I Became the Devil Queen's Heart Demon novel Chapter 1404

Chapter 1404: Chapter 543: Wu Lie Takes the Stage! Is Chen Mo Dead?! (Part 2)

But she quickly pulled herself together. Since they still hadn’t found a corpse, they couldn’t be sure whether Chen Mo had perished; perhaps he was only trapped somewhere and couldn’t get away for the moment.

As long as Yu Youhan was there, they would definitely turn danger into safety!

"As for the matter everyone is most concerned about..."

Facing the probing gazes of the crowd, the Empress drew in a deep breath and said, "His Majesty’s sacred body is unwell, his long illness difficult to recover from. Yesterday, in Qianji Palace, he..."

The word "collapsed" had yet to leave her mouth when a shrill voice suddenly rang out from outside the hall: "His Majesty has arrived!"

?!

The Golden Throne Hall fell deathly silent in an instant!

The Empress’s pupils violently contracted as she shot to her feet!

Eunuch Jin, Lv Huaiyu, Zhuang Jingming and the others also saw their faces change drastically. Everyone turned their heads in unison toward the hall doors—

Tap—tap—tap—

As the footsteps drew nearer, two figures, one tall and one short, walked slowly into the Golden Throne Hall.

Wu Lie was dressed in a black long robe embroidered with a Five-clawed Golden Dragon, a beaded crown with hanging tassels on his head. Though his frame was still thin and wiry, his back was straight, his eyes bright; overall he looked a bit more vigorous than before.

The Crown Prince followed half a step behind him, eyes hollow and vacant, like a puppet on strings.

"How dare you, seeing His Majesty and yet not kneeling?" the old eunuch said in a sinister tone.

"Pa... paying respects to Your Majesty!"

"Long live my emperor, long, long live!"

Only then did the ministers snap back to themselves, hastily dropping to their knees and kowtowing.

After a brief moment of shock, Yin Zhao’s breathing grew rapid, his voice high-pitched with excitement. "This humble minister knew it—His Majesty is favored by Heaven, blessed with deep fortune, and would surely come through unscathed!"

"Heaven bless my Great Yuan, Heaven bless my Great Yuan!"

Yet as Wu Lie passed by him, he didn’t spare him so much as a glance.

Step by step he ascended the golden steps and seated himself on the dragon throne. The Crown Prince stood woodenly at his side.

"What are you doing here?" From behind the bamboo curtain, the Empress stared at Wu Lie, her gaze dark and gloomy.

Wu Lie smiled and said, "The capital has been rather unsettled of late. Although I have not meddled in state affairs for quite some time, I am still the ruler of a nation. I must at least show my face, or else my beloved ministers might really think I’ve already kicked the bucket... Don’t you agree, Empress?"

The Empress clenched her jaw, golden light flickering in her eyes.

The fact that Wu Lie dared to swagger in here openly meant the situation was already decided. Yu Youhan and Chen Mo could no longer pose any threat to him!

Could it be the two of them had already...

"Your Highness, stay calm!" Eunuch Jin murmured in a low voice.

The Empress knew that on her own she could not possibly contend with Wu Lie. The most pressing matter right now was to get a message to Chu Yanli.

Just as she prepared to activate the Heavenly Shining Seal, Wu Lie’s next words sent her plummeting into an ice-cold abyss:

"Just now outside the hall, I heard you all discussing the case of the noble clans’ attempted rebellion. I have already gotten to the bottom of this matter."

"Jiang Wangye colluded with Qi Kaihai and Wanqi Shuofeng, attempting to shake the very foundations of the state. They do indeed harbor treasonous intent, and their clan should be implicated along with them."

"As for the mastermind behind the scenes, it is Princess Xuanhuang, Chu Yanli. I have already dispatched the Heavenly Shadow Guards to arrest her. In consideration of her merits in resisting the Barbarian Tribe, her death sentence can be spared, but punishment she will not escape!"

"From this day on, her Long Princess title is stripped, she is demoted to commoner status and thrown into the Imperial Clan Court for confinement, never again to leave the palace for all eternity!"

