Phoenix Reigns Over The Nine Heavens - Chapter 15
How did this evil spirit show up?
Li Wenzhong’s face showed a trace of fear as he unconsciously stared at the line of five riders—there were four people following Si Cang.
Arriving outside the gate of the princess’s mansion, Si Cang dismounted, and his cold eyes swept across the faces of the Li couple. “Is Lord Li here to apologize?”
Lord Li’s smile froze. “C-Commander Si Cang…”
“If you’re going to apologize, you should have the attitude of someone who’s apologizing.” Si Cang’s voice was sinister and wrapped in a layer of frost. “What crime is it to offend one’s superior? I shouldn’t need to remind Lord Li.”
Li Wenzhong’s face changed drastically. He originally wanted to say something to uphold his dignity as a court official, but upon meeting Si Cang’s cold and ruthless eyes, fear spread all over his body in an instant. He took a step back unconsciously, his voice clearly trembling. “Please… Please enlighten me, Commander Si…”
“Kneel here so that Her Highness the Princess can see your sincerity in asking for forgiveness.” After saying this, Si Cang turned around and walked through the main gates of the princess’s residence.
The steward bowed slightly, then closed the gates right in front of Minister Li, completely shutting the Li couple out.
The four black-clothed shadow guards of the Dark Shadow Pavilion stood in two rows on either side of the gate, with the same cold aura and carrying the unique awe-inspiring and murderous solemnity of the Dark Shadow Pavilion.
Kneel?
Li Wenzhong’s expression was stiff. He was a court official, and he was asked to kneel outside the gate of the princess’s mansion to plead guilty?
If people knew about this, where would he put his face?
“Sir, what should we do?” Madam Li was in a panic. “Xue’er’s fate is unknown, and Xuan’er has also been captured by the Dark Shadow Pavilion. What should we do?”
Li Wenzhong closed his eyes and said, “If you hadn’t instigated Xuan’er to come to the princess’s mansion to demand for Xue’er, how could he have…”
“What’s the use of blaming me now?” Madam Li’s eyes were red with anxiety. “The most important thing now is to rescue Xuan’er and Xue’er. The people of the Dark Shadow Pavilion are all cold-blooded and ruthless, and their methods are cruel. What if… what if…”
Li Wenzhong silently looked at the closed door in front of him, and his brows furrowed as he thought of what Si Cang had just said.
The attitude of apologizing?
Why did Si Cang come to the princess’s residence? What is his relationship with the Ninth Princess?
Xue’er was taken away by the Shadow Pavilion, and Xuan’er was also arrested by the Shadow Pavilion… Does this mean that Si Cang listens to Yun Zishu?
How is that possible?
How could the Emperor allow such a thing to happen?
However, under imperial power, the political landscape was treacherous and unpredictable—what was truly impossible?
Li Wenzhong turned to look at Madam Li. “Go to the Xiao family and tell Shu Xuan to bring Xiao Yunheng here tonight to apologize.”
Madam Xiao’s maiden name was Shu Xuan.
Madam Li’s face changed. “Isn’t Xiao Yunheng injured?”
“What do you know?” Li Wenzhong coldly rebuked her. “It is because he is injured that it is easier to implement the plan of self-torture.”
Madam Li understood his meaning in an instant, and after responding, she quickly turned around and went to the Xiao family.
Looking at the tightly closed door, Lord Li was in a dilemma. Finally, as if he had made a decision, he stepped forward and knocked on the door.
No one answered him.
Lord Li continued to knock on the door.
After a while, Steward Cheng opened the door and said with some impatience. “Minister Li, what is it now?”
“Steward, I’m here to apologize. Please let me in.” Li Wenzhong pointed to the open space in the front courtyard. “I’ll kneel here to apologize to the princess. I promise I won’t disturb her.”
What does it matter if I kneel for the sake of Li Xuan and Li Xue?
But kneeling outside the gate was definitely not going to work. What if the gates of the princess’s mansion remained shut? He could kneel until he died, and no one would know.
Butler Cheng frowned and reluctantly said, “Come in.”
“Thank you, Steward.”
Lord Li breathed a sigh of relief and hurried into the courtyard. He gritted his teeth and knelt down after lifting his robe.
Steward Cheng ordered the gate to be closed, glanced at Minister Li, and turned to leave.
Yun Zishu was reading in the Qifeng Hall.
After a full day of turmoil, the sky had finally turned dark. Yun Zishu ordered people to prepare dinner. Looking at Si Cang, who walked into the courtyard, the man was dressed in black, his presence undiminished even by the night.
Yun Zishu couldn’t help but feel that this man should not be the commander of the Dark Shadow Pavilion. He possessed more dignity and courage than the princes of the Yun’s royal family, and even his appearance far surpassed theirs.
Her mind involuntarily recalled the scene of him storming into the Xiao residence, leaving almost nothing untouched in his path. The blood stained his eyebrows and eyes, like a god of death emerging from hell…
“Your Highness.” Si Cang was outside the window, his eyes meeting Yun Zishu’s. “Xiao Yunheng was given fifty strokes of cane. He will be bedridden for at least a month.”
Injuries to muscles and bones take a hundred days to heal.
The imperial rod in the palace is definitely not easy to endure. Even if the imperial guards didn’t dare strike lethally, Xiao Yunheng was undoubtedly suffering now.
“You’ve worked hard,” Yun Zishu said. “Come in.”
Si Cang left the carved window, went up the steps, and entered the bedroom.
“Just now Li Xuan came and scolded me.” Yun Zishu said with a faint smile. “Before I’ve even finished dealing with the Xiao family, the Li family is rushing to die. It seems that I’ll be quite busy the next few days.”
Si Cang stared at her intensely. “Your Highness is different from before.”
“Do you wish for me to be the same as before?”
Si Cang was silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head. “It’s better this way.”
“I also think it’s better this way.” Yun Zishu’s voice was calm and detached, her eyes clear. “I don’t care about the imperial edict, I don’t care about etiquette, I don’t need to follow the three obediences and four virtues, and I don’t need to care about any worldly opinions… I am, after all, the legitimate princess. Even if my mother passed away early, no one can change this fact.”
So all those who wanted to use rules to suppress her, who wanted her to think that she had to be humble and submissive because she had no one to rely on, and who wanted her to think that she should compromise and make concessions after getting married, were all going to be disappointed.
Si Cang didn’t speak, his eyes fixed on her face. Deep within them, boundless emotions seem to be surging, profound and restrained, hidden where no one could grasp them.
“Did Father make things difficult for you?”
Si Cang came back to his senses and slowly shook his head. “No.”
Yun Zishu hummed in acknowledgement and said, “Since you’re here, have dinner with me. We haven’t had dinner together since I moved into the princess’s residence.”
Upon hearing this, Si Cang’s eyes visibly softened. “As you wish.”
The maids laid out the dishes one by one.
Yun Zishu was not one to waste things. Even though she was a princess, she never liked extravagance. Tonight, she had people prepare three meat dishes, three vegetable dishes, and two soups in order to keep Si Cang for dinner.
She usually eats by herself, and one vegetable dish and one meat dish are enough.
Unfortunately, a peaceful dinner seemed to be a luxury for her. The two had just sat down when a report came from outside: “Your Highness, the Crown Prince has arrived at the residence accompanied by imperial physicians and imperial guards.”
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