Reborn into the palace, she seduces the emperor's heart, driving the chief minister to madness!

Chapter 252 The Worst Luck

Pei Yuanling took a deep breath, and the bucket of divination sticks began to shake slowly.

For a moment, the hall was silent. Everyone held their breath, and only the slight sound of the divination sticks shaking echoed in the empty hall.

A moment later, a slip of paper fell to the ground with a "thud".

Pei Yuanling's gaze was instantly drawn to it, and his heart began to race.

Master Xuanyi bent down to pick up the fortune stick, and after reading the inscription, his expression instantly turned sorrowful.

Pei Yuanling asked impatiently, "Master, what does this divination slip mean?"

"Your Majesty, this is the worst possible outcome."

Master Xuanyi pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "The divination slip indicates that although Consort Liang is still alive, she is merely a lonely soul. Your Majesty, your fate with her has run its course; you cannot force it any further."

He paused slightly, his expression growing increasingly solemn. "If you insist on forcing it, you will meet a terrible end."

"You mean Yinyin is still alive?"

Pei Yuanling didn't care what he said afterward. He was overjoyed to hear that Chu Qingyin was still alive.

His eyes reddened, and his voice trembled with excitement as he abruptly turned to face the crowd: "Did you hear that? Yinyin is alive! She's still alive!"

The sound echoed in the hall, filled with uncontrollable ecstasy, as if it were shaking the entire hall.

Seeing this, Lu Zhiheng frowned slightly.

He stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, the monk just said that Consort Liang is now a lonely soul. Your fate with her has ended, and you cannot force it!"

Pei Yuanling gave him a cold glare.

At this moment, he found Lu Zhiheng increasingly displeasing.

"I don't care if she's a wandering soul or if our fate has run its course. As long as she's still in this world, I will find her! Even if she truly becomes a wandering soul, I will bring her back!"

Having said that, he turned around without hesitation and ordered the attendant beside him: "Return to the palace immediately and inform everyone that Consort Liang is still alive. There must be no mistakes!"

Immediately afterwards, he raised his voice and addressed the area outside the hall: "Issue my decree that the entire Imperial Guard be mobilized to conduct a thorough search of the entire capital. We must find Consort Liang's whereabouts, even if it means digging three feet into the ground, we must not overlook any corner!"

"Yes, sir!"

The head of the Imperial Guards immediately knelt down, accepted the order, and left.

Even though they knew that the emperor's actions were somewhat inappropriate, they obeyed him directly and had no choice but to resolutely carry out whatever orders he gave.

Looking at the nearly deranged young emperor before him, Lu Zhiheng's expression grew increasingly dark.

He never expected that Pei Yuanling would go to such lengths for a woman, even at the cost of opposing the court officials and powerful families.

Unfortunately, his deep affection was misplaced and mistimed; Chu Qingyin no longer needed it.

Just as the group was preparing to return to the palace, Pei Yuanling remembered something and called out to Gu Li, who was about to leave: "Send another team to the Chu family in Jiangnan, find Chu Tianheng, and tell him to return to the capital immediately!"

"Yes!" Gu Li immediately accepted the order and quickly left.

"Lu Zhiheng, the search in the capital is now under your command."

Pei Yuanling's gaze was sharp as he stared directly at Lu Zhiheng. "If you can't find Consort Liang, you won't need to sit in your position as Grand Secretary anymore."

Upon hearing such a firm order, Lu Zhiheng lowered his head and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, rest assured, I will do my utmost."

Pei Yuanling's impulsive actions will only bring greater turmoil to the court, but that's fine, as it saves him the trouble of taking action himself.

After the emperor led everyone away, Lu Zhiheng slowly straightened up and walked towards the anxious Master Xuanyi and the others.

He said gently, "His Majesty was just anxious to find someone, and his words and actions may have been offensive. I hope the monk will not take it to heart."

Master Xuanyi sighed and waved his hand, saying, "This old monk doesn't care about these things, but seeing that Daqing has such a ruler, I am truly worried..."

His eyes were full of worry: "Such impulsive behavior, completely disregarding the stability of the court and the common people, if this continues, I'm afraid the country will cease to exist and the people will suffer."

"The host should be careful with his words."

Lu Zhiheng's expression hardened, and he said, "Since His Majesty is the ruler of Daqing, whatever he does is right. Abbot, do not let your momentary anger bring disaster upon yourself and the entire temple."

Abbot Xuan Yi raised his eyes, his weathered face deeply lined with wrinkles. He clasped his hands together and gave a solemn bow to the person before him: "If Your Majesty continues to act recklessly and disregard the fate of the nation, I am willing to do everything in my power to help Daqing find a wise and virtuous ruler. As the chief minister, Your Excellency surely does not wish to see the Daqing empire destroyed."

Lu Zhiheng's heart skipped a beat, and his expression grew even colder: "Master, do not utter such treasonous words a second time."

He understood that the other party had obviously guessed his identity, which was why they said such things.

However, Lu Zhiheng dared not gamble, as Baohua Temple was the state temple of Daqing and had always been loyal only to the emperor.

"It's getting late, Lord Lu, please return."

Xuan Yi's gaze remained calm and unwavering.

Lu Zhiheng bowed, left the hall, mounted his horse, and rode away in a cloud of dust.

Since Pei Yuanling has entrusted him with this hot potato-like task, he must not "disappoint" His Majesty.

***

The news of what happened at Baohua Temple had already spread back to the palace as if it had grown wings.

Upon hearing this, Empress Dowager Wang's eyes seemed to spit fire, and she smashed the teacup in her hand on the ground with a "crash," scattering shards everywhere.

"Absurd! Utterly absurd!"

She trembled with rage and roared, "How could Pei Yuanling, the ruler of a nation, act so recklessly for a woman? What about the court and the country? He even went to Baohua Temple and injured Abbot Xuanyi with a sword. Does he think the national temple is a joke?"

Seeing this, Empress Wang quickly stepped forward to comfort him: "Your Majesty, please calm down. His Majesty may have been confused for a moment. After some time, when he calms down, he will probably not be so stubborn anymore."

Empress Dowager Wang suddenly turned her head and glared at her fiercely: "How dare you say that! Isn't it because you're such a useless empress that you can't even hold onto the emperor's heart! His grand search for Consort Liang is clearly an attempt to slap me in the face, and also to slap the face of my Wang family!"

Empress Wang's eyes instantly reddened after being reprimanded. She felt extremely wronged but dared not refute him. She could only lower her head silently, bite her lip, and let tears well up in her eyes.

Empress Dowager Wang took a breath and calmed herself before saying to Empress Wang, "Go and find the Emperor now and tell him to stop this absurd farce immediately!"

She narrowed her eyes slightly, a ruthless glint in them. "Consort Liang is nothing but a substitute. He doesn't need to make such a fuss over a substitute. If he likes someone like Chu Qingyin, I can simply find him someone more to his liking!"