Chapter 201 The Qi Family's Pledge of Allegiance

The arrow penetrated into my body, but it was not as painful as I had imagined.

She stood in front of the emperor, and the huge impact caused the emperor to fall backwards along with her.

"Shilan!"

The emperor clearly felt the arrow piercing through her body and hitting his chest.

There were palace maids lying down in front of the emperor to cushion his back, so the emperor would not fall heavily to the ground.

The situation happened suddenly and the empress had no time to think. She hugged the two children in her arms. The servants of Jingren Palace and the people who served the princess surrounded the empress.

The courtiers who were kneeling beside him stood up one after another and surrounded the emperor.

"Guard! Guard!"

"The rebels are still hiding in the dark!"

"Hurry up and protect the emperor, the prince and the ladies and evacuate them! Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

Figures were coming and going, but it was too late.

Just as Prince Dun and his personal soldiers faced the rain of arrows, the same rain of arrows was now coming towards the emperor from that direction.

The night wind was broken by the feather arrows, and the whistling sound continued in the ears.

The guards in front of the emperor fought bravely, some even used their bodies to catch arrows, and the court officials and palace maids risked their lives to protect the emperor and his concubines as they left.

The Sticky Rod Department is the emperor's secret organization. All of their members are highly skilled in martial arts and rarely show up in public. Now that the emperor's life is threatened, Xia Jian can no longer hide.

He led the people from the Sticking Rod Department to clear the way for the emperor.

In front, a group of men in black jumped out from behind the tent and fought with the people at the sticky pole.

The night was too dark, and the sounds of fighting, footsteps, and shouts of killing could be heard from all directions. No one knew where an ambush might lie.

No one dares to act rashly.

The civil official picked up the knife and pointed it into the dark night of uncertainty.

In the dark night, the sound of footsteps came.

Everyone could not help but clench their knives tightly, ready to fight to the death.

The figure of the person coming became clearer and clearer. It was Yu Linjun who came to meet them.

They protected the emperor in three layers inside and outside as he entered the tent.

At this moment, Nian Shilan's consciousness was a little fuzzy. She shouted "Protect the driver" at one moment, "Protect the prince and princess" at another, and "Your Majesty, please go away and don't worry about me" at another moment. Her voice became smaller and smaller.

The emperor shouted anxiously: "Imperial Physician! Send for the Imperial Physician!"

The queen looked at the blood on the emperor's body and felt that something was wrong - wasn't he wearing soft armor? How could he be so badly injured?

Xi Chao broke free from Ye Lanyi's arms, threw himself onto the bed, and cried "mother".

"Mother, you are bleeding, please don't scare Xi Chao, wuwuwuwuwu... Please save my mother!"

Hong Zhao remembered that his uncle knew medicine, so he ran out and forcibly dragged Nian Xiyao inside, "Uncle, please save my mother, she is injured!"

Perhaps it was due to the unexpected assassination attempt, but the emperor was a little flustered. When he saw Nian Xiyao, he ignored the rules and shouted, "Quick! Come and see the Imperial Concubine!"

Nian Xiyao simply checked the location of the wound and took his pulse. He could not hide the panic in his eyes.

His expression was solemn.

"Your Majesty!" Nian Xiyao knelt on the ground and spoke very quickly, "The Queen was shot in a dangerous position, very close to the heart. The current situation is very bad. We must quickly prepare to pull out the arrow and apply medicine to stop the bleeding, otherwise!"

The two children refused to leave, and Nian Xiyao was not in a position to say it explicitly, but everyone understood.

The queen opened her eyelids slightly and her temples twitched twice. She looked at Nian Shilan, whose lips were pale and her brows were tightly furrowed.

Even though today's events were planned in advance, the Queen obviously could no longer distinguish between truth and falsehood.

Nian Xiyao first wrote out a prescription and asked Zhou Ninghai to get the medicine. Seeing that Zhou Ninghai was limping and really inconvenient, Ye Lanyi took the initiative to take over the task and rushed out.

