Chapter 96 Entering the Palace
Dusk is falling and red clouds are gathering in the evening.
Jiang Ran and Lu Zhaoyang worked for a while, preparing a large table of dishes and getting ready to cook.
At this time, Jiang Chuan suddenly came to visit, with frost on his shoulders and white mist coming out of his mouth.
"You came at the right time. Are you not on duty today?" Jiang Ran added a set of bowls and chopsticks for him.
"On duty. This awful weather is making me shiver."
Jiang Chuan lifted up the bowl and drank half of the hot soup without hesitation. It felt soothing from his throat to his stomach, and he sighed with satisfaction.
He picked up another piece of hot tofu and threw it into his mouth. It was so hot that he gasped, and finally he remembered the important matter.
"His Majesty sent me to bring you two to the palace for an audience. I'm finally getting some free time, so take your time getting ready."
After saying this, he felt guilty for a moment and added, "Don't be too slow, or I'll be scolded by the commander if it's too late."
Jiang Ran's heart skipped a beat and he felt something strange.
"Your Majesty? Are you summoning us now?"
Jiang Chuan sniffed and sipped the hot soup, but didn't think there was anything wrong.
"Princess Le'an is also in the palace. Aren't you two on good terms? I heard from my colleagues that they're probably planning a wedding to bring good luck to His Majesty."
This makes sense, but she still had a doubt in her heart. When she and Lu Zhaoyang went back to their rooms to change clothes, he asked her to bring the dagger with her, and he also hid the soft sword at his waist.
Before leaving, she once again asked Zhaoyang to hide the dagger.
Seeing that she was serious, Lu Zhaoyang fixed it carefully again.
Knowing that they were going to the palace to meet the emperor, the maids were very quick and efficient, and it only took them two quarters of an hour to finish packing.
Jiang Chuan also ate half full, and walked into the palace in the dark.
The carriage moved slowly, and as soon as it entered the side door, a group of eunuchs came to greet it.
"Please get off the car and follow me to the audience." The leading eunuch made a sharp and feminine voice, which echoed in the palace corridor, sounding a little weird.
When the curtain of the carriage was lifted, a cold wind blew, and the two of them shivered and wrapped their cloaks tightly.
Jiang Chuan saw that it was Eunuch Wang who came in person to pick up the person from the imperial court, so he did not become suspicious. After the handover, he returned to his team to continue his duty.
Jiang Ran looked at the person who led the way and asked, "Is Princess Le'an already in the palace? We are so late. How shameful."
Eunuch Wang smiled sinisterly, and a few cracks seemed to appear on his floury white face.
"It's not too late. The princess came yesterday and is waiting for you two."
Lu Zhaoyang was frightened by his smile and gently pulled the corner of Jiang Ran's clothes.
Jiang Ran hooked her little finger and winked at her, hinting that something was fishy.
No wonder Princess Le'an did not respond to their invitation. It turned out that she stayed in the palace and never returned home.
Even the Empress couldn't see His Majesty, and Concubine Ru suddenly changed her mind and allowed the Princess to stay in the palace? No matter how I thought about it, it didn't make sense.
Lu Zhaoyang also reacted. Seeing that they were walking further and further away and that there were only a few palace lanterns left, he pretended to slip and cried out in pain, "Ouch, my foot, I twisted it."
She acted so convincingly that she stumbled a few steps and grabbed onto a tree to avoid falling.
Jiang Ran pretended to squat down and examine the wound, then said anxiously, "It's a serious injury. It's all swollen. Please ask the eunuch to be flexible and ask the imperial physician to take a look."
Eunuch Wang tutted impatiently and pointed at a young eunuch, "You, go carry her."
The young eunuch looked around and confirmed that it was him who was called before he dragged his feet towards the tree.
He had been waiting at the door since before dark, and had been waiting in the cold wind for more than half an hour, his body already stiff and cold. He hadn't eaten dinner yet, and his stomach was empty. Carrying someone was a physically demanding task, so he was inevitably a bit passive.
