Chapter 937: The Dust Settles (1)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
A cold wind blew as a cavalry wearing the Wu army’s armor ran towards the palace door at an extremely fast speed. The imperial guards were shocked and quickly went forward to stop him. They shouted, “Who’s there?”
“We’re from the Western Camp. We’re specially ordered by His Majesty to enter the palace to take care of business. Hurry up and move aside.” As the leader of the cavalry spoke, he threw over an iron token that indicated his identity.
The imperial guards caught the iron token. It was indeed from the Western Camp, but didn’t His Majesty go to save General Yan?
According to the time, he should not have left the city yet.
The imperial guards asked, “Since it’s a secret order from Your Majesty, do you have proof?”
The imperial guards usually worked in the palace and didn’t usually see many soldiers. In addition, the city was under martial law now, so they did not suspect the other party’s identity. They would only ask this question as a routine investigation. They could not just let them in the palace after the other party said that His Majesty had secretly instructed them to do so, right?
The cavalryman was about to explain when he was interrupted by another question.
What was going on here?
The guards rushed over and cupped their hands. “Commander Liu, they’re from the Western Camp. They claim to have received Your Majesty’s secret order. I’m investigating. ”
Commander Liu narrowed his eyes. “Do you have proof?”
The cavalry said, “His Majesty encountered an assassin in the city. It was an emergency, so he didn’t have time to give out the token.”
“What? His Majesty was attacked?” Commander Liu’s expression changed. He quickly grasped the crux of the problem and asked sternly, “Why didn’t you protect His Majesty when he was attacked?”
The cavalry’s expression did not change. “An inescapable net has long been set up in the city. Those assassins are just clowns. Commander Liu, you don’t have to worry about His Majesty’s safety. Moreover, His Majesty ordered us to enter the palace for other important matters.”
Those who could become the commander of the imperial guards were naturally people Shangguan Yu trusted. They knew his arrangements very well and knew that what the cavalry said was true.
He frowned and asked, “What is it?”
The cavalry said, “It’s not appropriate for me to say anything else about His
Majesty’s secret order. Commander Liu, don’t ask too much. If we delay His Majesty’s important matters, we won’t be able to bear the responsibility.”
If it were anyone else, they would have been shocked by the secret order. However, Commander Liu was not easy to fool. He sneered. “Hmph, you don’t want to tell me why you entered the palace. You don’t have a token in your hands. I have the right to suspect that your motives for entering the palace are impure. Guards, capture all of them.”
“Wait.” Another cavalryman cupped his hands at Commander Liu. “I shouldn’t have said anything about Your Majesty’s secret order, but Commander Liu is someone Your Majesty trusts. There’s no harm in telling you. However, let’s get the unpleasantness out of the way. If His Majesty pursues the matter later, you will have to bear the consequences yourself.”
Commander Liu enjoyed this flattery and his expression improved. “Fine, just say it. It’s only my duty to do this. I don’t think His Majesty will blame me even if he finds out.’
The cavalryman nodded and bent down to whisper in his ear, “The real and fake empress dowager.”
Commander Liu immediately believed the other party’s words.
There was no other reason. In order to prevent the news from leaking, the number of people who knew that Song Li, who had been brought out of the palace, was only a substitute, could be counted on one hand. Coincidentally, Commander Liu happened to be one of the people who knew. Since the other party could say that she was the real Empress Dowager, they were probably being serious.
He straightened his expression. “Why did His Majesty ask you to enter the palace?”
“His Majesty suspects that Song Jingchen entered the city, but we didn’t find any traces of him among the assassins. He was worried that Song Jingchen would guess that the person he brought out of the palace was the fake empress dowager, so he asked us to bring people into the palace to save her. He ordered us to move the empress dowager to another safe place.” The cavalryman paused. “As for where we’re bringing her, His Majesty says that the fewer people know, the better. Forgive me for not being able to tell you.”
Commander Liu frowned. He wanted to say that he could capture Song Jingchen even if he broke into the palace with his men, but when he thought of how powerful that person was, he was worried that he would be too confident. The hostage might really get saved by him.
Moreover, Shangguan Yu was the one who instructed him to move them. If anything happened because of him, he wouldn’t be able to bear the responsibility even if he had a hundred heads.
Thinking of this, Commander Liu waved at the imperial guards behind him to make way.
The cavalry continued, “We rarely enter the palace. In order to save time, we’ll have to trouble Commander Liu to lead the way.”
Commander Liu thought that it made sense and did not refuse. He led his men towards the emperor’s bedroom.
Unbeknownst to him, the cavalryman who had spoken to him at the beginning was looking at him in a complicated manner.
If not for the fact that the situation didn’t allow it, the cavalryman really wanted to see how interesting this person’s expression would be when he found out that the person who coaxed him to lead the way was Song Jingchen, whom they had been guarding against day and night..
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