375. Emperor Zhou Was Bitterly Disappointed
Translator: Storm in a Teacup
When all her people died, Tianxiang Zi was about to retreat.
She had a way to escape.
Suddenly, Tianxiang Zi leaped away, obviously giving up the a.s.sa.s.sination.
At the same time, a small black ball shot out of her hand.
As the ball was about to explode in the open s.p.a.ce, Fang Shuoyang quickly jumped up and swept his sword towards the bullet.
At the critical moment, the ball was. .h.i.t and bounced off, landing in a nearby pond.
Right after that, it exploded in the pond.
Smoke shrouded the pond, which quickly became invisible.
If the ball exploded among the crowd, many people would be blind!
“The Fourth Prince is mighty!” Some guard in the field shouted, and many people echoed him right away.
Zhou Suye clenched his fists tightly.
With selfish motives, he did not warn of the a.s.sa.s.sination, hoping that the a.s.sa.s.sins would succeed.
In that case, only he and Fang Shuoyang would be left. His situation would definitely improve.
If Fang Shuoyang died as well…Therefore, he didn’t say anything, even thinking of helping the a.s.sa.s.sins at the right time.
He never imagined that his plan would actually…
Fang Shuoyang! Fang Shuoyang again! d.a.m.n it!
When the ball was deviated from its course, Tianxiang Zi’s expression changed.
She had a hunch that she might die here today.
Sure enough, when she continued to leap towards the outside of the palace, a few archers had surrounded her.
Numerous arrows were flying at her…Tianxiang Zi was a master of martial arts, however, no matter how powerful she was.
She could dodge most of the arrows, but she couldn’t dodge all of them.
Finally, surrounded on all sides, Tianxiang Zi dropped dead.
Fang Shuoyang came over and said calmly, “This woman is good at using poison. Even though she’s dead now, her body might be poisonous. You must be careful when dispose of her corpse.”
“Yes! Fourth Prince, thank you for your advice!”
Fang Shuoyang took an indifferent glance at Tianxiang Zi’s corpse and turned to leave.
“Father,” Fang Shuoyang knelt down in front of Emperor Zhou and said, “The a.s.sa.s.sin is dead.”
“Great! My son, you did a good job! Get up now.”
“Thank you, Father,” Fang Shuoyang stood up calmly. No one knew that his palms were actually sweating.
Actually, he had been afraid that Tianxiang Zi might tell against him if she fell into Emperor Zhou’s hands.
“Long live the emperor, long live! Long live! Long live! The Fourth Prince is wise!” Many ministers were shouting.
Zhou Suye took on an angry expression.
Emperor Zhou took a look at Zhou Suye’s face, frowning slightly. In this situation, even if Suye was dissatisfied with his brother, he shouldn’t have shown it openly.
Suye didn’t know how to feign.
In comparison, Fang Shuoyang was calm and confident, looking more like an emperor.
This thought crossed his mind once again.
Then, a senior eunuch escorted two junior eunuchs and a palace maid over.
“Emperor, these three people have colluded with the a.s.sa.s.sin. Here is the conclusive evidence.”
The senior eunuch handed over the evidence.
It was something that they found from the three people.
Emperor Zhou took on an angry expression instantly.
Knowing that they were doomed, the three people didn’t want to suffer, so they bit their tongues and died.
When the three of them turned into corpse, Fang Shuoyang looked at Emperor Zhou’s face and said in a low voice, “Take them away and don’t dirty the Emperor’s eyes.”
“Yes! Yes! ” The eunuch was shocked and quickly ordered the guards to drag the corpses away.
Even though an a.s.sa.s.sination had taken place that night, the consequences were not serious and all of a.s.sa.s.sins were dead.
As for the fact that there were no a.s.sa.s.sins alive for interrogation… Emperor Zhou did not care.
As long as he knew the ident.i.ty of the a.s.sa.s.sins, it was not difficult to find out!
And what he wanted was intimidation! This was the most important thing!
Although these a.s.sa.s.sins died, their corpse would be hung on the city walls, for the purpose of warning people as a bad example!
On this day, Fang Shuoyang once again hogged the limelight, impressing all the ministers.
He was refined, calm in the face of danger, and he had excellent martial arts. For a moment, many people’s thought better of him.
Including Emperor Zhou.
Especially when Shadow Guardians, who were arranged by Emperor Zhou to serve Zhou Suye, sent a report to him late at night, Emperor Zhou felt that he turned much older instantly.
