Chapter 64 Attendant Twenty-Nine
Shinju hadn't gone far when he noticed the footsteps behind him were slowing down. Turning around, he saw that the King of Poison wasn't using a cane, and his face was faintly bluish. He immediately turned back.
King Zhen pursed his lips, suppressing the curve of his lips, and stared at Shinju walking towards him. Then he watched as Shinju walked straight past him, picked up his cane at the back, put it in his palm, and muttered, "The night road is not easy to walk, how can one not use a cane?" Then he went back to the front to clear the way.
The end of the cane suddenly plunged deep into the soil. With a helpless look in his eyes, Zhenwang swept over the beautiful lines of Shinjuku's neck and back, pulled out the cane, and walked behind Shinjuku with one foot deep and one foot shallow.
Amidst the dappled shadows of the trees, two elongated shadows, stretched by the moonlight, overlapped before separating again under the lamplight at the foot of the mountain.
Yan Shang, who stood with his hands behind his back under the lamp, turned around to greet the footsteps when they were about ten steps away.
Then he found there was nothing he needed to avoid. He saw Shinju and the King of Venom walking one after the other, maintaining a distance of one person between them. The King of Venom's expression was hidden in the night, his extremely tall stature and broad shoulders seemed to envelop Shinju completely, and his secretive eyes were three times more fierce than those of a hawk guarding its prey.
Yan Shang shivered inexplicably, touched the tip of his nose, and waited for the two to pass him before trailing behind at the back of the line and returning to the house together.
Just as the three of them walked around the bamboo grove in the courtyard and were about to enter the house, a commotion suddenly came from outside the courtyard wall. Soon after, a suspicious soldier dressed in night clothes was brought before them.
The King of Zhen glanced at the soldier, then tossed the mud-stained cane to Yan Shang and stepped into the inner room.
Shinju stopped in the main hall and scanned the person with his divine sense.
The other guards violently searched the man's clothes and found a letter that had been sewn inside. Then the gag in his mouth was removed, and his muffled cries turned into pleas for mercy.
"They have bound my wife and children, forcing me to report His Majesty's injuries back to the palace. I did not betray His Majesty willingly! I deserve to die, but what have my young children and wife done? I beg Your Majesty to have mercy... No, no, General! Please save my wife and children!"
Yan Shang held the letter in his hand, his eyes lowered as he read it carefully, never giving the soldier a second glance.
The guards holding the soldier were trembling with rage, but since the interrogation wasn't over, they couldn't beat him to death. They could only grab the man's collar tightly, gritting their teeth and shouting, "If you want to be a traitor, how dare you ask His Majesty to save your family! If we hadn't intercepted this letter... His Majesty's life was barely saved. At a time when we're surrounded by enemies, you still send out messages. Isn't that tantamount to plotting against His Majesty?! How can you face His Majesty?! How can you face so many of your colleagues?!"
"Waaah..." Seeing that their pleas were hopeless, the soldiers gradually broke down and cried.
"It's the palace again." Upon hearing this, Shinjuku's thoughts drifted away, letting them wander to the red walls thousands of miles away.
The capital city, the imperial palace.
Zhao Kelin, who spends his days clocking in and resting on a small table at the Imperial Hospital rather than returning to the Zhao family, received some unusual news today.
"The Emperor?" Zhao Kelin felt that this matter was not simple, but to know the exact details, he had to go back to that home.
So he handed over his shift early that day and rushed back to the Zhao family.
When he saw his father and elder brother in the hall, he became even more certain of the rumor and silently clenched his ten fingers in his sleeves.
He pushed the door open completely, and Zhao Qianheng, who was speaking, immediately stopped and turned to look at him.
"A rare guest indeed." The head of the Zhao family put down his teacup, his eyes reflecting a glint of water, cold and indifferent. "Having been away from home for so long, he has even forgotten the etiquette of knocking before entering the house."
Zhao Kelin gave a perfunctory apology, then stood by the table like a flag planted in the ground, clearly intending to eavesdrop on their conversation.
Zhao Qianheng realized what was happening and said with great distress, "If it weren't for inquiring about that eunuch, you wouldn't even want to go home once in a while, would you?"
Zhao Kelin remained silent.
Seeing his unyielding attitude, Zhao Qianheng smiled bitterly and continued the previous topic, "That person was attacked in Yuncheng, and his fate is still unknown..."
"!!" Hatred instantly surged in Zhao Kelin's eyes. He dared not ask, nor dared he even think, whether the Yan family was behind this. He could no longer escape this family...
"There should have been news back, but there has been no news for a long time. The worst outcome is that the accompanying team was also attacked and no one survived."
"Impossible!!" Zhao Kelin blurted out, his fingernails leaving deep crescent-shaped marks on his hands.
But as soon as he finished speaking, he felt a wave of powerlessness wash over him. He recalled the jealous look in Consort Yan's eyes as she looked at Zhen Su, and the image of the boy who used to call him "A Lin" under the moonlit flowers flashed through his mind—he was probably lying in a pool of blood now. Zhao Kelin panicked and stumbled backward, his back slamming into the antique shelf, causing the porcelain vases on it to sway and nearly fall over.
