Escorted by eunuchs and maidservants, Imperial Mother Xiao entered the hall. She glanced at the kneeling people with her phoenix eyes, and then looked at her son.

"I issue the imperial decree to kill Concubine Yu so that she can be buried alive with the deceased emperor."

The woman said simply with fierce in her eyes in an aggressive manner,

"When His Majesty was alive, he loved Concubine Yu most. Now His Majesty has gone, she, as a concubine, should do her duty and die for His Majesty."

Prince Chen turned a little sullen and helpless.

Chuckling and slightly lowering his head, he scratched his inner brows to cleverly conceal his emotions.

Putting his hands down, the man calmed himself and gave a wee smile. He held his fists and bowed,

"I pay my respects to Mother. What you just said makes sense. However, this time, during the south crusade to appease the chaos of An Guo, Imperial Mother Yu's family made great efforts. Besides, Duke Min is important in the imperial court. I'm afraid that doing so will bitterly disappoint those who have meritorious service."

Imperial Mother Xiao raised her eyebrows and seemed to be surprised. Then she became indifferent and said each word heartlessly,

"As the old saying goes, the emperor can decide about a person's life or death. I remember your Father's virtue. Now he is dead so he must take his favorite things. In any case, he passed the throne to you, and you should be thankful and show filial piety to him. You shouldn't stop him from taking Concubine Yu."

Prince Chen looked sullen. To be honest, he didn't want to offend Imperial Mother Xiao openly for Gu Yunyao. Anyway, she was his mother and had made plans for him until now.

However, the other side was not someone else but Yunxi.

Prince Chen could imagine that he took the opportunity of Leng Qingtang out of Jing City to instigate the coup. When Yunxi came back, she certainly would not stand on his side.

If Prince Chen wanted to chase her, then at the present he must gain a lot of confidence to face her in the future and resolve her hatred of him. Therefore, the first priority was to protect Imperial Mother Yu.

"Mother, I've never asked you for anything. This time please weigh the pros and cons and focus on the overall situation to avoid Concubine Yu's martyrdom for the deceased emperor."

Prince Chen's words were pertinent. He crossed his hands and bowed to Imperial Mother Xiao.

The woman looked stunned and widened her eyes to the limit. She got too much anger in her chest, which was raging constantly.

Unexpectedly, he just got his throne, but...

"Humph!"

Imperial Mother Xiao sneered, and the awe-inspired tone broke the deadlock.

Tilting her head, she looked at her own son with piercing eyes. There was confusion and anger in her eyes.

"Why do you think you can deceive me?"

Prince Chen looked into her eyes directly at each other with a usual look.

Infuriated by his calm, Imperial Mother Xiao flicked her sleeves and shouted,

"I tell you, I will grant her death for the sake of the overall situation—"

"Ha-ha, the so-called 'When all birds are shot, the bow will be set aside; when all hares are killed, the hounds will be stewed and eaten' is true. Victory is coming from Southern Jiang and the previous Emperor's remains have been scarcely cold yet, you're impatient to kill the meritorious!"

Just she finished her cold words, divergent footsteps sounded in the hall.

The maids in the funeral suit walked in the front and separated into two teams at the door. Then Princess Anhe, Huanan Qiang, came in, followed by ten Men of Sacrifice of Udan.

The clothes under the mourning apparel of the group of people were all in the style of the western tribes.

Imperial Mother Xiao suddenly raised her eyebrows to hide her fear.

Everyone knew this married woman was powerful. Today's issue would be tough...

Stepping forward slightly and holding a soft attitude, Imperial Mother Xiao said,

"Sister, you come. Did you have a good rest in the post house of the Palace?"

Prince Chen also came close and saluted,

"Aunt, I pay respects to you."

Princess Anhe didn't talk to them. With a serious expression, she looked around imperially.

It was silent and embarrassing.

Imperial Mother Xiao stopped smiling and tried asking,

"Is it improper for you to enter the Palace without a decree?"

Princess Anhe glanced at Imperial Mother Xiao indifferently,

"His Majesty is dead. I, as his Eldest Sister, come back to worship him and send him off. Is there anything wrong? I haven't offered incense yet but have found Funeral Palace is in a hubbub!"

Imperial Mother Xiao held her sleeves and covered her mouth,

"Sorry for incurring ridicule. According to the rules, when the emperor dies, the concubines should be buried alive with the dead. Some young concubines are ignorant and disobey etiquette, so naturally, they will be punished."

Princess Anhe glanced at Imperial Mother Xiao and gazed at Prince Chen with sharp eyes,

"It looks like the deceased emperor has passed the throne on to Chen. I remember that he has had a dark disease since an early age. Is it possible for a fool to be qualified to succeed to the throne? "

The words shocked all the people. For a moment, the scene became increasingly tense.

The cold air, like countless sharp blades, stung everyone present, leaving them trembling and panicking.

Prince Chen was calm and his smile was filled with more joys,

"Ha-ha, it is magic. I think Father's path of cultivation for many years touches the god. Last summer, I was hit by lightning on a rainy night. I thought I would die but when I woke up, I found I was conscious."

Hearing this, Princess Anhe and Gu Yunyao opened their eyes together and looked at Prince Chen.

Obviously, Prince Chen was lying.

Everyone knew that just the day before the coup, Prince Chen was still a fool.

However, right now Gu Yunyao clearly understood that she was hardly able to save herself. How could she lay bare him in public?

