Crossing the Palace Fighting Fox Harem

Chapter 481: Frankly Speaking

Hua Rong only committed a minor offense, and before being imprisoned, she had already made an agreement with Chang Gong, an old acquaintance of the Criminal Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so she was released after only one day. Hua Rong followed her agreement with Ji Anni and reported everything Ji Anni told her in prison to the general. Since Ji Anni was imprisoned in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the heavy rain has not stopped. Not only the imperial city, but even the palace is almost unable to withstand it. If you want to stop this demon rain, it seems that it is worth relying on the power of the demon.

After hearing Hua Rong's words, the general took a sip of tea and said calmly, "Go and tell Eunuch Chang to send someone to bring Zhao Ji over."

Hua Rong responded and left, following the general's instructions. In less than half an hour, Ji Anni, in a disheveled state, was sent to the general. She had not changed her clothes since her rebirth. It was raining heavily at that time, and she fell to the ground again. Her clothes and hair were soaked in mud. Now, after drying, you can still smell the smell of mud. Although she looked disheveled, Ji Anni's eyes were bright.

The general waved his hand, dismissed the jailer and Hua Rong who had brought Ji Anni here, and spent time with Ji Anni alone. Ji Anni stood with her head down, with no intention of greeting or speaking. The general looked at her for a long time before making a gesture, asking her to sit next to him. Ji Anni hesitated for a moment, then slowly walked over and sat down. The general personally poured her a cup of tea and said, "It's been very windy and rainy recently, your majesty, drink a cup of hot tea to warm yourself up."

His unexpected concern and neither humble nor arrogant attitude made Ji Anni unable to figure out what he was thinking.

The general asked again: "My lady, if you are a monster, why do you want to enter the palace?"

"Entering the palace was just a coincidence. I didn't even know I was a monster before I entered the palace."

"You said that this rainstorm was caused by the Ghost King. If I let you meet the Ghost King, are you sure you can convince him to stop the rain?"

Ji Anni shook her head and didn't answer.

"What guarantee can you give that after you see the Ghost King, you will not persuade him to stop the rain, but persuade him to save you?"

Ji Anni still shook her head. In front of someone who was full of doubts about her from the beginning, no matter what assurances she gave, the other party still wouldn't believe her.

"Since you are a monster, ordinary prisons certainly can't hold you. In the past few days, a lot of manpower in the palace has been used to fight the flood, and even the prisons of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have been neglected. If you want to escape, you will naturally have plenty of opportunities. However, you have not made any movement. Can I assume that you still have unfulfilled wishes in this palace, so you don't want to leave?" When the general spoke, his sharp eyes were fixed on Ji Anni, paying attention to every change in Ji Anni's expression. When he finished speaking, Ji Anni's eyelashes slowly drooped, unable to hide the sadness from the bottom of her heart.

Do you still have any wishes to fulfill in the palace? Since she came to this world, she has been imprisoned in this palace and has never left. All people, all things, and all ties are naturally within the walls of this palace. Yun Zhen had let her fake her death and took her out of the palace, but unfortunately that plan failed. Now even Yun Zhen is dead, and the only thing left in Ji Anni's ears is the words that Hua Rong told her in prison: As a monster, live uprightly in this palace.

"My queen, I am not a heartless person. There are many things about you that I sympathize with. I wanted to kill you for the sake of the emperor's safety and the peace of the harem." Ji Anni did not ask a single question, and the general himself said the thing that was most likely to arouse Ji Anni's resentment. He seemed to want to use this method to observe whether Ji Anni was hostile to him. As a result, Ji Anni was not moved at all, and still sat there with her head down and kept silent.

To be honest, when Ji Anni thought that the old man next to her was the murderer who almost killed her, she felt a little scared. But then she thought, if other people knew that she was a monster, they would probably want to kill her. It's like encountering a tiger in the forest. Before the tiger opens its bloody mouth and pounces on you, you must take the lead in swinging your weapon. Otherwise, when the tiger takes the offensive, it will be too late. Isn't the monster more terrifying than the tiger?

If we really want to trace the cause, the fault does not lie with the general alone, but with this world where humans are afraid of monsters.

Ji Anni slowly spoke: "General, I can't give you any guarantees. But my desire to stop the heavy rain is the same as yours. I don't want to say anything to prove my good intentions now. I know that you have been observing me since the moment I entered the palace. I believe that my every move, every word and deed is innocent and I have never hurt anyone. I am worthy of the heavens, my parents, and myself. As for whether to believe me, you decide for yourself."

