zChapter 1022 - Cannot Kill (1/2)
Speaking of, it was not that Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu had truly had enough of serving the Emperor. After all, she had been a grass widow in the palace for so many years. How could a woman at her age possibly not hope to be more intimate with her husband? But compared to having her son ascend the throne, the Emperor’s life was worth too little. In the end, the Emperor would only be able to provide her with momentary glory; however, once Xuan Tianmo ascended the throne, he would provide her with glory for a lifetime.
But Xuan Tianmo did not believe that the current time was ripe, reminding Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu: “Don’t forget that the tiger tally is still in old ninth’s hands. That is the right to command half of Da Shun’s armies. In addition to that, there’s the one that he had from before. The majority of the country is in his hands. We must not act hastily; otherwise, even if I ascend the throne, it will be unstable.”
With him saying this, there was nothing that Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu could do, “That’s right. The military rights are still in his hands, but I don’t dare bring it up when His Majesty right now. You don’t know this, but when I brought up Winter Moon Palace last time, your Father Emperor immediately began to have a headache. If it was not for me being at his side, I fear… that he would have gotten free.”
“Imperial concubine mother must not rush.” Xuan Tianmo nervously reminded her: “Imperial Concubine Yun and old ninth have been in his heart for so many years, so it won’t be that easy to get rid of them. We need to move slowly.”
“Un.” Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu nodded, “I’ve calculated it. To have him become completely obedient, it will need to be at least half a year.”
The words coming from mother and son caused Feng Yuheng to become a little confused. There was even a sudden feeling that washed over her. Could it be that there was nobody from the South who raised the gu, nor was there any outsider? Instead, it was Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu herself? But it had been so many years. If Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu knew how, why did she wait until now to use it? What had she been doing before?
The eighth prince sat for a while then left, and Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu did not do anything else. Instead, she used the time while the Emperor was handling official matters to lie down and get some rest. Feng Yuheng did not linger and hastily left the palace. Her mind was filled with thoughts about what she had just heard in Cun Shan Palace.
When she returned home, Xuan Tianming was preparing to head to the military camp. She urgently told him about what had happened in the palace, and Xuan Tianming told her: “Seventh brother is investigating in the capital, and I have arranged for someone in the palace to keep an eye on Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu, but they have not noticed anything to this moment. Right now, aside from waiting, there’s nothing that can be done, unless…” He thought for a bit then said: “We kill Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu! Didn’t Lu Ping say that her face recovered after the person raising the gu was killed? If Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu is the one raising the gu, won’t he recover once she’s dead?”
Feng Yuheng shook her head helplessly, “There are differences between gu. Some gu will disappear when the person that raised them passes away. The victim of the gu will naturally recover in that case. But there is another type where the victim will die along with the person who raised the gu. Based on Father Emperor’s condition, it looks like it’s most likely… a heart gu. Don’t ask me what a heart gu is because I don’t really understand it myself. Either way, we can’t take any risks; otherwise, it will cause harm to Father Emperor.” She sighed and looked at Xuan Tianming, saying: “Go ahead and go to the military camp. Even if there is a day when we can no longer protect the military rights that we have, at the very least, we need to keep popular opinion. After all, that is also a lifeline.”
Xuan Tianming patted her head and comforted her, saying: “Don’t worry. Even if I don’t have the tiger tally, my people will definitely not do anything for old eighth. Moreover, we still have a large number of troops from the north and the south. It’s not an easy thing for old eighth to unify the three regions.”
The Emperor becoming afflicted by a gu seemed to have become an impasse. Feng Yuheng had worked hard for an entire night. After returning home, she immediately went to catch up on sleep. In the Imperial Palace, Head Eunuch Wu Ying, who finally had a chance to return to his room, let out a shrill scream upon seeing the state of his empty room.
All of the palace servants who heard this gathered around. Initially, they did not understand why Wu Ying had let out such a cry; however, they immediately understood after setting foot inside the room. They understood everything but also understood nothing at all. The people looked at this empty room in a daze, and a question mark appeared in their minds.
Wu Ying gnashed his teeth viciously, and the first person that he thought of was Zhang Yuan, thus he loudly asked: “Who was it that sent Zhang Yuan to the department of guilty servants today?”
Two eunuchs immediately stepped forward and said: “It was we servants who took him, but Zhang Yuan had nothing on him when he left? We also took the bundle that he had been carrying around. There were a few shattered silver inside, and it was all… We snatched all of it.” While he said this, he very reluctantly pulled out the bit of money that he had stolen from Zhang Yuan.
With him taking the lead, everyone who had participated in the theft could only begin to follow suit and take out their money. But even after it was all taken out, it only amounted to a few tens of taels. There was too much of a difference between that sum and what was in the room. Thus someone said: “Eunuch Wu, I fear that this matter might be unrelated to Zhang Yuan. He is merely one person, and he is injured. No matter how much he tried to steal, he could not possibly steal it all. Moreover, he can steal silver and banknotes, as those can be hidden, but…” As he said this, he looked all around the room, “All of the items in the room have disappeared. Even if he wanted to steal those, where would he hide them? An entire room was emptied out!”