Great, it's just a lackey, we're saved!

Chapter 138 The Methods of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion!

Zhu Qi also looked up and observed Hexi Palace.

However, his gaze was not directed at the buildings of Hexi Palace, but rather at the top of Hexi Palace.

The emperor's personal guards stood outside the palace gates, and upon seeing Jiang Yueli, they immediately bowed.

"Greetings, Your Highness!"

"Will Father Emperor see me today?"

The guard hesitated, "Your Highness, His Majesty has not issued any decree allowing the princess to enter Hexi Palace."

Jiang Yueli lowered her gaze slightly, looking somewhat disappointed.

She repeatedly went to the palace to request an audience, but always received the same response.

When Chen Wenyu and others submitted their memorials without receiving a reply, Jiang Yueli assumed that if she went to the palace to request an audience, the Emperor of Great Zhou would surely see her.

Unexpectedly, they were also blocked outside the palace gates.

Now, more than ten days have passed, and the Great Zhou Emperor's decree remains unchanged.

Fortunately, Jiang Yueli didn't have high hopes when she came to Hexi Palace today; she mainly came for the sake of the Li family.

Jiang Yueli waved for the guards to leave, then knelt outside Hexi Palace.

She declared firmly, "Father, Yue Li requests an audience! I beg you, Father, to uphold justice for the Li family."

"Since marrying into the Eastern Palace, Lady Li has been gentle, virtuous and dutiful, but today she was brutally murdered by a woman of unknown origin."

“Lady Mei has bewitched the Crown Prince and defiled the harem. Your Majesty, I beg you to uphold justice for Lady Li.”

After saying this, Jiang Yueli knelt down and kowtowed in the snow.

She stood up for a long time, but there was still no movement in Hexi Palace.

Jiang Yueli, however, did not give up and kept repeating, "Your subject begs Your Majesty to uphold justice for the Li family!"

"Your Majesty, I beg you to uphold justice for the Li family!"

Ziyu felt sorry for her princess kneeling in the snow in the cold and wanted to go forward to dissuade her, but Zhou Wei pulled her back.

"Do not disturb the princess; she knows what she's doing."

Ziyu sighed, "It's freezing cold. If His Majesty doesn't respond, will the princess just keep kneeling like this?"

“The princess is not kneeling for her own sake.” Zhou Wei looked down at Li Shi in her arms.

Jiang Yueli's voice echoed throughout the entire palace corridor.

An hour passed, and the Great Zhou Emperor still had not issued any decree.

Fortunately, Jiang Yueli has now recovered to the fifth rank of cultivation, so she doesn't feel tired even while kneeling.

But gradually, Zhou Wei noticed that some people were coming to the end of the palace road.

As the people approached, Zhou Wei realized that they were officials from the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

Leading the group was none other than Ang Lee!

Ang Lee's eyes were covered in frost, from tears that had been frozen by the cold wind.

As he approached, he saw Li Shi being held in Zhou Wei's arms.

Ang Lee was trembling all over as he gently raised his hand to remove the white cloth covering Li's face.

Upon seeing his daughter's dead body, Ang Lee let out a low sob.

This is the Hexi Palace of the Great Zhou Emperor, solemn and majestic. Li An was not even allowed to cry for his daughter.

After calming down for a moment, Li An cupped his hands to Zhou Wei and said, "Zhou Dianjun, please hold my daughter for a little while longer."

Zhou Wei nodded, and Li An, along with officials from the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, also knelt outside the Hexi Palace.

The officials remained silent; only the voice of the eldest princess echoed along the palace path.

"Please, Father Emperor, seek justice for the Li family!"

Gradually, more and more officials knelt outside the palace gates.

They all followed behind Jiang Yueli, forming an incredibly sturdy wall with their bodies.

Jiang Yueli was single-minded, focusing solely on repeating one sentence.

Seeing that more and more court officials were gathering outside the palace gates, the guards had no choice but to bite the bullet and go in to report to the Great Zhou Emperor.

After a while, the guard came out, his face actually showing a hint of joy.

"His Majesty has decreed!"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately lowered their eyes respectfully to receive the decree.

