Chapter 71 - Let's End This Today

Shen Ninghua was dressed in embroidered satin clothes. The hem and sleeves were embroidered with large red azaleas with bright red petals and light-colored stamens. The pattern made her look beautiful, noble, and unparalleled in the world.

Madam Zhao looked up at Shen Ninghua coming against the light. For a moment, she seemed to be stunned. “Elder sister…”

Shen Ninghua’s pupils suddenly shrank. The one who could be called elder sister by Zhao Yunxiang must be her mother, Xia Jingyan. Her eyes moved and she immediately asked, “Why are you sitting on the ground?”

Madam Zhao trembled, and she was still in a trance. “I…I…elder sister, why are you back? Didn’t you die in peace? Are you blaming me for failing to do what I promised you? It wasn’t my fault, it wasn’t my fault…”

Wen Qiu shook Madam Zhao’s arms forcefully. “Madam, madam, what’s wrong with you?”

Madam Zhao suddenly restored her senses. When she saw the person in front of her clearly, her face immediately turned pale. “Shen Ninghua!”

Shen Ninghua glanced at Wen Qiu. A trace of pity flashed in her eyes but quickly disappeared. “Greetings, mother. You still have a baby. Please take good care of yourself. Wen Qiu, go out and bring some bird’s nest porridge to help mother relieve her shock.” It seemed that Madam Zhao must know the cause of her birth mother’s death. Since that was the case, she was not in a hurry. She had many ways to dig out the truth from Madam Zhao’s mouth.

“There’s no need to bring any bird’s nest. I don’t even have the appetite for the Dragon Liver or the Phoenix Marrow right now. Shen Ninghua, are you happy now?” Madam Zhao looked at her hatefully, wishing to poke a hole in her body with her eyes.

Shen Ninghua walked to the chair next to her and sat down. Qing Que and Bi Zhu stood behind her. “What are you talking about? How come I can’t understand you? I heard that father and brother Xuanye were summoned into the Palace. I’m also worried. Mother, don’t misunderstand me.”

“I misunderstand you?” Madam Zhao glared at her. “Shen Ninghua, you designed all of this. You want to kill us, don’t you?”

Shen Ninghua coldly looked at her. She got up and tidied her dress. “Mother, since you don’t have anything important, I will go to the Palace now. His Majesty has summoned me.”

“How dare you!” Madam Zhao angrily picked up a porcelain bottle on the table and smashed it towards Shen Ninghua’s back. Qing Que turned around and kicked the porcelain bottle back to Madam Zhao, smashing it fiercely at her feet.

Madam Zhao took a deep breath. She gritted her teeth and shouted, “Shen Ninghua, you bastard, I should have let your father strangle you to death!”

Shen Ninghua stopped and turned around. Her voice was cold and emotionless. “It’s a pity that I didn’t die, so now all of you must die.”

“You…you bitch!”

Shen Ninghua sneered. “Mother, you should take good care of your body and think about how to protect the Shen family.”

Madam Zhao sat limply on the ground and watched Shen Ninghua leaving. Her face didn’t have any trace of blood. Shen Linghan ran through the door. She panicked when she saw Madam Zhao’s appearance. “Mother, what happened to you? Did Shen Ninghua do something to you? That bitch, I’ll go and deal with her!”

“Stop!”

“Mother?”

“Stay at home. I am going to the Zhao family. If your father and brother are back, send people to tell me.” Madam Zhao stood up and walked towards the door with a pale face.

Shen Linghan stepped forward to support her. “Mother, I will go with you to beg grandmother. She will definitely help us.”

Madam Zhao looked at her. For the first time, she felt that Shen Linghan was too ignorant of worldly affairs. “Grandmother? Linghan, I am only a daughter born by a concubine.” Once in a critical juncture, they would be the first to be abandoned. Did she really think the Zhao family cared much about them? If that was true, Madam Zhang wouldn’t have provoked them so openly!

