Chapter 8: The Imperial Concubine's Fury

  "Second Master, the assassin is clearly you."

  "It wasn't me, it was you who killed him. I'm so young and my body is so weak, could I have killed him? You tell me, how did you kill the assassin and save me?" Zhao Yi picked up the short knife from the ground and fiddled with it as he spoke.

  The eyes of Wang Ye and the knife in his hand made Jian Xi tremble again, but he was not stupid, otherwise he would not have stood out among hundreds of small yellow doors and become Wang Ye's chief companion. Soon he figured it out, Wang Ye did not want others to know that he had killed the assassin, wanted him to take the blame, if he did not agree, he dared not think, such a fierce assassin, Wang Ye would kill him with just one move, killing himself was even simpler.

  "It was I who killed him, we were playing in the garden when we suddenly encountered an assassin trying to kill the prince, I stepped forward and shouted loudly, snatching the knife from his hand and killing him!" Jian Xi thought for a moment before nodding in understanding and proudly puffed out her chest.

  "Haha, you're quite capable, but how did those two little yellow doors die? Fool, others ask you and you expose yourself, think again!" Zhao Che scolded with a smile, seeing Xi Dian pulling his head down, looking bitter and thinking for a moment before recounting again, but still having loopholes everywhere. Zhao Che had to fill in the gaps one by one, making the whole event reasonable.

  After repeating himself more than a dozen times, Zhao finally nodded in satisfaction. By this time, Xianji thought he had killed the person himself and was a loyal servant who bravely rescued the king without regard for his own life.

  "Here, go and stab him a few more times. Make sure to mess up the original wound!" Zhao Yi handed the knife to Jian Xi, pointing at the corpse.

  "What's wrong with this old man?" Seeing Xi stared at the corpse with a ferocious expression, and said timidly.

  "What you said, stabbed the assassin seven or eight times, but he only had two wounds on his body. It's unbelievable!" Zhao Ke inserted the knife into Jian Xi's hand and said. Jian Xi now understood that he was thoroughly on Wang Ye's pirate ship. He gritted his teeth, took the knife, walked to the corpse, closed his eyes, and stabbed several times in a row. The blade rubbed against the bone, making a hair-raising hissing sound, and the blood that had not yet congealed splashed onto his face.

  "Alas, I'm doing this to save your life!" Zhao sighed inwardly as he thought to himself. Anyone with discerning eyes would quickly understand that the entire incident was carefully designed by someone, and Jian Xi was just one part of it. If Jian Xi hadn't blocked the assassin without hesitation when they encountered him, Zhao would have also listed him as a major suspect. At that time, even if he didn't die, he would have been skinned alive. By doing this, Zhao thought he had pulled Jian Xi out of the situation.

  "Second Master, it's done! What's next?" Xi Tian asked, throwing down his knife. At this moment, he was covered in blood, looking like he had just been through a fierce battle.

  "Go back immediately, don't alarm the people in the garden, that old Zhang might be one of them too!" Zhao said. Upon hearing the gunshot, surprisingly not a single gardener came to investigate, which made him suspicious and decided it's better to be safe than sorry, so he hid in his nest for now.

  "Quickly open the door, the king has been stabbed!" Around to the garden and winter garden connected convenient door, see joy one hand holding seemingly at any time will 'die' past the king, one hand making an effort to pound the courtyard gate, hoarse shouting. These were all previously arranged by the king.

  The emperor was fond of books and paintings, enjoyed poetry and literature, and was well-versed in music and dance. He was skilled in various forms of entertainment and was an artistic emperor who pursued spiritual life in many ways. He sought to find someone who shared his interests.

  Noble Consort Zheng Hongmei had a natural beauty and elegance, and had followed Empress Dowager for many years, receiving a good education in etiquette and propriety. She was knowledgeable about ancient and modern times, understood music, chess, books, and paintings, and was clever and lively. Often replacing the emperor to review memorials, Zheng Noble Consort was very much to the emperor's taste, and deeply won his favor.

