Chapter 2253: A Slow Arrival
Chapter 2253: A Slow Arrival
Zhao Ruizhi was caught off guard and almost let the crescent moon cut his neck. Even though he avoided it in time, a segment of his hair was still cut. He saw that it wasn’t a crescent moon at all, but actually a rapidly spinning weapon. It buzzed while spinning around a cool and elegant beauty whose hair reached all the way to her bottom.
If he had seen a woman this beautiful any other time, Zhao Ruizhi would definitely have felt really happy. But he couldn't bring himself to feel that way right now at all.
“Will this never end?!” Zhao Ruizhi exclaimed in annoyance. It was now the second time that a woman had suddenly showed up to get in the way. Was today destined for a peach blossom love affair or something?!
The black-robed woman seized the chance to take Bi Linglong back to Liu Ning’s side.
When they saw the hair that reached all the way to her waist, Liu Ning and Bi Linglong both blurted out at the same time, “Devil Sect Master Yun Jianyue!”
“Shush!” Jianyue put her finger on her lips. “I don’t want the entire world to know that I saved you guys!”
Liu Ning had a weird expression. She had a really strong impression of this woman. Yun Jianyue was precisely the one who had stopped her a few days prior, which was why she hadn’t been able to immediately leave the palace. But later, when Eunuch Lu ambushed her, it was the same woman who had let her go, helping her stop Eunuch Lu.
But why is she helping me again this time?
Bi Linglong also had a strong impression of this woman. In the past, it was precisely because of Yun Jianyue’s invasion of the Imperial Palace that she had been saved by Zu An for the first time, leading to the romance they later shared. Yun Jianyue was the Devil Sect Master, someone ranked within the top three of the court’s wanted list.
She suddenly remembered the reason why Liu Ning had saved her and her expression immediately became strange. “You aren’t helping us because of Ah Zu too, are you?”
“That’s right.” Yun Jianyue chuckled when she saw the two women's expressions change. “Ah Zu is the lover of my precious disciple, so what’s the big deal with me helping out his other sweethearts a bit?”
When she mentioned her disciple, her expression immediately grew dim. She really wondered if Qiu Honglei could be saved.
Bi Linglong immediately felt dejected. Zu An was the glorious regent, and yet he actually had an ambiguous relationship with the Devil Sect’s saintess! What was even more infuriating was that out of all the beautiful women he knew, at least eight out of ten had a thing going on with him.
That guy really is too much!
But she had to admit that she was thankful for Zu An fooling around so much. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many ‘sisters’ here to help her right now.
“Yun Jianyue, since you’re known as the Devil Sect master, you should be a bit closer to us and rely on us for help. We’ll make you a feudal lord at the very least. Why are you helping them instead?” Bi Qi was a bit upset. He had done his homework beforehand, after all. He had some understanding of all of the strongest individuals of this world, let alone someone who had helped out King Wu during the attack on the Liu clan.
Yun Jianyue said coldly, “Our Holy Sect's members are only called devils because our ideals don't align with the court’s. Why would we want to be anything like you real monsters?”
“You’re courting death!” Zhao Ruizhi’s face warped. He had been interrupted again and again today. He decided not to show mercy anymore.
Yun Jianyue had a faint smile as she said, “I think you two should actually start thinking about your own situation now.”
While she spoke, her Crescent Ring flew toward the door and smashed open a hole. Outside, Rong Mo and Zhang Zitong had been frantically hitting the door. Li Guanshi led the emperor’s troops, while Jiao Sigun and Pu Duandiao led the empress’ soldiers. The Armed Escort Division’s Wang Bolin and Zhang Zijiang were present, as well as many Embroidered Envoys. They all hurried into the palace.
They had all been spurred on by the chaos caused by Yun Jianyue dropping from the sky. The emperor and empress were in the room too, so they were all worried that there could be assassins.
When they saw these people rush in, Zhao Ruizhi and Bi Qi’s expressions changed. They quickly put away their malicious auras.
Liu Ning and Bi Linglong looked at Yun Jianyue with admiration. At first, they had thought that even with Yun Jianyue, the three of them still wouldn’t be able to win against these two monsters. How could they have known that she had never planned to fight against them, and instead wanted to borrow the power of the entire Imperial Palace?
Liu Ning stared at the hole in the door. She hadn't even been able to break through the barrier earlier. Even though Yun Jianyue had the benefit of a superior weapon, the power she had displayed didn’t seem to be much different from that of an earth immortal.
It seems she held back last time…
Hmph, it was just because I was injured for too long and had my cultivation stalled. But with Ah Zu’s miraculous nourishment, it shouldn’t take that long for me to catch up to her at all.
“These two are alien imposters. Arrest them!” Bi Linglong reacted quickly and immediately pointed at Zhao Ruizhi and Bi Qi. She quickly and concisely revealed the truth.
When they heard what she said, everyone who entered was shocked. What is going on?
Rong Mo and Zhang Zitong were the first to move to protect Bi Linglong. They looked at Zhao Ruizhi and Bi Qi vigilantly.
“Nonsense!” Bi Qi shouted first before Zhao Ruizhi could say anything. “Linglong, do you really have to make fools of everyone in public?”
All of the guards here were now even more confused.
Bi Qi then began to explain, “There was a bit of conflict between the empress and emperor. Alright, everyone can disperse now.”
Bi Linglong quickly said, “He is not my father. My father has already been killed by the monsters, and even his majesty fell for their evil schemes. They wanted to kill me just now!”
The empress’ guards and the Armed Escort Army immediately drew their weapons to protect Bi Linglong’s group.
