The mad princess forces love upon him, and the aloof imperial advisor trembles every night.

Amid the chaos, a cold glint flashed in Si Chen's eyes, who had been observing coldly all along.

Without moving, he lightly patted the tiger's head from a distance. His profound inner strength condensed into an invisible force, striking the Siberian tiger's crown with tremendous force. The beast's roar abruptly ceased, its massive body stiffened, and it collapsed to the side with a thud, blood gushing from its mouth and nose, no longer moving.

Just as the people dragging Chu Xuanche were about to breathe a sigh of relief, another unexpected event occurred!

In the chaos, a "master" dressed in the uniform of an imperial guard, who was helping to drag the eldest prince, revealed a fierce glint in his eyes. He slid a poisoned short blade from his sleeve and, in the instant when everyone's attention was drawn to the death of the tiger, he plunged the blade into Chu Xuanche's abdomen!

"Uh..." Chu Xuanche's body trembled violently, his eyes widening in disbelief as he stared at the hilt of the knife embedded in his abdomen.

"An assassin—!" A roar filled with shock and rage exploded.

Having landed a successful blow, the "expert" showed no interest in continuing the fight. He drew his sword and retreated swiftly, his movements incredibly fast. Instead of rushing out of the hall, he swept back into the chaotic crowd.

The true masters of the imperial guards roared and swarmed forward. This man possessed extremely high martial arts skills; his palm strikes were fierce, and his swordsmanship was unpredictable. In an instant, he forced several men back.

But two fists can't fight four hands. A guard captain seized an opening and kicked him hard in the waist. He groaned and flew backward, landing not far from the feet of the Third Prince Chu Xuanjing, who had just arrived and was "furious and shocked" directing the guards.

Just then, a whooshing sound arose outside the palace, and more than a dozen masked men in black rushed in like ghosts, hacking at anyone they saw. However, their targets were subtly aimed at the core area where the royal family members were located. The scene was completely out of control and in complete chaos!

Chu Qingyue gracefully descended from the pavilion rooftop, not to join the battle, but instead swiftly moved to Si Chen's side.

A thin gold chain flew from her sleeve, coiling like a serpent around Si Chen's wrist, which he was about to use to treat Chu Xuan Che's injury. She pulled sharply—he stumbled and fell into her arms. The cool fragrance of moon scales mingled instantly with the eerie scent of datura.

A slight smile played on her lips as she wrapped her arms around his waist and carried him back to the top of the pavilion. Their toes lightly touched the eaves, as if walking on flat ground.

The night breeze ruffled their robes, their silver and black hair intertwining in the moonlight. She brushed his silver hair aside, smiling alluringly: "Grand Preceptor... stand here, don't move. I... will protect you."

Si Chen looked down at her, a faint trace of helplessness flashing in his eyes, his voice as cold as frost and snow: "Release me... Apart from the Eldest Princess, no one in this world can hurt me."

Chu Qingyue looked up and smiled, a smile that bloomed amidst the glint of swords and shadows around her, possessing a chilling and eerie quality: "Heh, that means... you must protect me. Apart from me, I forbid you from protecting anyone else."

She tiptoed closer to his ear, her breath warm, yet her words were domineering and obsessive:

"Otherwise... I'll kill whoever you protect. Si Chen, the light that has shone on me for eight years, from now on, it can only shine on me. Remember that?"

Si Chen's long eyelashes trembled slightly, but he did not answer.

While she pretended to cling to Si Chen, preventing him from getting close to Chu Xuanche, her eyes darted around, precisely catching two figures in the chaotic crowd—her personal maid Liu Yun and her guard Chi Xiao.

She nodded almost imperceptibly.

Upon receiving the signal, Liu Yun and Chi Xiao nimbly weaved through the battle, seemingly fighting against the men in black, yet subtly guiding the tide of battle toward Chu Xuanjing.

Finally, just as one of the men in black was knocked back and staggered toward Chu Xuanjing, Liu Yun was "just" "forced back" by another man in black, bumping into Chu Xuanjing's right arm holding the sword. Chi Xiao then "rescued" from the side, parrying a blade of light that was about to strike Chu Xuanjing, but the force of the parry cleverly shifted Chu Xuanjing's center of gravity.

Caught off guard, Chu Xuanjing instinctively thrust his longsword forward—

"puff!"

The sword tip precisely pierced the back of the already wounded black-clad assassin who had rushed forward, and emerged from his body!

The assassin froze, slowly lowered his head, looked at the blood-stained sword tip protruding from his chest, grunted, and collapsed with a thud. The melee paused for a moment because of this sudden, fatal blow.

All eyes were involuntarily drawn to the longsword that had pierced the assassin and was still dripping blood, and to the person wielding it—the gentle and refined Third Prince Chu Xuanjing, whose face was now filled with "astonishment."

The Empress covered her mouth tightly, looking at her eldest son lying in a pool of blood, barely breathing and with his lower body a mess, and then at her third son standing with a sword, blood dripping from its tip. Her body trembled violently.

The Chu Emperor's face was ashen, his gaze sharp as a knife as he swept across Chu Xuanjing's face.

Chu Xuanche, slumped in the guard's arms, his face ashen, suddenly opened his unfocused eyes, staring intently at Chu Xuanjing, and roared hoarsely, filled with boundless resentment and pain:

"Chu Xuanjing! Murder to silence a witness...aren't you being a little too obvious?! Cough cough...You always put on such a righteous and gentle act, but now you've finally shown your true colors! You were unhappy that the Imperial Advisor designated me as the Crown Prince, so you resorted to this vicious scheme to harm me! Did you think that just because I'm dead, the position of Crown Prince would be yours? Bah! You're not worthy! You hypocrite! You scoundrel!"

"Father! Father, please see the truth!" Chu Xuanjing seemed to awaken suddenly, abruptly releasing his grip on the sword hilt, leaving the blade on the assassin's corpse. He knelt down with a thud, his voice trembling with urgency, "It was not your son! Your son had absolutely no intention of harming my elder brother!"

"Someone framed me! Someone pushed me! Father, you must believe me! You must believe me!"

His mind was a complete mess, fear washing over him like a bucket of ice water. No! This shouldn't be happening! He clearly… that's right! The keepsake!

He remembered that when he hired these assassins through an intermediary, he had secretly ordered someone to sew a jade pendant belonging to Chu Qingyue into the lining of the clothing of one of the leaders! If only they could find…

As if grasping at a last straw, Chu Xuanjing scrambled to the body of the black-clad man he had "accidentally killed," his hands trembling as he frantically searched the corpse, calling out urgently as he did so:

"Your Majesty, I report! The assassin must have a token belonging to the mastermind behind him! If we find the token, we can prove my innocence! Someone must have framed me!"

No one stopped him.

The Empress held the dying Chu Xuanche, her eyes fixed on his back with venomous glare. The Emperor watched in silence, a silence more terrifying than rage.

The entire court was filled with civil and military officials, all kneeling on the ground in a dark mass, yet not a single person uttered a sound—everyone knew that blood would be shed tonight, and not just the blood of assassins.

Chu Xuanjing tore open the black-clad man's blood-stained outer garment, then his inner shirt, his fingers touching a slightly hardened, unusual area on his abdomen. There was a rough, freshly stitched wound. A crazed light flashed in his eyes, and he recklessly dug at the stitches with his fingernails…

The line broke.

A small, hard, slippery object covered in sticky blood fell out of the open wound and landed with a "thud" in the pool of blood.

"Found it! Father! Found it!" Chu Xuanjing was overjoyed.