Chapter 1261: Chapter 481: Wu Lie’s Secret! The Death of Empress Xu! (Part 2)

"Yes."

Lu Shuangge turned around and left, closing the bronze door tightly.

Chu Yanli beckoned to Chen Mo, saying, "Come over here."

Chen Mo approached, looking at her slightly pale cheeks, feeling that this woman seemed different from usual, less domineering and more vulnerable.

"Why are you the only one here, where is Director Qi?" Chen Mo asked curiously.

"He might have guessed something and didn’t dare to get involved. He’s hiding at home pretending to be sick now." Chu Yanli shook her head and said, "I didn’t want to call you so hastily, but the situation has changed. According to reliable information, Wu Lie has already left the Imperial Palace, and at any moment, the Capital City could be turned upside down..."

"What?" Chen Mo was taken aback, "The Emperor is not in the palace now?"

Chu Yanli glanced at him with a slightly strange expression, "It seems you haven’t realized what will happen next... Never mind, it’s not the time to talk about this. I once told you there is something I want you to see, which is closely related to what Wu Lie did in the Secret Realm."

She took a deep breath, with strands of golden light emanating from her chest, revealing a faint image of a square seal.

The golden light spread to the Heavenly Observation Mirror, causing it to tremble. The characters of the Eight Trigrams lit up, and the black lacquer on the mirror surface began to peel off gradually.

Chen Mo realized, his throat moved, "So the thing you talked about has been hidden in the Heavenly Observation Mirror all along?"

"That’s right."

Chu Yanli’s face grew even paler, and beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.

Qi Chengze had once extracted the power of the whole Observatory to control this object, and the consumption for her to activate such a heavy tool by herself was imaginable.

"The most dangerous place is the safest place, this Heavenly Observation Mirror connects to the Ten Thousand Realms. It can not only glimpse the Heavenly Secret but also shield it, even Wu Lie couldn`t guess that I would hide it here."

"Even if he knew, it wouldn’t matter. Without the Heavenly Decree Seal, no one can retrieve it."

By now, the black lacquer had completely peeled off, revealing a bright silver mirror surface.

Chu Yanli bit her index finger and squeezed out a drop of blood, sketching on it. The intricate pattern was exactly the same as what Chen Mo had seen on Liu Miaozhi’s back before, only it was completely reversed.

Chen Mo suddenly understood, "So you deliberately left that map as bait?"

Chu Yanli sighed, "I originally thought that after the Xu Family’s downfall, this matter would slowly fade away. But over the years, some people kept targeting them relentlessly... I gave that map to Mrs. Xu, intending to use it to exchange for their survival and catch those with ulterior motives. But I didn’t expect the Xu Family to be so stubborn, preferring death over submission..."

Thinking of Liu Miaozhi’s resolute look, Chen Mo was momentarily speechless.

Once the pattern took shape, it emitted a faint glow, and a deep vortex appeared, exuding a desolate aura, strangely incompatible with this world.

Chu Yanli reached into it, fumbled for a while, and took out a black round stone.

This was something Chen Mo was quite familiar with...

"An Image Stone?"

"That’s right."

Chu Yanli handed the round stone to him, saying, "After you see it, you’ll naturally understand why the Xu Family was accused of ’treason’ back then."

Chen Mo reached out to take it, his mind sinking into it, and a scene emerged in front of him—

The night was dark, the moon bright and stars sparse, while the candlelight flickered dimly in the bedchamber.

On a bed embroidered with flying phoenixes, a woman lay quietly.

She wore a bright yellow royal garb adorned with a five-colored phoenix pattern, her eyes slightly closed, as if deeply asleep, even the rise and fall of her chest was barely noticeable.

The scene seemed to be secretly recorded, with a strange angle that made it impossible to see the woman’s full face, but from her clothes, it was evident that this was the Xu Empress who passed away six years ago.

"His Majesty has arrived!"

Suddenly, a sharp voice rang out.

The palace attendants on either side knelt down one after another.

With a "boom," the hall door was pushed open, and accompanied by the sound of dense footsteps, several Black Armor Guards strode in, lining up on both sides, the weapons in their hands gleaming coldly.

Step, step, step—

Then came the slow and steady sound of footsteps.

A figure dressed in a black dragon robe walked into the inner hall at a leisurely pace.

