The mother of the Grand Prince, Imperial Concubine Yun, was the sister of General Meng. He was paramount and powerful, as he was in charge of forty percent of the armies of Qi. What was more, he trained an elite cavalry called “Dragon and Tiger Cavalry”. When the Grand Prince, Sima Ruo, was 20, he gave him 300 cavalrymen of Dragon and Tiger Cavalry as a gift. Even the emperor couldn’t interfere with the issue. In order to distinguish them, General Meng’s Dragon and Tiger Cavalry were marked by lily while Sima Ruo’s Dragon and Tiger Cavalry were marked by crape myrtle.
The words had a great effect. All the people looked at the crape myrtle mark on the soft sword. The words seemed to corrupt people’s hearts.
Emperor Zhaoxuan looked solemn. His fingers knocked on the golden armrest of dragon throne. Then he looked at Wanyan Ba apologetically, “Sorry that it makes you scared, the Grand Prince of North Di. Today the state banquet is ruined, and guests have to return with their spirits dampened. The Grand Prince, please return to the hotel to have a rest first. The other day I will hold a much more magnificent welcome ceremony for you.”
“There’s no need for that,” Seeing the palace of the royal family of Qi in a mess, there were triumph and delight hard to hide in Wanyan Ba’s eyes, “My trip this time is first to sign a contract and second to see Princess Saichun, the favored daughter of our king. There’s no need to bother. Wang Qi, we’d better go.” Wang Qi was the civil official following Wanyan Ba. He was responsible for translation and secretarial work. Hearing Wanyan Ba calling him, he hurried to keep the peace treaty well and left with Wanyan Ba.
Now, the people in the palace were all of the royal family of Qi.
“Father, I plead with you to investigate this issue thoroughly. Brother is honest and tolerant. His Dragon and Tiger Cavalry is loyal. How will they commit high treason like that?” Sima Ray kneeled down suddenly. Although he seemed to intercede for Sima Ruo, the word “treason” made his ears prickle. He couldn’t bear the fact that his once valued eldest son had a connection with the assassin who wanted to kill him.
Before Emperor Zhaoxuan could make his judgment, Leng Changxi spoke to Sima Ray directly, “Prince Ray, you are really a fast thinker. The truth hasn’t been figured out yet now. In your words, you seem to assert that these assassins all belong to Dragon and Tiger Cavalry. Are you in haste?”
Among officials, some were helping Sima Ray, “General Leng, your words don’t make sense. The truth is rather clear. Dragon and Tiger Cavalry belongs to the Meng Army, as its weapons and equipment are purchased and registered by the Meng Army. If they don’t belong to Dragon and Tiger Cavalry, who can get the weapons that only appear in the Meng Army?”
Then someone chimed in with him, “Well, maybe the Meng Army is also a part of it?”
“Shut up,” immediately a general supporting the Meng Army said, “General Meng has been going through fire and water those years. How can you ruin his honor like that?”
“The crape myrtle is the proof. The Grand Prince should be called here to testify for himself. He hasn’t appeared for a while. Who will know what kind of treason he is planning?”
“Yes. The Grand Prince didn’t appear from beginning to end. It seems that he has a guilty conscience.”
For a moment, the atmosphere was turning to the direction pernicious to Sima Ruo.
It was at this moment that the eunuch’s high voice came from outside, “The Grand Prince and the Grand Prince’s Wife comes.”
Not only Sima Ray but also Empress Chen, who was behind the crowd, found it hard to hide the surprise and fear on their face. With such close guard of Jingxi Palace, how did the two people, one pregnant and the other weak, manage to escape?
When Empress Chen saw Qin Yunuan, the answer was clear in her heart. Qin Yunuan was just like a moth that appears everywhere, eating into the web carefully knitted by Empress Chen and damaging it heavily.
“My greetings, father,” Sima Ruo led Saichun to kneel down, showing a great curtsey to Emperor Zhaoxuan sincerely and sedately, “I’m unfilial because I fail to appear in time when father’s life is threatened.”
“Brother, you know that father’s life is threatened. But did you know that the assassin attempting to kill father is your Dragon and Tiger Cavalry?” Sima Ray felt uneasy. He never thought that Sima Ruo would appear safely.
Qin Yunuan stood behind Leng Changxi silently. Her hand touched Leng Changxi’s long finger softly. The two knew what was going on simply by looking at each other. It seemed that things were settled.
“This is exactly what I want to report,” Sima Ruo strode forward. These days when he was put under home arrest made his body not as healthy as it used to be. Although he was unsteady on his feet, his eyes looked firm, “Father, do you remember that one month ago Saichun was diagnosed to be pregnant? A pregnant woman is supposed to rest well. Father, you may call imperial doctors to come to cure Saichun. By feeling her pulse condition, you will know what kind of life we were living in the past half month.”
Emperor Zhaoxuan glanced at Saichun’s face subconsciously. Although she was wearing the gorgeous court dress of royal women, her face was as yellow as an ancient New Year picture with no vitality at all.
