Crossing the Palace Fighting Fox Harem

Chapter 364 The real and fake princess

Long Mohan said confidently: "We don't have to go back to the palace in person. Someone should be here to pick us up in a while."

Ji Anni didn't know whether he was suddenly arrogant or really confident. Just as Ji Anni was looking at him doubtfully, she suddenly heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Ji Anni thought it was the waiter. With her current makeup, she couldn't open the door to welcome guests.

However, it was not the waiter who answered her, but Lai De's familiar and kind voice: "My queen, is that you? Great, I am here to take you back to the palace."

Lai De recognized Ji Anni's voice, and before Ji Anni opened the door to meet him, he was already excited and in tears outside the door.

"Laide?" Ji Anni almost forgot about him and ran to the door quickly, but did not open it. She just leaned against the door and asked, "How did you know we were here?"

When I got close to the door, I heard voices coming from outside. It seemed that there was more than just Lai De, but a whole group of people. I guess Lai De had already met up with the imperial guards.

Just as Long Mohan said, someone came to pick them up.

Before Lai De could answer, Ji Anni recalled that she and Long Mohan had left many road signs for Lai De, which led all the way to the inn where they were staying. Although Lai De was a whole day late, he finally found the road signs and brought more than ten plainclothes imperial guards. In order not to disturb the people, this was the minimum number of guards.

It was not until this moment that Ji Anni and Long Mohan truly felt that the disaster was temporarily over.

Ji Anni didn't open the door, but leaned against it and said, "Laide, due to various reasons, I can't open the door for you yet. Please help me find two sets of clothes first."

Lai De knew that Ji Anni had no clothes to wear as soon as he heard it. Thinking of the heavy rain last night, he immediately guessed what happened and asked, "My lady, you didn't get caught in the rain, did you?"

Ji Anni said, "It's just that I got wet. Why are you asking so many questions? Go find some clothes."

"Yes, yes, I obey your command."

After a while, two sets of neatly arranged casual clothes were handed into Ji Anni's hands through the crack of the door. After the two people wrapped in quilts changed their clothes, the door of the room was finally opened.

The first thing Ji Anni asked Lai De was: "How is Princess Tianning? Has she been rescued? Is she safe?"

Lai De didn't understand what Ji Anni said, and asked in confusion: "What do you mean rescued? The princess has always been safe and has always been in the palace."

"What? The princess has been in the palace all along?" Ji Anni and Long Mohan exclaimed in unison. If the princess has been in the palace all along, then who is the girl they saw on Tang Jinglan's electronic screen? Is there someone in the world who looks so similar that Ji Anni and Long Mohan both mistakenly think she is Princess Tianning?

Long Mohan had heard Lai De's name from Ji Anni a long time ago, so he was not unfamiliar with Lai De. He stood up and walked towards Lai De, asking, "Lai De, please explain clearly, Tian Ning has been in the palace the whole time. When the Anti-Imperial Society attacked the wedding procession, wasn't she kidnapped?"

"Your Majesty, I really don't know what you want to ask. I only know that Princess Tianning has not been kidnapped by anyone. She has always been in the palace."

"This is so weird, we clearly...we clearly..." Ji Annie stuttered excitedly.

Long Mohan stopped her and said, "Don't say anything, let's go back to the palace first."

"But, but Princess Tianning..." Ji Anni now had only one thought, that one of the Princess Tianning in the palace and the Princess Tianning in the hands of the Anti-Imperial Society must be a fake.

Long Mohan gently stroked Ji Anni's shoulder and said, "I know what you are worried about, but now apart from returning to the palace to see Tian Ning, we have no way of judging whether we are seeing things wrong, or... there is another reason."

Then, he turned to Lai De and his group gathered at the door and waved, "Let's go back to the palace."

#

After returning to the palace, Ji Anni and Long Mohan said goodbye quickly. Ji Anni returned to Wenhua Courtyard, and Long Mohan went straight to the Empress Dowager's Palace.

After Ji Anni returned to Taoyuan, Wenhuayuan, she found that her door was ajar as soon as she arrived at the gate, and she could vaguely see a figure from the window.

How strange, could it be Concubine An? Ji Anni looked into Concubine An's room next door. The door was closed and it didn't look like anyone was there. Thinking carefully, Concubine An should be with the anxious Queen Mother now, and it's impossible for her to stay in Taoyuan. But if the person in the room is not Concubine An, who else could it be?

At that moment, the faces of Yizhen, Shui Furong, and Huarong flashed in Ji Anni's mind. She thought they were waiting for her return in the room, but when she tiptoed quietly to the crack of the door and peeked inside, she found that there were not just one person in the room, but three. One was lying on the bed, and it was Prince Ming. The other two were guarding the bedside, and they were Zhuang Xiaomeng and Changsun Mingri.

"Ming'er." Seeing that Prince Ming seemed ill, Ji Anni hurriedly pushed the door open and rushed into the room.

