Chapter 401: Xue Ke's Deception: I Am Pregnant

In truth, Feihuang was merely putting on an act; he could indeed save Xue Ye and Xue Beng, but he had no intention of doing so.

The so-called antidote he claimed to have developed was actually much like the Ice Continuation Pill, utilizing the stimulation of a person's life potential to temporarily induce a state akin to a final burst of radiance before death.

After some time, the toxins would once again erode the body, and because the life potential had already been exhausted, the person would only die faster.

The benefit of doing this was that even if Xue Ye eventually died, it would be from the poison of Ci Xue; Feihuang's medicine would leave no residue in the body, making it even harder to detect than Ci Xue's colorless and odorless deadly poison.

An hour passed quickly, and Feihuang finished preparing the medicine, walked out of the room, and said, "It is done. Let's go, everyone. There is no time to lose; to the Imperial Palace!"

"Understood!" the group replied in unison; they had long been prepared.

Under the leadership of Zhuge Liang, the group successfully entered the Imperial Palace. After all, Zhuge Liang was one of the officials specifically entrusted by Xue Qinghe to handle state affairs before his departure, so the guards naturally would not stop him.

However, his clearance only extended to the outer imperial city.

He could not go to the sleeping quarters of Great Emperor Xue Ye.

Halfway there, they were intercepted: "Halt! The Crown Prince has issued an order: the Emperor is physically weak and is currently resting; no one is permitted to disturb him."

The people who stopped them were no simple figures; they were the commander and deputy commander of the Heaven Dou Empire's Royal Knights, Zhang Wanfu and Zhang Chaozong.

Both of their martial souls were the very rare Buddha Hand. When fighting, they could transform their arms into golden arms, impervious to blades and spears, and capable of breaking anything.

If this were a later era, this martial soul would likely be classified as a Body Martial Soul, but in this era, the concept of Body Martial Souls did not yet exist; just like Guimei of the Title Douluo Gui Douluo, the Fire Shadow of Huo Wu, or the Residual Dream of Shi Nian, it could only be considered a special martial soul.

The two brothers' levels were also quite impressive; the older brother, Zhang Wanfu, was level 87, on par with the Great Marshal of the Armed Forces of the Heaven Dou Empire, Ge Long.

The younger brother, Zhang Chaozong, was level 84, comparable to the level of a Sect Master of a second-tier sect under the Seven Great Sects.

Most importantly, these two brothers possessed a Spirit Fusion Skill named Ten Thousand Buddhas Worship the Ancestor. When the Spirit Fusion Skill of two Spirit Douluos was unleashed, its power was not inferior to the Dragon Snake Combined Attack.

In the animation, even Dugu Bo's Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor was suppressed by a single strike.

In the Heaven Dou Empire, which lacked a single Title Douluo, this pair of brothers was actually the true peak combat power of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.

"Two uncles, it's me! Don't you recognize Ke'er? Ke'er heard that Father Emperor had suddenly fallen into a coma, so I came back from the Gulei Kingdom specifically to visit him. I ask that you two uncles please make an exception." Xue Ke stepped out from behind the group and pleaded with the Zhang Brothers.

"Greetings, Princess!" Upon seeing Xue Ke, the Zhang Brothers immediately saluted. "Princess, we should not have blocked you from seeing the Emperor, but we cannot disobey the Crown Prince's strict orders. We ask that you please do not make things difficult for us."

"I am not making things difficult. You both know that Big Brother has always loved me the most, and Big Brother's order was not to disturb Father Emperor's rest at will. But do you consider me 'at will'? I believe that if you let me and my husband in, Big Brother will absolutely not blame you," Xue Ke said.

"This..." The Zhang Brothers were still somewhat hesitant. If it were anyone else, they would definitely have driven them away, but as Xue Ke said, her status was too special—the Emperor's only daughter and the Crown Prince's most beloved younger sister. Her entering to visit her father could indeed not be considered "at will" entry.

Seeing that the brothers still had concerns, Xue Ke decided to use her trump card. "Two uncles, actually, Ke'er has another important purpose for coming this time. Ke'er is already pregnant; it is the child of Feihuang and me."

Xue Ke touched her stomach. "Feihuang said that this child is his eldest son or daughter, and he hopes that the child's name can be chosen by Father Emperor. But Father Emperor is now... *sob*, two uncles, I beg you to let me in. At the very least, let Father Emperor know the news that he is about to become a grandfather."

"What? Princess, you are with child?" the Zhang Brothers said happily. This was the third generation of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, the eldest son or daughter. Although the child would likely take the surname Nan, they still had half the Xue family bloodline; it was indeed right to let the Emperor know. "Understood, Princess. I will let you and your husband in, but the others... please forgive this humble official for being unable to help." He still had his bottom line; subjects could not enter.

"Two uncles, could you also include Auntie Ye Nichang? You know that her martial soul is the Nine Heart Begonia. If Father Emperor is feeling unwell, having her there is an insurance policy," Feihuang requested.

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Wanfu agreed, "Since it is requested by Crown Prince Feihuang, we shall make an exception this once."

Ye Nichang was also a very special existence, special because of the Nine Heart Begonia. Whether their Emperor could live longer was closely tied to this woman.

Therefore, she could also be an exception.

"Thank you, two seniors." Feihuang nodded. "Then, Mr. Zhuge, Senior Long Gong, Senior She Po, Lingqi, please wait here for a moment and do not let anyone disturb us while we see the Emperor."

"Understood!" The four of them had not intended to go in anyway; having Nan Feihuang and Ye Nichang inside was enough.

The three of them immediately bypassed the Royal Knights and ran toward the inner palace.

On the way, Ye Nichang looked at Xue Ke teasingly and said, "Princess, you have been with Feihuang for so long, how did you get taught to be so bad by him? I can't tell at all that you have a baby in your belly."

As a Nine Heart Begonia Spirit Master, Ye Nichang was not only a Spirit Douluo powerhouse but also had extraordinary achievements in medicine. A physician emphasizes observation, listening, questioning, and pulse-taking.

Just by looking, she could tell that Xue Ke was not pregnant at all.

Xue Ke playfully stuck out her tongue. "Hee hee, if I didn't say that, how could I have fooled the two uncles? This is all Feihuang's fault for saying there were still many things left to do, so he wouldn't let Ke'er be a mother so early. Otherwise, Ke'er wouldn't have had to lie today."

Xue Ke actually felt quite guilty about lying to her elders; she had to know that she was usually an honest and well-behaved child.

Saying that she had been corrupted by Nan Feihuang over the past two years was not actually wrong.

In the shadows, watching the three of them—Nan Feihuang and the others—enter the inner palace, Ci Xue grew anxious. "How could this happen? How could Nan Feihuang suddenly come to the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace?"

The reason Qian Renxue had dared to leave the palace boldly before was that she had already set up two major lines of defense in advance.

The overt one was the Zhang Brothers; the two of them combined possessed the strength of a Title Douluo, and it was difficult for ordinary people to force their way in.

The covert one was the true Title Douluo, Ci Xue, who remained in the Imperial Palace.

With these two lines of defense, one overt and one covert, Qian Renxue was confident that no one could see Great Emperor Xue Ye.

But she had never expected that Nan Feihuang would bring out Xue Ke to easily pass the first line of defense.

As for the second line, did Ci Xue dare to fight Nan Feihuang right now?

Others might not know Nan Feihuang's combat record, but how could he, a party involved from the Spirit Hall, not know? Nan Feihuang had won a one-versus-four fight; for him to go up alone would be serving himself on a platter!

(End of chapter)