Chapter 466 Shen Lanxi is assassinated!

Zhou Ruyuan immediately went to the palace to find Shen Lanxi.

"I must enter the palace to attend to my ailing father!"

Shen Lanxi resolutely refused: "His Majesty said that he will not see anyone who comes."

Zhou Ruyuan glared at her angrily: "What are you planning to do by not letting me see my father?"

Shen Lanxi: "His Majesty has already woken up. He said that he couldn't see anyone, and that was said by His Majesty himself."

Zhou Ruyuan looked coldly at Shen Lanxi: "Aren't you afraid that the court officials will accuse you of treason?"

Shen Lanxi laughed and said, "Don't worry, if they want to impeach me, let them come. His Majesty will deal with those clowns."

Looking at Shen Lanxi's confident demeanor, Zhou Ruyuan began to wonder if she was telling the truth.

Is Father alright?

What if the other princes find out about this?

Zhou Ruyuan didn't even enter the palace gates before storming back to his residence.

...

"Mr. Jiang, how can we persuade the Prince?" Bai Qingling asked with a worried expression.

Jiang Wuyai said helplessly, "Even if I told him, the prince might not listen!"

He had advised the prince to get rid of Shen Lanxi several times before, but the prince remained unmoved. He had really tried his best.

Bai Qingling knew this, so she felt a little guilty when she saw Jiang Wuyai so distressed.

She invited Mr. Jiang, intending to deal with Shen Lanxi. Unexpectedly, the prince was so obsessed with Shen Lanxi that he wouldn't listen to Mr. Jiang.

"Mr. Jiang, you've really worked hard."

Jiang Wuyai sighed helplessly: "If Your Highness continues to insist, I'm afraid you'll be banished from the capital sooner or later!"

Bai Qingling's gaze turned cold. The prince is destined to be the emperor, how can he be expelled?

Isn't it just that Shen Lanxi is in the way?

Just remove it.

Upon receiving news that Madam Shen was unwell, Shen Lanxi immediately rode back to the mansion.

He was assassinated as soon as he reached Xinting Street.

Hundreds of men in black attacked him en masse.

Shen Lanxi fought against a hundred men single-handedly, turning Xinting Street into a river of blood. The blood flowed all the way from Xinting Street to the neighboring Baihua Lane.

The sounds of fighting and screams startled half the capital city awake from their dreams.

When Wei Dongzhu and others arrived at the scene after receiving the news, they found the ground littered with dead and injured.

“They are all suicide soldiers, their teeth are poisoned. Pull out the poisoned fangs first, don’t let them commit suicide, interrogate them severely.”

"yes!"

The Imperial Guards dragged the survivors into the imperial prison, while the dead were transported by the Capital Guards to be buried outside the city.

Even after daybreak, the stench of blood lingered in the streets. Although the ground had been washed, some of the blood that had seeped into the ground was still wet.

No one on either of the two streets dared to go out.

...

"Grandmother, did you send someone to the palace to fetch me last night?" When Shen Lanxi rushed home, her family was already up having breakfast.

"No, did you go to call Lanxi?" Old Madam Shen looked around at the people eating at the table.

"No, wasn't there a curfew for the next few days? Who would dare go out? They'd be asking for it!"

"That's right, we've hardly gone out during the day these past few days."

The main reason was that the Shen family's sons had failed the imperial examination this time, and they felt ashamed, so they didn't go out.

Shen Lanxi: "Some things have happened in the palace, so I'll try to stay home as much as possible these days."

Liu, quick to speak, bluntly pressed, "What happened in the palace?"

Madam Shen immediately began to reprimand: "The more you know, the faster you'll die!"

Liu quickly shut her mouth.

Shen Lanxi told them about Emperor Renxiao's poisoning: "This matter is very likely related to the death of the former crown prince. Just pretend you don't know anything and stay home these next few days!"

