Chapter 45: They're all gone!
Xiao Zhaoning's eyes lit up instantly, like two little light bulbs.
[The mastermind behind the assassination attempt on the Imperial Aunt and the forged identity for Mu Yu was actually a spy from the Jin Kingdom!]
All the civil and military officials froze, their faces filled with shock.
[Wait! If the mastermind is a Jin dynasty person, then this whole princess-impersonation drama isn't just a simple domestic power struggle or a murder for money!]
This is clearly a meticulously planned conspiracy! They want to infiltrate our Great Yu royal family with a fake princess, a pawn of the Jin Kingdom!
As his heartfelt words fell, the entire court of officials felt dizzy and disoriented.
Originally, it was thought to be just a case of a prince consort conspiring with his concubine to murder the princess.
Who would have thought that this would involve traitors and spies from the enemy country! It would involve collusion with the enemy and treason!
That completely changes the nature of the situation!
A collective gasp filled the hall.
The ministers looked at each other, and they all saw lingering fear in each other's eyes.
If it weren't for His Majesty's divine intervention today, which exposed everything and allowed a pawn of the Jin Kingdom to become a princess of the Great Yu Kingdom, the consequences would have been unimaginable!
Lin Xiang was the first to react; he immediately stepped forward, his expression grave.
"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager!"
"I found it strange just now that the medicine Mu Yu used to create the fake birthmark was Fire Butterfly Powder from the Western Regions, which is extremely rare. I once saw in the files that the Jin Kingdom had sent people to buy large quantities of this substance!"
"Now that I think about it, this matter is probably no accident! The Mu family and the Cui family may have already been colluding with the enemy and betraying the country!"
Yuan Hua's phoenix eyes narrowed, and a murderous aura emanated from them.
She slammed her hand on the armrest.
"Investigate thoroughly!"
"Where are the Golden Armor Guards? Take all the survivors from the Mu and Cui families and imprison them in the Heavenly Prison! I will interrogate them myself!"
At the command of Empress Dowager Yuan Hua, the golden-armored guards pounced on the enemy like tigers and wolves.
"No! No! Empress Dowager, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me!"
The old woman from the Cui family let out a pig-like scream, rolling on the ground with snot and tears streaming down her face, trying to grab the leg of the golden-armored guard, but was kicked away.
"We are innocent! It was all that bitch Mu Yu who forced us to this!" Old Master Cui also burst into tears.
On the other side, the Mu family members who had just been kidnapped from the Mu family mansion were terrified by the scene before they could even figure out what was going on, and a foul stench emanated from their crotches.
They cried and begged for mercy alongside the Cui family, their voices hoarse, but no one paid them any attention.
The golden-armored guards moved swiftly, dragging these people out one by one like dead dogs.
The people outside the palace, instead of showing sympathy, erupted in thunderous cheers when they saw this scene!
"Good! Well done!"
"These bastards are worse than pigs and dogs! They impersonate royalty and dare to betray their country! They deserve to be torn to pieces!"
The young woman who had been standing with her hands on her hips earlier spat out a mouthful of saliva, her face full of satisfaction.
"Bah! They deserve to die! Let them bully our Second Princess!"
Inside the hall, the civil and military officials breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted from their hearts.
It's finally resolved.
However, Lin Xiang, who stood at the head of all the officials, frowned slightly.
He glanced at General Weiyuan beside him and noticed that the other man had the same thought in his eyes.
They all clearly remembered that when His Majesty first started eating melon seeds, he said that the Second Princess had cycled ninety-nine times.
What's going on with this time looping ninety-nine times?
It seems there's a huge secret hidden behind this.
Just then, the small figure on the chair moved.
Yu Zhaoning slid down from the high dragon throne and ran towards Luan Xue not far away with her short legs.
He ran up to Luan Xue, opened his short arms, and hugged Luan Xue's leg tightly.
Because she was too short, she could only carry her up to this height.
Little Zhaoning tilted her rosy cheeks up and looked intently at Luan Xue with her big, dark eyes, her voice sweet and childish, yet resolute.
"Don't be afraid, Your Majesty! From now on, no one will dare to bully you! Zhaoning will protect you!"
Luan Xue was startled.
She slowly lowered her head, looking at the little dumpling clinging to her leg, and the emotions surging in her eyes instantly burst forth.
All the grievances, all the resentment, all the hatred were soothed by this warm little hug at this moment.
She knelt down, stretched out her trembling arms, and hugged the little empress tightly in her embrace.
