Chapter 1009

　　Truly Furious!

　　Entrance into the Imperial Palace was restricted. Ever since Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu had been reinstated, the security in the palace was growing tighter and tighter. Not only were people without official business not permitted to enter, but even the people who lived in the palace were not permitted to move around freely.

　　At present, movement inside the inner palace was limited to visiting Cun Shan Palace. Though there was no limit on visiting one another, with the oppressive atmosphere in the palace, nobody wanted anything unlucky to occur.

　　When Feng Yuheng entered the palace, she felt that the Imperial Palace on this night was even more oppressive, as group after group of imperial guards continued their patrols. There were now more than three times more guards than in the past. There were a few times when she came out of her space and nearly bumped into a group of imperial guards. This forced her to shrink back into her space.

　　Slowly, she found that not all of the people patrolling were imperial guards. After all, it was impossible for so the imperial guard to have grown in number so quickly. Thinking about it long and hard, the eighth prince must have brought those 30 thousand troops into the Imperial Palace and added them to the imperial guard.

　　She tightly furrowed her brow and watched the large groups of troops move around the palace. Suddenly, a profound feeling of concern filled her. This was 30 thousand troops! They were all in the palace. Was this not the rhythm of changing the government whenever they wished? As for why old eighth still had not made a move, it should be that he still did not have more subordinates under his command. It was such that he knew that even if he ascended the throne, that position would not be stable. Sooner or later, he would be removed for someone else! That was why he chose to take a more steady path, one that was more justifiable- have the Emperor hand over the position.

　　That sort of extremely urgent feeling surged forth once more, and she suddenly realized that she could not delay any longer. Who knew when the Emperor would be controlled by the gu to actually write the edict to hand over the throne. If that ever happened, it would be too late. They could not go and tell the people of the world that the Emperor had been controlled. That this edict had been written with feelings that contradicted what could be seen, who would believe such a thing? So what if they were believed? To the people of the world, regardless of whether it was the eighth prince or it was the ninth prince, it was all the same to them. They were both the sons of the emperor. No matter how they fought, they both had the surname Xuan. There was not much difference.

　　But to them, things were a little different. If old eighth ascended the throne like this, what would they be considered? What sort of end would they meet? Would they really need to leave “home” and go away?

　　While thinking about this, she headed in the direction of Imperial Concubine Li’s Zhang Ning Palace. It was bitterly cold in the last month of the year, and it was so cold at night that it was hard to endure. It was colder the nearer she got to the inner palace. The entirety of this large inner palace felt just like a cold palace. All of the palaces had their gates tightly shut, and some did not even bother keeping a guard outside. There was not the slightest sign of being lived in.

　　Zhang Ning Palace was a very large palace. Aside from the Empress’ Jing Ci Palace and Imperial Concubine Yun’s Winter Moon Palace, this might be the most amazing place; however, when she arrived at Zhang Ning Palace, she felt that this palace was very gloomy. Just as she came out of her space, she unconsciously shivered, as an extremely uncomfortable feeling washed over her.

　　Feng Yuheng did her best to settle her nerves then began to walk inside. The closer she got to Imperial Concubine Li’s bedchamber, the more she felt that something was off. She could faintly hear some strange sounds. It sounded like someone was crying, and it also sounded like someone was singing. The sound was quite unique, and it suddenly made her recall the professional wailers at funerals. They cried while singing, and it made for a very strange atmosphere.

　　But how could there possibly be a funeral in this place?

　　Curiosity filled her, as she increased her pace. The inside of Zhang Ning Palace did not have very much security. After all, those guards could not get into the residences of the members of the imperial harem, and she completely looked down on the eunuchs and servants that stood guard. It was only after arriving in front of Imperial Concubine Li’s bedchamber that she discovered that the candle inside was still lit in the middle of the night. As for Imperial Concubine Li’s personal palace maid, Zuo’er, she was currently stationed outside the door. From time to time, she would peer inside with a look of anxiety and helplessness.

　　Feng Yuheng hid her figure and directly entered the bedchamber by using her space. When she came back out, she really would have been given quite a fright if she had not prepared herself mentally beforehand.

　　What was Imperial Concubine Li doing? Why was this room… like a mourning hall?

　　That was right, at present, Imperial Concubine Li’s bedchamber was furnished like a mourning hall. There was a funeral banner, an incense table, a memorial tablet, and even a casket. There was also a brazier placed on the ground, and Imperial Concubine li was kneeled next to that brazier, throwing in handfuls of joss paper. At the same time, she muttered: “Come what should come, and leave what should leave. I’ve sent you off, so don’t come back. The dark road is cold, so wear warm clothes. Pass through the world in between and ignore everything that is happening. Come what shall come, leave what should leave. The light shall disperse and never come back again.”

　　Ever for Feng Yuheng, facing this sort of scene caused her to shudder. Imperial Concubine Li’s words seemed as though they were sung, and the tone was very strange. It was a little as if she was singing in a play. She looked up and carefully examined the memorial tablet. There, she saw the ninth prince’s name, Xuan Tianming, had been written. At Imperial Concubine Li’s side, there was a small doll made of a white fabric that had a piece of paper attached to it. The paper also had Xuan Tianming’s name on it.

　　She was instantly shocked. She never thought that this investigation into Zhang Ning Palace would reveal this sort of thing. What was Imperial Concubine Li doing? Xuan Tianming was living perfectly well, yet she had installed a mourning hall. What was the meaning of this? Performing a funeral for the living?