The death of the former crown prince was a taboo subject that no one in the capital dared to mention. Even Liu, who was usually outspoken, kept her lips tightly pursed.

...

Shen Lanxi was attacked in the street. The thieves dispatched a hundred or so assassins, which was a huge disaster.

"Starting today, we will rigorously question everyone entering Beijing. If anything suspicious is discovered, we will report it immediately!"

"Search every house, and kill anyone suspicious!"

"Anyone who dares to cause trouble in the past few days will be executed on the spot!"

"Whether they are royalty or commoners, all who offend will be treated equally!"

Shen Lanxi's men immediately turned their attention to the officials, starting with the regents.

"We are ordered to search for the traitor's henchmen. Anyone who dares to obstruct us will be punished as well!"

The situation was the same for both Grand Tutor Wu Yanzhi and Liu Mingxin's homes; the Imperial Guards stormed in and ransacked their homes.

Although the three regents were the only ones who could make decisions in the court, they had no military power and could only watch helplessly as the Imperial Guards stormed into their homes to search them.

"Shen Lanxi, you've gone too far!" Liu Mingxin angrily confronted Shen Lanxi.

"Without an imperial edict, you ordered a search of the home of a first-rank official of the current dynasty. Are you plotting a rebellion?" Liu Mingxin sternly accused Shen Lanxi.

"The imperial edict is right here. Lord Liu, please feel free to look at it!" The imperial edict was right next to Shen Lanxi. Liu Mingxin had rushed in earlier, and there was no table next to it.

As Shen Lanxi had said, the imperial edict ordered an investigation into the traitor, and that all residences in the capital, both owned and unowned, be searched.

With the imperial seal affixed to it and the place being a small inner chamber, Liu Mingxin couldn't bring himself to say that Shen Lanxi had falsely conveyed the imperial edict.

"Lord Liu, the imperial edict is right here. Take a good look at it. His Majesty summons me."

Liu Mingxin stared at Shen Lanxi's back, his gaze fixed on the imperial edict, remaining silent.

~

"Uncle, we've found several suspicious people; they all came from the inner palace!" Shen Lanxi reported to Emperor Renxiao.

In less than a day, Emperor Renxiao's skin looked as if a lot of moisture had been drained away, with wrinkles appearing everywhere and dead skin peeling off in some places.

“There are those from the Empress’s palace, as well as those from the palaces of Consort Shu, Consort Ming, and Consort Hui.”

Emperor Renxiao's first thought was of Consort Shu.

"Go investigate Consort Shu and the Empress."

Shen Lanxi: "Yes!"

As she left, Song Daoxi was carrying the box towards the Hall of Mental Cultivation. As the two passed each other, Song Daoxi gave Chen Lanxi a slight nod.

Emperor Renxiao's poison was temporarily cured by Song Daoxi's superb medical skills, but this only delayed the onset of the poison and did not cure it.

The next day, Emperor Renxiao was unable to speak.

"Uncle, Wenju cannot be put on hold indefinitely, otherwise it will arouse suspicion among many people."

Emperor Renxiao could only nod or shake his head at this point; he nodded.

“Uncle, why don’t you go to court today, and I’ll pretend to pass a message for you and say that you’ve passed the palace examination?”

Emperor Renxiao hesitated. He was in a state of suspicion, and if the court officials made trouble for him, he would not be able to make a move.

Wang Bao: "Your Majesty, this old servant will also relay your message. The emperor's majesty is too imposing; how can court officials look directly at him? You can simply sit on the dragon throne and issue your orders!"

Emperor Renxiao pondered for a while and nodded in agreement.

News of the imperial examination was quickly spread.

On the day of the palace examination, Shen Lanxi stood to the left of Emperor Renxiao's dragon throne, while Wang Bao stood to the right. The high dragon throne, coupled with the special camouflage Shen Lanxi had placed on Emperor Renxiao's face, meant that none of the elderly ministers with deteriorating eyesight could clearly see the emperor's complexion.