Chapter 263: Chapter 263: Why the Assassination? A Woman and the Empire
The last rays of the setting sun stained the horizon a bloody red.
Ji Qingwu ran all the way from Qianyuan Hall to the palace gates, where she spotted the distant silhouettes of the returning procession.
It wasn’t the grand, sweeping procession that had departed. Instead, a small, advance party was the first to return.
Ji Qingwu’s hands clenched into fists, her lips trembling. Though she had been desperate to see Emperor Wu Su, her feet seemed rooted to the ground as she watched the imperial carriage draw ever closer, unable to move.
Her heart hammered so erratically she couldn’t make out its rhythm.
Ji Qingwu was suddenly terrified. A cowardice crept into her heart; she was so afraid of what she might see...
Duan Mingfeng was at the head of the procession, clearing the path. Ji Qingwu took a deep breath and stepped forward.
Duan Mingfeng had already spotted the woman in teal waiting by the palace gates. His expression was as dark as charcoal, heavy and grim.
Ji Qingwu saw that he had no wounds, nor did he show any signs of having been in a fight.
A sliver of hope remained in her heart. "Mr. Duan," she asked, "is it..."
Duan Mingfeng frowned. "Fifth Miss Ji, the priority is to get into the palace and have the imperial physicians conduct a consultation."
Ji Qingwu’s gaze shifted to the carriage behind him.
The carriage’s curved beams were gilded and carved with trailing clouds. Curtains of teal satin, embroidered with golden cloud patterns, draped from the roof to the base, obscuring any view of the person inside.
Before anyone could react, Ji Qingwu darted toward the imperial carriage.
Her hand had just brushed against the curtain when a member of the Forbidden Army blocked her, causing her to grasp at empty air.
She and he were separated by nothing more than a curtain.
With a pleading look in her eyes, Ji Qingwu said, "I know medicine! Let me go up and check on His Majesty’s injuries!"
Two silver spears crossed before her neck, barring her from moving forward even an inch.
She turned her head and saw Lu Juan, mounted on a large, chestnut-colored horse, escorting the carriage.
Ji Qingwu said urgently, "I know medicine! Both Mr. Lu and Mr. Duan can vouch for me. I don’t mean any harm, I just want to examine His Majesty’s injuries."
Lu Juan’s face was grim, devoid of any hint of a smile. "Fifth Missy," he said, "please step aside and let the procession enter the palace."
Her eyes glistening with unshed tears, Ji Qingwu said frantically, "Saving a life allows for no delay! We can’t waste a single moment."
Just then, the curtain embroidered with golden clouds was swept aside by a hand.
Ji Qingwu immediately looked up. It was a woman’s hand, its nails painted red.
A woman’s displeased voice came from the imperial carriage.
"Insolent fool! Have you no sense of priority? Men, get her away from here immediately! Take the Emperor back to Zhaoyang Hall!"
That voice... It was Princess Consort Wei at Emperor Wu Su’s side.
As the curtain was parted just enough to create a small gap, the light in Ji Qingwu’s eyes instantly vanished.
She had caught the thick stench of blood wafting from within, mingled with the faint scent of ambergris.
’He’s truly been gravely wounded. His life is hanging by a thread.’
Before the Forbidden Army could act on the order to drag her away, Ji Qingwu had already moved. No one saw clearly how she pulled the towering guard beside her from his horse.
Ji Qingwu commandeered a horse, vaulted into the saddle, and galloped away.
No one knew where she was going.
The procession continued toward Zhaoyang Hall.
*
「Zhaoyang Hall.」
The Empress Dowager, Prince Yong, Princess Hua Chang, and Princess Qingyun had been in the main retinue. Traveling at a slower pace, they had only just returned to the palace.
As they reached the entrance to Zhaoyang Hall, they saw basin after basin of blood-filled water being carried out.
At the gory sight, Princess Hua Chang nearly stumbled. Prince Yong caught her arm, helping her regain her balance.
"Elder Sister, be careful."
