CH 116.1

At Qianqing Palace, the bedroom was brightly lit at this time.

The air was completely still. The people present could even hear the sound of sweat dripping onto the ground.

In the short amount of time of Li Dequan going to the bathroom, something like this happened. He rushed over as soon as he heard that someone had attempted to poison Emperor Hongjing. Seeing the bowl of medicine placed in front of him, Li Dequan knelt down with a plop.

Regardless of the truth behind what happened today and whether the culprit could be found, none of the people present could escape. Some of the luckier ones would survive, while the not-so-lucky ones would have to be taken out for disposal.

Li Dequan was the first to bear the brunt. As the chief eunuch beside Emperor Hongjing, it was impossible for him to escape responsibility. No wonder he was so scared.

Sitting cross-legged on the dragon bed, Emperor Hongjing’s thoughts were hard to discern. At first, it was cloudy then it was sunny, but no matter what, his anger was inevitable.

He was still alive and could move and walk, but someone still dared to attack him. If he ever reached the point of being confined to bed, it was possible that even his bones would be swallowed up.

“Investigate! Investigate this matter thoroughly for Zhen!”

No one dared to move. Li Dequan got up from the ground and was about to leave the room but after taking two steps, he was stopped by Emperor Hongjing.

“Block the news. Go take a look at Zhen’s good sons to see if they’re plotting to kill Zhen.”

“Yes.” 

The night was as cool as water, and the moon was high in the sky.

As the silver moonlight shone down, it was cut and distorted by the towering palace walls, making everything appear gloomy and dark.

Even with nothing out of the ordinary happening, no one dared to walk in the palace at night. With how old the palace was, it was unknown how many people had died and were buried here. There were always rumours of ghosts and the supernatural, so no one dared to go seek trouble for themselves.

Besides, people weren’t allowed to walk around the palace at will in the evenings. If they were caught, they could even be accused of being spies or assassins.

But today was different from usual. The imperial guards were running back and forth. All the palace maids and eunuchs could even hear their footsteps outside while lying in their rooms.

Everyone knew that something big must’ve happened, but they all remained silent, in fear of misfortune falling from the sky. They simply buried their heads under their blankets and pretended everything was a dream.

Yaoniang ate a small bowl of noodles and felt a lot more relaxed, both physically and mentally. Xiaobao was also full. In addition to eating his small bowl of noodles, he also ate two of the poached eggs from Jin Wang’s bowl. The egg was cooked just right and the runny yolk had a tender and smooth texture.

He decided not to blame his mother for refusing to give him egg whites. The egg yolks were what contained the good stuff after all. Xiaobao, who was well fed, burped a little and looked at Jin Wang a bit apologetic.

The unpalatable, plain and tasteless egg whites were all given to his Father Emperor.

He must be stuffed, especially after eating such a large bowl of noodles.

It was the first time that Jin Wang had eaten so much. One of the reasons was because he was famished. He only drank wine the entire day and had yet to eat any real food until now.

Just as the family of three had finished their meal and were wondering how to get rid of the leftovers, there was a sudden sound of footsteps outside.

There was a faint squeak of the gates opening, followed by the sounds of people talking and scolding. After a while, the sounds of the footsteps and voices could be heard coming closer in their direction.

The palace they were in was small, divided into the main hall and two side halls.

The main hall was where Consort Jin and Jin Wang lived. As for the two side halls, Yaoniang and Xiaobao shared one while Side Consort Xu and Side Consort Liu lived in the other.

There were naturally palace maids and eunuchs serving in the palace, but Yaoniang didn’t use hers. Consort Jin and the two side consorts didn’t use theirs either. No one was a fool. Now that something big had happened in the palace before it gets cleared up, no one dared to play with their lives.

This was why Consort Jin, Side Consort Liu and Side Consort Xu were envious of Yaoniang. They envied her for bringing two of her own servants into the palace. Since they couldn’t trust the servants allotted to them, they couldn’t even get a drink of water.

Then they received the news that Jin Wang had come back. But he had gone straight to Side Consort Su upon his return. After worrying all night, they heard this and their hearts became even more complicated. Right when they were feeling frustrated and anxious, the palace gate opened, and many people suddenly came inside.

The person in the lead was a eunuch. He headed straight to the main hall, where he didn’t expect to be greeted with Jin Wang’s absence. Only with the guidance of Consort Jin did he go to the side hall that Yaoniang was staying at.

An Shiyi went to open the door, and these people all rushed in recklessly.

Actually, reckless wasn’t quite the term to describe it as it was more of an eagerness, an eagerness to stumble onto something that shouldn’t be seen. But who would have thought that they would come upon a scene of Jin Wang, a woman with a big belly, and an infant sitting around the Kang table, eating noodles?

Eating noodles?

They looked at the remaining noodles and soup in the large bowl, as well as the few leaves of vegetables left in the bowl of Xiaobao, the picky eater. Seeing the egg yolk around Xiaobao’s mouth that had yet to be wiped away, the eunuch showed an almost comical look of astonishment on his face.

Jin Wang took out his handkerchief and wiped Xiaobao’s mouth. The egg yolk around Xiaobao’s mouth was indeed quite the eye-catcher.

“A group of uncultured servants, do you not understand propriety?!”

The leading eunuch was a sensible person who knew when to bend and yield. He knelt down with a plop, cleared his throat and said, “Begging Your Highness Jin Wang for forgiveness. There was an assassin in the palace and His Majesty was worried about Your Highness’s safety, so he ordered this servant to come to check. This servant was too impatient and had neglected propriety.”

When the group of people behind saw their leader’s behaviour, they all knelt down. The entire group of eunuchs and guards in the back all kneeled down one after another.

Jin Wang coldly snorted and asked, “Is Father Emperor alright? Has the assassin been caught yet?”

“Answering Your Highness, one of the assassins was caught while the other had run away. If he hadn’t run away, this servant wouldn’t have come here. His Majesty is also fine. There’s no need to worry.”

Jin Wang stood up. Without speaking, he signalled Fucheng to help him change his clothes.

“Your Highness, what are you…”

“This prince is going to see Father Emperor.”

The eunuch hurriedly stopped him, and said with a smile, “Your filial piety, this servant will let His Majesty know. The sky is already dark and the roads are slippery. If something were to happen to Your Highness, this servant’s little life wouldn’t be enough to pay for it. His Majesty had already foreseen Your Highness’s filial piety and had asked this servant to pass on the message for you to not worry. Rest early, this servant will bid farewell.”

The group of people who had rushed in retreated like a tide. They shut the door behind them, leaving the room utterly silent

Yaoniang looked at Xiaobao, then at Jin Wang, “What were they doing here?” She was really confused.

Jin Wang sneered. The way he smiled made Yaoniang fall into a daze. Without thinking too much about what had just happened, she grabbed Xiaobao over. The mother and son planned to go to sleep, leaving Jin Wang there to smile on his own.

Jin Wang, deep in thought, heard a rustling noise behind him. He turned his head and saw that both mother and son were already in bed, looking at him with wide-open eyes.

He suddenly felt that the things he was thinking about weren’t that interesting anymore. It was better to wait and see who was involved and who wasn’t. Then he took off his robe and laid down on the bed.

At the same time, similar dramas were being acted out at Yong Wang, An Wang, and Dai Wang’s place.