136 Untitled (2/2)
There was silence in the palace, and the lady did not cry. But her singing ensued right when the servants released her.
”… I do not know when my son will be back…”
Everyone in the palace listened to her quietly. A long while later, the Heaven Demon Emperor gently sighed. ”I seemed to have heard of this song when I was young.”
His tone was of reminiscence of his faded memories. He slowly said, ”Empress Dowager passed away early, but I vaguely remember that she really liked you, and both of you interacted frequently. When I was six, I sat on her knees and heard her sing this.”
Everyone remained even quieter, and Zhan Beiheng seemed to cough.
However, Consort Dowager Gongjing suddenly stopped her singing. Moments later, she stammered, ”… Shouldn't have sung to you.”
”Oh?” Zhan Nancheng questioned.
She said in a loud voice, ”You want to kill him - you want to kill him-”
At that moment, her flow of thoughts was clear, there was no pause in her speech, and she even knew what Zhan Nancheng wanted to do. She did not feel like a lunatic at all.
Zhan Beiye trembled, and no one in the palace dared to say a word.
”So what if I want to kill him?” Zhan Nancheng paused for a moment, but he admitted without any hesitation. ”How can I let someone vie for my position?”
”… He doesn't care!” she defended her son in an aggressive tone.
Zhan Nancheng seemed to have smiled, probably because he felt that it was comical for him to converse with a lunatic woman. ”Enough of this commotion at such an hour. Subdue her and bring her to her room. The rest, back to your positions,” he coldly ordered, before turning to Zhan Beiheng. ”Younger brother Heng, follow me to the imperial study.”
”Yes.”
Footsteps faded in the distance, followed by a huge group of soldiers. In front of them, the soldiers on patrol were marching over to their wall, so Meng Fuyao and Zhan Beiye climbed over to another wall, and continued hiding in the shadows.
From afar, Meng Fuyao took a glance at the Emperor and his brother who walked out and calculated the distance and the number of people around them. It seemed impossible to dash out at that point and take them, hostage, so she could only give up.
Meng Fuyao and Zhan Beiye continued waiting until it was the time that most people would choose to relax or doze off. They were just about to enter secretly, but there was the sound of a door opening, and it seemed like someone was walking over to their wall. That person leaned against the wall lazily and yawned. ”For so many consecutive days, we haven't been able to have a good night's sleep. I am so tired,” he said.
Another person agreed. ”I calculated the time. It's impossible for Zhan Beiye to be in Pandu at this time, even if he flew over. Why should we start guarding now?”
The first person who spoke added, ”I even heard that he died in the Changhan mountain range.”
”Really?” it sounded like three voices, of which two sounded surprised, and one sounded upset.
”Tens of thousands of elite soldiers chased him and forced him into the Forest of Death. You know that no one ever walked out of that alive.”
There was silence in the air. A while later, someone said dejectedly, ”What a pity for a legendary hero like the Prince… ”
”Cunzhi! Be careful of what you say!” one of them reprimanded. ”That's the traitor that the Emperor personally ordered to kill!”
Cunzhi was indifferent. A while later, he said angrily, ”Old Sun, how could you say this? Three years ago, your son had smallpox, and you couldn't afford to pay the famous doctor. You could only raise half of the fees even after asking all of your relatives for help, and your son was about to die. If it wasn't for Prince Zhan, who heard of the news and generously gave you money, the grass on your son's tomb would have been at least half a foot tall!”
Old Sun coughed and kept quiet. Cunzhi smirked at him and stood up, saying, ”I'm going to the toilet.”
He walked a few steps and reached the toilet. When he released his pants, a black shadow flashed by him. He raised his head in shock and looked right into a pair of big and bright eyes.
The owner of those eyes amiably smiled at him and casually helped him to buckle up the pants that he had forgotten about. That person whispered, ”Shhhh-”
This person who entered the male toilet to help someone buckle up his pants at midnight was, of course, Meng Fuyao.
Cunzhi opened his mouth to scream but Meng Fuyao's hands shot up, and he immediately felt that he could neither breathe nor speak. He stared at Meng Fuyao in terror, not knowing how she would murder him.
However, behind Meng Fuyao, a dark figure slowly appeared.
A wave of emotions appeared in Cunzhi's eyes - first, it was surprise, then joy, and then terror. Meng Fuyao stared at his expression and said, ”Brother Cunzhi, we overheard your conversation. Thanks for speaking up. I think you know what Prinze Zhan is here for, will you be willing to help us?”
He hesitated and replied in a soft voice, ”I am delighted that you are still alive Prince… but just a word of advice. Rescuing Consort Dowager is impossible. When you exit this toilet, be it inside or outside this palace, every step is filled with baits and booby traps. Even if I sacrifice my life, I will also be unable to help you rescue her.”
”I only want to see her,” said Zhan Beiye in a low voice. ”I want her to know that I am fine.”
Cunzhi remained silent. Meng Fuyao suddenly asked, ”There's a female toilet adjacent to this male toilet right?”
”Yes,” he answered. ”The number of soldiers guarding this area increased, so they built two toilets that are close to each other. Their back windows face each other.”
”If we let Consort Dowager enter the female toilet, won't they be able to meet?”
”That's not possible,” he refuted. ”With Her Highness's status, she will definitely not use such a rundown toilet like this.”
”We can substitute her.” Meng Fuyao laughed, and she muttered a few lines to him. After some thought, he nodded in approval.
Zhan Beiye immediately questioned, ”Fuyao, what do you want to do?”