With the arrival of a large number of defense troops and escort troops, the shouting and screaming outside gradually faded away.

The imperial physician came over and arranged all the instruments, but Nian Shilan followed the rules and covered the wound with her hand, mumbling something and not allowing anyone to pull her clothes.

Songzhi tried to pry the imperial concubine's hands away, but the bleeding became more severe, and she cried out "Empress".

"What are you talking about, Madam? Please let go of your hand. It will be too late if you don't pull out the arrow."

[I am not one of those bastards... I am the emperor's woman, how can I let a foreign man look at me so casually? ]

Nian Shilan's inner voice was also very weak and intermittent.

The emperor was inevitably moved by what he heard. He sat down beside the bed and said, "Shilan, I'm here. If I say yes, then yes!"

"emperor……"

Nian Shilan has difficulty lifting her eyelids.

"It's me, it's me, I'm here, don't be afraid!"

“… Let’s go~”

The emperor hurriedly said, "The traitor has been arrested, and the imperial physician is not an outsider. Please release your hand and heal the wound first."

Nian Shilan shook her head in confusion, "No, I can't..."

[The Emperor is the most suspicious. It’s okay now, but if he finds me unfaithful and dishonest later, he can punish me. But Zhao’er and Xi’er must not be implicated… Brother and the Nian family must not be implicated…]

Emperor: "Shilan!"

Nian Xiyao took her pulse and urged, "My queen, my elder brother is here. Please let go of your hand and remove the arrow to stop the bleeding. We can talk about other things later, okay?"

Nian Shilan didn't have the strength to say more, she just held the feather arrow tightly in her hand.

No one dared to force her hands away.

Just when everyone was at a loss, Yin Zhu came out from behind the crowd, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! I know medical skills, I can help you remove the arrow!"

"Hurry! Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

The emperor signaled her with his eyes to come over quickly without having to bow and kneel.

Yin Zhu stepped forward and whispered a few soothing words into Nian Shilan's ear, coaxing her to let go. Then she raised her head and asked the emperor to leave.

"Your Majesty, pulling out the arrow will inevitably result in bloodshed. Your Majesty is afraid that blood will be unlucky for Your Majesty, so please wait outside."

"What nonsense! The Royal Concubine was injured for my sake. How could I..."

"Your Majesty!" Nian Xiyao was really worried about his sister, so he interrupted and urged, "Your Majesty is in a critical condition and cannot be delayed. You should leave first."

"Your Majesty, please consider the country and the people. Your health is the most important thing. Even if you don't consider the Royal Consort, you must consider the two children."

The Queen advised: "I will stay inside with the Royal Concubine."

Hongzhao said, "Don't be afraid, sister. Mother will be fine." The emperor's eyes were filled with tears. He hugged Xichao and led Hongzhao out.

The camp conditions were simple, Songzhi ordered people to bring a screen, and Nian Xiyao knelt beside the bed with his head down to facilitate immediate handling of any accidents.

The imperial doctors knelt outside the screen, ready to be dispatched at any time.

The emperor was sitting outside the screen watching. He wanted to have someone take the two children away, but Xi Chao refused, so he could only hold the two children in his arms.

The Empress was afraid that the Emperor would notice something, and was even more afraid that she would be careless and cause the Imperial Concubine to say something she shouldn't. So she just sat at the head of the bed, holding Nian Shilan's hand, not daring to say a word.

Following Nian Xiyao's instructions, Yin Zhu used scissors to cut open Nian Shilan's clothes.

Ye Lanyi brought in the boiled medicine and fed it to Nian Shilan. Seeing that Yin Zhu was too slow in cutting the clothes, she couldn't wait any longer.

"I'll do it!"

Swish—she gritted her teeth and pulled, and the fabric tore along the direction of the cut, and the wedding dress and inner clothes were torn apart layer by layer.

