Chapter 117: Entrusted with an Important Task
Chapter 117
The shadowy guard knelt on the ground, his forehead pressed against the cold earth, his voice trembling: "I haven't investigated the matter yet, but you deserve death."
"You useless thing, you deserve to die." The third prince took a step forward and drew out the sword from Ying San's waist with a "clang". A cold light flashed, and the tip of the sword had already sunk into Ying San's chest. Blood gushed out and splashed all over the third prince.
Ying San opened his eyes wide, made a hoarse sound in his throat, and then fell heavily to the ground, finally without a sound.
Looking at Ying San lying in a pool of blood, Ying Qi, another secret guard kneeling beside him, suddenly had his eyelids twitched. His hands hanging at his sides were clenched until they turned pale. He lowered his head even more and breathed more lightly.
The Third Prince threw the still-drenched knife to the ground and said in a voice as cold as ice, "Go check it out."
Ying Qi kowtowed tremblingly: "As you command."
After saying this, he secretly glanced at his companion who had already died but still had his eyes open, gritted his teeth and knelt down to retreat to the door, then stood up, turned around and left quickly.
When he arrived outside the courtyard, the two waiting secret guards saw him come out alone, their expressions suddenly changed. One of them hurried forward, his voice filled with anxiety, "Why are you alone? Where's Ying San?"
Ying Qi's face was as cold as frost, and two words squeezed out from his lips: "Dead."
The other man's fists clenched so tightly that their knuckles turned white. "Ying San has served Your Highness for over a decade. What happened today was clearly not his fault. Why is the Master so cruel?"
At this point, his voice, which had been kept very low, was choked with sobs. "Dozens of us brothers have sacrificed our lives for Your Highness's cause. Now, there are less than ten left, and most of them died in vain and in vain."
At this point, hatred suddenly flashed in his eyes: "How about we..."
Ying Qi turned around abruptly, his eyes as sharp as a knife, and shouted in a low voice: "Shut up!"
The two of them fell silent immediately, but their eyes, looking towards the study, were filled with uncalmed waves of grief, anger, fear, and even a bit of sadness for their own kind.
Ying Qi closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he opened his eyes again, he had regained his usual calmness.
He reached out and tugged at their sleeves, his voice low, "It's time to get back to work. If you delay any longer, I don't know if the next person lying there will be you or me."
The three of them looked at each other, said no more, turned around and disappeared into the thick night.
---
When the Third Prince returned to his study, dressed in his dark-colored uniform, the room had been tidied, devoid of any trace of blood. The curls of freshly lit ambergris rose from the incense burner, suppressing even the last trace of blood.
He brushed his sleeves and sat down, his eyes dark enough to drip water: "Come here."
Soon, a green-robed attendant entered, bowing his head and standing respectfully: "Third Prince."
The Third Prince said, "Go to the Zhang family and tell Master Zhang that the account book has been lost. Ask them to secretly send more people to search for it. Even if it is destroyed, it must not fall into the hands of irrelevant people."
The attendant bowed and accepted the order, then retreated quietly.
The study fell silent. The Third Prince sat quietly for a moment, then suddenly stood up and walked towards the inner bookshelf. He raised his hand and turned the vase on the third shelf. The bookshelf quietly slid open, revealing a deep passage.
After passing through the passage, a spacious secret room appeared before the eyes. On the wall opposite the door, there was a dragon throne. On the shelf against the wall on the other side, there was a bright yellow dragon robe embroidered with a five-clawed golden dragon.
He walked forward slowly, his fingertips gently stroking the fine dragon patterns on the dragon robe, with burning desire surging in his eyes.
Finally, he took off the dragon robe and put it on, spread his wide sleeves, turned around and sat upright on the dragon throne.
He clenched the armrests with both hands, closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, then suddenly lowered his voice and imitated the kneeling of court officials: "Long live His Majesty, long live His Majesty, long live His Majesty!"
Then he raised his right hand again, imitating Emperor Kangwen's usual gesture, and the corner of his lips curled up in a smile: "My lords, please stand."
Then he replied to himself: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."
After doing all this, a faint smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. After a long time, he slowly opened his eyes and looked at the cold and empty secret room. The smile on his mouth disappeared instantly.
He slowly stood up from the dragon throne, took off the dragon robe, carefully put the dragon robe back on the rosewood frame, then walked out of the secret room and returned to the study.
As soon as he sat down on the chair, he heard the voice of his confidant outside reporting: "Your Highness, Doctor Su is here."
