: "Our men have already breached the imperial city, but……"

Upon hearing that the Duan army had already entered the imperial city, Xiao Wei couldn't help but a flicker of joy cross his face; Duan Yun then added just two words, making his heart pound violently.

"But…… what does that mean?"

Duan Yun collected himself and said in a low voice: "Your Highness, I always feel that something is not quite right."

"The imperial city is where the emperor resides; even though we now control Xiao Yin's Imperial Guard, the Young Marquis Chengming's whereabouts from the White Tiger Battalion are unknown."

"Even Zhao Lang is still in the borderlands, beyond reach, unable to attend to Shang Jing."

"Logically, only our army could assault the imperial city of Shang Jing, yet even storming the palace is no simple matter. The fire oil we brought earlier was not used at all this time; only a handful of guards resisted at the gate, and most of them fled. Our men have now entered the palace, but no matter where we look, we cannot find the emperor."

"This is really not right, Your Highness; capturing the palace was too easy, and even the Hall of Nurturing Heart and the sleeping chambers show no trace of the emperor."

"What's worse, when we went to search the Hall of Nurturing Heart, the Imperial Seal had been taken away."

Xiao Wei instantly flared up in anger.

"What? What did you say? Say it again—has the jade seal not been found?"

Duan Yun slowly nodded, his face growing ever more grave: "In reply to Your Highness, we have not found the jade seal; I have practically turned the Hall of Nurturing Heart upside down, yet still no trace of the seal. Moreover, the emperor's whereabouts are unknown; we have searched the rear garden front to back, even the Cold Palace, but there is no sign of the emperor."

Xiao Wei's face suddenly changed drastically; what Duan Yun said was correct—has this rebellion progressed too smoothly?

We originally thought taking the palace would require a whole night, but now it has taken less than the time to burn an incense stick.

Most crucially, even the father emperor and the Imperial Seal have vanished; if these cannot be found, even if he ascends the throne it will be illegitimate.

Thereafter, wouldn't we be telling people that this emperor is merely an empty title, a false ruler?

"Find! Go find him at once!"

"Grand Empress," Xiao Wei slowly walked over to the side of the Ning'an Empress Dowager.

The Ning'an Empress Dowager's complexion remained normal, showing none of the earlier panic; instead, a hint of scorn flickered across her face.

The scorn in the Ning'an Empress Dowager's eyes further provoked Xiao Wei, causing his face to darken.

He turned his gaze to the Ning'an Empress Dowager, the tip of his sword pressing directly against her face.

The Ning'an Empress Dowager chuckled lightly: "Well, Grand Empress, I used to make you snacks, tasty treats, even held you while you played; for you to become heir apparent, I don't know how much hardship I endured."

"When your mother carried you, I bestowed upon her unparalleled favor; I never imagined that all this devotion of mine would be repaid with such treatment."

"How could you even think of killing me?"

At this moment Xiao Wei had completely gone mad, no longer caring about any familial affection.

He stared coldly at Empress Dowager Ning'an: "Enough with the nonsense! Tell me—where would my father hide? Is there any secret passage in the palace?"

Then after that there is a paragraph:

Empress Dowager Ning'an burst out laughing: "No matter how you dig a secret passage, it can't match your mother's skill."

One sentence utterly enraged Xiao Wei. He drew his sword and lunged at Empress Dowager Ning'an, but Duan Yong seized him from the side, dragging him backward. Xiao Wei had now lost all reason. He slapped Duan Yun hard, sending him flying back and forth. Even after being struck like a hunting dog, Duan Yong still pushed Empress Li'an behind him and looked at the now blood‑eyed Xiao Wei, saying: "Your Highness, please calm down. If you really kill Empress... you will bear the stigma of being unfilial and disloyal. How could you ever love or like her again? Please search your heart. This is no time to be eating while angry; we must find Gu Jiu Ling—that is the key."

This seems like continuation but not numbered. Possibly it's part of the text but not given a number; maybe it's a mistake. The instruction says translate each line 【N】; we must output every single 【N】 with its translation. So we only translate lines 【1】-【46】. The extra paragraph is not numbered, so we ignore it? However it might be part of line 46 but missing number? Actually line 46 ends with a quote. The following text seems to be continuation of dialogue. Could be that the numbering got off and the paragraph should be lines 47-... but not provided. Since we must output every 【N】 for input lines, we only translate those given. We'll ignore the extra.

Now we need to translate each line faithfully, preserving paragraph breaks (each line separate). Use glossary names exactly: Xiao Yin, Gu Jiu Ling, Xiao Wei, Jinzhi, Shang Jing, Imperial Guard.

Also need to output after all 【N】 lines:

The Ning'an Empress Dowager couldn't help but laugh: "No matter how you dig the secret passage, you can't match your mother's skill."

One sentence completely enraged Xiao Wei; Xiao Wei drew his sword and stabbed toward You An Empress Dowager, but was seized by Duan Yong from the side, who forcibly dragged him to the rear. At this moment Xiao Wei had completely lost his reason, and he fiercely slapped Duan Yun back and forth. Duan Yong, after being hit, became a hunting dog yet still pushed Li An Empress Dowager behind himself, glanced at the then blood‑red‑eyed Xiao Wei, and said: ". Your Highness Your Highness heart Your Highness calm calm, if you really kill You An Empress Dowager, then you will bear the name of unfilial and disloyal, in the future how can one life love you and still like you, please Your Highness ask your heart, this time is not the moment to eat when angry, you must find Gu Jiu Ling to be the key."