Emperor Zhou arranged for the guards to protect Zhou Suye for his safety.
When Qin Xiong went to Zhou Suye and had a long secret talk in his study, the guards didn’t hear what they were discussing. After Zhou Suye came out of the study with a grim face, the guards naturally went to investigate Qin Xiong.
Thus, Qin Xiong was secretly captured.
However, he was caught after the emperor’s birthday.
If there had not been an a.s.sa.s.sination on the emperor’s birthday, the guards would not have captured Qin Xiong directly, because they feared that Zhou Suye might be involved or used by the a.s.sa.s.sins. They would have taken a safer method to investigate.
However, after Qin Xiong was captured, he answered every question imposed by the guards, for he thought there was nothing he couldn’t say.
Once the guards confirmed that what Qin Xiong said was true, they immediately reported it.
Thus, Emperor Zhou fell silent and instantly grew older.
The son that he had been adoring and protecting didn’t remind him when he knew that a.s.sa.s.sins would come to a.s.sa.s.sinate his father.
Why? Why?
What went wrong? Was it because he didn’t show his affection for this son?
However, as an emperor, if he openly showed his affection for him, he was as good as harming him!
Didn’t this son understand such an obvious fact?
Furthermore, he engaged in a fratricidal struggle with the crown prince in the border battlefield. Even if there might be some misunderstanding, the crown prince was dead. He just asked Suye to confine himself and reflect on his mistakes, and even released him before his birthday. Why didn’t Suye understand how much his father loved him?
Suye knew that there would be a.s.sa.s.sins, but he didn’t come to warn his father.
When the a.s.sa.s.sin arrived, he didn’t take any actions to save his father…
Was this the son that he had doted on for so many years and wanted to make heir to the throne?
Was this his good son?
Emperor Zhou felt that his heart ached.
It really hurt, and he felt incredibly cold.
That night, Emperor Zhou went to his favorite concubine.
“Your Majesty, I was terribly frightened when I heard that there were a.s.sa.s.sins. Fortunately, the heavens protect you and you are safe.”
The concubine threw herself into Emperor Zhou’s arms with tears in her eyes.
Only the ministers and the princes could attend the Emperor’s birthday banquet, and the concubines in the palace did not partic.i.p.ate.
Even the Empress only showed up at the opening for a short while and left.
The concubine wasn’t even qualified to go there.
At this moment, Emperor Zhou’s cold heart was softened by his beloved concubine’s concern.
He was the emperor. Even though he loved Suye, he had to change his mind if this son wanted him to die.
However, Suye was the son he loved the most, and the woman he loved the most gave birth to him, so…for the sake of the woman he loved the most, he was willing to give Suye another chance!
It was the last chance!
“I’m fine. Don’t worry.” Emperor Zhou said softly.
“Your Majesty…” The concubine called softly, her whole body nestling into Emperor Zhou’s arms. “It’s good that you are fine. If you…if… then I don’t want to live…”
“You idiot.” Emperor Zhou smiled and stroked her nose, carrying her with his arms.
“Your Majesty!” The concubine pounded softly at Emperor Zhou’s chest shyly with limp fair little fists.
Emperor Zhou instantly felt an impulse surging from his lower part, which made him feel that he was still young!
Thus, he quickly carried his woman to the big bed…
It was late at night, but the bed kept moving.
At this time, Fang Shuoyang and s.h.i.+ Qingzhou returned to the mansion.
Ying Feng was waiting there.
The three of them entered the secret chamber.
“Master, Mr. Fang, I have killed all the people who stayed with Tianxiang Zi. None of them is alive.
“Great!” s.h.i.+ Qingzhou was instantly satisfied.
Fang Shuoyang said, “Tianxiang Zi has always been making troubles, but she is the apprentice of Qinghuo…”
s.h.i.+ Qingzhou looked at Fang Shuoyang. “Are you worried about her?”
Fang Shuoyang nodded. “Yes, I am indeed worried about Qinghuo Master. She enjoys a great reputation here. Although she is very old, she’s said to have reached the realm of returning to her original self. If she wanted to avenge her apprentice, we would be in great trouble.”
s.h.i.+ Qingzhou frowned slightly, contemplating on the solution.
After a while, s.h.i.+ Qingzhou said calmly, “It’s fine. We’ll cross the bridge when we come to it.”
Fang Shuoyang paused for a while before he nodded. “That’s all we can do.”