Chapter 288 Ungratefulness
Everything seemed settled. All left except Leng Changxi who stood next to Chen Jingrui’s corpse. He thought it was really a pity that Chen Jingrui died like this. “What a pity. He’s dead.”
“Let it go,” Qin Yunuan comforted Leng Changxi and said. “We can’t bring him back to life. Although he’s dead and we can’t sound out his secrets, we will find a way to figure everything out. After all, every problem has a solution. Besides, His Majesty is safe now.” While speaking, Qin Yunuan turned to the direction where Jing Yuanchu was carried away and looked a bit cold. “We at least know where the danger comes from.”
Escorted to the water dungeon, Imperial Concubine Lian tried to arouse Jing Donghua’ sympathy by using her old trick. She looked at him with tears in her eyes and shouted from afar, “Your Majesty, I’m innocent. Your Majesty, please uphold justice for me.”
Jing Donghua was unmoved, just turning his head a bit. This really echoed with the statement that emperors were all ruthless.
At once, a veteran official stepped forward to advise, “Your Majesty, we truly can’t put our whole nation at risk simply because of a woman. Everyone saw just now that Heavenly Master Lin kept exchanging glances with her. It’s also rumored that they two are close. Based on what happened, she truly is a vicious woman.”
The official was right. From what Jing Yuanchu and Heavenly Master Lin did, Qin Yunuan and Leng Changxi knew clearly that they had colluded with each other. Other people might not be able to hear what they whispered. But for Leng Changxi who had strong inner Qi and Qin Yunuan whose hearing improved when her eyesight was damaged, they two heard every word Jing Yuanchu and Heavenly Master Lin said. Jing Yuanchu ordered Imperial Concubine Lian, one of his pawns, to contact with Heavenly Master Lin. In this way, even if these pawns were all exposed, Jing Yuanchu still could pass the buck and ward off punishment.
The veteran official bowed to congratulate Jing Donghua for avoiding a disaster, and other people echoed, “Your Majesty, you did a wise decision. We surely can’t put our nation at risk because of this vicious woman.”
See, Imperial Concubine Lian took all the blame secretly. Jing Donghua squinted and looked into the distance. He saw a good figure stand up slowly and leave the banquet after nodding to him.
Suddenly, Jing Donghua felt empty.
The path near the banquet was crowded with eunuchs and imperial doctors who rushed to send Jing Yuanchu to the nearest palace for treatment. Xihe Palace, where the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess lived, was not far. The Crown Princess already asked people to clean up the East Side Hall, which was near Xihe Palace, for Jing Yuanchu. Maids and eunuchs were waiting at the gate, ready to take orders. The Crown Prince accompanied Jing Donghua to discuss national affairs with officials while the Crown Princess took charge of everything in Xihe Palace. Everything went smoothly.
“Hot water.” Imperial doctors opened the door to urge maids to send hot water and cloth here. Although Jing Yuanchu’s arteries were not damaged, he was still seriously injured.
Having been occupied with treatment for long, imperial doctors went out with foreheads covered with sweat. Three doctors treated Jing Yuanchu in turn, and their backs were already wet.
“Your Grace, Prince Yuanchu is in a stable condition now. Don’t worry.”
Right at this time, a maid who looked unfamiliar rushed here to curtsy to the Crown Princess and imperial doctors. She said, “His Majesty asks me to check whether Prince Yuanchu is fine now.”
The leading imperial doctor wiped off his sweat and answered, “Prince Yuanchu is fine now. I will go with you to report.”
The doctor moved, but the maid didn’t. She pointed at a violet-golden wooden case on the tray with a smile and said, “His Majesty rewards Prince Yuanchu with a Zijin Pill and orders me to help him take it. So I’m afraid I can’t go back with you.”
Zijin Pill, which was made of 33 precious herbs, was a kind of mild drugs. Only West Xia’s emperors knew how to make it. There were only a few Zijin Pills, and such pills were fairly effective. The emperor must think very highly of Jing Yuanchu, given that he should reward such a valuable pill to him.
“Alright.” The imperial doctor didn’t say much and just went back to report.
The Crown Princess raised the corner of her eyes and said, “I’ll go with you to help Prince Yuanchu to take the pill.”
The maid replied calmly, “Your Grace, you’re married to the Crown Prince. It may be inappropriate for you to help another man to take medicine.”
The Crown Princess smiled. “Right. Shaoyao, you go with her.”
Shaoyao was the maid in charge who served the Crown Princess, and she was reliable. Seeing that they walked away, the Crown Princess was restless. She turned her head to order another maid in charge, “Send them a message that there is something wrong.”
She didn’t say who should receive the message, but the maid knew.
Suddenly, they heard two thuds. The maid standing near the door shouted, “What’s wrong?”
Shaoyao answered immediately, “Nothing. This clumsy girl knocked over a flower stand. Report this to the Crown Princess.”
Shaoyao was the maid in charge in Xihe Palace, and everyone was familiar with her voice.