The Third Prince collected his thoughts and returned to his usual cold tone: "Come in."
The door opened, and Su Shang, dressed in Miao garb, bowed and entered. After bowing and greeting, he asked in a low voice, "Your Highness summoned me so urgently at this time of night. I wonder what urgent matter is there?"
The Third Prince didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked at him scrutinizingly, his tone filled with obvious impatience and anger. "You originally said it would be Mid-Autumn Festival at the latest. But how long has it been since Mid-Autumn Festival? How come you're still lying peacefully in the palace?"
Su Shang's eyelids drooped slightly, avoiding the intimidating gaze, his voice remaining steady: "Your Highness, if the original plan is followed, His Majesty should indeed pass away around the Mid-Autumn Festival."
"Unexpectedly, the Empress Dowager suddenly took action and placed His Majesty's daily life and food under strict supervision, like an iron barrel."
"I really don't dare to use strong medicine rashly, for fear of alerting the enemy and implicating Your Highness and myself. Therefore, I can only slow down the effect of the medicine and take it slowly..."
"I don't want to hear these excuses." The Third Prince's patience ran out. He suddenly waved his sleeve, interrupting his explanation. Anger rolled between his brows and he asked through gritted teeth, "Just tell me how long you have to wait?"
Su Shang took a deep breath, lowered his head even lower, and uttered two words clearly: "According to the current dosage, it will take one month at the fastest and three months at the slowest."
The Third Prince frowned and sneered, "One month? Three months?"
He leaned forward, his eyes fierce. "You should know that Prince Shen has come from Lingnan and is heading for the capital. Although I have sent people to intercept him along the way, I am afraid I cannot stop him for long."
His voice suddenly turned cold. "Five days. I will only give you five days. I must see the result."
"Otherwise, when Prince Shen arrives in the capital, your good brother who serves in Prince Shen's mansion will definitely accompany him. By then, I'm afraid your troubles will be no less than mine."
Su Shang pursed his lips into a line, and finally bowed: "Yes, I understand."
Before he could finish his words, a sudden burst of hurried, chaotic footsteps could be heard outside the corridor. A trusted guard, completely disregarding etiquette, rushed to the study door and banged heavily on it. Without waiting for a response from inside, he spoke in a panic, "Your Highness, something terrible has happened!"
The Third Prince frowned, and was about to scold the visitor for not knowing the rules when he heard him gasp, "Prince Shen, His Highness Prince Shen, he entered the city through the north gate!"
The Third Prince suddenly stood up from his seat, his sleeve knocking over the teacup on the table without him noticing. He could only mutter in disbelief, "Who did you say entered the city?!"
"It's King Shen." The people outside the gate were so anxious that they were about to jump up and down. "King Shen brought his men and horses and entered the city through the north gate."
The Third Prince's face suddenly changed. He rushed to the door, flung it open, and his gaze cut through the pale face of the guard who had brought the news. "How is this possible? Where are the people I sent out to intercept him? Are they all useless? Who is on duty at the North Gate tonight? Who had the audacity to open the city gate without permission?"
He asked a series of harsh questions, and the person who reported the news was so scared that his face turned pale and he suddenly knelt on the ground.
He didn't know the details and couldn't answer them one by one. He only picked out the last one he knew and replied, "Tonight, the Imperial Guards are guarding the North Gate. It was Lord He, the commander of the Imperial Guards, who personally ordered the gate to be opened."
"He! Ming!" The third prince squeezed out the name from between his teeth, and felt a rush of blood to the top of his head. His temples were throbbing, and his head suddenly felt splitting with pain. His eyes went black, his body swayed, and he almost fell down.
The guards and Su Shang hurriedly supported him: "Is your highness okay?"
The Third Prince felt a chill run down his spine. He pressed his hand against his forehead, his voice trembling with extreme anger. "Where's he? Which direction did he go?"
The guard fell to the ground and trembled as he said, "He headed straight for the palace."
The Third Prince's pupils suddenly shrank. Without saying anything more, he pushed aside the guards blocking his way and rushed out with big strides: "Gather all the men and prepare the horses! Follow me into the palace immediately!"
The night wind carried a murderous atmosphere as the Third Prince rushed to the palace gate with a group of palace soldiers and guards.
However, the vermilion palace gate had long been closed, and the area in front of the gate was empty, with only the cold wind wrapped in snow particles whistling past. Where was the trace of Prince Shen's carriage?
He reined in his horse, raised his head, and shouted sternly toward the tower: "Open the city gate immediately."
