Crossing the Palace Fighting Fox Harem

Chapter 494 Two Truths

Xian Palace is a quiet place, where people can easily forget the passage of time and the complexity of the situation. Ji Anni rested here and seldom got out of bed. She liked to sleep on the wooden couch by the window, and when she was bored, she could look up and see the clouds in the sky slowly changing their shapes. For some unknown reason, the Ghost King also lived in the vacant room of Xian Palace, separated from Ji Anni's room by only a yard. Sometimes Ji Anni could see his figure when she sat in front of the window.

Occasionally, Cang Gui would fly over to talk to Ji Anni, as if he was afraid that she would feel suffocated. Apart from that, the only person who would come to Xian Palace to see her was Hua Rong. Hua Rong would deliver her meals and medicine every day, and would also deliver quilts and clothes when it was cold. Ji Anni missed Shui Furong, Tian Ning... and Yizhen a little, but she rarely heard about them from Hua Rong. In fact, it was not that they did not want to see Ji Anni, but they were blocked outside by Kang Xiaorong who was guarding Xian Palace.

Kang Xiaorong followed his father's orders to guard Xian Palace without leaving. Ostensibly, it was to protect Ji Anni, but in fact, he was just monitoring the movements of Ji Anni and the Ghost King.

Having just experienced the separation of life and death, Ji Anni was extremely exhausted physically and mentally. Although she still remembered the agreement with Xue Lan in her heart, she was a little depressed. She knew that the quiet life now was just an illusion, and in fact she was just under house arrest by the general. They were afraid of her, but they didn't dare to anger her, so they could only use this helpless method to try to maintain a peaceful daily life.

This day Huarong came to help Ji Anni deliver medicine. "Is your Majesty feeling better recently?" She gently placed the medicine bowl on the round table in the middle of the room.

"I've recovered a long time ago. There's no need to send me medicine in the future, or I'll become more and more listless the more I drink." He lifted the quilt and got out of bed. He sat at the table, gently sniffed the bitter taste of the medicine, and immediately frowned.

Hua Rong smiled and said, "Then I will only bring food to the queen from now on."

"Hua Rong..." Ji Anni hesitated for a moment, but decided to ask, "Is Yizhen okay..."

"Very good." He seemed unwilling to talk more, and after just three words, there was no further talk.

Ji Anni couldn't continue, so she had to lower her head and drink the medicine. The last time she saw Yizhen, she told herself that the Ghost King was Yun Zhen, so she rushed out of the palace regardless of everything.

At this time, a man's footsteps were heard outside the door. Ji Anni and Hua Rong looked up at the same time and saw Kang Xiaorong appear at the door.

Although he didn't say a word, Hua Rong could see that he appeared here to urge her to leave and she couldn't stay any longer.

"Your Majesty, Huarong will come and bring you dinner in the evening." Huarong bowed and turned to leave.

"Let me give you a ride." Ji Anni also wanted to move around, so she stood up and walked towards the door with Hua Rong.

It was only about a hundred steps from this courtyard to the front door guarded by the guards. If it was only Ji Anni and Hua Rong, they would probably walk there while talking. But now there was Kang Xiaorong, and Hua Rong looked a little unnatural, with her head down, and she didn't say a word along the way. Kang Xiaorong also just followed behind Hua Rong and Ji Anni quietly, keeping silent with a heavy heart.

After sending Huarong to the door, Ji Anni and Kang Xiaorong watched Huarong's back as she left. Ji Anni couldn't help but ask, "Do you still like her?"

The former engagement partner is now a stranger. The feelings between the two seem to have long been as indifferent as a bowl of water. But Ji Anni knows that Hua Rong still likes Kang Xiaorong, otherwise she would not ask the general to cancel the engagement between Kang Xiaorong and Princess Tianning. Although the engagement has been cancelled, Hua Rong is not satisfied with it. She seems to be more distant from Kang Xiaorong than before.

"Your Majesty, let me accompany you for a walk in the yard." Kang Xiaorong turned and walked towards the depths of the courtyard.

The steps at the door were full of guards, so it was not a good place to talk. Kang Xiaorong said this because he wanted to talk to Ji Anni alone.

The courtyard had long been untended, with only weeds and wild flowers growing on it, the gravel road was covered with mud and moss, and the water in the pond had long since become smelly. There was no scenery in the yard, only a look of desolation and decay, which made people feel depressed. However, Ji Anni still walked side by side with Kang Xiaorong in this desolate place, as if this was their bleak state of mind.

"After the engagement was cancelled, Tianning refused to see me." The first sentence Kang Xiaorong mentioned was Tianning instead of Huarong.

Ji Anni said kindly, "Tianning has a stubborn temper, but she is doing this for your own good."

"Now I am finally sure of my feelings for her, but she keeps avoiding me. I always avoided her when she was pestering me before; now it is my turn to see her, but she avoids me. This world is fair, it seems to be punishing me... I don't know why my father suddenly decided to cancel the engagement, just because Tianning is not a princess... But only a few people know about this, which is not enough to constitute a reason."

"I don't know whether I should tell you..." Ji Anni hesitated, but she still felt that Kang Xiaorong should know the truth. Because the truth can help him see the current situation more correctly and make a decision. No matter who his decision will hurt in the end, it was made without deception and concealment, so it is not easy to regret.

Kang Xiaorong's gaze shifted to Ji Anni's face.