"Impossible...no way, no way!" He kept denying it, until he couldn't tell if he was talking to others or just trying to convince himself. "He's just a servant, why should we involve him! He's not an obstacle to your plans at all!! Are you just going to obey Consort Yan's orders and let her be the master in everything?! She's a madwoman!!"
As he finished speaking, Zhao Kelin's eyes welled up with tears, his face dejected, and he muttered to himself, "Don't hurt Aqing..."
His father's face immediately stiffened, and he slammed his fist on the table. "You scoundrel! What kind of behavior is this! To put on such a show for some nobody, are you deliberately trying to disgust me?"
Zhao Kelin forced a smile, but found he couldn't even muster the strength to make a self-deprecating joke. His gaze was fixed, and without looking up, he bowed to his father before turning and storming out the door.
Zhao Qianheng wanted to give chase, but was stopped by the Zhao family head, "Why chase him? If he continues to be so stubborn, we'll just pretend our Zhao family doesn't have him! How can a noble family tolerate such filth?"
Zhao Qianheng: "..."
That night, Zhao Kelin quietly packed his bags. Before fleeing outside the city, he glanced at his mother's room, hesitated for a long time, and finally went inside. Just as he was about to say goodbye to his mother, he was suddenly knocked unconscious by a servant hiding behind the door with a stick.
Imperial kitchen.
"Hey, Little Dunzi, do you have a moment? Could you help me take this basket of hot stones to press down the stove? Thanks." A royal chef rubbed his aching back, poured a pot of cold drink, and placed it on Chef Wu's small table.
Xiao Dunzi, who was about to be called by a palace maid to help, immediately greeted her and ran back to the kitchen to help, completely unaware of the resentful glare from the palace maid behind him.
"Wait a minute!" The imperial chef was startled when he saw Xiaodunzi lift the basket with one hand. "Even if you're young, you can't handle such recklessness!"
"It's alright, Uncle E." Xiao Dunzi quickly set up the stove, gave Chef E a hearty laugh, and then sat down at Uncle Wu's table to drink a cold beverage, letting out a cheerful sigh.
The Imperial Chef E glanced at him and said, "I know you're young and strong and don't take it seriously, but you'll realize your mistakes when you get old."
Xiao Dunzi suddenly said, "Lord Qing's strength is truly great." After saying that, he looked down at his own hands, rubbing the calluses on his palms while recalling that Shinju's hands, which were a size smaller than his own, and the soft touch of those hands on his forehead. His smile deepened.
As soon as he said this, the people in the imperial kitchen would, as usual, show their usual sour expressions and tease him about this kid's habit of always having Qing accompany him.
But today, no one made fun of them; instead, they seemed somewhat embarrassed.
Kodama had a vague feeling about this, but he didn't know why and didn't take it to heart. At this time, Kokeiko, who couldn't stand that the chefs had been taking good care of Kodama since Masakuni left, deliberately came over and began to write extensively about what she had found out.
"I heard that the ceremonial procession that was originally scheduled to welcome His Majesty tomorrow has been canceled. Now it's being said everywhere that His Majesty's entourage has run into trouble and everyone has disappeared!"
“How could so many people just disappear all at once? It’s just a few soldiers, isn’t it?” someone retorted.
Xiao Jingzi, however, stubbornly retorted, "A few soldiers? Would the Scorpion Shadow Palace really close its doors to visitors? Anyone who makes up such a story is just fooling themselves. His Majesty is the Son of Heaven, blessed with boundless fortune, and is certainly safe and sound. But as for those attendants around His Majesty... whether they are alright is another matter!"
At this point, Xiao Jingzi winked at Xiao Dunzi, becoming more and more excited as she spoke, her eyes full of sarcastic provocation.
Unexpectedly, the usually dull-witted Xiaodunzi was not flustered at all. Instead, he remained calm and even kindly reminded him, "Don't talk nonsense about things that could get you killed. Don't implicate everyone."
The people who came with Xiao Jingzi originally planned to watch the excitement, but after hearing what Xiao Dunzi said, they immediately became alert and tried to pull Xiao Jingzi away.
As Xiao Jingzi was being dragged away, she cried out in disbelief, "Aren't you worried that your Lord Qing might have died out there? Maybe he's already been fed to the wild dogs—"
Xiao Dunzi's eyebrows twitched, and a look of displeasure finally appeared on his face. He glared at Xiao Jingzi, suppressing the urge to punch him in the face, grabbed Xiao Jingzi by the collar, and then threw him out the door like a chick.
Xiao Jingzi slipped and fell face-first into the muddy ground outside the kitchen. He was furious and cursed for a long time, but no one came to his aid. Even his companions were too embarrassed to stand up for him and ran away first, leaving him alone to slink away in dejection.
Xiao Dunzi had his own senses and knew that Shinju was very, very far away from him, moving around from time to time, and was obviously still safe and sound. Therefore, these rumors could not shake him in the slightest, but that did not mean he could tolerate others cursing Shinju.
