She lowered her head and looked at him with her beautiful eyes, a little confused.
"From today onward, this prince will need you, my pillow, in order to have a good sleep every night."
"I'm… a pillow?" She chuckled.
Jing Rong grinned as he stared at her with deep and indecipherable eyes, "Woman, you're extraordinarily intelligent when you're working on a case. However, you're such a blockhead when this prince wants to be romantic to you."
Ji Yunshu was flustered and didn't know how to reply him.
"Yunshu, I hope that, from now on, I can have you by my side every time I open my eyes."
"I'll always be at your side," Ji Yunshu replied. As they gazed passionately at each other, her fair fingers interlocked with Jing Rong's. Finally, Jing Rong managed to fall asleep peacefully.
In the mountains, the wheels whirred as the carriages trundled down the road.
In the capital, the Supreme Court received an astounding piece of news.
The assassin who ambushed Prince Rong had died an inexplicable death and his body had vanished into thin air. Someone had sprinkled bone dissolving powder on his body, completely reducing it to nothing. Many had died in the jail of the Supreme Court before but this was the first time they had ever encountered anything like this.
Reportedly, the prison guard witnessed how the criminal's body turned into boiling bubbles before it disappeared completely, leaving no trace behind. There and then, the prison guard was scared witless by the scene.
The next day, the Supreme Court Vice Chancellor, Lord Yu, prepared a document and rushed to the palace to present it to the Emperor. However, he was stopped in his tracks by the Chancellor right as he left the Supreme Court.
"Lord Yu, where are you going?"
Vice Chancellor Yu instinctively hid the document in his sleeve before he inclined his head and replied respectfully, "The assassin who ambushed Prince Rong has passed away in the prison. I'm on my way to the palace."
"That's not necessary."
Hmm? Vice Chancellor Yu stared at the Chancellor as though he smelled a rat.
The Supreme Court Chancellor had always worked for Jing Yi, so had the assassin. If Vice Chancellor Yu accidentally leaked the secret as he reported the incident to Qizhen Emperor, it would bring unnecessary attention to Prince Yi and he would have a hard time explaining the situation.
Therefore, the Chancellor decided, "I'll personally submit the document to the emperor. There's no need for you to head to the palace."
"But, this humble one has always been in charge of this. Besides, doesn't my lord dislike visiting the palace?"
"I certainly don't like visiting the palace. However, I'm rather free today and there are a few suspended cases in the Supreme Court that I must submit to the royal court. Since I'm on my way to submit these documents, I can do you a favour and save you some trouble."
Wow, so considerate! Vice Chancellor Yu did not further insist on his way.
The Chancellor of Supreme Court prepared a new document before he hopped in the carriage and left for the palace.
With an expressionless face, Vice Chancellor Yu stared at the carriage as it disappeared into the distance. He finally composed himself when Judge Yu approached him and asked, "Father, are you really letting the Chancellor go to the palace?"
Judge Yu, son of Vice Chancellor Yu, was a young man. Two months ago, Judge Yu had earned a place in the royal court with the help of Vice Chancellor Yu's connections.
The Vice Chancellor stared as the carriage slowly disappeared into the distance before he sneered and said, "We'll have to see who arrives at the palace first."
"What do you mean?"
"Prepare my horse immediately."
Although Judge Yu was puzzled, he promptly ordered his subordinates to bring over his carriage. His father brought him along into the carriage as they hurriedly left for the imperial palace.
On their way to the imperial palace, the two carriages moved forward simultaneously, one at the front while the other one at the back. They were separated by a moderate distance.
At this moment, the Chancellor of the Supreme Court was sitting quietly inside the carriage, clueless about that danger was approaching him.
The carriage was going through the city centre when a neigh suddenly rang out. The carriage shook violently and ground to a halt.
Chancellor's upper body crashed into the wall of the carriage, causing him to grimace in agony. Fortunately, the carriage was stable and the horses were not startled. Otherwise, the Chancellor would have been thrown out of the carriage.
He massaged his bruised shoulder as he directed an annoyed query towards the entrance curtain, "What happened?"
"My Lord, the wheels are broken."
"The wheels are broken?"
The Chancellor drew the curtain and poked his body out to look at his guard, who had alighted from the carriage to check on the wheels. When he turned to look at the left wheel, he saw a thick rope that was tangled around the wheel and the axle. This jammed the wheel and caused it to be stuck at the same spot.
The guard was pulling strenuously at the rope, but it was hopelessly tangled and wound tightly against the axel.
"What's the problem?" The Chancellor frowned.
"My lord, I wager that this rope must have been wound in from the road."
"When will it be fixed?"
"We'll make it quick." The coachmen started pulling at the rope with all their might.
The Chancellor looked up at the sky with some concern and failed to notice a carriage moving past him.
Yu Shaoqing secretly lifted the curtains and peeked outside to see that the Chancellor's carriage remained rooted to the spot. He smiled and let the curtains fall back closed.
Judge Yu also took a look outside and asked curiously, "Father, what's going on? Why is there a problem with the Chancellor's carriage? Don't tell me…"
"That's right. I arranged for it beforehand."
"Eh?"
"All these were within Prince Rong's expectations. His Highness knew that if the assassin died within the prison, the Chancellor would doubtless personally seek an audience with the Emperor and say that the convict had died by suicide, then find a way to suppress the news. Therefore, he bade me make preparations in advance to prevent the Chancellor from entering the palace and personally report the truth to the Emperor while making it sound as serious as possible."
Judge Yu had a sudden realisation and asked worriedly, "Prince Rong's journey to Yufu — although he's investigating the disaster relief funds on the surface, the entire imperial court clearly knows that this exile is the Emperor's last-resort strategy to prevent Prince Rong from being ensnared in the struggle between factions and ending up like the Crown Prince. The capital now is already entirely in the grasp of Prince Yi. Father has now chosen to stand on Prince Rong's side; if anything goes awry and topples Prince Rong while Prince Yi ascends to the throne, then Father would…" He didn't dare to continue.
It wasn't that Yu Shaoqing had never thought about this possibility ever since he decided to support Jing Rong, but the Imperial Court has always been like this; there's no way to retreat after taking a step forward. There are only two possible endings: life or death.
When his father remained silent, Judge Yu worriedly reminded him in low tones, "Father, there's still time to go back now. After all, Prince Yi—"
Yu Shaoqing interrupted him with a smile, "Wei'er, when was the last time your father made an error in judgement? Don't simply judge by how Prince Rong is now forced to leave the capital and Prince Yi is currently the most prominent in the Imperial Court. Dragons have always birthed dragons and tigers have always borne tigers. Prince Rong's flag has not yet toppled."
The day that Prince Rong returns to storm the capital would be the day he, Yu Shaoqing, turns into a rising star.