The Rebirth of Han Yuxi

Chapter 0769 Assassination

In the fourth lunar month, the peach blossom was in full bloom, displaying a variety of colours: pink, deep red and pale purple. Against the backdrop of the green leaves, they were extraordinarily beautiful. The open flower buds shimmered with a pearl-like sheen when the fine rain fell on them.

Shiqin tilted the umbrella in her hand entirely towards Yuchen and urged, "Niangniang, we should go back! It's raining already. If you get caught in the rain, you may easily catch a chill."

Yuchen smiled and shook her head. "Peach blossoms in the rain will be three times more beautiful than they usually are." The only pity was that there were too few peach trees in the imperial garden.

Shiqin had no choice but to do her best to keep the rain from falling on Yuchen. Fortunately, Yuchen did not stay in the imperial garden for long. After half a shichen, she went back inside.

Once Yuchen had changed her clothes, Momo Gui informed her, "Niangniang, General Lu has died from severe injuries. The Yi tribes📹 have occupied Yunnan, and His Majesty is in a very bad mood today." The 'General Lu' mentioned here was referring to Lu Boda, who was sent to Yunnan to suppress the rebellion.

When Yuchen heard this news, her mood worsened as well. "General Lu had so many guards under him. How could he have died from severe injuries?" Lu Boda was one of the few generals loyal to the Imperial Court. Now that he was gone, to the Emperor, it was equivalent to losing one of his arms.

Momo Gui shook her head. "I could not find out anything more specific." The details were all in the memorials, and those were things they could not touch.

Shiqin brought over a bowl of bird's nest porridge.

Yuchen waved her hand and instructed, "Just put it there!" In this kind of situation, how could she have any appetite for it?

During dinner, the Emperor came over. Because Momo Gui had already spoken to her beforehand, Yuchen understood what was going on when she saw the Emperor's ugly expression. "Your Majesty, have a cup of tea!"

The Emperor shook his head. "Yuchen, stay and talk with me." He did not want to face the court officials right now, let alone those memorials complaining of hardship and asking for soldiers and weapons.

Yuchen waved everyone away, then said, "Your Majesty, do not worry. Everything will get better." Yuchen also understood the current situation clearly in her heart. But understanding it was useless, because she could not help with anything.

The Emperor held Yuchen and said in a lowered voice, "Chen-er, I may not be able to preserve the Zhou family's realm." With the current situation, he simply could not control it.

Yuchen's face went pale, and she hurriedly asked, "Your Majesty, what is wrong? Why are you saying such discouraging words out of nowhere? Even if the Yi tribes have occupied Yunnan, one day we will surely take it back."

The Emperor spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear. "Guangxi and Fujian are also nearly impossible to hold." Now, only a few provinces in Jiangnan remained. But even those provinces were no longer peaceful.

Yuchen truly had not expected the situation to be as bad as it was. Before she could open her mouth to comfort the Emperor, she heard a eunuch report from outside, "Your Majesty, Lu Daren requests an audience." Second Master Lu had heard word on the wind that his Dage had died in battle, so he hurried into the palace to confirm this with the Emperor.

When Second Master Lu heard that his Dage had died from the recurrence of old injuries, he asked, "Weren't those Miao people who poisoned my Dage?" At first, he had thought that his elder brother, like the commander-in-chief of Yunnan, had died after falling under the Miao people's poisonous hand. He had not expected him to actually die from old injuries flaring up.

The Emperor replied, "Yunnan has much miasma. General Lu entered the forest and was affected by it; his body could not withstand it, so he fell ill." As a result, his old injuries flared up. Lu Boda had fought outside the capital all these years and had suffered countless wounds. Once those old injuries flared up, they quickly took his life.

When Second Master Lu returned home, he did not know how to bring himself to tell his father this news. For a white-haired person to send off a black-haired person, he truly worried that his old father's body would not be able to bear it!

In fact, Old Master Lu was stronger than Second Master Lu imagined. After learning that his eldest son had gone, Old Master Lu's hands trembled for a long while. Then he instructed, "Send funeral notices to relatives and friends!" To die on the battlefield and be wrapped in horsehide was a soldier's fate. After his son left the capital, Old Master Lu had already prepared himself.

With reddened eyes, Second Master Lu advised, "Dad, if you are sad, then cry it out!" Keeping it bottled up in the heart would only make it more painful. It would be better to let it out.

Old Master Lu waved his hand and stated, "I can hold up. Notify our relatives and friends. Your Dage's funeral must be handled with wind and light."

Only after Second Master Lu had left did Old Master Lu's tears fall. His son was gone; as a father, how could he not suffer? But this family still needed him to keep things together. If he also collapsed, this family would fall apart.

When Eldest Madam Lu received the news of her husband's death, she fainted immediately. When she woke, she cried out to the heavens while wiping away her tears. "Master, Master, how could you just leave…" Her cries could be heard three li away.

Seeing this, Second Madam Lu knew that they could not count on Eldest Madam Lu to organise the Eldest Master's funeral. She called her niece-in-law over and began helping manage the funeral affairs for the Eldest Master Lu.

The next day, after the Emperor finished morning court, he returned to his bedchamber seething with anger. Yunnan had been occupied, and Guangxi was nearly impossible to hold as well. Yet these people could not produce a single practical, usable solution; they only knew how to pull each other's skin while pushing and unloading their responsibility.

He was vexed, but it was not fitting for him to go to the inner palace in broad daylight. Once a person became Emperor, there were too many things he had to consider. For instance, on ordinary days, when he was in a bad mood, he enjoyed listening to music. However, due to Lu Boda's death and the rebels' occupation of the state territories, he could not listen to music, no matter how bad his mood was. Otherwise, he would have to bear the reputation of a muddleheaded ruler. Only after sitting on this dragon chair did he realise how difficult it was. It was too exhausting. Unfortunately, at this critical juncture, even if he wanted to push it away, he could not.