Shen Linghan was stunned. She stood there and could not react. In her heart, she had always been born with a silver spoon in her mouth. In fact, she had always regarded the empress Zhao Huiying as a role model. She thought that she was second only to Empress Zhao. She had never thought that one day she would lose everything.

“Mother, we can beg the Crown Prince. He will help us.”

Madam Zhao suddenly stopped. “The Crown Prince?”

“Yes.” Shen Linghan gritted her teeth. “That time in the Palace, he personally gave me that jade pendant and said that he could marry me as his concubine. With the Crown Prince and the empress, we will definitely be able to overcome this crisis.”

Madam Zhao pondered for a while. Then, she turned around and walked out.

Outside the south gate of the capital, there was the sound of horse hissing.

The horse with the most urgent message galloped at its top speed all the way into the capital. Peddlers who didn’t dodge in time were knocked down on the street, but they didn’t even dare to cry out in pain. They hurriedly crawled to the side and hid away.

At the entrance of the Palace, the guards stood solemnly, and their long spears shone with cold light. When they saw a horse galloping towards them for afar, they hurriedly clenched their weapons in an attempt to stop him.

“The most urgent message. Open the Palace gate!”

The rider on the horse rushed over holding a gold token in his hand without slowing down.

When the guards saw the gold token, they hurriedly made way for him, and slowly opened the thick gate of the Palace. The rider whipped his horse and galloped towards Chengqian palace.

A moment later, heavy drum sounds were heard. “Bang! Bang! Bang!” One by one, the sound was getting louder and faster. The entire capital fell into silence, and only the sound of heavy drums could be heard throughout the capital.

Officials of all ranks were mobilized. Even Prince Gong and Prince Zhi, who hadn’t attended the court for years due to old age, rushed to the imperial palace in their court uniforms.

Officials above the fifth rank who were eligible all arrived at the Palace and waited for orders in Chengqian palace. Those who were not qualified to enter the Palace knelt at the Meridian Gate. The common people knelt behind the officials and surrounded the Palace, forming a circle of many layers with the Palace as the center.

The Heavenly Drum would be beaten only when something important concerning the security of the country happened. As long as the drums sounded, eligible officials of all ranks should enter the Palace as long as they could breathe. Anyone who dared to be late would be killed. This drum only sounded once before when Da’an fought against the Great Yue Kingdom. That war lasted for two years, killing and injuring hundreds of thousands of soldiers. It took Da’an ten years to recover eighty percent of its vitality. This was the second time the Heavenly Drum was beaten.

When the drum sounded, Shen Ninghua was in Princess Anning’s palace. Hearing the sound, Princess Anning suddenly got up and knelt down in the direction of Chengqian palace. After kowtowing and saluting, she immediately changed into a full set of princess clothes and walked out with Shen Ninghua. “Ninghua, the Heavenly Drum is ringing. If the problem cannot be solved properly, the world will truly be in chaos.”

Shen Ninghua looked in the direction of Chengqian palace. Her expression was calm without any emotions. “Your Highness, don’t worry. With the emperor and the princes here, the world will not be in chaos.”

Princess Anning nodded and forced a smile. “I hope so.”

Inside Chengqian palace, the emperor Baili Qingcang was sitting on the golden throne with a cold and tyrannical aura around his body. Civil and military officials knelt on both sides of the hall, while Shen Dong, Zhao Kun and Shen Xuanye knelt in the middle of the hall.

Baili Qingcang’s gaze was like a mountain firmly pressing down on everyone’s heads, making them even more cautious when they breathed.

“The plague in Jiangnan has left hundreds of thousands of people in a precarious situation. I have been feeding you all for many years. Now is the time for you to make contributions. Who can tell me what to do?”

The hall was completely quiet, and the officials were all silent.

“What? You have nothing to say now? Usually, you guys are all smart-tongued, but what now? Are you poisoned and made dumb?”

