Chapter 91
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The little emperor’s eyes first showed a moment of confusion, and then the scattered light gradually gathered. He walked a few steps toward the warmer, holding the person and examining carefully—it was indeed Chu Xie’s golden silk warmer!
Having suffered from chronic illness for many years, he was extremely afraid of the cold, so he carried this thing with him every year, especially from late summer to early autumn.
Since he first met Chu Xie at the age of thirteen, he had kept it by his side.
“Your Majesty, don’t worry. Niang Niang is not seriously injured, it seems she has been drugged and fainted.” Zhou Wen saw the emperor approaching, realizing he must be worried, immediately checked Duan Se’s injuries and advised, “But Niang Niang has a special status. For now, it’s best to send her out of the capital. Wait until the situation stabilizes… Your Majesty, Your Majesty?”
Noticing Jiang Yanchi’s pale face, Zhou Wen also paused for a moment, then looked at his left foot, intending to take over Chu Xie. “Your Majesty, let me do it.”
Jiang Yanchi didn’t speak, just leaned away.
Limping with his injured foot, he hurriedly descended the city tower, heading non-stop towards the inner palace.
Wrong, wrong.
Reaching out to touch Chu Xie’s delicate and slender fingers, he only felt a palm’s worth of coldness.
That coldness struck his head, like an ice pick suspended above, ready to fall at any moment.
Pulling the clothes apart a bit more, besides the whip marks, faint burn marks could be seen. What’s going on here?
Lowering his gaze, he realized he had made a huge mistake.
Now thinking back, the atmosphere between Su Mingan and Zhao Lingqu confronting each other under the city wall and Chu Xie on the city wall seemed subtly tense and cold.
There was a reason for that.
The ones forced into a dead end were not the two who dared not move under the city tower but seemingly relaxed Chu Xie on the city wall!
“Your Majesty, do you need to attend to your injuries…” Zhou Wen outside always cared about Jiang Yanchi’s abdominal injury, reminding him from outside. It sounded like they had already entered the palace gate.
Jiang Yanchi suddenly thought of something, immediately lifted the door curtain and said to the guards at the gate, “The Minister of Justice, Lord Qi from the Yingtian Mansion, bring them here immediately!”
“Yes.” The gatekeeper went to carry out the order but took a few steps and came back. “Your Highness, Lord Qi from Yingtian Mansion has entered the palace early in the morning and is now waiting for you in the Hall of Political Affairs.”
Jiang Yanchi’s fingers curled slightly, looking again at Chu Xie in his arms, his brows slowly furrowed.
His crown and hair were disheveled, and his body was stained with spotted bloodstains. There was no dignified appearance that a monarch should have.
Yingtian Residence, Lord Qi.
It was him.
Jiang Yanchi sent a message for him to wait in the Chengluan Hall. After settling Chu Xie and calling for the imperial physician, he pressed his abdomen, his voice chilling, instructing someone to bring Qi Sui in.
Without asking any questions, Jiang Yanchi drew his long sword from his waist. Zhou Wen, quick-witted, intercepted with the hilt, producing a sharp sound that echoed in the side hall, startling the palace maids and eunuchs outside, who immediately knelt on the ground.
A piece of Qi Sui’s robe was instantly sliced off, floating down in front of him.
“Your Majesty, be cautious. It’s not too late to ask before taking action!” Zhou Wen half-knelt and saluted, glancing at Qi Sui. “There may be a misunderstanding in this matter!”
“Misunderstanding?”
Jiang Yanchi knew that Zhou Wen was protecting Qi Sui because he valued his talent and character. However, at this moment, he felt that the restless evil fire in his chest couldn’t be suppressed. He couldn’t think about these things right now.
He raised his foot and kicked towards Qi Sui’s chest without saying a word. Qi Sui was kicked with intense pain, and cold sweat covered his whole body as he curled up on the ground.
“It was you who interrogated him.” Jiang Yanchi approached again, stepping on the person trying to get up, the blade against his neck. Now a bit calmer, he asked in a low voice, “Who gave you the courage to torture him?”
“I didn’t.” Qi Sui coughed, inevitably reaching out to grab Jiang Yanchi’s ankle. “I… I just detained him. The assassination of Your Majesty in the Chengluan Hall is not a trivial matter. I was afraid the mastermind would take advantage and escape from the capital.”
