Saving the foolish general, she accidentally becomes his favorite.

Xuanyuan Ming said to himself that he wanted to bring Ye Li into the palace and make her a concubine.

Ye Li was so frightened that she immediately knelt on the ground and cried out, "I am grateful for Your Majesty's favor, but this is absolutely unacceptable!"

This was the first time Xuanyuan Ming had ever experienced being rejected by a woman.

Seated at the head of the table, the aloof Xuanyuan Ming looked at her and asked, "So many women want to enter the palace, why do you refuse?"

Ye Li had no choice but to invoke her master's name, humbly saying:

“My master said he would find me a good marriage so that I could focus on learning medicine. Now I just want to master medicine and cure the plague.”

"Furthermore, I am often surrounded by poison. If I were to enter the palace and become a concubine, what if one day the Emperor accidentally drinks something poisonous or becomes infected with toxins?"

Ye Li deliberately exaggerated the situation, betting that Xuan Yuanming wouldn't dare take the risk of keeping her by his side.

Xuanyuan Ming agreed that this made perfect sense.

Now, despite my best efforts, I have still become infected with the drug. What if my partner tries to harm me? Wouldn't that be a disaster?

Xuanyuan Ming finally asked her, "Are you really not going to enter the palace as a concubine?"

Ye Li bowed her head sincerely and said solemnly:

“I will heed my master’s advice and find a man of equal social standing. His Majesty’s favor is too great for me to bear.”

Xuanyuan Ming was a proud and aloof man. He never liked to force any woman to comply with him. He preferred that others obey him and worship him.

After hearing this, he gave up the idea of ​​sending her to the palace.

Just then, the Empress came to pay her respects to Xuanyuan Ming.

Xuanyuan Ming then went with the Empress to the altar of the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

The emperor's sacrifices have always been very solemn.

This time, it was for the sake of praying for the disaster victims. Therefore, in addition to fasting and bathing, they also had to go to the altar from time to time, where the emperor would hold the sacrificial text and read it aloud to show solemnity and sincerity.

Ye Li followed Xuan Yuanming's long procession to the altar.

Xuanyuan Ming was reading the sacrificial text on the altar of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, while Ye Li listened below. It was all in classical Chinese, and she was so sleepy that she wanted to yawn.

She thought she could go back after listening, but things suddenly took a turn for the worse!

Suddenly, the enormous altar began to tremble!

Ye Li was alarmed: Could it be an earthquake?

The ancestral temple where they were located was originally surrounded by mountains on all sides, situated on flat land in the mountains.

At that moment, the ground shook, and Ye Li and many others fell below the altar.

She held her forehead and looked up. It was at least three meters above the ground, but thankfully, after falling, it seemed she had fallen into the underground palace of the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

This underground palace is like a maze, with narrow passages.

Ye Li couldn't see anyone else, but she could vaguely hear people calling Xuan Yuanming from the tunnels nearby. Therefore, she guessed that everyone on the altar had fallen into the underground palace.

The tunnels are intricate and complex, like a maze.

Ye Li was alone in the tunnel where she had fallen. She dusted herself off and prepared to leave, thinking:

It's astonishing that there's such a massive underground palace beneath the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

Ye Li summoned the nearest bird to ask for directions.

The bird said it had never been here before, but it could fly in to scout the way for her.

As Ye Li walked and observed, she noticed that the soil beneath the underground palace was not firm, and some of the small bricks were newly dug. Clearly, this place was not built in the past, and it was likely that someone had secretly dug a tunnel here.

If it weren't for the sinkhole, it would probably have remained hidden forever.

Ye Li thought that she would be able to find the exit of a newly built underground palace soon, but she did not expect that she would go deeper and deeper. Gradually, she could no longer hear the voices calling "Your Majesty" and "Empress" and searching for the emperor.

Ye Li thought to herself that she must be alone.

There were no open flames in the underground palace; the lighting was provided entirely by luminous pearls on the walls.

The light was dim, which made her feel vaguely scared.

Just then, she heard a "meow" sound. It was Annie coming to find her!

Ye Li was overjoyed. Now that she could speak, she whispered, "I'm here!"

Annie quickly found Ye Li, and to Ye Li's surprise, Mo Chen was there too!

He actually knew to follow the kitten to find him!