"As for her accomplice, the Imperial Concubine Yu Youhan, who intended to regicide, she was executed on the spot yesterday!"

"What?!"

These words at once stirred up a tempestuous uproar!

"The Princess is a Protector-General of the Realm, she pacified the Southern Barbarians and rendered immense service to the court. How could she possibly rebel?!"

"And since when did the Princess start running with Consort Yu?"

"But then again, Her Highness the Princess has indeed forced her way into Qianji Palace with a blade in hand more than once, even declaring she meant His Majesty harm. I never thought she truly harbored such malicious intent?"

"From the sound of His Majesty’s words, Consort Yu has already fallen?!"

The crowd was shaken and suspicious, the tumultuous noise boiling over.

"Impossible..."

Chen Zhuo’s face had gone as pale as paper, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Wu Lie raised his hand in a gesture. The old eunuch drew a thick stack of documents from his sleeve and began to read them aloud in a booming voice.

The contents detailed all that Yu Youhan had done over the years, both overt and covert—forming factions, purging dissidents, spreading implicating nets far and wide—her many crimes shocking to hear! As well as the evidence of Chu Yanli’s controlling troops in her own hands, defying imperial orders, and monopolizing military power!

It could truly be called ironclad evidence!

Everyone had always tacitly understood these things; left unweighed they might not even be four taels, but once put on the scales they’d crash through at a thousand catties!

Seeing His Majesty like this now, he clearly meant to pursue the matter to the very end. It was foreseeable that the entire court was about to undergo a massive purge!

"It’s... it’s over..."

"I did not expect that you too had fused the True Dragon bloodline. What We have never been able to accomplish, Chen Mo actually found a way to do... All the better. When the Crown Prince ascends and inherits the mandate, We shall use your fresh blood to offer sacrifice to heaven and earth."

The Empress understood clearly in her heart that this so-called accession was nothing more than a sacrificial夺舍!

Now that Chen Mo had met with disaster, she was utterly disheartened. A will to die arose within her as she grit her teeth and said, "Then do it. What are you waiting for?"

"No hurry, there is still one last step." The corner of Wu Lie’s mouth lifted into a ferocious grin. "Only when the Golden Core comes out of the furnace, when spirit and flesh fully fuse and the Dao Foundation is reforged, can it truly be called complete!"

"To prevent anyone from stirring up trouble, before that happens, all of you will just have to stay here obediently!"

Clatter—

Outside the hall came the dense sound of armor rubbing together.

Through the golden doors, shadowy figures could be seen. In the span of a few breaths, the Xuan Armor Guard had already surrounded the entire Golden Throne Hall.

"What is the meaning of this?"

The ministers below were still somewhat at a loss. Only a few guessed what was happening, cold sweat trickling down their backs as they lowered their heads, not daring to make a sound.

Chen Zhuo’s face was ashen, his eyes vacant, as if he could no longer hear anything.

"Mo’er..."

"Dead?"

...

...

Capital Camp drill grounds.

Dark clouds blanketed the sky, thunder rumbling endlessly.

Gang Qi roared around Huo Wuya’s body as he continuously clashed head-on with the Tribulation Thunder above. His temples were slightly disheveled, no longer bearing the immortal bearing he had at the beginning.

This level of Heavenly Thunder—taking one or two bolts was nothing difficult for him, but from dawn till dusk without the slightest pause, as if it were endless—made even a Martial Arts Venerable feel tremendous pressure.

He had no idea how Yu Youhan had endured these past twenty-odd days.

"I’m asking you, how much longer until your Alchemy Pills are ready?" Huo Wuya raised his hand and split apart a bolt of Tribulation Thunder, shouting loudly.

"Hold on a bit longer, it’s about to succeed!" Ji Hongxiu’s fine hair was soaked with sweat, plastered against her neck as her eyes locked firmly on the fire window.

In the roaring flames, the Golden Core was taking shape!

At that very moment, the wind and clouds of heaven and earth suddenly shifted!