Crossing the Palace Fighting Fox Harem

Chapter 376 Too late to regret

Without Yanniang's help, no matter how vicious the Queen Mother's heart was, she alone would never be able to turn those terrible evil thoughts into reality. It was because of Yanniang's support that the Queen Mother's "great achievements" in the past few years were achieved. Although Yanniang kept saying that she was ordered by the Queen Mother's decree, from behind, it was her obedience to the Queen Mother that laid the roots of today's disaster.

Under Ji Anni's questioning, Yan Niang's calmness gradually faded. She murmured, "I know I was wrong, I regret it... It's because of regret that I want to quit..."

"So you left the palace three years ago, right?" Ji Anni finally understood the whole story. The truth of the mystery of Yan Niang's leaving the palace was solved at this moment. But who said that the answer to the mystery would make people feel relieved? Now that Ji Anni knew the answer, she felt a bigger stone in her heart. The topic was getting heavier and heavier. If she believed Yan Niang's innocence, then wouldn't the death of Concubine Shui Cong and the little prince become a joke?

The contradiction and confusion in Ji Anni's eyes were more painful to Yan Niang than scolding. Because until now, Yan Niang still wholeheartedly regarded Ji Anni as her only companion. They both had the blood of the fox demon, so they should have understood each other, but why did even Ji Anni question her own behavior at this moment? This made the guilt that had been buried in Yan Niang's heart germinate, grow, spread, and drown her. But Yan Niang, who has always been indifferent, would never allow herself to show any confusion. She quickly stabilized her chaotic emotions, subconsciously clenched her fists and said, "Yes, that's why I left the palace three years ago. The Queen Mother once promised me that getting rid of Concubine Shui Cong was the last thing she asked me to do for her. After that, she would let me go free. In the following three years, she has been following this promise to me, but three years later, it was me who asked her for help..."

The words only reached this point, and the elongated tail tone gradually fell into silence. Even so, Ji Anni still understood the meaning of her words. Three years later, Zhao Ji unexpectedly returned to the palace, which made Yan Niang flustered. She hurried back to the palace to ask for help from the Queen Mother, hoping to rely on the Queen Mother's power to stop Zhao Ji from returning to the palace. Because of this, the master-servant relationship between the Queen Mother and Yan Niang, which had long been severed, was slowly reconnected.

After all, all this was arranged by fate. Both Yan Niang and the Queen Mother seemed to have become poor people who were teased by fate.

Yan Niang sighed softly, "I really didn't expect that I would meet Xue Lan's descendants... I can only blame myself for not having enough magic power to defeat Yun Zhen and stop you. In the end, I could only watch you being taken away by him... I had no choice but to beg the Queen Mother to let me return to the palace. While I am recovering from my injuries, I can also protect you and observe you, so that you will not be affected by the evil spirit of the Demon Suppression Temple and reveal your true form."

If Ji Anni were asked to recall her encounter with Yan Niang at this moment, she would feel that the fragments in her memory suddenly became unreal.

She still remembered the smiles and frowns of Yan Niang hidden under her heavy makeup when Yun Zhen took her to say goodbye. It was hard to imagine that Yan Niang, who was so relaxed and cheerful at that time, was seriously injured. When they parted, Yan Niang said something like "forgive others when you can", probably advising Ji Anni not to follow in the footsteps of the empress dowager.

Recalling the scene at that time, Ji Anni felt that Yan Niang was unfathomable. She hid her true emotions so well that no one could guess what she was thinking. But in fact, Yan Niang had exposed too much in front of Ji Anni. The friendship between the same kind always made Yan Niang unconsciously relax her vigilance towards Ji Anni and told her everything, thinking that this would bring them closer.

But the effect was exactly the opposite. Not only was Ji Anni unable to form a united front with Yan Niang, she was also always worried that Yan Niang would get angry and retaliate against her after knowing that she was not Zhao Ji.

Now, after listening to Yan Niang's explanation of being forced to do so regarding the Empress Dowager incident, Ji Anni felt that Yan Niang was even more terrifying, because she still had not admitted her guilt until now.

Ji Anni's palms were sweating, and her tone of questioning became heavier: "No matter what you say now, it will be useless. Whether the general and his men are fabricating evidence or making something out of nothing, it is not a false accusation, because the queen mother is the criminal, and she was the one who killed Concubine Shui. And you, Yan Niang, are undoubtedly the queen mother's biggest accomplice."

Suddenly, Yan Niang heard Ji Anni accuse her of a crime with just one sentence, and she felt like she was hit by a stick. Feeling guilty, she didn't want to continue arguing, and just said calmly: "Okay, I admit that the Queen Mother is the murderer of Shui Congfei, and I am an accomplice. However, the Queen Mother should be innocent of the case of the little prince falling into the well and dying."

"Why do you say she is innocent?" Ji Anni's impression of the Queen Mother had long been that of an unforgivable monster. She had a preconceived notion that all the evil was caused by the Queen Mother.