“It wasn’t him who attempted the assassination!” Jiang Yanchi almost forgot about this part. He thought that Chu Xie had skillfully avoided this disaster, not expecting him to have actually suffered imprisonment. “Even if detained, why didn’t you detain him in the prison of the Ministry of Justice? Instead, you, as the Prefect of Yingtian, interfered!”
“Your Majesty, the Ministry of Justice can’t detain him! The Ministry of Justice couldn’t even detain Xu Chunmu. How could it…”
“How could Xu Chunmu be detained in the Ministry of Justice! Wasn’t Xu Chunmu held in the Zhao Prison?”
Jiang Yanchi was increasingly confused, but suddenly, a clear thought emerged. Someone used Xu Chunmu as bait, moved him to the Ministry of Justice, just to entice Chu Xie to rescue him!
Jiang Yanchi deduced the sequence of events: on the night he was attacked, Xu Chunmu was moved to the Ministry of Justice, aiming to provoke Chu Xie to attempt a rescue. Chu Xie knew it was a trap but had to take the risk to save Xu Chunmu’s life.
“Has Xu Chunmu left the capital?”
“Yes, and then… he was captured and brought back by Grand Tutor Su.”
Chu Xie always acted meticulously. The person he sent out unexpectedly had a reason to be brought back.
This matter was not simple. It was a meticulously planned scheme with hidden moves. Chu Xie, in order to save Xu Chunmu, had to leave himself open to be caught. Once the prison was breached, it would undoubtedly situate the motive for the assassination. Qi Sui, known for upholding justice, couldn’t possibly let Chu Xie go unpunished.
“If you were only detaining him, who interrogated him? Has anyone advised you to apprehend Chu Xie?” Jiang Yanchi, with a faint guess, asked with a hoarse voice, “Was it Su Mingan or Zhao Lingqu?”
“He is the Empress, how can I have the right to question him? Naturally, I have to wait for Your Majesty to wake up before making plans… This morning, I heard that Your Majesty’s condition was improving, so I came early to report this to Your Majesty. I am not very certain, but it seems… someone wants to use me to kill the Empress!”
Seeing the Emperor’s changing expression, Qi Sui thought he might not be believed. At this moment, he could only reveal everything truthfully. “It’s true, the person was not interrogated by me, and it wasn’t really an interrogation—first, the person was beaten half to death, then the fire was set to destroy everything. It was a matter of life and death. Before the Empress was imprisoned, he hinted to me. He said that if I wanted to imprison him, I must ensure that he could walk out of Zhao Prison alive… So, I took precautions and had people carefully watch the movements of Zhao Prison.”
Chu Xie was always astute; what Jiang Yanchi could think of now, how could Chu Xie not have understood at the time?
But what was infuriating was that he calculated that being imprisoned in Zhao Prison was falling into someone else’s hands, and he could only be at the mercy of others.
Yet, he still had to sacrifice his life to save Xu Chunmu.
“It’s Zhao Lingqu!”
Qi Sui was not foolish either. This matter was too suspicious, and he asserted, “Zhao Lingqu must want to kill Chu Xie. My informant reported that before the Zhao Prison caught fire, it was Zhao Lingqu who interrogated him. Later, Su Mingan came, and Zhao Prison caught fire again. If I hadn’t arrived in time, the big fire would have burned all the evidence. If Your Majesty doesn’t believe it, wait for the Empress to wake up, you can ask him. What I said is indeed not false at all…”
Jiang Yanchi thought of the red tassel flowing cloud spear at the city gate.
Upon careful consideration, the long spear thrown at him on the night of the assassination was also cleverly arranged.
It was inevitable that Chu Xie was detained by Qi Sui, and at the same time, Xu Chunmu failed to escape from the capital.
It was because he cut off Chu Xie’s power of control that he was left powerless in this scheme, forced to retreat again and again.
In the end, he had to gamble on his life with Duan Se.
He didn’t abandon himself, who was seriously injured. On the contrary, Chu Xie, knowing that it would bring many troubles, insisted on calling the imperial physician. Falling into this predicament at a time when he had no power, he stumbled into an inescapable trap.
Jiang Yanchi temporarily didn’t know whom to blame for the anger burning in his heart.
Was it because he had completely removed the power in his hands, or was it because, at this critical moment, he didn’t know how to protect himself, yet still went to save that person surnamed Xu?
Who could have expected that in just two or three days, things would turn into this situation.
At present, all the imperial physicians were summoned into the palace. Jiang Yanchi was lost in thought, and when he heard Little Xizi calling him, it took several calls before he snapped out of it and asked, “What’s wrong, did someone wake up?”
