When Zhou Dahong walked back to the fork in the road, he saw thick smoke billowing from the capital.
He looked in the direction that seemed to be the Su residence, his heart pounding. Without thinking of anything else, he spurred his horse forward.
Only after walking into the area where the powerful and wealthy lived and realizing it wasn't their own home did they finally relax.
The Imperial Guards moved swiftly, running towards the fire.
The powerful and wealthy families all sent their servants to fetch water to put out the fire.
He had barely stopped at the door when the gate of the Su residence opened.
The embroiderers, cooks, and doormen all carried water and headed towards the fire pit.
Ye Panjiu frowned as she looked at him.
Su Yan leaned against the door, his face full of solemnity. "It's the Wang family."
Why is that?
Su Yan shook his head. He hadn't been moving around much lately and was completely clueless.
The fire broke out quickly and fiercely, but the firefighters couldn't open the Wang family's gate.
Ning Xuan was in the imperial study, his right eye kept twitching, and he had a feeling that something was wrong.
Li Gao was so anxious that he was covered in sweat and forgot to announce his arrival. He scrambled in as fast as he could.
"Your Majesty! The Third Prince has been imprisoned in the Wang family! The Wang family has suffered a major setback!"
Ning Xuan dropped the pen from her hand and hurriedly stood up, "What did you say?!"
Li Gao didn't dare to breathe. "The Third Prince has been imprisoned by the Wang family and they've set the house on fire!"
Ning Xuan strode past the desk and rushed outside, shouting, "Imperial Guards! Rescue him for me!"
Li Gao quickly followed beside him, saying, "The horses are ready, Your Majesty."
Ning Xuan left the imperial study, mounted his horse, cracked the whip fiercely, and rode straight out of the palace.
He was fifty years old. Several years ago, when the Liao Dynasty was ravaging the country, he personally led troops into battle. He was always an excellent horseman.
The palace was vast, and horses' hooves swept across the high thresholds.
Ning Xuan's heart was racing, and she tasted a metallic taste in her throat.
The Prince's Mansion was once the most prestigious family in the land, standing opposite the Meridian Gate, showcasing its noble status.
The fire raged, turning half the sky red.
The firefighters were blackened by smoke, and their faces were filled with fear in their eyes.
Ning Xuan pulled on the reins, staring intently at the fire.
He dismounted, but his legs suddenly felt weak.
Li Gao and the others, who had run all the way here, rushed forward to help him up, kneeling down on the ground, "Your Majesty! We beg Your Majesty to take care of your health!"
Ning Xuan raised her trembling hand, "Save..."
Scenes of Ning Shuo from childhood to adulthood kept flashing through his mind.
Su Yan arrived in a sedan chair and knelt beside Ning Xuan.
"Your humble servants will fight to the death to save you!"
The gates of the Wang family mansion were finally smashed open, and flames roared out.
Ningxuan was almost burned down!
Su Yan looked at Li Gao, who immediately led his men to stand in front of Ning Xuan, shielding her from the fire with their own bodies.
"Your Majesty, the fire is too big," Su Yan reminded softly.
Ning Xuan stood up and stepped back.
Li Gao finally breathed a sigh of relief.
His Majesty is the pillar of the palace; if anything goes wrong, it will result in mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
Water was poured continuously onto the Wang family's house, and the Imperial Guards, draped in wet blankets, rushed inside one by one.
The fire burned for half an hour before finally going out.
Amidst billowing smoke, the Imperial Guards carried out a wrecked structure on wooden planks.
Half of his body was burned to a crisp, his face contorted in pain, filled with screams.
On the other half of his body, which was not burned, there were more than a dozen wounds, bleeding.
Su Yan glanced at it, then looked away, unable to bear looking any longer.
That's just too tragic.
Ning Xuan stared at that familiar half-face, her eyes widening and her breathing becoming increasingly rapid.
"sparkle…"
"Your Majesty! Where is the imperial physician?!" Su Yan, who was closest, stepped forward to support Ning Xuan.
