The Phoenix Reborn Book II

Chapter 116 Prayer and Hope

The pair of tanned black beads stared nanar forward, towards a man with a crown perched above his head. The index finger of the man is pointed in one direction, namely the owner of a pair of brownish black beads.

“W-Wang Zhengyi, k-kau—!”

Yes, the owner of the black bead was Wang Zhengyi.

‘Ayahanda! Not me! Not me!’ the prince roared. She wanted to cry, but no tears came out.

At a glance, Wang Zhengyi's eyes swept over the wounds on his father's body. Bloodstains began to adorn the regal man's mourning clothes.

“By the throne, are you willing to kill your own father?!” emperor Weixin shouted with a face full of anger and a wounded expression.

‘No!’

***

“No!” The terrified outcry shocked a girl who was squeezing the cloth in her hand.

From the living room of the rundown house where she was, the girl immediately darted into the bedroom. He brushed aside the room's perforated cloth, and it was there that he saw the figure of the man with the handsome face sitting with a tormented face.

“Crown Prince, you—”

Wang Zhengyi glanced at the girl, then frowned. He did not know who the girl standing in front of him was. However, hearing the call the girl had used on him, as well as the worried look thrown, the prince was sure the person before him was most likely a servant.

“I ... where am I?” w.a.n.g Zhengyi asked in a raucous voice. He touched his neck, feeling the sound that was issued sounded strange.

Seeing this, the girl immediately took water from a small table near the bed. Then, he brought the glass closer to Wang Zhengyi.

However, the suspicious look Wang Zhengyi gave made the woman sigh. He took one gulp and gave the glass back to the man. “Not toxic, Prince. Calm down,” he explained, not intending to take another glass, knowing Wang Zhengyi would still be suspicious of the possibility that the new glass had been poisoned.

As expected, Wang Zhengyi really accepted the glass the girl gave him. He gulped down the contents and asked, “Who are you?” His manic glanced sharply at the figure of the girl with that flat expression. “I where?” he repeated the previous question.

The girl saluted like a fighter, surprising Wang Zhengyi who thought she was a servant. “Your Majesty can call me Mudan, I am one of the members of Lianhua Yuan,” he explained. “Currently, we are in Qiongpo Di. I don't know if Your Majesty can remember it, but on the day of the death ritual—"

Uncompleted Mudan explained, Wang Zhengyi immediately turned upside down. “Ayahanda!” he shouted, surprising the girl. “Where is Ayahanda? How is he doing?!”

‘Ah, she has a memory of it ..’ Mudan's inner self while cursing in her heart, aware that she mentioned the wrong thing. “Quiet, Prince. His Majesty the Emperor is in the opposite house, I have treated—!”

Once again, without waiting for Mudan's explanation to finish, Wang Zhengyi took a surprising action. Out of nowhere the man got his manpower, but Wang Zhengyi jumped down from his bed and rushed running out.

Seeing this, Mudan immediately chased after Wang Zhengyi. “Prince!” his yell.

Just as Mudan came out of the slum, he saw Wang Zhengyi running towards the soldiers surrounding the house where Emperor Weixin was. The girl fell silent, then decided to go the other way.

‘I have to tell Minister Huang,’ Inner Mudan.

However, before long the girl ran over, she saw a familiar figure talking to a number of people. Although she seemed to be discussing something important, but the girl did not care. Compared to the other figures who were there, only that figure had a status not far above it and knew what to do.

“Investigator Rong!” mudan shouted, making Rong Gui who was talking to the prime minister— the man's face was so grim—by. “The Crown Prince has been sober.”

***

“Exit!” shouted a man with an angry face. “I want to meet Ayahanda!” he growled loudly at the soldiers who blocked his path with the unsheathed spear. Unyielding, he kept shouting, “Let me in!”

The man was in front of a shabby little house that was only limited by dull cloth, just like the house he occupied just a moment ago. With the man's sassy demeanor, also with the presence of the iron-clad soldiers, the scene looked strange and attracted the attention of a number of people around the place.

Before long, a slender hand with skin that shone like jade removed the cloth that served as the entrance of the slum house behind the soldiers. The figure of Empress Mingmei appeared, but in low-quality clothes that surprised the uninvited guest.

“I-Mother,” the man stuttered at the appearance of Empress Mingmei.

The soldiers got out of the way, letting Empress Mingmei approach a man who was none other than Wang Zhengyi. Whether it was the soldiers, nor the spectators, no one expected that a loud slap would land on Wang Zhengyi's handsome face.

“Durgan son!” maki Empress Mingmei with trembling hands. The woman's face showed anger, but the slap she had just laid hurt her heart. “Do you know the consequences of what you did?!” snarl.

For a split second, Wang Zhengyi's gaze seemed to be twitching. He had just regained consciousness, but he had already directly received an attack.

As awareness permeated, Wang Zhengyi immediately knelt on the ground. “Mother, not me!” He really doesn't know what happened.

Wang Zhengyi twisted back his memories of what happened at Wang Wuyu's death ritual. He was clearly sticking out his hand to grab an arrow from Wang Chengliu, but suddenly his body froze. Following this was Wang Zhengyi's inability to move his body. Then, through his own eyes, Wang Zhengyi saw his body move to release an arrow towards his own father.

