The Cry of the Phoenix Which Reached the Ninth Heaven Chapter 164

Chapter 64: Prime Minister, You Still Want to Escape?

“Prime Minister, still trying to escape?” Qing Long spoke coldly. Yao Zhenting looked dumbstruck at the sharp sword pressed against his neck. Even now, he still didn't understand what exactly happened.

“Yao Zhenting, you sure have guts to actually create weaponry behind our back! What are you trying to do, revolt?” A voice filled with cold anger reverberated through the stone room. The moment Yao Zhenting saw Ye Hongyi, his eyes widened and his body started trembling uncontrollably due to fear.

“Your Majesty…” Yao Zhenting looked towards Ye Hongyi in disbelief. He had come clearly because he had received Ye Zixiao's secret letter, so why was Ye Hongyi the one that appeared here? Just as Yao Zhenting turned to look towards the two beside him to ask for answers, he saw that the two people had fallen to a kneel in front of him.

“Prime Minister! We shall demonstrate our sincerity through death!” After saying that, the two of them bit through the capsules hidden in their teeth.

“Not good!” Qing Long rushed up to stop them, but the two were already vomiting black blood and soon fell to the ground, motionless.

“Demonstrate their sincerity? How wonderful! Yao Zhenting, it's no wonder you've been getting more unbridled and completely disregarding our authority! So it turns out that you've had plans to remove and replace us from the start! As of now, you've been caught in the act, so what do you have to say for yourself?” Ye Hongyi looked towards Yao Zhenting with a dark expression in his eyes.

“No… Your Majesty! This old subject is wrongly accused!” Yao Zhenting looked towards the two corpses on the ground blankly for a moment. Then he suddenly snapped out of it and realized that this was a trap. It was a trap Ye Zixiao had set for him!

“Wrongly accused? You still dare to say that you're wrongly accused with so much weaponry right here in front of us?” Ye Hongyi scoffed.

“It was Luminescent Prince! Luminescent Prince was the one that told this old subject to meet him here! This old subject still has Luminescent Prince's secret letter!” replied Yao Zhenting in a panic. His fingers trembled as he took out the secret letter Ye Zixiao had sent him. Qing Long took the so-called secret letter from Yao Zhenting's hand and handed it to Ye Hongyi.

Ye Hongyi looked at the completely blank secret letter, then abruptly threw it at Yao Zhenting's face.

“You're talking about this one?” Yao Zhenting caught the secret letter in a panic and found that there was not a single drop of ink on it. It was a completely blank sheet of paper.

“Why is it like this? That's not possible… That's not possible! Your Majesty, Luminescent Prince wishes to revolt! This old subject received the news and was coming to investigate in order to report it to Your Majesty. Luminescent Prince has definitely seen through this subject's intentions, that's why he set this trap to frame this old subject! Your Majesty, you're wise, please see clearly, this subject is completely loyal to Your Majesty! This subject truly has no desire to rebel!” Yao Zhenting crawled over beneath Ye Hongyi's foot and kowtowed like his life depended on it.

“You're saying that Luminescent Prince wishes to revolt? Where's the proof? Just this blank piece of paper?” demanded Ye Hongyi as a cold light flashed through his eyes. He had been wanting to get rid of Yao Zhenting for a while now. He had to uproot all the trees in Soul Sand Garden that were flourishing better than his.

“Your Majesty, the weaponry in this room is proof, they were all made by Luminescent Prince! Your Majesty, if you don't believe, you can check the characters on these weapons!” Yao Zhenting suddenly realized that if Luminescent Prince wanted to revolt, he'd definitely carve the Jing (luminescent) character on the weapons. However, when Yao Zhenting lifted a blade and examined it, he found that the blade actually had a Yao character.

“Yao Zhenting, what can you say now?” An Bingshan casually picked up a blade and lifted it to show Ye Hongyi. The character on it was in plain sight.

“Your Majesty… This is Luminescent Prince's plot… This old subject's three daughters all have strong imperial favor, especially my third daughter, Wan er. Your Majesty treasures her like she's a precious pearl, there's no reason for this old subject to revolt!” Yao Zhenting fell to the ground and crawled to Ye Hongyi, sobbing in fear.