A fragrance permeated the warm palace. Jing Yuanchu whose shoulder was carefully bound up leaned against the bed with his eyes half shut. From the rise and fall of his chest, it could be told that he was still vigorous despite a deep wound.
The maid who claimed to send Zijin Pill to Jing Yuanchu utterly changed her facial expression, not showing her warm smile at all. She kicked Shaoyao, who she knocked out with her elbow just now, and removed her hand away from her throat for no need to imitate Shaoyao anymore. She wore a murderous look.
She opened the wooden case, in which there was no Zijin Pill, but a poisoned silver needle, the same kind Heavenly Master Lin used to threaten Jing Yuanchu.
Now, Jing Yuanchu had no strength to fight against her and could only wait for her punishment. The maid smiled. When she was ready to stab the silver needle at Jing Yuanchu’s throat, he suddenly opened his eyes.
“Who are you? Who sends you here?” Jing Yuanchu tried hard to stop the maid. The wound on his left arm dehisced again due to overexertion.
“I’m here to take revenge for my mistress,” the maid said savagely. “My mistress works wholeheartedly for you, but you betray her at last. You sent her to the palace to serve His Majesty, and even flirted with the little mistress before her and suspected her.”
Hearing her voice, Jing Yuanchu recalled that she was an unimpressive maid serving Imperial Concubine Lian. He pushed her away hard and said, “What a lunatic. Your mistress did everything for me voluntarily. She disobeyed my orders many times later, so she has to pay for her waywardness.”
“I will kill you for her.” The maid pounced on Jing Yuanchu and aimed the needle at his throat. But right at this time, she was stopped by a ray of dazzling light. When she covered her eyes subconsciously, she was dragged away by someone. Opening her eyes again, she found herself lying on the ground. The person dragging her away was Leng Changxi who showed up suddenly.
“It’s of no help even if you kill him.” Behind Leng Changxi, Qin Yunuan walked out.
Jing Yuanchu didn’t know when they two showed up. Or, maybe they hid in the palace all the time. The maid who aimed to take revenge for Imperial Concubine Lian was weak, so she was not scary. But he knew clearly that Leng Changxi was so skilled.
Unconsciously, Jing Yuanchu became nervous.
“Who are you?” The maid looked at Qin Yunuan and Leng Changxi in a hostile way. Then, she turned away and continued, “It doesn’t matter now. Since you stop me from killing him, you must be his allies. Right, you saved this fickle man on the palace just now. You are his helper.” The maid scolded Leng Changxi.
Qin Yunuan comforted her, “People who don’t kill him or save him may not be his allies. Who is the mistress you mentioned?”
The maid turned away. She knew she couldn’t win Leng Changxi so just kept silent.
“Imperial Concubine Lian?” Qin Yunuan blurted the answer out and continued with a smile, “So, who is the little mistress?”
The maid tended to talk but still kept her mouth shut at last.
Qin Yunuan carefully observed her facial expression. Suddenly, she laughed and asked, “It’s Imperial Concubine Lian’s little sister? I assume she’s Xinger, right?”
“How do you…”
Qin Yunuan smiled with satisfaction. “Seems that I’m right about this.”
Seeing the maid who was sulky, Qin Yunuan then looked away at Jing Yuanchu who only wore a thin piece of clothes, with the left shoulder bound up. Because of the fierce struggle, the blood tinted the cloth. His lower body was hidden under the cover. While supporting himself to lean against the bed, he looked vigilant and sharp.
“I’ve investigated Imperial Concubine Lian before,” Qin Yunuan said to Jing Yuanchu. “She comes from East Qin. Having drifted around for a long time, she went here and became your maid, together with her young sister. Later, you sent her to the palace and kept her sister in your mansion. This is a commonly used trick. You took advantage of Imperial Concubine Lian’s love for her sister to ensure that she would listen to you in the palace. However, unexpectedly, Xinger fell in love with you. Imperial Concubine Lian worried that Xinger would totally be under your control, so disobeyed you many times. She was telling you that she could defy you now so wanted you to set Xinger free. But she didn’t expect that…”
“She didn’t expect that Xinger didn’t want to leave.” Jing Yuanchu wore a complacent smile. “That silly woman really thought she could wield power against me as an imperial concubine. But eventually, she is the one taking the consequences.”
Jing Yuanchu laughed in a cruel and even complacent manner.
“You are wrong.” Qin Yunuan would not believe that Imperial Concubine Lian was so shallow-headed. “She’s a beautiful woman. She must get something so that she could take her sister here without being hurt from remote East Qin. Zhao Huijin, a powerful man in East Qin, loves to train assassins, but he usually sets extremely strict rules. So many assassins who can’t stand this will change their names and run away. I think Imperial Concubine Lian is one of his assassins. Xinger was young at that time， so she knew little about this. In my opinion, Imperial Concubine Lian must have noticed that you were training Xinger to become an assassin after finding her talent, so she kept disobeying you to prevent her sister from following her example.”