Chapter 38 Chapter 38 Secret.
"Your Highness..." The way back was quiet, and the footsteps made a crackling sound in the grass.
Nie Xiangyi hugged Xie Zhi's neck tightly, and seemed to be belatedly realize how frightened she was.
"Hmm?" Xie Zhi responded to her.
"I was almost scared to death just now! The knife was so long, it was just a little bit away from my head!" The soft voice trembled slightly, like a wisp of mist.
"Fortunately, I'm smart! Otherwise, I wouldn't be alive to see His Highness."
"Did you see what those people looked like?"
"No, they were all masked, and the cave was dark. But they looked quite old," Nie Xiangyi recalled, "and their leader was a woman! She was called the General."
Xie Zhi frowned slightly.
The rebels captured in the previous incident confessed that their leader was the "General." However, they never mentioned that the General was actually a woman.
When the Prince of Jin was defeated, his family had already been wiped out by the emperor, leaving only a few defeated remnants of his old army. How could there be any talk of a woman?
"Oh, right! They seem to be heading for the Imperial Concubine!"
Xie Zhi already knew this.
The rebels' target was the kitchen, and the only person who had been frequenting it lately was my mother. It was only because I had caught a cold today and was feeling unwell that Nie Xiangyi ran into them.
But why is their target not their father but their mother?
"Strangely enough, the knife was almost on me, but when they heard your name, they stopped trying to kill me."
Nie Xiangyi tilted her head. "That's how I got the chance to escape. Besides, they know I'm the granddaughter of the Zhong family."
"Back then, the Zhong family was the biggest help to our father in defeating Prince Jin. If they knew you were from the Zhong family, there's no reason for them not to take action."
Xie Zhi looked cold and couldn't help but doubt the identity of this group of so-called Jin Wang rebels.
Why is the leader a woman? Why is her target her mother? And why did she stop after hearing his name?
"Maybe they're scared?" Nie Xiangyi snorted proudly. "Grandpa is so powerful! He's so terrifying! If anything happens to me, I'm afraid I'll kill them all!"
Xie Zhi did not comment.
When the Shen Ce Guards went to look for the cave, it was deserted and there was no trace of the rebels.
The emperor was assassinated, the autumn hunt ended early, and the army returned to the capital.
The Crown Prince, carrying a bundle of thorns on his back, apologized before the Meridian Gate. "I, your son, am useless. I was on duty in the capital. I was shocked to hear that my father had been assassinated. I was unable to save him. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"
Xie Zhi lifted the curtain and glanced indifferently at the prince kneeling in the autumn wind.
"Let me see too! Let me see too!" Nie Xiangyi also wanted to stick her head out to see what was going on, but was pushed away by Xie Zhi's cold fingertips.
"It doesn't make sense."
Nie Xiangyi pursed her lips in dissatisfaction with his rigid manner, then asked curiously, "This matter has nothing to do with the Crown Prince. After all, he didn't go to the hunting grounds, and the failure to guard the grounds was beyond his control. Why is he here asking for forgiveness?"
Xie Zhi looked up indifferently and met the prince's sinister gaze from afar.
The fact that the garrison had failed to do its duty was not important. The most important thing was that the imperial power had been offended.
The Emperor's personal guards, the Shen Ce Guards, had half of their number retained in the capital due to the Crown Prince's situation. If nothing went wrong, it would be fine. But if something did, it would be considered an act of usurpation.
Xie Zhi lowered the curtains and looked up at her. "Either the Crown Prince will be punished, or Master Pei will be punished. What is your choice?"
"Of course, punish the prince!" Nie Xiangyi muttered without hesitation. She didn't know the prince anyway.
"You really don't want Pei Jue to be punished?" Xie Zhi snorted coldly and blurted out suddenly.
"I..." Nie Xiangyi was stunned, not understanding why he suddenly got angry. He tried to flatter him, "Then why not punish the crown prince? Punish young Master Pei?"
Xie Zhi still looked unhappy.
How difficult to please! Nie Xiangyi put her hands on her hips and snorted, "It's not me who has the final say!"
The emperor looked at the prince kneeling before the Meridian Gate, his expression gloomy and unclear. In the end, he said nothing. "You should return to the East Palace first. You still need to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth tomorrow."
