Shi Zhu accepted the order, waved his hand, and rushed forward first. The feathered guards he brought all sprang out like soaring eagles, rushing straight towards the people who were breaking into the prison. Shi Zhu led a few people straight towards the masked woman and Prince Zhaoyang, coldly giving the order.
"How dare they break into the Ministry of Justice's prison! They're asking for death."
With a flick of his longsword, he thrust it straight at Prince Zhaoyang. Prince Zhaoyang, Ye Ranyi, dodged it, but having been imprisoned for days and listening to the wails of the women in the cell, he was not eating or sleeping well and his energy was not very good. Although he managed to dodge it, he did not have the strength to fight back. Shi Zhu, on the other hand, was very agile.
Just as Prince Zhaoyang was about to be defeated, the masked woman supporting him coldly ordered the people behind her: "Take Prince Zhaoyang away, don't worry about me, hurry up."
"this."
The people behind hesitated, then obeyed and rushed over. Two of them reached out and grabbed Prince Zhaoyang, sending him flying into the distance.
Here, the masked woman and Shi Zhu clashed. Shi Zhu knew that his master was hiding in the shadows to capture Prince Zhaoyang, so he wasn't worried and focused on dealing with the masked woman. Their moves were evenly matched. Shi Zhu's martial arts were already very powerful, but he didn't expect this woman's martial arts to be so good. It seemed impossible for him to defeat her in a short time.
Minister of Justice Wu Shang naturally had no idea that the Emperor was hiding in the shadows. Prince Zhaoyang had no way to escape. While fighting off the masked men who were fighting to the death, he shouted to the soldiers behind him.
"Quickly, capture Prince Zhaoyang! Don't let him escape!"
At Wu Shang's shout, the soldiers and officers became anxious and charged forward desperately, resulting in a fierce battle.
Seeing that Prince Zhaoyang was about to be taken away, Ye Lingfeng moved swiftly, shooting out like lightning and landing right beside the prince. He then unleashed a powerful burst of internal energy from his palm. The two men supporting Prince Zhaoyang were no match for him; one palm struck them in quick succession, sending them flying. Prince Zhaoyang fell into Ye Lingfeng's hands. Ye Lingfeng, radiating killing intent, struck Prince Zhaoyang's pressure points with a single move. Prince Zhaoyang glared at him with furious eyes and then roared.
"Ye Lingfeng, you framed me to eliminate me? Do you have even a shred of brotherhood left in your heart?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Lingfeng burst into laughter under the cover of night. The people who had been fighting instinctively stopped what they were doing and separated, staring at the laughing emperor.
The woman who had previously covered her face now had terror hidden in her black pupils, and she cried out, "Yi!"
Ye Lingfeng laughed, then carried Prince Zhaoyang to the open space in front of the Ministry of Justice prison. The two groups lined up on either side, all looking at the Emperor. Then, Wu Shangyi, the Minister of Justice, instinctively knelt down: "Your Majesty, we, your subjects, greet you."
"Get up."
Ye Lingfeng waved his hand, and Wu Shang, the Minister of Justice behind him, led his men to stand up. Seeing that Prince Zhaoyang had fallen into the Emperor's hands, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Prince Zhaoyang was not kidnapped, their Ministry of Justice had not failed in its duty.
Ye Lingfeng ignored everyone else and turned to look at the masked man opposite him, then slowly spoke in a sinister and bloodthirsty tone.
"Mother, are you still covering your face?"
"You knew it was me?"
The voice on the other end trembled, and she took a step back, her eyes filled with panic, her body going limp. If the Emperor knew she was going to break him out of prison, what else did he know? The Empress Dowager couldn't help but wonder, but her mind was a mess right now, and she couldn't think of anything at all.
"Besides Your Majesty, I can't think of anyone else who would come to rescue Prince Zhaoyang. The whole capital is applauding this." After Ye Lingfeng finished speaking, he looked at the Empress Dowager and slowly said, "You should all remove your veils. I want to see who exactly is trying to kidnap Prince Zhaoyang."
The Empress Dowager and the others did not move, but instead took a step back. Ye Lingfeng's face suddenly turned cold, and he reached out and slapped Zhaoyang King on the forehead. The Empress Dowager's face changed drastically when she saw this. She dared not move and immediately reached out to remove the veil from her face, revealing her true face, which was the Empress Dowager of the current dynasty.
In front of the Ministry of Justice, the Minister of Justice and others were discussing among themselves, wondering what exactly was going on.
The people behind the Empress Dowager started to move, each removing their veils. Many of them were unfamiliar, but some were recognizable, such as Sima Yuan and the head of the west family. Unexpectedly, Sima Yuan, who had been imprisoned in the palace, was also released by the Empress Dowager.
Ye Lingfeng remained silent, but the Empress Dowager spoke first: "Feng'er, I deserve to die. The reason I came to break him out of prison was to try to lessen my sins. Back then, I and Lord Sima wronged the late Emperor, and then you were born. I cannot let you destroy the only bloodline of the royal family."