On the city wall, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard appeared upon hearing the voice. He bowed solemnly towards Chengming Palace before lowering his head and replying, "Your Highness, Third Prince, His Majesty has just issued an oral order: The palace has been closed. No one is allowed to enter or leave tonight. Please return to your residence and meet with the Emperor tomorrow morning."
Upon hearing this, the Third Prince laughed out loud as if he had just heard some ridiculous joke: "Your Majesty's order?"
"Your Majesty has been ill in bed for several months. I have served by your side day and night, but I have never heard Your Majesty say a single word."
His tone suddenly turned harsh, "Tell me, where did this 'oral instruction' come from?"
The deputy commander of the Imperial Guard stood atop the city wall, his figure standing tall and straight like a pine tree in the light. He clasped his fists and saluted the Third Prince, his voice calm and composed, "Your Highness, the Emperor's orders naturally come from the Emperor. The palace is a restricted area, and the night is cold and frosty. Please take care of yourself and return home first."
The Third Prince narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze suddenly cold, and he gritted his teeth and ordered: "I command you to open the door immediately."
The deputy commander of the Imperial Guard spoke respectfully as usual, but his attitude was remarkably firm: "It is my duty, and I cannot obey your orders. I hope Your Highness will not blame me."
The Third Prince was almost mad with anger at this stubborn attitude. He raised his hand and the soldiers behind him all drew their bows and arrows, ready to shoot at any time.
The Imperial Guards raised their shields, setting up a defensive formation. The deputy commander, hiding behind a shield, loudly warned, "Your Highness, are you trying to break into the palace? This is a serious crime of treason!"
The word "treason" was like cold water poured over his head, making the third prince suddenly sober up.
He gripped the reins tightly, staring at the group of Yulin guards who had turned against him in the middle of a battle, but he could do nothing about it. He gritted his teeth and ordered, "Return home."
But when he rode his horse back to the mansion, before he even reached the door, he saw a fire rising into the sky, and the sounds of weapons clashing and shouting were deafening.
He trembled all over and almost fell off his horse. He whipped the horse hard and rushed forward. As soon as he fell off the horse, he was surrounded by dozens of spears.
---
Cining Palace.
Meng Yuning held the heavy red gold token and felt it was a little hot.
She knew that this was not just a reward, but also the burden of the entire harem was entrusted to her. She was deeply moved by the Queen Mother's trust in her and the fact that she was entrusted with such an important task as soon as they met.
But she felt that she was not strong enough and did not dare to accept it, so she sent the token back to the Queen Mother and wanted to return it to her.
The Queen Mother, however, grasped her hand, pressing the token back into her palm without allowing it to be refused. She then gently cupped her fingers and said, "Good girl, take it. I'm only asking you to share some of the burden. I'm not so cruel as to leave this whole mess to you."
Seeing Meng Yuning still hesitating, the Queen Mother patted the back of her hand and said earnestly, "You will have to take over sooner or later. Now just treat it as practice and get familiar with it."
Meng Yuning agreed. When Yi'er ascends the throne and Qi Jingyan becomes the regent, she, as the regent princess, will definitely have to help temporarily manage the affairs of the harem.
Yi'er is still young, and it will take many years for him to get married and take power. Sooner or later, this responsibility will fall on his shoulders.
Even if she couldn't handle it, she had to bite the bullet for Yi'er. Now that she had the Queen Mother's personal guidance, it was a good time to learn and gain experience.
Thinking of this, Meng Yuning no longer refused and solemnly agreed: "Your Highness obeys your command."
The Queen Mother's brows relaxed and she showed a pleased smile: "Good boy, you are responsible."
Cai Yuezhao, standing by, could no longer contain her joy and was happy for An Ning from the bottom of her heart: "An Ning, don't worry, the Empress Dowager will make all the decisions! Besides, I'm also in the palace. If you encounter anything that requires your help, I'll help you!"
As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeves, rubbing her hands together, ready to take action at any time.
Meng Yuning burst out laughing at her amusing words: "Then I'd like to thank Sister Zhao first."
The Queen Mother pretended to be displeased and glared at Cai Yuezhao: "You girl, you are only afraid that the world will not be in chaos. When will you let me have some peace of mind?" Although she said so, her eyes were full of doting.
Cai Yuezhao laughed out loud.
Meng Yuning carefully put the token into her waist pouch and pressed it gently. Just as she was done, she heard a palace maid outside announce, "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, Imperial Concubine Zhang requests an audience."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