"His Majesty has decreed that Li An, the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, be promoted to Minister of Justice. Li shall be buried with the rites due to a Crown Princess. The Imperial Noble Consort is ordered to instruct the Mei family daughter, for those whose virtue is incomplete shall not be allowed to reside in the Eastern Palace."

After the decree was announced, Jiang Yueli kowtowed to express her gratitude.

Zhu Qi, however, was somewhat dissatisfied: "This emperor, it was clearly the crown prince who did something wrong, yet he didn't punish him at all? And what's the meaning of letting the Imperial Noble Consort teach Mei Xingyue? Does he think Mei Xingyue can become the crown princess?"

Upon hearing this, Ziyu was so frightened that she tugged at Zhu Qi's sleeve.

"Little bald boy, be quiet, don't talk about the king."

Zhou Wei, however, found the Great Zhou Emperor's decree strange.

Despite the Mei family's mother and son's wickedness and the public's anger, the Great Zhou Emperor still kept them in the palace.

Although it was said that if one did not learn the rules well, one could not move into the East Palace.

The implication of having the Imperial Noble Consort instruct them was that the Mei family mother and son would not be driven out.

Zhou Wei really couldn't understand what the Great Zhou Emperor was up to.

Jiang Yueli thanked him and stood up.

She reached out to help Li An up: "Lord Li, I've done my best... but..."

Li An was filled with gratitude: "Princess, please don't blame yourself. You knelt outside Hexi Palace for several hours for my daughter. I am deeply grateful."

“Before my daughter got married, I taught her that the Crown Prince is the heir apparent, and that the relationship between ruler and subject should come before that between husband and wife… I never expected that she would still offend the Crown Prince.”

Ang Lee practically choked out that last sentence.

The eldest princess glanced behind Li An before whispering, "Lord Li, I am willing to seek justice for the Li family, but the Crown Prince... is, after all, the heir apparent."

"I understand the princess's difficulties, and I am satisfied with this outcome."

Are you really satisfied?

The hatred in Ang Lee's eyes was almost overflowing.

The Emperor of the Great Zhou promoted him from a third-rank official to a second-rank official, and that made him forget the pain of losing his daughter.

And then there's the Mei family mother and son. The Crown Prince is the heir apparent, but what are the Mei family mother and son compared to him?

Why not pay for his daughter's life?

Is it because he's being protected by the Crown Prince?

Li An left with Li's body, and the eldest princess, watching his dejected figure, felt indignant.

"Li Shi has always hoped to be made the Crown Princess, and now she can be buried as the Crown Princess, but what is the point of posthumous honors?"

After the Great Zhou Emperor issued his decree, the guards began to persuade Jiang Yueli to leave.

Jiang Yueli glanced back at the tightly closed gates of Hexi Palace before leading Zhou Wei and the others out of the palace.

On the carriage back to the princess's residence.

Jiang Yueli inquired about the fortune of the blessed land of Kongshan Temple.

"Zhu Qi, did you notice anything unusual outside Hexi Palace?"

“He Xi Palace is indeed extraordinary,” Zhu Qi said solemnly. “It’s as if a giant hand is blocking the view above He Xi Palace, making it impossible for anyone to see through any secrets of heaven.”

"I've only ever seen this kind of tactic in the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion!"

Tianji Pavilion?

Zhou Wei and Jiang Yueli were both unfamiliar with this name.

In her previous life, Jiang Yueli had never met anyone from the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, while Zhou Wei hadn't seen much of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion's storyline in the original book.

Unexpectedly, the Crane Palace in the Great Zhou Imperial Palace was actually the work of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion!

“But I’ve heard that the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion declined more than ten years ago, and now it’s just a name for a blessed land, but no one lives there anymore,” Jiang Yueli said, somewhat shocked. “Could it be that there are people from the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion in the Great Zhou Imperial Palace?”

Zhu Qi said thoughtfully, "It is still impossible to determine whether it was the people from the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion who made the move, or whether someone has learned the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion's methods and is trying to confuse the public."

"However, there's one thing I'm certain of..."

As Zhu Qi spoke, he looked at Jiang Yueli.

"There's something wrong with Hexi Palace itself!"