Ji Anni lowered her head and looked at the dirty gravel road under her feet. "...It was Huarong who gave me to your father and asked your father to cancel the engagement."

"Why?" Kang Xiaorong was obviously stunned. He didn't expect Hua Rong to appear at the key point in Ji Anni's words.

Ji Anni shook her head gently and said, "I can't guess her, and she won't tell me the truth. Maybe she still likes you, otherwise she wouldn't care so much about your engagement with Tianning. She is very smart and has helped me a lot. Even though I have nothing now, she is still helping me, allowing me to start with Yuanrong and establish my prestige; allowing me to live an upright life as a monster..."

"You are wrong." Kang Xiaorong suddenly interrupted Ji Anni's words, "Since the Xi family was beheaded, Hua Rong's personality has become very strange. She has been trying to disrupt the palace and let all those who framed the Xi family and did not help them be punished."

"But now the Queen Mother is dead, her revenge is over, and I believe she is tired."

"No." Kang Xiaorong shook his head. "She won't stop until Yuemao's Caihuaxiang poison is cured. Even if she is really tired and wants to stop, An Ruoxuan still holds the life of her only relative in her hands. She can't stop even if she wants to. I don't know what she said to you... but she is born with a magical power to bewitch people. Don't believe her words too much, otherwise you will regret it sooner or later..."

"Has she also bewitched you?" Ji Anni raised her eyes and stared at Kang Xiaorong.

Kang Xiaorong sighed and said as if telling a joke: "She once hoped that I would become the emperor and make her the queen."

Ji Anni gasped. It was not strange that Hua Rong wanted Kang Xiaorong to be the emperor. What was strange was that Kang Xiaorong would talk about the matter of killing nine clans as if nothing had happened. After the death of the Queen Mother, the status of the An family plummeted. Emperor Long Mohan was lying on his sickbed and was dying. Now the ruler of the court was General Kang Qingyuan. If Kang Qingyuan wanted to establish himself as king, or if Kang Xiaorong took advantage of Kang Qingyuan's low position to rise to power, it would not be difficult.

However, Kang Xiaorong seemed to have no interest in this, otherwise he would not have mentioned it so casually.

"I won't hide it from you now. Do you still remember the time when Une went crazy during the hunting competition and the poison arrow that shot you?"

This happened a long time ago, when Ji Anni had just entered the palace and was still learning court etiquette. Ji Anni thought that the matter had come to an end, and that An Ruoxuan was the mastermind behind it, but now Kang Xiaorong told her that the truth was not so.

"At that time, you had just entered the palace and were the emperor's most beloved woman. Moreover, you were reckless and aggressive, which could easily cause chaos in the palace. So as long as you were injured, everyone in the palace would be suspicious of each other and kill each other. This was exactly what Hua Rong wanted, and I was still in love with her at the time, so I helped her disrupt the harem."

Kang Xiaorong put a poison needle in Wunie's hoof in order to make Ji Anni fall off her horse. As long as Ji Anni thought that someone in the palace wanted to harm her, she would be more defensive, and even take the initiative to attack and stir up trouble in the harem. Later, Ji Anni went to the stable and found the poison needle. When she wanted to pull it out, she met Kang Xiaorong. At that time, Kang Xiaorong told Ji Anni that he was going to see Wunie for the last time, but in fact his real purpose was to kill Wunie and destroy the evidence. Otherwise, why didn't Wunie's real owner, Concubine Kang Fangting, go to see Wunie for the last time? In fact, Kang Fangting wanted to go but was stopped by Kang Xiaorong.

"How could it be you..." The shocking truth made Ji Anni a little bit unbelievable.

She had never doubted Kang Xiaorong, and if Kang Xiaorong didn't confess, she would never doubt him in her life. She could understand that An Ruoxuan wanted to kill her because she wanted to be the queen; but Kang Xiaorong and Hua Rong teamed up to almost kill her in order to disrupt the harem and make the ladies suspicious of each other - this was too terrible.

"But how did you know that the princess would let me participate in the hunting meeting?" Ji Anni still couldn't figure it out. "I was dragged there by Tianning that morning." Before that, no one should have known that she would participate in the hunting meeting, and no one would have known that she would ride Unema.

"Think about it carefully. Before Tian Ning forced you to participate in the hunting competition, wouldn't he have asked the emperor in advance? Only after the emperor agreed, Tian Ning would force you to go. When Tian Ning went to ask the emperor, there must have been one or two palace maids with him, right?"

"Yes, Huarong must be with Tianning..." Ji Anni's thoughts began to become confused.

"Hua Rong told me that you would be attending the hunting competition and asked me to find a way to bring you down. It was a natural thing to do."

"Could it be that Concubine Kang is also an accomplice? So she deliberately let me ride Unie?"

Kang Xiaorong shook his head and said, "Fang Ting doesn't know anything. But I am her brother after all, and I can guess what my sister is thinking and what she will do. So I guessed that she would give Wunie to you, so I put a poison needle in Wunie's hoof, and shot a poison arrow at you after entering the woods. The purpose is to make the harem fall into suspicion and chaos, and Huarong will take advantage of the chaos to cause trouble. When the emperor sees you injured, he will definitely suspect the An family, and then hate the queen mother even more."

"What on earth do you want to do?" Ji Anni was a little unsteady. The truth that she once believed in began to collapse before her eyes.

"I wanted to overthrow this ridiculous dynasty, make her the queen, and let me rule the world - that's how I was bewitched by her."