75 Epiphany (1/2)

Before the dagger could reach the pair, His Majesty had pushed the other boy far away from him with such a force that it didn't seem his body could even stand after that and at that moment, the dagger had already reached His Majesty.

Nung Fu would thank the gods till the day he died for Zhou Sheng's quick reflexes - the boy pushed the monarch a bit and thankfully, that slight push displaced His Majesty from coming in the direct path of the dagger.

The pointy end of the dagger caught only the excess fabric of His Majesty's robes and the monarch was pinned to a tree behind him.

Thankfully, the dagger hadn't knicked His Majesty anywhere on the body - it was just a hair's breadth away from the joint between the emperor's neck and his shoulder.

At that moment, all four of them -The Empress Dowager, His Majesty, The Unit Commander of The Devil Snare Army and the new favourite of His Majesty: Zhou Sheng - stood frozen.

The Emperor almost hung awkwardly from the pinpoint where the dagger had stuck itself in the bark of the tree. He looked frozen - whether in fear or in anger was a tossup.

The Empress Dowager had reflexively held on to the closest thing to her in her anxiety, which turned out to be Ning Fu's raised arm that had just thrown the dagger.

The Empress Dowager had quite a strong grip on Unit Commander's arm - so strong that her golden nail guards encrusted with jewels pierced at least four layers of his clothes and drew blood from his arm.

Meanwhile, Ning Fu's eyes were wide in shock and fear. He could feel his sweat trickling from his forehead, down his neck and underneath his clothes.

He had done the unthinkable!

Even if he had thrown the knife in a misguided attempt at saving his liege, he had still let fly a deadly weapon in the direction of the monarch.

The ominous silence was broken by a howl - a howl that was full of anger and everyone watched petrified as Zhou Sheng stood from where he had fallen and stalked like a vengeful ghost towards His Majesty.

”Are you out of your freaking mind? What were you thinking when you pushed me away? Who asked you to act gallant and noble? You don't care if you live or die any longer, is that it?” Zhou Sheng snarled at The Emperor.

Nobody...nobody had ever dared to talk to The Imperial Family in that sharp tone.

Even cairens who had given birth to their children never dared to raise their voice at their sons or daughters.

Why?

Because it concerned the dignity of The Imperial Family and nobody wanted to commit a taboo that could lead to them being sent to the execution grounds.

However, it was as if Zhou Sheng had lost all his sense of reason and he kept on berating His Majesty with an acerbic tone, ”What? Now you don't want to say anything? Speak up! Damn it! I'm asking you that what went through your mind when you did that? What? This is the second time...second time. You...”

At that point, it was as if the boy had lost all his ability to speak. He simply tried to dislodge the dagger from its position but everyone present could see that his hands were shaking too terribly to be of much use.

Zhou Sheng's tirade brought Nung Fu and Empress Dowager back to earth and with a frantically beating heart and his body temperature cooling rapidly, Ning Fu knelt with a resounding thump on the gravel path of the gardens.

Even if he could feel those pebbles burrowing themselves into the crevices of his knees, Ning Fu didn't pay them any mind.

He felt that he really deserved death a thousand times.

If that dagger had drawn a single drop of blood from The Son of Heavens, his one action would have pushed his subordinates and his nine familial relations into a deep abyss with the tag of treason hanging over their heads.

In the deafening silence that surrounded them, His Majesty spoke to Zhou Sheng in a sheepish tone - as if trying to cajole and coax someone very dear to be him, ”Don't be angry. don't be angry. It was just a reflexive action. Nothing more.”

Yet, everyone present could hear the faint tremble in the emperor's words and it made all of their hearts twist in worry.

Zhou Sheng still didn't seem to be modified as he snapped, ”Really?” and he finally freed the dagger from the tree with no small amount of force.

It was as if he was taking out his worry for the monarch and his subsequent actions on the dagger itself.