The Jingxi Palace and the Jingchen Palace were built next to each other. The former was the residence of the Grand Prince Sima Ruo, and the latter was the residence of Prince Ray. The two princes had always been regarded as the most powerful competitors for the throne. Their palaces were adjacent, and they were compared day by day. The comments made the two form opposite characters.
Sima Ray was well adapted to this life of scams. He learned to be more ruthless than others, and Sima Ruo was undoubtedly the most tragic character in this political struggle. His rebellions each time was a cry at the end of his rope.
At a hidden corner door of the Jingxi Palace, a woman in a black cloak had been waiting for Qin Yunuan for a long time. Seeing Qin Yunuan from afar, she hurried up.
“Infanta Ping, you are finally here.”
Qin Yunuan lifted off her brim and glanced at the woman in front of her. She is a typical gentle beauty in the regions south of the River with slender eyebrows and beautiful eyes.
“Not everyone is as bold as Imperial Concubine Yang,” Qin Yunuan said, and the woman lowered her head in shame. Qin Yunuan softened her tone, “But Imperial Concubine Yang was bold and careful to think of delivering news with the royal tributes.”
Imperial Concubine Yang shook her head, “It’s not my credits. It was the Grand Prince who begged me to do it one day. The Imperial Concubine Yun once saved my life. I had to agree.”
Did Yun Imperial Concubine have a life-saving grace for such a little-known concubine? Qin Yunuan immediately revealed a surprised look on her face. Imperial Concubine Yang said anxiously, “Actually, the Imperial Concubine is not as bad as many people thought. She was forced on many occasions. After all, in the Royal Palace, it is either your death or others….”
“Imperial Concubine Yang,” Qin Yunuan calmly interrupted Yang’s words, “If you really want me to help the Grand Prince and Princess, you should not continue your talk of nonsense here.”
Imperial Concubine Yang quickly led Qin Yunuan into the back door, saying, “Most of the court ladies and eunuchs in the Jingxi Palace are now for Her Majesty. Prince Ray could even observe the Jingxi Palace directly from the Jingchen Palace.”
As they entered the inner hall, the trembling gloom contrasted with the singing and dancing banquet outside, and there is not even a waitress. Sometimes the sounds of a woman vomiting came from the dark corner, yelling as if it was tearing her heart out. The voice was dry, gloomy, with a desperate smell of dust.
Imperial Concubine Yang had retreated silently. By the moonlight spilling from the window and the light of her candlestick, Qin Yunuan vaguely saw Saichun, who was lying on the edge of the bed, trying to vomit desperately with her fingers in her throat. After only several months, Saichun was no longer the young heroine on the hunting ground. She looked hungry, and her complexion was as terrible as a refugee. She looked up at Qin Yunuan. Surprise flashed in her eyes. After just a moment, she said in a relieved tone, “Why? You are here, too? Did Her Majesty send you to take me on the road?” Saichun said, clutching her lower abdomen tightly. “You are so cruel to not even spare my unborn child a life. I know that every time the anti-abortifacient Her Majesty sent were actually harmful to me. I will spit out all of it. I will not let her succeed.”
Qin Yunuan didn’t speak. Behind her, there’s a crisp sound of a teacup falling. Sima Ruo was holding a cup of hot water at the door, and the appearance of Qin Yunuan was unbelievable in his eyes.
“Infanta Ping.” Sima Ruo stepped closer and supported Saichun, who was crooked and weak, “You came. I know you would understand my drawing.”
Qin Yunuan said indifferently, “North Di abounds in cattle and sheep. Grand Prince, you use cattle and sheep to refer to you and the Grand Princess from North Di. You are blocked by a fence full of thorns, meaning that you are actually under house arrest. The lady who holds a sharp dagger and wants to kill a sheep, if I guessed right, you mean that Empress Chen wants to remove you using Sima Ray’s hands, right?”
“No,” Sima Ruo shook his head. He looked a little nervous, “I’m worried that Empress Chen wants to kill my father, the emperor.”
Qin Yunuan was startled, “Her Majesty wants the emperor dead?”
“Well,” Sima Ruo said in a deep voice, “I thought that Empress Chen’s target was my concubine and me. My mother had been resting quietly in the Royal Palace for a long time because of the cold, and the Jingxi Palace was also cut off from the outside half a month ago. But since yesterday, I found that most of the masters who monitored the Jingxi Palace had retreated. I guessed that they all went to the Yongchang Palace, where the emperor was holding the banquet.”
“How could you be so sure?” Qin Yunuan raised her eyebrows slightly. In the beginning, she thought that she was just going to help Sima Ruo escape. But now, if the emperor was involved, that could be more than a trivial matter.
Sima Ruo smiled indifferently. His refined smile drew Qin Yunuan into a trance. In such a case, there were still people who can laugh out so calmly.