“Your Majesty, our guilt deserves ten thousand times of death.”

Baili Qingcang smiled coldly. “Since you said that you deserved death, then I will let the guards drag all of you out and behead you, so that I don’t have to waste my money raising a bunch of garbage!”

The civil and military officials knelt on the ground and shouted, “Your Majesty, please remit your anger. Your Majesty, please spare our lives!”

“Since you don’t know how to solve this problem, then use your brain to think hard. When you come up with a solution, you can get up.” Baili Qingcang frowned deeply and ordered coldly.

Crown Prince Baili Jinyi stood out and said, “Your Majesty, I have something to say.”

“Go ahead!”

“Your Majesty, the Shen and Zhao families jointly developed the prescription for curing the plague. The prescription was indeed effective at the beginning. It only started to have some side effects two days later and caused serious consequences. That at least meant that the prescription was still slightly effective. In that case, why not let the two families present their research manuscripts and let the Imperial Health Institute study them as a whole? Perhaps they could find ways to improve the prescription and save the people from the catastrophe.”

The officials in court heard this and all agreed.

“His Highness is right.”

“Yes, the best way now is to find the antidote.”

“That’s right, that’s exactly the way out.”

Baili Qingcang frowned slightly, and the officials below instantly quieted down.

“The Crown Prince’s suggestion is not bad. Shen Dong and Zhao Kun, you should agree with the Crown Prince’s advice, right?”

Shen Dong knelt on the ground and broke out in cold sweat. He was now extremely regretful of what he had done. If he hadn’t studied those prescriptions out of greed, there wouldn’t have been such an issue today. However, he had already been forced to the cliff, and one step back was the abyss. He had no choice but to grit his teeth and say, “Your Majesty, the research manuscripts of the prescription are all in my home.”

“Well, in that case,” Before Baili Qingcang could finish his sentence, the eunuch’s sound was heard from the door.

“Report! The governor of Capital Guards wants to be received by Your Majesty.”

Baili Qingcang frowned. “Summon him in.”

The governor of Capital Guards quickly ran in and said, “Your Majesty, on my way into the Palace, I passed by Prime Minister Shen’s Mansion and heard that the study in his mansion was on fire and all the manuscripts for studying the prescription were burned down.”

Shen Dong was originally kneeling on the ground, but when he heard this, his hands weakened and he almost fell to the ground. The manuscripts were destroyed. How could it be so coincidental?

The veins on Baili Qingcang’s forehead popped out, and his anger was about to burst out. “Good, that’s really good!”

“Your Majesty, the prescription was developed by my son Shen Xuanye. He can repeat the research process. Xuanye, is that right?”

Being watched by Shen Dong’s earnest gaze, Shen Xuanye hurriedly nodded. “Your Majesty, I can repeat it.”

Chen Yun shook his head. “Your Majesty, forgive me for being blunt. This is the first time that we have studied the prescription for curing the plague. It can be said that we don’t have a single clue. As to whether Shen Xuanye’s idea is right or wrong, we have no way of knowing at all.”

Shen Xuanye’s eyes moved as he suddenly said, “Your Majesty, my elder sister Shen Ninghua provided the medicine to cure the plague. I only came up with the prescription by analyzing the ingredients of the medicine. Perhaps my elder sister still has the medicine!”

Second Prince Baili Jinchuan’s eyes narrowed abruptly, and a cold killing intent flashed in his heart. This Shen Xuanye really deserved to die if he wanted to take Ninghua down with him!

Baili Qingcang frowned as he thought of the girl he had seen last time, and an unclear emotion flashed in his eyes. “Summon Shen Ninghua.”

A loud and clear announcement resounded throughout the court. “Summon Shen Ninghua!”

Shen Ninghua stood up beside Princess Anning and looked in the direction of Chengqian palace. Dark clouds flashed across her eyes. Shen family, let’s end this today…