Crossing the Palace Fighting Fox Harem

Chapter 372 The storm is coming

Ji Anni woke up, looked at the sky, and saw that it was pitch black outside the window. She thought it was night. She turned over and was about to continue sleeping when she heard Hua Rong's familiar footsteps coming towards the door.

"Empress, Empress, you haven't woken up yet?" Hua Rong called softly while knocking on the door, her voice sounding a little anxious.

Ji Anni was in a deep sleep and had no intention of getting out of bed. After hearing Hua Rong's call, she simply pulled the quilt over her head, intending to ignore her.

Prince Ming beside him murmured in a half-asleep state. Like Ji Anni, he also wanted to stay in bed.

Hua Rong, who was outside the door, was putting her ear to the door to listen carefully. When she heard the sound of Ji Anni and her son turning over, she immediately realized that they were staying in bed. She raised her voice slightly and shouted again: "My queen, it's almost noon, and you haven't gotten up yet. Aren't you hungry?"

Ji Anni's ears pricked up sensitively after she accurately received the time concept of "noon".

Noon?! Ji Anni opened her eyes quickly, opened the curtains, and checked the sky outside the window again.

I saw that the sky was overcast and there was a cold wind blowing. It was almost early morning, so how could it be noon?

I subconsciously touched my belly and found it was empty. Judging from my hunger level, it seemed that it was really noon.

"Mother, what's wrong?" Prince Ming rubbed his eyes and looked at the panicked Ji Anni in a confused manner.

Oh no, doesn't Prince Ming have to go to class? It's too late!

Ji Anni was about to complain about why Hua Rong didn't wake them up earlier when she suddenly remembered that Prince Ming had taken a few days of sick leave because he was unwell recently. Before Prince Ming recovered, he could rest well in Taoyuan. As long as Prince Ming didn't have classes, Zhuang Xiaomeng and Chang Sun Mingri next door would also rest at home and didn't have to rush to the school.

Thinking of this, Ji Anni, who was frightened by the word "noon", finally calmed down and patted her chest after calming down.

"My queen, have you opened your eyes?" Hua Rong asked this because she was sure that Ji Anni had woken up.

"It's open, it's open, wait a minute." Ji Anni scratched her hair, jumped off the bed without bothering to put on her clothes and helped Hua Rong open the door.

The banging noise she made when she got out of bed woke Prince Ming from his semi-sleep. Prince Ming rubbed his eyes, leaned out half of his body, and looked at Ji Anni who was running towards the door.

After the door opened, Hua Rong saw Ji Anni's slovenly appearance, and couldn't help but sigh and said, "My lady, can't you be a little more ladylike? Why do I always see you in such a mess?"

"I just woke up, of course everyone is a mess." Ji Anni no longer treated Hua Rong as an outsider. She sat back on the edge of the bed and yawned, regardless of her appearance.

Hua Rong got a headache when she saw her sloppy look, and hurried to close the doors and windows to prevent others from seeing her disgraceful appearance.

Compared to the careless Ji Anni, Prince Ming was much more obedient. He sat up by himself and put on his clothes quietly without Hua Rong's help.

"Your Majesty, you really should learn from Prince Ming." Hua Rong helped Prince Ming sort out his clothes while mocking Ji Annie in a low voice.

Ji Anni chuckled twice and changed the subject, "By the way, why is the sky so cloudy today? I thought it was midnight..."

As she spoke, she shivered. She was so cold that she quickly crawled into the warm bed, hugging her arms and shivering for a while.

Seeing that Prince Ming no longer needed her help in dressing, Hua Rong turned around and began to sort out the scattered items in the room. While sorting, she replied nonchalantly, "It is said that a storm is about to come. This may be a change in the weather. I will add another quilt for the queen later."

"Has the weather changed?" Ji Anni didn't want to think too much about it, but her heartbeat inexplicably quickened, giving her a bad omen.

"Your Majesty, it seems that Concubine An is not next door today..." Hua Rong stopped cleaning the room, stood quietly, and listened carefully to the movements next door.

After she reminded her, Ji Anni suddenly realized that the house next door seemed to be much quieter than before, as quiet as if no one was living there. After a little thought, Ji Anni clapped her hands and said, "Haha, I didn't expect that Concubine An would also sleep in, and sleep more deeply than me." Ji Anni was proud, as if she had suddenly caught Concubine An's pigtail.

Even now, when he recalled the time when Concubine An arrogantly accused him of delaying Prince Ming's classes, he still felt suffocated.

Hua Rong frowned and said to herself, "I'm afraid it's not just that simple... I heard rumors that Concubine An left the palace in a hurry this morning."

"Leaving the palace? Why is she leaving the palace?" Ji Anni didn't think there was anything important happening outside the palace recently that was worth Concubine An leaving.

Hua Rong said: "It's just a rumor. I didn't really believe it at first, but now that I hear no sound from the next room, I have to believe it."

"Oh." Ji Anni looked at Hua Rong's nervous face and took a long time to utter a word.

