Royal Palace —
Azi fell asleep in the carriage. Di Jingcheng placed her in warm bedding, changed her into nightgown, and wiped her body with a warm handkerchief. Only after she was sound asleep did he go to the dark prison late at night.
The dungeon was dimly lit, with only the crackling of candlelight on the walls. The corridor was spotless, but a foul stench assaulted the senses as soon as one entered, clearly something that Di Jingcheng and his guards had become accustomed to.
Cheng Er led the guards inside with Di Jingcheng. Chief Sun was also there today.
The captured assassin was tied up in the innermost cell. When the guard at the door saw the emperor approaching, he immediately opened the cell door and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty."
Upon entering the cell, the assassin abruptly raised his head, still with the stinky sock in his mouth, and could only groan incoherently, but it was easy to tell that he was definitely not saying anything pleasant.
"Is there poison in your mouth?" Di Jingcheng didn't care at all about the insults from the person in front of him.
"Your Majesty, we have already checked and found no poison. There is none anywhere on their bodies," Instructor Sun replied.
Di Jingcheng nodded slightly, and immediately a guard stepped forward to remove the smelly sock from his mouth and stood guard to prevent him from biting his tongue and committing suicide.
Once the assassin was free, he stopped talking and remained quiet, his face tense, his eyes fixed on the floor to one side.
Emperor Jingcheng walked calmly to a stool and sat down, straightening his robes: "You can choose whether to speak yourself or let me speak."
The assassin's eyes flickered upon hearing this. He looked up at the Emperor of Xijing sitting to the side, who was staring at him with the same look he had when looking at a corpse. He couldn't discern any emotion on the emperor's face. What a true emperor who never showed his emotions!
Seeing that he didn't speak, Cheng Er glanced at the guard beside him, who stepped forward and kicked him in the stomach: "Our master told you to speak! Open your mouth!"
The guard's kick was quite forceful; the assassin, already injured, was now deathly pale with pain, and beads of sweat were seeping out.
"I have nothing to say. Now that I've been arrested, I'll accept whatever punishment I may receive," the man said breathlessly in a low voice, his expression resolute and defiant.
Emperor Jingcheng looked at Chief Sun, who quickly stepped forward: "Your Majesty, today I encountered two people in the teahouse who were extremely similar in build to the two assassins who escaped tonight, and their features were exactly the same. In addition, the two people I saw in the teahouse were wearing two extraordinary jade pendants on their waists, which seemed to be beyond the reach of ordinary people."
"Does Chief Sun remember the pattern and the style of the jade pendant?" Cheng Er asked.
"I remember. I don't quite understand the meaning, but my memory is still good." Instructor Sun glanced at Cheng Er, then turned to Emperor Jingcheng and said confidently.
"Cheng Er, bring me paper and pen." Di Jingcheng tapped his fingers lightly on his knees.
Instructor Sun quickly sketched the shape of the jade pendant on the paper. Cheng Er looked at the increasingly familiar jade pendant, feeling as if he had seen it before. It wasn't until Instructor Sun made the last stroke that he suddenly realized what it meant.
"emperor!"
Everyone gasped in surprise when Cheng Er cried out, looking at him with bewildered expressions.
Di Jingcheng gently stroked the paper and suddenly laughed out loud: "You said you had entered my Xijing just the other day, and today you've appeared in the capital."
"Alright, no need for further investigation. Cheng Er, handle it. Chief Sun gets credit." Di Jingcheng stood up; this man was simply wasting time.
"Your Majesty, I thank you!" Chief Sun was completely baffled by this achievement.
Cheng Er kindly gave him a couple of pointers: "Your intelligence is valuable; this is an item belonging to the royal family of another country."
"Alright, take care of it. Don't leave any future troubles." Cheng Er gave the order and followed God Jing Cheng out of the dark prison.
The assassin was completely bewildered. Shouldn't they have tortured him severely and extracted information from his mouth? That would have resulted in a horrific death. Although he wouldn't say anything, this basic process was still missing, and the assassin was filled with panic.
The assassin thought to himself, "This Emperor Xijing really loves to speak in riddles. No wonder the other countries are no match for him."
The next second, swords flashed and blood splattered on the wall, gushing out and covering the floor. He didn't even have time to react before he was dead.
Following Emperor Jingcheng's hurried pace, it seems the Emperor is in such a rush to return that he truly cannot be separated from His Majesty the Empress for even a moment!
"Your Majesty, news has come from the Grand Secretary's residence that an injured man in black has infiltrated Mu Wanyu's room."
"But were they the ones who ran away?"
"It should be. However, we have been secretly monitoring the Grand Secretary's office and have not found any collusion between the people in the office and Dongyang and Beixiang." Cheng Er was a little puzzled.
Di Jingcheng pondered to himself, "In my previous life, there was indeed war on the border, but Dongyang and Beixiang did not launch any assassination attempts. Furthermore, Mu Wanyu did not have any secret contact with the enemy state. How could this be?"
"Keep a close watch. If that person tries to escape, catch him immediately and don't let him get away again." Di Jingcheng's eyes narrowed slightly, a murderous glint flashing in them. It seemed that Dongyang and Beixiang wanted their kingdoms to perish as soon as possible.
The following day, in the imperial court, Nian Jun, the Vice Minister of War, submitted a memorial stating that a border skirmish had broken out between Nanling and Xijing, resulting in the deaths of five Xijing soldiers and innocent civilians in the riot, shocking the court and the public. They were astonished that such a small country dared to provoke them so, and they all requested the emperor to send troops to attack Nanling to demonstrate national power, expand territory, and avenge the innocent soldiers and civilians who had perished.
Emperor Jingcheng was furious and dispatched General Li Yan with an army of 300,000 to attack Nanling. The attention of the four kingdoms was focused on the war between Nanling and Xijing. The battlefield was in Nanling, and the people of Xijing were spared from harm, but the people of Nanling suffered terribly.
In just three days, Li Yan led the Xijing army into the Nanling Imperial Palace. Emperor Gong Yuhan of Nanling requested a ceasefire and was willing to surrender to Xijing.
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