Zhou Gu and his party returned to Capital City under the protection of the Eastern Palace guard, and they encountered no trouble, smoothly covering the last fifty miles of the journey.
He Zheng had many questions for Zhou Gu, but seeing how he only spoke one sentence before falling silent, his face pale, and his lips tightly clenched, He Zheng decided to hold his beak closed as well.
Once back in Capital City, Zhou Gu said to He Zheng, "Let’s bear with our injuries for the moment and enter the palace." Then he turned to Yun Ze, "You come with us too."
The injuries they had sustained must naturally be presented to the Emperor first.
After all, the Emperor was well aware that the Crown Prince’s entourage included four close guards, all selected by the Crown Prince himself from individuals recommended by Grand Tutor Qin in his childhood. The Crown Prince was still young then, and the Emperor had just assumed his position, so he did not fear his youthful Crown Prince and treated him with all the customary rights of an heir apparent.
Yun Ze nodded in agreement.
Thus, Zhou Gu ordered Ziye to escort the two monks back to the Duke Residence first, while he, He Zheng and others entered the palace.
The Emperor was in the Imperial Study Room, listening to the progress report of the investigation from the Rui’an King, when he heard that Zhou Gu, He Zheng, and Yun Ze, the guard of the Eastern Palace, requested a meeting. The Emperor waved his hand, "Let them in."
Just as Rui’an King had finished his report and was about to leave, the Emperor stopped him, "Your case and the one Zhou Gu is currently investigating may be different, but there are some connections. Stay and listen."
The Rui’an King understood. The connection in both cases was Su Rong. They were both directed at her. He agreed and stood aside.
Not long after, Zhou Gu and the others entered the Imperial Study Room. Both of them had their clothes slashed, drenched in blood, their faces pale from excessive blood loss.
He Zheng knelt on one knee, "Your Majesty!"
Zhou Gu bowed, "Your Majesty!"
Shocked at their disheveled state, the Emperor demanded, "What in the world happened to you two?"
With his face drained of color, Zhou Gu weakly replied, "Your Majesty, we received news yesterday that Ding Man’s corpse was found fifty miles outside the city. Consequently, He Zheng and I took some men to investigate. We traced his footsteps to the Great Buddha Temple and began to question all the monks there. Early this morning, we finally found two suspects: Monk Wang Su, the senior disciple of the abbot, and Guang Zhen, the administrator of the Monastic Discipline Hall at the Great Buddha Temple. We consigned them to the capital city, however, midway, only fifty miles from the temple, we were ambushed by over a hundred assassin soldiers. We did not take many men with us when we left the capital. He Zheng had twelve Imperial Guards, and I had ten guards from the Duke Residence. The assassin soldiers were five times our number..."
He Zheng continued, "I advised Lord Zhou to withdraw first, but Lord Zhou refused to abandon us out of a sense of justice. Otherwise, with his martial arts prowess, he wouldn’t have been endangered. The number and skills of the assassins were overwhelming. At one point, we had to give up the monks and focus on surviving. However, we didn’t expect that the assassins were not just after the monks, but were hell-bent on killing Lord Zhou..." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
The Emperor, having listened to this, turned to Yun Ze and asked, "Were you the one who went to their rescue?"
Zhou Gu shook his head, "No, it was Fen Ling, one of Su Qi’s personal attendants. She brought a group of people with her to rescue us. Crown Prince had sent Yun Ze to meet us, yet someone had anticipated this and intercepted Yun Ze..."
At this point, Yun Ze interjected, "Your Majesty, I was intercepted by twenty assassin soldiers. Following the Crown Prince’s orders, I had brought a hundred guards from the Eastern Palace. The assassins’ goal was to delay me."
The Emperor understood and looked severe. Presently, he could not question the Crown Prince, who was absent, about his source of information. However, after considering that if something as significant as this occurred and his Crown Prince had no knowledge of it, it would make the Prince seem too incompetent. The apprehensions he held for his son stemmed from his resourcefulness and insight. The Crown Prince had always shown a keen ability to get news of events happening within a hundred-miles radius of Capital City before anyone else.
His brow furrowed with anger, the Emperor asked, "So, there were two groups of assassins? One group comprising of twenty individuals, and the other, over a hundred?"
"They were suicide soldiers," Zhou Gu corrected, "I don’t know who holds such a grudge against me to go to the lengths of deploying so many men to kill me. I abandoned the monks as a decoy, yet the suicide soldiers simply ignored them, focusing their attacks on me instead."
The Emperor, hearing this, became furious. Although he suspected and feared Duke Residence, Zhou Gu being targeted for assassination was a totally different thing. What if he was killed? Would Duke and Princess Sheng An not explode with rage? And if that happened, would he be able to keep peace in his own court?
"What happened to those suicide soldiers? Were there any survivors?" The Emperor asked. He did not inquire how many men Su Qi had deployed to rescue Zhou Gu. Since they had managed to return alive, their numbers have to be larger than the assassins. If it were not for the known fact that she was the Nanchu Princess, he would certainly have her summoned and questioned. It was indeed a grave matter to command such a large force as a lowly maiden from Jiangning County. However, considering the circumstances, it was no longer necessary.
Zhou Gu shook his head, "No survivors were left. Being suicide soldiers, survivors would have been of no use."
He reached into his coat, took out the hair comb, and handed it to the Emperor, "This was found on one of the soldiers. See if you recognize this comb, Your Majesty."
The Emperor took it and examined it closely, then, brow furrowed, he turned to Eunuch Yu and asked, "Yu An, take a look. Do you recognize this?"
Eunuch Yu had already noticed it. Still, he carefully took it and scrutinized it for a while before answering, "Your Majesty, I think... I recognize this comb."
"Hm?" The Emperor looked at him attentively, "Is it used in the palace?"
"Yes."
The Emperor’s face became grave, "Whose is it?"
Eunuch Yu was unable to speak.
The Emperor, in a deep voice, barked, "Speak!"
Eunuch Yu knelt on the ground all of a sudden, his face blank with fear, "Your Majesty, if my memory serves me correctly, this comb... was chosen by you from the palace supplies eight years ago and given to Lipin because she liked peach blossoms; you found this comb pleasant and gifted it to her along with other gratuities..."
Lipin, the mother of the fourth Prince.
The Emperor’s face darkened even further, "Are you positive?"
Eunuch Yu replied, "There are records. I’m just stating it looks similar. Shall I check the records, Your Majesty?"
"Check it quickly!" The Emperor waved his hand, a severe expression on his face.
Eunuch Yu rose and immediately set off to do it.
Zhou Gu didn’t expect the item to belong to Lipin; he noticed its uniqueness because of the uncommon carving of lifelike peach blossoms, something rarely seen.
The Imperial Study Room fell into silence, with only the Emperor’s heavy panting heard in the room.
Rui’an King was silent, his eyes downcast as if he weren’t present at all. However, he was mulling over in his mind — Lipin, who was known for her neutrality in the Imperial Harem, was now embroiled in this serious case.
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