Xie Chengxin's body stiffened, and he bowed and watched the emperor's carriage leave.
"Your Highness, this matter has nothing to do with you. Look, the emperor has not blamed you yet." Mo Jiu was quite puzzled about his apology at the Meridian Gate.
"If I didn't blame you, I wouldn't have entrusted the task of investigating the rebellion to you again, much less let you perform the ceremony of offering tribute."
After returning to the palace, the autumn hunt is not over yet. In the end, we still need to comfort the heaven and earth, thank the heaven for its grace, and support all things.
What the officials did not expect was that the ceremony of offering tribute, which only the prince could perform, was actually completed by Xie Zhi this time.
The emperor simply said, "The autumn winds are beginning to pick up, and the Crown Prince is not feeling well. Since the tribute is cumbersome, the Third Prince will do it."
The matter of respectfully informing the heavens and the earth and the ancestral temple already involved the inheritance of the clan. Now that Xie Zhi had done it, Xie Chengxin became even more apprehensive.
His expression was gloomy, "Xie Zhi really can't hold it back anymore."
"Your Highness means..."
"With the Divine Strategy Guards' keen sense, how could they fail to detect a few rebels?" Xie Chengxin sneered coldly, "You're just playing hard to get, just to sow resentment in my father's heart."
"Then why didn't Your Highness tell the Emperor that it was the Third Prince who was deliberately condoning the rebels?"
"Without any evidence, it would only make people think I'm angry and throwing mud at others. But... I can't just sit there and wait for death."
Xie Chengxin turned his head and looked at Mo Jiu, with a half-smile, "I heard that Third Brother and the new concubine go in and out of the hunting ground together, and they are very close?"
"That's right." Mo Jiu's smile was a bit ambiguous. "I heard that the Third Prince's wife was in trouble, and it was His Highness the Third Prince who personally carried her down the mountain."
Xie Chengxin tutted his words, "He's quite greedy, wanting to get his hands on the Divine Strategy Division and use it to win over Zhong Qi. Tell me, is he truly doing this, or is he after the military power behind that girl?"
His pale face suddenly raised an eager, cunning smile. "If I snatch her away too, will Third Brother still remain silent and endure it in secret as usual?"
Mo Jiu lowered his head and said nothing.
"Didn't that girl escape the rebels' den unscathed?" Xie Chengxin ordered. "Spread some news, saying... that the Third Prince's wife took advantage of the situation to collude with the rebels."
He chuckled darkly, "Zhong Qi's granddaughter is colluding with the rebels, which means Zhong Qi is colluding with the rebels. Let's see what Xie Zhi will choose."
The more Xie Zhi tried to win over the Zhong family, the more he wanted to attack them. There was no better crime than colluding with the rebels.
"Yes." Mo Jiu replied respectfully, "But I'm afraid this news is just hearsay, and the emperor may not believe it."
"He doesn't have to believe it completely. Just a vague suspicion is enough." Xie Chengxin chuckled.
Xie Zhi is not the only one who knows how to attack people's minds.
By the time the mighty carriage entered the palace, it was already quite late, and Xie Zhi still had to perform the ritual of offering sacrifices to heaven and earth the next day, so Nie Xiangyi and Xie Zhi only stayed in the palace for one night.
When they arrived at Jingming Palace, Nie Xiangyi blushed instantly when she saw the furnishings and decorations around.
"This... isn't this the place..." When she was taking Chinese medicine that day, she cried and asked Xie Zhi to help her.
Xie Zhi raised his eyebrows slightly, as if he could see what she was thinking, with an almost imperceptible smile in his eyes, "Yes."
Her flushed cheeks and awkward expression suddenly made Xie Zhi feel like teasing her mischievously. He leaned in close to her, his cool breath mingling with Nie Xiangyi's. "Revisiting old places."
Xie Zhi's tall figure almost covered her completely. Nie Xiangyi trembled slightly at his breath and almost couldn't stand.
She grabbed his collar and shook her head like a rattle in defiance, "No, no! Your Highness still needs to perform the ceremony of offering tribute tomorrow, and needs to calm down and purify himself!"
Such a cute look made Xie Zhi chuckle, "Hurry up and settle it down."
His sudden withdrawal startled Nie Xiangyi, "Huh?"
