Unparalleled Beauty

Chapter C128

Lu Xiuping was the Vice Deputy Commander of the Eastern City Military Commission.

Unlike the other military commissions, the Eastern City Military Commission's Commander, Li Xin, was meticulous and conscientious. He arrived at the government office of the military commission on time every day to handle official duties. Consequently, the two Vice Deputy Commanders under him had no choice but to set an example and put on a show.

Just think, if the Commander is present, how could the Vice Deputy Commander be absent?

The Eastern City Military Commission was also different from the other four, where the Commanders were all relatives of the imperial family or meritorious nobles, but they didn't manage affairs. All matters were handled by the Vice Deputy Commanders. Here, it was reversed; the Vice Deputy Commander was an imperial relative or a meritorious noble, while the Commander was a person without any title.

But being dissatisfied was useless; who told their Commander to have His Majesty backing him?

To maintain appearances, Lu Xiuping had discussed with the other Vice Deputy Commander, and they agreed to take turns being on duty, one person per day. Once they clocked in on time, the other could return, and the remaining one would be responsible for coordinating matters.

Li Xin was aware of this, and he turned a blind eye. Lu Xiuping and the other were naturally delighted and were particularly diligent when it was their turn to be on duty.

Early in the morning, Lu Xiuping yawned, rode his horse, and led a team of soldiers to patrol the streets.

Because he woke up late, he didn't have breakfast. He even stopped at a sour soup shop on the street, drank a bowl of sour soup, and ate two fried dough sticks.

Despite Lu Xiuping's noble origins, he had been mixing with these ruffians in the military commission for a long time and had developed a bandit-like air. In addition, he was generous and forthright, so many people below him were willing to follow him.

As a result, more than a dozen men from the military commission completely occupied the sour soup shop.

The owner was familiar with them and wasn't worried about them eating without paying, only concerned with serving the best food.

After a bowl of sour soup, Lu Xiuping became much more awake. He tossed a silver ingot to the owner, and the other soldiers quickly finished eating, wiped their mouths, and continued patrolling the streets.

In reality, the military commission didn't really need a dignified Vice Deputy Commander to patrol the streets. Frankly speaking, it was just a show, to make it seem like he wasn't doing nothing, and also to avoid staring at the Commander in the yamen and looking for trouble.

Just as Lu Xiuping climbed back onto his horse, a commotion came from ahead.

He looked over and saw more than a dozen people gathered at a street corner not far away, and something seemed to have happened.

"Go see what's going on."

A soldier hurried over and returned shortly, saying, "It seems a woman has fainted."

Hearing it was a woman, Lu Xiuping perked up. He rode his horse forward. When the surrounding people saw the men from the military commission arrive, they quickly made way, chattering, "Looks pitiful," "So much blood," "Seems like something happened," "Not an ordinary woman."

Lu Xiuping dismounted to investigate and found it to be so.

Although this woman's clothing was ordinary, her skin was fair and delicate, the kind that one knew took a great deal of silver to cultivate. Her dress was covered in dust and blood, her hair was disheveled, and her hairpin was askew. She seemed to be injured on her forehead, where strands of hair were damply stuck to her skin.

She possessed a face like a hibiscus flower, yet was in such a disheveled state. It was like a meticulously cared-for crabapple blossom suddenly battered by wind and rain, making one feel particularly regretful and heartbroken.

Lu Xiuping had initially thought the woman had fainted, but as he approached, she faintly opened a pair of watery eyes. His heart skipped a few beats, and he couldn't help but ask with concern, "Miss, what happened to you?"

"Meifang is dead..."

This woman was likely overly frightened, or perhaps her spirit was disoriented, making it impossible for her to fully express herself.

However, through her fragmented words, Lu Xiuping quickly located the scene of the incident and roughly pieced together what had happened.

It seemed a mistress and her servant were traveling by carriage when they were suddenly attacked by bandits. The maid, in an attempt to protect her mistress, perished together with the bandits, and the mistress fled to seek help.

The location of the incident was quite a distance from where the woman appeared. It was unknown how she managed to run so far.

But what about the coachman?

