Chapter 103 - Lin Ran’s Return to The Palace

Xiao Huai’s smile was completely different from a human’s, but the empress did not seem to notice it at all. Her eyes were still filled with tenderness.

“Since you like it, I’ll read you another one, okay?”

As the empress spoke, she took out another book from the side. However, before she could open it, a small hand stopped her.

“Sister, I don’t want to hear stories anymore.”

Xiao Huai held the empress’s face with his two small hands. Her black eyes were hollow. “I want to go out and play. Let’s go to the imperial prison to play, okay?”

There was a hint of hesitation in the empress’s eyes, but it was instantly replaced by gentleness. “Alright, we’ll go wherever Little Huai wants to go.”

“Really? Sister is so good!”

Xiao Huai clapped her hands excitedly, and the smile on her face became even stranger. “Then can we go to the Hidden Sword Pavilion to play too? I want to go to the secret room under the Hidden Sword Pavilion!”

“Of course…”

Just as the empress was about to agree, under the dragon robe, the ruby necklace that had been passed down in the royal family for generations suddenly exploded with a red light!

…

Mingzhao Hall.

Lin Ran quietly sneaked into the hall, changed into the clothes of the guard commander, and put the Ten Miles Dragon Roar into the Divine Sword Technique Manual. Then, he walked out with his sword.

Although he knew that time was tight, he had already taken off the mask on his face and could only walk around the palace as himself.

When he arrived at the imperial study and saw the yard filled with important ministers, Lin Ran was shocked.

“Lords, are you… sunbathing?”

Zhang Yueheng, who was kneeling at the front, looked back and shouted sternly, “Get out! You’re just a small guard commander. You have no right to speak here!”

Zhang Yueheng was very aggressive, but his voice was already weak, as if he had not slept for a few days.

Just as Lin Ran was feeling strange, he saw Li Tianyi running towards him. Because the road in the middle was filled with important ministers of the imperial court, he had to bypass them.

However, Li Tianyi was very fast. In just two to three breaths, he arrived in front of Lin Ran.

Seeing this old enemy, Lin Ran immediately felt a headache coming on. Before the other party could speak, he waved his hand and said, “Eunuch Li, I have something urgent to discuss with His Majesty. I don’t have time to bicker with you. Hurry up and inform him, or I’ll go in myself!”

“Alright! I was waiting for you to say that!”

Li Tianyi suddenly clapped his hands with an indescribable excitement on his face. He pulled Lin Ran up and walked towards the imperial study. “You have to persuade His Majesty. These ministers have been kneeling for three days. If this continues, someone will die!”

“Wait a minute!”

Lin Ran pulled his hand out of Li Tianyi’s grip. He looked at Li Tianyi and asked suspiciously, “What did you mean just now? Why do I have to persuade His Majesty? Why are they kneeling? Did they make His Majesty angry?”

“I hope that’s the case.”

Li Tianyi looked helpless. Seeing that Zhang Yueheng was looking at him, he pulled Lin Ran to a corner of the yard and explained in a low voice, “If anyone really angers His Majesty, His Majesty can just kill them. But if this situation isn’t resolved…”

At this point, Li Tianyi suddenly stopped and looked around before saying carefully, “Don’t be a blabbermouth, but if this situation isn’t resolved, our Heavenly Saint Dynasty will probably be finished!”

Lin Ran’s expression froze. He knew that although Li Tianyi was a little greedy and bad, as an elder of three dynasties, he was still quite loyal.

Now, even Li Tianyi said that the Heavenly Saint Dynasty would be finished. How troublesome the situation could be?

“Could it be…”

Lin Ran probed with a solemn expression, “Is His Majesty about to die?”

“Pfft, pfft, pfft!”

Li Tian spat on Lin Ran’s face, wiped the corner of his mouth, and continued, “We have to start from seven or eight days ago. That day, His Majesty got a little girl from somewhere, and he likes her a lot!”

“It’s just a girl. I didn’t take it seriously, but I didn’t expect that from that day onwards, His Majesty never left the imperial study. He didn’t go to the imperial court meeting either.”

“On the third day, Lord Zhang couldn’t take it anymore and came to the imperial study to persuade His Majesty to stop being idle. Before he could say more than three sentences, His Majesty asked the guards to drag him out and flog him fifty times! If I didn’t protect the guards, Lord Zhang would have been beaten to death!”

Lin Ran listened quietly, and his expression gradually changed.

Seven or eight days ago… Wasn’t the little girl… the one he brought back from the Eight Directional Mountain?

At that time, the little girl was possessed by a wisp of evil energy and turned into a puppet. After Lin Ran absorbed the evil energy in her body, he didn’t know where to put her, so he brought her into the palace to be taken care of by the empress.

Although that little girl was quite cute, she couldn’t be so cute as to stop the empress, who had always been diligent, from attending the court meeting, right?

Li Tianyi could tell that something was wrong with Lin Ran’s expression. He paused for a moment and asked, “Lord Lin, why do you look like this? Do you know something?”

“I don’t know! I don’t know anything!”

Lin Ran shook his head. Then, he looked at Li Tianyi seriously. “What do you want me to persuade His Majesty? Tell me, I’ll do my best!”

Li Tian quickly grabbed Lin Ran’s hand and said worriedly, “Actually, I just want you to persuade His Majesty to care more about the country. It’s a good thing to like children, but you can play with the children all the time, right?”

“Eunuch Li, you are right!”

Lin Ran’s attitude was so good that Li Tianyi found it hard to believe.

However, Li Tianyi couldn’t be bothered with why Lin Ran changed. He waved his hand and said worriedly, “Now that you’re highly valued and trusted by His Majesty, if you persuade him, His Majesty might listen… Come with me.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the two of them walked around the yard to the door of the imperial study. Li Tianyi knocked twice and carefully called out, “Your Majesty, the commander of the imperial guards, Lin Ran, requests an audience!”

“Let him in!”

The empress immediately replied, her voice sounding weak.

Li Tianyi was overjoyed. He turned around and gave Lin Ran an encouraging look. “Many people have come to see His Majesty these past few days, but they weren’t allowed to enter. It’s a good sign that His Majesty is willing to see you now. Don’t disappoint us!”

Zhang Yueheng also got up from the ground and limped to Lin Ran’s side. “Lord Lin, I apologize for offending you just now. Please don’t take it to heart. The big picture is more important!”

“Don’t worry, everyone!”

Lin Ran nodded heavily at the ministers of the imperial court. Then, with a guilty conscience, he slowly pushed open the door of the imperial study.