Chapter 2246: Chapter 1936: May I See Your Majesty Now?

Seeing Zhuang Wei bow toward the carriage, Pei Zhan, who was half-kneeling on the ground, froze.

He lifted his head, several faint trails of sweat sliding down his forehead. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end only pressed his dry, cracked lips together.

Was it really Prince Zhen Nan inside the carriage? How was that possible?

Could it be that Zhuang Wei had mistaken him for someone else?

Though he wanted to remind Zhuang Wei that it was impossible for Prince Zhen Nan to be in the carriage, Pei Zhan still sensibly kept silent at this moment. He wanted to see what Zhuang Wei intended to do next.

Whether the person inside was Prince Zhen Nan or not, barging into the Imperial Palace this hard-handedly was definitely out of the question. Besides, Pei Zhan believed that as a Tributor of the Royal Family, and someone standing on the Empress Dowager’s side, Zhuang Wei absolutely could not possibly allow the person inside this carriage to enter the Long Life Hall.

At this moment, Prince Zhen Nan’s low voice came again from within the carriage, "Master Zhuang, it seems the Royal Family has valued you greatly these past few years, given you quite a few resources. You’ve actually already broken through to Mid Earth Realm."

Zhuang Wei straightened his back and said with a smile, "Prince Zhen Nan is joking. The Royal Family treats us Tributors all the same."

Zhuang Wei then continued, "Prince Zhen Nan, His Majesty is now devoted to cultivation and permits no one to disturb him. If you’ve come to see His Majesty, then please return."

Hearing Zhuang Wei’s words, Prince Zhen Nan said blandly, "Devoted to cultivation? Is it that he wishes to cultivate himself, or that he is being forced to cultivate?"

The matter of Emperor Zhou being placed under house arrest was common knowledge, but under normal circumstances, no one would say it outright. Even those of the Imperial Faction would not speak plainly of it—saying an Emperor was imprisoned would damage the Emperor’s majesty.

Zhuang Wei had not expected Prince Zhen Nan to bring it up so directly. His brows furrowed, the vertical line between them deepening. For Prince Zhen Nan to openly point out that the Emperor was under house arrest proved that in his heart he indeed stood on Emperor Zhou’s side, and that he had already formed the intention to change the current situation. Otherwise, he would not have spoken so bluntly.

In political struggle, before both sides completely tear off all pretense, they will maintain a veneer of mutual decency.

Zhuang Wei now directly reminded him, "The situation of Zhen Nan Prince Manor is not good at present. Prince Zhen Nan ought to be focusing his mind on Zhen Nan Prince Manor." His voice was pressed very low, as if squeezed up from the depths of his throat.

Hearing this faint note of threat, Prince Zhen Nan let out a cold laugh. The next instant, a ferocious aura surged out from within the carriage, a streak of black Spirit Evil Qi shooting straight toward Zhuang Wei.

Zhuang Wei did not dodge. He stamped down hard with one leg, several fine cracks splitting across the bluestone beneath his foot, then raised one hand and blasted out a palm. The spiritual evil in his hand collided with Prince Zhen Nan’s Black Evil. In an instant, the Spirit Evil exploded, and the soldiers around them were directly blown away. Several soldiers crashed to the ground, their helmets rolling off, revealing foreheads slick with sweat.

Zhuang Wei couldn’t help but retreat a few steps, then spat out a mouthful of black blood. The blood splattered onto the bluestone and quickly seeped in. The moment that Black Evil touched his body, it began to corrode him. At this moment he faintly felt signs of backlash within his own spiritual evil. His right hand trembled slightly, his sleeve blown to tatters in one area, revealing a thin wrist.

After stabilizing his stance, Zhuang Wei stared at the carriage in some disbelief. A man who had suffered spiritual evil backlash like Prince Zhen Nan—how could he still possess such strength? His breathing was a bit hurried, the rise and fall of his chest clearly much more violent than just now.

But then again, judging by aura alone, the person sitting inside this carriage was indeed Prince Zhen Nan.

While Zhuang Wei was still perplexed as to why Prince Zhen Nan’s strength was so great, the carriage door opened, and an old man slowly stepped down from the carriage.

The old man wore a long robe of black gold, the hem embroidered with dark-patterned gold thread. His hair was already completely white, combed meticulously and tied into a topknot at the back of his head. The wrinkles on his face were deep, especially the crow’s-feet at the corners of his eyes, like knife-carved lines. His eye sockets were slightly sunken, yet his eyes were exceptionally deep, impossible to see to the bottom.

Seeing that it was Prince Zhen Nan himself, Zhuang Wei was stunned once more. It really was Prince Zhen Nan, and judging from his appearance, he did not seem at all like a man rumored to be at death’s door.

Though Death Qi coiled around him, the fact that he could get out of bed and walk was enough to show that he was still far from death. His steps were very steady, making almost no sound on the bluestone, only occasionally giving a light cough. When he coughed, his shoulders would twitch slightly.