Although he was unable to control his body, Wang Zhengyi could clearly remember the scene back then. His head hurt, but it didn't hurt any more than his heart at the moment.

“Mother, I deserve to die!” w.a.n.g Zhengyi exclaimed with his forehead pressed against the ground, not daring to look at his mother again. The disappointment that emanated clearly from the woman's bead made her like trash.

“Mati?” empress Mingmei repeated with an angry expression mixed with laughter. The woman extended her hand towards one soldier, asking for something.

The soldier understood what the empress meant, but he was not surprised. With a gloomy and slightly unwilling face, the soldier grabbed the sword hanging from his waist and gave the object to Empress Mingmei.

Wang Zhengyi was able to hear the desing of the sword swinging in the air, but he was motionless. Whatever his mother did, whatever punishment was given, the man was willing to accept it.

With no resistance from her son, Empress Mingmei clicked her tongue. ‘At least don't behave like a descendant of a dragon!’ Without waiting any longer, he swung his sword.

“Stop!”

Just before the sharp corner of the sword met Wang Zhengyi's neck, someone came and blocked the empress' attack. The clinking of the two swords that met made Wang Zhengyi turn his head to the right, staring at the two sword blades that were only two inches away from his face.

‘I-Mother will really kill me ..’ Wang Zhengyi thought. He then turned his eyes to the person protecting him. “You ...” Mudan's figure burst into his view.

“Mudan!” shouted another girl whom Wang Zhengyi immediately recognized, Wang Qiuhua. The princess glanced at her eldest brother with wide eyes, then she quickly approached him. “First Brother, get up!” After all, her brother was a crown prince, how could he kneel before the crowd!

“How dare you stop me,” Empress Mingmei rebuked toward Mudan in a threatening tone.

As Wang Zhengyi's distance from Empress Mingmei's sword was no longer close, Mudan immediately drew back his sword. The girl saluted the empress and said, “Empress, forgive my cunning, but please take care of your attitude. Need I remind you that we are no longer in the palace and are in a predicament?” He straightened his body, then added, “In addition, it has been explained by Minister Huang that the Crown Prince has absolutely no intention of harming Emperor Weixin.”

“Are you hunting me?”

“I dare not, Empress. I am just helping you to keep the morale of everyone who is in this place,” replied Mudan firmly.

“Kau—”

“Mother! Relax!” cut Wang Qiuhua off suddenly. “The current situation is enough to make everyone tense, are you really going to make things worse?” messing with the girl, no longer caring about the manners she should be showing.

Hearing her daughter's remark, Empress Mingmei knitted her brows. “Hmph!” he threw the sword on the ground. Since there was nothing else to say, the woman turned around and stepped inside the house.

Wang Qiuhua immediately turned his gaze to Wang Zhengyi, “Sister, are you okay?” ask her with a worried face.

“I ... is fine,” replied Wang Zhengyi while standing with the help of his sister. Then, the man threw a sad look. “However, I ... I really have hurt Ayahanda ...”

Wang Zhengyi's words made Wang Qiuhua speechless. Really, the girl was also very surprised by her first brother's actions on the day of the death ritual. However, despite not knowing what was really going on, Wang Qiuhua's little heart believed that Wang Zhengyi had no intention of killing their father at all.

‘Dan, Mother should also know about it ...’ Wang Qiuhua began to wonder, ‘Then, what was he acting like earlier?’

Not having time to think further, the footsteps of a number of people made Wang Qiuhua and Wang Zhengyi and Mudan avert their eyes. Huang Yade's figure walked quickly along with Rong Gui towards them.

“Crown Prince,” Huang Yade just started greeting, but Wang Zhengyi instantly gripped both of his arms firmly.

“Minister Huang,” call Wang Zhengyi. “You have to believe me, I don't intend to hurt Ayahanda,” she explained with a parched face.

The panic that emanated on Wang Zhengyi's face made Huang Yade even more convinced by his deduction, the crown prince had no intention of rebelling. After all, it did not benefit him at all!

“Crown Prince, calm yourself first,” Huang Yade said. He glanced at Mudan for a moment, then back at Wang Zhengyi. “Murid the Physician Jianghu who treats the Emperor, he will surely soon be awakened.”

Hearing Huang Yade's words, Mudan's temple frowned slightly. Firstly, he was not a disciple of Liang Fenghong, his status was not that high. Second, Huang Yade's words sounded very promising for Emperor Weixin's safety.

Mudan breathed in his heart. In reality, the girl herself was not sure that Emperor Weixin would last much longer. Other than Liang Fenghong, Mudan could not believe that anyone could save the great man. In fact, Physician Bai, who is known to be a famous healer in Shi Kingdom, admitted that he was unable and could only try.

‘Chairman ... Where are you?’ mudan wondered. Like most of the others, the girl prayed, ‘Room back.’

___

A/S:

As the saying goes, if you pray earnestly, your request will one day be granted.:)

Question: Is this author by the name of 'LuciferAter' so kind-hearted that he will grant your prayers?