Shiyi left the cave entrance and returned shortly.
"Miss, Prince Xuan's convoy was attacked in Wushan, and the situation is currently unknown. The palace..."
"What about the palace?" Chu Qianli asked urgently.
The scoundrel had his own abilities; she didn't want to care, nor could she.
But the one in the palace was currently severely injured and poisoned with two different toxins, at risk of dying at any moment!
"The Emperor of Nanming seemed to have succumbed to the poison last night."
"What?" Chu Qianli and Lan Qing were both startled.
Lan Qing tried to get up, but Chu Qianli immediately pushed him back, "Don't get agitated. In your current condition, going out is useless."
She glanced at Shiyi.
Shiyi nodded and retreated outside the cave.
Chu Qianli squatted beside Lan Qing and comforted him, "Your eyes... although there's still a chance for them to recover, they may not be perfectly restored."
"Moreover, you are still severely injured and must rest well."
"Where are you going?" Lan Qing immediately caught her underlying meaning.
"I said, I don't know if you'll believe me," Chu Qianli looked at him, her voice soft, "The person you care about, I... I can't describe how I feel, but I am very worried about his safety."
"So, I need to go back and confirm his situation, but I'm afraid you'll run around and distract me."
"Miss Chu..."
"Give me some time, and give yourself some time. If you can't recover, if your powers can't be restored, you won't be able to help him, will you?"
Lan Qing said nothing more.
After all, Chu Qianli was telling the truth.
Now that his senior brother had arrived, he had almost lost all his power. Encountering his senior brother would be a sure death.
If he couldn't recover his power, the people would no longer believe him. In that case, he truly couldn't help the Emperor.
"Miss Chu, please be careful."
"As long as the National Master is willing to stay here and recuperate, I can promise you that I will be extremely careful."
"Alright, it's a deal!" Lan Qing extended his palm.
Chu Qianli slapped his palm decisively.
As they walked away, she instructed, "Have Fu Ning come to take care of him."
"Yes."
The two walked a little further, and Gan Shiyi lowered his voice, "My people just received news that the Emperor succumbed to poison outside the Lingjiu Hall last night. Prince Yu and Lan Fan were both present at the time."
"After that, Yang Xun sent the Emperor back, and the Emperor has not appeared since. As for Prince Xuan, someone clearly obstructed his progress; they want to usurp the Emperor."
"What about Prince Ling?" Wasn't Prince Ling loyal to the Emperor?
Shiyi looked troubled. After a moment of looking at Chu Qianli, he said, "There are rumors outside now that you and the National Master eloped, and the Emperor sent people to assassinate the National Master..."
"Simply preposterous!" Is there any truth left in this world?
"Miss, please don't be angry."
"I'm not angry." What's the use of being angry? It's all their scheme; she was just a little unwilling.
"So, they are now spreading rumors that the National Master and the Emperor are at odds, and both sides are mutually destroyed?" Chu Qianli could only guess this.
Shiyi nodded.
"Miss, your predictions are divine. They have indeed spread the story like this: Miss Li, in order to elope with the National Master, secretly poisoned the Emperor, and the Emperor, for the sake of a woman, wanted to privately execute the National Master."
In short, it was now a mutual destruction.
If, at this time, neither the Emperor nor the National Master could appear to give an explanation.
Then, not only would Lingjiu Hall have a new owner, but even this empire would have a new ruler!