Everyone was in a bloodthirsty frenzy, and blood stained the entire dense forest.
Two hours later, the entire Green Ant Clan was wiped out. General Lin ordered his men to clean up the battlefield, while he himself led all his soldiers to Ye Lingfeng and knelt down calmly.
"Your Majesty, we have come to pay our respects."
Ye Lingfeng's stunning face was cold and arrogant as he swept his gaze over everyone with an air of dominance, followed by a deep, magnetic voice.
"Get up, everyone. Let's count the number of Green Ants who have died and see who is still alive. We need to prepare to return to Dengzhou."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Before long, someone came to report: "Your Majesty, the princess of the Green Ant Clan has disappeared?"
"Danatu. Ke'er is missing?"
Ye Lingfeng's eyes were deep and cold. He raised an eyebrow and gave a sharp order: "Immediately order a search of the entire mountain forest. We must find Danatu Ke'er's whereabouts!"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
General Lin immediately ordered several groups of people to search the mountains and forests, determined to find Danatuker's whereabouts, while the rest of the group returned to Dengzhou.
When the group returned to Dengzhou City, General Lin and the others discovered that the Empress was missing. Their expressions changed drastically, and they immediately reported to the Emperor. Upon hearing the report, Ye Lingfeng anxiously asked, "The Empress came to Dengzhou City? Where is she?"
His face was sinister, and his whole body was filled with murderous intent.
The soldiers in the tent swallowed hard, finding it hard to bear the emperor's demeanor.
Not only the Emperor, but even Ji Cong became anxious. Previously, Ji Cong had gone missing while he had gone into the Green Ant Clan with the Emperor. Ji Cong was credited with the greatest contribution in the extermination of the Green Ant Clan.
Upon hearing that his daughter had come to Dengzhou but was now nowhere to be found, Ji Cong was naturally anxious and urged Lin Hao to hurry up.
"Where is the Empress? Where did she go?"
Lin Hao glanced at Ji Cong, then at the Emperor above, and spoke calmly.
"Your Majesty, the Empress arrived in Dengzhou yesterday to inquire about Your Majesty's whereabouts. Today, she went with us to the Green Ant Tribe. When the signal fire was lit earlier, we were so busy killing people that we didn't notice the Empress and her party. But later, we discovered that the Empress had disappeared."
Why is Ling'er missing?
Ye Lingfeng found the matter very strange, and his face became increasingly cold and gloomy. The killing intent around him was so strong that no one in the entire tent dared to speak. They were all wondering why the Empress was nowhere to be seen. Logically speaking, the Empress should be very happy that the Emperor had won such a victory. Why was she nowhere to be seen?
Inside the tent, Shi Zhu raised an eyebrow, recalling what had happened in the palace earlier, and her face darkened. Could it be that the Empress had encountered something bad again, which was why she couldn't see the Emperor?
With that thought in mind, Shi Zhu stepped forward and spoke calmly.
"Your Majesty, please return to the capital immediately. When I went to the capital to deliver the message earlier, Her Majesty encountered many unpleasant things. However, Her Majesty was afraid of affecting Your Majesty's attack on the Green Ant Clan, so she ordered me not to tell Your Majesty. Now that Her Majesty has arrived in Dengzhou, she has not seen Your Majesty. Something must have happened?"
Upon hearing Shi Zhu's words, Ye Lingfeng immediately flew into a rage. He flashed to Shi Zhu's side and roared in a deep voice, "When you delivered the message earlier, what happened to the Empress?"
"My lord, now is not the time to talk about those things. The question is, where is the Empress? Perhaps she hasn't returned to the capital?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Lingfeng's rage intensified. He threw a punch at Shi Zhu's face. Shi Zhu dared not dodge and took the blow directly. With a thud, one of his eyes went black.
Ye Lingfeng strode out, angrily tossing out, "General Lin, take care of the rest. I'm returning to the capital."
Shi Zhu quickly covered his eyes and chased after him. He deserved the punch. If anything happened to the Empress, he would not be able to forgive himself. Then there was Ji Cong. Thinking that his daughter might be in trouble, he had no heart to stay. He took a few servants from the Ji family and followed Ye Lingfeng back to the capital.
Meanwhile, Hailing was already riding in a carriage, leading several of her men, and taking a roundabout route back to the Great Zhou.
She had met Ye Lingfeng once before, watching him from afar. His radiant spirit and noble, domineering presence made her want to throw herself into his arms and have a good cry. But as soon as she saw him, the soft emotions within her were triggered. She felt her blood rushing through her body, and she became violent and frantic, wanting to kill. If Shen Ruoxuan hadn't quickly pressed her pressure points and taken her away, she probably would have really killed him.
