The Rebirth of the Deposed Empress

Ling Xiao understood Jia Lan's worries, but he was not good at expressing himself. He moved his lips for a long time but could only utter one sentence:

"Fish are meant to live in water, they are naturally happy."

"Yu'er still has a place to stay in this Night Country, but I..." Jia Lan smiled self-deprecatingly and did not finish her words.

Ling Xiao looked at her and said firmly:

"With your subordinates here, I will definitely provide Your Highness with a place to stay."

Hearing this, Jia Lan turned around and looked at him, saying, "What if one day, I am no longer your highness?"

"No matter what, I will stay by your side."

Jia Lan looked at him in surprise, and after a moment she teased:

"If I were no longer a princess, I wouldn't be able to afford to keep a guard by my side."

Ling Xiao's brain suddenly jumped and he said out loud what he was thinking.

"Then I will take care of the princess!"

Only after he said it out loud did he realize something was wrong.

Jia Lan looked at him blankly and asked:

"What do you mean?"

Ling Xiao instinctively felt that the feelings in his heart could no longer be concealed. He lowered his head, not daring to look Jia Lan in the eye, and remained silent.

Having grown up in the palace, Jia Lan had seen this kind of look many times, but in the past it was only women who acted like this in front of their father. Suddenly seeing Ling Xiao like this, Jia Lan felt shocked and a little amused.

After they were silent for a moment, Jia Lan looked at Ling Xiao and asked seriously, "Have you thought it through? Even if I have to go through fire and water, will you follow me?"

Ling Xiao nodded and looked at her without flinching, his eyes full of seriousness.

As if she had made up her mind, Jia Lan stood up and said, "Prepare the carriage and go to the palace."

When she was leaving the princess's mansion, the people sent by Ye Chuji tried to stop her, saying, "It's almost night, Your Highness, you'd better not go out."

This is because she is afraid that she will run away overnight in order to avoid going to the Northern Kingdom for marriage. Jia Lan sneered in her heart and said lightly: "Even if you are the prince's person, don't forget your identity. Get out of here."

The man wanted to stop him, but was forced to retreat by Ling Xiao.

Before coming to the palace, Jialan deliberately changed into a gray and white dress that made her look a little thinner. Her face, which had already lost weight in the past few days, looked even more haggard against the backdrop of this dress.

Ye Lanfeng looked at Jia Lan who was kneeling below him, thinking that she was kneeling because she missed the late queen, so he walked forward with some pity and wanted to help her up.

Unexpectedly, Jia Lan slowly broke free from Ye Lanfeng's hand, knelt even lower, and said with tears in her eyes:

"Garland is guilty."

Ye Lanfeng didn't understand what this meant, and felt sorry for his daughter, so he pretended to be angry and said:

"Jia Lan is indeed guilty of ruining my beloved eldest princess like this. Do you really want to make me die of grief?"

Jia Lan whispered "Father, please forgive me" but still did not stand up.

Seeing her like this, Ye Lanfeng sighed helplessly and asked:

"Okay, tell Father, what happened?"

Jia Lan silently raised the box above her head with both hands. Ye Lanfeng took it with doubt, opened it and asked:

"What is this?"

"Father will know it at a glance."

Ye Lanfeng took out the letters from inside. After reading the first one, he didn't notice anything, so he continued to read the second and third ones... When he read the latter ones, Ye Lanfeng's face turned ugly. When he saw the troop roll call and defense map at the end, Ye Lanfeng's face could no longer be described as dark blue.

The box in his hand fell to the ground due to exhaustion. Ye Lanfeng felt that he could not see clearly, so he held his forehead and took a few steps back. Seeing this, the eunuch beside him hurried forward and helped Ye Lanfeng back to the dragon throne.

"Your Majesty, please take care of your health."

Ye Lanfeng shook his head, moved his lips and whispered something.

Eunuch Fushou didn't hear clearly, so he moved closer and asked:

"Your Majesty, what did you say?"

After calming down, Ye Lanfeng said angrily:

"Let Ye Chuji, that rebellious son, roll over here!"

Fushou hurriedly trotted out of the palace and ordered someone to go to the East Palace to invite His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Ye Chuji originally didn't know why Ye Lanfeng called him, but when he saw Jia Lan kneeling in the main hall and the boxes and letters scattered around, his mind buzzed. Before he had time to think about why Jia Lan and the things appeared here, he immediately knelt down with a plop.

"Father..."

Ye Lanfeng waved his sleeves angrily and said angrily:

"Do you still have respect for me, your father? You even dare to raise troops privately. Have you long wanted to replace me and take this position?"

Ye Chuji quickly explained:

"Father, I dare not have such thoughts. I raise troops for the sake of the Night Kingdom!"

"Why? Do you think our Ye Kingdom needs your thousands of soldiers?"

Ye Chuji shook his head and said what was in his mind.

"Although the Ye Kingdom has many soldiers and horses, they are all in the hands of others. If I don't make plans early, sooner or later I will become someone else's prey, father."

"Being exploited by others? I think you want to gain power and let me be your prey!"

Ye Chuji kowtowed heavily on the ground several times and said:

"Father, please trust me!"

Ye Lanfeng was not unaware of Ye Chuji's ambition for the throne. The fight for imperial power was not about family ties. If Ye Chuji really became powerful, he would probably not be able to sit on the throne for long.

Ye Lanfeng knew that most of the soldiers of the Ye Kingdom were in the hands of the Xuantie Army and the Hua Family Army. What Ye Chuji said was not unreasonable, but as the Son of Heaven, he was most afraid of anyone threatening his position.

Ye Lanfeng is afraid of Ye Buhuo and Hua Rongyu who have soldiers, and he is also wary of Ye Chuji who raises soldiers privately.

He was initially furious because his own son wanted to betray him, but now he has completely abandoned this family relationship in order to secure his position. He looks at Ye Chuji as if he were a disloyal traitor.

Ye Lanfeng said in a deep voice:

"That's enough. Raising troops without permission is a capital crime. I'll spare you for the sake of the late queen, but you can't take the position of crown prince!"

"Father, everything I did was for you and the Night Country. You can't treat me like this!"

"Father!"

Even though Ye Chuji repeatedly shouted that he was trying to prevent Ye Buhuo from rebelling and had no intention of seizing the throne, Ye Lanfeng still coldly sent people to take him away and confined him to the East Palace.

During the confrontation between Ye Lanfeng and Ye Chuji, Jia Lan had been kneeling silently by the side with her eyes closed, refusing to watch her younger brother, who had grown up with her, being dragged away.

It was not until Ye Chuji was pulled out of the palace that Ye Lanfeng spoke to Jia Lan:

"Jia Lan, please get up. If it weren't for you, I would still be kept in the dark by this rebellious son."

Jia Lan finally stood up, staggering a bit because she had been kneeling for too long, but Ye Lanfeng just watched her indifferently, without any trace of the kind fatherly look he had at the beginning.

"Jia Lan has done a great job today, is there anything you want?"

"I have never left the capital, and I want to visit my fiefdom."