On the wedding day, my wife was abnormal

The smoke from the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven had not yet dissipated, but the palace was already filled with a solemn atmosphere.

Murong Yan sat upright on the phoenix chair, having changed into a dark black casual dress with a phoenix pattern. The base was dark cloud brocade, and a phoenix with its eyes closed and resting was embroidered with dark gold thread. Every feather was detailed and exquisite.

The tail was only ten feet long, edged with silver thread and adorned with tiny obsidian beads. Its movements were like a meteor in the dark night, adding to its agility and majesty. She tapped her fingertips lightly on the armrest as she listened to Lu Bing's report on the progress of the investigation into the rebels.

"A total of 137 rebels were captured, including 49 loyalists from Prince Yong's palace and 28 retainers from Prince Jing's palace. The remainder were mostly spies from the northern border." Lu Bing presented the list. "However, according to interrogation, several key figures are still at large, including..."

"Speak." Murong Yan raised her eyes slightly, and the dark golden patterns on the ink-black phoenix robe were faintly visible under the candlelight.

"Murong De, the chief craftsman of Prince Yong's palace," Lu Bing said gravely. "He disappeared the night before the festival. According to investigation, he took away a large amount of gunpowder formulas and blueprints, as well as dispatch tokens for three of the latest refrigerated trucks."

Murong Yan's eyes glared, and she tightened her fingers in her sleeves slightly. "But Murong De, who was in charge of the altar project? The Murong De who was in charge of the royal workshop during the previous emperor's time?"

"That's right," Lu Bing added, sweat dripping from his forehead. "There's something else strange: When I was checking the gunpowder under the altar, I found a hidden line leading to the seventh step, with more than three times the amount of gunpowder buried on the third step. If Your Majesty hadn't temporarily changed the auspicious time, I'm afraid..."

Lin Zhen entered slowly, his face still pale, but able to walk on his own. He continued, his voice a touch weak, "I'm afraid the true killer move lies at the seventh level. I personally inspected the gunpowder, and it's enough to flatten the entire altar. It's also mixed with incendiary rock dust, a specialty of the northern border, which will produce poisonous smoke upon explosion."

Murong Yan suddenly stood up, her jet-black robe sleeves fluttering like phoenix wings, their tails rustling as they swept the ground. "What a great two-pronged strategy! Pass the order on, search the entire city for Murong De, alive or dead! Also, have the Ministry of Industry conduct a thorough investigation into the whereabouts of all refrigerated trucks, especially the three that are missing!"

At that moment, a female official hurried in, her face terrified. "Your Majesty, urgent news from the Heavenly Prison! Prince Yong has suddenly fallen ill and is vomiting black blood! The imperial physician says... he may not survive the night!"

Murong Yan's face darkened, her dark phoenix robe gleaming coldly in the candlelight: "Move to the Heavenly Prison!"

The Imperial Medical Office was brightly lit and filled with the aroma of medicine.

Murong Hong lay on the couch, his face dark blue, blood oozing from the corners of his lips, staining his clothes dark red. Murong Yan stood before the couch, her dark phoenix robe appearing even more solemn in the flickering candlelight.

"How is it?" she asked the imperial physician kneeling on the ground, her voice cold.

The imperial physician trembled and replied, "The poison Prince Yong was poisoned with is very strange. It seems to be a combination of multiple poisons. It has the symptoms of the wolfsbane of the northern border, mixed with traces of the South China Sea strychnine. Even stranger is..." He hesitated for a moment, "It also resembles the royal family's secret treasure of Phoenix Tears."

Murong Yan leaned over and stared at Murong Hong, the tail of her jet-black phoenix robe spreading on the cold ground. "Does the emperor have any last words?"

Murong Hong suddenly opened his eyes, a strange light flashing in them, and his skinny hands suddenly grabbed Murong Yan's sleeves: "My dear niece... do you think... you won?"

His voice was hoarse, and he gasped like a broken bellows. "The phoenix perched on the sycamore tree... eventually the branches will break... Murong De... he took away more than just gunpowder..."

Before he could finish his words, he died, his fingers still tightly grasping the golden phoenix on his robe sleeve.