Zhao Ruizhi finally said, “Linglong, you still can’t bear to part with that Zu An, right? You’re even framing us because of that!”
A commotion immediately broke out. Comparatively, Bi Qi and the emperor being alien monsters was just too absurd. It was the empress and regent’s affair that everyone knew about. Such a motive seemed to make a bit more sense.
When she saw Bi Linglong fall at a disadvantage, Liu Ning said, “I am the empress dowager. I can attest that these two are fake!”
Many people looked at each other in dismay when they saw that it was Liu Ning. They were all officials in the palace, so many of them had seen the empress dowager before. Now that both the empress and empress dowager were saying that the emperor and Bi Qi were alien monsters, their words seemed to carry more weight.
Now, even Officer Li Guanshi reflexively chose to move some distance away from Zhao Ruizhi. At the same time, he placed a hand on his blade’s handle in preparation.
Bi Qi said with a cold snort, “You are clearly doing this because of your hatred for his majesty and myself for the Liu clan’s destruction, now that you have found a chance for revenge. Furthermore, you actually recruited the Devil Sect master Yun Jianyue, so I’m sure you were just trying to seize the empress and force her to speak untrue things. Your majesty, please forgive the empress for her earlier mistake. What she said was not what she truly believed.”
Zhao Ruizhi secretly gave him a big thumbs up. When he heard this, he nodded and said, “Of course, why would I blame Linglong?”
At first, Zhao Si felt really nervous. He had offended the empress and empress dowager earlier, but that was because he had the backing of his majesty. But if his majesty was a monster, no good end awaited him no matter which side won! Now that he heard what Bi Qi said, he gained a sudden understanding and said, “That’s right, what kind of person is the Devil Sect Master? Everyone knows that she's evil! They want to overthrow the court and actually thought of such a ridiculous ploy!”
The guards that Zhao Ruizhi and BI Qi had previously swapped out spoke up in agreement. The situation soon became entirely different. The emperor’s guards stood on one side, while the empress’ forces stood on the other. Both sides were extremely tense and a battle seemed to be on the verge of breaking out.
Bi Qi looked coldly at the Armed Escort Army, as well as Jiao Sigun and Pu Duandiao. “You two actually dare to draw your blades against his majesty? Are you thinking of rebelling?”
When they heard his shout, Bi Linglong’s soldiers looked at each other in dismay. They became a bit hesitant. Publicly going against the emperor really was a bit outrageous. They all had their families and homes; none of them wanted to bear the stain of a criminal charge.
Just then, Bi Linglong spoke up. Her tone was extremely calm. “It’s quite easy to determine which one of us is lying. We should all just let ourselves get captured and let the court bind us with the restrictive chains used by the Imperial Palace’s guards. Then, once the court’s important ministers and academy experts come and examine our bodies, we will naturally know the truth.”
“Nonsense! His majesty’s body is more precious than any amount of gold, and you are the mother of an empire; how can you be bound like that and even have your body carelessly examined? What dignity would the court and the royal family have left?” Bi Qi loudly protested.
His explanation was fully reasonable, and his soldiers nodded in agreement. None of them dared to arrest both the emperor and empress.
Bi Linglong frowned. This opponent was incredibly cunning and always managed to neutralize her attacks with proper pretexts. It really was a bit hard for her to deal with now.
Yun Jianyue said with a smile, “Don’t fret, little girl. We’ll see the results soon enough.”
“What do you mean?” Bi Linglong and Liu Ning were both confused. In response, Yun Jianyue only smiled.
However, Bi Qi and Zhao Ruizhi exchanged a look. They were getting a bit impatient. They knew that Zu An had already returned to the capital; who knew when he would come here? If that happened, it would all be over.
When he realized that, Zhao Ruizhi shouted loudly, “Ah, it’s so annoying! Just capture all of them! Everyone who goes against this order will be considered a traitor without exception!”
When they saw the emperor act up, his guards all voiced their agreement. They drew their weapons and pushed toward Bi Linglong’s group.
The empress’ guards and the Armed Escort Army were all a bit doubtful. The emperor’s words were like gold and jade; if they went against them…
Just then, Xiao Jianren hurried over with a group of Embroidered Envoys and yelled, “There must be a misunderstanding here! We should take our time in making a decision!”
Bi Qi’s expression grew cold. “Sir Xiao, if I recall correctly, the Embroidered Envoy are his majesty’s private guards and only listen to his majesty alone. Arrest that Devil Sect witch and those female sinners immediately!”
Xiao Jianren took a deep breath, as if to help him set his resolve. He then replied, “The Embroidered Envoy should naturally obey his majesty’s orders, but what if his majesty is no longer his majesty? Everyone, protect the empress!”
He wasn’t actually sure if the emperor was real or fake. However, when he remembered what the Chief Commander had told him, he decided to go for broke and firmly stand at the empress’ side.
Wang Bolin and Zhang Zijiang were both happy to see that. With the Embroidered Envoy joining the mix, they now had a bit more confidence.
Bi Qi’s face darkened. He knew he couldn't stall for any more time. He immediately gave the order, “Arrest all of these rebels and traitors!”
“Understood!” The trusted aides they had swapped out heeded the order. Among them, Zhao Si’s group was the most energetic.
Li Guanshi frowned slightly. Even though the situation was a bit strange, his role and duty prevented him from saying anything. He intended to first restrain the empress and the others. Either way, if the empress dowager really recovered her authority, his side that had participated in the coup wouldn't meet a good end.
Just then, a lazy voice called out, “Who did you call rebels and traitors?”