Unfortunately, their methods were too brutal and cold-blooded.
Under Huan Changming's smiling gaze, he slowly knelt down and bowed his head in worship: "Your humble servant pays homage to the new emperor."
Huan Changming couldn't help but laugh out loud, then his gaze swept across the ministers in the hall, "My dear ministers, do you still want to be loyal subjects?"
To be a loyal subject is tantamount to pushing one's own family members to the execution ground.
Li Mou was a key figure among the veteran officials. Since he had already acknowledged Huan Changming's identity, the rest of the officials had no choice but to follow suit and kneel in obeisance.
"Your subject...kowtows to the new emperor!"
"Your humble servant kowtows to the new emperor!"
"Your humble servants kowtow to the new emperor!"
Huan Changming smiled as he watched these "loyal ministers" who had sworn to kill him, this traitor, now all submit to him.
He kicked away the head that rolled down in front of him. "How boring."
The third quarter of the hour of Mao (5:45 AM) is an auspicious time and day.
Lu Pianpian changed into her wedding dress, meticulously dressed from head to toe.
Under the watchful eyes of his father, Lu Zhong, he rode a tall horse, carrying a ten-mile-long red bridal procession, accompanied by joyous music, and amidst the congratulatory gazes of the city's people, to the Li Palace to welcome his bride.
Huan Changming's status was special, so his wedding procession could not leave the main east gate of the palace and could only enter through the secluded west gate.
Upon reaching the West Gate entrance, he ordered the wedding procession to wait there, dismounted, and went into the palace alone to fetch Huan Changming.
He felt strange from the moment he stepped into the palace gate. Although the west gate was remote, it was still the entrance to the palace and should have been guarded by the imperial guards.
But he saw no royal guards at the gate, and no patrolling guards as he entered the palace. A faint, pungent smell of blood still lingered in the air.
Lu Pianpian didn't want to think too deeply about it. As long as he took his junior sister out of the palace today, she would be a member of his Lu family. From now on, she would have nothing to do with the Li Palace that had left her with such terrible memories.
He walked along the corridor and, as he rounded a corner, bumped into a palace maid, knocking her to the ground.
Are you alright?
He rushed to help her up, only to find that the palace maid was covered in dried blood. When he looked at her face, he realized that it was Huan Mi.
Upon seeing him, Huan Mi recoiled in terror, crying, "Don't kill me! Please don't kill me! Spare me!"
"What are you talking about?" Lu Pianpian had already sensed something was wrong. Huan Mi was usually so arrogant and domineering in the royal family; something must have happened for him to look so disheveled and fearful now. "What exactly happened?"
Hearing his question, Huan Mi regained some composure from her fear. "A madman... a madman came to the palace. He had many people killed... If I don't run away, I'll die too!"
Lu Pianpian's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this, "Where is my junior sister?"
Where is Changming?
"I don't know! Let me go! I want to live, I don't want to die here!"
Huan Mi burst into tears. Lu Pianpian let go of her, and she turned and ran away, but the Imperial Guards spotted her at that moment.
"Princess Huanmi has been found."
The imperial guards rushed forward and seized Huan Mi.
"I am a princess! How dare you treat me like this! How dare you!"
The imperial guards ignored them, and upon spotting Lu Pianpian's figure, they asked, "Who are you?"
"I am Lu Shaoyan, who has come today to marry Princess Changming." Lu Pianpian couldn't discern whether the Imperial Guards were friend or foe, so she could only truthfully ask, "May I ask where Princess Changming is at this moment?"
Princess Changming?
The title sounded like a joke to the Imperial Guards, but the new emperor's temper was unpredictable, and they dared not overstep their bounds.
"You want to see Princess Changming? Very well, we'll take you there right away." The head of the imperial guards ordered, "Arrest him and bring him to see His Majesty."
Lu Pianpian was not afraid to meet Prince Li. She believed that if she met Prince Li, she could find answers to questions about Changming's whereabouts and the unusual events in the palace.
Before long, he and Huan Mi were taken to a large hall and forced to kneel down by the imperial guards.
"Your Majesty, Princess Huanmi has been found."
Lu Pianpian heard a series of unhurried footsteps, followed by an unfamiliar young male voice asking, "Who is the other one kneeling?"
"They said it was Lu Shaoyan who came to the palace to marry Princess Changming."
Lu Pianpian straightened her back in confusion, and what came into view was a strange young man with his hand on the dragon throne, supporting his cheek.
The boy had exquisite features and a deep-set face, so handsome that he seemed otherworldly. His dark blue eyes made him even more alluring and captivating.
Lu Pianpian, however, saw a hint of familiarity in those blue eyes.
A hint of surprise flashed across the blue-eyed boy's face, then he turned his head and smiled at him, "I had forgotten that today was originally the day of my and my senior brother's wedding."
A note from the author:
Huan Changming has officially retired from horseback riding; let's congratulate him.
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 31
Lu Pianpian tried to stand up, but the imperial guards pressed him back down. "You must not be disrespectful before His Majesty!"
"It's alright, let him get up." Huan Changming beckoned to Lu Pianpian with his finger, "Come here."
The imperial guards obeyed the order and made way for Lu Pianpian.
Lu Pianpian walked slowly toward Huan Changming. The young emperor sat casually on the dragon throne, exuding an air of nonchalance in every gesture. His face was unfamiliar, his mannerisms were unfamiliar, and even the way he looked at Lu Pianpian with amusement was unfamiliar.
Only those dark blue eyes were so familiar that they were fatal to Lu Pianpian.
