Chapter 4 came quickly.
[This is cheating! This is cheating!]
Yu Zhaoning was furious inside.
Yuan Hua's fingers tightened suddenly as he gripped the armrest of the chair, his phoenix eyes flashing with a stormy sea.
Backlash? Even a miracle couldn't save him?
How could something have happened to her Zhaoning?
"Wait!" The Empress Dowager looked up.
The guards, who were about to drag the person away, froze in their tracks.
A glimmer of hope instantly rekindled on the faces of Yu Jingchuan and Cui Yue, who had been filled with despair.
Yuan Hua slowly stood up, looking down at the group with a smile on his lips.
"To murder a monarch is a grave crime, unforgivable even for members of the royal family! However, it is indeed wrong to execute someone so hastily."
She spoke each word slowly and deliberately, carrying an immense sense of pressure.
"By imperial decree! Crown Prince Yu Jingchuan and palace maid Cui Yue have plotted treason, a heinous crime! Drag them away and give them thirty strokes of the cane each! Afterwards, imprison them in the Imperial Prison to await further judgment!"
"As for Consort Mei and that palace maid's family, throw them all into the imperial prison! I will interrogate them personally!"
The group of people were instantly terrified.
The Empress Dowager is serious!
Even the eldest prince could not escape death!
Consort Mei collapsed to the ground, her eyes lifeless.
After all this planning, is she really going to lose everything because of a palace maid?
The eldest prince glared defiantly at her: "Grandmother, I am innocent! Women are not allowed to sit on the throne. You forced my sister to go up there, which is against the will of Heaven. That's why she fell into the water and died!"
"This throne should have belonged to..."
Consort Mei rushed over from behind and covered her son's mouth tightly.
"Jingchuan, stop talking, stop talking..."
Her heart pounded as she instantly recalled those who had opposed the Empress Dowager.
None of them had a good ending!
Now that the prince has made another mistake, and the Empress Dowager has found a pretext to use against him, he is in even greater danger!
It's already a miracle that I've managed to stay alive for now!
"What, you're not convinced?" The Empress Dowager looked up at them, her expression cold.
Consort Mei kowtowed repeatedly: "Empress Dowager, Jingchuan only misspoke for a moment, please spare his life!"
The impact to the ground was so severe that Consort Mei fainted.
Yuan Hua snorted coldly again and ordered his men to suppress the group, out of sight, out of mind.
Yu Zhaoning, lying on the dragon bed, finally relaxed her tense little body and let out a long sigh of relief.
[Phew, that scared me to death! Luckily, my grandmother changed her mind, otherwise I would have been packed up with those two and sent to meet the King of Hell!]
[But I'm still so angry! I was pushed into the water and almost drowned, and they just got a beating and that's it? That's so unfair! That damn protagonist's halo! When I'm powerful enough, I'll definitely tear off that halo and use it as a blanket!]
When Yuan Hua heard his granddaughter's adorable complaint, he felt both amused and annoyed, but more than anything, he felt fear and heartache.
Upon receiving the new orders, the guards immediately lifted up the limp Yu Jingchuan and Cui Yue and dragged them out of the hall.
Consort Mei, who had just been revived by pinching her philtrum, watched helplessly as her son was about to be dragged away to be flogged, her heart aching as if it were being torn apart.
She didn't even bother to plead anymore. She struggled to her feet, pounced on Cui Yue like a madwoman, and slapped her across the face.
He acted like a madman, pointing at Cui Yue's nose and cursing loudly.
"It's all your fault, you vile woman! You're the one who ruined my son! I warned you long ago to stay away from him! You're just a lowly palace maid, who gave you the audacity to covet the position of a prince's consort!"
"Look what you've done! Now you've ruined him like this, are you satisfied? You jinx!"
There was one more thing Consort Mei had in her heart that she didn't say aloud.
In her eyes, the four-year-old empress on the dragon bed was nothing but a short-lived ghost; whether she could even raise her to adulthood was another matter entirely! Her Jingchuan was destined to become emperor!
Now, everything has been ruined by this arrogant palace maid!
In an instant, her hatred for Cui Yue reached its peak.
Soon, the dull thud of wooden planks striking flesh and pitiful cries could be heard from outside the hall.
Yu Jingchuan was in excruciating pain from the beating, his clothes were soaked with sweat, and he looked utterly disheveled.
Cui Yue, who was standing next to her, burst into tears after being hit with a few strokes of the cane, and was sobbing uncontrollably.
"Your Highness, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault, I've dragged you into this..."
She cried as she struggled to move closer to Yu Jingchuan.
"I just wanted to give you my feelings, I never expected it would cause such a big mess, it's all my fault! Hit me! Scold me!"
Yu Jingchuan's heart broke when he heard his beloved crying.
He endured the excruciating pain in his back, turned his head with difficulty, and comforted her in a hoarse voice.
"Yue'er, it's not your fault. It's my fault for being useless and unable to protect you..."
This scene, in Consort Mei's eyes, was like adding fuel to the fire.
