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

Chapter 276 Old Stories in the Palace!

The presence of Elder Xun turned Ningzhou and Jiaozhou into true lawless zones.

As long as the two princes don't die, Old Master Xun won't interfere with what the officials of the Prince's Palace do.

To some extent, the torment of the two princes' bodies and the suppression of their spirits were tacitly approved and encouraged by Elder Xun.

“At first, these people were somewhat restrained, but after your second brother and I tried to save ourselves and sought help from the outside world, we offended Elder Xun. Elder Xun then instructed these people to bully us as a form of revenge.”

As the eldest prince spoke, he looked at the Princess Consort of Ling.

"Ruiyao is in this state because of me. I will never be able to forgive her in this lifetime."

"Yue Li, I want to wait until Rui Yao recovers, then leave Ningzhou with her and go to live in the East China Sea."

The second prince chimed in, "Yue Li, and me too. I want to leave with my elder brother as well."

Jiang Yueli did not immediately agree.

After a moment of contemplation, he said, "I'm sure both of you are aware of the situation in the capital these days."

“My fourth brother staged a coup, and Father deposed him from his position as Crown Prince. Now I am the Crown Princess, but in terms of seniority, my two elder brothers are also worthy of the position of heir apparent.”

Zhou Wei paused for a moment as she wiped the sweat from Princess Ling's brow.

Looking at Jiang Yueli, she felt more and more that the eldest princess was growing into a qualified emperor.

Emperors have no family affection!

Jiang Yueli sympathized with and felt sorry for the two princes, but she still needed to make things clear regarding the matter of the crown prince.

The two princes, of course, understood Jiang Yueli's meaning.

The eldest prince adopted a submissive posture, "Yue Li, your second brother and I have been through too much in the past ten years, and we have long since become indifferent to status and position."

"If daily survival is a problem, people don't have time to think about these things; we just want to live."

"To put it bluntly, your second brother and I have long since lost all our pride. What are nobles and nobles compared to cultivators? They are nothing but ants!"

The eldest prince looked at Jiang Yueli with a look of satisfaction on his face.

“Yue Li, you have been different from others since you were a child. Your second brother and I feel no jealousy or resentment that you can become the Crown Princess. We are only happy.”

Jiang Yueli understood the deeper meaning behind the Crown Prince's words.

"Does this mean that if I can't deal with Elder Xun, then everything is just empty talk?"

Both princes nodded in unison, but the eldest prince's face turned ashen.

"What we can think of, Yue Li, you can naturally think of too."

"Even in a blessed land, someone like Elder Xun is someone to be looked up to."

"What kind of conditions do you think could make him willingly stay in the remote Ningzhou Prefecture for more than ten years?"

Zhou Wei listened from the side and sighed with admiration.

The eldest prince had been humiliated in his fiefdom for many years, but his innate wisdom and sensitivity allowed him to see through appearances to the essence of things.

He seemed to be talking about Elder Xun, but he was actually telling the eldest princess.

The Great Zhou Emperor is even more difficult to deal with than a half-step terrestrial immortal!

In the cultivation world, one's status and position in a secular dynasty are of no use whatsoever.

Therefore, the reason why Xun Lao was able to live in seclusion in Ningzhou for more than ten years was not because he feared the emperor's identity.

Either the emperor held the power to decide Xun Lao's life or death.

Alternatively, the emperor might possess something that would allow Elder Xun to truly break through to the Celestial Realm and reach the Realm of a Land Immortal!

Zhou Wei has already discovered that Elder Xun's claim of being a half-step terrestrial immortal is exaggerated.

It is a secret technique used to force a breakthrough, in order to kill enemies in battle!

Zhou Wei felt that the latter possibility was more likely.

For cultivators, increasing their cultivation level is the ultimate pursuit.

Especially those who have already entered the Celestial Realm, only one step away from the legendary realm.

For someone like Elder Xun, the desire for the terrestrial immortal realm has probably become an obsession.

