Chapter 381 A Sneaky Person Always Did Things on the Sneak
Standing in front of Chu Liuchen, Xiao Xuanzi declared gravely. “Since you planned to perpetrate the a.s.sa.s.sination against Prince Chen, your whole clan and you should be executed!“
“Your highness, I would never even dare to do that! It was just an accident!” The guard leader paled as he hurriedly tried to explain, and broke out in cold sweat. He even threw his sword as far away as he could, and quickly kowtowed to Chu Liuchen.
A sudden and weird silence hung over the room.
Watching his sweat slowly dripping along his eyelashes, the guard leader felt his heart was almost in his mouth for a long moment. Finally, Chu Liuchen’s calm but solemn voice said. “So you were not trying to kill me?”
“Definitely! I would never dare to do that! I would rather die than commit such a wicked deed!” The guard leader dared not raise his head to look at Chu Liuchen.
“Get up!” Chu Liuchen said, his voice sounding much milder now.
However, the guard leader was so nervous that he continued kneeling on the ground. He replied, “I express my sincere thanks, your highness. By the way, I have something to tell you”
Picking up the cup on the table, Chu Liuchen sipped his tea leisurely and asked, “What?” Not long ago, everyone was on edge, but now the tension had completely disappeared.
The sudden transformation made the guard leader quite confused and he thought he had just imagined the previous scenario.
But he soon cast away this thought for the sweat stains on the ground and his sweaty forehead were reminders of how powerful and overwhelming Prince Chen looked, just several minutes ago.
He was much stronger than Prince Cheng!
“Prince Cheng was asking about you. He emphasized that it was because he saw you that he decided to have a rest in the yard nearby. It was not because that he had a house beside your yard, as you thought before, your highness!” The guard leader answered carefully. He did not want to tell Chu Liuchen before, but since he had no choice now, he had to use this message to please Prince Chen.
Chu Liuchen replied calmly. “Well, uncle will only meet me here by chance! What a coincidence! It must be destiny which brings us here, when I seldom leave the palace!”
The guard leader felt his forehead growing sweaty again. He was here to find out who was the one who tried to a.s.sa.s.sinate Prince Cheng, but he just knew something he should not know.
But it was truly coincidental for two men who should not be getting together, to meet each other, which was another important reason for him to meet Prince Chen.
When Prince Cheng was attacked by an a.s.sa.s.sin, this Prince Chen happened to be within the range of the a.s.sa.s.sination. Everything seemed doubtful. Prince Cheng kept saying that it was so lucky that he met Prince Chen here, or he would have been killed. Of course he meant that Prince Chen had many guards following him, but he could also be implying that it was highly suspicious that he happened to meet Prince Chen here.
But Prince Chen’s words overturned everything! It was Prince Cheng who had set this trap!
How could these two princes who were supposed to be safe, get involved together?
“Does Uncle Emperor know this?” Finding the guard leader unable to reply, Chu Liuchen looked more at ease and asked in a relaxed manner.
“Emperor is aware of this event and he is very angry!” answered the guard leader.
“Then let Uncle Emperor figure out what happened. You know, Uncle should know the truth. Who on earth is this man and how could he know everything? He knows when Uncle Prince Cheng would go down the mountain and knows I would be here tonight!” Chu Liuchen coughed slightly, and then stopped talking.
“Alright, you can leave now. My master does not feel well and we are ready to go back.” Xiao Xuanzi spoke coldly to the guard leader.
“Yes, your highness.” The guard leader quickly stood up and replied, as he walked out backwards.
Chu Liuchen closed his eyes slightly, and waved his hand. The guard leader dared not stay any longer, so he quickly ran downstairs and left.
“Master, how are you?” Xiao Xuanzi stared nervously at his master’s pale face. The flush caused by the drinking had vanished by now, and he looked pale and haggard again. Xiao Xuanzi knew that his master was not feeling well now.
“Let’s go back!” Chu Liuchen answered, with his eyes closed.
“Yes, master. I will start the preparations!” Finding his master quite stable, Xiao Xuanzi finally relaxed.
“I want a couch,” Chu Liuchen said casually.
Xiao Xuanzi paused and hurriedly answered, “Yes, master. I will find someone to get it for you!”
Two guards who served Chu Liuchen, came with a soft couch. Xiao Xuanzi helped Chu Liuchen get on the couch and tucked him in under the quilt. Then the guards carried the couch and he went downstairs with them.
When they walked out the gate, everything was brightly lit. A young, handsome man was waiting in the next yard. When he saw the two guards carrying the couch with Chu Liuchen on it, his expression changed greatly. He quickly walked over to them and asked, “How is Prince Chen?”
Although he was dressed in plain and simple clothes, his strides showed his vehemence, and from this, people could tell that he was definitely not any ordinary person.
“Your highness, Prince Cheng!” Xiao Xuanzi immediately answered loudly.
“How is your master?” Prince Cheng asked anxiously when he saw Chu Liuchen’s pale and haggard countenance,
“He was frightened by that incident, so I am afraid he, he is not good now.” Xiao Xuanzi almost cried and his eyes were red rimmed.
Watching the extremely handsome man, whose face was very pallid and haggard, and who was tucked under the quilt, Prince Cheng shouted. “Send him to the palace! Now!”
Prince Cheng quickly stepped aside and told the servants.
Xiao Xuanzi then quickly followed the couch and walked along the street after bowing to Prince Cheng. As the street was too narrow, the carriage had to stop outside.