At the same time, Yu Zhaoning was frantically typing away at the system in his mind.
[System! System, come out now! What's going on?! What was that ninety-nine-times-a-cycle thing?! I'm so angry! My poor aunt!]
[Is the new version updated yet? Let me know quickly!]
The system's mechanical electronic voice sounded promptly.
[Ding! The Eternal Gossip System V2 has been updated! The new module "Initial Story Explanation" has been unlocked!]
[Reporting to the host! In the original storyline, your second aunt, Luan Xue, was originally a super powerful person!]
Yu Zhaoning's little ears immediately perked up.
[Oh? How powerful is it?]
[In the original story, she was portrayed as a timid, submissive princess who was mistreated from a young age and subjected to endless humiliation by the Cui family after marriage. However, after you and the Empress Dowager were framed and killed by the male and female leads, she completely turned to the dark side!]
[Her personality changed drastically; no longer bound by the plot, she began to frantically study plot holes, her lifelong goal being revenge for you all, and she would do anything to wipe out the male and female leads!]
[One time, she actually succeeded!]
Upon hearing this, Yu Zhaoning's eyes lit up instantly!
[Wow! Well done, Your Highness! And then what?]
[She stabbed the male and female protagonists a hundred times, then threw their bodies off a cliff! This caused the novel's plot in that world to completely collapse! The Heavenly Dao, in order to restart the world, expended most of its power to rewind time!]
[After the cycle repeated, Heaven learned its lesson. It determined that your imperial aunt was an extremely dangerous and unstable element. To prevent her from disrupting the plot again, it trapped her on the day she was framed by Cui Li and Mu Yu, making her endlessly cycle through the cycle to wear down her will!]
[It was the arrival of you, the biggest variable, that unexpectedly broke this cycle!]
These words left Yu Zhaoning stunned for a long time.
Meanwhile, the civil and military officials who had been listening intently, trying to eavesdrop on His Majesty's thoughts, suddenly discovered...
I can't hear you!
The thoughts that were so clear just moments ago are now shrouded in a thick fog, becoming blurred and indistinct, leaving only a buzzing noise.
"Huh? What's going on? What earth-shattering secret is His Majesty talking about again?"
"Why can't I hear you? What about you?"
"Me too! It feels like something's blocking my way!"
The ministers looked at each other, bewildered and scratching their heads in frustration.
It's always the same! I always miss out on the most important gossip! It's driving me crazy!
However, Yuan Hua heard it all clearly!
Her face instantly turned frosty, her phoenix eyes flashed with murderous intent, and her fingers gripping the armrest turned slightly white.
"The Way of Heaven?"
She sneered inwardly, her anger blazing.
"What a cruel twist of fate! It messed up the script itself, couldn't control the male and female leads, and yet it blames everything on my Xue'er! And it even dares to trap her in this cycle to suffer?!"
"Absolutely despicable!"
Luan Xue, who was being hugged by Xiao Zhaoning, also froze.
She also heard that absurd explanation.
I see...
It turns out that her recurring, nightmarish memories weren't due to madness, but were real!
She was truly betrayed, framed, and humiliated countless times on the same day!
And the reason was... she was too strong? So strong that even the so-called Heavenly Dao was afraid of her?
A slow smile crept onto Luan Xue's lips.
That smile carried a hint of mockery, a touch of relief, and above all, pride.
She raised her hand and gently stroked Xiao Zhaoning's hair, silently thinking to herself.
"So that's how it is... So, someone is afraid of me."
"Hehe, I accept this reason!"
Only the strong are feared! Doesn't this mean that Luan Xue has the power to overturn everything?
Xiao Zhao didn't think that much about it; she was so angry that her little face was puffed up, like a squirrel stuffed with pine cones.
[This Heavenly Dao is too cunning! Too wicked! System, how do we deal with it? What if it still harbors evil intentions and tries to harm my Empress Dowager and Empress Aunt again?]
The little guy was on high alert.
[Host, there is no need to fear at the moment. The Heavenly Dao, by forcibly reversing time and correcting the plot several times, has consumed most of its energy and is currently in a weakened state, unable to use its abilities freely anymore.]
[It has only one way to regain its power: to make the male and female protagonists of this world, namely the eldest prince and the palace maid, strictly follow the original plot and become the chosen ones, then absorb their destiny.]
Upon hearing this, Yu Zhaoning clenched her little fists so tightly they cracked.
[Want to restore it?]
[Let it dream on!]
[Kill them all! Kill them all! Slaughter the male and female leads, let's see how it recovers!]