After placing the stones as instructed by Concubine Mu, several black - clothed men quickly left the scene and came to the palace where Concubine Mu was to report the news.
"Your Highness Concubine, the stones have been placed as you commanded," said the black - clothed secret guard. He only dared to look up at Concubine Mu for a moment. The woman's delicate features and slightly raised eye - tails exuded an indescribable charm and allure, as if she could make everyone who saw her submit to her completely.
"Very well. You may step down," Concubine Mu said slowly while gently stroking the fur of a black cat in her arms.
The black cat closed its eyes, seemingly enjoying the caress, and rubbed against Concubine Mu. If one observed carefully, it was not difficult to notice that the black cat emitted a faint black mist all over its body, as if covered by a very mysterious veil.
After the secret guards left, Concubine Mu turned and walked into the inner hall. The entire inner hall where she was located was dimly lit, exuding a strange atmosphere everywhere.
She slowly walked up to a standing platform. In the center of the platform was a delicate incense burner, and on both sides of the burner were some similarly black - colored stones.
"National Master, after falling into my trap, can you still escape lucky?" Concubine Mu sneered to herself. She put down the black cat in her hand, made a few gestures with both hands, and a black aura slowly flowed out from her fingertips. This aura gradually entered the incense burner in front of her, and the stones around the burner began to change.
Meanwhile, in the Changping Palace.
"Kong Ze, do you have any way to prevent me from being sent for the marriage alliance? And that Concubine Mu, I think there's something very wrong with her. It's very likely that she was the one who harmed my father!"
After releasing Dongfang Mengling, Kong Ze's spiritual power was concentrated again. Just then, he sensed something was wrong outside the palace.
"Princess Fifth, please be quiet for a moment. There's a problem."
"Ah? What's wrong?"
Seeing Kong Ze's strange expression, Dongfang Mengling also realized that something was amiss, and her expression became tense.
Kong Ze tried to use his spiritual power to see what was going on outside. However, just as he was about to use his spiritual power, he found that he couldn't use any at all!
What was going on?!
Kong Ze's heart skipped a beat. He thought it was because his spiritual concentration was not enough, so he sank his qi into his dantian and concentrated his spiritual power whole - heartedly. He tried to release his spiritual power again, but this time he still failed.
After several attempts, Kong Ze finally determined that he couldn't use his spiritual power because of some external force. In other words, there must be something outside the Changping Palace that restricted his spiritual power.
"Princess Fifth, please stay inside and don't run around. I'll go out and take a look."
Kong Ze quickly walked to the side window and was about to climb out to check the situation. However, as soon as he touched the window, he was directly blocked by a certain force, and his body uncontrollably stepped back repeatedly.
This time, Kong Ze finally saw clearly what the problem was!
A thick formation barrier had been set up around the Changping Palace. It was probably someone remotely controlling and setting up this formation. The most terrifying thing about this formation was that it completely suppressed his spiritual power.
Kong Ze was now just a mortal body. Unable to use his spiritual power, he was no different from an ordinary person at the moment. If the guards rushed in to deal with him at this time, it would be very difficult for him to fight back.
Just as he realized that he had fallen into a trap, many sword - wielding guards suddenly rushed into the palace. Moreover, the queen actually appeared outside the palace.
"As the National Master, you actually sneak into the palace in the middle of the night to have a tryst with Princess Fifth. A man and a woman alone in a room. How improper! Where do you put the dignity of the royal family of the Dan Kingdom?!" the queen angrily rebuked in a deep voice. After that, she ordered the sword - wielding guards, "You guys, immediately arrest this audacious person who has shamed the royal family!"
"Yes!"
The guards swarmed in. If Kong Ze had his spiritual power, these people would never be his opponents. However, at the moment, Kong Ze couldn't use his spiritual power, so he could only rely on his martial arts skills to temporarily fend them off.
"Stop! All of you stop for this princess!" Seeing that the situation was wrong, Dongfang Mengling immediately rushed out and shouted anxiously at the guards, "Are your ears deaf? Can't you hear this princess? I order you to stop!"
Dongfang Mengling rushed in front of Kong Ze and spread her arms to block the guards. These guards came here to arrest Kong Ze. Now that Dongfang Mengling was in the middle, the guards had to stop their attacks and looked at the queen in embarrassment.
"Your Majesty the Queen, this..."
After all, no matter what, the other party was a princess with royal blood. Naturally, the guards didn't dare to act rashly. If they accidentally injured the princess, they would lose their heads.
Dongfang Mengling thought it was all right, but unexpectedly, the queen only gave her a cold look, looking angry, "As a princess, you have a tryst with a man in the middle of the night, and now you even protect him like this. You really disappoint this palace! Your father will also be ashamed to have such a shameless daughter!"
"What are you guys still standing there for? Arrest Princess Fifth and the National Master together!"
With the queen's words, the guards no longer hesitated and rushed forward again. This time, they no longer cared about Dongfang Mengling and directly went up to arrest her as well.
"What are you doing? If you hurt a single hair of this princess, my father will never forgive you!"
Dongfang Mengling was a bit panicked. She turned to look at the queen, "Queen, please listen to my explanation. Things are not what you think. The Great National Master didn't come here for a tryst with me, and nothing happened between us..."
"Did this palace see it with its own eyes and it could still be false?"
Seeing that the guards no longer cared about Dongfang Mengling's princess status and seemed determined to arrest her by force, Kong Ze's heart skipped a beat. He stepped forward a few steps and pulled Dongfang Mengling behind him to protect her, resisting the guards with his own strength.
The long knives in the guards' hands were no joke. Kong Ze was bare - handed, and two fists were no match for four hands. In the melee, he had several bloody knife wounds on his body and was resisting very embarrassedly.
"Stop! All of you stop quickly!" Seeing Kong Ze injured, Dongfang Mengling choked with sobs and rushed in front of the queen. "Your Majesty the Queen, I know I was wrong. I agree to the marriage alliance. Please stop them quickly! Please order them to stop! If this goes on, he will die..."
Looking at Dongfang Mengling rushing forward to plead, Kong Ze felt as if his heart was filled with lead. He had never hated himself so much for being careless and falling into a trap, and he had never felt such a sense of powerlessness!
At this moment, he clearly realized how much he wanted to protect Princess Fifth, not wanting her to be sad or wronged.
The queen pinched Princess Fifth's chin, forcing her to look up and meet her eyes, then sneered, "Princess Fifth is really a reasonable person. If you had said this earlier, you wouldn't have been under house arrest for so many days."
"All stop," the queen finally said. "Arrest this audacious National Master and throw him into the sky prison to await interrogation!"
Kong Ze was already exhausted. He was in a mess and barely holding on to his last breath. By the time the queen gave the order, his last breath was about to fade away.
"Kong Ze!"
Seeing Kong Ze fall to the ground due to exhaustion, Dongfang Mengling suddenly opened her eyes wide and rushed forward like a madwoman. However, she was grabbed by two old maids behind her. "Princess Fifth, don't be impulsive."