Tall and thin, with the robe embroidered with a five-clawed golden dragon dragging on the floor, a red and gold coiled dragon crown binding his dark hair impeccably, his knurled face framed under the bead curtain, his eyes deep and unfathomable like an icy pond of a thousand years.

This was the first time Chen Mo saw the current Holy Emperor.

Although he looked somewhat ill, the overwhelming pressure was still palpable.

"Long live His Majesty."

The palace attendants prostrated themselves, bowing to the ground.

Wu Lie gently opened his mouth, his voice deep, "Cough, cough, I’ve heard that the Empress is unwell and couldn’t put my mind at ease, so I came to visit... Alright, leave us."

"Yes." The palace attendants responded and withdrew.

An old eunuch on the side made a gesture, and the Black Armor Guards silently followed out, closing the door behind them.

In the bedchamber, only the Emperor and the old eunuch remained.

"Is everything prepared?" Wu Lie asked.

The old eunuch took out a wooden box from his sleeve, presenting it with both hands, and said, "Your Majesty, this is the perfect ’blood heir,’ refined after hundreds of trials, merging your and the Empress’s bloodline without any rejection, and with a natural affinity for the Military Dao."

The Emperor opened the lid and took out a glazed bottle from inside.

Inside was filled with crimson liquid, continuously bubbling.

"If I can comprehend the Origin of Ordeal through this, along with the Reincarnation Dao Principle from that baldy, perhaps there’s a chance to escape this damnable fate." The Emperor murmured, "By my calculations, there are about six years until the secret cache opens. That’s enough time. Now we just need to see if he takes the bait..."

Dong—dong dong—

At this moment, the sound of clappers echoed from outside the hall. It was already midnight.

The liquid inside the bottle became more active, roiling like boiling water.

The old eunuch said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, the hour has come."

"Hmm."

The Emperor approached the bed, reached out, and pinched the Xu Empress’s jaw, forcing her mouth open, and poured all the red liquid inside.

About half an hour later, the Xu Empress’s body suddenly trembled violently, her skin becoming scorching hot and turning crimson, emitting a faint mist.

The previously flat abdomen quickly swelled, raising the phoenix robe high, and in the space of a few breaths, it looked as if she was ten months pregnant! The Xu Empress herself became extremely old, her withered skin clinging to her bones, with all vitality drawn out of her body!

"It’s about time, retrieve it," the Emperor said flatly.

"Yes."

The old eunuch’s fingers acted like a knife, shimmering with a metallic sheen, aimed at the Xu Empress’s belly—

"Wah!"

Moments later, a loud cry sounded.

The old eunuch wiped the blood from his hands, wrapped the baby in the prepared swaddling clothes, and brought it to the Emperor, smiling, "Congratulations, Your Majesty, it’s a boy."

Wu Lie, however, didn’t even have the interest to take a look, his expression indifferent, as he gazed at the lifeless Xu Empress, saying calmly, "Clean this place up, and announce to the outside that the Empress died of illness... The Prince has just been born and needs a mother. We also need someone to counterbalance Lv Huaiyu in the court, so discuss this with the Jiang Family."

The old eunuch tentatively asked, "If someone from the Xu Family inquires..."

A cold glint flashed in Wu Lie’s eyes as he sneered, "Xu Yanlin is a smart man, but being too smart can be dangerous. Keep an eye on him..."

The voice grew indistinct, and the scene abruptly ended.

Chen Mo’s expression was somewhat dazed, unable to calm down for a long time.

Actually, he had long suspected something about the Crown Prince’s identity, but he never expected him to be an artificially created vessel?!

The supposed illness and difficult childbirth were all a facade, the Xu Empress was actually murdered by the Emperor’s own hand!

"Now you should understand why I loathe Wu Lie so much?" Chu Yanli’s delicate face was tense, gritting her teeth, "Xu Zining was my childhood friend. I’ve never been able to accept her death, but I can’t speak of these things to anyone, else it would lead to death, just like what happened to the Xu Family..."

Chen Mo calmed himself down and asked, "Where did this image come from?"

Chu Yanli said, "Zining sensed something was amiss long ago and prepared in advance... Do you remember the East Palace Lady?"

Chen Mo frowned, "Do you mean Fan Sijin?"