  "Your Majesty, the people in the palace are all saying that the Second Prince is mixing with the common folk every day, wearing hemp clothes and straw shoes, and has only learned a little of the 'Hundred Family Surnames' after studying for a year. His tutor was so angry that he scolded him severely and wanted to resign, and even smashed everything in the study room, almost setting the house on fire and killing himself. They all say that the Second Prince is an evil spirit." A small eunuch spoke humbly and respectfully to Empress Zheng.

  With a crisp "crack", the white jade paperweight on the desk split into two pieces. "Who told you, it's just a rumor!" Zheng Guifei, usually dignified and calm, pointed at a small yellow door eunuch and scolded loudly.

  "Your Highness, this is no rumor, it has spread throughout the palace, even the sweepers know about the Second Prince."

  "Don't say any more, get out!" The imperial concubine stood up and sat down again, waving her hand and saying, "Cui Zhu, give Ning An two strings of cash!"

  "Thank you, Your Ladyship!" Ning An bowed and backed out of the room.

  "Hmph, the imperial son has already been forced out of the palace, and now they still won't let him go. Do they think we two women are easy to bully?! Zheng Guifei was intelligent and had spent many years in the palace, so she understood all the dirty secrets inside. After hearing the eunuch's secret report, she knew that someone had planted a mole beside Zhao Che, sending back messages to the palace and secretly spreading rumors to slander her own son. Otherwise, how would the palace know about something happening hundreds of miles away?"

  "Is it to report to His Majesty?" Cui Zhu asked.

  "There's no need to disturb the Emperor over such a trivial matter!" Empress Zheng said with a shake of her head.

  "Your Ladyship, Huang Da Guan has returned to the palace and is waiting outside!" a small yellow gate announced from outside the house.

  "Hurry up, hurry up!" Zheng Guifei's face lit up with joy, saying repeatedly.

  "Your Ladyship, I, a humble servant, have committed a grave mistake and failed to fulfill the heavy responsibility entrusted upon me!" Huang Jingchen knelt down as soon as he entered. The manor had been attacked by assassins, resulting in three deaths. After careful consideration, Huang Jingchen did not alert the local authorities but instead immediately imposed a lockdown on the entire estate, forbidding anyone from entering or leaving, and rushed back to the capital to report to Her Ladyship.

  At that time, he had served Empress Dowager Xiang with Zheng Guifei, who was also a palace maid. Although later one became the master and the other remained a slave, the two still had some affection for each other. Because of Wang Huanghou's affair, Huang Jingchen lost his footing in the palace, and it was Zheng Guifei who took him in. After Zhao Di left the palace, she let him follow her, avoiding persecution in the palace and giving him a peaceful place to live out his old age.

  "Huang Da Guan, hurry up and get up. What's going on?" Zheng Guifei was startled in her heart, but she remained calm and let the palace maid help him up quickly, moving a stool over for him to sit down.

  "Your Ladyship, a great incident occurred in the palace the day before yesterday, someone attempted to assassinate the Prince."

  "How is Xiao'er?" Zheng Guifei suddenly stood up, her face pale and losing its usual elegance.

  "Your Ladyship, don't be alarmed. The king has only had a fright and is not injured, but he often wakes up from his dreams, calling out for you!" Huang Jingchen stepped forward to support her, saying.

  "What about the guards in the mansion? What were they doing, allowing assassins to sneak into the mansion?"

  "Alas, Your Ladyship, when I left the palace, I asked the Imperial Household Department to dispatch guards for protection, but they refused, saying that the Prince's mansion had not yet been established. I could only arrange for the strong and able-bodied servants in the mansion to take turns keeping watch at night to ensure the safety of the mansion. The inner courtyard was guarded by the small eunuchs, but they were all ignorant of martial arts. On that day, it was actually one of the mansion's administrators who attempted to assassinate, killing two small eunuchs. Fortunately, the Prince's attendant was clever and managed to find an opportunity to kill the assassin, thus saving the Prince!"

  "Yang Jian, this old scoundrel, dares to be so presumptuous! This palace will not forgive him!" Zheng Guifei waved her hand and ordered the people in the house to withdraw.