“No, no.” Little Xizi hesitated, “Sir, Sir Su’s mansion is also looking for imperial physicians. Right now, all the imperial physicians are in Chengluan Hall. Sir Su is asking if it’s possible…”
Pa—
Jiang Yanchi fiercely smashed the cup in his hand outside.
Little Xizi was startled, and he saw Jiang Yanchi standing up. “He dares to come asking for imperial physicians, who does he want to heal? That person surnamed Zhao?”
Stepping on the shattered porcelain, he grabbed a blade and went out. Just as he saw Su Mingan kneeling on the ground, Su Mingan’s face was much darker when he saw Qi Sui on the side, but he didn’t avoid it.
Now, there was no other way. Zhao Lingqu was severely injured, and he had to invite skilled imperial physicians to treat him at home.
“Your Majesty, everything is my idea… it’s all my fault. But Your Majesty, please assign two imperial physicians to save General Zhao. He—”
Su Mingan knocked his head heavily, lowering his voice.
“He is your uncle.”
Jiang Yanchi’s eyelids twitched.
Chu Xie also mentioned that Zhao Lingqu is his uncle.
So Chu Xie didn’t trust him at all. Faced with difficult situations, Chu Xie only thought of solving them with his own strength.
Zhao Lingqu is his biological uncle, so Su Mingan wants to protect the Zhao family’s lineage, and his intention is clear.
He wants to restore the Kingdom.
After helping himself become the emperor and holding a certain amount of military power, he plans to use the military strength of Great Wei to restore the old Kingdom of Yue Clan.
Chu Xie is just a pawn in his hands. Su Mingan is extremely skilled, and he taught Chu Xie all the strategies and tricks. Chu Xie’s skill in plotting was all taught by him. He dared to teach Chu Xie the strategy of exterminating the heart and even pushed him to a high position.
It was all a well-prepared trap. Su Mingan was aware of the identity of the abandoned child of the Shen family from the beginning, and he could put him in a desperate situation at any time.
More than a decade of nurturing was like a fleeting illusion. From the beginning, he was a discarded pawn in Su Mingan’s hands.
All because he was the child of Shen Qian.
It’s him who hadn’t seen Su Mingan’s killing intent towards Chu Xie earlier, he should have realized that the Su family would not let go of the child from the Shen family.
“Grand Tutor Su.”
Jiang Yanchi rubbed the dried blood between his fingers, looking down at the man.
“I’ll ask you again. The plot I conspired with Lord Chu to assassinate Jiang Jingan, did you report it to Xu Yi in the North?”
Seeing Su Mingan silent, Jiang Yanchi understood it all.
“The Xus have always been friendly with Yubei Wang. You wanted to use Xu’s help to kill Chu Xie, but did not expect that he would directly rebel. Is that so?”
Su Mingan’s spine stiffened, and a hint of panic finally appeared on his face. “Your Majesty, I—”
“If Xu, with the help of Yubei Wang, kills Chu Xie, you will have achieved your goal. If Chu Xie retaliates and kills Yubei Wang, the western region will be in chaos. Then, Zhao Lingqu can take over the Puyang County’s troops, join forces with the former soldiers of Ningyuan Wang, and jointly resist the enemy, gaining military merits.”
But why did Su Mingan want to kill Chu Xie? Why not directly reveal his identity, instead of setting up such a big scheme, and urgently resorting to the accusation of defiling the palace to kill Chu Xie and Xu Chunmu?
What’s even stranger is that Su Mingan only wants to kill Chu Xie, a descendant of the Shen family. Why does it seem like there’s also a focus on Xu Chunmu?
Is it just to prevent Xu Chunmu from seizing the three hundred thousand troops from Zhao Lingqu?
Su Mingan has always acted discreetly and is adept at self-preservation.
Why is he so eager this time, not caring about the usual meticulous planning?
A single mistake in action leads to the current situation, full of flaws.
Did Chu Xie suddenly get hold of something deadly against him, or is there another change that forces him to take the risk of eliminating Chu Xie?
“Your Majesty, now is not the time to discuss these matters. He… He is the last prince of the Yue Clan, your uncle. He…” Su Mingan, until now, when Jiang Yanchi’s anger is undoubtedly burning, has to hold onto a glimmer of hope, repeatedly probing Jiang Yanchi’s attitude.
Jiang Yanchi’s eyes were gloomy, and he snorted coldly.
“I killed my own father, let alone an uncle.”
At these words, Su Mingan’s face changed abruptly.
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