Chapter 366 - Preparation at the Eleventh Hour

Baili Jinchuan sneered, “What does today’s matter have to do with me?”

“Hehe, no wonder they say that all dogs have their day. Now, it seems that it is true. You are now not only despicable, but you also don’t have the guts to admit what you’ve done.” Shen Ninghua’s eyes were full of coldness and contempt.

Baili Jinchuan clenched his fists, and a bloody breath came out of his throat, but he suppressed it. “People can change. Can you guarantee that you will never change?”

“I can’t say that I’ll never change, but when I do, I can guarantee that I’m still true to my heart, not to change myself beyond recognition for a shameful purpose.”

“Haha! You are always proud of yourself. But have you ever thought about whether you are ever sorry for others?”

“Others? Whom am I sorry for? You?” Shen Ninghua looked at Baili Jinchuan coldly, her voice was as cold as ice.

Baili Jinchuan felt that his breathing was stagnant. Love and hatred were entangled in his heart. Pain and grief were slowly condensed, and the emotions were revealed through his brown eyes. “Don’t you think you should be sorry for me?”

Shen Ninghua was stunned as such straightforward and strong feelings surged over. She was so shocked that she took a step back.

His loss of composure only lasted for a moment. Soon, Baili Jinchuan restrained his emotions and sneered, “Go and prepare the things used to pray for blessings and worship the heavens tomorrow. There isn’t much time left.”

After saying that, he turned around and strode out. After leaving the Palace, he turned around the corridor and clutched his chest in pain. Unable to hold back the pain anymore, he spat out a mouthful of blood. He had hurt his already fragile meridians by forcefully mobilizing his inner force.

Yang Yingxue came out from the side and saw this scene. She covered her mouth with both hands to block the scream. She looked around, and after making sure that no one was around, she quickly stepped forward to support him. “Your Highness…”

Baili Jinchuan glanced at her and coldly shook off her hand. He took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood clean. Then, he turned and walked out.

Yang Yingxue hurriedly followed. “Your Highness, I clearly saw that our people had succeeded, but I didn’t expect that Shen Ninghua would actually escape. We…”

“Shut up!” Baili Jinchuan forcibly suppressed his anger. He now hated Yang Yingxue to the extreme. Hearing her words, he felt a headache. “Go back!”

Looking at his figure as he walked away, Yang Yingxue felt a sharp pain in her heart. He was tall and handsome, but his figure revealed a strong sense of oppression and defeat. “You don’t even wear a cloak in such cold weather. You must be burning in rage right now. You can’t feel cold anymore.” Two lines of clear tears flowed down her cheeks. “There is someone beside you who loves you deeply, but you love that person whom you can’t reach. Aren’t you tired?”

After returning to the residence, Baili Jinchuan immediately ordered his men, “Go investigate Princess Zhaohua’s whereabouts today. Check when she left the imperial palace, when she went back, what path she took, and whom she met along the way. Report all the details to me.”

In the imperial palace, after Baili Junyi had talked to the Minister of the Ministry of Rite, he rushed back to Shen Ninghua’s side. “Ninghua, how are you?”

Without any outsiders around, Shen Ninghua crouched down slightly and held Baili Junyi’s arm to stabilize herself.

A faint smell of blood entered his nose, and Baili Junyi’s expression changed. “Ninghua, what’s wrong? Are you injured?”

Shen Ninghua frowned, and deep wrinkles were between her brows. “My arm was injured, and I sprained my ankle. I need to go back to our mansion first.”

Baili Jinchuan was about to bend down to pick her up when Shen Ninghua stopped him. “The walls in the Palace have ears. Don’t do anything weird. I didn’t encounter anything special today, so I should not have been injured.”

“I understand.”

Baili Junyi held Shen Ninghua’s hand and walked out step by step. Every time she took a step, the place where she sprained her ankle felt like it was being pricked by needles. Not long after, a thin layer of sweat appeared on Shen Ninghua’s forehead.

Baili Junyi was so distressed that he felt tightness in his chest. Just now, he did not find any abnormalities in the hall, so he could imagine how hard it was for Ninghua to endure the pain. In fact, she should have walked in all the way in order to let the people in the Palace see her. It might have worsened her injury.

Thinking of this, he resented the person who set up this trap today. First, he tried to ruin Ninghua’s reputation by claiming that she was kidnapped by the thieves. If that person had succeeded, the next thing he would have done was to force the Emperor to denounce Ninghua and revoke her title. Next, he would have been forced to divorce her. By then, there would be no place for Ninghua in this world even if she could live without caring about her reputation.

After walking out of the palace gate and getting on the carriage, Baili Junyi hurriedly hugged the limp Shen Ninghua. “Ninghua, how are you? Let me take a look at your wound.” As he spoke, he lifted up her skirt and took off her shoes and socks. A red swollen ankle appeared in front of him. He felt as if his heart had shattered. “How did you get so seriously injured?” How could she walk as if nothing had happened when in fact, she was injured to such an extent?

Shen Ninghua looked down and said, “It’s not that serious. When we are back home, I’ll apply ointment and ask Qing Que to reduce the swelling through massage. I should be fine tomorrow.”

“How can you say that it’s not serious? What exactly happened today?”

Shen Ninghua paused slightly and thought for a moment before saying, “Today, I suspect that it was planned by Yang Yingxue and Baili Jinchuan.”

“What? Yang Yingxue? Isn’t she laying low now? Does she want to play tricks again?” Baili Junyi was very puzzled. Previously, he had also seen that Yang Yingxue loved Baili Jinchuan very much. Otherwise, she would not have ignored the propriety of a young woman and asked Father Emperor to marry her to Baili Jinchuan. But now, she was actually an accomplice to trap Shen Ninghua. Did she forget how Ninghua helped her achieve her wish?

