vstars Chapter 224 Exchange of Sons
Chapter 224 Exchange of Sons
Zhou Qihuai raised the baby in his hand high in the air, and the murderous intent in Emperor Shenwu's eyes burst out. If he killed Zhou Qihuai without considering the consequences, then...
"No!" a cry of surprise rang out.
Zhou Qihuai's movements couldn't help but pause. Emperor Shenwu looked behind him and saw Lan Qingwu stepping out of the crowd step by step. In her eyes at this moment, there was only the child in Zhou Qihuai's arms.
Emperor Shenwu embraced Lan Qingwu and asked, "Why are you here?"
Lan Qingwu said word by word: "I will come in person, no matter what the final result is, I will come in person!"
Come and take back your child in person, or... send your child away in person! Emperor Shenwu understood the unfinished words and clenched his fists.
Zhou Qihuai paused, squinting his eyes as he considered the two for a moment. "How touching! Things are getting more and more interesting! Seventh brother, this is the concubine you cherish so dearly, right? I heard you were planning to make her a noble concubine! I've allowed you three to reunite here. Speaking of which, you should thank me!"
Emperor Shenwu sensed Zhou Qihuai's ill intentions, and he pulled Lan Qingwu behind him, while his other hand gestured slightly.
Zhou Qihuai seemed to notice something and immediately hugged the child to his chest, saying warily, "Tell your men not to move! Seventh brother, I've come up with another brilliant idea. Look at you, you've got these guards surrounding me so tightly that there's a cliff behind me, and I can't escape even with wings! Why don't we have some fun!"
Emperor Shenwu's murderous intent burst out in an instant, and his phoenix eyes looked at Zhou Qihuai coldly, as if he understood what he was planning.
As expected, Zhou Qihuai suppressed the madness on his face. "Seventh brother, if you want to save this child's life, then use your beloved in exchange. How about it? One life for another—that's fair, isn't it?"
Zhou Qihuai couldn't help but burst into laughter again: "Interesting! Very interesting! Let me see which one you can't bear to part with!"
Lan Qingwu couldn't help but take a step forward, only to be pulled into the arms of the Divine Martial Emperor. He knew full well that Zhou Qihuai was merely fooling them, wanting only to see him in unbearable agony. How could he allow Zhou Qihuai to do so? How could he allow Lan Qingwu to take another risk?
The baby in Zhou Qihuai's arms suddenly burst into heartbreaking tears. Lan Qingwu felt heartbroken and burst into tears before she knew it. She couldn't help but beg, "Brother Heng...Brother Heng...let me pass..."
Zhou Qihuai looked at the still unmoved expression of the Shenwu Emperor and couldn't help but sneer. "What? You don't agree? It seems your woman thinks differently than you do! Interesting! Really interesting! Seventh brother, I am doomed today! But you won't have an easy life for the rest of your life! Once this brat dies, your woman will definitely resent you forever! For the rest of your life—you will live in pain and regret!"
A look of madness suddenly appeared on Zhou Qihuai's face, and he burst into laughter again. Amidst his crazy laughter, Zhou Qihuai threw the crying baby in his hand towards the cliff without any warning!
Lan Qingwu watched helplessly as the baby was thrown off the cliff, and the baby's crying gradually faded away.
Lan Qingwu's body softened and he fell into the arms of the Shenwu Emperor. The Shenwu Emperor's phoenix eyes were filled with ice, and he said word by word: "Zhou Qihuai! I will kill you!"
Without the Seventh Prince's restraint, Qian Hui and Leng Qujing quickly wiped out Zhou Qihuai's remaining troops. Zhou Qihuai was also tied up by two guards and knelt in front of Emperor Shenwu.
But Zhou Qihuai had no sense of being a prisoner. He continued to laugh wildly until the Shenwu Emperor put his sword to his throat. He stopped laughing: "What? You want to kill me now? Seventh brother, as a son, don't you have to worry about the Queen Mother? One son killed another son with his own hands. How will she feel? And you are His Majesty! To kill a prince like me, don't you need to go through the Three Courts and the Imperial Clan Court? Will those royal relatives agree so easily?"
Zhou Qihuai's fearless look disgusted the Emperor Shenwu even more. "Who dares to disobey my orders?"
"His Majesty!"
Qian Hui stopped Emperor Shenwu and said in a deep voice, "Let me come! This man is not worthy of the infamy Your Majesty has to bear!"
Qian Hui drew his sword. Emperor Shenwu was thinking: "Alright! You will personally take him to the Heavenly Prison!"
As an emperor, he couldn't bear the reputation of having killed his own brother, but as a subject, Qian Hui couldn't stain his hands with the blood of the royal family! Qian Hui was thinking of him, so how could he not have imagined Qian Hui's good intentions? Emperor Shenwu couldn't let Qian Hui bear this. In the future, those arrows would attack Qian Hui.
Of course, Zhou Qihuai will not let him go easily!
Zhou Qihuai looked at Emperor Shenwu and the woman in his arms, and said gloomily, "Why don't you kill me again? Zhou Xuheng, this is the beginning of your pain! Enjoy it!"
Emperor Shenwu had no time to care about anything else at this time, and was only focused on comforting Lan Qingwu in his arms.
Lan Qingwu seemed to have woken up from her grief. She broke free from Emperor Shenwu's arms and was about to walk towards the edge of the cliff.
The Shenwu Emperor was startled and quickly locked Lan Qingwu in his arms again: "Ruoruo, what are you going to do? I will send someone down..."
Lan Qingwu said clearly and firmly, "I want to go and accompany Xiaoqi. He is so small and cries so often. It is so dark and deep down at the bottom of the cliff. He must be very scared! I am his mother. I want to accompany him!"
Emperor Shenwu couldn't help but hug Lan Qingwu. How could he not feel his heart ache? How could he comfort a grief-stricken mother?
Ru Ping's eyes were red. She saw what Lan Qingwu was thinking and said quickly, "Master, you are not only the mother of the Seventh Prince, but also the mother of the Sixth Prince! Think about the Sixth Prince! He can't lose his brother and then his mother!"
"Ruoruo, if you want to cry, just cry. If you want to blame someone, blame me! It's me who failed to protect Xiaoqi."
Lan Qingwu finally burst into tears, and the Emperor's clothes were soaked with her tears. Looking at Zhou Qihuai kneeling on the ground, the Emperor once again felt murderous intent.
Zhou Qihuai just watched their pain with a smile on his face.
Suddenly, there was a faint cry of a baby. Lan Qingwu thought it was an illusion caused by his pain, but the baby's cry was getting closer and louder.
Lan Qingwu looked suddenly towards the source of the crying, and saw a young woman in cloth clothes being led by Leng Qujing's subordinate Ye Feng walking in front of them.
Leng Qujing hurriedly led Ye Feng to kneel down and saluted, and said something earth-shattering: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, this woman said that the person she is holding in her arms is the Seventh Prince!"
One of the captured rebels raised his head slightly. It was the attendant who had guarded Mulan. He exclaimed in surprise, "It's you! I let you go out of my heart. What...what did you do?"
The woman in plain clothes was Mulan. She replied in a daze, "I... I just swapped the two children!"
Ruping had already walked up to Mulan before Lan Qingwu. She took the child and opened the swaddling clothes made of patchwork cloth. It was the biological son of Emperor Shenwu and Lan Qingwu - the seventh prince!