A strong urge to locate a Taoist priest struck the warden. Had he offended some malignant spirits or G.o.d lately?? Why did accidents from charging horses keep occurring, and to different factions in which both sides were n.o.bles not to be offended?
"Men, hurry and take Sir Cheng to a hospital." Sir Zheng couldn"t afford to let any risk come to the young master"s life.
Ever since Minister Cheng Meng"s eldest son died in infancy, the minister had devoted his energies to pa.s.sing on the family name. Multiple concubines crossed his doorstep, bearing him the "Seven Fairies", but only one Cheng Yue.
Minister Cheng didn"t hope for great accomplishments out of his son; just peacefully carrying on the family name would be enough. Thus, he didn"t impose any strict demands, which gave rise to Cheng Yue"s domineering, brattish behavior.
This arrogant bully only worsened after Cheng Meng was promoted to minister of the Bureau of Military Affairs. The n.o.ble scion often gathered with his peers and got into all sorts of trouble. Having been warden of the eastern ward for a long time, Sir Zheng often ran into these n.o.ble sons. He"d always let them go with a slap on the wrist, if not, because of his relations.h.i.+p with their fathers.
But who knew that Cheng Yue would do the unthinkable and b.u.t.t heads with the Qins!
If things had been before, Sir Zheng would naturally sweep everything under the table again. However, the emperor most favored Qin Huaiyuan now, so too was the warden on the emperor"s team.
Since the factional lines were delineated, everyone should keep to their camps and refrain from getting into further trouble. But who would"ve thought that the Lu-backed faction would levy their spears at the emperor-backed Qin Huaiyuan?
Now that public discourse was at such a high and Sir Zheng in charge, he couldn"t protect any side even if he wanted to.
"Miss Qin." Sir Zheng offered a cupped fist salute next to the carriage. "I"m afraid I"ll have to ask Miss Qin to make a trip to the Warden"s Office."
"Our miss is the victim and the culprits these unreasonable horse racers!" reb.u.t.ted Xiaoman. "Why does milord want to take our miss into custody?"
"Please don"t misunderstand, Miss Qin. I"m not arresting you, just need to inquire about a few things."
This was precisely the development Qin Yining was waiting for, so she responded kindly, "I won"t put you in a difficult situation, milord. I"ll make the trip with you. I"m sure you"ll be able to give me a concrete explanation as well."
"Of course, that"s my duty as a warden. I impartially handle everything."
"That would be wonderful." Qin Yining"s voice was exceedingly gentle, spreading comfort and ease in its wake.
A n.o.ble girl talking a walk in the market with the family—that was quite a normal occurrence. But the poor girl had b.u.mped into these unruly n.o.ble songs!
Add to that Qin Huaiyuan"s matter from a few days ago and the fact that it was the same group of people, Sir Zheng was certain that this was revenge long in the making.
The n.o.ble scions were equally surprised at this moment. None of them had thought that a girl would have such ferocious guards by her side!
However, it was easy enough for the warden to understand. If it was said that Cheng Yue was Minister Cheng"s sole hope, then Qin Yining was also Qin Huaiyuan"s only daughter. He didn"t even have a son!
In comparison, Minister Cheng had the "seven fairies". It didn"t seem that Qin Huaiyuan doted on Qin Yining any less than Cheng Meng did his only son.
What an irritating mess!
After placating Qin Yining, Sir Zheng turned to talk some sense into the outraged n.o.ble scions.
Compared to the well-educated and reasonable Qin Yining, this group wasn"t so easy to handle. After failing to convince them verbally, Sir Zheng had to settle for half coaxing and half threatening the group back to his office.
The Qin fourth miss" carriage slowly rolled to a stop at the office doors. Bingtang, Jiyun, and Lian Xiaozhou alighted first before turning back to help their mistress down.
Meanwhile, several of the n.o.ble sons looked curiously their way. It too piqued their curiosity on just what kind of woman could entrance a hardened man like the Faithful Prince of the First Rank. The prince had ignored the blood feud of his father"s death to carry off the girl!
A pale-white, unadorned hand reached out probingly, resting on the maid"s hand. It was followed by a charming face that was as pretty as a peach. The crowd"s gazes clung to her as she alighted from the carriage.
Her adroit and deft movements placed her as average height compared to typical northern women, but above average among southern women. She flicked an aloof glance at the crowd, light sparkling in her limpid, almond-shaped eyes. Not a single word was needed to entrance the mind of everyone present.
No wonder! No wonder that even someone like the Faithful Prince of the First Rank fell victim to this sweet trap!
Some of the n.o.ble scions were quite disgruntled. They hadn"t made out with anything for their troubles today! They didn"t cause Qin Yining to alight from her carriage or hear her voice. And now, were they to just silently watch on?
But given the current situation, they really didn"t know how to get their hands on her.
The group arrived at the front hall. Sir Zheng gave orders for tea to be served.
The youth with a swollen cheek, courtesy of Jingzhe, chugged his cup of tea and pointed at the guard standing behind Qin Yining. "Your lords.h.i.+p, that man tried to murder someone in broad daylight. Arrest him!"
Jingzhe, Bingtang, and the others were all standing quietly with their heads down behind their mistress. The guard captain didn"t even raise an eyebrow when he heard the accusation, remaining docilely standing behind the Qin fourth miss.
All of the former Silver Masks now looked like average, everyday servants. Their frightening skill from earlier was the last thing on everyone"s minds. If it wasn"t for concrete evidence in the form of the young man"s face, Sir Zheng would"ve never believed it.
"Did this man really attempt to murder you?"