She had already wept on the journey back, and her eyes were red and swollen. Princess Hua Chang pushed Prince Yong’s hand away and was the first to step into the hall.
Inside, she saw a dense crowd of imperial physicians kneeling on the floor. A gauze curtain was drawn around the Dragon Bed in the inner chamber.
Wei Ting stood outside the curtain. He held an imperial edict, handwritten by the Emperor, restoring him to the post of General Zhenbei. In the Emperor’s absence, he was responsible for the palace’s security.
The dean of the Imperial Hospital, a man nearing seventy, knelt beside the Dragon Bed, cleaning the Emperor’s wound.
Princess Hua Chang spotted Yuan Heng standing in a corner and beckoned him over.
"What is his condition?" she asked.
Wei Ting glanced at the Empress Dowager, who had just entered, then leaned in to whisper to the princess, "To answer the Eldest Princess, Doctor Chen is inside, but the situation is not promising. I advise the Eldest Princess to prepare for the worst."
Princess Hua Chang’s pregnancy was now quite apparent. She sat down, one hand on the small of her back, and resumed her icy composure.
Forcing a calm she didn’t feel, she said, "Heaven protects the worthy. The Emperor will be fine."
The Empress Dowager, Prince Yong, and Princess Qingyun all took seats in the antechamber, waiting for news from within.
About fifteen minutes passed.
Dean Chen and Wei Liru emerged together. The Empress Dowager shot Princess Consort Wei a glare.
"Doctor Chen," she demanded, "how is His Majesty?"
Dean Chen knelt. "The arrow wound Your Majesty sustained is too close to his heart," he said. "His pulse is extremely faint. I have exhausted all my knowledge and can only sustain him for a short while. It is impossible to say what will happen next."
’Impossible to say’ meant it was uncertain if he would even see the sunrise tomorrow.
Wei Ting had never seen Emperor Wu Su so weak. His heart felt as heavy as a stone.
’They had planned everything so meticulously. Why did something go wrong? Where was the flaw in their plan?’
He fixed his gaze on his sister and asked, "What happened?"
Before Wei Liru could even speak, she burst into tears.
"It’s all my fault..." she sobbed. "If His Majesty hadn’t been trying to save me, he wouldn’t have... he wouldn’t be so gravely injured."
’To save her?’
Seeing that his sister was too busy weeping to explain what had happened, Wei Ting turned to Eunuch Li, who was standing quietly nearby.
"How exactly was His Majesty attacked?"
Tears streamed down Li Yuzong’s aged face as he spoke mournfully. "The Forbidden Army was closing in on the assassins, and the Holy Emperor was on higher ground, on a slope."
"But then, two assassins appeared, galloping wildly on horseback. Tied to the front of one of them was... Princess Wei."
Li Yuzong paused, his old eyes welling with tears. "The Holy Emperor had already raised the Xuanyuan Bow, but... he lowered it."
At such a critical moment, any hesitation meant forfeiting one’s life.
The Empress Dowager and the others had only known that the Emperor was attacked, not why. Now they understood. It had been for *her*.
The Empress Dowager glared at Princess Consort Wei, pointing a finger at her. "You truly are a fatal beauty!" she raged. "If anything happens to the Emperor, you will pay for it with your life!"
Princess Hua Chang looked up, her brows furrowed as she peered through the gauze curtain at the figure lying on the Dragon Bed.
Wei Ting was speechless for a long moment. He had never expected Emperor Wu Su would go to such lengths.
’If I were in his shoes... a woman, or the empire...’
CLANG!
A loud crash suddenly came from outside the hall doors, as if something heavy had been dropped.
Little Dongzi, who was standing by the door, looked with pity at the stunned woman before him.
"Miss Ji..."
Ji Qingwu, acting as if nothing was wrong, picked up the brocade bag that she had just dropped.
This time, however, she didn’t barge straight in. Instead, she asked a question.
"I can go in, right?"
Hearing the commotion, Princess Hua Chang stood up abruptly and called out, "Let her in! Quickly!"
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