Chapter 73 Madam Zhang, Besieged on All Sides
With the arrival of the guards, the chaos in the hall finally subsided.
Although many people were injured, thankfully no one lost their lives.
The emperor looked coldly at the Duke of Yong: "I will settle this score with you later."
The Duke of Yong was completely bewildered, not understanding why the emperor was taking his anger out on him.
Lady Meng didn't understand either, but that didn't stop her from crying out, "Your Majesty, we have nothing to do with the assassins!"
The emperor ignored her and, looking at Yu Zhiyi's pale face, called out again, "Summon the imperial physician."
Before long, an imperial physician came to stop Yu Zhiyi's bleeding.
Looking at Yu Zhiyi's pale face, Yu Jiaojiao suddenly had a vicious thought—it would be best if she died directly by this sword.
However, she quickly lost her mind from all this thinking, because she heard the emperor say, "Madam Du had already figured out the identities of these assassins, but because there were too many live targets in the hall, she dared not implicate the innocent. So she used the method of fortune-telling to deceive the villains and informed me at the same time."
"I was just about to order people to find an excuse to take the assassins away in batches to disrupt their plans and thwart the assassination attempt, but you, my spoiled daughter-in-law, have to cause trouble!"
"If it weren't for her, the assassination would never have happened!"
Yu Jiaojiao's legs went weak: "Your Majesty, I... I was only trying to save you! I was worried that you wouldn't know about the assassins, which could lead to incalculable consequences. I meant well..."
"You ignorant and incompetent lowlife, who only knows how to resort to petty tricks, do I need your kindness?"
"Guards, drag this vile woman away! Throw her into the dungeon! Interrogate her thoroughly to see if she was in cahoots with those assassins."
"No... Your Majesty, I'm not, I really am not!"
Yu Jiaojiao immediately protested her innocence.
But it was no use.
She was still pulled down.
The survivors listened blankly to the heart-wrenching pleas for mercy, not understanding what had happened.
However, they had no time to think about it. At this moment, nothing could move them more than the relief and fear of surviving a disaster.
Duke Yongguo, however, had many thoughts.
Even if he had made great contributions in the past, it wouldn't matter if he was involved in an assassination attempt.
He knelt down, lifting his robe: "Your Majesty, Jiaojiao is indeed arrogant and foolish, but she certainly wouldn't dare to do anything rebellious. She really just wanted to remind you, and she had absolutely no other intentions."
Madam Meng realized the seriousness of the situation and hurriedly knelt down: "Yes, Your Majesty, her father is the Minister of Revenue, and her husband's family is the Duke's Mansion, a family with a hundred-year history. She would have to be crazy to attempt an assassination. Isn't she just destroying her own peaceful life?"
The members of the Yu family also quickly walked over and knelt down in unison to plead for Yu Jiaojiao.
The emperor said nothing, but Madam Meng continued, "Besides, this assassination attempt is suspicious in itself. The inner palace is heavily guarded; how did those assassins manage to evade the defenses and questioning to sneak in? And how did Madam Du and Jiao Jiao know there were assassins?"
"I suspect it was arranged by Madam Du! She wants to use this incident to solidify her image as a fortune teller. Jiao Jiao must have found out about it by accident, which is why she spoke up to warn her..."
"Shut up!" Madam Yao didn't care about her image anymore. She glared at Madam Meng and said, "Yi'er is so good at divination. She can see the trajectory of a person's life just by looking at their face! She must have figured out the identities of those assassins on the spot before she informed His Majesty!"
"What do you mean by being able to predict the future?" Madam Meng scoffed. "Madam Du, you can fool others, but don't fool yourself. If she were as divine as you say, how could she have been injured by an assassin..."
Just as Yao was about to say something, suddenly, an assassin with a hole in his stomach woke up. Hearing the commotion, he looked up and immediately saw the emperor standing behind Meng. He grabbed the long sword beside him, mustered his strength, and charged forward.
"Mother, be careful!"
Zhang Tianshun loudly reminded him.
When Meng turned around and saw the assassin, her expression changed drastically. Without thinking, she pulled Yao, who was standing next to her, in front of her.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the assassin's longsword landed less than a palm's width in front of Yao Shi, and then flew backward as if it had been hit hard by something.
Bang.
There was no smoke or dust inside the hall, but there was blood.
The man fell into a pool of blood, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
He was already at his last gasp.
This caused his last breath to dissipate, and he closed his eyes in despair.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Everyone looked at Yao, who was completely unharmed.
He looked at the assassin again, quite certain that the assassin had already breathed his last.
For a moment, everyone was confused. Who had assassinated whom?
Those who reacted quickly realized what was happening: "That defensive bracelet was actually real..."
"Capable of withstanding twelve deadly crises..."
"Wow! It really is a treasure!"
Yao, recovering from her shock, went completely mad. She slapped Meng across the face: "You heartless, despicable woman! You slut! It wasn't enough that your daughter-in-law hurt my Yi'er, you actually tried to kill me! Ahhhhh!"
Meng was beaten so badly that she had no chance to fight back.
It wasn't that she was so pampered by her life of luxury that she lost the ability to resist. After all, Yao was also a pampered noblewoman. Neither of them was stronger than the other, so Yao's madness could only gain the upper hand. But Meng was capable of resisting.
She was angry because she couldn't fight back at all.
Whenever she tried to retaliate, her hand would be repelled by an invisible barrier.
So, she was not only beaten by Yao, but also harmed by the strange barrier on Yao's body. Under attack from both sides, she finally couldn't hold on and fainted with a cry.
Prime Minister Du and Du Ziheng watched coldly until Madam Meng fainted. Only then did the two of them come over and stop Madam Yao: "Alright, alright, calm down, calm down..."
Prime Minister Du looked at Duke Yong with a blank expression: "Duke, I will remember what happened today."
Duke Yong: "..."
Zhang Tianshun received another death stare from Du Ziheng. He was speechless.
A perfectly good palace banquet was ruined beyond recognition, and so were the futures of Minister Yu and Duke Yong.
If the matter between Yu Jiaojiao and the assassin isn't clarified, neither of their families will fare well.
Yu Zhiyi, who was in a "coma," was naturally unaware of these intricate details.
She lay in bed for two days before she "woke up".
As soon as she opened her eyes, three haggard faces came close to her, all looking down at her.
Yu Zhiyi: "..."
"Yi'er, you're finally awake!" Madam Yao wanted to hug her and cry, but she was worried about Yu Zhiyi's wounds, so she didn't know where to start and could only hold Yu Zhiyi's hand.
Yu Zhiyi felt that the back of her hand was soaked.
The warm, dampness seemed to carry a scorching heat, making her heart burn with it.
She lowered her eyes to conceal her unreadable emotions and said calmly, "Mother, I'm alright."
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