Chapter 212 - For the Sake of Sisterhood

Baili Jinchuan narrowed his eyes and looked at Chu Junyi. He laughed coldly. “Left Imperial Censor, you are really great. Instead of taking you into custody, the Imperial Guards let you enter the princess’ bedroom openly.”

Chu Junyi replied coldly as he confronted Baili Jinchuan directly with an icy expression, “Didn’t Your Highness openly kidnap the princess?”

“Nonsense!”

Chu Junyi did not care about his angry words. “Is Your Highness trying to play for time and waiting for someone to inform His Majesty or Her Majesty? Oh, I almost forgot. Her Majesty is very fearful of Your Highness. It is no good letting her come here. So I guess you will not inform her. In that case, you can only inform His Majesty. However, before I entered the imperial palace, I heard that the minister of the Ministry of Justice and the minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs had gone to Chengqian Hall to meet His Majesty. So His Majesty won’t be able to come here in two hours.”

Baili Jinchuan’s face was filled with anger. “Chu Junyi, you went way too much!” The importance of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Civil Affairs in the court was self-evident. As the imperial son-in-law, Chu Junyi was able to order the ministers of the two departments. It was really shocking!

“I can’t compare with Your Highness. As an elder brother, you are able to control the palace maid of your younger sister. Not only did she pass on a false message and deceive Princess Zhaohua into entering the Palace, she even faked the order of Her Highness asking for my help. If I hadn’t felt that something was wrong, I must have taken action on an impulse and the consequences would be unimaginable!”

Not long after Shen Ninghua entered the Palace, he received a message from Ninghua saying that he must come to Princess Anning’s bedroom to save her. As soon as he received the message, he immediately gathered his subordinates. Fortunately, he thought of Ninghua’s way of doing things before leaving and restrained himself from rushing into the Palace. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Shen Ninghua smiled and exchanged a glance with Chu Junyi. The two of them really understood each other well!

Baili Jinchuan snorted coldly. “I really underestimated you. Originally, I thought that with your deep affection for Ninghua, you would immediately rush into the Palace to save her when you heard she was in danger. I didn’t expect that I overestimated your affection for her!”

Chu Junyi’s expression turned cold. “Are you trying to sow discord between us?”

Baili Jinchuan raised his eyebrows. “Am I not telling the truth?”

Shen Ninghua suddenly chuckled. She stood side by side with Chu Junyi. “What does it have to do with you whether he has a deep affection for me or not? Junyi, let’s go.”

Chu Junyi nodded. He reached out to grab Shen Ninghua’s wrist and walked towards the entrance with her.

Baili Jinchuan turned around and sat down on the seat. His wide sleeves let out a loud sound as he suddenly lifted his robe. “Do you think you can come and leave as you wish?” Shen Ninghua was partially at his side. That Chu Junyi deserved to die, he deserved to die long ago!

The gate was suddenly opened, and a group of guards surged into the room. Holding shields and spears in their hands, they surrounded Shen Ninghua and Chu Junyi.

Shen Ninghua suddenly turned around and said, “Second Prince, are you going to kill us in Princess Anning’s palace?”

“How could that be? I only helped my younger sister kill Chu Junyi who had a sinister design on her. Ninghua, don’t worry, I won’t let them hurt you.”

Shen Ninghua’s face was full of mockery. “You really deserve what I call you. You are really despicable and shameless!”

“Haha, I don’t care about that. I have arranged a good way of dying for him. However, he didn’t follow the path I designed. So I have to deal with him with such an unusual method.”

Baili Jinchuan’s lips curved upwards. His face showed an exceptionally resolute expression, and his eyes were filled with killing intent. “Kill him!”

“Attack!”

Chu Junyi put Shen Ninghua behind him and kicked out the guard who charged at the very front. Then, he used his foot to lift the spear of the guard that had fallen to the ground and held it in his hands. He swept the spear at other guards who charged at the very front and knocked over all of them.

When Baili Jinchuan saw that even dozens of guards were unable to kill Chu Junyi immediately, his face darkened. He angrily scolded, “Useless trash!”

Chu Junyi was worried that the Imperial Guards would come over later. In the current situation, he could neither kill or injure the guards. He just maneuvered his force to fight off the guards who were constantly rushing towards him.

Shen Ninghua peeked at Baili Jinchuan who was sitting in his seat. She pursed her lips tightly and raised her hand to pull out the hairpin from her head. Then, she took two steps back and abruptly pressed the hairpin against Baili Jinchuan’s throat.

“Tell those guards to stop their attack!”

Baili Jinchuan raised his neck and gritted his teeth as he looked at Shen Ninghua. “Ninghua, are you going to kill me for him?”

“I repeat: tell your men to stop their attack!”

Baili Jinchuan gave a sinister laugh. “I don’t believe that you dare to kill me!”

Shen Ninghua pressed the hairpin against Baili Jinchuan’s throat more tightly. “If it were in the past, I really couldn’t kill you directly. After all, you were the commander of hundreds of thousands of troops at that time. If I killed you then, His Majesty would be furious, and the entire court would be affected. But now, your military power has been taken away by His Majesty. You also lost all your martial arts skills. You are useless. Why can’t I kill you directly?”

“I lost my martial arts skills and I’m useless…” Baili Jinchuan ignored the hairpin against his neck and turned his head to stare at Shen Ninghua. “To you, I am a useless man who lost his martial arts skills?”

The look in his eyes was exceptionally blunt. The black pupil was like a black hole as if it could absorb all the light. Being stared at by such eyes at this moment, Shen Ninghua could even see the deep suppression and anger in it.

