A roar erupted through a layer of door panels, significantly muffled, yet it was still clearly recognizable as belonging to a man.
“I will kill you sooner or later!”
Thus roared Ji Mingshan.
The two imperial guards above the cellar exchanged glances, a layer of cold sweat breaking out across their backs, yet in the end, they did not dare to open the cellar door. Instead, they stealthily returned to the hidden spot they had previously found in the mountains, preparing to write a report to the Prince Regent.
At this point, they were eighty percent certain that the person trapped down below was the Emperor. Now that the Emperor was locked inside a cellar, should they keep quiet, or should they go up and effect a rescue?
If they remained silent, the Emperor might die; if they attempted a rescue, what kind of trouble would they bring upon the Prince Regent?
Daring not to act rashly, they had to consider why the Emperor was here and whose handiwork lay behind it. This matter affected the entire situation with a single move, so they needed to report to the Prince Regent first.
The two rushed all the way back into the forest. Just as they were drafting their letter, two piercing arrows suddenly whistled in from afar.
Silver Armor failed to dodge in time and was wounded on the spot. The arrows were evidently smeared with potent poison, for the moment Silver Armor pulled the arrow out and attempted to rise, a wave of dizziness flooded his mind. Before he could even utter a single word, he collapsed to the ground with a dull thud.
The instant Purple Blade turned around to draw his blade, Zhilan materialized out of the shadows with her face veiled. Wielding a sharp weapon, she lunged straight for Purple Blade’s head with intent to kill.
Zhilan did not know who they were, nor did she care to find out.
She only needed to make sure that these two men had discovered Emperor Wenkang, in which case she had to dispatch them straight down to the Yellow Springs.
The two engaged in close-quarters combat within the forest, their swords and sabers weaving into a chaotic web beneath the moonlight. Startled forest birds took flight in a panic, hurriedly plunging into the cloud cover. The razor-sharp edge concealed beneath Yan Lingyi’s skirt and the fangs hidden beneath Ji Hengge’s sickly physique finally met for their very first clash without either side being aware of it.
Sanling Mountain was far away, and those startled forest birds could not fly as far as the eaves of Jianye. The dawn of the imperial city arrived quietly as usual.
Having slept soundly and comfortably through the night due to the medication, Ning Yue slowly awoke from her daybed.
When she opened her eyes, she found herself tucked inside the main bed while her imperial sister-in-law rested on the window daybed. Outside, the sky was brightly lit.
It had been daytime when she fell asleep, and it was still daytime when she woke up, giving her a momentary sense of temporal confusion. She sat up in a daze, not even managing to ask how long she had slept before she heard Yan Lingyi say from the daybed, “Is His Majesty awake? This concubine has two pieces of good news to report to you.”
Ning Yue pulled herself upright, her ink-black hair cascading in winding waves down her neck. Looking utterly well-behaved, she sat hugging her blanket upon the couch, her fair and tender cheeks still bearing the red imprints pressed into them from sleep. With a puzzled expression, she asked, “What news?”
Her imperial sister-in-law looked back from the daybed.
The golden radiance of the midsummer scorching sun poured in from outside the window, casting its illumination over her imperial sister-in-law and coating her in a layer of golden light. Her imperial sister-in-law’s gorgeous hair fluttered gracefully in the breeze. When her imperial sister-in-law turned to look at her, she felt as though her imperial sister-in-law were a fairy descending from the clouds, glowing entirely in gold and looking breathtakingly beautiful.
The fairy parted her lips and spoke, “The case of the Minister of Revenue has been handled properly, and the evidence has already been uncovered. The Lin family was indeed framed, and someone deliberately plotted against them. When you hold court tomorrow, you will need to settle this matter.”
“There is a second matter,” the fairy continued. “The Empress Dowager has decided to select a consort for Princess Ning Yue, choosing from a hundred young sons of noble officials. Those excelling in both literary and martial arts shall be favored, and three days from now, everyone shall set off for the imperial hunting grounds. The winner selected there shall become the imperial consort.”
A spark of sudden enlightenment pierced through Ning Yue’s muddled brain. Letting out an exclamation of surprise, she leaned forward from beneath her blanket and blurted out, “Selecting a consort for me?”
She and Emperor Wenkang were born of the same mother as twins, crawling out of the Empress Dowager’s womb together. Emperor Wenkang already possessed a whole harem of people, yet she did not even have a single imperial consort.
Come to think of it, she had indeed reached the age for selecting a consort, but with the Empress Dowager growing progressively ill and lacking the energy to manage it, the task should naturally fall to Yan Lingyi as Empress, or to Emperor Wenkang to choose a husband for her.
She never expected that the Empress Dowager would suddenly bring this matter up.
“Indeed,” Yan Lingyi said, sitting upon the daybed. “We must also go to the imperial hunting grounds. Furthermore, the Empress Dowager has decreed that all members of the Great Jin imperial family must attend to jointly select a consort for the Princess.”
The members of the Great Jin imperial family were exceedingly few. Aside from Emperor Wenkang, the only surviving member currently in existence was the Prince Regent. Now that the Empress Dowager had issued her decree, all of them were required to go. Although the Empress Dowager was gravely ill, she still kept a vice-like grip on the authority of the Great Jin.
For the two years since Emperor Wenkang ascended the throne, the memorials in the Imperial Study, after passing through Emperor Wenkang’s hands, would be delivered by eunuchs to the Empress Dowager’s Renshou Palace for her review before they could be issued.
On the surface, Emperor Wenkang was the Emperor, but in reality, the Empress Dowager functioned more like the ruler. The umbilical cord of flesh and blood between Emperor Wenkang and the Empress Dowager had long since severed, but the umbilical cord of power remained tightly intertwined around them both. The Empress Dowager’s majesty and affection together drowned Emperor Wenkang, forcing him to accept everything, while his occasional rebellions seemed merely like the tantrums of a child due to their utter feebleness.