"Your Majesty, have you heard about what happened to Taoist Yuan Rong?" Hua Rong tried to find the connection between the two things. "The Empress Dowager's palace seems to be a bit restless recently. It seems that something big is going to happen. Now Concubine An suddenly left the palace again. I'm afraid she heard something and left the palace urgently to discuss with the Prime Minister and others."

Ji Anni then remembered that Concubine An was the daughter of the Prime Minister, and asked, "The Queen Mother suddenly locked up Taoist Yuan Rong, will she also lock up Concubine An?"

Otherwise, Concubine An would not have escaped in such a hurry.

Hua Rong shook her head and said, "No, Your Majesty, it's not that the Queen Mother wants to lock someone up now, but the Queen Mother herself seems to have been placed under house arrest in the Queen Mother's Palace and cannot go out."

"What?" Ji Anni rubbed her ears, thinking that she had heard an absurd joke. In this palace, the Queen Mother was always allowed to do whatever she wanted. Who dared to stop her?

Hua Rong said, "Anyway, many guards have been sent to the Empress Dowager's Palace. All the civil and military dignitaries who enter and leave the palace have serious faces. No one knows what happened. The palace has sealed the news very tightly. No one is allowed to ask or say anything. Apart from a few teams of imperial guards, no other people can be seen near the Empress Dowager's Palace. Everyone is scared by the tense atmosphere and dares not go near there."

"This is strange, what's going on..." After listening to Hua Rong's words, Ji Anni gradually realized the seriousness of the situation.

Prince Ming did not understand what they were saying and just sat quietly on the bed like a toy doll.

Ji Anni subconsciously took Prince Ming into her arms and hugged him tightly. According to past experience, whenever something strange happened in the palace, she and Prince Ming would not be spared and would always be implicated.

"In short, your Majesty," Hua Rong first sounded the alarm to Ji Anni, "this incident happened too suddenly. Now, apart from a few dignitaries gathered in the Queen Mother's Palace, no one outside knows what happened. Everyone can only guess in their hearts, and no one dares to say anything. Your Majesty, you should also take care of yourself and don't cause trouble again."

"Okay, can't I just stay in my room obediently?" Ji Anni decided to be a good baby, but she couldn't guarantee that trouble wouldn't come knocking on her door.

"Mother, I won't go out either." Prince Ming raised his bright eyes and expressed sincerely that he would share the joys and sorrows with Ji Anni.

With a son like this, what else could a mother ask for? Ji Anni touched his little head with emotion and asked Hua Rong, "By the way, Hua Rong, what exactly happened this time?"

Hua Rong herself said just now that people in the palace only dared to guess and not speak nonsense. Hua Rong, who has always been the best at daydreaming, couldn't possibly have no ideas this time.

Hua Rong had expected Ji Anni to ask this question, and after being asked, she said calmly, "My lady, this morning, in addition to Concubine An suddenly leaving the palace, I also heard a strange rumor that the emperor suddenly added several teams of guards to the Xian Palace. And the only valuable person in the Xian Palace, after thinking about it, is Concubine Yu."

"Empress Yu..." Ji Anni recalled the origin of this person, and her eyes suddenly lit up, "Could it be that the emperor wants to reopen the old case and settle accounts with the empress dowager?"

Ji Anni had long known the emperor's suspicions about the empress dowager, and also knew the emperor's real purpose for returning to the palace. If Concubine Yu was the only clue to the unjust death of Concubine Shui Cong three years ago, then the emperor's attention to Concubine Yu now proved that he had already begun to investigate the truth of three years ago.

Ji Anni's heartbeat suddenly quickened, and she could really smell the atmosphere of a storm coming. Looking up at the dark sky outside the window, she could imagine the even more terrifying haze atmosphere near the Empress Dowager's Palace.

"Hua Rong, how is Concubine Yu doing now?" Ji Anni heard that Concubine Yu was insane and was acting crazy, sometimes getting better and sometimes getting worse. If there was a truth that was obliterated in the story three years ago, then has the truth come to light now? And if Concubine Yu cannot recover, even if the emperor protects her with an anti-missile system, wouldn't it be a waste of effort and gain nothing?

Hua Rong thought for a while and then said, "Since there has been no news of Concubine Yu's condition getting better recently, then it probably means there is no improvement at all..."

In other words, everything remained the same. Since Concubine Yu's condition remained the same and showed no improvement, there was no need to make it into the news.

Ji Anni spread her hands and said, "Well, forget it. It's useless for us to guess blindly anyway. Let's just wait for two days. Maybe then everything will be clear."

Speaking of the case three years ago, Long Mohan and Shui Furong should be the people who are most concerned. However, Ji Anni, who had promised Hua Rong not to step out of the room, did not dare to go back on her word and say that she really wanted to ask Long Mohan or Shui Furong for the latest information. So she had to comfort herself insincerely in this way, which also made Hua Rong think that she really wanted to change her appearance and become a law-abiding and good citizen.