Princess Anhe sneered, controlled the burning anger in her chest, and nodded slowly,

"Well, that's a coincidence. However, I'm a little confused. Do you just want to follow the palace rules by sending the concubines to the underground to accompany the deceased emperor, or are you in a hurry to exclude partisan dissidents?"

"How dare you!"

Imperial Mother Xiao stroked her sleeves and rebuked. Her majestic face was in a rage.

The two women were giving tit for tat. All the palace maids of Da Yi knew it was unavoidable so they bowed their heads. For fear of being careless, they would cause trouble.

Wiping the tears away from her eyes, Imperial Mother Xiao pretended to be poor at the moment and said mournfully,

"Sister, if you come here today to sincerely offer incense for the deceased emperor, I'll thank you. But why do you venomously slander us to frame us up and deliberately disturb him? "

Princess Anhe came forward in a menacing manner. She stared at the pretentious woman aggressively,

"Do I venomously slander you? Well, what happened in the Palace that night? How could thousands of disciples of the Clan of Swords come to the Palace? Where is Wenren now? What about your relationship? Miaoyin Xiao, how can you explain these to the public? You're just a chief maid of Kunning Palace, but you're so scheming. Empress Qian of the Eastern Palace truly looked down upon you. If someone had known so, he should have burned you to the ground!"

"You..."

Imperial Mother Xiao stepped back and her back suddenly hit the side of a solid cold thing.

Stunningly looking back, she suddenly saw that she was back at Emperor Jingxiao's Zi Palace. It was the sudden hard dragon carving that rubbed her skin.

She had a guilty conscience. Only looking back at a glance, the woman was immediately frightened and shouted.

"Mother!"

Prince Chen looked sullen and angry. He rushed up to hold his mother and looked at Princess Anhe very unfriendly.

Princess Anhe saw their ugly performances. She raised her eyebrows with pride and waved her big sleeves. Pointing at Imperial Mother Xiao with her index finger, she loudly scolded,

"The emperor died unavenged. You, crooked people, talk about virtue and morality but are a villainous hypocrite!"

"How dare you—"

Imperial Mother Xiao could no longer hold back and she shouted in anger.

A team of guards rushed into the hall, and the blades in their hands were lightning aggressively.

Men of Sacrifice of Udan came forward to protect Princess Anhe and got ready for a fight.

Princess Anhe laughed contemptuously, and commanded,

"Don’t fight with them. I don't want the sound of fighting to disturb His Majesty. I'm the king of Udan's concubine. If I have an accident in Da Yi, King Solo won't leave the matter at that!"

Imperial Mother Xiao was startled. Pursing her lips and thinking for a while, she ordered the Honour Guards,

"Leave here!"

With steel swords clattering into their sheaths, the guards left quickly to the outside of the hall.

Princess Anhe looked serious in an imposing manner,

"God is watching your every move. Wickedness does not go altogether unrequited!"

"You..."

Imperial Mother Xiao was sullen and made a fist in her full sleeve,

"How dare you? Are you coming to deliberately embarrass my son and me?"

Princess Anhe smiled,

"Now that you know it's embarrassing, I can see you're not a shameless one. Let your followers leave. I have something to say to you."

Imperial Mother Xiao was angry but helpless. After all, the woman in front of her had a special identity. She couldn't be anxious or angry but had to endure her for a moment. Therefore, Imperial Mother Xiao had to let her.

"Well, we're late today. Imperial Mothers, please go back to your palace first."

Feeling that the temporary rescue was hard-won, the women got up and cried. They scrambled to rush out the door.

Princess Anhe raised her eyebrows and glanced at Prince Chen. She said unceremoniously,

"Your Highness, please leave here."

"Go ahead."

Prince Chen didn't dare to disobey his mother and bowed,

"I'll send Concubine Yu back to Jingyang Palace in person."

With a gentle smile, Gu Yunyao walked up to Gu Yunyao. Seeing her huddle in the corner with her limbs soft, for fear of scaring her again, Prince Chen stayed away from her and whispered,

"Your Grace, I promise you'll be safe and sound, so let me personally send you back."

Gu Yunyao broke out in a cold sweat. She glanced at the man on the jig and then turned her eyes away rapidly. With the help of Song Qin, she walked out of the hall with a wobble.

There were only two women in the big palace.

Within three feet of the distance, they got up on their hind legs. Two pairs of eyes in the silence fought many times. The surrounding air stopped and only the shock of the flash of fire could be felt.

With the wind blowing, the high-hanging scripture banner flew in the wind, and the sound was strong.

The first to break the silence was Imperial Mother Xiao. She looked directly at the woman opposite and asked with a sneer,

"So what do you want to tell me?"

Undaunted, Princess Anhe was angry, silently watching the silhouette of a fluttering scripture banner on the woman's face. It was like a snake coiled in her cheek, winding, and twisting, which added a bit of fierceness and terror to her enchanting face.

Princess Anhe sighed and said in a deep voice,

"That year, my imperial younger brother had used a lot of unspeakable means to get the country. Now he served him right. You and Prince Chen have got what you want. I hope you can let Go of Huanan He, my ninth younger brother. Let him leave here to be an ordinary person."

"If you kill him, I will return to Udan and allay with the 26 countries of the western tribes to attack the Central Plains. Twenty years ago, Da Yi was not the opponent of the western tribes. This time once we fight, you will still be the western tribes' underdog! "

"I thought it was a big deal." Imperial Mother Xiao smiled carelessly and stroked her hair,

"Sister, your words are late…"