"Don't delay any longer. The Queen is getting impatient."
Jiang Ran immediately stood up, protected Lu Zhaoyang behind him, and looked at Eunuch Wang steadily.
"Your Majesty? Wasn't it His Majesty who summoned us?"
Eunuch Wang realized that he had let the cat out of the bag and was too lazy to make amends.
They are just two delicate and weak noble ladies. What kind of waves can they cause after entering the palace?
"The Empress is in charge of the palace now. Her opinion is the Emperor's opinion."
"Stop talking nonsense and please——"
He pointed at the two young eunuchs and stared at them with a cold, venomous gaze.
Jiang Ran pretended to agree, but when they approached, he kicked them and knocked down three of them.
"run!"
She shouted and started running at the same time as Lu Zhaoyang.
Eunuch Wang didn't expect that she was pretending to be lame, and he immediately started howling like a screaming chicken.
"Hey, chase! Chase quickly!"
"You can't catch these two girls. If you let them get away, watch out for your heads!"
They were afraid of being surrounded, so they didn't dare run to the brightly lit areas and kept moving back and forth between the small paths.
Unexpectedly, he was too unfamiliar with the road and was unknowingly surrounded by the group of eunuchs.
Jiang Ran realized there was no way to escape, so he lowered his voice and told Zhao Yang, "I'll hold them back, and you go find Jiang Chuan for help."
Lu Zhaoyang shook his head, "No, I won't leave."
"Be obedient, I'll be fine."
"No. A'ran, stop talking. I won't leave you alone." Lu Zhaoyang refused flatly, with a dagger clenched in his sleeve.
Jiang Ran knew her temper, so he stopped trying to persuade her. The two of them stood back to back, facing the outside world together.
Although there were many people coming to capture them, their steps were untidy and it was obvious that none of them were highly skilled in martial arts, so there was still a glimmer of hope.
The eunuch who had been ordered to carry Zhaoyang rushed to the front, holding the rope. He knew that if he didn't bring the person with him, Concubine Ru would kill him first. Now he was a complete desperado.
Jiang Ran reached for the soft sword at his waist, but did not rush to act.
When he let go of the rope and was only two feet away from her, she suddenly attacked, the soft sword popped out, the blade flashed silver, and the blow killed him.
Before the eunuch could even wail, his throat was cut open, blood gushed out, and he fell in a pool of blood, flapping his arms a few times like a dying fish before he died.
Those who were about to rush forward did not expect that Jiang Ran was armed with weapons and knew martial arts, so they hesitated and did not dare to move forward.
Jiang Ran didn't dare to look at the corpse. He tried his best to suppress the urge to vomit. He held the sword in one hand and protected Lu Zhaoyang with the other.
"What are you standing there for? Go ahead! Do you think we need to explain Empress Rufei's methods?"
Eunuch Wang arrived breathlessly and yelled at them to come together.
When the name Ru Fei was mentioned, fear appeared on the faces of those people at the same time.
"If they escape, we won't survive either." One of them shouted, waking everyone up.
They used local materials, picked up some thick branches from the forest, and walked towards them with gritted teeth.
Jiang Ran and Lu Zhaoyang fought and retreated, injuring several people in succession.
However, there were too many people and they had no chance to breathe, and they gradually became exhausted.
"We can't go on like this. We have to break out."
They communicated briefly, changed their strategy, and simultaneously attacked towards the southeast where there were fewer people.
After finally breaking a gap, Jiang Ran pushed hard and sent Lu Zhaoyang out of the encirclement.
At this moment, Jiang Ran heard the sound of orderly footsteps.
She immediately turned around and prayed silently that it was Jiang Chuan's team.
However, he didn't expect to see a team of soldiers in armor, which was obviously not the attire of the palace's Jinwu Guards.
The man in the lead was drawing his bow and arrow, and a cold light flashed by, pointing directly at Lu Zhaoyang.
Jiang Ran quickly shouted and rushed forward, trying to protect her.
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