So the Soft Love Silk really is that powerful. Thinking of this, Hai Ling leaned against the carriage, closed her eyes, and rested, her face calm. Now she no longer thought about the matter of the night. On her way to Da Zhou, she wanted to think about how to kill Jiang Ba Tian. Jiang Ba Tian was at the height of his power, and it would not be easy to get rid of him. So she ordered Shi Mei to bring out all four hall masters of Wu Ying Lou. Soon they would meet up with her, and then they would go to Da Zhou together to find a way to kill Jiang Ba Tian.
The carriage traveled leisurely towards the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Eight days later, Ye Lingfeng returned to the capital with his entourage. Upon arriving in the capital, he did not enter the palace but went directly to the Ji residence to see Ji Shaocheng. As soon as Ji Shaocheng saw the Emperor and his father return, this dignified and tough man burst into tears, which shocked Ye Lingfeng and Ji Cong. What exactly happened in the capital? He had made sure everything was arranged properly when he left, so why was Ji Shaocheng in such a state?
After grieving for a while, Ji Shaocheng inquired about Hailing's whereabouts. Upon hearing that Hailing was missing, he became furious and immediately told Ye Lingfeng everything that had happened after Ye Lingfeng left the palace: Feng Yao's order to burn down Qingqian Palace, her attempt to bribe Nalan Mingzhu to poison Ling'er, and Alang's perverted impersonation of the emperor to cast the Love Curse on Hailing. He told Ye Lingfeng everything, including the fact that the fake emperor wanted to issue an edict to abdicate in favor of Prince Zhaoyang, and that the Empress Dowager actually agreed. Not only did she agree, she also revealed Hailing's birth date and time to Alang, which is why Hailing was cursed with the Love Curse.
Hearing this, Ye Lingfeng was furious. He had originally intended to keep Hailing in the palace, firstly to help him maintain order in the country, and secondly to prevent her from suffering with him. Who knew that his departure from Beilu would cause her so much pain? Just thinking about this made Ye Lingfeng's chest ache unbearably, and he felt a suffocating pain in his heart. No wonder Ling'er wouldn't see him; it turned out she was under the spell of the Soft Love Silk and couldn't see him.
"Ling'er".
Ye Lingfeng let out a long howl and punched a pillar to the side. Because he used too much force, one of his hands was covered in blood, but he did not feel any pain. Compared with the suffering that Ling'er had endured, all of this was so insignificant. Where is Ling'er now?
And why did the Empress Dowager treat Ling'er like this? Ye Lingfeng's deep eyes were filled with turmoil, and he wished he could go to the palace immediately to ask the Empress Dowager why she did this.
However, Ji Shaocheng hadn't finished speaking when he heard that Ling'er was missing, and he was extremely anxious.
"Your Majesty, you must find Ling'er! She is pregnant, carrying Your Majesty's child."
"She's pregnant?"
Ye Lingfeng was stunned once again, his heart filled with mixed emotions. He had been happy to know that Ling'er was pregnant, but now he felt even more hatred. Ling'er was pregnant, yet she had suffered all this. Why was his mother treating her like this? What was her reason? Was it simply because he hadn't allowed the Xi family to take power? Was she taking revenge on Ling'er? But no matter what, Ling'er was pregnant, and the child in her womb was of the Ye family's blood.
"I will find her as soon as possible, don't worry."
Ye Lingfeng took a deep breath. He wouldn't let Ling'er wander alone. He would definitely find her. He would also find a way to remove the curse of Soft Love Silk. Even if it meant killing him, he wouldn't let her wander alone.
"I've returned to the palace," he said, wanting to hear his mother's explanation for treating Ling'er this way and what she was trying to do.
Ye Lingfeng was incredibly sinister, like a cruel official from hell, with a chill emanating from his entire body.
Ji Cong and his son respectfully saw the emperor off. Ji Cong then pressed him for more information about Hai Ling. Both father and son had tears in their eyes, their hearts aching at the thought of Ling'er's suffering. Ji Shaocheng looked at Ji Cong and said calmly, "Father, I want to go to the Great Zhou Dynasty to find Ling'er. If I'm not mistaken, she must have gone to the Great Zhou. Perhaps she's seeking revenge against Jiang Batian. I heard that Jiang Batian killed Ling'er's foster mother that day. She's a person who values gratitude the most, and she will definitely avenge her foster mother."
Ji Cong thought it made sense and immediately nodded, urging his son to hurry up.
"Cheng'er, go. No matter what, you must protect Ling'er and never let her suffer any more hardship."