Yan Niang said, "I really don't have any evidence to prove her innocence, because I was outside the palace when the little prince fell into the well. And the reason why I believe the Queen Mother is innocent is because the Queen Mother has no reason to murder the little prince... After Concubine Shui Cong died, the little prince was adopted by the Queen Mother as her son. It is easy to train a newborn baby to be her loyal puppet. In other words, the existence of the little prince is beneficial to the Queen Mother, and the Queen Mother is busy protecting the little prince, so how could she murder him? Let me say, the general and the emperor who want to frame all the crimes on the Queen Mother... are a bit suspicious."

"Don't slander me." Seeing Yan Niang making assumptions, Ji Anni couldn't help but growl, "Since there is no evidence, don't pretend to know everything. You said the Queen Mother had no motive to kill, but maybe she was jealous."

"Do you think the Queen Mother loves the late Emperor?" Yan Niang sneered.

Ji Anni's panic and incoherent words just now were immediately caught by Yan Niang.

Seeing that Ji Anni had nothing to say, Yan Niang continued, "If you don't love her, why are you jealous?"

These eight words made Ji Anni speechless. Could it be that the little prince's accident was really caused by someone else? Ji Anni, who had already determined that the queen mother was the evil person, found it difficult to accept this new possibility for a moment.

If she continued to dwell on this issue, Ji Anni would be brainwashed by Yanniang. While reminding herself not to be controlled by Yanniang, she continued, "In fact, the emperor's focus is not on the death of Concubine Shui Cong, but the death of the little prince. Because one year after the death of the little prince, the emperor's biological mother, Concubine Hui, also jumped into the well and committed suicide in the same place. Before her death, she said that she would go to the well to save the little prince. If the empress dowager is wronged in this matter, wouldn't the real murderer that the emperor has been searching for escape a disaster..."

Yan Niang didn't say anything, but suddenly fell silent as if she was thinking about something.

"So what do you want now? Are you going to drag the Queen Mother into hell with your own hands?" Ji Anni didn't believe Yan Niang would suddenly betray the Queen Mother. Three years ago, even if Yan Niang wanted to quit, she just left quietly by herself and didn't reveal the Queen Mother's secrets at all.

Yan Niang shook her head and said softly, "I don't know. The current situation is no longer under my control."

Yan Niang was forced to take this step. Between the Queen Mother and the Ghost King, she could clearly weigh the importance of both. In order to prevent the Ghost King from awakening, Yan Niang had to choose to give up the Queen Mother and cooperate with Liu Guang who could facilitate the relocation of the capital.

"You are so lucky. You clearly killed Shui Congfei, but you can get away with it..." Ji Anni complained like this because she felt that reality was a little unfair.

"Do you have to see my soul to pieces before you will be satisfied?" Yan Niang's eyes became fierce. Ji Anni's words pierced deep into her heart, causing her to feel a sharp pain.

Under Yan Niang's cold gaze, Ji Anni was speechless.

It was obvious that killing someone should be punished with death, but in front of Yan Niang, she could not speak up for justice with confidence.

Yan Niang sneered, "If you want to enforce justice, you might as well kill me. As long as I die, the spell that disrupts Concubine Yu's memory will disappear, and Concubine Yu will be normal from now on. Let Concubine Yu tell the emperor and the general everything she saw three years ago, so that the truth will be revealed. Concubine Zhao Cong, do you want to do the emperor this big favor? ... Help him take my life in exchange for Concubine Yu's normality and the truth coming out."

Yan Niang's words were obviously full of sarcasm. How could Ji Anni kill Yan Niang? Yan Niang said this only because she was angered by Ji Anni's words just now.

Seeing Ji Anni's face turn pale and blue, Yan Niang sneered and continued calmly: "Concubine Zhao Cong, I know you have a grudge against me and are on guard against me, but I don't ask for your trust at all, I just want to complete my own mission. That's all, I'm leaving."

After leaving these words, without waiting for Ji Anni’s response, Yan Niang turned around and walked back.

Looking at Yan Niang's departing back, Ji Anni's mind was in a state of confusion. Her thoughts were all mixed up and she couldn't sort them out.

It was not until Yan Niang had left for a long time that Ji Anni came back to her senses from the chaos. She sighed deeply and thought: Alas, although I promised Hua Rong not to go out, if I stay in the house, trouble will still come to visit me. Who made me a person with a disaster physique...

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On the other hand, in the Empress Dowager's palace, the atmosphere was solemn and grim. No palace maids were walking around, and almost no one was visible.

Although the Queen Mother was not in shackles, she was surrounded by a number of cold gazes, which was even more painful than being tortured.

The slip of the tongue she made in a panic last night brought her this sudden disaster today. But after calming down, the Queen Mother refused to admit what she said last night. Under the enemy's questioning, she insisted: "The situation last night was critical. I was in a hurry and said such words in order to save Tianning's life. I didn't pursue you for trespassing into the Queen Mother's Palace, but you are pursuing me instead. This is simply unreasonable."