Murong Yan slowly pulled back her sleeves, but saw that the ruby ​​at the phoenix eye had shattered, revealing the hidden mechanism inside - that was the hidden weapon where she had hidden the silver needle.

"Investigate." Her face was as gloomy as water, and the dark golden phoenix on her jet-black phoenix robe seemed shrouded in shadow. "Thoroughly investigate everyone who came into contact with Prince Yong today! This includes the imperial physician, the jailer, and the servant who delivered the food. Don't leave any of them out!"

That night, Murong Yan couldn't fall asleep and wandered alone in the imperial garden.

The moonlight was like water, shining on her dark nightgown, and the dark phoenix pattern embroidered with silver thread was faintly visible in the moonlight.

She walked to the edge of Taiye Lake, looked at her reflection in the water, and suddenly caught a glimpse of a dark shadow flashing behind the rockery in the distance.

"Who is it!" she shouted sternly, and the soft sword in her sleeve had already slid into her palm.

The black shadow quickly disappeared, but something fell to the ground.

Murong Yan picked it up cautiously and saw that it was actually half of a Black Phoenix token - exactly the same as the one worn by the assassins at the altar that day. It was cold to the touch and was obviously made of northern border black iron.

Lin Zhen rushed over upon hearing the sound. Seeing her holding the token, his expression suddenly changed. "This token is made of a special material, made of Northern Border Black Iron." He examined it carefully, examining the broken edge in the moonlight. "Looking at the marks, it looks like it was intentionally broken."

Murong Yan's eyes suddenly turned cold, her dark nightgown fluttering in the night breeze: "This is a demonstration to me."

She suddenly remembered something, "How's Prince Jing doing? He still refuses to speak."

"Prince Jing has remained silent, his eyes closed, chanting sutras all day long." Lin Zhen shook his head, his brow furrowed. "But I've noticed something strange: Prince Jing's mansion has been copying large quantities of Buddhist scriptures these past few days, claiming they're praying for Prince Yong's soul-return. But..."

"But what?"

"But according to our informants, the paper used for copying the sutras is Chengxintang paper, specially imported from Jiangnan. This kind of paper is very expensive and is usually only used for important documents of the royal family."

Murong Yan's eyes flashed with sternness: "Take me to see it."

Inside the Buddhist hall of Prince Jing's mansion, incense curled and Buddhist chants lingered. Murong Zhang closed his eyes and chanted, oblivious to the visitor. The desk was piled high with copied sutras, their handwriting meticulously executed, the scent of ink and sandalwood mingling.

Murong Yan scanned the Buddhist hall with a piercing gaze. Suddenly, her focus fixed on the scroll—the paper had a unique texture, faintly showing dark patterns in the candlelight.

She motioned Lin Zhen to take a closer look. Lin Zhen picked up a page and held it to the candlelight, and his face suddenly changed color: This paper was very similar to the telegraph code paper he invented, both of which were designed to hide secret text in the gaps between the two layers!

"Uncle Emperor, you have such a refined taste," Murong Yan said calmly, her dark phoenix robe appearing even more majestic under the candlelight in the Buddhist hall. "I wonder what scripture you copied? You put so much effort into it."

Murong Zhang finally opened his eyes, his gaze calm and composed. "The Ksitigarbha Sutra is for the salvation of the deceased. Although Prince Yong committed a grave offense, he is still of royal blood and should not be condemned to hell."

Murong Yan picked up a page of scriptures and looked at it carefully in the direction of the eternal lamp.

The light penetrated the paper, and faintly visible dark patterns formed a phoenix pattern - it was the royal secret code!

She was shocked in her heart, but remained expressionless.

"It seems the Imperial Uncle is truly compassionate." She sneered, her dark tail sweeping across the scriptures. "Come, bring all these scriptures back to the palace. I want to study them carefully as a sign of respect for the Imperial Uncle."

Returning to the palace, Murong Yan immediately summoned a cryptographer. The scroll unfolded under a specially designed light box, and the dark patterns gradually became apparent: it was a troop deployment map of the northern border tribes, noting each tribe's troop strength, food reserves, and even attack routes!

"What a jerk, Prince Jing!" Murong Yan slammed the table and stood up, her jet-black phoenix robe trembling slightly with excitement. "He pretends to chant sutras to pray for the dead, but in reality he's collaborating with the enemy and betraying his country! Immediately send an order to the border guards to strengthen their vigilance according to the map!"

