Sheng Chenyi's eyes shrank, and he instinctively took a step back. "What... what are you talking nonsense about?"
Lu Wanning shouted, "When have I ever talked nonsense? Don't think you've covered your tracks perfectly. Your mother killed her own brother just to secure the position of the queen and your position. She also slaughtered the imperial concubine and the entire Yan family. And you're just as insidious and cruel as your mother. You didn't even spare your own cousin. He Chan was innocent and naive, but you and Shi Aohan exploited her to the fullest. You're the one who started all this, Sheng Chenyi. If you were to become the emperor, the world would surely be in chaos!"
If he were to become the emperor, the world would be in chaos.
These were the words his uncle had said when he was young.
Sheng Chenyi let out a wild shout. "I'll kill you! You're my uncle, how could you side with others? Lu Wanning, don't think that just because you've become a bit smarter, you can do whatever you want. I'll kill you!"
Sheng Chenyi drew his sword and swung it at Lu Wanning.
At that very moment, a spear came flying and knocked his sword away. Then, Sheng Chenyi was knocked to the ground, and a pair of big hands pinned his arms behind his back, rendering him immobile.
Lu Wanning had been terrified. She was afraid that Sheng Chenyi might accidentally hurt the emperor when trying to kill her, so she had led him to the end of the bed. Now, hearing the commotion, she finally looked up and found that the imperial guards had already rushed in.
The imperial guards quickly subdued the soldiers Sheng Chenyi had brought, and the one who was holding Sheng Chenyi down was none other than Lu Hongxi.
"Dad?"
Lu Hongxi turned around and looked at Lu Wanning's hand with heartache. He smiled faintly. "Ning'er, you've suffered."
Lu Wanning was still in a daze when she saw the emperor getting up and walking towards her.
"Silly girl, why take such a risk? If your father hadn't arrived in time, you might have gotten hurt."
It took Lu Wanning a long time to realize that all of this was actually a scheme set up by the emperor. She didn't know that just now, in order to buy the emperor a glimmer of hope, she had deliberately provoked Sheng Chenyi.
If Sheng Chenyi had killed her just now, he would surely have been labeled as a murderer of his own family. If the emperor could hold on, the imperial edict of succession might not be written. Even if it was forced to be written, the crime of killing someone in the emperor's bedroom would follow Sheng Chenyi for the rest of his life.
The emperor's personal eunuch soon rushed in. He led the eunuchs and maids to clean up the place. The imperial physicians also came in one after another to examine the emperor and Lu Wanning.
It took Lu Wanning a while to come to her senses. She asked the emperor, "Your Majesty, so you've been faking your illness these two days?"
The emperor wasn't angry at her rudeness. He smiled and said, "You silly child. You insisted on having the imperial physicians come and take a look. Fortunately, I didn't summon you to the palace yesterday. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to pull off this act."
The young imperial physician who had received the reward only now understood why his masters had all diagnosed that the emperor was beyond medical help. Those who didn't know the truth naturally didn't dare to speak carelessly. Only he was so stupid that he actually told the truth, thinking that he was highly skilled in medicine.
Fortunately, the emperor wasn't angry. He just told them to take good care of Princess Zhaoyang's injuries.
After Lu Hongxi had taken care of everything inside and outside the palace hall, he came in again. Although he was asking about the emperor's condition with concern, his eyes were fixed on Lu Wanning.
The emperor couldn't help but burst out laughing. In the past, he had always suspected that Lu Hongxi wasn't sincere, probably because Lu Hongxi didn't know how to disguise himself. Like today, if he were a more cunning official, he would surely be able to disguise his true feelings and show that the monarch was always the most important. But Lu Hongxi was so stupid. The way he was worried about his daughter but didn't dare to say it was really funny.
Thinking of this, the emperor's mood improved a lot, and he was even more concerned and considerate towards Lu Wanning.
This heart - warming scene of a kind father and a filial daughter didn't sit well with Lu Hongxi. Although he knew that he had had fewer opportunities to accompany his daughter than the emperor, seeing his daughter acting coquettishly towards someone else and treating someone else as her father still made him unhappy.
The emperor looked up and saw Lu Hongxi glaring at him with dissatisfaction, but not daring to glare too fiercely. His eyes were full of grievance.
After showing enough concern, the emperor waved his hand. "Alright, I haven't had a good rest for two days. I need to take a good rest. Zhaoyang, go back to your mansion with your father."
Lu Wanning nodded obediently. Before leaving, she carefully instructed the eunuchs, afraid that they might make any mistakes.
The eunuch smiled. "Princess Zhaoyang, please rest assured. We're used to serving, so we know what to do."
Lu Wanning quickly said, "The emperor was frightened today. We can't be careless."
After repeating herself like this several times, she reluctantly followed Lu Hongxi out of the palace.
Lu Hongxi scratched his nose. After a long time, he said, "Does Ning'er's hand still hurt?"
How could Lu Wanning not notice Lu Hongxi's expression? She immediately nodded and said with a sob, "It hurts so much. Dad, you and the emperor are really too much. You didn't tell me about this in advance. You made me so panicked that I almost got killed by Prince Chen."
At this moment, where was there any trace of jealousy in Lu Hongxi? He only felt that he shouldn't have let his daughter get hurt. He immediately apologized repeatedly. "Dad didn't know you'd enter the palace... This matter is highly confidential. Dad didn't dare to say anything, nor could he say anything."
Lu Wanning pouted. "I don't care. It's all your fault. Dad has to make it up to me."
"Okay, okay, okay. Ning'er, just tell Dad what you want. Dad will definitely satisfy you."
After Lu Wanning and Lu Hongxi had had a good laugh, she got back to the main topic. "So, Dad, is... Prince Yu okay?"
Lu Hongxi glanced at his daughter and let out a silent sigh in his heart. His daughter had grown up. She no longer only cared about her family, but also about others. This feeling was even more uncomfortable than when he had found out that his daughter had insisted on marrying Fu Rongxuan.
"Prince Yu was slightly injured, but he's fine."
Lu Wanning let out an "oh". Her hanging heart finally settled down. After thinking for a while, she complained, "The emperor acted so realistically. I thought something really had happened to Prince Yu."
Lu Hongxi explained, "The battle report was meant to deceive Prince Chen. Originally, we planned to only say that there was a defeat due to Prince Yu's negligence. But the situation was urgent. Dad discussed it with them yesterday and changed the battle report. The emperor only knew that the battle report was fake, but didn't know that it had been changed. So, when he suddenly heard the news about Prince Yu, he was naturally shocked."
Lu Wanning nodded repeatedly. Then, she asked curiously, "Dad, how did you know that Prince Chen was going to rebel and kill the emperor?"
Lu Hongxi said, "Prince Chen has been making too many big moves in the past few months. If this continues, the officials and the common people will suffer. The emperor didn't want to let him continue to cause trouble, so he simply designed this scheme to make Prince Chen show his true colors."
Lu Wanning opened her mouth. She actually wanted to ask if the emperor would be sad about designing his own son like this. But then she thought, wasn't Sheng Chenyi doing the same thing to his father? This was probably the tragedy of the royal family. And she was lucky to be born into a peaceful family with loving parents, brothers, and sisters - in - law.
It was at this moment that Lu Wanning realized that she had long regarded them as her family and no longer felt like an outsider here.
Thinking of this, Lu Wanning reached out and took Lu Hongxi's arm, resting her head on his shoulder. "Dad, I hope that all of us will be okay."