Chapter 252 - Outburst

With the Emperor's words said, the Imperial guards surrounding the Zou group moved to attack. 

"Clear a path!" Bao Zhun ordered, moving to position himself to make a dash for the Empress dowager.

Chun Hua also prepared to make her own dash towards the Emperor. She knew that if she moved forward, her brother and Bao Zhun would follow and so would their men. She would be protected, therefore she would have a good chance of making it there.

The main problem were the archers, who no doubt rain arrows on them before they could even reach the steps. But she believed they should all be able and willing to sacrifice for the grand victory of killing the Long Emperor. 

As the swords were raised and set to clash, a blue light suddenly flashed out from the center of the Zou group, temporarily blinding the imperial guards and all around...and then their swords fell on air. 

The light was gone as quickly as it illuminated and with it, went the Zou group. 

The Imperial guards gaped at the now empty space with completely lost and confused expressions. They looked across at each other and to their sides, each wanting an explanation but all having none.

Some of them even walked into the center, waving their swords around. Perhaps thinking that the enemy had somehow become invisible, as if that were a more plausible option. But it truly was only air that now occupied that space.

"Your majesty -" Commander An said from beside the Emperor., bringing him out of his daze. The Emperor frowned and promptly ordered, "Search!"

The Imperial guards and the soldiers jumped out of their confused dazes, those in the courtyard scattered around the manor. While those behind the Emperor flooded outside to search the parameter. The men who had been outside the manor promptly joined in the hustle, even though they were unaware of the absurdity that had just taken place inside. 

"Search every house if you have to. I want them found." The Emperor irritatedly said without taking his eyes off the now mysterious spot. Commander An bowed and then went outside to lead the confused operation, leaving a few guards at the Emperor's side for his protection. 

{...This is indeed a strange occurrence... How could they have simply disappeared?...}

The Emperor thought of himself as a pretty open-minded person given his own experiences, but if someone had come to report this to him, he would have had a hard time comprehending it. 

He would like to believe that the light was simply a distraction. And that they had somehow jumped over all the Imperial guards and soldiers and scaled the walls in that one instant. But he knew that was so unlikely that it was impossible. There was no way all of them could have done that so quickly and without being seen.

This occurrence was just as unbelievable as Lei Xing's claim of being from another world. But it was one thing to hear about absurdities and a completely different thing for an absurdity to play out right before your very own eyes. 

The soldiers who had been with the Empress dowager, in their dazed state, instinctively reacted to the Emperor's order and scattered along with the others. Leaving only the Commander, the stupefied Chen family members and their steward at the Empress dowager's side.

The Empress dowager stared at the now empty ground where Chun Hua had just been with wide-eyes. Her breathing increasingly became labored as the reality of what had just happened and what it now meant for her settled in.

{...S-she - the girl is...is...the monk...is...go-gone...}

"How could they just disappear..." Chen You quietly mumbled in disbelief as she stared at the same spot.

Unbeknownst to Chen You, her statement had dragged the Empress dowager's attention back to her. The Empress dowager stared at Chen You for a bit, then her eyes traced Chen You's vision down to the disappearance spot. Then she brought her eyes back to Chen You, her gaze now angry as her face contorted into a deep enraged scowl.

Without taking her eyes off of Chen You, the Empress dowager went to snatch the Commander's sword. The Commander's grip instinctively tightened around the hilt, but then the Empress dowager whipped her glare on him and he was immediately persuaded to release it. 

As soon as she got the sword, the Empress dowager took a step and swung it towards the unaware Chen You as she barked, "This is all your fault!" 

The Empress dowager's call arrested everyone's attention. The Emperor looked up to see his mother mid-swing and shouted, "Stop her!" as he went to sprint across the courtyard, with his men promptly following behind him. 

The Commander immediately reacted but instead of gripping the Empress dowager's arm and pulling, he instinctively refrained from touching her and opted to reach towards the sword...With that poor strategy, it was too late.

It all happened so fast and now Chen You lay on the ground...With her mother on top of her.

Chen You felt the pain shooting from the back of her head before she felt the weight of her mother. Before she could even begin to comprehend what had happened. The Empress dowager pulled the sword back, knocking the hilt into the Commander's left eye causing him to howl and recoil in pain as blood oozed from his eye. 