“Tell your men to stop their attack!”

Baili Jinchuan laughed. Suddenly, he raised his hand and grabbed Shen Ninghua’s wrist. Then he took the hairpin from her hand. His handsome face was filled with anger. “Ninghua, even if the tendons and arteries of my limbs were damaged, I am still a man who has fought on the battlefield. Even if I only have one breath left, I can still use my last breath to bite the enemy to death!”

Shen Ninghua felt his suppressed ferocious look and bloody smell, and her heart skipped a beat. Her wrist was tightly grabbed and she was unable to pull it back.

At this moment, Baili Anning abruptly bypassed the fighting crowd and ran to Shen Ninghua. “Elder Brother, let go of Ninghua!”

Shen Ninghua’s moved the other hand and withdrew the poisonous needle to her palm.

Baili Jinchuan didn’t take notice of Baili Anning at all. Instead, he continued to focus all his attention on Shen Ninghua. “Ninghua, I will make you regret your way of treating me. I will make you regret the decision you made!” He exerted so much strength that he felt waves of tearing pain from his wrist. But the pain in his hand was nothing comparing with the sorrow in his heart.

Shen Ninghua’s face was expressionless as she said coldly, “Let’s wait and see!”

Baili Jinchuan coldly raised the corner of his lips and slowly lifted his hand with the hairpin. He firmly inserted the jade hairpin back into Shen Ninghua’s hair bun.

Baili Anning was nervous and stared at his movements without blinking. “Elder Brother, the commotion here has attracted the attention of the Imperial Guards. They will arrive soon. You’d better leave now.” At this moment, Chu Junyi suddenly knocked down a guard and jumped back to Shen Ninghua’s side. He took Shen Ninghua from Baili Jinchuan to his back and struck him with his palm.

Baili Anning was shocked. She jumped forward and stood in front of Baili Jinchuan to withstand the attack of Chu Junyi’s palm. She immediately felt blood surging in her chest and she almost vomited blood.

Shen Ninghua’s pupils abruptly shrank. “Anning!”

Baili Jinchuan’s cold gaze swept across Shen Ninghua and Chu Junyi’s faces before falling on Baili Anning. “So nosy. Let’s go!”

The guards immediately pulled up their injured fellows on the ground and quickly retreated from the secret passageway that Baili Jinchuan’s men had dug beforehand.

By the time the Imperial Guards rushed over, the hall was already empty. There was not the slightest sign of abnormality, except for the overturned tables and stools. “Greetings, Princess Zhaohua, Princess Anning, and Lord Chu. We heard the noise in the palace, what happened?”

Baili Anning’s face turned pale. “Nothing. Princess Zhaohua and Lord Chu were investigating the poison case in the Palace. When they checked the tables and chairs in my palace, they found some problems. There is nothing serious. You can take your leave.”

The Imperial Guards were still somewhat hesitant. Chu Junyi stepped forward and said, “I will personally report this matter to Father Emperor. You can take your leave.”

“Yes!”

When the Imperial Guards left, Baili Anning couldn’t support herself any longer. She staggered back to her chair and panted. She said painfully “Ning… Ninghua, I’m sorry.”

Shen Ninghua frowned as she looked at her and stepped forward to grab her wrist. “Because of Second Prince’s health conditions, Chu Junyi didn’t use all of his strength in that palm strike just now. Your internal organs were slightly impacted but were not seriously hurt. You’ll be fine after half a month of rest.”

A bitter smile appeared on Baili Anning’s face. “Thank you… Ninghua, you’re married now. I know I shouldn’t say that. But now, my Elder Brother is the closest person to me. I really can’t bear to see him so dispirited all days. So I arranged this chance for him to see you.”

Shen Ninghua did not say anything. She understood what Baili Anning meant. But that was all. She could not accept what she had done. She would never change her opinion of Baili Jinchuan, no matter how many times they met. So their meeting was of no use except causing trouble for each other.

The smile on Baili Anning’s face became even more pained. “Ninghua, my elder brother has lost everything. He is very pitiful now. I don’t have the face to ask you not to hold grudges with him. But for the sake of our sisterhood, I beg you to spare his life.”

Shen Ninghua shook her head. “Your Highness, I can’t do it.”

Baili Anning lowered her head and said, “I shouldn’t have asked you for that.”

Shen Ninghua understood Baili Anning’s feelings and her current awkward situation. However, she had never taken the initiative to hurt Baili Jinchuan. Every move she took was only for defending herself. If he hadn’t repeatedly framed her using despicable tricks, she wouldn’t have fought back ruthlessly. She was never a kindhearted person and could not sympathize with everyone.

Chu Junyi stepped forward and said, “Ninghua, let’s go.”

“Yes.” Shen Ninghua nodded and followed him to walk toward the entrance.

Baili Anning abruptly raised her eyes. She bit her lips so hard that there were even traces of blood oozing out of them. She shouted at Shen Ninghua, “Ninghua, I didn’t mean to set you up. I didn’t know that my elder brother had prepared a killing trap.”

Shen Ninghua paused and sighed slightly. She said softly, “I know.” Then, she walked out of the palace directly.

The next day, when Shen Ninghua was still feeling uncomfortable about what happened in Baili Anning’s palace, she received an astonishing message.

The northwest border was in turmoil as roving bandits from the Great Yue Kingdom invaded the border. The Second Prince Baili Jinchuan offered himself for a military assignment at the Golden Palace and personally led troops to put down the chaos there!