The wound was disturbed and began to bleed.

The queen looked at the blood-stained white skin and couldn't help but open her mouth:

She was not wearing silver armor or a breastplate, she was really pierced through by an arrow!

"Why are you so stupid?"

The queen's lips moved, silently complaining: "We had clearly discussed it all, everything was planned, how could you be so stupid as to actually use your own body to catch the arrow?"

Nian Shilan held her hand tightly, [Don't be afraid! ]

The pain forced her mind to clear up, and she caught a glimpse of the shadow on the screen, [Your Majesty, don't be afraid! My brother is a general, he will lead the army to protect you! ]

[You traitors and thieves, don't even think about harming the emperor...]

When the arrow head and feathers were cut off, Nian Shilan felt obvious pain.

[It hurts... Hong Zhao, Xi Chao... Brother... Huang...]

The queen felt the strength in her hands increase a little.

The emperor could not help but stand up and said through the screen: "Shilan, don't be afraid! I and the child are here!"

Yin Zhu was holding a medicine bag ready. The moment Ye Lanyi pulled out the arrow shaft, Yin Zhu immediately pressed the wound with the medicine bag.

Nian Shilan didn't want the two children to hear their nightmares, so she gritted her teeth and tried not to say anything.

The queen's frown deepened.

Zhen Huan and Shan Yanzhu heard that the Royal Concubine was injured, so they hurried over. Just then, a maid came in with a basin of hot water, and the water had changed color.

"How is the Imperial Concubine?"

The emperor shook his head and said, "You guys go in and take a look."

The tent was filled with the smell of blood.

Zhen Huan and Shan Yanzhu turned around the screen and saw Nian Shilan sweating profusely and fainting on the empress, while Ye Lanyi was assisting and Yin Zhu was bandaging the imperial concubine.

The emperor could not hear Nian Shilan's voice and asked anxiously, "Why is there no sound? How is the Royal Concubine? Is Shilan okay?"

After Nian Xiyao finished taking the emperor's pulse, Xichao broke free from the emperor's hand, rushed to his uncle, and asked with sobs:

"Uncle, is my mother okay?"

"The Royal Concubine...will be fine." Nian Xiyao looked at Hong Zhao, "It's getting late, brother, take your sister to rest first. When the Royal Concubine wakes up tomorrow, she will definitely want to see you and the princess."

Hong Zhao was sensible and coaxed his sister to leave.

Seeing that he could not help here, Zhou Ninghai personally led people to send the prince and princess back to the camp and to look after the queen's children.

Hong Zhao and Xi Chao walked out first, and the emperor asked, "How is the Imperial Concubine?"

"Your Majesty, the Imperial Concubine's pulse is weak, the situation is..." Nian Xiyao frowned, his face heavy, and the second half of the sentence he didn't finish was clearly "not good", "Everything will have to wait until we get through tonight before we can say anything."

"What does it mean to survive tonight?"

Nian Xiyao did not explain, "I will stay with the Royal Concubine until she wakes up."

Zhen Huan and Shan Yanzhu stepped forward to support the emperor, "Your Majesty, the Royal Concubine is blessed by heaven, nothing will happen to her."

"Yes, Your Majesty, Your Majesty has Your Majesty's grace and protection, so you will be safe. Your Majesty, please take care of yourself."

The two of them helped the emperor to sit down. Su Peisheng immediately asked the imperial physician to come forward to check the emperor's pulse. The waiter brought clean clothes. Zhen Huan and Shan Yanzhu helped the emperor to another place to help him change clothes and wash up.

At this time General Qi, Shan Yanzhu's brother and others came to report the situation in the camp, and the emperor asked Zhen Huan and Shan Yanzhu to withdraw.

"Your Majesty, the assassins have been brought under control. According to the survivors, they are all... Prince Dun's men."

The emperor slammed his fist on the table. "I knew it was him! I didn't expect he had a trick up his sleeve!"