"Where is my junior sister?" Lu Pianpian stopped two or three steps away from Huan Changming. "Where is Ninth Princess Huan Changming?"
Huan Changming's teasing gaze vanished. "Are you really stupid, or are you just pretending?"
"Shouldn't you know very well where Huan Changming is?"
Lu Pianpian stiffly reached out and touched the protruding spot on his neck. "This part of yours is rather full."
His neck was long and slender, and his Adam's apple stood out prominently as he spoke.
The Adam's apple is an extremely sensitive spot for men, especially since Huan Changming dislikes having it touched. Yet, when Lu Pianpian touched his Adam's apple, he not only didn't push her away, but instead pulled her into his arms and made her sit down on his lap.
He gripped Lu Pianpian's waist with one arm and pressed down a few inches, whispering suggestively in her ear, "There are even fuller ones... Senior brother, would you like to take a look?"
The strange sensation coming from below Lu Pianpian's waist made his face gradually turn pale.
Huan Changming ran his fingertip across Lu Pianpian's face and asked with a smile, "Does the fact that I'm a man really hurt you this much?"
Outside the royal palace was the ten-mile-long red bridal procession that Lu Pianpian had brought to marry him, while inside the palace, Lu Pianpian was still wearing the wedding dress she had worn for their wedding ceremony.
Huan Changming's casual remark about being heartbroken made all of Lu Pianpian's actions seem utterly worthless.
Wearing the joyful red dress, Lu Pianpian found it particularly dazzling for the first time.
A mouthful of blood spurted out of Lu Pianpian's mouth without warning, dripping onto his red wedding robes and Huan Changming's black imperial robes, yet not a trace of blood could be seen.
Huan Changming's smile froze, and he pinched Lu Pianpian's chin, asking, "What's wrong with you?"
Lu Pianpian didn't answer, but asked him in a hoarse voice, "Why did you lie to me?"
A tear rolled down Lu Pianpian's cheek and landed in Huan Changming's palm.
He ignored her completely, and the movement of his hands only made Lu Pianpian lift her face even higher, forehead to forehead, and say slowly and deliberately, "Because you are stupid and easy to fool."
As far as Huan Changming was concerned, there was no one else in the world as easily deceived as Lu Pianpian.
Lu Pianpian swallowed hard, then suddenly felt dizzy and disoriented. She closed her eyes and fainted in Huan Changming's arms.
"Lu Pianpian? Lu Pianpian?"
Huan Changming nudged Lu Pianpian, but found he didn't react. He then picked him up and carried him to the inner hall, frowning as he scolded the imperial guards, "What are you standing there for? Go find the imperial physician for me!"
Seeing his anger, the imperial guards quickly ran out of the palace to find the imperial physician.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was watching inside the hall, Huan Mi scrambled out, but as soon as he stepped out of the hall, someone grabbed his collar from behind and pulled him back inside.
"The palace is so far away, I wonder where you intend to escape to?"
Huan Mi turned around, knelt at Huan Changming's feet, and pleaded, "Please let me go... We have no grudges against each other, the throne is yours now, you can take everything from the palace! Please let me go!"
She lived deep within the palace and was unaware of what had happened at the morning court session, regarding Huan Changming only as a usurper and traitor.
“What a fine line, ‘no enmity whatsoever.’” Huan Changming looked down at Huan Mi with disdain. “I remember every single thing my elder sister has done for me over the years. If she doesn’t remember, I will do it for her today.”
Huan Mi looked up at him in disbelief, “You are…you are that slut…” She dared not say any more and suddenly fell silent.
“Bitch?” Huan Changming finished her sentence for her, pulling her up from the ground. “It seems that my royal sister has forgotten again. I am now the emperor above all others, and I have absolutely nothing to do with those two words.”
"You...you've been lying to us for so many years, you madman!"
Huan Mi broke down in tears. If the person in front of her was Huan Changming, he would take revenge on her for all the hardships and abuse she had done to him in the past. How could she possibly survive?
"Brother Jingyi... I'm going to find Brother Jingyi! I'm going to tell him you're a man, you two can't be together, I'm going to tell him you lied to him! You're a complete and utter bastard and a liar!"
Huan Mi tried to climb out, but Huan Changming pulled her back and sneered, "Fine, I can let you go out to find Jingyi, but you stole my things, shouldn't you return them now?"
Huan Mi trembled, "W-what is that?"
Huan Changming ripped off the two gold earrings she was wearing, causing her to scream in pain. Huan Changming threw the blood-stained earrings in front of her and said, "What do you think?"
Huan Mi stared intently at the two earrings for a long while before finally reacting, "Fine... I'll give them back to you, in my bedchamber, I'll give them back to you..."
Huan Changming tossed Huan Mi to a palace maid beside him, then took a handkerchief from another maid and wiped his hands with disgust as if he had touched something dirty. "Lead the way."
Palace servants helped Huan Mi out, passing by the imperial physician brought by the Imperial Guards. The physician quickly kowtowed to Huan Changming, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"
"Enough with the nonsense. If I return and he's not sober, you can come back with your head!"
The imperial physician was terrified, his heart filled with both sorrow for the late emperor who had died tragically and his inward contempt for this treacherous minister.
Such a tyrant, Heaven will surely destroy Dali!
Huan Mi searched through all her dressing cases, but couldn't find the black jade earrings she had snatched from Huan Changming.
"If you can't find it, that's fine too," Huan Changming said sinisterly. "You can pay with your life."
"I can find it! Give me, give me some more time! I will definitely find it!"