Chapter 407: Punishment

The pile of fallen leaves in front of Emperor Jiawen suddenly flew up. Then, a circular plate—which was much smaller than the one at the mountain peak—appeared in front of him.

Not only was it small, but even the engravings were much simpler.

A weird pattern appeared on Emperor Jiawen’s palm, and it slowly landed on the circular plate.

Following a soft buzzing sound, the circular plate finally started turning.

Emperor Jiawen was elated. “It’s open!”

Elder Ye also heaved a sigh of relief.

Emperor Jiawen was very meticulous. When the circular plate slowly opened from the middle, he held his breath and walked in.

Elder Ye followed closely after.

The duo’s figures disappeared very quickly.

The next moment, the surroundings quietened down again.

Looking at the circular plate that was about to close, Rong Jin—who was hiding in the dark—immediately rushed over. How can I miss such a great opportunity?

Luckily, he moved very quickly and managed to enter before the circular plate closed.

The moment Rong Jin stepped in, he felt like he had stepped on a layer of stone, and his surroundings immediately fell into darkness.

Rong Jin actually was thankful for this. Even though it made it very hard to see his surroundings clearly, at least he wouldn’t be discovered by Emperor Jiawen and Elder Ye, who were ahead.

Forget about Emperor Jiawen, but Elder Ye was very capable. He might just expose himself to Elder Ye if he wasn’t careful.

He secretly came here this time, so he didn’t dare to make a big fuss out of it. Once he was discovered, the consequences were unimaginable.

As long as he obtained that treasure, he would feel more confident.

Rong Jin stood at the same spot for quite a while until the sound of the duo’s footsteps gradually disappeared. When he confirmed that they were adequately distant, he started moving.

Even though he couldn’t see anything clearly, after hearing the duo’s movements previously, he realized that it seemed to be a flight of stairs leading downward.

Rong Jin felt around the sides and wanted to walk down while holding a wall, but his palm suddenly felt a sharp pain.

He was shocked; then, he realized that the surrounding walls were filled with sharp nails. His hand had been cut accidentally, and fresh blood kept dripping out.

Helpless, Rong Jin could only randomly tear off a piece of cloth from his s.h.i.+rts and tightly wrap it around the injured hand.

Now, he didn’t dare to randomly touch the things around him, and he could only walk down even more cautiously.

…

When Emperor Jiawen and the rest entered the imperial mausoleum, Chu Liuyue—who was standing in the middle of the lake—saw the scene from one of the silver pyramid’s faces.

Chu Liuyue slightly raised her brows because she hadn’t expected the imperial mausoleum to have another entrance.

But… Emperor Jiawen came a little later than expected. She and Mu Qinghe had already been in here for quite some time, yet Emperor Jiawen only came in at this point and from an isolated small entrance at that.

Of course, she didn’t know that Emperor Jiawen and the rest had waited at the mountain peak for a long time to no avail and that they found this path to enter with much difficulty.

The path they used was clearly very dark, but for some reason, Chu Liuyue could clearly see what was happening. She could even see Emperor Jiawen’s anxious gaze as clear as day.

Chu Liuyue’s gaze turned, and it landed on Elder Ye, who was behind the emperor.

She rubbed her glabella, plagued by a headache. I’m not worried about Emperor Jiawen coming, but Elder Ye is here too… This will be a little hard to deal with. I can’t let them reach here…

Chu Liuyue thought of this in her heart and suddenly saw Rong Jin, who was following behind them.

She raised her brows. This person is actually here? Moreover, it looks like he came here secretly… That’s true. He has been grounded and confined to Crown Prince Mansion recently, so, of course, he can’t let Emperor Jiawen know that he’s here.

Why did he even come? A thought popped up in Chu Liuyue’s mind, and a bold guess surfaced in her heart. Could his secret… be related to the imperial mausoleum?

Previously, Rong Zhen had said that Rong Jin was Heaven’s Chosen Son, which was why the Empress doted on him very much and invested all her efforts in him, placing high hopes on him.

When Chu Liuyue heard this, she didn’t care about it much at first. That was the case until she saw everything that happened in Heptagon Alley.

The Empress clearly cared about Rong Xiu’s ident.i.ty as Heaven’s Chosen Son more than she had imagined. Si Huijing had even prepared quite a bit for it, even using cruel and ruthless methods to help Rong Xiu improve his cultivation.

It was a pity that she was discovered before the plan could mature.

Now that Rong Jin came here recklessly… this was the only logical explanation for it.

Chu Liuyue casually sized Rong Jin up. This distinguished Crown Prince had clearly suffered quite a bit the whole way as he looked quite unkempt.

Suddenly, Chu Liuyue’s gaze focused, and she saw two figures behind him. He actually didn’t come here alone?!

Very quickly, Chu Liuyue saw the duo’s appearances clearly.

The person in front was actually Situ Xingchen. Behind her was an elder in black. As he was wearing a hat, Chu Liuyue could only see half of his face and that he seemed to be an elder.

Chu Liuyue had never seen this person before, but judging from the surface, this elder was clearly Situ Xingchen’s man.

Chu Liuyue stared at them for a while and quickly discovered that Rong Jin didn’t seem to know that there were two people behind him.

Situ Xingchen and the elder also followed him very carefully. Their every action and word was also done deliberately to avoid being discovered by Rong Jin.

Did they… secretly follow Rong Jin in? This is interesting. Chu Liuyue couldn’t help smiling.

Emperor Jiawen and Elder Ye were in front. Rong Jin was in the middle, while Situ Xingchen and that elder were at the back. They actually all came in together.

I really don’t know what they will look like if they see me standing here.

Ka!

A soft sound suddenly came from the silver pyramid.

Chu Liuyue’s heart jumped, and she immediately looked over. However, she didn’t see anything strange.

That tiny pyramid was still quietly floating in the air as if the sound was just Chu Liuyue’s hallucination.

She knitted her brows. It can’t be that I heard that sound for no reason…

But after waiting for a while, she didn’t hear anything else.

Chu Liuyue could only temporarily set it aside and look at Mu Qinghe again.

Once she looked at him, the scene immediately made her heart beat wildly.

Mu Qinghe was kneeling on the floor, and he had raised the longsword in his hands. But this time, the blade was pointing toward his neck.

Mu Qinghe actually wants to commit suicide? Chu Liuyue shouted without thinking, “Stop!”

Mu Qinghe seemed to have heard it as he stopped in his actions, and disbelief flashed across his eyes. That voice… Even though it was unclear… the tone was really like that person’s…

He immediately scanned his surroundings, but he didn’t see anything other than the numerous green vines.

Mu Qinghe laughed bitterly as he dropped the longsword defeatedly. If she were here and knew that I didn’t die on the battlefield but chose to commit suicide instead, she would be utterly disappointed, right? Even I didn’t expect myself to be trapped here and have such a mindset.

But… it really hurts too much! I admit that I’m scared. Every single day and every single moment, I suffer from the terrifying torture. I’m better dead than alive.

When he wanted to lift the sword again, Mu Qinghe felt that his entire body was trembling violently.

Even if it was a hallucination, it seemed like he couldn’t disobey her.

After a long time, he closed his eyes, and tears dropped down from the corner of his eyes.

He muttered softly, “Your Highness, is this… the punishment you’re giving me?”