However, that night, all the guards guarding Prince Jing died of poisoning, and their symptoms were exactly the same as those of Prince Yong.

Murong Zhang disappeared without a trace under strict supervision!

Only on the cell wall, a ferocious black phoenix totem was painted in blood.

"Your Majesty!" Lu Bing reported hurriedly, his clothes disheveled, clearly having been awakened from his sleep. "A secret passage has been discovered in Prince Jing's cell, leading directly outside the city! The walls of the secret passage are engraved... covered in black phoenix totems!"

Murong Yan was furious, her dark phoenix robe fluttering in the wind. "Well done! Great uncle! You actually dug out such a secret passage right under my nose!"

She suddenly calmed down and gently stroked the dark golden phoenix pattern on her robe with her fingertips. "Where does the secret passage lead to?"

"It leads to... Prince Yong's villa in the west of the city."

When everyone arrived at Prince Yong's villa, they saw an unfinished game of chess lying under the sycamore tree in the courtyard.

The chessboard is made of fine red sandalwood, and the chess pieces are carved from white jade and black jade.

Two cups of tea, still warm, sat beside the chessboard. Murong Yan picked up a black chess piece and noticed a tiny phoenix pattern engraved on its underside—the same pattern as on her phoenix robe.

Lin Zhen examined the teacup and saw its color change: "The tea is poisonous, the same poison that Prince Yong was poisoned with, a mixture of multiple poisons."

Murong Yan stared at the chessboard and suddenly said, "This is my father's favorite endgame during his lifetime. It's called the Phoenix Resting on the Wutong Tree."

She tapped a certain spot with her fingertips. "If the black spot lands here..."

Before he finished speaking, a series of explosions suddenly came from the distance!

Everyone rushed out to check, only to see flames shooting up into the sky from three places in the city - the telegraph office, the Ministry of Industry Archives, and the new arsenal were all on fire at the same time!

"Feint to the east and attack in the west!" Lin Zhen suddenly realized, "Their goal is to disrupt our communications and military industry!"

When everyone arrived at the telegraph office, the fire had been brought under control, but the core computer room had been destroyed.

What was even more shocking was that all the soldiers on duty were killed. Each of them had a black phoenix pattern painted on his forehead and a half-broken phoenix feather arrow stuck in his heart - exactly the same phoenix feather arrow used by Murong Yan.

Murong Yan stood before the ruins, her jet-black phoenix robe ripped by sparks, yet she remained oblivious. The night wind blew her scattered hair, making her face appear even paler.

Its tail swept across the scorched earth, stained with ashes, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

"Your Majesty..." Lin Zhen walked forward worriedly, wanting to brush the dust off her clothes.

Murong Yan raised her hand to stop him, her voice as cold as ice: "Propagate my decree: Martial law is in effect throughout the city. No one is allowed to enter or leave. Anyone with the black phoenix pattern will be killed without mercy! Also, the Ministry of Works will repair the machine room overnight. Within three days, I want telegraphs to be unobstructed!"

After returning to the palace, she walked into the Taimiao alone and knelt in front of Taizu's portrait for a long time.

In the portrait, Taizu is wearing armor, with a phoenix rising from the ashes embroidered on the corner of his robe, which contrasts beautifully with her torn robe.

The inky black phoenix robe spread out on the cold ground, and the dark golden phoenix on it seemed to be wailing under the eternal lamp.

"Grandmaster..." she whispered softly, her fingertips stroking the torn part of her robe, "Yan'er might...really be going through hell."

Suddenly, hurried footsteps were heard outside the temple, and a female official hurriedly reported, "Your Majesty! A signal has arrived from the northern beacon tower: The three grassland allied forces have broken through the Great Wall and are heading towards the capital! Leading them is... Prince Jing!"

Murong Yan suddenly stood up, and the eternal lamp in the Taimiao was reflected in her eyes, burning brightly like a phoenix bathing in fire.

The dark black phoenix robe glowed with dark gold under the lamp, and the damaged phoenix seemed to be about to spread its wings and fly high.

The storm has arrived.

And she, the black phoenix, will surely spread her wings against the wind.