  "Your Ladyship, this matter is not simple and cannot be taken lightly. Yang Jia is now all-powerful in the palace, even daring to collude with external officials to plot against the Empress, let alone us. There must be others behind the scenes stirring up trouble, and the stewards in the mansion are all arranged by them!"

  "Hmph, I'm no longer the Zheng Mei Ren of those years, let them scheme against my child as they wish!"

  "The Empress has been living in seclusion since the big case in the palace, her body is getting weaker by the day. To be honest, she doesn't have much time left. With the Emperor's favor towards you, Concubine Zheng, the position of Empress will soon be yours. Why bother making enemies with them now and ruining everything?" Huang Jingchen hastily advised, seeing Zheng Guifei get angry.

  "Have you heard the rumors in the palace, is Zhen'er really that unbearable?" Zheng Guifei's expression eased slightly as she sat down and said.

  "After the king left the palace, his temperament indeed changed, but it's not as bad as the rumors say!" Huang Jingchen smiled and said, "The king mostly came into contact with rural villagers in the villa, so he inevitably picked up some of their habits!"

  "Alas, doesn't Xiaoyu dislike reading books?"

  "The prince indeed doesn't love reading books, but he likes some clever and ingenious crafts, playing in the countryside!" Huang Jingchen replied cautiously. He had secretly seen the things that Xi Tong brought back, which were all made with great precision, and knew they were Zhao's idea, but didn't know what they were used for.

  "This palace also doesn't want him to get involved in the right and wrong of the palace, so it's painful to let him out of the palace. I hope he will live a long life, be a wealthy and noble prince, and when this palace is old, there will be someone to rely on, enjoy the joy of heaven, but some people don't let me get what I want. Do they really think that the words of this palace are not as good as the nonsense of two Taoist priests?" Zheng Guifei said.

  "Is Her Highness trying to get the king to return to the palace through this opportunity?" Huang Jingchen asked, sensing a hidden meaning behind her words.

  "What's wrong?" Empress Zheng frowned and asked in puzzlement.

  "Your Highness, in my humble opinion, it would be better to let the king temporarily avoid this situation. The palace currently has six or seven princes of various ages, and the crown prince has not been established yet. They won't all think like you do, letting the second prince become a peaceful king. It's inevitable that someone will harbor the desire to seize the throne, and I fear your wish may be difficult to fulfill. Wouldn't it be better to let the king grow up outside the palace, avoiding these filthy matters?" Huang Jingchen said solemnly with a bow.

  "Hmm!" Empress Zheng nodded and said, "However, the tree wants to be still but the wind won't stop. There are some people in the palace who always secretly plot something, I'm worried that Ruo'er, being just a child, will be hard-pressed to escape their schemes!"

  "Your Ladyship, I think that the Imperial City Guard is currently controlled by Yang Jie. If we were to dispatch guards from the palace, it's likely that there would be some lapses in security. Why don't we take charge of this ourselves and thoroughly replace the people inside the Wang estate? We can also request that the Duke's side arrange for some trusted individuals to be placed outside the estate. This way, things will be more secure!" Huang Jingchen said after some thought.

  "The official thought, I'll just write a letter to Father and let him handle it!" Zheng Hongmei's father, Zheng Shou, was originally an official directly under the palace before he became prosperous. Now he is just a small public servant who reports tea expenses, but has nothing better to do and can still engage in a second career, running a wine shop and doing some business. Since he has been in the palace for a long time, he knows the ins and outs of the place very well, so entrusting this matter to his father is completely reassuring.

  "It's best that Your Highness is like this, I can finally be at ease!" Huang Jingchen saw the Imperial Consort nodding in agreement and happily nodded his head in response.

  "Leave that to the officials, I'll take care of things in the palace. I'll make sure those gossipmongers who secretly try to trip us up and spout nonsense in front of the officials will shut their mouths!" Zheng Guifei's face turned stern as she spoke, her determination to protect her son at all costs clear on her face, which was normally calm and elegant but now radiated an icy aura that sent a chill down the spine of Huang Jingchen, a veteran of palace intrigue.