“Second Prince, please step aside, please!”
“My daughter has run off…”
Cold sweat was beading on Ye Changlin’s forehead now.
What was this Second Prince doing?
Why did he keep standing in front of him?
Ye Jinmo was also as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.
The Second Prince not only blocked his father but also blocked him.
“Second Prince!”
Ye Jinmo really wanted to shove him aside!
But the person standing in front of them was the Second Prince, the Empress’s own son, a person of noble status; they couldn’t lay a finger on him.
Moreover, as Chuchu had said earlier, this Second Prince had been poisoned and was impotent; with his fragile health, if he fell down after being pushed, they would be finished.
“Cough, cough, cough…”
Yun Songming clutched his chin and coughed a few times, looking as if he were about to drop dead any second.
This made Ye Changlin and Ye Jinmo even more afraid to touch this tofu-like Second Prince.
Yun Songming slowly turned around, looking at Ye Changlin and Ye Jinmo with a pale complexion, and said slowly, “Minister Ye, Young General Ye, this prince was just feeling unwell and blocked your way; I truly apologize.”
Ye Changlin hurriedly shook his head: “Second Prince, you must take care of your health.”
“My little daughter has run off and I cannot find her; I must go and bring her back.”
“This subject takes his leave!”
Ye Changlin bypassed Yun Songming and quickly ran out of the Imperial Study.
Ye Jinmo also hurriedly bowed to take his leave.
“This subject takes his leave!”
Watching the backs of Ye Changlin and Ye Jinmo as they hurried away, Yun Songming said weakly, “Minister Ye, Young General Ye, the Third Miss of the Ye residence is truly a remarkable person.”
“Cough, cough, cough—rest assured, two gentlemen, she will not come to any harm!”
Ye Changlin and Ye Jinmo, who were running forward, paused their steps.
Yun Songming lowered his head and continued to cough a few times: “The Imperial Palace is heavily guarded. Besides, the Third Miss is heading to the inner palace; it is inconvenient for Minister Ye and Young General Ye to go there. You should leave the palace first.”
Ye Changlin and Ye Jinmo exchanged a glance. Although they were burning with anxiety, they knew what the Second Prince said made sense.
Furthermore, the Second Prince could also hear Chuchu’s inner voice.
He had solved the kidnapping case that had plagued the capital for years today; to him, Chuchu could be considered to have made a contribution.
Since the Second Prince had said so, he likely wouldn’t let anything happen to Chuchu.
Ye Changlin turned back to Yun Songming, who was still bowing his head and coughing: “Many thanks, Second Prince!”
“Then this old subject will leave the palace first!”
Ye Changlin walked quickly toward the palace gate, whispering to Ye Jinmo: “Mo’er, quickly send someone to notify Imperial Concubine Shu.”
This rebellious daughter!
She is truly too worrying!
Ye Jinmo nodded: “Yes, Father!”
…
In the palace corridor
A girl in white was creeping along, walking through the palace corridor like a thief, hiding quickly whenever she saw guards approaching.
“Hiss!”
She accidentally stepped on a rock, twisting her ankle.
Ye Chuchu immediately covered her mouth.
It’s over, I called out too loudly; I’m going to be discovered!
But the guards seemed to have heard nothing at all, despite the sharp “hiss” in the quiet night.
Ye Chuchu: [Zhazha, are these guards’ ears that bad?]
Zhazha: [Little Chuchu, maybe the wind is a bit strong tonight.]
Ye Chuchu looked at the motionless tree leaves not far in front of her.
Strong wind?
The guards: We didn’t see anything, we didn’t see anything!
Eunuch Lin had already come to give them instructions: as long as they saw a girl in white heading toward the inner palace, they should pretend not to see her and let her pass.
This was the Emperor’s command!
Zhazha: [Little Chuchu, stop worrying about the guards; hurry, hurry, Consort Liu’s child is about to be born.]
Ye Chuchu: [Alrighty, alrighty!]
Zhazha: [Seeing this big piece of gossip with your own eyes gives more points, hee hee hee…]
[Little Chuchu, head left, head left…]
[Little Chuchu, head right…]
Ye Chuchu bent her waist and ran quickly along the palace corridor.
However, the patrolling guards today seemed very strange; just as a patrol was about to cross paths with her, they would turn around and head in the other direction for some unknown reason.
It happened to several groups!
It was as if they were deliberately avoiding her!
Ye Chuchu shook her head!
Who does she think she is?
There is no way these guards would turn around just because they saw her; it must just be that she is lucky.
Ye Chuchu ran until she was panting and finally reached a secluded palace in the imperial grounds.
From inside came one sharp, miserable scream after another from a woman.
Ye Chuchu crept to the outside of the door and peeked in with half her head.
“Ah…”
“Help, Your Majesty, save this subject, save this subject…”
Inside the courtyard, the woman’s miserable cries echoed—feeble, yet she was using all her strength to shout for help.
Ye Chuchu saw a gilded rosewood chair placed in the center, with Emperor Shangde sitting upon it.
In front of him, a large group of people was kneeling.
However, because the imperial guards were blocking the way, Ye Chuchu could not see very clearly.
Ye Chuchu: [Zhazha, has Consort Liu’s child been born yet?]
Zhazha: [Little Master, it’s born; it’s a little princess!]
Ye Chuchu: [Then why is she still screaming so miserably?]
Zhazha: [Because the Emperor arrived a step too late; one-third of that large bowl of saffron had already been forced down her throat. When the Emperor arrived, Imperial Concubine Xian was watching the midwife feed the saffron to Consort Liu!]
Ye Chuchu: [Ah? Will Consort Liu die?]
Hidden outside the door, Ye Chuchu’s inner voice reached those inside.
Emperor Shangde, sitting on the gilded rosewood chair, was boiling with rage; he had just furiously slapped Imperial Concubine Xian across the face.
Hearing Ye Chuchu’s inner voice now, his soaring anger was gradually suppressed.
Since the Emperor was silent, no one dared to make a sound.
Those who could hear Ye Chuchu’s inner voice pricked up their ears.
Those who could not hear it kept their heads low, not daring to let out a breath, terrified of offending the Emperor and losing their heads by mistake.
Zhazha: [According to the previous data, Consort Liu drank a large bowl of saffron and died of hemorrhaging!]
[But I don’t know why, now that the Emperor knows of Imperial Concubine Xian’s sinister scheme, the data now shows…]
Zhazha paused!
Ye Chuchu asked anxiously: [Hurry up, tell me, what is it now?]
Zhazha: [The data shows that Consort Liu will still die!]
Ye Chuchu: [So pitiful, I didn’t think she would still be unable to escape death after drinking only one-third of the bowl of saffron!]
Zhazha: [Little Chuchu, that’s not it; drinking only one-third of the saffron actually wouldn’t kill her.]
[It’s just that this vicious woman, Imperial Concubine Xian, made a secondary plan and bribed the Physician He who is inside.]
[That Physician He is currently inside performing acupuncture on Consort Liu, under the guise of forcing the toxins out of Consort Liu’s body.]
[But in reality, the needles stuck into Consort Liu’s beautiful back are actually guiding the medicinal properties of the saffron into Consort Liu’s internal organs.]
[In a little while, Consort Liu will suffer a hemorrhage!]
Ye Chuchu: [Wow, Imperial Concubine Xian is truly heartless.]
[Zhazha, what should I do?]
[Human life is at stake; do you think I should rush in and report this to the Emperor?]