Rebirth: Phoenix Riding the Ninth Heaven

Li Ruoyue stared at the strange cinnabar red, and suddenly a strange feeling surged in her heart. She frowned slightly, trying to recall something, and suddenly, an idea flashed through her mind.

Without hesitation, she reached out and yanked back the sleeve of Chen Xiuyuan's corpse, revealing his pale wrist. Sure enough, a three-finger-wide scar was clearly visible on his wrist.

Li Ruoyue was very familiar with this scar. It was the mark left by Chen Xiuyuan when he was accidentally scalded by hot oil in the imperial kitchen.

"So it's you..." Li Ruoyue's voice was low and cold, as if filled with endless hatred. Her fingertips gently stroked the scar, feeling its presence, and the anger in her heart only grew more fierce.

"Chen Xiuyuan, you hypocrite!" She sneered, her eyes full of contempt and disgust. "You've been pretending to be a gentleman for twenty years!"

At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps came from the back hall. Lu Zhu rushed out hurriedly, holding the pestle, her hair a little messy, with a little stove ash in it.

"Miss, the well in the west wing..." Before Luzhu finished her words, she was suddenly hit by a powerful force and spurted out a mouthful of black blood, which splashed on the title page of the "Compendium of Materia Medica".

Li Ruoyue saw that Luzhu was not in good condition, and her heart suddenly tightened. She hurriedly reached out to support her shaky body. When she looked closely, she couldn't help but gasp. She saw that Luzhu's pupils had begun to dilate. This was clearly a sign of poisoning!

There was no time to lose. Li Ruoyue knew that every second counted, so she made a prompt decision, quickly took out a silver needle from her bosom, and inserted it into Luzhu's Ren Zhong acupoint without hesitation.

"Lu Zixuan!" she shouted, not even turning back. "Go get the licorice and honey decoction from the back hall! Quick!" The young man sprang to action, darting off like an arrow from a bow. However, just as he was about to reach the back hall, he was tripped and knocked to the ground by a yamen runner lying on the ground.

Li Ruoyue saw this and thought to herself that something was wrong. Her eyes were suddenly drawn to the token on the yamen runner's waist. She looked closely and saw the three characters "Imperial Kitchen" engraved on the official seal.

"Oh no!" she screamed, dashing forward. "Lüzhu, quickly close all the doors and windows!" However, before she could finish her words, she heard the sound of tiles breaking from the roof. Then, three dark figures, like ghosts, burst through the window and entered with a menacing momentum.

Li Ruoyue took a closer look and saw that the three black shadows were all masked, and the mask was embroidered with a peony pattern outlined in gold thread - this was clearly the family emblem of the head steward of the imperial kitchen!

"Li Ruoyue, give me your life!" The leader swung his knife, the airflow from the blade overturning the pulse chart on the table. Li Ruoyue picked up a paperweight and smashed it against the man's wrist, only to see the blade suddenly glow with a faint blue light—it was laced with a deadly poison that killed the enemy instantly.

"Master, be careful!" Lu Zixuan leaped from the rubble and tackled Li Ruoyue to the ground. The blade grazed the young man's ear, severing a strand of hair. Li Ruoyue seized the opportunity to launch a three-edged needle at the assassin's throat, but the assassin deflected it with the flat of his blade.

"Miss, take this!" Lin Feng pulled out a medicine bottle from somewhere and smashed it into the assassin's face. Li Ruoyue caught the bottle and smelled the strong smell of sulfur, immediately realizing it was homemade gunpowder. She uncorked the bottle and sprinkled the powder onto the candle flame. With a loud bang, the three assassins were knocked to the ground by the blast.

"Hurry!" She was so anxious that she pulled up her two disciples and rushed to the secret room like a gust of wind. "Go get Master's "Poison Sutra"!"

As she finished her words, the secret door of the chamber was flung open. However, the moment the door opened, she was shocked to find Chen Jingsheng leaning against the sarcophagus, holding a bloodstained copy of Qianjin Fang in his hand.

"I should have thought of this earlier..." The old man coughed hard, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth, "You didn't die at all in the poisoning case in the imperial kitchen..." His words were intermittent, as if he had used up all his strength to pronounce every word.

Li Ruoyue's face turned pale as she watched the scene in disbelief. Chen Jingsheng's body gradually lost its support and slowly fell to the ground.

Li Ruoyue's fingertips trembled as she gently stroked the pages of the book Chen Jingsheng was clutching tightly. On the yellowed page, a delicate peony painting was painted in cinnabar, and the word "Noble Concubine" was written prominently in the center of the flower.

At this moment, the chamber suddenly shook violently, and a loud rumbling sound came from above. Li Ruoyue looked up in horror, only to see large pieces of bricks and stones falling like raindrops.

"Hurry up!" She hugged the Poison Sutra tightly and rushed to the tunnel without hesitation. However, fate always seemed to like to play tricks on people. Just as she was about to reach the tunnel entrance, a collapsed stone wall suddenly blocked her way.

"What should I do?" A wave of despair surged in Li Ruoyue's heart. She looked around, looking for other exits.

Suddenly, Lu Zixuan pointed at the corner and cried out in surprise: "Miss, look!"

In a dark corner, a young palace maid, about fourteen or fifteen, huddled. Her clothes were ragged, and around her neck hung a half-piece of jade pendant, the very thing that had been given as a dowry by Li Ruoyue's mother. The young girl raised her head, her eyes reflecting a flickering fire. "Sister Li, I've been waiting for you for a long time..."

The sound of orderly footsteps echoed from outside the tunnel, mingled with the familiar scent of ambergris. Li Ruoyue's pupils suddenly constricted as she thrust the "Poison Sutra" into Lu Zixuan's hands. "Take Lin Feng through the secret passage and go to the Imperial Hospital to find Zhang Yuanpan!"