Did the coachman run away?

The Five Cities Military Commission was originally in charge of patrolling and arresting thieves, as well as fire prevention. Although criminal investigation was not their primary duty, they were expected to have a general understanding of the case before handing it over to the Capital City's Magistrate office.

Lu Xiuping's thorough investigation was actually driven by a bit of personal interest. Because of this, he even brought the woman back to the Five Cities Military Commission and found a doctor to treat her wounds.

But the subsequent developments were somewhat beyond his expectations.

First, his subordinates discovered that the destroyed carriage belonged to the Duke Zhao's Mansion. Then, when he wanted to show his concern for the beauty, he noticed that although her clothes were ordinary, her skirt was made of embroidered silk.

It should be known that there is a saying that embroidered silk is worth an ounce of gold per inch. The craftsmanship is extremely complex and is often used to weave crowns and clothing for emperors, empresses, imperial concubines, as well as to copy calligraphy and paintings. Most of the embroidered silk on the market are tribute items, and only a very small portion circulates among the common people, and even then, it is unattainable for anyone but the extremely wealthy and noble.

Even if one obtained it, it would be used to make robes or outer garments, in a position where others could easily see it. There was absolutely no reason to use it to make a skirt.

So, what exactly was this woman's identity?

Lu Xiuping's commotion at the Five Cities Military Commission naturally could not escape the notice of Li Xin, the Deputy Commander.

As he stepped through the door, he saw Lu Xiuping patiently and earnestly questioning the woman.

The sons of meritorious officials and nobles were mostly lecherous and fond of women. Li Xin had heard of this woman's beauty, which was why he came to take a look. Who knew that as soon as he entered, he would hear her say, 'No, no, I don't want to go. I want His Majesty, His Majesty...'

He shuddered, walked over, and, with a stiff and shocked expression like Lu Xiuping, looked at the woman curled up on the small couch.

Lu Xiuping pulled him aside, dragging him outside. He couldn't bother with his own careful thoughts and quickly recounted what he had previously investigated.

"I saw that the carriage belonged to the Duke Zhao's Mansion, so I inquired about her identity, intending to send her back. Who knew her reaction would be so strong, and she even said she wanted His Majesty, His Majesty..."

His Majesty was not someone an ordinary person could call out, especially not in this kind of situation!

This woman was clearly overly frightened, meaning her calling out 'His Majesty' was unconscious. But it was precisely this unconsciousness that caused the two men to have such expressions.

It was just like someone calling out 'Mother' when overly frightened; one had to have extreme trust and intimacy to do so.

This woman was from the Duke Zhao's Mansion, yet she was intimate with His Majesty and wore a seemingly ordinary, but actually priceless, embroidered silk skirt.

Her identity seemed ready to be revealed.

Nowadays, who in the capital didn't know that His Majesty had a new favorite, who was the daughter-in-law of the Zhao family.

However, due to His Majesty's accumulated power and terror, after the rebellious prince's treason that year, he not only frightened the civil and military officials, but also killed many meritorious nobles and imperial relatives. As a result, even though this matter was shocking, few brave people dared to openly discuss it. But that didn't mean everyone didn't know about it; in fact, it had already spread privately.

Li Xin didn't speak, turning around and entering the room.

The woman was still curled up, hugging her knees, huddled there without moving.

Lu Xiuping thought he still wanted to ask questions to confirm her identity. He was about to tell him that this woman wasn't listening to anyone; he had asked her for a long time, but she ignored him, only reacting when he mentioned sending her back to the Duke Zhao's Mansion.

The next moment, Li Xin said 'Forgive my impudence' and, with lightning speed, removed the only jade hairpin left in the woman's hair.

This jade hairpin seemed unremarkable, but the jade was of extremely high quality, snowy white and delicate. One had to look closely to see that it was a treasure.

Li Xin took the jade hairpin in his hand and glanced at it, already having a plan in mind.

"What's wrong?"

Li Xin handed the jade hairpin to Lu Xiuping. At first, he didn't understand, but then he felt a mark on the hairpin, which was the mark of the Imperial Workshop.

