396 Hei Chengxi, Loyalist of Qiu Qizhen

Hei Chengxi folded the sheet after reading the message from the Queen that she had sent to Li Hua. Xiwan looked at Hei Chengxi, wondering what he would say.

“What will the Princess Consort want to do about this? Since the Queen wants to take your life with her brother, they will leave no chance to harm the Princess Consort. Yu Yujin will send shooters as well in case the assassin fails to harm you. Finding the shooters among the locals is going to be tough,” Hei Chengxi explained to Li Hua. He told her that Ye Yujin should not be taken lightly as he had done such assassinations in the past too.

“So, General Hei wants to step out of it,” Xiwan concluded as he scrunched his brows.

“I do not want to. I am telling that if the Princess Consort wants to go forward with it, then she must be extremely careful,” Hei Chengxi stated.

“I will find out about the shooters,” Xiwan told them.

“How?” Feng Lao asked him.

“I have to go to the Ye Residence, which is not difficult for me. Finding about their right plan is important so that there would be no mistake from our end,” Xiwan affirmed.

“I believe Senior Brother Xiwan,” Li Hua showed her faith in him. Xiwan smiled at her and thanked her. He looked at Hei Chengxi and told him that he would come to him to inform him about it.

“By the evening, we have to plan out everything. Will you be able to extract the entire information?” Hei Chengxi questioned.

.....

“I will be back before the evening. I will not disappoint anyone, especially the Princess Consort,” Xiwan said with a confident tone. Li Hua nodded her head at him. Xiwan picked up the tray and left the chamber while Hei Chengxi stayed there.

“Princess Consort, Ye Yujin will love to die than expose in front of the King that his sister planned an attack on you. It will be difficult to bring out the Queen’s true face,” Hei Chengxi opined.

“General Hei, I have to set my trap,” Li Hua stated. “Her face will be in front of the King and the other royal family members soon.” She was confident about going ahead with this.

“Then I will make the rest of the arrangements,” Hei Chengxi said and stood up from the chair. He bowed at Li Hua and then, left the chamber. Feng Lao told Li Hua that he would be back soon and went after Hei Chengxi.

“General Hei,” Feng Lao called him and Hei Chengxi halted in his way and turned to look at him. He rushed to him and stopped before him. “Will it be right to go with this plan?” Feng Lao asked him. “The Princess Consort does not understand many things. What if something unexpected happens tomorrow? Prince Lóng Wei will go mad,” he asserted.

“The Queen will find another way than to harm the Princess Consort,” Hei Chengxi replied. “More dangerous than this. Trust us on this,” he stated and left the manor.

~~~~~~~~~

Qiu Zedong put the stamp on the end of the scroll on its left side and handed it to Kang Xi. “How is Kang Huijuan?” He asked as he pulled his hand back and rested it over the mahogany desk.

“Kang Huijuan is well, Your Majesty. Thank you for sparing his life that day,” Kang Xi said.

“If his behavior remains good, I will pardon his punishment and will appoint him in the governor’s office,” Qiu Zedong said. Those words of the King delighted Kang Xi. He gave a ninety degrees bow to the King and thanked him for that.

“You are my close friend, Kang Xi. I will surely not do anything wrong to you and your family,” he stated.

“That is His Majesty’s kind benevolence on me and my family,” Kang Xi said and stood straight.

Qiu Zedong smiled and asked him whom he would marry his daughter.

“I have not thought about it yet, Your Majesty,” Kang Xi said.

“My second son will marry your daughter if you want. Think about this at your home,” Qiu Zedong asked for Kang Cha Ying’s hand for Qiu Mu.

Kang Xi was astonished to hear about this. He thought the King will not allow his daughter to be part of the royal family. “It will be my pleasure if my daughter becomes the daughter-in-law in the Royal Family and serve the family well,” Kang Xi willingly accepted the offer. He did not even think about it once.

“You must ask your daughter once about it. I do not want to hurt her once again. My eldest son refused to marry her. However, in my eyes, she is a capable lady for the royal family. Her opinion matters too,” Qiu Zedong asserted.

“Sure. Your Majesty, I will answer you regarding this soon,” Kang Xi stated. He could not tell how happy he was. His position would strengthen once his daughter got married to the Royal Family.

“Kang Xi, I want to give you an important task,” Qiu Zedong said.

“Please, order me, Your Majesty,” Kang Xi bowed his head.

“I want you to find out if there are any loyal left of Qizhen,” Qiu Zedong said. Kang Xi promptly lifted his head and looked into the King’s eyes. It had been more than twenty years, but the King never once spoke about Qiu Qizhen, then why so suddenly?

“All of his loyal are dead,” Kang Xi stated, “except General Hei Chengxi.”

“Hei Chengxi is not Qizhen’s loyal. He had surrendered to me and had told me about Qizhen,” Qiu Zedong said.

“Pardon me, Your Majesty. But His Majesty shall not forget that Hei Chengxi was a close friend of Qiu Qizhen. I still think that Hei Chengxi must be killed. Apart from him, there is no one who is a loyalist of Qizhen in the Kingdom. They all are dead,” Kang Xi suggested to the King.

Qiu Zedong refused to believe that. Eunuch Gao Bing silently listened to their conversation and curled his fingers while his brows drew close.