　　Fuck! Feng Yuheng became furious! Subconsciously raising her right hand, her fingers straightened out, as she chopped at the back of Imperial Concubine Li’s head; however, it was at this time that she suddenly noticed that there seemed to be someone rapidly approaching her from behind. It seemed that their qinggong abilities were quite good. Even if they could not compare with Xuan Tianming or Xuan Tianhua, they were not too much worse. She was extremely shocked and wondered to herself. Could it be that Imperial Concubine Li had some people who were similar in existence to hidden guards? But when she had entered, she had already taken note of her surroundings, and she did not notice anyone of note. Then the person who came…

　　She quickly stopped her movements and dove straight for a column to the left side of the bedchamber. When she arrived, the person behind her had also chased over. They were even more skilled than her, and they had even arrived before she did. Reaching out and covering her mouth, that person gave her a look that said: Don’t make a sound!

　　Imperial Concubine Li continued to mutter her incantation that did not belong in either the human realm or the realm of the dead. It seemed as though she did not notice the danger that had just been behind her. She was completely oblivious that if Feng Yuheng had really delivered that chop in her mental state at that time, it would be impossible for her to still be alive. Feng Yuheng did not have many sensitive areas in this life, but Xuan Tianming could definitely be considered one of them. For her to watch as someone in the Imperial Palace try to perform a funeral for the still-living Xuan Tianming, the murderous intent that instantly filled her was not something to joke about.

　　She could only say that Imperial Concubine Li was fortunate, as someone had saved Imperial Concubine Li. The person who had covered Feng Yuheng’s mouth was none other than Imperial Concubine Li’s son, the sixth prince Xuan Tianfeng. This was also why Feng Yuheng had no reason to fight back after finding out who it was.

　　For just a moment, she had made preparations to fight back. If this fight truly broke out, it was likely that this entire Imperial Palace would be woken up. But when she recognized that it was Xuan Tianfeng, the fury and impulsiveness that filled her heart instantly died down by quite a bit. Although she did not know when Xuan Tianfeng had returned nor what he was doing by covering her mouth, intuition told her that he had no intention of hurting her. His gaze even carried a pleading look.

　　She calmed down for a while then reached out to removed Xuan Tianfeng’s hand from her move. She then pointed at a window behind them, gesturing for the two to go out to speak. Xuan Tianfeng nodded and left with her in tow. Very quickly, they exited through that window.

　　The window had been opened a bit too strongly by the two and made a bit of noise. Imperial Concubine Li looked over and felt the cold air begin to pour in, causing her to shiver. Two of the candles in front of the mourning hall were also blown out. She stood up and walked over to light them once more. The mourning hall was illuminated once more, and she was satisfied. Returning to the brazier, she threw in another handful of joss paper.

　　At the same time, the two who had exited through the window were now stopped in the backyard. Before Feng Yuheng could speak, Xuan Tianfeng said: “Younger sister, be graceful and spare my imperial concubine mother’s life. Sixth brother can repay this in any way that you like. Is that alright?” He pleaded and held one of Feng Yuheng’s wrists very tightly.

　　She tugged her arm out of his grasp and rubbed it a bit. She did not immediately respond to the earlier question, instead asking: “When did sixth brother get back? Why was there no word of this at all?”

　　“I secretly came back.” Xuan Tianfeng said, “I heard about the situation int he capital and felt uneasy, thus I came back to take a look.”

　　“What is sixth brother uneasy about?” Feng Yuheng’s eyes were chilly, “Are you uneasy about Father Emperor or uneasy about your imperial concubine mother, who knows how to perform gu techniques?” As she said this, she looked back through the open window and furrowed her brow.

　　Xuan Tianfeng was a bit anxious but could not speak loudly. He could only do his best to lower his voice and explain: “Where is there any sign that she knows gu techniques! That’s just nonsense and cannot even be considered anything approaching gu techniques. Is there anything wrong with ninth brother? Are there any signs of being affected?”

　　Anger filled Feng Yuheng’s heart once more: “Even if there’s nothing wrong, I will ask you, if someone did this sort of thing to you and performed a funeral for the living, what would happen if you found out? Would you just let her continue like this? Would you not feel the slightest bit repulsed? If that’s really the case, I can only say that sixth brother is truly too magnanimous. I am just a young girl and am not that tolerant. I am extremely petty! Her Highness Imperial Concubine Li is cursing my husband like this. Regardless of whether or not he has been affected, I cannot bear to watch it. Sixth brother must show me some sort of accountability.”

　　“Alright.” Xuan Tianfeng very happily nodded, “Younger sister, don’t worry. Sixth brother will definitely provide you with some accountability, and I will guarantee that this sort of thing will never happen again. If it happens again, I…” He gritted his teeth, “It’s fine even if I don’t recognize this sort of imperial concubine mother. Also, younger sister, trust me. She really doesn’t know any gu techniques. All of this is just a result of old rumors that she had heard. I will definitely give her strict orders to put these things aside. You must not get angry over this.” He, a dignified prince, saying this sort of thing was already being quite meek, but he had no choice but to do this. First, that was his imperial concubine mother. Second, the person that he was facing was Feng Yuheng. Third, he had seen that Feng Yuheng had already made up her mind to commit the murder. Just thinking about it was frightening.

　　“Aside from this, sixth brother, I think of you as a brother. I will not tolerate anything getting between the feelings of Xuan Tianming and myself. I hope that Her Highness Imperial Concubine Li will not have any extra thoughts. I hope that you can understand and hope even more that Her Highness Imperial Concubine Li can understand.”