This was another piece of evidence, and the woman's identity could almost be confirmed.

"What can we do?"

Lu Xiuping wasn't a fool either. This Lady Fengtian had an accident while riding in the Duke Zhao's carriage, and after the accident, besides the dead maidservant and the bandits, there wasn't a coachman or guards to be found.

Or perhaps there were, and they ran away?

Due to the special nature of the Five Cities Military Commission and Lu Xiuping's position, he also knew quite a few secrets of influential families. He thought of several possibilities, each making him tremble with fear. But the current situation was, what should be done with this woman?

He did find a doctor, but this woman simply wouldn't let anyone examine her wounds. She was unwilling to return to the Duke Zhao's Mansion, and in the current situation, Lu Xiuping didn't dare send her back, lest it be like a lamb entering a tiger's mouth, leading to someone's death, and they wouldn't be able to escape the blame.

"Deputy Commander, what do you think should be done?"

Li Xin saw that he was asking a question he already knew the answer to, glanced at him, and left.

"I'll send a message to the palace."

Lu Xiuping revealed a smile; he was waiting for these words.

Turning his head to look at the room again, thinking of this woman's identity, he felt a sense of regret, but could only sigh deeply, not daring to say a single word aloud.

***

Now that someone had taken responsibility for the matter, Lu Xiuping was much more at ease.

Thinking that if someone from the palace came to pick her up later, he couldn't just leave the lady like this. He even specifically asked his attendant to return to the mansion and call two maidservants who usually served him. He didn't let the doctor leave either, wanting to wait for the maidservants to arrive, perhaps she wouldn't be so nervous and scared then, and maybe they could check if she had any other injuries.

Lu Xiuping thought that matters of the palace were the most troublesome, and it would probably be after noon before people arrived. Who would have thought that in less than half an hour, a group of a dozen riders arrived at the Five Cities Military Commission at lightning speed.

Before he could see who had come, the tall man at the head had already entered the room. Looking again, Li Xin was accompanying him on the side, and then a person holding a horsetail whisk ran over from behind.

It was Chamberlain Fu!

Then, then the person who went in just now is—

Lu Xiuping's jaw almost dropped in shock.

Looking into the room again, the man's back was to the outside, and he was half-squatting down. Judging by his posture, he must have embraced that lady.

A heartbroken cry came from the room, as if the fear and panic that had been suppressed for a long time and dared not be revealed to outsiders were all released at this moment.

"Your Majesty, Meifang, Meifang is dead..."

Emperor Qianwu felt a dull ache in his heart.

Before he could understand the feeling, someone was faster, rushing forward to embrace her.

"Your Majesty, Meifang... Meifang is dead..."

Her small face was smudged with dirt, and a strip of white cloth precariously hung over the wound on her forehead, faint traces of blood visible upon it.

The moment Ji Yang saw the blood, his eyes instantly turned red.

Sensing a surge of violent emotion, Emperor Qianwu dared not let his mind wander any further, and hastily said, [She needs a physician urgently. She cannot withstand any shock in her current state; do not frighten her.]

[Death! All of them shall die!]

[Even if death is warranted, we must first ascertain who deserves to die! Calm yourself, and I will have a physician summoned.]

Emperor Qianwu had not brought a physician with him, so they had to rely on the one Lu Xiuping had found.

Seeing such a display, the old physician was already trembling with fear, sustained only by his benevolent heart and the desire to heal the wounded.

He did not wish to be afraid; it was unbecoming for a man of his age to have trembling legs. But the man holding the girl beside him glared at him whenever she flinched as he cleaned her wound.

Cleaning a wound was bound to hurt!

After much difficulty, he finally finished, only for them to disapprove of the wound medicine he had prepared, requesting a small bottle someone had brought, saying they would use their own medicine.

Let them use it; the old physician wanted to say nothing at all at this point.

Before leaving, he still added a word of advice, saying it would be best to check for injuries beneath her clothing; even if there was no bleeding, any blunt force trauma or bone injuries should be discovered as early as possible.

Thereupon, everyone was dismissed, leaving only the two of them in the room.