Empress Chen squinted at Sima Ray, who immediately understood and ordered the eunuch by his side, “Hurry to call the Imperial Doctor Zhao in the Imperial Hospital.” Imperial Doctor Zhao was under Empress Chen’s order. When he came, he would do as Empress Chen’s facial expression implied.
“No need to bother,” Qin Yunuan suddenly interrupted with a smile, “What a coincidence. Today the famous doctor, Sun Miaoyang, travels to the Royal City. I have some socialization with him. If the emperor doesn’t mind, you can directly invite him to cure the Grand Prince’s Wife.”
Sima Ray felt his eyelid twitching, “How can we bother such a famous doctor to come to diagnose?”
Qin Yunuan looked at Sima Ray with a spurious smile, “It doesn’t matter. Emperor, Doctor Sun is waiting outside the Yongchang Palace now. You only need to call him.”
Emperor Zhaoxuan shot a meaningful look to Sima Ray and raised his hand to ask Sun Miaoyang to enter the palace. Many people present extremely admired Doctor Sun, who had superb medical skills that could bring the dying back to life. However, Sun Miaoyang looked like an old, naughty boy. It was good that Emperor Zhaoxuan knew him well, so he didn’t blame Sun Miaoyang’s mischief. When Sun Miaoyang was feeling the pulse, however, he was quite earnest.
“Strange, it’s really strange,” after a while, Sun Miaoyang took back his hand on Saichun’s wrist and shook his head, “Now that the Grand Prince’s Wife is pregnant now, she should have a good rest. However, her pulse condition shows that her body is weakened by a drastic remedy. With all due respect, if the Grand Prince’s Wife doesn’t get enough nutrition, her own body will become an empty shell before her fetus turns viable.”
Hearing that, Saichun trembled. She cried in a low voice in Sima Ruo’s arms. Never had she ever suffered like this when she was in North Di.
Comforting Saichun, Sima Ruo said loudly, “There’s more than that. Father, I heard from my uncle three months ago that several sets of soft swords and armors applied only by Dragon and Tiger Cavalry under the Meng Army were stolen without any reason, which was recorded on the volume. Every set of soft sword and armor of Dragon and Tiger Cavalry is numbered. Father, you can compare the numbers on the assassins’ weapons with the numbers of the lost weapons recorded on the volume. Things will be clear after that.”
“What’s more,” Leng Changxi agreed, “Dragon and Tiger Cavalry is the cavalry trained by General Meng especially for a quick attack on the prairie. Every one of them has been practicing horse riding for years, so there must be thick calluses on their palms. However, the assassins’ calluses mainly focused on finger pulps, which are the result of practicing swords for years. Your Majesty, the trick of ‘Raccoon for a prince’ is both carefully planned and wicked. Its aim is to incite officials and irritate you, leading you to make the wrong decision.”
“That’s right,” Qin Yunuan continued boldly, pointing out the key issue with a few words, “It’s clear that someone has evil designs. He first puts poison into Imperial Concubine Yun’s medicine, making her confined to her bed with a serious illness. Then he puts the Grand Prince and the Grand Prince’s Wife under home arrest and plans a fake assassination, making the Grand Prince guilty. Therefore, not only the Grand Prince, the Grand Prince’s Wife, and Imperial Concubine Yun are embroiled, but General Meng managing military forces of Qi will also be demoted. At that time, who will gain profit except for Prince Ray?”
“Wronged!” Sima Ray looked deeply sorrowful. He quickly kneeled down and said sincerely, “I dare not. I know that although I was adopted by the empress, my real status was low. Therefore, I never dare to desire high position and great wealth. All I want is to help my father and brother. May the Sun and Moon witness my heart.”
“But who is capable of doing that except for you?” Qin Yunuan’s tone was cold and powerful, “Plotting to murder Imperial Concubine Yun, detaining the Grand Prince and finding so many masters to work for you.”
“I…” Sima Ray fell silent for the moment. His eyes fell to Empress Chen. They were communicating through eye contact originally. However, Empress Chen found the way Sima Ray looked at her changed, with cleverness and cruelty.
No. The ungrateful soul.
Before Empress Chen could make any reaction, Sima Ray flung himself down to Empress Chen’s feet. He said with bitter hatred, “Mother, mother! I know that you are for my sake. You always want me to make a rise in life. However, I always say that all I want is to assist my father and brother and contribute to Qi. Why are you…?”
Sima Ray’s acting was good. If Qin Yunuan hadn’t known the truth, she would be moved by Sima Ray’s eloquent speech.
Empress Chen used all her strength to kick Sima Ray away. Her twisted ankle couldn’t exert any strength. She stood up totteringly, pointed at Sima Ray, and swore, “You bastard….” But she felt a sudden lump in her throat. She couldn’t say anything at all. Eyes wide open, she looked at the imperial maidservant beside her. She only drank a cup of tea brought by this servant girl from beginning to end.
Unbelievable, she stared at Sima Ray with anger trapped in her chest. Suddenly whiteness came over her eyes….
