Chapter 45
She was not hurt by the villain, but was frightened by his almost crazy look to the point that she dared not even breathe. The man had already stopped moving, but he still did not give up. He was a boy of the same age as her, but she didn't know where he got the strength to hold the villain who was half a head taller than him under him.
The rain gradually subsided, and the scarlet color brought out by each punch splashed on the stone steps with the raindrops.
The man had been beaten beyond recognition, but Que Ming still grabbed the silver hairpin stuck in his right eye and twisted it hard in his flesh and bones. Listening to the man's screams as he fainted but woke up from the pain, his eyes glared with anger, almost like a madman.
Yue Qingning really couldn't bear to listen any longer. She had just rolled down and was strangled by the villain for a long time. Her legs were so numb that she couldn't even stand up. She almost used her hands and feet to support herself and shouted.
"stop!"
After hearing this, he paused for a moment, but did not really stop. With his back facing her, he held the villain's head in his arms and used his arms to strangle the man until he was silent.
"Que Ming..."
Yue Qingning wanted him to stop, wanted him not to kill anyone, but she was too scared. In addition, the cold rain was pouring down on her body, and the coldness penetrated deep into her bones. She no longer had the strength to call him.
She lowered her head, not daring to look at the scene, but she saw a shadow with indistinguishable boundaries suddenly appear in her sight.
He almost crawled over, put his hands on the ground, bent down as if pressing himself into the ground, and looked up at her.
"Is Miss okay? Are you hurt?"
He said, calling her softly with endless regret.
"Queming is late!"
Yue Qingning shook her head, too tired to say another word, and even less wanted to care about the corpse that was waiting to be dealt with. Que Ming seemed to know what she was thinking, and immediately apologized, put his arms around her shoulders and held her in his arms.
"I'll take the young lady down the mountain, and let Que Ming take care of things here."
As for how to solve the problem, he didn't tell her and she didn't ask. She only knew that there was a sudden rainstorm that day, and all the pilgrims on the mountain crowded under the main hall of the temple. No one braved the rain to care about what was happening on the mountain.
This became an unspoken secret between them.
——
Perhaps it was because Que Ming was too reliable for her at that time. How could she have imagined that he would have two hearts when they had been together for half their lives?
It was also because of this incident that even though he eventually became a subordinate of the prince, Yue Qingning still did not completely break with him and still had a selfish wish that he would be well.
But he messed things up, so Yue Qingning could never think of an excuse to let him go in this life.
The news of the attack on Prince Shou's Jietai Temple spread widely in the capital. Everyone speculated that it might be the work of the Crown Prince. Because the Emperor had released Prince Shou to be in charge of the horse plague case, the Crown Prince was caught off guard and plotted to assassinate Prince Shou. He even sent archers to burn down Jietai Temple.
Even the prince cannot suppress such a big thing.
The next day, the emperor summoned the crown prince and Prince Shou to the palace to discuss matters. Prince Shou had been terrified since he returned from Jietai Temple and was unwilling to go even after the palace's order. It was only after the emperor issued three imperial decrees that he was carried into the palace.
However, before he reached the imperial study, the prince had been waiting for a long time in the corridor inside the palace. Seeing that Prince Shou was still using a sedan chair in the palace, he became furious and forcibly stopped the sedan chair and detained the prince.
"You damn sickly bastard! I mercifully spared your life, letting you linger in the capital, and this is how you repay me? How dare you stage such a show to frame me!"
The prince looked up at Xiao Heng, who refused to get out of the sedan chair. It seemed as if he was inexplicably overwhelmed by his attitude. He moved his shoulders uncomfortably and shouted at him to get off.
However, this time, Prince Shou did not seem to be as respectful to him as usual. Seeing him jumping up and down beside the sedan chair, he did not respond. Instead, he frowned as if he was frightened and still sick, and recited to him slowly and steadily.
"Since Your Highness the Crown Prince wants to kill me, why involve others? You are probably the only one in this palace who could set fire to the temple."
His deep, slow, and low voice was different from his usual calmness, as if the two of them had completely torn their faces apart and no longer wanted to pretend to be nice to him.
It was only at this time that the prince saw clearly that Xiao Heng was just pretending. His previous respect was just a means to save his life. If he was really forced into a desperate situation, even a rabbit would bite!
On that day he did send people to deal with the girl from the Yue family. This Yue girl would appear in front of him from time to time and was an eyesore. The old woman seemed to want to make trouble for her. Killing a little girl wouldn't cause much trouble. It would also be a good opportunity to destroy the prestige of Minister Yue. Wouldn't it be killing two birds with one stone?
But since it was an assassination, how could he make such a big fuss to let everyone know the evil he was going to do?
Two secret sentries with superb archery skills were placed on the mountain in order to shoot people to death in front of Prince Shou, and to intimidate Xiao Heng so that he would not have any inappropriate thoughts.
The first arrow was at the temple gate, and the second arrow was at the foot of the mountain. He had asked someone to investigate long ago, and Yue Qingning was lucky as she was blocked by a young monk.
It was said beforehand that if the arrow failed to accomplish its purpose, it would be withdrawn. However, who would have thought that after the arrow was shot, assassins came from nowhere and pierced the mountain temple through and through. Not only was it not enough to murder the prince, they even tried to burn down the royal temple in broad daylight.