General Qi knelt on his knees and said, "I was not careful enough to know that Prince Dun had ambushed such a group of assassins in advance, which put the emperor in danger. It is my fault. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

Shan Yanzhu's brother handed over a letter with both hands, "I found this in Prince Dun's tent."

Su Peisheng took the letter to the emperor, which was a secret letter between Longkodo and Prince Dun.

After reading it, the emperor snorted coldly: When you are not here, you have done a lot of things, what a wolfish ambition!

Shilan said that Longkodo was poisoned to death by the Empress Dowager two years ago in his previous life. In this life, she saw that Longkodo was a well-behaved boy and did not want to kill more people. She did not expect that she was too kind.

"It's not your fault. Someone planned this for him! - Pass on my order. Longkodo will return to the court. If he resists and escapes, he will be executed on the spot!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After the matter was reported, General Qi and others withdrew. Su Peisheng presented the emperor with a cup of ginseng soup, hoping that the emperor would rest early, and then someone from the Sticking Pole Department ran in.

"emperor!"

When the emperor saw that the person coming was not Xia Qie, he had a bad feeling in his heart, "What's wrong?"

"Your Majesty, Lord Xia...was seriously injured and unfortunately passed away."

"What?"

The emperor's cup lid fell onto the teacup with a clang.

Xia Jie died.

Not only Xia Qie, but several other key personnel in the Sticking Pole Department were killed by assassins while protecting their drivers.

The two groups of assassins that appeared later were not Prince Dun's men, but assassins arranged by Concubine Duan's family.

The emperor believed that women were narrow-minded and would only engage in minor quarrels and fight and rob men all their lives.

Little did he know that Yixiu, Qi Yuebin, and Nian Shilan, these seemingly incompatible women, could put aside their personal grudges and work together for great things.

Qi Yuebin and Nian Shilan both knew that having one more person to support him would only benefit Hongzhao and not harm him. The queen could certainly understand this.

That day, the Empress went to Danbo Ningjing to find Concubine Duan, not to provoke her or force her to retreat, but to have a frank negotiation with her.

The Qi family wants to rely on the young emperor, that’s fine, but they must be sincere.

The dead bodies of these assassins were the "letters of surrender" of the Qi family.

From then on, there was no turning back for the Qi family.

The Queen stayed with the Royal Concubine all night, and Nian Shilan did not wake up until late the next day.

Nian Xiyao took the pulse and wrote a prescription, and Ye Lanyi personally took the medicine and boiled it, not daring to take her eyes away from the medicine stove for a moment.

Songzhi brought in a bowl of porridge. Nian Shilan finished eating without hearing the queen speak, so she couldn't help but ask in her heart:

[Why don't you say anything? Aren't you happy that I woke up? ]

The queen glanced at her and stood up to leave. Nian Shilan reached out her hand from under the quilt and grabbed the corner of the queen's clothes.

[What's wrong? Did the emperor blame you? ]

[I can't guess what you're thinking, why do you have to play dumb with me? ]

The Queen thought she would never give up until she got the answer, so she asked Songzhi and the others to wait outside.

"Why don't you follow the plan?"

[According to the plan? Wearing soft armor to catch the arrow? Do you think it is feasible? ]

"You know what your brother said, if the arrow goes down three inches, you will die!" The queen suppressed her voice, but she couldn't suppress her worry. "You have other ideas, don't you know to discuss it with me in advance?"

"You make the decision without authorization, do you know..."

【Are you worried about me? 】

Nian Shilan's originally fair skin became more and more like a white porcelain doll due to blood loss. She curled her lips and looked at the queen with expectation in her eyes.

The queen had just sat down, but she stood up immediately after hearing this.

[I was just joking, why did you take it so seriously? You are so stingy. ]

[Sit down, I'll tell you slowly.] Nian Shilan tugged at her clothes and blinked, "Sit down~"

The queen sat down reluctantly.