When Du Xiaoli had finished speaking, she placed the flute to her mouth and gently began to play it.
The sound of the flute was crisp and clear, resounding from the carriage, playing a moving melody in the winter sunlight. She added a little bit of Sound Arts without trace, lifting everyone's spirits.
Hearing the sound of the flute coming from the carriage, Ji Liufeng's mood improved a bit and he said, "I didn't expect Xiaoli to be able to play the flute."
"How did you know it was her playing the flute?" Han Mingyi had realized this in his heart because he heard the Sound Arts, but Ji Liufeng shouldn't know this, right?
Ji Liufeng watched as Mount Yan melted into the shape of a long, white dragon and he said quietly, "I can still tell if it's the Princess's flute playing."
Over here, the procession slowly inched away from Phoenix City, but elsewhere, Han Mingze was sitting in the Empress' seat, as the Empress and a group of palace maids kneeled below him.
“This Emperor is only giving you one chance,” Han Mingze said coldly as he gazed at the Empress, who already appeared somewhat haggard.
"What does the Emperor mean by this- this concubine doesn't understand." The Empress looked at Han Mingze and asked in disbelief.
"You really don't understand? You don’t have any words or any matters to tell this Emperor?" Han Mingze asked quietly.
“But this concubine doesn’t have anything to say to Your Majesty this Emperor? What does Your Majesty want to hear– how about this concubine tells you about Heng’er's matters?” The Empress asked.
Han Mingze turned the jade ring on his thumb. He always liked to do this whenever he was thinking or reminiscing on something.
"Empress, do you remember when we first met?"
"This concubine remembers. You were outside the city in the third lunar month. This concubine was flying kites in the South Mountain and met you, who was still a prince, amidst the peach blossom trees," the Empress recalled.
"This Emperor also remembers the simple little girl in the peach blossom forest at that time." Han Mingze took over and continued, "Later, this Emperor went to ask Imperial Father to appoint us to be married so we could tie the knot. You've always taken care of things behind me. From the Eastern Palace to the Imperial Palace, you've always handled this Emperor’s household affairs well so that this Emperor could rest assured. You are a good Empress."
The Empress kneeled and said, "Thank you for your compliments, Your Majesty."
"Your family background isn't very strong, but this Emperor has always clung to the feelings we had in the beginning. Regardless of what those ministers say, this Emperor has never thought of destabilizing your position as Empress." Han Mingze looked at the Empress with disappointment as he said, "This Emperor hasn’t changed, but you, Empress, have changed, changed into someone who is unrecognizable to me."
"This Empress is terrified!" The Empress knocked her head against the ground as she kneeled, biting her lips where others could not see, her face betraying her pain.
"Previously, you never cared about this Emperor’s state affairs, but recently you have been frequently running to the Imperial Study, prying into this Emperor’s schedule from people around me. What do you want to know? Why don't you come and ask this Emperor directly? Or is it that you want this Emperor to give you my country?"
"This concubine doesn’t, this concubine never wanted to take Your Majesty's country," the Empress cried.
"Then you bribing the guards around me to find out how many shadow guards this Emperor has around me is all groundless talk?" Han Mingze said icily.
“This concubine, this concubine…”
"Last night, did you summon Anle?" Han Mingze suddenly questioned loudly.
"This concubine, this concubine did call Princess Anle over for a bit last night, but only had someone tell her a few things to look out for in sending off the bride, and then quickly let her leave," the Empress tried to cover up.
"But that's not what you said last night!" Han Mingze slammed his hand on the table, looking at the Empress with grief and anger, "What did you tell me last night when this Emperor came? You said Anle hadn't even been here at all!"
“This concubine hasn’t been in good health recently, and has been somewhat dazed. This concubine had also just woken up at that time, and remembered wrongly!”
"A well-said speech about ‘remembering wrongly’!" Han Mingze sneered twice, "You should know that this Emperor has found Anle, so it's useless for you to cover up for yourself. This Emperor is only asking you because of our past love. What state of mind are you in, thinking that this Emperor will believe your continuous lies?!"
“This concubine hasn’t!”
“You haven’t what! This Emperor originally thought, if you told the truth and pointed out the mastermind behind this, this Emperor could still forgive you. But now, this Emperor feels that giving you this chance is basically a waste of time! Someone come!” Han Mingze stood up angrily, yelling to the outside of the palace.
“Your Majesty the Emperor.” Two imperial guards entered.
"The Empress harbored assassins and attempted to use them to assassinate this Emperor. From today onwards, the Empress's title will be removed and she will be immediately sent to the Cold Palace, the Phoenix seal will be temporarily handed over to Noble Consort Yi. Send all other palace maids and eunuchs to the prison and have the Ministry of Justice investigate the mastermind behind this scheme! In addition, Liu Shinai is a felon. In order to prevent her from contacting the assassins, dispatch heavy guards around the Cold Palace for this Emperor." Han Mingze commanded.
“Yes.” The guards received his order.
The Empress looked at Han Mingze with disbelief. Seeing the coldness in his eyes, she sat paralyzed on the ground.
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