Xiao Yu'er was taken aback, not expecting her mother to think of this. Her small, delicate lips pouted, and she spoke with displeasure.
"Mother, don't think about those things. They had it coming, especially Ximen Xinyue. She did so many hateful things; this is what she deserves, serves her right. Thinking of her ghastly appearance makes me so happy.
It wasn't us who harmed her; Shangguan Hao did, or perhaps this is heaven's will.
And then there's Sima Lanmei. So cruel! What wrong did Mao Xueqiu do? She killed it, alright, but at least she could have given it a complete body. To think she cruelly skinned it.
The thought of it makes my heart ache. It was a little fox that loved beauty!"
By the end, Xiao Yu'er's eyes were a little moist. The thought of Mao Xueqiu's death saddened her greatly; it was practically a shadow in her heart.
If it hadn't died so gruesomely, she wouldn't have been so heartbroken. That's why those women deserved to die.
"That's right, Ximen Xinyue and Sima Lanmei deserved to die. They wouldn't be over-punished even if they died a thousand or ten thousand times. But what about the other women? They didn't know the whole story, yet they suffered such treatment. Don't you think that's too cruel?"
Qing Yao spoke slowly. She knew Xiao Yu'er was actually very kind-hearted; otherwise, she wouldn't have been sad over a little fox for so long.
Hearing her words, Xiao Yu'er was stunned for a moment. But in the end, she spoke helplessly, "Then there's nothing we can do. It's their fate, isn't it? Mingyue said the corpse poison is incurable."
"Mochou?"
Qing Yao suddenly remembered something and called Mochou over, instructing her, "Go find Mingyue for me. I have something to ask him."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Mochou walked out. Mingyue stayed in a side hall of Fengluan Palace. Without being summoned, he wouldn't enter casually.
Mingyue was quickly brought in by Mochou. He first bowed respectfully to Qing Yao, "Your Highness?"
"Mingyue, I want to ask you, does the 'Qunfang Sui' that Ruan Xiaolian sent me have the possibility of curing corpse poison?"
Mingyue was surprised that His Highness remembered this matter. He paused, furrowed his brows in deep thought, and finally said slowly, "No, this corpse poison is incurable. However, Qunfang Sui dissolves in water and can help repair their damaged skin."
"Meaning, at most, it can only help them die more cleanly, right?"
Qing Yao felt a pang of sympathy. But since this Qunfang Sui had a slight use, she might as well let them die more cleanly.
"Mochou, take this medicine out and let each of the consorts take some."
"Yes," Mochou took the emerald green glazed bottle from Qing Yao's hand. A rich fragrance filled the hall. Mochou hesitated and then asked for instructions, "What about Ximen Xinyue and Sima Lanmei?"
Upon hearing her words, Xiao Yu'er was already enraged. She spoke with a cold, stern little face, "No, let them be ghosts in hell to accompany my Mao Xueqiu."
Qing Yao sighed, reached out to hug Xiao Yu'er's shoulder, and spoke with heartache.
"Xiao Yu'er, when people are about to die, everything is in the past. Their fate is destined to be tragic. Why should we dwell on the process? Besides, they are already suffering from the condemnation of their conscience, so let's be more forgiving."
Xiao Yu'er said nothing more. Mochou walked out.
In Fengluan Palace, while Qing Yao and Xiao Yu'er were talking, a eunuch rushed in from outside and spoke quickly, "Your Highness, someone wants to see Your Highness. I heard they are coming from the Royal Villa?"
"Royal Villa?" Qing Yao and Xiao Yu'er's faces both changed drastically. That was their secret arms factory. Could something have happened? Who was coming that they knew to come directly to them instead of the Emperor?
"Quick, let him in."
Qing Yao waved her hand decisively. The eunuch immediately retreated and soon led someone in. The person was injured, staggering slightly, one hand covering their other arm. They stumbled into the hall and knelt down with a thud, crying out in pain, "Your Highness, Princess!"
The person turned out to be Xiaotao. She was injured in several places, blood staining her clothes, her hair disheveled, her eyes deep, and her fair teeth biting her lower lip.
A clear row of teeth marks was left on her tender lips, as if she were completely unaware, showing that her entire being had suffered a severe blow.
"What happened?"
Xiao Yu'er quickly flashed down from the phoenix platform, landing beside Xiaotao. She reached out to help her up and spoke with heartache.
Xiaotao looked up at Xiao Yu'er, a bitter smile flashing across her pale face.
"Princess, the arms factory is completely destroyed. It was all blown up by the people the Emperor sent. More than a dozen of us were also killed by his men. I escaped during the chaos. The guards at the Royal Villa also suffered heavy casualties."
Xiaotao was still unaware of the major changes in the palace, so she assumed everything was the Emperor's order. She couldn't understand why the Emperor would send people to blow up the arms factory and kill more than a dozen people, with countless casualties, a gruesome sight. xxs壹贰
Seeing her pained expression, Xiao Yu'er held her with heartache, "Xiaotao, it wasn't Father Emperor. It was Shangguan Hao, the Crown Prince of Wanhe Kingdom. That wretched woman has been impersonating Father Emperor and doing these things!"
"It wasn't the Emperor."
"But the people who injured us kept shouting that they were the Emperor's secret guards. Their martial arts were extremely high, there were more than a dozen of them, and the three leading figures had unfathomable and superb martial arts. Ordinary people are no match for them."
Qing Yao frowned slightly, recalling Liuzun's four secret guards. Besides Bingxiao, Duahuan, Changting, and Xiangbo were all still loyal to him. Why had these three people not discovered anything unusual?
As Qing Yao was pondering, Xiao Yu'er below let out a cry of alarm because Xiaotao had fainted. Qing Yao immediately called out towards the outside, "Someone, quickly summon the imperial physician!"
"Yes, Your Highness."
The little eunuch immediately sprinted out to summon the imperial physician. Qing Yao had wanted to ask Mingyue to examine Xiaotao, but Mingyue was currently in the cold palace, so she could only summon the imperial physician.
Before the imperial physician arrived, the Emperor came. Upon seeing the cold and killing atmosphere in the hall, he couldn't help but be shocked.
"Yao'er, is it related to the Royal Villa?"
It seemed he had also received news. His face was now extremely pained. He hadn't expected Shangguan Hao to have made so many moves overnight. His actions were truly swift.
"Your Majesty, you should immediately recall Duahuan and Changting. They are currently acting under Shangguan Hao's orders. Ordinary people are no match for them. If this continues, I fear many people will die."
By the end, Qing Yao's mood had sunk so heavily that a hole seemed to have been torn open, and the wind howled.
She considered herself a cold person, but facing life at this moment, she felt a sense of powerless panic. The inability to control it, the letting of one vibrant life after another slip through her fingers, was an extremely painful thing.
Her face had become inexplicably pale. Murong Liuzun felt heartbroken. He reached out and hugged her, his dark voice cutting through with determination, "Qing Yao, don't worry. I will catch him very soon."
"Those secret guards?"
"They have likely been controlled by Shangguan Hao and turned into killing machines."
Actually, Murong Liuzun felt worse than others. He had feelings for those secret guards; he had cultivated them for a long time, and they had helped him through life and death.
Yet, in the end, they had become a tool for someone else. This feeling was terrible.