His Majesty and his entourage were originally scheduled to return tomorrow. He had been eagerly anticipating their return for a long time, but now he didn't know what had caused the delay.
A sense of unease was indeed permeating the palace.
Yan Mansion.
"If the Imperial Concubine asks, tell her that His Majesty is well. Don't let her ruin things." Yan Lang, the eldest son of the Yan family, held a jade-bone fan and tapped his palm absently as he instructed the steward beside him.
"Understood, Your Majesty." The clerk bowed and replied, "The astrologer from the Imperial Observatory observed the stars last night and said that His Majesty's Purple Palace is still shining brightly, so His Majesty should indeed be well."
"Hmph, a bunch of useless trash. Fortunately, as long as Jin Shijun is the heir apparent, even if he investigates the Yan family, he won't dare to make a move." Yan Lang's eyes sharpened, and a venomous smile curled at the corner of his mouth. "His Majesty is destined to suffer this in silence—"
After speaking, Yan Lang got up and walked to the door of the secret room. He used his jade fan to press the mechanism to close the door and asked, "Has Shi Jun been brought back yet?"
"They've brought him back. The Third Prince is playing in the Fangfei Garden."
At this moment, in the Fragrant Garden, the Third Prince was blindfolded, playing a game of kite catching chicks with his maids. His chuckling laughter was utterly unbearable to hear. Although the maids echoed his laughter with their silvery chimes, when they saw the Third Prince's hand reaching for them, they would rather jump into the chilly pond of early autumn than have even a speck of their clothing touch him.
"..." After playing around for half a day, the Third Prince hadn't even touched a delicate body. His face flushed with anger, and in the end, it was Xiao Hengzi, who was always by his side, who suffered the consequences. Since the incident of buying the aphrodisiac was exposed, Xiao Hengzi had been reassigned as a blind and mute slave and sent back to the Third Prince's side. The Third Prince always remembered the humiliating memory of that time in front of the latrine whenever he saw him, so he never gave him a kind look. Now, taking advantage of his blindness and muteness, he pressed him down in the pavilion without any psychological pressure, threatening him not to utter a single unpleasant hoarse sound.
"Besides his butt, he's got hardly any flesh on his body. What a disappointment. Get out of here. I'm really furious." The Third Prince disdainfully took a handkerchief handed to him by a servant and wiped his forehead and hands.
With nothing else to do, he suddenly remembered why he had been summoned to the Yan family and casually asked, "What am I to learn this time? You're not going to have the Junior Chamberlain give the lectures again, are you? What's the point of learning about emperors? Isn't sitting on the dragon throne all that makes you an emperor?"
"Hush, walls have ears, Your Highness, be careful what you say," the old servant warned with displeasure.
“Father is still so young, how could it be my turn to ascend the throne? I was thinking of enjoying ten more years of carefree life. Being emperor is full of troubles, just having to hold court every morning is unbearable! I don’t know how Father has managed to keep it up.” For so many years, except for special periods when he was not in the palace, and except for that one time recently, he has never missed a morning court session.
The old servant hesitated for a moment, glanced at the dazed little Hengzi, and instead of shooing him away, whispered in his ear, "With no one pressing down on His Highness, there are many things that can be done. If His Highness is willing, even the eldest princess can help him remove the burden."
The Third Prince hadn't actually been thinking about his elder sister for a long time; his dreams were filled with those captivating golden eyes. However, he was still quite curious about it, so he asked, "What do you want?"
The old servant chuckled, “It’s very easy for a dead person to change their identity. And it’s not uncommon for people in this world to look very similar.”
However, the Third Prince frowned upon hearing this, "If she is no longer the eldest princess, what's the point?"
The old servant's lips twitched involuntarily, and he temporarily gave up trying to persuade her.
But Xiao Hengzi laughed. The Third Prince caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of his eye and stared blankly for several breaths before angrily shouting, "What are you laughing at!"
Xiao Hengzi only uttered one sentence silently—
You can't be emperor.
.
Outside the Chen family villa, carriages, cavalry, and infantry formed a long line. Several soldiers were counting people and their belongings, while in the very center of the imperial carriage, Zhen Su was carrying soft blankets and pillows on it.
This imperial carriage was far more luxurious than the one they had ridden in when they departed from the capital, and several times more spacious inside, pulled by four fine horses. The Prince of Zhen was still recovering from his injuries and could only lie down, but fortunately, there was enough space.
"Is this soft enough? Should we add two more cashmere comforters?"
When Zhenwang saw the thick fleece quilt that Zhenju had just brought, he felt that he was already sweating all over. He quickly grabbed Zhenju's wrist and pulled him to sit on the couch. "Don't bother, sit down, let's go back to the palace."
“…Oh.” Shinjuku hugged the thick quilt, but felt a bit hot, so he put it aside. As soon as he sat down on the edge of the tatami, a pair of hands wrapped around him from behind.
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Author's note: [Edited] I made a few minor polishing changes.
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