From cute to empress

Chapter 329 The Secret Identity of the Loyal Servant Revealed

"Isn't this the embroidery on Madam Li's belt?!" My voice trembled slightly with shock. Madam Li had served me for many years, loyal and honest, so how could she be connected to this mysterious organization? Could she also be...

"Your Majesty, are you sure?" Zhen Youcai's expression also became serious.

"It's absolutely true! This kind of embroidery is unique to the palace, and it was embroidered by Nanny Li herself. I will never make a mistake!" My heart was in a mess. Could it be that the people I trusted the most were no longer trustworthy?

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for speaking frankly. Nanny Li might have been coerced. We might as well take advantage of her..." Zhen Youcai whispered a few words in my ear, and my eyes lit up, as if I had seen the dawn after the clouds had cleared.

That night, I "accidentally" lost a jade pendant in the Imperial Garden. This jade pendant was the key to the secret passage to the imperial mausoleum, and it was also a decoy I had deliberately set. As expected, Nanny Li sneaked into my chambers in the middle of the night, intending to steal the jade pendant. As she succeeded and was about to leave, Zhen Youcai, I, and the guards surrounded her.

Nanny Li was panicked, but she remained stubborn, insisting she was only trying to help me recover the jade pendant. Just then, Zhen Youcai searched her body and found a secret letter. The letter was written in cipher, but the mark on the envelope gave me chills—it was a black falcon, exactly the same emblem the black shadow had worn before!

"Madame Li, what else do you have to say now?" I asked coldly, suppressing the grief in my heart.

Nanny Li's face was pale. She looked at me, then at Zhen Youcai, and finally sighed as if she had accepted her fate and lowered her head.

"Your Majesty, I have no choice..."

"No choice? Then tell me, what exactly do you want to do?!" I stood up suddenly and asked sternly.

Nanny Li raised her head, a complicated look flashed in her eyes. She was about to speak when suddenly, a sharp arrow broke through the air and shot straight at my face!

"Your Majesty, be careful!" Zhen Youcai reacted quickly and threw me to the ground. The sharp arrow flew past my hair and penetrated deeply into the pillar behind me.

"Someone come! Protect His Majesty!" Zhen Youcai roared, drew the sword from his waist and pointed it at a corner in the darkness.

"Swish, swish, swish--" Several more sharp arrows shot over, and the guards drew their weapons and started a fierce battle with the assassins hiding in the dark.

In the chaos, Zhen Youcai protected me behind him. While fending off the assassin's attacks, he anxiously said to me, "Your Majesty, this place is too dangerous. Please come with me and leave first!"

I nodded, and under the cover of the guards, I followed Zhen Youcai out of the encirclement. However, just when we thought we were safe, a familiar figure suddenly appeared in front of us, holding a bloody dagger in his hand and a creepy smile on his face.

"Your Majesty, we meet again..." "It's you! Lord Wang!" I looked at the man in front of me in disbelief. He was a veteran of three dynasties, how could he...

"Haha, Your Majesty is really forgetful. Have you forgotten how I have reached my current position step by step?" Lord Wang, no, it should be said that he is the traitor Wang. He grinned with a crazy light in his eyes.

"You...why did you betray your country?!" I clenched my fists, anger almost swallowing me.

"Betrayal? Hahaha, everything I do is for this country! You fools, you don't understand what long-term peace is!" Traitor Wang laughed arrogantly, "Only by relying on the strong can we achieve true peace!"

"You're wrong! Relying on the powerful will only make us lose ourselves and become prey to others!" I retorted, "We have our own history and culture, and no one can take it away from us!"

"You are so stubborn!" The smile on Wang the traitor's face disappeared completely. He raised the dagger and stabbed at me again.

"Your Majesty!" Zhen Youcai waved his sword to block his attack, and the two immediately started fighting.

"Your Majesty, let's go! Leave this to me!" Zhen Youcai shouted anxiously while struggling to resist.

I gritted my teeth, knowing that now was not the time to be stubborn, and turned around to leave.

"Want to leave? Not that easy!" Traitor Wang suddenly threw a smoke bomb at me, and in an instant, the whole room was covered with thick smoke.

"Your Majesty!" I heard Zhen Youcai's anxious cry, but everything in front of me was blurry and I couldn't see anything clearly.

When I woke up again, I found myself in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by towering bookshelves filled with densely packed books.

"Your Majesty, you're awake!" Nanny Li's voice came from the side, her face full of tears. "I'm so sorry, I was forced to do this!"

"Madame Li, what on earth is going on?" I held my forehead and tried to calm myself down.

Nanny Li, choking with tears, told me that the traitor Wang had colluded with the enemy, attempting to control our cultural heritage and gradually undermine the nation's foundations. They had secretly collected a large number of precious texts and cultural relics, intending to transport them to the enemy. The secret letter I had seen was actually a distress signal that Nanny Li had transmitted at the risk of her life.

"Your Majesty, thank goodness you are okay. Let's leave here now!" said Nanny Li, and was about to help me up.

"No! We can't just leave like this!" I held her hand, a determined glint in my eyes. "We must stop them and protect our cultural heritage!"

With the help of Nanny Li, I found the secret passage hidden behind the bookshelf and successfully delivered the message.

Soon, Zhen Youcai arrived with his army and captured the traitor Wang and his accomplices. We recovered the stolen texts and artifacts and exposed the enemy's conspiracy.

For a time, the whole country was outraged, and the people condemned the enemy's despicable behavior, while also cherishing their own culture and history even more.

However, I know this is only a temporary victory. Will the enemy really give up? Can our peace truly last?

I looked out the window. The night sky was dotted with stars, and a bright moon hung high in the sky. In the distance, a group of people seemed to be slowly approaching the imperial palace. The leader was wearing a monk's robe and holding a Zen staff. He had a kind face, but also gave people an inexplicable sense of majesty.