“Mud.” Sima Ruo smiled, “I found the mud that the Jingxi Palace could not have under the courtyard corner yesterday. The royal mud of West Xia, it was especially used to grow the green Begonia. For this banquet, my father had ordered all the green Begonia to be moved to the Yongchang Palace as an embellishment yesterday. I have eight in ten certainties. Infanta Ping, do you trust me?”
Qin Yunuan was silent. Her black eyes looked deep into Sima Ruo’s dark eyes for a long time. The cause and effect could be unprecedented. If one move was wrong, they would lose completely.
The night of the Jingxi Palace was so quiet that you could hear the thin but heavy breathing of the three people and the sound of the sword unsheathed between the songs and dances in the Yongchang Palace.
Emperor Zhaoxuan sat at the front seat, squinting and watching the North Di dancers performing on the center stage with very admiring eyes. Leng Changxi pinched the wine cup, Leng Shuang was whispering the latest news in his ears. He frowned after the words finished, but soon his face returned to normal.
Sima Ray, on his opposite, took the initiative to talk, “General Leng was silent all night, are you worried about Madam Leng?”
Leng Changxi didn’t even look at Sima Ray, “Nuan always takes good care of herself.”
“Oh? Really?” Sima Ray’s eyes inadvertently glanced away. His fingertips slightly raised towards the wine cup. Leng Changxi spotted the unperceivable movement. He knew that it was a secret code.
“What did you do with your hand, Prince Ray?” Leng Changxi called out suddenly. While eyes gathered on Sima Ray in surprise, a black assassin hidden among the musicians had already jumped into the air. He pulled out the soft sword in his sleeve and ran straight towards Emperor Zhaoxuan.
This person had excellent light skills. His speed was very fast, like a flying arrow.
But immediately, a faster shadow followed him up. The two people were slashing swords on the table filled with delicious dishes. The noble ministers in the hall were all panicked and fled on their own.
Seeing that their force was weakened, other assassins immediately came to help. In a few moments, three or five black assassins rushed out of the servants and dancers with their daggers and soft swords. They thought that it would be easy to deal with a few fighters. But they didn’t expect that two rows of black armored soldiers rushed into the palace, each strong and powerful. The fight came to a stalemate.
Leng Changxi caught the right moment and threw out a pair of ivory chopsticks in his hand, directly hitting the hearts of two assassins. The fight soon came to an end. Although the banquet was messy, the battle ended extremely cleanly and decisively, and no one was injured.
Seeing that the black assassins had been taken down one by one, Eunuch You climbed out from behind the pillar, tremblingly under Emperor Zhaoxuan’s feet, “I came late to save… save you. My Majesty, I hope… I hope….”
“Go away.” Emperor Zhaoxuan kicked the fake minion away. Although he also experienced military life as a young man, he was unavoidably frightened under the haste. Empress Chen performed very well, instead of running away, her first reaction was protecting Emperor Zhaoxuan with her body in front of him. She accidentally sprained my ankle for it, which moved Emperor Zhaoxuan.
“Help Her Majesty to rest in the palace.” Emperor Zhaoxuan looked distressed.
“No,” tears circled in Empress Chen’s eyes, “I will not leave. I will accompany you, my emperor.”
Emperor Zhaoxuan comforted Empress Chen, and the next sentence was directed at Leng Changxi. “Leng General should be awarded for your successful escort. These assassins were so bold that they dare to assassinate me when I feast the North Di messenger. Take him down and interrogate carefully. Grand Prince of North Di, you must be terrified.”
At this moment, an assassin suddenly moved his jaw. Leng Changxi was sharp-eyed and immediately stepped forward, quickly grabbing his jaw and pulling hard until it dislocated.
“General Cold, you…” Sima Ray stood up, trembling. He concealed his emotions very well. Like everyone else, he was just a frightened prince.
Leng Changxi glanced at Sima Ray with cold eyes but ordered Leng Wu to take out a red bean-sized poison bag from the assassin’s mouth. If Leng Changxi hadn’t discovered it in time, the venom would have killed the assassin.
“This assassin wanted to kill himself,” Leng Changxi explained. “I can’t let him die. If he died, I wouldn’t be able to ask anything.” Leng Changxi finished. His eyes sized Sima Ray up.
Sima Ray’s eyes twitched slightly, “General Cold had sharp eyes.”
The internal attendants who were in charge of clearing the scene suddenly came up with a wooden pallet. A few soft swords were placed in them, and the leading attendant bowed, “Emperor, these are the murder weapons that fell from the assassins.”
Emperor Zhaoxuan glanced briefly only to clear the endgame. After all, the incident happened in front of the North Di prince, he did not want to lose face, but a loud voice suddenly came from the crowd, “Hey? Wasn’t that soft sword engraved with the unique crape myrtle flower sign of Grand Prince’s Dragon and Tiger Cavalry?”
