Chapter 46: Horrific Blood Pit

She turned and shouted at the others: "Hey, are you all dead?! Come save the princess!"

Consort De's "princess" naturally referred to Pei Yunxi; others also didn't treat Mu Yuanzhi as a princess deserving respect, and the maidservants and guards came up and roughly grabbed her.

Xiao Yichen had already been shoved out by them; he couldn't bear to watch Pei Yunxi being hit by Mu Yuanzhi, yet feared that if he pulled Mu Yuanzhi too hard he'd hurt her, and for a moment he didn't know whom to help.

"What are you doing! Release my master!"

Hongdou and Linglong saw Mu Yuanzhi's clothes torn by these people, and without hesitation they rushed over, fighting desperately!

Right in the Grand General's residence, right before the coffin of the Grand General and his lady, how dare they bully people like this!

But they were just weak girls with no strength to truss a chicken—how could they match a group of guards? Yet the two maids still bravely shielded Mu Yuanzhi from behind, refusing to let their master suffer any injury no matter what kicks or blows they themselves took.

Having finally gotten a chance to catch her breath, Pei Yunxi immediately slipped into Consort De's arms and cried: "Mother Consort, why did sister suddenly hit me? What did I do wrong?"

"Don't be afraid, good girl, don't cry, don't cry." Consort De felt extreme heartache and held Pei Yunxi tightly.

"Mother Consort, I too want to open the coffin for everyone's good."

"You still dare to mention opening the coffin!"

Mu Yuanzhi's eyes nearly spat fire; she shoved aside Consort De's hand protecting Pei Yunxi, then slapped again—this slap landed squarely on Pei Yunxi's mouth, to see if she dared say more.

Pei Yunxi's mouth bled instantly; Xiao Yichen couldn't stand it, he pulled Mu Yuanzhi away from Pei Yunxi a bit. As a martial artist with great strength, Mu Yuanzhi naturally couldn't resist him, and being pulled made her stagger and lose her footing.

Pei Yunxi, bleeding at the corner of her mouth, wept miserably; this scene struck Consort De's nerves, her eyes heated, and she grabbed Mu Yuanzhi's hair and slammed her head hard against the coffin in front.

One! Two! Three...

The sickening impact made scalps go numb!

Someone let out a startled cry, and Consort De seemed to come to her senses, hastily letting go, she looked in panic at Mu Yuanzhi sliding to the ground.

Consort De looked at the blood spattered on her hand, then at Mu Yuanzhi's horrifying bloody wound on the forehead, trembling as she said: "Zhi, Zhi'er... no, Mother Consort didn't mean to..."

Mu Yuanzhi couldn't hear what Consort De was saying; she summoned her remaining strength to struggle up, clutching the coffin tightly, fearing that if she fainted she wouldn't be able to protect her father and mother.

We must not let them open the coffin!

Mu Yuanzhi blinked hard trying to clear the blood smeared in her eyes, but why did her vision start to darken?

Could she no longer see clearly?

At this moment, the Emperor, accompanied by civil and military officials, entered and saw Mu Yuanzhi heavily flung from the coffin's edge to the ground, and shouted loudly: "What's happening?!"

The guards and palace maids entangled with Hongdou and Linglong hurriedly knelt; the two maids cried and lunged toward Mu Yuanzhi, but Mu Yuanzhi had already been lifted and embraced by Xiao Yichen first; they anxiously looked to the Emperor, hoping he would uphold justice.

Pei Yunxi, sobbing, spoke first: "Father Emperor! It's all my fault; I thought many spies of the Splendid Severe Kingdom were hiding in the merchant caravans lately, and the arson suspect just happened to be in that kingdom, and also formerly part of the Grand General's troops; to be safe, I proposed opening the coffin for inspection, which is why I angered my sister."

She didn't mention at all that Mu Yuanzhi had slapped her several times, but she lifted her face high, afraid the Emperor wouldn't see her red, swollen visage.

Pei Yunxi's words sparked heated discussion among the officials, each holding their own view; some agreed with her: "We can't let assassins have a chance to sneak into the imperial mausoleum! Otherwise it would be a calamity for the state!"

After all, beside the mausoleum the Emperor is building lie the burial grounds of the ancestors of the Pei Imperial Dynasty; we absolutely cannot be careless!

Some strongly opposed: "Opening a coffin is a major matter! How can we open the Grand General's coffin just because of such baseless speculation?!"

"Opening the coffin? Open the Grand General's coffin?!" Outside the Grand General's residence, a crowd of commoners had gathered at some point; hearing the discussion inside, they were utterly astonished.

"The Grand General served the country and the people; even after death he shouldn't be denied peace? That would be the state's calamity!"

The populace grew more indignant as they spoke; the Emperor, listening up front, breathed heavily.

"What are the Imperial Guard good for? Aren't they supposed to stop these commoners?!"

No one noticed Gu Rongjin quietly squeezing out of the crowd; he gazed deeply at Mu Yuanzhi, unconscious in Xiao Yichen's arms inside, then turned to fetch other reinforcements.

"Wait for me, Little Yuanzhi!" Gu Rongjin clenched his palms, trying not to think of her wounded injury.

At this moment Mu Yuanzhi still stubbornly clung to a breath, her eyes half-closed, her breath like a thread; her only thought was: even in death she would not let them open the coffin.

Pressed by the populace, the Emperor could only say: "Xi'er, I know your thoughts are meticulous, but the matter of opening the coffin needs no further discussion; we must not disturb the peace of the Grand General and his lady."

Pei Yunxi, unwilling yet compliant, nodded: "Yes, Xi'er understands."

She touched her swollen face, looking pitiable to the extreme.

Even if the Emperor felt pity, he first had to deal with Mu Yuanzhi's situation before speaking: "Yuanzhi, what's going on? Consort De, you explain."

He saw Consort De standing there as if she'd lost her soul, only shedding tears toward Mu Yuanzhi's direction, her hands still bloody; without thinking he knew this matter was inseparable from her.

Consort De shuddered as if waking from a dream, she immediately knelt: "Your Majesty! It's all my fault; I couldn't bear to see Xi'er being hit, and when I reached out to advise Zhi'er I didn't gauge the force, so..."

She glanced at Mu Yuanzhi's forehead wound still oozing blood, and realized she could not continue fabricating.

But with the Emperor's earlier promise not to open the coffin, the breath Mu Yuanzhi had been holding finally eased; she closed her eyes and slipped into unconsciousness, and Xiao Yichen held her tight, fearing she might never wake from this sleep.

He had seen people who killed themselves by smashing their heads into pillars; they lost their lives in an instant.

She had just been grabbed by Consort De and slammed three times!

"Your Majesty! It's not as Consort De said; Princess Yuanzhi was already held by this humble official, and Consort De for some reason went mad, pulling Princess Yuanzhi's head to strike the Grand General's coffin—three times total—and everyone present can testify."

Xiao Yichen's words caused the onlooking populace to erupt in an uproar.

"Is this Consort De really treating her adopted daughter like this?"

"It seems Princess Yuanzhi hasn't fared well in the palace these years."

"The Grand General, down in the springs, must feel great sorrow."

"The Grand General surely knows." Someone said darkly.

Including Consort De, many people unconsciously looked toward the blood-stained coffin; the wind blowing the white banner seemed unusually noisy, though the warm spring breeze ought to be gentle.