Chapter 387: The Chosen One (Fourth Update)

The vast imperial bedchamber was desolate.

Situ Xingchen walked in slowly, her footsteps echoing through the empty room, sounding inexplicably chilling.

The floor was littered with various smashed objects, a scene of utter chaos.

Situ Xingchen bypassed the mess expressionlessly and walked straight toward the interior, finally spotting the Empress at the very back of the room.

Her imperial robes were disheveled and filthy, looking as though she hadn't changed in days; faint traces of dark red blood could be seen.

Her face was deathly pale, her lips cracked, and her eyes were vacant. She was curled into a ball in the corner of the bed, motionless.

At a glance, one might have thought she had already breathed her last.

Clearly, in these few short days, the Empress had endured a great deal of torment.

Situ Xingchen walked forward step by step, finally coming to a halt before the Empress's bed. A habitual, gentle smile surfaced on her face

"Your Majesty, I have come to see you."

The Empress seemed not to have heard her, showing not the slightest reaction.

Situ Xingchen did not mind; she leaned down slightly, drawing closer.

"Actually—"

However, in the next moment, she caught the foul, almost suffocating stench emanating from the Empress.

A flash of disgust crossed her eyes. She took a letter from her sleeve and handed it over.

"Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince asked me to come and check on you today. This is a letter he wrote to you. Please, have a look."

Having said that, she straightened her posture with practiced composure.

If she could, she truly wanted to leave this filthy place immediately, but she had not forgotten the purpose of her visit today.

Coming here this time was not easy; she had to seize the opportunity.

Upon hearing the words "Crown Prince," the Empress's eyes rolled sluggishly, finally regaining some semblance of consciousness.

She slowly lifted her head. Her deeply sunken eyes were bloodshot, filled with despair and resentment, and faintly, a hint of madness.

Situ Xingchen instinctively took half a step back.

The Empress's appearance... was truly too terrifying.

A blurred sneer suddenly escaped from between the Empress's lips, as if she were mocking Situ Xingchen, or perhaps mocking herself.

Even without a mirror, she knew exactly what she looked like right now.

"How did you get in?"

The Empress asked in a raspy voice, sounding like something being dragged across gravel, grating painfully against the eardrums.

Situ Xingchen composed herself and explained in a low voice

"His Highness lent me his command token."

As the Crown Prince, Rong Jin possessed a command token somewhat similar to that of Emperor Jiawen.

He had modified it slightly, making it ninety percent identical.

Aside from those who frequently saw both tokens, others could not distinguish them at a glance.

This was how Situ Xingchen had been able to enter smoothly.

Only then did the Empress believe her somewhat, and she picked up the letter.

But, after reading only two lines, she suddenly crumpled the letter into a ball and hurled it violently at Situ Xingchen's face!

"Wretch! You are indeed insidious!"

Situ Xingchen had not expected the Empress to suddenly lash out and was momentarily stunned.

The paper ball didn't hurt her face, but to her, it was a massive humiliation.

She picked up the crumpled paper, the smile on her face fading significantly.

"Your Majesty, what are you doing? I am kindly helping you and His Highness the Crown Prince, yet you treat me like this?"

"Wretch! Do you think I don't know what you're thinking!?"

The Empress's face flushed red as she pointed at Situ Xingchen's nose and cursed loudly.

"Rong Jin cannot see through your schemes, but do you think I cannot!? No wonder you haven't broken off your engagement even now—it's all to goad him into extracting information from me! Let me tell you—don't even dream of it!"

Though she was currently fallen from grace and could be executed at any moment, it didn't mean she was stupid!

Previously, when she looked at Situ Xingchen, she felt this woman's intentions were impure, and that she was not at all what she appeared to be on the surface.

Now it seemed that was indeed the case!

The smile on Situ Xingchen's face vanished completely, and she tightened her grip on the paper ball.

That was a letter written in Rong Jin's own hand, and since it had been written under her prompting, she naturally knew what was inside.

The gist was that because Rong Jin was under house arrest and unable to leave, he had asked Situ Xingchen to act on his behalf to visit the Empress. Furthermore, he requested that the Empress tell Situ Xingchen the secret of Seven Corner Alley, so that she could relay it to him.

Rong Jin believed that only by knowing exactly what was happening could he truly find a way to resolve the current predicament.

Having seen this, what else was there for the Empress not to understand?

Situ Xingchen originally had nothing to do with this matter, yet now she was busy running back and forth; how could she not have an ulterior motive?

"Your Majesty, you have likely misunderstood. Xingchen has no such intention. His Highness the Crown Prince is your own son; if you are unwilling to even trust him, then won't this situation become unsolvable?"

"Get out!"

The Empress screamed hysterically.

If not for the fact that half her body was currently paralyzed, she would have lunged forward to beat this wretch out herself!

Situ Xingchen's gaze fell upon the Empress's legs. Having vaguely guessed something, she spoke with a look of profound disappointment

"I thought you loved the Crown Prince most of all. I didn't expect that now, you would have the heart to watch him fall into a desperate situation with your own eyes... Since you insist on thinking this way, then there is nothing more I can do."

As she spoke, she actually turned to leave with complete indifference.

Just as she had taken a few steps, the Empress's voice came from behind her

"What did you just say!?"

The corner of Situ Xingchen's mouth twitched slightly, a flash of triumph crossing her eyes.

But when she turned back around, her expression had already returned to normal.

She sighed and said

"You have been trapped in the palace these past few days, so you probably don't know yet—His Majesty already intends to depose the Crown Prince and appoint the Third Prince as the new Crown Prince."

The Empress's expression jolted. "Impossible!"

"I know you don't trust me, but at this point, there is no other way. If you don't believe me, you can certainly ask the people in this palace whether they have all been taken by the Third Prince for interrogation. Why do you think His Majesty would entrust such matters to the Third Prince? Can you not guess why?"

Situ Xingchen's voice remained as gentle as ever, but to the Empress's ears, it was like a cold serpent slowly crawling into her heart!

Her lips trembled violently, and soon, her entire body began to shake.

"No... no! Rong Zhen is the Crown Prince! Rong Zhen is the only Crown Prince!"

Watching the Empress's reaction, a flicker of doubt flashed through Situ Xingchen's mind.

Why was she so concerned about this...

"I must go to His Majesty! He cannot appoint someone else as Crown Prince!"

The Empress shrieked, actually falling straight off the bed.

"It must be Rong Jin... it must be Rong Jin!"

Situ Xingchen suddenly realized something and said deliberately

"The Third Prince is highly capable; appointing him as Crown Prince would also win the people's support..."

"What do you know!"

The Empress's face was distorted as she screamed piercingly.

"What kind of thing is Rong Jiu?! Rong Jin is the chosen one! Aside from him, no one is worthy of sitting upon the throne of the Crown Prince!"