Prince Cheng still stood there thoughtfully, frowning, and watched them walking further away.
“Master!” Xiqi came to him and asked in a low voice.
“Let’s go back to our palace!” Prince Cheng frowned and said, “Prince Chen is in a bad condition now. He must have been frightened earlier. If I had known that he was not feeling well, I would not have sent someone to bother him!”
Xiqi was confused by his master’s words and he could not understand. Astounded, he glanced at Prince Cheng furtively. “Master planned to get Prince Chen involved in this matter, and wanted to use Prince Chen whom the Emperor thinks highly of, to defend him. But how could my master change so fast and seem to decide to protect Prince Chen?”
“Let’s go, back to our palace!” Prince Cheng seemed not to notice the complex countenance on his trusted subordinate’s face as he spoke calmly to Xiqi.
“Please get on the carriage, master!” Xiqi said to him politely.
They had just walked outside and was getting on the carriage but coincidentally, Chu Liuchen had also walked out, so they happened to meet each other.
“Do you want to go to the palace first, my master?” The guard leader asked.
“Yes, I need to inform my brother and see how Prince Chen is now. He has always been in poor health, which makes the Empress Dowager and the Emperor worry about him!”
Prince Cheng sighed and answered resignedly. Since he was an elder uncle who cared about his little cousin, it was quite reasonable for him to make such a decision.
When he finished speaking, he then quickly got on the carriage. Then the carriage moved slowly toward the royal palace. Before their carriage was Chu Liuchen’s carriage which was going at a fast speed, as Chu Liuchen was now quite weak, and n.o.body dared to delay the trip.
The street was too crowded so it was difficult to find anyone. Qin Wanru met Qi Tianyu by chance and then ran into Qi Baiiyu but she could not find Qin Yuru.
The bookstore was cordoned off, which meant that the road was blocked. However, since now calm had returned to the vicinity, everyone was still enjoying the bustle of New Year’s Eve.
Even though those who witnessed the scene felt fl.u.s.tered, there were more people who were not aware at all. When they mentioned that incident, they just considered it as a small accident. The street became boisterous again. People laughed and played as usual.
Qin Wanru and the Qi brothers searched the street repeatedly, but they still failed. Feeling hopeless, they had to go back to inform Qin Huaiyong, and let him send people to find Qin Yuru.
However, it was when they were on the way back to Qin’s Mansion that they saw Qin Yuru.
Qin Yuru suddenly appeared at an entrance to the alley and rushed to them. She grabbed Qin Yuru immediately and said, “Second Sister, where have you been? I, I went to so many places but I could not find you!” She looked anxious and excited.
Anxious?
Qin Wanru ran her charming eyes over the entrance. There were several small entrances to the alley. She saw two girls stepping back. Going by their clothes, she could tell they were servant girls.
Accompanied by two servant girls? How formal the pomp was!
“Big Sister, where did you go? Masters Qi and I have been looking for you for a very long time! We just could not find you!” Qin Wanru answered and reached for Qin Yuru’s hand, without turning a hair.
If she were in front of others, she would be willing to pretend for a while. However, Qin Wanru thought it unnecessary to do that in front of the Qi brothers. Even if others did not know what happened in Jiangzhou, how could the Qi brothers not know about that?
“I, I was also looking for you. Maybe we just missed each other!” Rolling her eyes, Qin Yuru smiled and answered.
“You were here all this time?” Qin Wanru looked around and asked.
“No, no. I just got here. Let’s go. Let’s go! It is very late. I think we’d better go home earlier. Father and Old Grandma must be worried about us!”
Qin Yuru replied. It seemed that she wanted to leave the place quickly.
The more anxious Qin Yuru looked, the calmer Qin Wanru was. She walked a few steps and when they went to another place, she talked to Qin Yuru in a low voice. “Big Sister, do you know what happened on the street? Many people were killed there!”
“What?” Qin Yuru asked involuntarily.
Qi Tianyu raised his head and looked at her. A trace of darkness flashed upon his eyes but he did not say anything.
“It seems that someone killed many people and set the place on fire. The whole street was totally ablaze. We happened to be there but I could not find the other people. So I hid in a shop. Where did you hide? Or did you see that?” Qin Wanru explained calmly.
“Well, well, of course I saw that! How could I not notice the terrible fire? I also hid in a store, but I did not know what the shop is, because I was fl.u.s.tered and the store was quite cramped. Then in order to find you, I even lost my way. When I was wandering about on the street, I saw you! It is really great!”
Qin Yuru hurriedly answered and looked quite anxious. It seemed that she had tried her best to find Qin Wanru for a very long time.
However, what she said left one in doubt as there were too many places that sounded intentional. Moreover, in her story she deliberately left no trace of where she was, which made people doubt that if she was telling the truth. Besides, in consideration of her temperament, she would not really care about Qin Wanru’s safety. It was quite good enough for her that she did not wish for Qin Wanru to die soon, so she would definitely not worry about Qin Wanru.
She was lying!
Not only did Qin Wanru think so, but the Qi brothers also had the same feeling. Although they said nothing, they both stared at Qin Yuru, which made her face rigid and she looked embarra.s.sed.
Qin Wanru’s long eyelashes fluttered. She raised her eyes and caught the sight of a group of people further along the alley. Slightly lifting the corners of her mouth, Qin Wanru knew that Qin Yuru had a private appointment with somebody here!