Chapter 213 (1/2)

Old Madam Ling's voice rang out, ”No matter what, I hope Your Majesty will ask any questions later. If we delay the purging of the poison, then the consequences will be disastrous! Dare I ask Your Majesty something? If anything untoward happens to Consort Ling, then will the Empress be willing to bear the responsibility?!” A hint of warning revealed itself in her tone, especially focusing on the words 'then the consequences will be disastrous!'

”Old Madam Ling, your words are too severe. This Empress doesn't know anything about the purging of poison, so what's wrong with going in to take a look? My relations.h.i.+p with Sister Ling has always been good, don't tell me Old Madam Ling is unwilling to even let me see my sister? What kind of words are you speaking?”

”With the great blessings from the Empress herself, my aunt narrowly pa.s.sed the doors of death. She is out of danger now.” Following this voice thick with fatigue, Ling Tian stepped out from inside the room, a frightening smile hung on his handsome face. A portion of his hair, still matted with sweat, hung on his face, and while he looked a little bedraggled, his eyes were bright and clear, full of an awe-inspiring brilliance.

Empress Yang Xue locked gazes with Ling Tian. As the empress of a nation, she was already used to giving looks of contempt to those under her, but what she saw in Ling Tian's eyes today gave her palpitations. That penetrating, frosty gaze seemed to be able to see through all her secrets, throwing her into disarray.

”Tian'er, how's your aunt? Are she and her child safe?” Long Xiang rushed up, stretching his head to peer into the room.

”Both mother and child are out of the woods,” Ling Tian spoke, and after sweeping Yang Xue with a look, he indifferently continued, ”However, my aunt's body is still weak, and the most important thing is to nurse back her health using tonics; the tonics can't be too strong or too Yin in nature. Another matter is that this incident is definitely not an accident, and there's a very well hidden plot inside this whole scheme. Royal Uncle, to think that there's actually someone inside the Royal Palace that dares to harm your consort, as well as your Royal Child… hehehe, our Ling Family finds this matter inconceivable!”

”That's right! Your majesty, while Ran'er is only a consort, she is still the daughter of the Ling Family. To actually meet with such a matter inside the Imperial Palace, this really fills the old woman with apprehension.” Hearing that her daughter was fine, Old Madam Ling felt the burdens in her heart suddenly lift. ”Your Majesty, our Ling Family has always been loyal and devoted towards you, but to think that someone actually plots to a.s.sa.s.sinate our daughter here! Will your Majesty please be the judge, and help to find the culprit!” As she finished, Old Madam Ling actually kneeled and kowtowed to the Emperor, her face filled with tear streaks.

Long Xiang emotionally replied, ”Old Madam, please rise. This matter is all this Emperor's fault due to being too lax with the security. Rest a.s.sured, We will issue an arrest warrant for that Su HuaiRen as well as the palace maid Little Chrysanthemum, to give an answer to you!”

Unexpectedly, Old Madam Ling stood up and unhappily said, ”Your Majesty must be joking, how could a mere imperial physician as well as a palace maid even dare to plot against the Royal Consort? There must be a mastermind behind all this! And the mastermind should have considerable power in the Imperial Palace! If we can't unveil the true ident.i.ty of the mastermind, then these incidents will happen again, putting everyone in danger! If the core of the city is not safe, then how can the country remain unmoved in times of crisis?!” Old Madam Ling's words were scalding, partly due to the fact that her daughter almost pa.s.sed through the door of death, and partly because she sensed that the Emperor was trying to soothe down this matter.

The few sentences of Old Madam Ling was as good as putting a target board on Empress Yang Xue's head! Yang Xue was never on good terms with Ling Ran, with the two of them constantly warring underground. Yang Xue was a petty person, easily jealous, so how could Long Xiang not be aware of it? If anything untoward happened to the Royal Consort, the biggest benefactor would be the Empress! As such, given the relations between the two families, how could the Ling Family not take the chance to viciously target the Yangs now?

Long Xiang was also clear that there was at least a ninety percent probability that Yang Xue was behind this, but he was at his wit's end when facing the two behemoths!

Now that Sky Bearing was in an unstable situation, with all sort of experts converging here, he wasn't able to guard against everyone harboring ill intentions! Only by borrowing the power of the Ling and Yang families would he be able to resist the other great families, making the other powers hesitant to take advantage of this situation.

Of the three major powers in Sky Bearing, the imperial, Yang and Ling families, the Yang Family had always been the most powerful. Thus, Long Xiang made use of the Ling Family in order to restrict and control the Yang Family. Other than showering Ling Ran with more love, he was also very protective of the Ling's 3rd generation heir, Ling Tian. Ling Tian, with his arrogance and domineering att.i.tude, could survive until today not only because he didn't go overboard, but because of the Emperor's s.h.i.+elding! This was the way of ensuring the loyalty of the Ling Family to maintain balance in the Empire.

However, the current times had changed, and the winds of fortune had begun blowing another way. By thwarting the Western Han's expansion plans again and again and achieving many military merits, the soldiers started to call Ling Xiao the 'G.o.d of War'. In addition, Chu Ting'er had become a mover and shaker of the commerce world with her sharp intellect, earning her the t.i.tle of 'G.o.ddess of Fortune'. Recently, there was even a rumor claiming that they had a relations.h.i.+p with the otherworldly hidden sect 'Beyond Heavens', which gave Long Xiang a sense of fear.

If it had stopped there, it still would have been acceptable since the Ling Family didn't have any intention of expanding their influence. However, of all times the marriage alliance between the NanGong and the Yang families just had to collapse, turning them into enemies. With the Yang Family's influence suddenly waning, the balance of the three could no longer be maintained, and this gave Long Xiang many worries.