The whole family is insanely eavesdropping on my thoughts Chapter 441
Chapter 441: A Lifeline
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation
The Elf King lifted her gaze to the Old Emperor.
She remained as radiant as a young maiden.
Yet he, now aged with white hair and on the verge of death, felt his very strength drained as their eyes met.
He fell backward, rigid and lifeless.
“Your Majesty!”
The royal princes and princesses cried out in alarm, rushing forward.
The court officials were equally panicked. The Southern Kingdom could not afford to lose its emperor now—not when the crown princes had either gone mad or perished. Without him, the kingdom would fall into chaos!
The Old Emperor trembled, his murky eyes fixed on the woman hovering mid-air.
“You… you…”
Memories long buried surfaced in his mind.
He recalled the moment he fell from a cliff, plunged into icy waters. The river swallowed him, filling his lungs, drowning him in darkness—until he saw a maiden dive in after him.
But he was a man, heavy and already gravely injured. Instinctively, he had grasped onto her, pulling her down into the depths with him.
Before losing consciousness, he had glimpsed a luminous figure—an ethereal fairy with wings, glowing like a goddess descending to the mortal realm.
For years, he dismissed it as a dying illusion.
Yet now, that very figure overlapped with Ning Shi.
The heavens had once gifted him a great fortune.
But that fortune had slipped through his fingers like sand.
With a graceful wave of her sleeve, the Elf King landed upon the high platform. Bi Yue and Ling Long immediately announced, “Welcome back, Your Majesty, from your tribulation.”
The Elf King opened her palm, lifting a single finger, and a gentle force helped the two kneeling figures to their feet.
“The Emperor of the Southern Kingdom is not a virtuous man. You must not marry him!”
Bi Yue tore off the phoenix robe and threw it aside, then yanked off the phoenix crown—
Clang!
She flung it to the ground, tilting her chin up. “As if I would care for such things!” If not for her search for their king, she wouldn’t have spared the Old Emperor a single glance.
“Mother…” Xu Shi Yun murmured in a daze.
Bi Yue and Ling Long exchanged glances. “Is this your child in the mortal realm? Our clan can easily raise her.” She looked like an ordinary human.
“What about your husband? He should be able to share in your three-thousand-year lifespan, should he not?”
Ning Shi smiled at the Old Emperor.
“I have no husband, only a former one.”
Bi Yue, not catching the nuance, covered her lips and chuckled. “Does he even realize what he has lost? A fool like no other!”
That fool—the Old Emperor—
The entire court was dumbfounded. The once-pitiful Ning Matron turned out to be the very Elf King whom the emperor had searched for in vain!
The Old Emperor’s heart ached so intensely that he suddenly coughed up mouthfuls of blood.
The court was horrified.
Panic spread as they hurried to evacuate the commoners, fearful that the emperor might die on the spot and throw the kingdom into turmoil.
The Old Emperor was swiftly carried back to the palace, where Valley Master Jiang took his pulse for a long time before shaking his head grimly.
The court officials’ hearts sank, and they knelt solemnly outside the Ten-Thousand Longevity Palace.
Bi Yue and Ling Long respectfully stood behind Ning Matron. Seeing the endless stream of imperial physicians entering the hall, they asked, “Your Majesty, why does the emperor carry traces of your aura? Though, it grows weaker now…”
Ning Matron chuckled, her gaze drifting toward the palace filled with deathly energy. “Because… he is my former husband.”
Bi Yue: ???
The Old Emperor was dying.
In the harem, concubines knelt outside the doors, weeping red-eyed. Inside, the Old Emperor lay on his bed, gasping for breath. “Hahaha… I played a winning hand so terribly…”
“The old priest once warned me—never to betray, never to wrong another.”
“He must have foreseen this tribulation all along.” He coughed up another mouthful of blood.
“Ning’er… Ning’er… I wronged you. It was my fault.”
His eyes widened. “Bring Ning’er… bring her to me.” Every word left him breathless, teetering on the brink of death.
Bi Yue scoffed, “Why should we bother with a heartless scoundrel? It’s better if he dies! The bridge is crossed, the road is split—he has no right to our King’s grace!”
“One does not kick a man when he is down; that would be as useless as wearing brocade robes at night,” Lu Chao Chao muttered softly.
Bi Yue blinked. “We can do that?”
Lu Chao Chao puffed out her tiny chest. “Of course!!”
Ning Matron cast her a reproachful glance, then led her and Xu Shi Yun into the hall. Inside, imperial heirs knelt in terror, faces pale with dread.
Without divine power, how could the Southern Kingdom’s descendants fend off the God Attendant Clans? Soon, they would be devoured, and a thousand years of heritage would be lost!
Every royal heir would be slaughtered.
Ning Matron entered, standing silently before the dying emperor.
The Old Emperor could no longer rise. Only with the help of two eunuchs did he struggle up from his dragon bed. Just sitting left him drenched in sweat, gasping for air.
With trembling steps, he staggered toward Ning Shi, as though he might collapse at any moment.
“Ning’er, you are still as radiant as before. But I… have grown old.” He gave a self-deprecating laugh.
“Wang Quan Fu, shut the doors.”
The eunuch obeyed, bowing low as he sealed the chamber.
A bitter smile curled the emperor’s lips. His once-proud back bent slightly as he knelt before Ning Matron.
The imperial heirs’ eyes turned red. “Father!”
“Grandfather!”
The Old Emperor mustered his last strength to roar, “Silence!”
“Kneel before your Imperial Grandmother!”
Ning Matron frowned slightly, stepping aside. “Do not call me that. When our marriage contract was torn, all ties were severed. We are nothing to each other!”
The Old Emperor’s smile turned wretched.
“Retribution… all of it is retribution. The old priest forewarned me—never to wrong another, yet you… were the one I wronged most.”
Indeed, it was fate’s cruel justice.
“Ning’er, I have sinned. I deserve death!”
“I know I have no right to ask for reconciliation. But please, protect the royal family—grant the Southern Kingdom a chance to survive.” His voice was hoarse, filled with pleading.
He had countless heirs, yet not one bore divine power.
Ning Matron chuckled. “If you had even a shred of dignity left, I might have respected you more.”
“For power, you chose to protect the Empress and abandon me and our daughter.”
“For immortality, you discarded the Empress.”
“Now, to preserve your dynasty, you kneel before me.”
“Ha! You have been selfish from the start!”
“Why should I protect your bloodline? You are truly delusional!” She gently stroked Lu Chao Chao’s head.
“Besides, the Southern Kingdom is not entirely without hope…” She glanced at Chao Chao.
The Old Emperor stiffened.
Every heir had been tested. All were mere mortals.
He looked up, meeting the gaze of the tiny Lu Chao Chao, who was stuffing her cheeks with food.
His finger trembled as he pointed at her. “You mean… that three-year-old child?”