The two people who exited the space landed directly under the eaves where Su Muqing had been before she left. The detector indicated there was still a red dot here, meaning the hidden guard from earlier had not left.
This was also the location they had specifically chosen when exiting the space. If the invisibility cloak was indeed effective, it would be a good thing if the hidden guard hadn't discovered them. If the cloak failed and they were found, they were confident they could subdue the person immediately.
At this moment, both of them clung tightly to the eaves, less than two meters away from the hidden guard. They frowned, their eyes fixed on the guard’s back.
Just then, Su Muqing and Huo Qiyuan saw the hidden guard suddenly turn around, his eyes widening. Clearly, he sensed something unusual behind him, but he didn’t make any further moves after looking for a long time.
The hidden guard was about to move to a different patrol area when he suddenly felt an abnormal breeze. The moment he turned, his brow furrowed, and his gaze became even more sharp as he stared ahead.
But after looking for a long time, he found nothing. How could he feel like someone had just brushed past him? After repeatedly confirming there was no one, the hidden guard rapidly left the eaves, preparing to check other places.
Su Muqing and Huo Qiyuan exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with smiles. It seemed the invisibility cloak really worked. Indeed, nothing from the space had ever disappointed them.
Knowing they were truly invisible, the two of them leaped down from the eaves and swaggered through the imperial palace, searching every palace where Emperor Rui might appear.
When Huo Qiyuan and Su Muqing found the Emperor’s sleeping quarters, just as they had knocked out the eunuch on duty and moved him aside, they heard Emperor Rui speaking quietly and urgently on the dragon bed.
The two exchanged glances. Could it be that the damned Emperor hadn’t slept yet? Or was there someone else in the bed? This was not impossible, after all, as the Emperor, it was normal for him to summon consorts to sleep with him.
Su Muqing stepped forward and lifted a corner of the bed curtain, her peripheral vision casually glancing in before quickly looking away, afraid that if she saw anything inappropriate, she would grow needle eyes.
Fortunately, the awkward situation she had imagined did not occur; there was only one figure on the bed.
Su Muqing let go of the bed curtain with relief, and Huo Qiyuan also stood beside her. They saw Emperor Rui with a furrowed brow, covered in sweat, and still mumbling continuously.
“Father Emperor, your son knows his mistake, your son truly knows his mistake! Please, I beg you, ask them, don’t appear again…”
“Your son is already changing, your son will definitely govern with diligence and love the people from now on, will definitely love the people like his own children, will definitely manage the Great Yu dynasty well…”
“I will no longer be incited by villains to harm loyal officials, will no longer unjustly execute good generals without investigating the facts…”
“I will definitely change, I will correct all my mistakes… Father Emperor, please plead for your son! Ask them not to pester me anymore, I’m going mad, truly going mad…”
At this moment, Emperor Rui was completely tormented by nightmares. Although the numerous vengeful spirits that were present at the beginning were no longer there, the remaining ones were those who frightened him the most.
Leading the charge was the former Emperor, whom Emperor Rui both respected and feared – his own father!
In the dream, Emperor Rui knelt and crawled, hugging the former Emperor’s legs, and cried out incessantly.
But his father still glared at him with anger, and then bloody tears flowed from his eyes. Emperor Rui, in fear, released his grasp and retreated backward on all fours. Unexpectedly, his back bumped into something.
He mechanically turned his head and saw Huo Sizhun, covered in bloody marks, and Leng Muran beside him. Huo Sizhun’s face was purplish-red with bulging eyes, while Leng Muran was covered in bloodstains, several bloody wounds on her body still dripping blood…
Emperor Rui screamed in terror, his whole body trembling uncontrollably. “Uncle Huo, Uncle Huo, I never intended to kill you, truly! I never thought of it, nor dared to think of it! I, I, I just wanted to take back the military power in your hands, weaken the Huo family’s influence, and in the end, I just wanted to place you under house arrest, and release you once I had complete control of the court…”
“I don’t know how things turned out like this. It wasn’t me who did what happened to Qiyuan; I had no idea beforehand. I also didn’t expect you to be so devastated by Qiyuan’s death that you became a living dead person who couldn’t speak or move…”
“Uncle Huo, believe me, what I’m saying is true. It was Huo Qixiao who said you harbored intentions of rebellion, he said he could foresee future events, and it was he who told me about the evidence of colluding with the enemy in your study. I didn’t believe him at first, but…”
“But then many things happened that aligned, which is why I… Uncle Huo, I really didn’t intend to harm you! I always remembered your kindness in helping me ascend the throne, I just…”
Emperor Rui defended himself while crying, even in his dream, he hoped that Huo Sizhun could forgive the mistakes he had made.
However, the Huo Sizhun in the nightmare did not speak. He merely stared intently at Emperor Rui with his already deformed eyes, his gaze indescribably terrifying and chilling.
With a runny nose and tears, Emperor Rui didn’t receive a response from Huo Sizhun. He then began to confess his remorse to Leng Muran.
“Auntie, Auntie, you know, you can see that I really didn’t want to kill you. When the Shadow Dragon Guards took action, I tried to stop them, but it was too late, everything was too late…”
“I wanted to save you at that time, I didn’t expect you to die in the prison, nor did I expect it to lead to Uncle Huo’s death as well… It was Huo Qixiao who said you were going to assassinate me and would forcibly break into prison. You are from a prominent martial arts family, and most of the generals and soldiers listened to Uncle Huo, I had no choice…”
In fact, during this period, Emperor Rui would unconsciously recall past events.
Slowly, he began to discern some clues. Huo Qixiao likely had a grievance with Huo Sizhun, or Huo Qiyuan, or even the entire Prince of Jing’s Mansion.
But at that time, whether it was Huo Sizhun or Huo Qiyuan, they were figures that Huo Qixiao could not shake.
Thus, Huo Qixiao used his precognitive ability and used him as a knife, using his hand to eliminate Huo Sizhun and his son, which led to the current situation…
Emperor Rui was filled with immense regret. Why had he been so trusting of Huo Qixiao, as if he had been possessed?
Hearing Emperor Rui’s words, the two standing by the bed said nothing. Su Muqing didn’t know what to say. She turned her head worriedly and saw Huo Qiyuan’s expression turn cold, and she couldn’t help but sigh.
Huo Qiyuan looked at the person on the bed with a complex expression, his hands hanging at his sides clenched tightly into fists, then slowly relaxed, repeating this process many times until his entire hand ached from muscle strain due to overuse.
The sleeping Emperor Rui did not receive forgiveness from them, but he continued to kowtow and admit his mistakes to the three of them, constantly saying he was sorry.