"My queen!" Zhuang Xiaomeng and Zhang Sun Mingri turned around at the same time and asked in surprise, "When did you come back?"

"Just got back. What happened to Ming'er?" Ji Anni came to the bedside.

Prince Ming had his eyes closed, there was a hint of sweat on his forehead, and his face was pale, as if he was seriously ill.

Zhuang Xiaomeng said, "It has been like this since last night, sometimes better, sometimes worse. I don't know what's wrong."

"Has the doctor examined it?" Ji Anni touched Prince Ming's forehead. It was not hot but frighteningly cold.

Zhang Sun Mingri said, "I have seen him, but it was useless. Later, the Imperial Master came to see him again and said that the prince was weak and fell ill because of the influence of Taoist Yuan Rong's magic power."

"Mana influence?" Ji Anni repeated these four words and slowly understood the mystery.

Taoist priests and monsters have always been two groups that are incompatible with each other. The mutual restraint between the Taoist priests and monsters is the cause of Prince Ming's illness. The heavy rain that Taoist Yuan Rong brought with his magic last night lasted all night. It must be a very powerful spell. To perform this spell, you must use several times more magic power than usual. A little monster like Prince Ming fell ill because he could not withstand the radiation brought by the powerful magic.

"Thank you for taking care of Prince Ming. You didn't sleep well last night. Go back and rest now." Seeing that Zhuang Xiaomeng and Changsun Mingri had dark circles under their eyes, Ji Anni guessed that they had taken care of Prince Ming all night. While grateful, she couldn't help but worry that they would see through Prince Ming as a fox demon. According to past experience, when Prince Ming was weak and unconscious, he was most likely to return to his original form.

Zhuang Xiaomeng yawned and said, "Originally, Prince Ming didn't need our care, because many palace maids took care of him last night, but then the Imperial Master said that Prince Ming's illness couldn't be taken care of by others, and drove everyone away. The Imperial Master is really weird, how can a sick person not be taken care of? We were worried, so we secretly took care of Prince Ming without the Imperial Master's knowledge. Madam, please don't tell the Imperial Master."

"Okay, I won't tell you. You guys go back first." Only Ji Anni understood Yun Zhen's intentions. He was afraid that the prototype of Prince Ming would be seen by others, so he dismissed the other idlers.

After sending Zhuang Xiaomeng and Zhangsun Mingri back to Li Garden next door, Ji Anni returned to Prince Ming's side.

At this time, the coldness in Prince Ming's body had slowly receded, and his body temperature gradually returned to normal. Ji Anni leaned close to Prince Ming's ear and whispered softly, "Ming'er, mother is back, can you hear her voice?"

"Mother... Mother..." After hearing Ji Annie's familiar voice, Prince Ming kept calling out softly in a semi-comatose state even though he was unable to open his eyes.

"Tomorrow, maybe soon, we will be able to leave this palace. By then, you won't be sick so much."

Ji Annie’s idea was very simple. As long as she stayed away from the Demon-Suppressing Temple and the demonic power of Xue Lan that was sealed here, then Prince Ming would be safe.

"Mother, mother..." Prince Ming couldn't open his eyes, but seemed to have woken up. He stretched out his hand from under the quilt and touched Ji Annie beside the bed.

Ji Anni hurriedly took his outstretched hand into her palm and asked, "Ming'er, mother is right beside you, don't be afraid."

After feeling the warmth of Ji Annie's palm, a happy smile slowly emerged on the corners of Prince Ming's mouth, and he said, "Mother... I'm glad you're okay. I heard that the wedding procession was attacked and you were carried away by a crazy horse. I thought... I thought I would never see you again... It's great that you're back..."

"Of course I'm back. Didn't mom promise you that I would always be by your side and protect you?" Ji Anni held his little hand tighter.

"But...but I had a dream, in which you didn't want me anymore..." Prince Ming slowly opened his eyes, his tear-filled pupils were heartbreaking.

"Who said mother doesn't want you, Ming'er? Those were all dreams. Don't take them seriously. As long as you open your eyes, the dreams will disappear. Look, haven't you opened your eyes now?" Ji Annie forced a smile.

"If you open your eyes, mother will not abandon me anymore?" Prince Ming took every word of Ji Anni as his life creed. He opened his eyes wide and dared not even blink.

Ji Anni was amused by his appearance and touched his cheek and said, "Ming'er, are you feeling unwell now? Should I ask the Imperial Master to help you?"

"No, thank you, mother." Prince Ming shook his head and slowly sat up. "The Imperial Master said that he can sense my condition. If my condition worsens, he will come immediately."

Ji Anni felt a little strange and asked, "What was the Imperial Master busy with last night? Why couldn't he stay in the room to look after you?"

With Yun Zhen's personality, it is impossible for him to abandon Prince Ming. There must be something more important that has entangled him and made him unable to escape.

Prince Ming said, "The Imperial Master's face was pale and colorless last night, and his body temperature was very cold, as if... as if he had some serious illness."