Chapter 327: The Heavens Have Changed
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation
Night fell.
Lu Chao Chao sat cross-legged on the bed, the warmth of the heated floor beneath her filling the room with a cozy glow.
The little one’s plump arms, like lotus roots, were crossed tightly before her chest.
“You dog! Come out here!”
“Who invited you? I put the invitation under my pillow! You shameless thief!”
“Do you have no face left? You’re nothing but a scoundrel who steals from others!”
“You even dare to invade my mother’s dreams! Believe it or not, I’ll teach you a lesson!”
Lu Chao Chao sat on the bed, cursing for half an hour straight, her lips dry from all the shouting. Only after drinking a large cup of tea did she finally collapse into bed, drifting into sleep.
Yet, in the depths of the night, discomfort lingered.
A heavy weight pressed on her chest, making it difficult to breathe. Sleep came fitfully.
Dawn had barely broken when the sound of the palace gates opening shattered the morning silence—His Majesty had suddenly summoned all the imperial physicians.
Lights flared to life across the Lu Manor.
“What’s going on?” Lu Chao Chao rubbed her sleepy eyes, still half-dreaming.
Yu Shu’s face was grim, and Yu Qin’s eyes were red, laced with panic.
“The Crown Prince is in trouble.”
Those words jolted Lu Chao Chao awake.
“Tell me! What happened to Brother Cheng Xi?” Her voice was urgent, and without even putting on her outer robe, she dashed out the door.
“Princess, your clothes! You’ll catch a chill!” Yu Qin grabbed a robe and sprinted after her.
By the time Lu Chao Chao reached the courtyard, every hall in the Lu Manor was already lit.
Lu Yan Shu’s expression was icy, his official robes already donned as he prepared to enter the palace.
Rong Che, after calming Shi Yun, hurriedly said, “Shi Yun, wait at home. I’ll go see what’s happening in the palace.”
For the Emperor to summon the entire medical bureau at once—it could not be good.
“Don’t worry, go on ahead,” Shi Yun reassured him at the gate.
Looking up, she spotted Lu Chao Chao rushing out barefoot, still in her inner garments. Hastily, she wrapped a coat around the little girl.
“Mother, I have to go to the palace!” Lu Chao Chao’s heart pounded with anxiety.
The group swiftly boarded the carriage and raced toward the palace gates.
As they sped through the streets, Lu Yan Shu faintly noticed that the envoys from the Southern Kingdom were heading in the opposite direction.
“Qing Feng, keep a close watch on the manor. If anything seems off, report back immediately.”
Qing Feng bowed in acknowledgment.
By the time they arrived at the palace gates, the sky remained a dim gray, pressing heavily upon their chests.
A multitude of court officials had already gathered.
Li Zi Xi tugged at his collar, his chest tight with an inexplicable dread.
Lu Chao Chao’s carriage rushed through the gates, with officials trailing swiftly behind.
Before the wheels had even stilled, she leaped from the carriage.
“Eunuch Wang! What happened to Brother Cheng Xi?!” Her eyes were red—how could her dear brother suddenly fall gravely ill?
They shared a lifespan, after all!
Wang Yuan Lu’s face was weary, his eyes swollen. “His Highness suddenly coughed up blood and fell unconscious. His Majesty has summoned the physicians…”
[Impossible! We share a life. How could something have gone wrong?]
Lu Chao Chao pushed open the doors.
Inside, the air was thick with tension. The imperial physicians knelt in rows, their faces slick with cold sweat.
The head physician, after checking the Crown Prince’s pulse, turned pale and immediately prostrated himself.
The Emperor swayed where he stood, his vision swimming. “What is it? Speak! You have my pardon!”
The physicians hesitated, their lips sealed by fear.
The palace attendants supported the Empress as she stared at them with desperate eyes.
The physicians lowered their heads. “His Highness… His Highness…”
“Speak!” The Emperor’s eyelid twitched uncontrollably.
“The Crown Prince’s pulse is gone. Only a faint breath remains… We have temporarily sustained him with golden needles…” At these words, the Empress collapsed in a dead faint.
The Emperor stumbled back a step, gripping the table for support.
“What did you say? No pulse? How can this be? He was perfectly fine just yesterday!” His eyes were bloodshot.
On the bed, Xie Cheng Xi lay deathly pale, utterly drained of color.
The physicians kept their heads bowed. “We… have not found the cause.”
It was as if his very vitality had been stolen away.
Lu Chao Chao pressed her lips together tightly. They shared a life—so why was he suddenly dying?
She could still sense his faint life force.
Beyond the chamber, officials knelt in rows outside.
“Your Majesty, Abbot Shi Kong has arrived,” a eunuch reported softly.
The air in the hall grew heavier.
Abbot Shi Kong walked forward with unsteady steps, shocking the gathered crowd.
A master of Buddhist arts, none knew his true age. Yet now, he appeared frail and feeble, supported by a red-eyed novice monk.
“Clear the chamber.”
The Emperor glanced at him before gesturing for everyone to leave, leaving only himself and Lu Chao Chao behind.
“Chao Chao stays.”
Lu Chao Chao hesitated, but the Emperor had spoken.
Abbot Shi Kong sighed softly.
“Your Majesty, do you recall the anomaly at the Crown Prince’s birth?”
The Emperor fell silent. “Yes. There was a three-year drought. When he was born, his first cry summoned a mighty thunderstorm, bringing rainfall.”
“I personally named him Cheng Xi and declared his fate.”
The abbot gazed at the unconscious prince.
“His cry summoned the rain—how could he be an ordinary child? Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is likely the remnant soul of a deity.”
“A god’s soul is bound by the Three Realms’ laws. It cannot descend freely without consequence.”
“If the heavens take notice, disaster will befall him until he perishes and returns to his destined path.”
“Three years ago, he faced a tribulation. Because of Princess Zhao Yang, he survived.”
The Emperor’s eyes burned red. “I don’t care about any gods! He is the Crown Prince of North Zhao! We cannot lose him!”
Lu Chao Chao whipped her head toward the abbot.
“A deity’s soul? Whose?”
Abbot Shi Kong shook his head.
“Your Majesty, His Highness’s condition is linked to this deity.”
“Before coming here, I performed a divination. There is a sliver of hope for the Crown Prince… in the Southern Kingdom.”
The abbot’s complexion grew paler.
Then, suddenly, he laughed, an expression of immense relief.
He had divined the trace of the Emperor Star—the celestial sovereign of the Three Realms.
His gaze burned as he turned to Lu Chao Chao. “Your Majesty, send Princess Zhao Yang to the Southern Kingdom.”
She was more than just North Zhao’s light.
She could save North Zhao from ruin. She could set right the course of fate.
She could—
Summon the gods.
“She’s only three! Sending her to the Southern Kingdom is madness!” The Emperor roared, unwilling to send his little girl into the hands of those self-important southerners.
“Even I have suffered their arrogance! How much worse would it be for Chao Chao?”
Even the Emperor had endured their scorn.
“Your Majesty, only Zhao Yang can avert this calamity.” The abbot smiled faintly.
His reading had revealed much.
The Emperor Star was surrounded by seven celestial bodies.
The Crown Prince had existed because of her.
The heavens were about to change.