The head of the Imperial Medical Academy, carrying a medicine chest, ran so fast that his white beard was ruffled by the wind.
He hurriedly knelt down beside him, took his pulse, and after a while said, "His Majesty was so angry that he fainted due to a sudden rush of blood to his head."
He and the imperial physicians from the Imperial Medical Academy took turns examining His Majesty every day, and were very familiar with His Majesty's health condition.
Ignoring the lack of a table, he spread the paper on the ground and quickly wrote down the prescription. After finishing, he handed it to a eunuch.
"Send His Majesty back to the palace to recuperate. Anyone who dares to leak even the slightest word will be executed without mercy! The palace will be closed immediately! Only entry is permitted, no exit! Summon Sheng Ping, and the other five ministers to the palace immediately!" Su Yan stood up, his expression serious, and quickly issued a series of orders.
The rest of the people were busy responding.
Li Gao ordered someone to bring a sedan chair, and carefully helped Ning Xuan into it. The four of them carried her into the palace.
Su Yan said coldly, "Imperial Guards, lock everyone here up. Collect the body of the Third Prince, according to his princely rank. The rest of you, come with me!"
After saying that, he turned around and followed Ning Xuan back.
Twenty members of the Imperial Guard were divided into two groups, while the rest quickly followed Su Yan.
Ning Xuan once said that, apart from those who first obeyed him, the Imperial Guards then obeyed Su Yan's orders.
The Imperial Guards were near the sedan chair, and the people in the palace all knelt down, heads bowed, not daring to look at them.
When they arrived at the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Empress Shen's face was covered in tears, followed by dozens of palace maids and eunuchs.
Su Yan bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please accept my condolences and return to the palace."
Empress Shen looked at him with grief, "His Majesty has fainted. As the Empress, how can I not attend to him?"
As she spoke, she strode toward Ning Xuan.
Now that Shuo'er is gone, she must protect Ning Xuan. She wants the entire Wang family to offer their blood as a sacrifice for Shuo'er!
Su Yan frowned. He couldn't gamble now. Although Empress Shen had always been reasonable and had never blocked His Majesty's or his path, she had always helped him.
But now that Ning Shuo is gone, no one can guarantee what a mother who has lost her son might do.
"Excuse me, guards! Escort Her Majesty back to the palace. Within the inner palace, no one is to move about without my order!"
The Imperial Guards advanced and surrounded Empress Shen, blocking her path to Ningxuan.
Empress Shen looked at Su Yan with teary eyes, "Prime Minister Su, why are you pressing me so hard! Where is Shuo'er's body?"
Su Yan bowed respectfully, "I have ordered the Imperial Guards to tidy up."
Empress Shen walked back step by step, tears streaming down her face, her heart aching as if her internal organs were being torn apart.
"Send it to Yikun Palace, and order the Imperial Concubine and Prince Duan to come and keep vigil!"
She hated it so much!
She will seek revenge on Consort Wang and her son for the pain the Wang family has caused her!
Su Yan didn't say anything and hurriedly walked into the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
The stability of Daliang rests entirely on Your Majesty!
After the imperial physician prepared the medicine, all the physicians in the Imperial Hospital tested it and confirmed that there were no problems before Li Gao fed it to Ning Xuan.
Su Yan sat on the armchair by the bed, his nerves on edge, pondering where he might have overlooked something.
Second Prince!
"Has Minister Lin not arrived yet?" he asked sternly.
The eunuch, barely daring to breathe, hurriedly replied, "Minister Lin is not on duty tonight; I have already sent someone to fetch him."
Su Yan frowned. "Who is on duty in the palace tonight?"
Before the young eunuch could reply, a commotion arose outside the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
"You audacious traitor, hand over the Emperor!"
It was the Second Prince's voice.
Then came the sound of swords clashing.
Su Yan hurriedly stood up. The wound on his right leg reopened, and a warm, wet sensation seeped up his leg and flowed down, soaking his shoes and socks.
He glanced down at the scarlet stains on his shoes and socks, then quickly walked out.
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