It was only recently, as the Empress Dowager’s physical condition grew progressively worse and she ceased reviewing memorials, that Yan Lingyi finally managed to meddle with the documents.
Now that the Empress Dowager had suddenly announced a hunting trip, no one could refuse.
“So sudden? Mother did not discuss this with me beforehand.” Ning Yue began to panic slightly. “I must go, but if I go, won’t I be exposed once we arrive?”
Ning Yue had been playing the role of her brother all this time, while the person kept inside her palace quarters was merely a disguised maid who had never shown her face. Once they appeared before the public, what then?
Yan Lingyi, however, was far more concerned with other matters.
In her past life, there had never been any mention of the Empress Dowager selecting a consort for the Princess. The Empress Dowager of her past life had remained quietly alive until her death without ever managing matters of princesses or consorts, so why had it suddenly begun in this lifetime?
Ever since her rebirth, although she had brought Emperor Wenkang back to the Jianye Palace ahead of schedule, everything she and Emperor Wenkang had done should not have crossed any lines, at least not overtly. Matters handled secretly, such as administering medicine, should not have been known to outsiders.
Things were slipping out of her control, yet she could find no reason for it and was forced to passively accept the challenge.
“If we go, we go,” Yan Lingyi stated. “Soldiers will be met with shields, and water with earth.”
Ning Yue patted her own chest and said, “If we are truly exposed, we can simply confess the truth honestly. After all, the one who committed the wrongdoing is Imperial Brother. If punishment is due, we still stand behind Imperial Brother.”
Yan Lingyi looked at Ning Yue as though looking at a child who understood nothing, offering an indulgent smile.
You foolish child, what honest confession? Even if Ning Yue confessed that Emperor Wenkang had eloped, no one else would believe it.
Emperor Wenkang’s escape was riddled with flaws. How could a man incapable of carrying burdens on his shoulders or lifting heavy objects slip away under the tight security of the Imperial Guards? How did he manage to conceal himself? With so many Imperial Guards searching, why could they find nothing?
True, Emperor Wenkang had fled of his own accord, but someone must have acted as the mastermind behind the scenes. And who could that mastermind be?
Obviously, there was only Yan Lingyi.
With so many questions left hanging, only Ning Yue truly believed it was an accident.
Once the Empress Dowager learned that Ning Yue had impersonated Emperor Wenkang, she would undoubtedly execute Yan Lingyi immediately. Nothing mattered more to her than her son.
Was Yan Lingyi willing to die just like that?
She was not. She had not lived enough yet, and the Great Jin had not yet grown into a supreme superpower that commanded allegiance from all corners of the world. She was unwilling to die in such a manner.
If the Empress Dowager wanted her to die, yet she refused to die, what would happen then?
Yan Lingyi could only hope that day would never come.
Although the Empress Dowager had hardly been affectionate toward her, the Empress Dowager was her elder after all and had provided her with guidance. Aside from spoiling her useless son beyond reason, the Empress Dowager had never committed any heinous atrocities, and Yan Lingyi did not wish to turn her hands against her.
She only hoped the Empress Dowager could peacefully pass through these two months and die of old age as she had in her past life.
Sitting before the daybed, the Empress slowly lowered her eyelashes and murmured, “Very well, we shall confess the truth honestly.”
When the Empress Dowager’s imperial edict arrived at Chengming Hall, it was precisely noon.
The pine trees of Chengming Hall remained eternally green, their dappled light sweeping across the branches to stamp floral shadows upon the ground. Wu Qiang crossed the winding corridor and stepped into the inner hall.
One of the side halls had been cleared out to house a collection of spears, sabers, axes, and halberds, alongside some wooden mechanical contraptions specially commissioned by Ji Hengge from military craftsmen to rebuild his physical endurance.
The imperial physicians had already pronounced a death sentence upon Ji Hengge’s legs, but Ji Hengge refused to believe it and continued his physical conditioning every single day. The mechanical wood in this side hall had never ceased its operation for a single day.
When Wu Qiang arrived, Ji Hengge was suspended from an overhead horizontal bar by his arms. He was no longer a healthy man; those agile leaps and bounds were long beyond his reach, leaving him capable only of performing basic pulling motions. Yet even such simple exercises caused the veins on his arms to bulge and a thin layer of sweat to coat his shoulders and neck.
“Reporting to Your Highness,” Wu Qiang entered the hall, paying respects to the Prince Regent before reporting, “The scapegoat has already been smuggled into the palace.”
According to their original plan, once the scapegoat entered the palace, the Prince Regent was supposed to fake his death and make his escape.
Right now, the imperial city appeared calm on the surface, but beneath it, undercurrents surged violently. Every single person currently residing within the imperial city seemed to walk like a ticking bottle of poison: the Empress Dowager, the Empress, the Yongchang Emperor, and the fake Ning Yue. Not a single one of them was easy to deal with, and the Empress Dowager had chosen this exact juncture to propose selecting a consort for Princess Ning Yue. No matter how one looked at it, an uneasy, restless vibe permeated the air.
If the Prince Regent faked his death at this moment, he could precisely sidestep this entire mess. Once he departed the imperial city, he would not need to care about the floods threatening to overturn the heavens behind him.
Once his fake death was accomplished, he would never return to Jianye. Whether it was Ning Yue impersonating the Emperor, the Empress scaling windows in the middle of the night, or the Empress Dowager administering poison daily, he would never lay eyes on them again for the rest of his life.
Amidst his reflections, Wu Qiang lowered his head and asked, “Your Highness, shall we proceed with our arrangements to leave the palace tonight?”