The next morning, before daybreak, the emperor and his officials gathered at the Altar of Heaven to perform the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven and earth.
Nie Xiangyi quietly watched Xie Zhi from the crowd, his face radiant. He was the center of attention, now dressed in a dark ritual garment, his figure standing tall, the solemn and dignified atmosphere making him look even more awe-inspiring and noble.
This is the prince she has been thinking about, the one who is as cold and lonely as the moon!
She heard the officials whispering, "The last time the Third Prince performed the ceremony of offering tribute on behalf of the Crown Prince was in the tenth year of Jinggan."
"That year, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince suffered a sudden illness. Today..." someone shook their head gently, "I'm afraid things are different now."
Nie Xiangyi didn't understand what was being said. She only felt that Xie Zhi on the high platform was attracting her attention so much that it seemed as if every move he made could attract all her attention.
Xie Zhi stained his fingers with sheep's blood and drew a bright red mark between his eyebrows. Then he offered sacrifices and wine as a gift to heaven and earth.
The bright red mark between his eyebrows was like the cinnabar on the eyebrows of a bodhisattva, solemn and carrying a sense of inviolable sacred abstinence.
Nie Xiangyi was almost stunned by his appearance.
After all the ceremonies were over, Xie Zhi returned to her side and saw her looking at him with a silly smile on her face.
"Solemn." Xie Zhiwei reminded her with a frown.
Nie Xiangyi then suppressed a smile, her dark eyes shining, "Your Highness, you look really good today."
Xie Zhi pursed his lips to suppress the slight smile that had just appeared on their lips.
By the time all the ceremonies were over, it was already sunset. Nie Xiangyi was exhausted after a long day, and after the previous day's hard work, he collapsed on the couch as soon as he returned to the mansion.
"Finally I'm back. I'm so tired!"
Xie Zhi frowned slightly at the sight of him lying on his back with his legs up in the air. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly felt an itch on his neck.
He seemed to suddenly remember something and pulled his collar higher.
When it was time to go to bed, Nie Xiangyi suddenly leaned close to him, blinking and staring at him for a long time, "Your Highness? Why are you blushing?"
Xie Zhi frowned, "Nothing."
"Then why don't you change your pajamas?" Nie Xiangyi was quite puzzled and tilted her head to look at him. "I can't just say you look pretty and then you keep wearing these clothes."
Xie Zhi seemed to choke for a moment, "No. Just go to sleep."
"But your clothes are bothering me and I can't sleep..."
Xie Zhi stood up and said, "Then I'll go to the study."
"Hey!" Nie Xiangyi reached out to stop him, subconsciously grabbed his collar and pulled it down.
Suddenly, many tiny red spots appeared on the slender neck, as if it had been bitten by insects.
Nie Xiangyi was startled and hurriedly crawled forward, "What happened?! Was he bitten by a bug?"
"It's an allergy." Xie Zhi pulled up his collar with a serious face.
He remembered that he had an allergic reaction once when he was seven years old, while offering sacrifices to heaven and earth on behalf of the prince.
He was still young at that time and didn't know what was going on. After the worship was over, he couldn't help scratching his neck while standing in the crowd.
A female member of the family suddenly walked up to him and asked him gently, "Your Highness, are you allergic to the sheep's blood you just drank?"
Only then did Xie Zhi realize that he was allergic to sheep's blood.
He pursed his lips and said, "I'm going to the study to rest today. You can make your own arrangements first."
Before Nie Xiangyi could say anything, he had already headed towards the study.
"Knock, knock, knock." As soon as the light in the study came on, Ling Zhu knocked gently under the window.
"Your Highness. I have an important matter to report."
Xie Zhiming entered the study.
"I was busy returning to the capital the day before yesterday, and the imperial concubine caught a cold, so I couldn't take care of Wu Fan. I wanted to take this opportunity to kill her. But she said that she wanted to exchange her life for a secret..." Ling Zhu's tone suddenly became hesitant.
Xie Zhi's eyes suddenly became sharp, "What secret?"
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The author has something to say: I worked overtime until super late today and was so tired that I didn’t know what was going on.
I thought I couldn't finish this chapter so I asked for leave, but luckily I finished it [scatter flowers]
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