She was so angry that she trembled all over, her nails digging deep into her palms.
"You unfilial son! How could I have given birth to such a fool! Even on the verge of death, you're still thinking about this vixen!"
Consort Mei paced anxiously in circles, tears streaming down her face. She grabbed the hand of her trusted nanny, her voice trembling.
"Granny Wen! What are we going to do? Thirty strokes of the cane! Jingchuan's health isn't good to begin with, this could beat him to death!"
A glint of shrewdness flashed in Granny Wen's eyes. She quickly leaned close to Consort Mei's ear and whispered.
"Your Majesty, now that things have come to this, there is only one person who can save the Crown Prince!"
"who?"
"Prime Minister Lin!"
Granny Wen said in a deep voice, "Prime Minister Lin has always valued the eldest prince the most, regarding him as the only choice for heir apparent! If it weren't for the Empress Dowager's insistence on forcibly placing a girl on the throne, this dragon throne would have already belonged to the eldest prince! Now that the eldest prince is in trouble, Prime Minister Lin will never sit idly by!"
Consort Mei's eyes lit up instantly.
"Yes! Yes! Prime Minister Lin! Go quickly! Go and invite Prime Minister Lin right now!"
She urged anxiously, "Remember, you absolutely mustn't let the Empress Dowager's people find out! Just say you're out of the palace to buy things for me!"
"Yes! This old servant understands!"
Granny Wen nodded emphatically, bowed, and quietly slipped out through the side door.
The atmosphere inside the hall remained oppressive.
Yu Zhaoning finally felt something and slowly opened her heavy eyelids.
At the same time, the system's cheerful voice rang in my mind.
[Ding! The Eternal Melon-Eating System has been successfully bound!]
[Congratulations, host! From today onwards, we are sisters despite not having the same father! From now on, we'll eat all the gossip in the world together, leaving no one else with anything to eat!]
[However, a friendly reminder: this system's energy has been used to repair the host's fragile body today, and the energy bar is empty! So there's no gossip to share today! Let's start our happy gossip-eating journey tomorrow!]
Yu Zhaoning blinked her dry eyes and let out a faint sound from her throat.
"Hmm..."
Cui'er, who was guarding the bedside, was the first to notice, and she burst into tears of joy, her voice changing into a different tone.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, you're awake!"
Her shout drew everyone's attention.
"Your Majesty the Empress Dowager! His Majesty is awake! His Majesty is awake!"
Yuan Hua rushed to the bedside in one stride, his face, which had been as cold as ice just moments before, now full of concern.
She carefully helped Yu Zhaoning up, nestled her in her arms, and asked softly.
"My little Zhaoning, you're finally awake. Is anything bothering you?"
"Grandmother has already arrested the bad guys who harmed you, and they're being punished outside! If my little Zhaoning isn't satisfied, we can drag them out and punish them again once they've recovered, okay?"
Yu Zhaoning thought the idea was excellent and nodded like a chick pecking at rice.
But before answering, she still asked herself a question in her mind, still feeling uneasy.
[System, system, I'm awake now. Is the body binding stable? Can we proceed with the male and female leads now?]
Just thinking about how, in the original story, it was this male and female protagonists who joined forces to kill her beloved grandmother, pushing her off a cliff and leaving no trace of her body!
She was so angry that her little chest heaved up and down!
Not to mention this time, that bastard Yu Jingchuan pushed her into the pond with his own hands! If the system hadn't arrived in time, she would have been reporting to the underworld long ago!
If she doesn't avenge this, she'll change her name to something else!
The system's regretful voice echoed in my mind.
[Host, I regret to inform you that the male and female protagonists cannot die for the time being.]
[They are the chosen ones of this world, protected by the world's will. Forcibly killing them before you and your grandmother possess sufficient power will incur a severe backlash from the world's will.]
[It is recommended that the host diligently observe the drama and accumulate points to quickly redeem gene-improvement potions in the shop. Only after you and Yuan Hua have improved their physical attributes and possess the resources to defy the world's will can you attempt to completely annihilate them.]
Yu Zhaoning listened in a daze, and finally sighed in frustration.
[Sigh, after all that, I still can't kill them! This is so troublesome!]
The sigh reached Yuan Hua's ears clearly.
Yuan Hua tightened his grip on his granddaughter's arm, a thoughtful look flashing in his deep phoenix eyes.
She's lived two lives and seen all sorts of ups and downs.
She understood what the system was saying.
The implication is that they cannot be allowed to "die" now.
However, the fact that they cannot die does not mean that they cannot be made to suffer a fate worse than death.
As long as they're kept alive, as long as they're clinging to life, they won't be considered dead, and that so-called backlash won't be triggered, right?
Thinking of this, Yuan Hua's eyes darkened.
Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the hall.
The chief eunuch, Fude, strode in, his expression somewhat grave.
"Reporting to the Empress Dowager, Prime Minister Lin has arrived."
Upon hearing this, Yuan Hua's lips curled into a mocking smile.
"Ha, he arrived quickly!"