“She…” Thinking of Yang Yingxue, who had become thinner and thinner recently, Shen Ninghua had mixed feelings. “She probably loved Baili Jinchuan so much that she wanted to help him regardless of anything. Today, her attitude towards me was a little too weird. That was why I sensed that something was wrong. At that time, when I heard movement behind me, I immediately pulled out the golden needle and inserted it into my acupuncture point the moment I was drugged. Otherwise, I would not be able to escape today’s scheme.”

Baili Junyi hugged Shen Ninghua into his arms. Just by imagining it, he felt a lingering fear in his heart. “Ninghua, I’m glad that you are fine. Or else… You must take some medicine with you at all times in the future. I don’t want…”

Shen Ninghua nodded. “I know. Don’t worry. I won’t be so passive in the future.” Perhaps this time, Baili Jinchuan had calculated that she would not bring any medicinal powder with her in order to gain Father Emperor’s trust, which was why he dared to act rashly.

Shen Ninghua calmed her mind and quickly urged Baili Junyi when she saw that the carriage was quite far from the Palace, “Go back and prepare for the ceremony, or the Ministry of Rite will be implicated tomorrow.”

Baili Junyi shook his head. “I’ll send you back. I’m afraid that something will happen on the way.”

“Qing Que is with me. Don’t worry, nothing will happen.”

“No. Although Qing Que is quite strong, she won’t be able to handle it if she is outnumbered. I’ll only rest assured after I send you back. Don’t worry about the ceremony. Yes, Father Emperor did tell us to prepare the praying things in an orderly manner, but he must also know that it’s almost impossible to achieve that in such a short time. So even if there are some omissions, he will at most scold me and demote my rank.”

Shen Ninghua laughed out loud, “Don’t you care about your title? Haha! You’ve already been demoted from Royal Prince to Prefectural Prince. If you are demoted from Prefectural Prince to Beizi, you’ll be in the same rank as Big Boy.”

Baili Junyi’s eyes froze. “That’s right. How can I forget about this? That won’t do. This time, I will definitely prepare a perfect prayer ceremony. It will be best if I can get back my title of Royal Prince.”

“Why aren’t you going back to the Palace?”

“No, I will send you back first.” As Baili Junyi spoke, he quickly explained after seeing Shen Ninghua’s glare, “Don’t worry, I have already thought of a way. Tomorrow, I will definitely prepare a perfect prayer ceremony that Father Emperor will be impressed of.”

Seeing how confident he was, Shen Ninghua smiled slightly. “Alright, it’s good that you know what to do.”

Baili Junyi sent Shen Ninghua back to the residence and watched as Bai Ruo and Hong Ling helped her into Huajun Pavilion before turning around and leaving quickly.

When Bai Ruo saw Shen Ninghua’s feet, she cried out in alarm, “Miss, what’s wrong?”

“I accidentally sprained my ankle. I’m fine.” Shen Ninghua looked at Hong Ling. “Bring me the ointment I prepared and some clean gauze. Have Qing Que come over and help me massage my ankle. I still have to attend Father Emperor’s ritual tomorrow.”

“Gauze? Miss, where are you hurt?”

“Knees, elbows, and arms. It’s nothing serious.” Shen Ninghua took off her outer garment and wore an inner garment. Only then did Hong Ling see clearly that there was blood seeping out from her knees and elbows. How could she call this “nothing serious”?!

“Miss, what exactly happened to you?”

As Shen Ninghua treated the wounds, she explained what had happened in the Palace today to them, causing them to be surprised. “The Third Prince brought this upon himself. Miss, how did you command the monkey and the eagle?”

“I had some ox hair needles in my sleeves. I gave two to Prefectural Prince and let him insert the needles into the monkey’s and the eagle’s bodies using his inner strength. The pain stimulated their ferocity. In addition, when the animals were in a panic, they were very close to me. So, in the crowd, I was the easiest and nearest target. It was a pity that the three innocent animals had to be sacrificed.”

Hong Ling heard this and kept exclaiming, “Miss, what is there to pity? If you think the monkey and the eagle are cute, I will tell His Highness later, and he will surely build you a zoo.”

Shen Ninghua smiled and glared at her. “You’re so witty.”

It was only after midnight that Baili Junyi got someone to send a message, saying that all the things used for praying for blessings had been prepared. The Ministry of Rite stored many decorative items and objects that needed to be used for the ceremony, and he could just move them out of the warehouse if he needed any of them. However, the new protocol officer was extremely difficult to find. This was the first New Year prayer ceremony. If he was not prepared and ruined the Emperor’s big event, his whole family would be in trouble.

In the end, the Minister of the Ministry of Rite could only truthfully report to Baili Junyi, “Your Highness, I have tried my best, but you saw that the results were minimal.”

“If it doesn’t work out, let Father Emperor play by himself. Anyway, it’s not the first time.” There was not much of a difference between whether there was a protocol officer or not.

The Minister of the Ministry of Rite, Zhang Yun, almost cried. Now that they had prepared everything, the only thing missing was the protocol officer, which was also the finishing touch. Why couldn’t Prefectural Prince Yi perform well and randomly picked a protocol officer? He was certain that the officer would not dare to make any mistake in front of the Emperor tomorrow as the punishment would be severe.

Just as everyone gathered at the side to discuss the results, a flame suddenly came out from Chengqian Hall. It seemed that the things Baili Junyi and the Ministry of Rite had prepared were on fire.