"Your Majesty has always been straightforward and never beats around the bush. This is what I admire most about you. Well..." The general sighed and turned his gaze to the pouring rain outside. "In fact, I have long planned to meet the Ghost King. If I cannot ask him to stop the rain peacefully, I will force him to stop the rain even if I have to use force. Otherwise, the entire Tianyou Holy Dynasty will be drowned in his hands. Hua Rong has already told me the story of the Ghost King and Xue Lan. If the Ghost King makes it rain for revenge and to punish the descendants of Taizu who burned Xue Lan alive, then he has chosen the wrong person..."

Ji Anni felt that there seemed to be some secret hidden in the general's words. She turned to look at the general and found that he had a relieved expression on his face.

"The general said that the Ghost King chose the wrong target for revenge, so who should he seek revenge on?" Ji Anni really didn't guess what the general meant.

The general smiled and said, "I have a secret in my heart that I have kept for many years. It has been hidden for so long that it is almost buried with me. I originally thought that if nothing special happened to force me to tell the truth, I would keep my mouth shut forever. However, this heavy rain that is seeking revenge on Taizu has really forced me to the point where I have to tell the truth..."

After saying that, the general stood up, as if he wanted to end the conversation. Ji Anni wanted to stand up as well, but the general suddenly picked up the teacup in front of Ji Anni, and then "splashed" and poured all the tea on the ground. Ji Anni did not touch the cup of tea, not because she suspected it was poisonous, but because she was not in the mood to drink tea. Ji Anni looked at the general in confusion, but soon read the answer from his serious expression.

The general said, "My queen, this cup of tea is poisoned. I originally wanted to use poison to control you, but now I have changed my mind. I am willing to trust you. You and I are comrades in the same camp in terms of convincing the Ghost King to stop the rain. However, if your queen makes me feel unsafe in the future, I will kill you without hesitation, just like I did before, to eliminate harm for the people."

"What a good way to get rid of harm for the people." Ji Anni smiled tiredly and looked at the tea on the ground. "I'm afraid the general is only getting rid of harm for himself, not for the people. But I still thank the general for his honesty this time. However, if I sense danger from the general in the future, I will not surrender obediently."

In fact, Ji Anni knew in her heart that the general's words of believing in her were just superficial. The general did not dare to poison Ji Anni, in fact, the most fundamental reason was that he did not want to further anger the Ghost King. Otherwise, he would have angered the Ghost King again for seeking justice for Xue Lan's descendant Zhao Ji after persuading the Ghost King to let go of the ancestor.

Ji Anni's courage made the general laugh. He walked to the door, called Hua Rong who was standing outside, and ordered: "Your wife has suffered a lot these days. Since you have decided to meet the Ghost King, you can't go to see him with unkempt hair and dirty faces. Hua Rong, take Zhao Ji back to the room to wash up and rest quietly. We must meet the Ghost King tomorrow at the latest, otherwise there will be many more bodies of drowned, frozen, and starved to death."

Hua Rong was not surprised to hear such an order. With her intelligence, she must have guessed that Ji Anni could be released from prison when the general agreed to meet her. But what she was worried about was: "General, if you let the queen go back to the concubine palace, will it scare the other concubines?"

The general sneered and said, "Now they all have to rely on Zhao Ji to save their lives. If they are afraid, they should leave the palace and return to their parents' home." At this critical moment, the general was exhausted just thinking about how to stop the rain and fight the flood. How could he have the leisure to worry about the feelings of the delicate girls living in the same yard with Ji Anni. Since the general insisted on doing so, Hua Rong said no more. She came to Ji Anni's side and said with a smile, "My queen, let's go back."

The beautiful smile did not reveal the darkness and hatred in her heart. Ji Anni felt a little cold in her heart, nodded gently, and left with Huarong. It would be good not to be locked up in the cell, but when she thought about the concubines who saw her return from the palace and looked pale, Ji Anni felt very tired.

In the past, she was in the East Concubine Palace with her two best sisters, Yizhen and Shui Furong. One became the emperor's favorite concubine, staying by his side all night to serve him, and the other was promoted to a noble concubine, and both were no longer in the East Concubine Palace. Walking on the familiar road leading to the East Concubine Palace, looking at the flooded Qinglan River and the broken walls destroyed by the rainstorm, the desolation in Ji Anni's heart was just like the bleak scene.

Just the fact that "things have changed and people have changed" is enough to make scholars cry, so wouldn't the current situation of "things have changed and people have changed" make people cry? Ji Anni asked Huarong beside her softly, "Huarong, do you think... are Yizhen and I still friends? She has always been timid. She will definitely be scared after knowing that Prince Ming and I are both monsters... If she is given some time, maybe she can change her mind..."

Ji Anni hoped so much that Yizhen could come back to her, otherwise she would feel that this huge palace was so cold everywhere and she couldn't find any comfort at all.

However, Hua Rong sighed softly and said, "My Lady, if you really think this way, you will suffer a great loss in the future."

Yizhen is no longer the Yizhen she used to be.