Upon seeing Ye Li, Mo Chen hurriedly stepped forward and asked her:

"A natural disaster has struck; the altar has collapsed. Are you injured?"

Ye Li smiled and said, "No."

Led by Annie, Ye Li and Mo Chen gradually ventured deeper into the underground palace.

With Mo Chen holding her hand, Ye Li no longer felt scared!

Suddenly, they heard someone shouting for help. The two looked at each other and quickly walked forward. It must have been when the ground collapsed that someone was injured!

They walked to a collapsed door, and Mo Chen kicked open the door, which was deformed from being crushed.

Upon entering, Ye Li saw a woman pinned down by a boulder; the boulder had trapped her foot, preventing her from escaping.

Without thinking twice, Ye Li looked at Mo Chen and said, "Let's go save her!"

Mo Chen nodded, and the two immediately went forward to rescue the person.

After the large stone was pushed aside, under the illumination of the underground palace's nightlights, Ye Li was surprised to discover:

This woman is none other than Princess Mingzhu from back then!

Ye Li was stunned. How did she get here?

Princess Mingzhu saw her and simply said, "I didn't expect you to come back. It seems Su Zhelan couldn't keep you..."

Mo Chen's face stiffened upon hearing Su Zhelan's name. He looked at Princess Mingzhu and said:

"Why were you crushed by a huge rock beneath the Imperial Ancestral Temple where the emperor performed sacrifices? Judging from the location, you didn't fall from above. What was Princess Mingzhu doing in the underground palace of Tian Shu?"

Ye Li looked around and was surprised to find that there was a lot of kerosene and charcoal fire here.

The ancestral temple where the emperor performed sacrifices was actually filled with dangerous materials...

And there's also a princess from another country?

……

Princess Mingzhu looked at Ye Li and said, "Save me, and I'll have something to say to you."

Ye Li had met Princess Mingzhu several times and was very curious about her. This place was prone to collapse and was indeed not a place to stay for long, so she agreed.

Led by the kitten, they successfully reached an exit. This passage led directly into the mountains. After they came out, they realized that the underground palace's passage was so long that it was already on the north slope of the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

Ye Li carried Princess Mingzhu on her back and placed her on a stone pier on the north slope.

Since Princess Mingzhu's injuries were not very serious, Ye Li adjusted her bones, bandaged her up, and gave her a painkiller.

Princess Mingzhu took the medicine without any suspicion.

Mo Chen asked warily, "Why are you here? Did you orchestrate this incident?"

Princess Mingzhu looked at him and smiled mysteriously:

"Watching Xuanyuan Ming fall from the throne, isn't this the scene you hoped for? It's just that everyone got what they wanted."

Ye Li looked at the two of them, puzzled, as they spoke in cryptic language. So, was she admitting it?

The oil in the underground palace was originally intended to burn down the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

Mo Chen was about to say something when Princess Mingzhu suddenly looked at Ye Li and said:

"I need to talk to you privately."

Mo Chen said warily, "No, this place is dangerous."

Princess Mingzhu said dismissively, "The Imperial Ancestral Temple has collapsed, and Xuanyuan Ming has fallen in. All the forces that want to make a move will gather in the underground palace at this moment."

She looked at Ye Li and asked, "Don't you want to know who arranged the assassination in the capital? Don't you want to know who gave you the Worry-Free Poison?"

Mo Chen retorted, "If you want to speak, why can't I listen?"

Princess Mingzhu looked at Ye Li and said with a half-smile:

Are you sure you want him to hear your private conversations as women?

Ye Li remembered that Princess Mingzhu knew she wasn't the original Ye Li.

She didn't dare gamble on whether Mo Chen would believe she was a wandering soul possessing another body.

So he smiled and said to Mo Chen, "How about I have a private talk with the princess, and you go over there and rest for a bit?"

Seeing that Ye Li had spoken, Mo Chen was quite obedient, but he still gave her a few words of advice:

"Okay, I'll stand a little further away. Call me immediately if you need anything."

Ye Li nodded.

After Mo Chen had walked away, Ye Li looked at Princess Mingzhu and said:

"Okay, can you tell me now?"

Princess Mingzhu looked at her and smiled: "It seems that General Mo Chen is really good to you."

She sighed, looked into the distance, and said, "This plague was never going to be cured..."

"The Heavenly Pivot has fallen, countless people have died, and the emperor has perished..."

"You were an accident."