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Meng Fuyao looked at him, and she was speechless. She thought about how each of them belonged to different nations and had their own careers, but gathered together because of the True Martial Arts Meet. Once this matter was settled, they would probably leave, such as Zong Yue, who stayed until now likely because he was worried about this last fight. Ever since he saw Xuanyuan Yun, he acted even more mysterious and kept sending messages. Sometimes, he would even go out at night, though no one knew what he was preparing. Life was full of gatherings and separations, and in the end, everyone had their own path to walk, though anyone would inevitably feel lonely while traversing.

As she did not speak, Yun Hen quietly turned his head away, and the two of them remained quiet amidst the chaos outside. Moments later, Meng Fuyao gave a long sigh. ”When you leave, don't do so secretly. You have to let me send you off.”

Yun Hen agreed and went off to change into a guard's uniform. While Meng Fuyao waited for him, she asked Tie Cheng who had intended to follow her to go back and then called Yao Xun over to give him a few instructions.

After that, she led Yun Hen to the palace. According to Heaven Demon's law, as there were no orders yet, generals only had the authority to command their armies, but not mobilize them. When Meng Fuyao hurriedly reached the palace to meet Zhan Nancheng, she met a eunuch who looked very worried while he dashed out of the entrance with a team behind him.

Upon seeing Meng Fuyao, the eunuch grabbed onto her sleeve as though she was his savior. ”Captain Meng, please come into the palace quickly…”

Meng Fuyao stared at the flustered eunuch, and there was a gleam in her eye. On the surface, she acted as if she was even more anxious and pushed him away. ”Is this the time to enter the palace? Has the Emperor not given his orders to mobilize the troops? If there's no order, I'll go to the city gates and fight!”

After finishing her sentence, she turned to walk away. This made the eunuch even more anxious, and he quickly grabbed onto her. In his hurry, he spoke as though he was about to cry. ”Captain Meng, the Emperor, the Emperor, he…”

”Hmm?” Meng Fuyao looked back. ”What's wrong with the Emperor?”

”My noble Captain Meng, please follow me to take a look, I beg of you!” The eunuch tugged on her sleeve, and Meng Fuyao nodded. Yun Hen started to follow, but the eunuch instinctively wanted to stop him. Meng Fuyao said, ”You dare to stop my trusted guard? Who are you to do that?”

The eunuch kept his hand and immediately apologized. Hurriedly, he brought Meng Fuyao into Zhan Nancheng's room. As Meng Fuyao stared at the dark and solemn room, she frowned. ”Where are the three main Ministers?”

The eunuch lowered his head and didn't answer. Heaven Demon's noble officials had always disliked eunuchs, as they were afraid that these people would manipulate the Emperor and disrupt court proceedings. Every time they met, the officials would look at them in disgust and find faults in them, sentencing them to death easily. Now that the Emperor was not well, he would definitely be ordered a death sentence if he informed the main Ministers, as he was the eunuch in charge of the Emperor's residence. In his anxiety, he thought of Meng Fuyao, the young and favored Captain who was always friendly and generous when she entered the palace, and well-liked by other officials. If she was the one present, he might have a chance to live.

Meng Fuyao smiled as she understood the eunuch's intentions. 'Very well, luck is on my side.'

She walked briskly into the palace and crossed the candlelit outer room. Thick layers of silk curtains reached the floor, covering up every streak of light in the inner room, while the bright yellow carpet was so thick that one's footsteps could not be heard. Meng Fuyao brushed away the maze-like curtains, which resembled nightmares that could not be swatted away.

Behind the last layer of curtains, Zhan Nancheng could be seen lying on the bed, with a very pale skin complexion, blood-red eyes, and ragged breathing. When he saw Meng Fuyao sweeping away the curtains to enter, causing a trace of candlelight to be seen, he immediately waved his hand in annoyance. ”Quickly put it down, quickly put it down!”

Meng Fuyao put down her hands and surveyed the surroundings. Two tall, silent, mighty and loyal guards positioned themselves beside Zhan Nancheng's bed. They were the slaves that were raised by the Zhan family, and they were loyal and brave but dumb. In the past, Zhan Nancheng used to find them too troublesome and foolish, so he didn't bring them with him. Ever since he was held captive, these slaves had never left his side. If Meng Fuyao's hunch was right, there were probably trap mechanisms on Zhan Nancheng's bed too.

She was Zhan Nancheng's highly-favored official, but up until now, she had never been able to stand within three steps of them. Now that Zhan Nancheng was ill, would he be more cautious or let down his guard? Meng Fuyao took a step forward to test the waters, and Zhan Nancheng instantly looked over as he panted. ”Step back, step back…”

Hence, Meng Fuyao stopped moving, and she stepped back respectfully to greet him. Zhan Nancheng asked, ”Outside… what's the situation outside?”

Without a change in her expression, Meng Fuyao replied, ”Zhan Beiye is attacking the city.”

Zhan Nancheng trembled and tried to sit up with all his might. ”Send my decree… my decree…”

Meng Fuyao looked back and cued for the eunuch to bring the materials. The eunuch wanted to call for the official on duty for writing decrees, but Meng Fuyao stared at him with an icy expression. ”Is this the time to further delay orders? Don't I know how to write?”

Zhan Nancheng spoke in an annoyed tone. ”Don't make noise… Stop making noise… Send my orders… you and Xie Yu… will lead the Imperial Army to guard the city… let the three main Ministers come… then send someone to contact Prince Pingjing…”

Meng Fuyao wrote down in large strokes. ”Your Majesty, please use your imperial stamp, and bestow the tiger tally to command the armies.”

As his hands shivered, Zhan Nancheng took over his stamp and was about to chop, but he suddenly saw the words and exclaimed, ”You… why did you write this…” The fingers on the stamp were about to move away, but Meng Fuyao smiled and grabbed his hand to chop on the decree.

Zhan Nancheng trembled from head to toe. He pointed at her, and his eyes bulged out. ”You, you-”

The two slaves looked over sluggishly. Meanwhile, Zhan Nancheng's other hand discreetly crept under his pillow. Meng Fuyao looked on in smiles, and neither stepped forward nor backward, causing the slaves to stop moving as well.

Then, Meng Fuyao took out a small cup and a bottle of alcohol. Gently, in front of Zhan Nancheng, she slowly poured the contents into the cup.

There was the sound of water.

The alcohol flowed in a straight line and patterned against the cup, producing a calm and peaceful sound that had no murderous aura.