Chapter 51 In her heart, he was never special
Seeing that everyone was dead, the Emperor recovered from his shock and, with the help of Eunuch Xu, managed to sit up straight.
Li Yuanzhao sheathed his sword and walked up to the Emperor. "Father, the assassin has been eliminated. Are you alright?"
The Emperor finally came to his senses, grabbed her hand, and said in a trembling voice, "It's alright, it's alright... Que Nu, thank goodness you were here! If you hadn't arrived in time..."
He now feels a genuine dependence on his daughter because of lingering fear.
Li Yuanzhao gently patted the back of his hand. "Father, you are the Son of Heaven, and are naturally protected by the gods. The most important thing is to go back to your tent and rest. Leave the rest to your son."
The Emperor nodded repeatedly and stood up with the help of Eunuch Xu.
Li Yuanzhao turned around again, his gaze falling on Shen Churong beside him.
He stood to the side, leaning on his knife, clutching his bleeding arm.
She asked, seemingly with concern, "Are you alright?"
Shen Churong was taken aback, seemingly not expecting her to suddenly show concern for him.
He thought he was going to die today, but unexpectedly he was saved by Li Yuanzhao.
The hostility towards Li Yuanzhao over the years mostly stemmed from the youthful arrogance of refusing to admit defeat.
He was unwilling to admit from the bottom of his heart that he was inferior to a woman.
But now, it is precisely this princess, whom he dislikes in every way, who has become his savior.
Without her, he would have perished long ago.
Looking at her blood-stained robes, and then thinking about his own disheveled state, the young man's initial pride and defiance were now replaced by deep admiration.
He shook his head somewhat embarrassedly, "It's nothing, just a minor injury."
After saying that, he belatedly added, "...Thank you."
Li Yuanzhao glanced at Ru Mo again, who instantly understood. He cleaned up the battlefield and finished off the assassins who had already fallen, ensuring they were all dead and leaving no future trouble.
Chen Yanqing stood in the shadows, clutching his bleeding arm, while the light shone intently on Li Yuanzhao.
The spot on my lower back where I was kicked, and the wound from the stab wound, still aches dully.
Seeing that Li Yuanzhao didn't even glance at him, he couldn't help but sneer inwardly.
What exactly was he to her?
Is she a pawn she can discard at will? A shield to take the fall in a moment of crisis? Or a servant unworthy of her attention?
So this is how much he means to her; she's even stingy with a simple greeting.
He felt as if his heart was being tightly gripped by an icy hand, and even the pain from his wounds became somewhat numb.
At this moment, the sound of the Imperial Guards' armor finally came from afar, and the Imperial Guards Commander Xiao Duo hurriedly arrived with his men.
Upon seeing the horrific scene, he knelt down with a thud, his voice filled with panic.
"Your subordinate has arrived late to save Your Majesty; please punish me!"
The emperor looked at his most trusted minister with disappointment in his eyes. Just as he was about to reprimand him, he saw the ministers, including Prime Minister Cui, who had just scattered and fled, stumbling and crawling over.
Prime Minister Cui was already filled with overwhelming grief and indignation.
Halfway through the banquet, he received a secret report from his subordinates that his eldest son, Cui Jiulang, and others had been brutally murdered in the hunting grounds.
He was about to rush to the emperor to report when the assassin suddenly attacked, startling him so much that he could only hide behind the curtain.
Now that the assassin has been eliminated, he could no longer contain himself and rushed to the emperor's side, hoping that His Majesty would grant him justice.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..." Prime Minister Cui lay prostrate on the ground, tears streaming down his face, "My son... my Ninth Prince is dead!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Lord Lin and Minister Jia also prostrated themselves on the ground and wept bitterly. Their sons had also died in the hunting grounds, and they were now crying their hearts out, begging the Emperor to investigate thoroughly.
Li Yuanzhao stood aside and watched coldly. These people had disappeared when the situation was critical, but now that the assassins were all dead, they had come out.
The emperor was disturbed by the crying, his brows furrowed, but he had not yet spoken.
Li Yuanzhao spoke first, his tone carrying a subtle hint of sarcasm.
"Minister Cui and all the officials, please accept my condolences. However, with such chaos on the scene, it's not just your sons who have died."
Everyone then seemed to wake from a dream and turned to look.
There were many corpses lying haphazardly on the banquet grounds.
Besides the assassins in black, there were many officials, young masters and ladies, and palace maids and servants who did not have time to escape. Some were injured by swords, and some were trampled to death. The scene was shocking.
Upon seeing this scene, the Emperor felt even more disappointed in Prime Minister Cui and his fellow veteran officials.
In times of crisis, he did not think of protecting the emperor; all he cared about was the life and death of his own son, showing no loyalty whatsoever for the safety of the emperor!
Unaware of the Emperor's displeasure, Prime Minister Cui said, "It's different! My Ninth Prince died in the forest during a hunting trip! Not in the chaos of battle! Someone must have taken advantage of the hunt to assassinate him!"
He was well aware that his son was a dissolute and arrogant young man who ran rampant in the capital and had offended at least eighty or a hundred people.
But he couldn't just die like that, without knowing the truth. He had to get justice for his son.
Li Yuanzhao immediately said, "In my opinion, Ninth Prince must have accidentally encountered the assassins lying in ambush while hunting. He was about to return to report when the assassins killed him."
Cui Xiang's heart skipped a beat; he felt that something was off about what he was saying.