The Empress dowager became even more irritated with someone getting in her way and simply brought the sword straight down towards Chen You's neck. Chen You froze as her eyes filled with the crazy dowager's sword coming down for her neck like a red arrow from hell. 

As Chen You saw her life flash before her eyes, the sword was luckily yanked out of the Empress dowager's hand just as it touched her neck and it ended up simply grazing her neck instead.

The Empress dowager immediately reached for the sword again and when she saw it was the Emperor who got in her way, her rage increased and she went to attack him instead, reaching for his neck. The Imperial guards promptly peeled her off him, but she had managed to claw at his neck, leaving a few bloody streaks.

The Empress dowager kicked and struggled and then just settled for irate bitter barking at the Emperor, "This is all your fault! Why are you here?! You're always in my way! I left both of you alone so why can't you leave me alone?! You're always, always, always, always -!" 

Her rant was cut short when the Emperor irritatedly closed the distance and knocked her out with the hilt of the sword to the back of her neck. 

Chen You finally released the shaky breath she had been holding when she realized that she was still alive. It was only now that she realized that her mother was not moving. She froze and then tentatively brought up her shaky hands to touch her mother and as soon as she felt the warm liquid she became petrified and went completely still.

She had no thoughts, no reaction, nothing...She could not think or move, she did not want to.

"Take the Empress dowager back to the palace and guard her palace, she is not to leave her palace. Get the nearest physician here and send for the head physician." The Emperor ordered and two Imperial guards immediately carried the Empress dowager off. While others sprinted off to get the physicians.

Chen Bo finally snapped out of it his stupor and dropped to his knees and pulled Chen You's mother's body off of Chen You and into his arms as he checked her breathing.

"She's alive." Chen Bo said as he let out a sigh of relief as he realized she had only passed out from the shock of it. He hoped it to be so.

Chen Bo immediately hoisted her up and raced away with the steward promptly following him, completely forgetting about the shocked and pale Chen You on the ground. 

The Emperor frowned and let out an irritated breath as he watched them race away. Things had gotten completely out of hand. The enemy had somehow magically escaped right when they were in his palm, his mother had completely lost her mind now and an innocent person was potentially dying.

"Help her up." The Emperor ordered with a sigh as he glanced at the ghastly pale and lost Chen You on the ground.

Two Imperial guards grabbed her arms and pulled Chen You up, waking her up from her stupor. But as soon as they released her, she crumbled back to the ground. She could not feel her legs or anything at the moment. 

Now that she was sitting up, she could see the blood on her hands. She shakily raised her hands and stared at them. She tried to form words but only unintelligible sounds came out of her mouth.

Her mind replayed that moment when the Empress dowager's sword came for her. She heard the Empress dowager's bark and turned, but before she could even see or react, she was knocked down to the ground.

It was only now as she stared at the blood on her hands that she finally processed what had truly happened. Her mother had tried to save her and now her mother was...Chen You shook her head and then brought her hands up to cover her ears as she continuously shook her head. 

{...No, no, she's fine - This is all my fault...No! She's fine...Blood - No, no, no, no...It was all my fault and now - now...}

Chen You began hyperventilating, she buried her face in her laps and screamed for about a minute as angry tears poured from her eyes. It was anger at the Empress dowager, at the situation...but anger mostly at herself for bringing this to her mother. 

Chen You suddenly then stopped screaming and then hastily and clumsily scrambled to her feet as she ran off to find her mother on her unsteady legs.

"Make sure she gets there safely." The Emperor calmly said and an Imperial guard promptly followed behind Chen You. 

The Emperor watched the sobbing Chen You racing off with a very conflicted expression. He looked on long after she was gone from view. 

The Emperor let out a tired breath and glanced at the front courtyard littered with bodies, some of which belonged to the disappeared enemy group.

"Check to see if any of them is still alive." He calmly ordered and then absentmindedly looked on as the Imperial guards went about checking for signs of life. The Commander swiftly collected himself, ignored the pain and joined the others worried about the Emperor punishing him for his failure just now.

This situation had definitely blown up into a more problematic one.

At the very least, the Emperor had finally had enough of his mother's antics. He had wanted to preserve her dignity but clearly, she apparently cared nothing for it.

Since she wanted to be treated like a crazy person, then he would have no choice but to indulge her.