Late at night, after saving Prince An, Leng Ruoli left. Consort Ping left four palace attendants to watch over Prince An for the night and also returned to rest.
At this moment, a person dressed in night-blooming clothes and masked stealthily sneaked into Prince An’s sleeping quarters and quickly incapacitated the four palace attendants on guard.
Then, he took out a dagger from his sleeve and slowly approached Prince An’s bed. Just as he raised his hand to stab Prince An’s chest, a figure appeared behind him in the blink of an eye, blocked his acupoints, and immobilized him.
At this moment, the masked man in black secretly thought, it’s over, it’s over.
The person who had immobilized him was none other than Prince Leng.
Following Prince Leng, a group of people entered: the Emperor, Consort Ping, Leng Ruoli, and Prince Ji.
“As Li’er guessed, someone in the palace was unhappy to see Fifth Brother revived and intended to harm him.”
The Emperor’s expression was gloomy as he spoke, his voice cold like a thousand-year-old ice.
“Speak, who sent you to assassinate my Yu’er?”
Consort Ping was also enraged, her face as dark as the bottom of a pot. Who on earth was so audacious? They had just left Prince An Yu’er’s chambers, and the assassin had already arrived.
“No one ordered me to kill Prince An. Whether you kill me or flay me, I have no objections.” The masked man in black replied with fortitude.
Upon hearing this, Jun Mohan casually tore off the black veil from his face, and the stranger’s face was immediately revealed to everyone.
Everyone stared nakedly at the man in black, but he showed no fear, his back held straight.
“Eunuch Li, have Jian Feng come to Yiran Hall to confirm if he is part of the Imperial Guards.” The Emperor said coldly to the man in black.
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
After Eunuch Li acknowledged, he hurried out.
However, the masked man in black remained unafraid. From the moment his actions were exposed, he had already resolved to die.
Not long after, Jian Feng arrived at Yiran Hall with Eunuch Li.
Jian Feng: “Your subordinate pays his respects to Your Majesty!”
Emperor: “Rise! I asked Eunuch Li to summon you to identify an assassin.”
After the Emperor finished speaking, everyone pointed to the immobilized man in black by Prince An’s bed for Jian Feng’s identification.
Upon seeing the man in black, Jian Feng’s face immediately darkened.
“Feiyang, no wonder you were so eager to be on duty tonight. It turns out you wanted to use your shift to assassinate Prince An.” Jian Feng accused him with a face full of anger.
“Heh!”
Feiyang snorted coldly and did not speak.
“Your Majesty, this assassin who attempted to kill Prince An is named Feiyang. He is an Imperial Guard stationed on the outer perimeter of the imperial harem. He was not scheduled to be on duty tonight, but he suddenly requested to swap shifts with another Imperial Guard, which then gave him the opportunity to sneak into Yiran Hall to assassinate Prince An. This is my dereliction of duty. I am guilty and willing to accept punishment.”
Jian Feng knelt down on the spot to confess his guilt.
“Hmph! If it weren’t the Empress Dowager’s birthday today and I feared seeing blood would be inauspicious, I would absolutely not have let you off lightly tonight.” The Emperor reprimanded Jian Feng.
“Yes, Your Majesty, your subordinate understands. Thank you, Your Majesty, for sparing my life!”
Jian Feng truly understood what it meant to survive a disaster.
“Drag this assassin who attempted to kill Prince An away, imprison him in the great prison, and then force him to reveal who instigated the assassination of Prince An.”
The Emperor immediately issued his orders to Jian Feng. Afterward, Jian Feng called for more Imperial Guards who escorted the assassin Feiyang away and imprisoned him in the heavenly prison.
“Li’er, thank you so much for what happened to Prince An tonight. Please accept this bow from your humble servant.” Consort Ping said, her voice choked with emotion.
“Oh, Mother Consort Ping, you don’t need to do this. I can’t accept it,” Leng Ruoli said with a headache.
“Consort Ping, this little girl Li’er is kind-hearted and cannot stand such kneeling rituals. Don’t make things difficult for her. Just remember to treat her well in the future,” the Emperor said, suddenly speaking up for Leng Ruoli. In fact, he had long noticed that Leng Ruoli disliked kneeling rituals or expressing gratitude to benefactors through kowtows. However, as the Emperor, aloof and exalted, if he were to abolish the custom of kneeling for everyone, he would lose his imperial dignity.
“Yes, this concubine will remember Your Majesty’s words.”
Consort Ping nodded and smiled in agreement. She had now personally witnessed the capabilities of Prince Leng’s consort, and she was not foolish enough to provoke someone who would be of great help to her in the future.
At that time, seeing that it was getting late, the couple of Prince Leng decided to leave the palace.
“Father, I don’t think anyone will dare to attempt to assassinate Prince An again tonight. We shall take our leave.”
The couple of Prince Leng cupped their hands in greeting to the Emperor.
The Emperor nodded upon hearing this and agreed to their departure from the palace.
Following that, Leng Ruoli and Jun Mohan quickly left the imperial palace.
However, as soon as they got into their carriage, a fiery red figure also followed closely behind them and flashed into the carriage of the couple of Prince Leng.
Upon seeing Ming Jiuxiao, this… creature, Jun Mohan’s entire carriage was filled with a gunpowder-like atmosphere.
Leng Ruoli glanced at the two men sharing the same space, one noble and aloof, the other enchanting and charming, two men with diametrically opposed personalities. What would happen next?
Everyone could imagine.
As a result, Jun Mohan’s carriage exploded with a loud "boom!" and was blown to smithereens. While Leng Ruoli was still in a daze, Jun Mohan had already grabbed her hand and, using his Qinggong, flew towards Prince Leng’s mansion.
Leaving behind Ming Jiuxiao, who was in a state of disarray in the wind.
“Damn it!”
“Jun Mohan, you son of a b*tch, how dare you play such a trick on this Lord Master.”
Then, Ming Jiuxiao, covered in dust, cursed in the direction where Jun Mohan had disappeared.
Even more unfortunately, as soon as his words fell, a voice that made him feel disgusted reached his ears with a sweet, flirtatious tone.
“Brother Ming, Brother Ming, I’ve finally found you.” Lin Mengzhi ran towards him with a smile on her face.
Upon seeing this woman, Ming Jiuxiao’s face immediately turned as dark as the bottom of a pot. He waved his sleeve, used his Qinggong, and immediately flew away. Even Jun Mohan’s subordinates, Yin Chen and Ye Ying, flew away one after another, leaving only Lin Mengzhi stomping her feet in anger.
…
On Xie Yichuan’s side.
After the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet dispersed, he led Mo Yi out of the imperial palace and got into his carriage, slowly heading towards Uncle Feng’s inn. As his carriage entered the wide street, it was stopped by Leng Jinyu.
“Young Master Xie, may I have a private meeting with you?” Leng Jinyu said very politely.
After speaking, Leng Jinyu did not hear Xie Yichuan’s reply for a moment and became increasingly anxious.
“Young Master, General Leng requests to see you. Do you wish to meet him?” Mo Yi asked Leng Jinyu at this moment.
“General Leng, it is late tonight, and everyone is tired. Let us postpone our meeting and chat another day,” Xie Yichuan replied indifferently.
In fact, he did not answer Leng Jinyu immediately not because he was putting on airs, but because he did not know how to interact with this person he could not fathom.
“Alright, then another day. I apologize for disturbing you, Young Master Xie,” Leng Jinyu replied with great disappointment.