After walking for just under a quarter of an hour, Eunuch Cai said, "Your Majesty, it is getting late. It is time to go back." If they returned late, those ministers would have to wait outside the imperial study.

The Emperor nodded. "Let's go back!"

As soon as he had finished speaking, they saw a white object fly past. The Emperor asked, puzzled, "What was that?"

Eunuch Cai was still very familiar with matters of the inner palace. "That is the cat raised by Lin Wanyuan." Lin Wanyuan was a young lady from Duke Lin's household, and she and Lin Fengyuan shared the same father but different mothers.

At that moment, a young eunuch knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the Emperor, pleading, "Your Majesty, forgive me. I beg Your Majesty to forgive me."

The Emperor wasted no time in ordering, "Hand him over to the Office of Punishments." In the inner palace, two concubines were already pregnant. Among them, Tang Jieyu especially liked to take walks in the garden. If she were startled by a cat rushing towards her, she might be frightened and miscarry.

Even after that eunuch kowtowed until his forehead bled, he still could not make the Emperor change his mind. The guards covered his mouth and dragged him away, while the Emperor continued towards the imperial study.

When Shihua stepped into the Kunning Palace, her legs were so weak that she collapsed to the ground at once. She looked as miserable as could be.

Yuchen, who was in the bedchamber, heard movement outside and asked, "What's that sound outside…" Before she could finish her question, she heard a burst of crying.

Yuchen rose and quickly walked outside. Seeing Shihua collapse weakly on the ground, she hurriedly asked, "What happened to you? What happened?" For Shihua to be frightened into such a state, something major must have happened.

This time, Shihua had truly been badly frightened. Crying, she said, "His, His Majesty, His Majesty was attacked by assassins in the imperial garden." These words exhausted all of Shihua's strength.

When Yuchen heard this, her body swayed. With a pale face, she asked, "Where is His Majesty now?" The fact that she had not fainted from fright was already quite good.

Shihua replied, trembling, "He was carried to Qianqing Palace📹." As for whether he was alive or dead, she did not know either.

Yuchen headed towards Qianqing Palace📹 without even thinking. Yuchen, who always maintained perfect etiquette no matter the time, now had somewhat disorderly steps.

At the entrance of Qianqing Palace📹, Yuchen saw basin after basin of bloody water being carried out of the bedchamber. She was frozen stiff with shock, unable to move her feet,

Momo Gui supported Yuchen and comforted her, "Your Majesty, do not panic. His Majesty is the true dragon Son of Heaven, and he will certainly be fine." For His Majesty to be attacked by assassins inside the Imperial Palace revealed how deeply hidden the person behind the curtain was.

Supported only by Shiqin and Momo Gui, Yuchen entered the bedchamber. Upon seeing the unconscious Emperor lying on the bed with a face as white as paper, Yuchen trembled violently.

Momo Gui was more composed than Yuchen. Seeing this scene, she asked Imperial Physician Zhang, "How is His Majesty's condition, Imperial Physician Zhang?" She didn't dare to ask whether his life was in danger.

Imperial Physician Zhang knelt on the ground and replied, "Your Majesty, the Empress, His Majesty's injuries are very severe…" The Emperor had been stabbed in the abdomen, injuring his internal organs, and he had lost a great deal of blood. The situation was very dangerous. If it were not for the many precious medicinal ingredients in the Imperial Palace, the Emperor would probably already be gone by now.

Gritting her teeth, Yuchen demanded, "You must cure His Majesty. If you cannot do it, I will have all of you buried with him." If something happened to the Emperor, she and her son would lose their support. At that time, they would be fish and meat on the chopping board, left for others to slaughter.

Imperial Physician Zhang responded, "Your Majesty, the Empress, rest assured. This official will certainly exhaust all that he is able to do." Whether doing his utmost would cure the Emperor was something only Heaven knew.

Yuchen walked out and immediately went to find Eunuch Cai, who had also been injured. "How was His Majesty attacked? Have those assassins been caught?" Although Eunuch Cai had been injured, the wound was not in a vital spot, so it was not too serious. However, if the Emperor did not survive, Eunuch Cai would not live either.

Eunuch Cai answered, "When the Imperial Guards arrived, those two assassins took their own lives." Their target was the Emperor, and one of their sword strikes had been enough.

Yuchen wished she could swallow alive the mastermind behind the curtain. "How did these assassins enter the palace?" Entering the palace had strict requirements. Even eight generations of one's ancestors had to be clearly verified; those who did not qualify could not enter the palace.

Wiping his tears, Eunuch Cai revealed the details: "Those two assassins entered the palace at the beginning of the year and were assigned to work in the Imperial Garden." Clearly, those two assassins had been lying dormant in the Imperial Garden, searching for the best opportunity to make their move. The water here was not ordinarily deep.

Yuchen immediately summoned the Chief Steward of the Imperial Household Department and began investigating how these two assassins had entered the palace and then been assigned to the Imperial Garden. When one pulled up a radish, one would bring up the pit with it. As a result of this investigation, four people were identified. One of them even held the No. 2 position in the Imperial Household Department, whose chief was the Emperor's trusted confidant. The Imperial Household Department was responsible for managing personnel assignments. With such a person inside, who knew how many nails had been inserted into the palace?

Cold sweat broke out on Yuchen's forehead. She had always felt she had governed the Inner Palace like an iron bucket, but now she realised how naive she had been.