Such a desperate move was obviously not something that a greenhorn like Xiao Heng could plan, but apart from him, there was no third person who could benefit from it.
Xiao Yan was in a hurry at the moment and had no intention of making such a big move. Even if he killed someone in front of Xiao Heng, he had excuses to clear himself. However, he could no longer suppress the matter of murdering the prince. No matter how much his father doted on him, he would never tolerate anyone causing trouble under his nose.
Seeing Xiao Heng's sedan passing by, Xiao Yan pondered for a long time but couldn't guess who was behind this.
The two entered the imperial study one after the other. The emperor dismissed everyone and only left his two sons inside. The waiters outside held their breath carefully, fearing that any noise would anger the angry Emperor.
Sure enough, after a while, the sound of a coffee table being overturned was heard in the imperial study. After a while, the prince walked out angrily.
After a while, Prince Shou also walked out of the door under the prying eyes of everyone.
"Wang Xuan."
Prince Shou whispered to Wang Xuan, who was waiting in the distance, and leaned over to whisper something in his ear.
Soon Wang Xuan took the order and left, and Prince Shou also returned to the mansion. It seemed that the matter was over.
However, at the end of September, Shu Hu's envoy came to the capital, and the one-sided situation in the court suddenly changed a little. At the morning court, someone actually raised objections to aiding Shu Hu for the first time.
The person who said this was Minister Yue, who had just returned from Liangzhou exhausted. He didn't even have time to go home. He was exhausted and dusty, and he stood in front of all the officials and in front of the emperor.
At this moment, even the emperor couldn't bear to say anything harsh to him.
"Zhi Zheng, you just came back. This matter is not urgent and can be discussed later."
Unexpectedly, Minister Yue seemed to be possessed by a ghost, and even did not let the emperor go. He held a tablet in his hand and made repeated suggestions and praised loudly.
"Every head of state, bearing the mandate of Heaven, is filled with deep worry and a sense of purpose, achieving great things but losing virtue. Isn't this exactly what Wenzhen advised? Your Majesty has reigned for twenty-nine years, and your merits and virtues are no less than those of the Tang and Song dynasties. You have supported our Great Sheng for nearly thirty years, making it prosperous and strong. Could it be that a mere trick could now cause our Great Sheng to become inferior and at the mercy of others? I truly cannot understand your confusion!"
As soon as these words were spoken, even those who were waiting to watch the show in the back looked disheartened. This remark was truly treasonous, as he actually used the past monarchs' lack of virtue that led to the destruction of the country as a warning.
The emperor's face suddenly turned extremely ugly, and the ministers standing in the hall didn't dare to breathe. No one expected that the Minister Yue, who was usually the most loyal to the emperor, had returned from Liangzhou and became a different person. He didn't even know how to write the word "euphemism".
But perhaps it was because his eldest daughter almost died in the fire at Jietai Temple not long ago. In any case, it seemed that Minister Yue was going to go against the emperor.
The superior remained silent for a long time. Seeing the silence, the prince knew that this was a good opportunity, so he stepped forward and advised.
"As Minister Yue himself said, the world knows that our Great Sheng is rich and powerful, and all who come to pay tribute must give priority to our Great Sheng. Given this, our dynasty naturally has an obligation to maintain diplomatic relations with all nations, eliminate war and restore peace. This not only demonstrates our national strength but also provides a great opportunity to maintain lasting friendships with smaller nations."
Minister Yue raised his head and for the first time did not avoid looking directly at the royal family, staring at Xiao Yan intently.
"Everyone knows that Shu Hu is cruel and cunning, with bad character. They deserve what they have today!"
The prince immediately frowned and shouted angrily.
"The current Empress and the current Marquis of Qingyuan are also descendants of Shuhu. Even I have Shuhu's blood flowing in my veins. Minister Yue, are you cursing me by saying this?"
"alright!"
The atmosphere was extremely tense, and the emperor finally pressed the pause button before everything got out of control.
What is strange is that one of the people implicated in this matter, Marquis Qingyuan, was also in the court, but he has not yet made a comment on the matter.
At this moment, he was standing quietly in front of all the officials, his expression calm, as if he had not heard what Minister Yue had just said.
No one could see the expression on the emperor's face behind the imperial curtain. All they could feel was his majestic gaze sweeping across the scene, lingering on the face of Marquis Qingyuan for an especially long time.
"We will discuss today's matter later. Treat the envoy well and do not neglect him."
With that, he waved his sleeves and left the court. All the officials were divided into two factions, which had always disliked each other. Now they didn't want to see the prince again. After the court, they swarmed around Minister Yue and praised his frank and wise advice.
Despite being flattered, Minister Yue's face was still not good. After the court session and leaving the palace, he quickly got on the carriage and went home.
Everyone was talking at once, saying that the tit-for-tat confrontation just now was because the Crown Prince tried to assassinate Prince Shou but almost implicated the eldest daughter of the Yue family.
That incident is no longer a secret. Who in the entire capital city has the courage to commit a crime under the feet of the emperor, let alone such a serious act as murdering the prince, and still get away with it?
There is no one else except the Eastern Palace, which the emperor values most.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