“Whether you have reason to is one thing, whether you've done it is another! The evidence is already conclusive! Guards, throw Yao Zhenting into the imperial prison to await his sentence.” Then he ordered for all the weapons in the stone room to be seized.

In the shadows, Yao Mowan had a clear view of Yao Zhenting's aged and tear-streaked face as he was pushed out the secret passageway by several guards. She sighed.

“Master,” called Yin Xue worriedly.

“Do you think this consort is sad? That's wrong. He's not worth it. He has never treated Mother as his wife, and he has never treated Mowan as his daughter, so Mowan would naturally not view him as a father. This consort is just thinking, should we really let him die just like this?” Yao Mowan's crafty eyes narrowed slightly in thought.

In Pure Flowers Palace, when Ming Yu told Yao Suluan the news about Yao Zhenting being thrown into the imperial prison, Yao Suluan dropped her teacup in shock.

“Something really has happened to Father… why would it be like this…” muttered Yao Suluan to herself. In the next instant, she abruptly got up to rush out of Pure Flowers Palace.

When Yao Suluan reached Guan Osprey Palace, Yao Mowan was currently on a chaise lounge playing with Fluffy.

“Were you the one that wrote this? Why? What exactly is going on?” Yao Suluan lifted the letter in her hand. The countless questions racing through her head were making her very uneasy. When Ting Yue saw that Yao Suluan was rushing towards Yao Mowan, she moved up to block her. However, unexpectedly, Yao Suluan moved to slap her.

Just as Yao Suluan's slap was about to land, her jade wrist was caught by Ting Yue.

“Ting Yue! What are you doing?” shouted Yao Suluan indignantly.

“This servant isn't doing anything, but even if this servant has done something, it's not Consort Li's place to lecture me. This place is Guan Osprey Palace and naturally has its own rules. Without my master's permission, Consort Li does not have the right to barge in here,” replied Ting Yue sternly.

“You!” Yao Suluan never thought that after just a few days, even Guan Osprey Palace's servants would become so unbridled.

“Ting Yue, if this slap really had landed on your face, then you wouldn't have the qualifications to stay in Guan Osprey Palace.” Yao Mowan languidly got up and walked slowly to Yao Suluan. The implicit meaning in her words was that she approved of Ting Yue's actions.

“Yao Mowan, you're not even the slightest bit worried that Father's been captured?” Yao Suluan pulled back her arm angrily, then glared at Yao Mowan.

“Ting Yue, go guard the doors. Don't let anyone come in.” Yao Mowan waved dismissively to have Ting Yue withdraw, then she walked to the table and poured a cup of tea to push it towards Yao Suluan.

“Father? Second Older Sister sure puts things nicely. As of now, does Second Older Sister care about this father?” Yao Mowan drew blood with one strike as she said this coldly in a mocking tone. Yao Suluan was indignant when Yao Mowan poked her sore spot. She stormed to the table, lifted the tea cup, and drank all of it in one go. Then she tossed the letter she was holding to Yao Mowan.

“'Don't go unless you want to die.' Were you the one that wrote this?” demanded Yao Suluan.

“For better or for worse, Mowan has saved your life. Shouldn't you feel grateful?” Yao Mowan lifted her brows towards Yao Suluan.

“Pei! You were the one that set all of this up! You first imitated Ye Zixiao's style of writing to lure this consort to the black bamboo forest, then you wrote this to warn this consort! Yao Mowan, what exactly are you trying to do?” Yao Suluan demanded answers almost crazily.

“That's wrong. The letter from before was something that Ye Zixiao had personally written. In this entire incident, Mowan only did one thing, which is write this letter and save you once.” Yao Mowan's expression was solemn and her eyes were calm, without any ripples.

“You think this consort would believe you? There's no reason for Ye Zixiao to harm this consort and Father!” Yao Suluan didn't believe it at all.

“You two killed the one woman he loved in this world, so it isn't strange that he did this to you.” Yao Mowan shrugged as her lips hooked in a cold smile.

“There's no way he could know… And even if he did know, he wouldn't destroy his own future! Does he no longer want to be emperor?” Yao Suluan no longer cared about the so-called secrets. All she wanted to know was the truth. Ye Zixiao was her last hope. What was she supposed to do if this hope got extinguished?

__________

Chapter end