After the Empress Dowager said this, a deathly silence fell in front of the Ministry of Justice prison. No one expected that the Empress Dowager would reveal that she had once had an affair with Sima Yuan. Then, wasn't the Emperor of royal blood? Everyone was terrified. If the Emperor really wasn't of royal blood, then Prince Zhaoyang was the only one of royal blood, and he truly couldn't be killed.
No one spoke in the darkness. Ye Lingfeng's eyes were cold, like a ghost from hell, making people tremble with fear. Unexpectedly, this woman still didn't forget to frame him in the end. That damned woman.
She gradually destroyed the last bit of feeling he had for her; now she is nothing but his enemy.
"west Xiu, are you sure you didn't say anything wrong?"
Ye Lingfeng's eerie voice, as if emerging from hell, slowly rang out.
The Empress Dowager's face froze, her eyes widened, and she couldn't understand why Ye Lingfeng was calling her name with such hatred. She couldn't help but call out back.
"Feng'er".
"How dare you address me like that? What are you? You've been scheming for over twenty years. Back then, you were pregnant with Sima Yuan's illegitimate child. When the late emperor suspected this, you set fire to your own palace, making people believe that you and your child had died in the fire. That very night, Consort Jinlan gave birth to a son. Because Consort Jinlan was the late emperor's most favored concubine, you couldn't bear to see your son suffer, so you switched your son with Consort Jinlan and took Consort Jinlan's son away."
Under the cover of night, Ye Lingfeng's words rang out, one word at a time, and everyone was once again stunned by this matter. They never expected that the Empress Dowager would be so scheming. So Prince Zhaoyang was actually the Empress Dowager's son, the son born from her affair, and the Emperor was still the bloodline of the late Emperor. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Prince Zhaoyang, Ye Ranyi, looked grim. He had known for a long time that the Empress Dowager was his mother, but he always thought he was the son of the late Emperor and did not know that he was the child born of the Empress Dowager's adultery. So when he heard Ye Lingfeng's words, he immediately shouted.
"No, you're talking nonsense, you're talking nonsense."
The Empress Dowager also shook her head and denied the matter: "Feng'er, you're crazy, you're really crazy. Even if you want to hide your background, you shouldn't slander Prince Zhaoyang like this."
Even on her deathbed, the Empress Dowager remained steadfast in her resolve, determined not to let her son bear the stigma of being an illegitimate child.
Now, everyone in front of the prison gates was bewildered by the scene before them. What exactly was going on? Was the Emperor a descendant of the previous emperor, or was Prince Zhaoyang a descendant of the late emperor? In any case, one of them was the illegitimate son of the Empress Dowager's affair.
Just as everyone was having doubts, Shi Zhu quietly entered the Ministry of Justice's prison and brought out Consort Jinlan. When the Zhaoyang Prince's Mansion was searched earlier, Consort Jinlan was also arrested and imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice's prison to avoid leaks. However, the Minister of Justice did not make things difficult for Consort Jinlan. She was in a cell by herself and had a nanny to take care of her. She was not mistreated. When she came out and heard the Empress Dowager's words, she couldn't help but fill her eyes with tears and screamed in a trembling voice.
"west Xiu, even now you still want to frame my son, don't you? You poisonous woman, back when the late emperor was alive, you harmed two concubines and killed two members of the royal family. I never expected that you would switch your own son with mine and take my son away. Tell me, why did you do this? Why did you do this?"
Consort Jinlan was shocked that her son had been so humiliated by west Xiu, and she burst into tears.
Upon hearing Consort Jinlan's words, the Empress Dowager's eyes turned cold, and she shouted, "Lu Jinlan, you're insane! You've gone mad! You've been bewitched by the Emperor! Prince Zhaoyang is your son, he's your own son! How can you believe the Emperor's words?"
"west Xiu, tell me why you switched my son back then, why?"
The Empress Dowager burst into tears. The two women faced off, and the Empress Dowager wished she could kill Lu Jinlan with a single blow. If it weren't for wanting her son to live a happier life and have someone to take care of him, she would have killed Lu Jinlan long ago. She never expected that this woman would dare to ruin her plans today.
The Empress Dowager's eyes flashed with a fierce, wolf-like light as she glared angrily at Consort Jinlan.
Ye Lingfeng stared coldly at the Empress Dowager, then spoke in a gloomy tone: "The Empress Dowager and I have already had our blood tested, and our blood is intertwined. Therefore, I am still the son of Empress Dowager Jinlan, and you are the mother of Prince Zhaoyang. If you still dare to argue, I will immediately order someone to make you two have your blood tested to see if Prince Zhaoyang is indeed your bastard."
Without waiting for the Empress Dowager to speak, Ye Lingfeng ordered Shizhu, "Go and prepare the things immediately."
"Yes, Your Majesty."