"Then you..." Lu Zixuan had barely finished his words when the tunnel entrance suddenly exploded. A bright yellow robe swept through the dust, and dark boots with golden python patterns rolled over broken pieces of celadon.

"Ruoyue, you made it difficult for me to find you." The King of Qi's voice was icy. "I heard that you were hiding the remnants of the rebels?" The jade pendant on his waist shone coldly in the firelight. It was the same jade pendant that Li Ruoyue's mother had been wearing before she disappeared.

Li Ruoyue shielded the girl behind her, her fingertips tracing the crested red medicine hidden in her sleeve. From outside the tunnel came the crisp sound of weapons clashing, and Luzhu's screams mingled with the aroma of medicine. She took a deep breath, ready to fight to the death, but the King of Qi suddenly dismissed his guards and walked into the secret room alone.

"Twenty years." The King of Qi took off his gold-threaded soft armor, revealing a hideous scar on his chest. "That's how your mother stabbed me back then." He traced the scar with his fingertips and suddenly pulled out half a jade pendant. "Look, I've been wearing it all this time."

Li Ruoyue stared at the peony pattern on the jade pendant and suddenly remembered something. She pulled open the girl's collar and saw a peony birthmark on her chest—the same shape as the emperor's scar.

"she is......"

"The eldest daughter." The King of Qi suddenly laughed, his laughter shaking the candlelight in the secret room. "The princess who was swapped by your mother back then." He suddenly pinched the girl's chin. "It's a pity that your mother miscalculated one step. This child has my blood in her body!"

The girl suddenly convulsed violently, vomiting black blood. Li Ruoyue hurriedly inserted a silver needle into her Ren Zhong acupoint, only to find her pulse was identical to Chen Jingsheng's. A celadon bottle slipped from Emperor Qian's sleeve, revealing the secret formula of the Imperial Hospital, Crane's Beak Red.

"You poisoned her?" Li Ruoyue's voice trembled. Emperor Qian laughed: "This is prepared for you!" He suddenly pounced on her, his fingertips piercing Li Ruoyue's throat.

At the critical moment, a muffled sound suddenly erupted from the tunnel entrance. Lu Zixuan rushed in, clutching a medicine jar, and doused the boiling liquid at the emperor. Li Ruoyue seized the opportunity to force a crescent-shaped herb into the emperor's mouth, only to see him suddenly cough violently, his vomited blood stained with golden scales.

"I see." Li Ruoyue sneered, "You have already mastered the Golden Silkworm Gu, no wonder you are immune to all poisons." She took out Chen Jingsheng's "Poison Sutra" from her bosom, "Master suspected you back then, so..."

The Prince of Qi suddenly let out an inhuman roar, and countless small bumps formed beneath his skin. He struggled to throw himself at Li Ruoyue, but the girl stabbed him in the heart with a hairpin. Amidst the splatter of golden blood, Li Ruoyue saw the jade pendant around the girl's neck glow faintly, merging with the emperor's half.

The morning bells rang out from outside the tunnel, echoing through the tunnel as if urging Li Ruoyue to hurry. She hugged the unconscious girl tightly in her arms and hurried out of the secret room.

As she stepped out of the tunnel, the first rays of the rising sun fell upon her. She squinted, adjusting to the sudden brightness, and glanced around. The plaque of the Qihuang Pavilion was already tattered, yet it glowed with a strange brilliance in the morning light.

Li Ruoyue's eyes fell on the plaque, and a complex emotion welled up in her heart. She thought of the time her mother had spent here, the laughter and tears she had shared. She gently stroked the plaque, feeling its warmth, as if she could touch her mother's breath.

Suddenly, her hand touched a raised spot. She looked closely and discovered a line of small characters engraved on the back of the plaque. She leaned in closer and saw the words: "When the peony blooms, the truth will be revealed."

Li Ruoyue was shocked. What did this mean? She remembered the prescription her mother had left her and quickly took it out from her bosom. The back of the prescription was also blank. She looked carefully and found a line of tiny words in the lower right corner: "When the peony blooms, the truth will be revealed."

"When the peony blossoms..." Li Ruoyue murmured to herself, "Could this be the clue my mother left for me?"

At this moment, Luzhu crawled out from the ruins, her body covered in dust and blood, tightly clutching a blood-stained "Poison Sutra" in her hand.

"Miss!" Luzhu's voice was a little hoarse. "I found this in the ruins. Please take a look."

Li Ruoyue took the "Poison Sutra" and opened the title page. She saw a line of words written in cinnabar on it: "If you see Peony, leave the capital immediately."

Her heartbeat quickened. What on earth was going on? What was the connection between the blooming peony, the truth, and leaving the capital? She looked up toward the palace. The cries of the concubines could be heard faintly through the morning mist.

"Senior Sister!" Lu Zixuan's voice suddenly came from the tunnel. Li Ruoyue turned around and saw Lu Zixuan holding Lin Feng's body in his arms, walking out with a look of grief on his face.

"Brother Lin..." Lu Zixuan's voice choked with sobs, "In order to save me, he was..."

Li Ruoyue quickly stepped forward, gently closed Lin Feng's eyes, and placed his hand on her chest. Then, she took out half a jade pendant from her bosom and placed it in Lin Feng's hand.

"This is what he has always wanted..." Li Ruoyue's voice was calm, but with an unconcealable sadness.

The morning sun gradually rose, dyeing the entire capital red. Li Ruoyue stood in the ruins, looking at the palace city shrouded in morning mist, and suddenly a sense of déjà vu surged in her heart.

Li Ruoyue thought of her past life, so helpless and sad, carrying her father's body step by step. Her eyes were blurred and she didn't know whether it was true or false.