That's why he was willing to serve as a minor official at the post station, guarding Ningzhou Prefecture for more than ten years!

Since the eldest prince brought up matters concerning the palace, the eldest princess also voiced her concerns.

When I hear that I sleepwalk and play games in the middle of the night.

Both princes wore expressions of shock and fear!

The second prince carefully touched his body, seemingly unable to believe that he would do such a thing.

The eldest princess said that under the futon, his body was twisted and deformed, like a doll that had been folded at will.

The eldest prince felt a pang of heartache and closed his eyes in pain.

"I thought it was all a dream, but I never expected..."

Zhou Wei then spoke up, "Your Highnesses need not be alarmed. Sleepwalking is not a supernatural phenomenon, but a psychological disorder."

"What the two saw in their childhood was too distressing, and they couldn't get rid of it. Under such repression, their bodies reacted in a sleepwalking manner."

The eldest prince had already heard from the eldest princess that Zhou Wei was a highly skilled physician, and hearing the physician say this immediately put him at ease.

The eldest princess asked, "So, what exactly did you two brothers see in the palace?"

The answers from the two princes were of paramount importance to Jiang Yueli.

This is related to whether her analysis, along with Zhou Wei's and Tan Lin's, is accurate!

The eldest prince's gaze became blank, and he kept sighing.

After a long pause, he finally said, "I saw my father kill someone!"

The second prince, standing to the side, involuntarily trembled.

Clearly, the two princes saw it together.

"That year, my mother..." the eldest prince said, then paused and changed his words, "...my birth mother, Consort Rong, gradually fell out of favor."

"Although she was the empress, the emperor never visited her palace on the first and fifteenth of the month, and he even forbade his concubines and noblewomen to pay their respects to her."

"For important ceremonies that required the Empress's attendance, the Emperor would announce that the Empress was seriously ill and unable to attend. Gradually, people in the palace almost forgot that there was an Empress in the harem."

"Fortunately, my mother was usually humble and kind. Even though she fell out of favor, very few people fawned over her or treated her badly. However, Yuejie and I could not accept this difference."

The eldest princess nodded gently; she understood that feeling.

Back then, the Great Zhou Emperor was very fond of the two princes born to Consort Rong.

He not only hired famous teachers to instruct them, but also frequently tested their homework himself.

The family of four laughed and chatted in the Queen's palace, which was probably the two princes' most cherished childhood memory.

"That day was my mother's birthday. Although my father forbade his concubines and noblewomen to pay their respects, some people still secretly sent her gifts. Even the palace maids and eunuchs secretly added food to her diet. But my father did not come to my mother's palace all day."

"As darkness fell, Yuejie and I waited in vain for Father Emperor, so we thought we should sneak into Hexi Palace to see what Father Emperor was doing and why he didn't come to see Mother Empress!"

Upon hearing this, the eldest princess became nervous.

It really was Hexi Palace!

Since its construction, Hexi Palace has been a forbidden area within the palace. Both the Great Zhou Emperor and the later fake emperor issued decrees forbidding anyone from trespassing.

How did the two princes get in?

The second prince then said, "My elder brother said he wanted to go to Hexi Palace, but he didn't know how to get in. I happened to overhear the palace servants of the Imperial Workshop talking about how a corner of Hexi Palace collapsed a few days ago due to heavy rain."

"I told my elder brother that we should try our luck in that corner. If the bricks and stones are not stable after the palace workers have made repairs, then we will have a chance to crawl in."

As a result, the two of them were extremely lucky.

The brick wall in that corner wasn't completely finished; lifting the curtain revealed an opening large enough for a child to crawl through.

The eldest prince continued, "When I saw a cave entrance, I was so excited that I grabbed Yue Jie and crawled inside without thinking."

"After we went inside, we walked around Hexi Palace for a while before we gradually started to feel scared."

"This vast palace is completely deserted after nightfall, not a single person can be seen!"