His son was always dull-witted; how could he be so quick-witted as to think of reporting the assassin's whereabouts?
But then he thought, if he really died protecting the emperor, then he would be a meritorious official who sacrificed himself for the country, and His Majesty would surely reward the Cui family handsomely.
Under such temptation, he stopped arguing and simply wiped away his tears, acquiescing to this statement.
Li Yuanzhao turned to his father, the Emperor, and said, “Father, these assassins came with great force. They not only killed so many innocent people, but they even dared to assassinate Your Majesty. It is clear that there must be a mastermind behind them. You must issue an edict to investigate thoroughly, find the mastermind, avenge the dead, and rid the Great Qi of this great scourge!”
Su Qingci then realized why His Highness remained calm after killing Cui Jiulang and his group; it turned out he had already prepared a countermeasure.
That's a brilliant move.
But……
Su Qingci looked up at Li Yuanzhao's back, her brows furrowing slightly.
How did Your Highness know that there would be assassins today?
The assassination attempt came so suddenly that even the Imperial Guard Commander Xiao Duo was caught off guard, but His Highness seemed to have anticipated it.
Could it be...?
The thought had barely crossed her mind when Su Qingci forcefully suppressed it.
She dared not think about it deeply, nor did she want to.
Even if the eldest princess is ruthless, she wouldn't risk the emperor's safety or use the lives of so many innocent people as pawns.
After deep thought, the Emperor finally spoke, "Xiao Duo, I order you to lead the Imperial Guards and find out the source of the assassin and the mastermind within three days. If you fail to find out, you will be punished."
"Your subject obeys the decree!" Just as Xiao Duo was about to kowtow and accept the order, a voice suddenly rang out from the crowd.
"Your Majesty, you mustn't!"
Du Cong stepped forward from the crowd. "General Xiao is in charge of the Imperial Guards and is responsible for the defense of the hunting grounds. Not only did he fail to detect the assassin's whereabouts in advance, but he also arrived late to protect His Majesty, almost putting him in danger. Such dereliction of duty is unforgivable! How can we allow him to lead the investigation again?"
As soon as these words were spoken, a chorus of agreement immediately arose from the audience.
Those officials who had lost family members, already filled with pent-up anger, pointed at Xiao Duo and berated him.
"Xiao Duo has failed in his duty! Your Majesty, please punish him severely!"
"If it weren't for the timely arrival of the Eldest Princess, His Majesty might have..."
"Besides, this royal hunting ground is heavily guarded. How could more than twenty assassins have easily infiltrated? It's possible that there was a mistake within the Imperial Guards themselves!"
The Emperor looked at Xiao Duo kneeling on the ground, his expression complex.
Xiao Duo was his true confidant and general, who had been by his side since he was a prince. During the struggle for the throne, Xiao Duo even shielded him from a poisoned arrow. Over the years, Xiao Duo had remained loyal and had never been disloyal.
However, the Imperial Guards are the emperor's personal guards, and if they couldn't even protect him, it was indeed a serious dereliction of duty.
Xiao Duo wanted to explain, but he swallowed his words. It was true that he was drunk and made a mistake, and it was also true that he was late in protecting the emperor. Any explanation would seem pale at this moment.
He couldn't help but glare hatefully at Chen Yanqing standing to the side. If it weren't for this kid who came from who-knows-where dragging him to drink, he wouldn't have been late because he was drunk, causing such a disaster.
The Emperor finally issued an order: "Xiao Duo has failed in his duty of guard duty and has neglected his responsibilities. He is hereby dismissed from his post as commander of the Imperial Guards, effective immediately, pending further investigation."
He paused, then turned his gaze to Li Yuanzhao, "The Imperial Guards will be temporarily under the command of the Eldest Princess. They must thoroughly investigate this case and clean up the hunting grounds!"
"Your subject obeys the decree!" Li Yuanzhao bowed and accepted the order.
Although Cui and his ministers felt it was inappropriate.
However, the shock of the assassination attempt had not yet subsided, and seeing the Emperor's resolute attitude, as well as Li Yuanzhao's meritorious act of protecting the Emperor, they could only swallow their objections and bow in agreement: "Your Majesty is wise!"
Chen Yanqing stood at the back of the crowd, looking at Li Yuanzhao with a complicated expression.
She was speaking in hushed tones with a lieutenant general of the Imperial Guard, her profile appearing particularly cold in the firelight.
So... he inadvertently harmed General Xiao?
But it was clearly Li Yuanzhao who gave the orders...
Looking back now, Li Yuanzhao must have deliberately sent him to challenge General Xiao to a drinking contest.
This allowed the ever-vigilant General Xiao to arrive "to the rescue too late," and then, taking advantage of the anger of the court officials, he could legitimately seize the power to command the Imperial Guards.
turn out to be……
From the very beginning, I was in the midst of her meticulously arranged chessboard.
He was nothing more than a pawn kept in the dark, insignificant, and easily sacrificed.
He was actually quite pleased with himself, smug and self-satisfied, and foolishly thought that this was a sign that she trusted him.
The night wind howled, and he suddenly felt a piercing pain in his wound.
He finally admitted that those occasional flashes of kindness and those seemingly different treatments were all just wishful thinking on his part.
In her heart, he was never special.
She was no different in essence from the guards at her beck and call, the young masters and ladies who died tragically on the field, and even the assassins who were sacrificed as pawns.
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