Just as Yun Congnan had expected, inside the Imperial Palace, Ji Ruxue had just been woken from her sleep.
After learning what had happened, she didn't even have time to be grumpy about being woken before she began thinking of a solution.
The only way to make the Imperial City Imperial Guard withdraw now was to have an army commanded by a Void Refinement Realm Expert confront them. Only then might Mo Yunxuan back down.
Her Imperial Palace Imperial Guard was a hundred-thousand-strong army led by a Late Void Refinement Realm Expert, so it completely met the requirements for this solution.
But this approach would only bury the problem, bottling everything up. In the end, it might well backfire spectacularly.
Besides, if a real conflict broke out, she couldn't bear to see an army so utterly loyal to her suffer heavy losses over such a ridiculous mess.
And she wasn't particularly willing to take such a huge risk just to clean up after Lü Qingjian and his disciple.
What gave her the biggest headache, however, were Yun Congnan and Qiu Ziqin.
She had clearly sent them a secret order yesterday, yet the two of them had insisted on testing Mo Yunxuan's limits.
Well, now they'd gone too far, hadn't they?
Still, she had to save them. Otherwise, what would everyone think of her as their Empress?
In her impression, Qing Li seemed to have developed feelings for Mo Yunxuan after her last visit to the Wei State Duke Mansion.
If Qing Li went to persuade him, perhaps things might still take a turn for the better.
But there was no time to summon Qing Li to the palace and discuss things at length.
She could only send Hong Yu to find Qing Li and have her go straight to Taihua Academy to persuade Mo Yunxuan.
What she hadn't expected was that Hong Yu would hurry back only a short while later.
"Your Majesty, I couldn't find Qing Li at her residence. From what I've learned, she seems to have left not long ago."
Ji Ruxue clenched her fists. Somehow, everything had gone wrong all at once.
With no other choice, she looked at Hong Yu.
"Then I'll have to trouble you to make the trip. Even if you can't stop Mo Yunxuan, do your best to buy some time."
"I'll summon the ministers right away to discuss how we should handle this."
Hong Yu knew time was of the essence. After accepting the order, she left the Imperial Palace.
Several Xuan Niao Guard members left at the same time, scattering in every direction toward the residences of the ministers.
At the entrance to Taihua Academy,
a carriage stopped beside Mo Yunxuan. A woman slowly stepped down. It was Qing Li, the very person the Empress had been looking for.
After sitting in a daze, she had finally managed to fall asleep. Who would have thought that before dawn, someone would knock on her door?
If they hadn't said they were from the Wei State Duke Mansion, she would have drawn her sword and cut them all down.
But since they had come on Duke of Wei's behalf to invite her to watch the show, she supposed she could let them off this once.
However, once she got into the carriage, it didn't head for the Wei State Duke Mansion. Instead, it made its way toward Taihua Academy.
And the soldiers along the road grew denser and denser. Judging by the style of their armor, they were clearly Imperial City Imperial Guard.
She seemed to realize what was going on and immediately wanted to leave, return, and report the situation to the Empress.
But then she remembered that Hong Yu was still by the Empress's side. The Empress had probably already learned what was happening.
Rather than rushing back now with no useful information and missing her date with Mo Yunxuan,
she settled back into her seat, entirely at ease.
Mo Yunxuan came up beside Qing Li and leaned close. "What's wrong? Don't you recognize me anymore, Qing Li?"
With Mo Yunxuan less than ten centimeters away, Qing Li's heart betrayed her and began beating faster.
She reflexively lowered her head, trying to avoid his heated gaze.
But she hadn't expected the man before her to suddenly tip her chin up. She couldn't dodge him at all, and her face flushed red.
She stammered softly, "Yunxuan Ge... Ge."
If Mo Yunxuan hadn't been pressed so close to her, he might not even have heard her soft murmur.
But Yun Congnan and Qiu Ziqin were utterly stunned.
The others might not have been important enough to interact much with Qing Li, but as Void Refinement Realm Experts, they were different.
They knew a fair bit about Qing Li, the Empress's Personal Sword Attendant.
In their minds, Qing Li always wore a cool, detached expression, as if she had no interest in anything in the world.
She had never shown such a shy side before. It was as if she had become a completely different person.
Seeing this, Lin Fan cursed inwardly, That pig's gone and taken another cabbage!
In his eyes, Mo Yunxuan, the Wei State Duke who coasted on his ancestors' glory, was nothing but a spoiled wastrel who threw his weight around.
How could he compare to a Child of Destiny like Lin Fan?
When he'd first seen such a cool, beautiful woman, his eyes had lit up. He'd thought he could get to know her better and have a deep conversation.
But he hadn't expected that this beauty would act like a lovestruck girl in front of his archenemy.
What rotten luck!
Mo Yunxuan released Qing Li's chin, his fingers gliding over her smooth, flushed cheek. Her delicate body shivered.
But the atmosphere around them suddenly reminded her of the situation. As someone in the Empress's service, she still had to offer some words of counsel, no matter what.
Even if it ended up being useless, at least she would have done her best.
But just as she was about to speak, Mo Yunxuan took her delicate hand first and said,
"Li'er, how about I put on a show for you today—a drama about the Imperial City Imperial Guard surrounding and suppressing rebels?"
Feeling the warmth in her palm, she thought, I was just about to persuade him, but he interrupted me. That should count as having tried, right?
Besides, he called me Li'er! Of course I have to support him!
And I already tried to persuade him! What more am I supposed to do?
At that thought, Qing Li's eyes crinkled with a smile, the corners of her lips rising into a perfect curve.
She answered softly, "Mm. I'll do as you say."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Yun Congnan cried out in alarm, "No! Qing Li! We serve His Majesty! You can't just stand by and let us die!"
But Qing Li was still lost in another world and couldn't respond to him for the moment.
Mo Yunxuan had no interest in savoring other people's despair. He casually waved his free left hand.
Two figures appeared beside Yun Congnan in an instant. Yun Congnan immediately tried to get away from them.
But the very moment the thought crossed his mind, one of them seized his head, leaving him unable to move.
With a sudden squeeze of that person's hand, Yun Congnan's head burst like a watermelon.
His body collapsed without its support. Everyone present could clearly see blood seeping from the split and soaking a wide patch of ground.
The other figure swept out a hand and dragged Yun Congnan's soul from his corpse as it tried to flee, then crushed it in his grip.
The whole thing took less than five seconds—so fast that no one had even managed to react.
The people from Taihua Academy were especially shaken. Yun Congnan, a Late Void Refinement Realm Expert, had been their last source of support, yet he had been killed right before their eyes with such ease.
They couldn't accept it. They didn't want to accept it.
Lü Qingjian saw this and collapsed to the ground. He couldn't understand it. Over and over, he screamed inwardly,
Why? Why?
Why could the Wei State Duke Mansion, which he had been free to bully just a few days ago, suddenly unleash such immense power?
This had to be fake! Yes, fake!
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