Phoenix Reigns Over The Nine Heavens - Chapter 14

At this moment, the Xiao family’s residence was shrouded in a heavy atmosphere.

General Xiao’s anger almost permeated the entire mansion. “Look at the good things you’ve done! How many times have I told you, Yun Zishu has just married into the family. You should coax her and get along with her, but what did you do?! I’ve only been away from home for two days, and you’ve made such a farce? You have completely disgraced the face of the Xiao family!”

Mrs. Xiao’s face was pale. She stood in front of the bed and wiped away her tears as she looked at her son’s battered and bruised body.

“Cry, cry, all you know is crying! If you hadn’t been indulging Li Xue so wantonly, how could such an absurd incident have happened today?” Xiao Yuanting’s face was livid with fury. The authority he had cultivated in the military camp was truly an intensity few could withstand. “Well now it’s come to this: Li Xue has been taken to the Dark Shadow Pavilion, and Yun Heng has been beaten to this state. Are you happy? Are you satisfied?”

“How could I have expected things to develop to this point?” Madam Xiao cried bitterly, then gnashed her teeth and cursed. “That little bitch used to be so tolerant. Who knows what evil possessed her this time, insisting on divorcing her husband? Does she really think the Xiao family wanted to marry her?”

“Shut up!” Xiao Yuanting was so angry that he slapped her in the face.“You still don’t know what’s good for you. You’re still scolding the princess. Do you think the Xiao family has lived too long?”

Bang!

Madam Xiao, being just a woman, could not withstand General Xiao’s slap. She was caught off guard and slammed into the headboard, falling to the ground in disgrace.

With a buzzing sound in her ears, Madam Xiao was directly stunned by this slap. It took her a long time to come back to her senses.

“From now on, I don’t want to hear anyone in the Xiao family say anything disrespectful about the princess.” Xiao Yuanting warned coldly. “And as for that scheming and vicious woman, Li Xue, the Xiao family can’t afford to keep her. No matter whether she can come out of the Dark Shadow Pavilion alive, she will not be allowed to step into the Xiao family’s gate from now on!”

With that, he coldly flicked his sleeve and left.

Madam Xiao raised her hand to cover her face, unable to believe that Xiao Yuanting had actually hit her.

He actually dared to hit her?

Xiao Yuanting had originally wanted to enter the palace to plead guilty, but he had just walked to the main gate when he encountered the hurried arrival of the Li couple and their servants. His gaze was cold and stern as he looked at the leading Lord Li. Suppressing his anger, he stopped and stared at him with a blank expression.

“General.” Lord Li’s face was filled with panic as he hurriedly asked, “What is the General going to do?”

Xiao Yuanting sneered, “What am I going to do? It’s all because of the good things your precious daughter has done. What else can I do? Of course, I’m going to the palace to plead guilty!”

“I’ll go with you.” Lord Li said, ignoring his sarcasm. “Li Xuan broke into the princess’s mansion and was reported to the emperor. I… I don’t know what to do now. Please give me some advice, General.”

“There is no advice to give.”

Li Wenzhong was choked by the retort, his face flushing red. “The Xiao family and the Li family are on the same boat now. We rise and fall together…”

“Lord Li,” Xiao Yuanting turned to look at him, his eyes cold and mocking. “If I were you, I wouldn’t be thinking about going to the palace now. Instead, I’d go directly to the princess’s mansion to apologize.”

“Go to the princess’s mansion to apologize?” Madam Li’s face changed. “Why should we go to the princess’s mansion to apologize? Yun Zishu is cold and ruthless. It’s not enough that she bullies Xue’er by relying on her status as a princess. Does she want us to apologize to her in a humble manner?”

Xiao Yuanting’s cold gaze fell on her face. “Since you think that way, what are you doing at the Xiao family? Why don’t you just take people to the princess’s mansion to demand an explanation? Maybe the princess will even apologize to you.”

“I…” Madam Li’s face alternated between flushed and pale.

Li Wenzhong hesitated for a moment. “Should we really go to the princess’s residence to apologize?”

“The princess has already sent the letter of divorce to the Xiao family, and now the whole city knows that Yunheng has been divorced by the princess,” Xiao Yuanting said coldly. “All this is because of Li Xue!”

Li Wenzhong was speechless. “I… I really didn’t know about this…”

“Li Xue designed to frame the princess first, and Li Xuan led people to break into the princess’s mansion later. If you don’t go to apologize, do you expect the emperor to issue an edict pardoning the Li family for the capital crime of repeatedly committing treason?”

Hearing his grim tone, Li Wenzhong finally realized the seriousness of the matter. “But… but isn’t this a family matter?”

How could a family affair involve life and death?

“A family matter?” Xiao Yuanting’s tone was chilly. “So Lord Li is still dreaming. The princess has already divorced Yun Heng. Do you think this is a family matter? Can a family matter cause such a stir? Can a family matter send Li Xue directly to the Dark Shadow Pavilion? You’re ridiculous!”

With these words, he turned and left.

When he reached the gate, General Xiao mounted his horse and headed straight for the palace.

Li Wenzhong stood dumbfounded at the gate, watching Xiao Yuanting riding away, leaving only a cloud of dust in his wake. For a long time he didn’t know what to do.

“Old… Master,” Madam Li said in fear, “What should we do now? Will Xuan’er be in danger? Will Xue’er be tortured? I… I…”

Lord Li gritted his teeth. “Forget it; let’s go beg the Ninth Princess.”

For the sake of his son and daughter, he was willing to throw aside his dignity. What did it matter for himself  to bow down this once?

After all, Yun Zishu is a royal princess. She must want to vent her anger and dissatisfaction after being wronged this time. Once she vented her frustrations, wouldn’t she eventually return to the Xiao family?

And Madam Xiao is her mother-in-law. If she keeps making such a scene, will she have a good time in the future?

At this moment, Li Wenzhong never expected that although he was willing to set aside his pride, his dignity was utterly useless in front of Yun Zishu.

“What?” Standing outside the gate of the princess’s residence, Li Wenzhong looked at the steward in front of him in disbelief. “The princess won’t see me?”

“Can’t you understand what I’m saying?” Steward Cheng frowned. “Her Highness the Princess was injured and is unconscious. She hasn’t woken up yet, so she can’t see you.”

Li Wenzhong said in a low voice, “Please go and report once more. Just say that I am here to apologize for my unfilial son. I hope that Her Royal Highness the Princess will be magnimous and spare Li Xuan.”

“We can discuss it after Her Highness wakes up,” the steward said dismissively, reaching to close the gate.

“Steward!” Madam Li quickly reached out to stop him. “Could you at least let us see Li Xuan first?”

“Your son is not under my jurisdiction.” The steward said indifferently. “He injured the princess, which is a crime of attempting to assassinate the princess. He has already been taken away and locked up in the Dark Shadow Pavilion. It will be decided how to deal with him after the princess wakes up.”

Madam Li was paralyzed all over. How could this have involved Dark Shadow Pavilion again?

Does the Dark Shadow Pavilion listen to the Emperor or the Ninth Princess?

“Steward, is this…is this a mistake?” Lord Li interjected. “Xuan’er only came to beg the princess to spare Li Xue; how could he…how could he possibly assassinate the prin…”

Clip-clop! Clip-clop! Clip-clop!

The sound of galloping hooves rang out, and the Li couple turned their heads to look. In their line of sight, a group of five riders came galloping like lightning atop identical black steeds. The man leading them had a stern and handsome appearance with an air of noble authority.

Dressed in a somber black robe with a deep crimson cloak billowing behind him in the wind, his momentum was awe-inspiring.

Lord Li’s face paled instantly.