Could it be that Prince Zhen Nan had been feigning illness all this time?

Or had Prince Zhen Nan taken some miraculous elixir, or perhaps found someone of extraordinary medical skill to save him from the brink?

While Zhuang Wei was distracted, Prince Zhen Nan’s turbid yet deep voice sounded again, "Can this Prince see His Majesty now?"

Hearing this, Zhuang Wei’s brows knitted tightly. If Emperor Zhou truly joined hands with Prince Zhen Nan, that would be troublesome.

At the same time.

Within the Imperial Palace, atop the Observatory.

Pei Shuhua, dressed in a dark robe, stood by the stone balustrade of the Observatory, her gaze fixed on Prince Zhen Nan as he descended from the carriage. A light breeze lifted the hem of her robe, revealing the deep-red lining within. Her hair was coiled high, a jade hairpin thrust crosswise through it, the head of the pin carved into a blooming peony. There was little expression on her face; her thin lips were pressed into a line.

The Observatory was the tallest structure in the entire Imperial Palace and even the entire Capital city. Standing atop it, one could see nearly all the courtyards of the palace.

After leaving the Hall of Political Affairs, Pei Shuhua had gone straight up to the Observatory. She had not expected that just as she reached it, she would see Zhuang Wei and Prince Zhen Nan directly exchanging blows.

What surprised her even more was that a single move from Prince Zhen Nan had actually forced Zhuang Wei back. Her fingers rested lightly on the stone balustrade, her fingertips pressing down slightly, the ancient patterns on the stone digging into the pads of her fingers.

Though at his peak Prince Zhen Nan had indeed been far stronger than Zhuang Wei, Prince Zhen Nan now had suffered spiritual evil backlash and was supposedly a man on the verge of death—how could he still possess such power?

Thus her first suspicion was that the person inside the carriage was not truly Prince Zhen Nan, but someone else. Yet just as this thought formed in her heart, she saw Prince Zhen Nan step out from the carriage.

Seeing that it really was Prince Zhen Nan, Pei Shuhua’s expression turned incomparably cold. The air around her grew unnaturally frigid, as though a layer of frost had formed over the stone railings of the Observatory. Her breath condensed into a faint white mist before her face, quickly blown apart by the wind.

Just then, Prince Zhen Nan seemed to sense something and lifted his head to look toward the Observatory. The distance between them and the Observatory was great, but for a Spirit Martial Artist of the Earth Realm, such a distance was nothing. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Prince Zhen Nan’s gaze met Pei Shuhua’s exactly.

Seeing that Prince Zhen Nan had spotted her, Pei Shuhua gave a cold snort and turned directly to leave the Observatory. As she walked, she said to the Maid at her side, "Inform everyone that no one is to stop Prince Zhen Nan from seeing His Majesty." Her voice was not loud, yet it carried an unquestionable authority.

As she descended the steps, the hem of her skirt swept over the stone stairs with a faint rustling sound. The Maid beside her kept her head lowered, hurrying along behind, not daring to speak.

Though Pei Shuhua worried that Emperor Zhou might join hands with Prince Zhen Nan, she did not believe that even if the two of them allied, they could immediately overturn the balance of the court.

Most importantly, in her view, Prince Zhen Nan was already a dying man. It was impossible for him to suddenly recover, and the Death Qi emanating from him, as well as the Black Evil he used when he struck, could not be faked.

Prince Zhen Nan had lain in bed for who knew how many months. For him to suddenly be able to walk today, and even take the initiative to come to the Imperial Palace, meant there was only one possibility: either he had taken some medicine to temporarily suppress the spiritual evil backlash within his body, or he was burning his vitality.

Whichever it was, Prince Zhen Nan was not far from death.

Perhaps once Prince Zhen Nan returned, he would suffer an even more severe spiritual evil backlash. Since he was willing to risk his life to see Emperor Zhou, she would let him have his wish.

There was no need for her to haggle with a dying man. If at this moment she refused to let Prince Zhen Nan see Emperor Zhou and pushed him too far, and Prince Zhen Nan, with a jade-burns-and-stone-breaks mindset, struck at her, that would spell trouble.

She was not like Emperor Zhou, who bore Dragon Qi.

A dying Earth Realm Spirit Warrior who burned his vitality without regard for anything would likely erupt with power close to the Heavenly Realm. Pei Shuhua did not dare to gamble.

At this moment, Zhuang Wei still wanted to summon other Royal Family Tributors to join him in blocking Prince Zhen Nan from going to the Long Life Hall. Yet just then, a Maid at Pei Shuhua’s side came to stand before Zhuang Wei and said, "Her Ladyship commands: no one is allowed to obstruct Prince Zhen Nan from seeing His Majesty."

This...

Hearing the Maid’s words, Zhuang Wei and the soldiers present were all taken aback.

Zhuang Wei quickly came back to his senses. Since it was the Empress Dowager’s order, he naturally had to obey.

He then stepped aside of his own accord.