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Everyone, including the Emperor, was shocked by the scene before them.
Just a moment ago, Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing had been sickly and weak, looking like she could fall down at any time when a strong wind blew. But in the next moment, she caught a flying dart aiming at her, and with her bare hands to boot.
This, this, this... was too exhilarating!
The crowd was so shocked that no one spoke for a long time.
Marquis Xuanping had just shot a hidden weapon from a box he had given to Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing. According to reason, he should have been immediately accused of attempting to a.s.sa.s.sinate the imperial concubine dowager, but the fact that she caught the dart with her bare hands was so mind-blowing that n.o.body even realized Marquis Xuanping’s crime at this moment.
Even Marquis Xuanping himself had forgotten about his own actions.
"Mother, imperial concubine mother..." The stunned Emperor muttered .
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing snapped back to reality in an instant. Her body swayed, and she let go of the dart, which fell onto the polished floor with a loud clang.
Only then did everyone snap out of their daze and open their eyes wide.
Grannie Cai"s eyes flickered, and she slapped the box out of Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing"s hand, "How dare you, Marquis Xuanping! Attempting to a.s.sa.s.sinate the imperial concubine dowager in the Huaqing Palace! Fortunately, the imperial concubine dowager is from a general family and had learned some skills from Old Master before entering the palace. Otherwise, you would have succeeded!"
This Old Master was Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing"s father. After she was conferred the t.i.tle of an imperial concubine, her maiden’s family also rose in status, and her father was granted the t.i.tle of Count Yong’en and was appointed as a fourth-rank general.
But before that, Count Yong’en was merely a sixth-rank commandant.
It was a bit exaggerated to call her a member of a general family, but once someone had achieved great success, their past could be polished and embellished, and history could be forgotten.
Therefore, in the eyes of the crowd, Grannie Cai"s remark was well-deserved, and Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing deserved the respect she received as a general’s daughter.
Imperial Consort Zhuang sneered, one of the few to do so.
Her aunt was from a scholar family, and Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing was hailed as a member of a general family. People called them the beauties of literature and martial arts and were known as the twin beauties of the State of Zhao.
But did she really deserve to be called twin beauties with her aunt?
Imperial Consort Zhuang touched her nose with a handkerchief and smiled faintly, "After all these years, imperial concubine dowager"s skills have not diminished at all. She is still as agile as ever."
“This…” Grannie Cai opened her mouth but didn"t say anything in the end.
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing smiled and said, "I stopped training when I was in the palace, but after moving to the nunnery, I trained whenever I had free time to pa.s.s the time. Cough…”
She coughed, covered her face and continued, “But I"ve been sick these days, so I haven"t been able to train again."
The Emperor was surprised and said, "Zhen never heard imperial concubine mother mention this before."
They had a very hard time in the palace.
After Empress Dowager Zhuang was sent to the cold palace, the three of them lost their protection and suffered a lot of bullying.
He remembered that one time, an imperial concubine who was ranked below his imperial concubine mother had even let her dog attack Ning"an who was next to imperial concubine mother.
Imperial concubine mother protected Ning"an with her body and was bitten and bruised all over, and Ning"an was also slightly injured.
"If imperial concubine mother has martial arts skills, why didn"t she..." The Emperor"s words trailed off as he suddenly realized that asking such a question seemed to imply a lack of trust in Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing.
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing smiled bitterly, "Your Majesty, are you asking about the incident when Ning"an and I were chased and bitten by Imperial Concubine Mu"s dog? Imperial Concubine Mu was favored by Imperial Consort Liu. I could hide once, but not forever. What Imperial Consort Liu wanted was for me to be injured. If I didn"t get hurt for her to see, would she have stopped? It’s just that it implicated Ning"an as well, causing her to be slightly injured. But at least it let Imperial Consort Liu vent her anger. Otherwise, the three of us would have been in a worse situation."
Grannie Cai added, "Imperial concubine dowager injured her leg during that incident. She didn"t want Princess Ning"an and Your Majesty to worry, so she kept it a secret. After that, whenever it rained, her leg would hurt like being poked with needles. In recent years, it has become more severe, and she occasionally gets sick even on sunny days, that"s why she often had a fall."
People who practice martial arts could still get hurt, like Marquis Xuanping, who suffered a waist injury on the battlefield.
The Emperor"s suspicion and doubt dissipated as he walked up to Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing with a sense of guilt, "Zhen wrongly accused imperial concubine mother."
He took her hand and gently patted her back with his other hand, comforting her.
The Emperor, who had just favored Imperial Consort Zhuang greatly, now gave her a cold glare.
Imperial Consort Zhuang knew she had misspoken and lowered her hand that was holding a handkerchief, bowing and saying, "Your Majesty, what this consort meant earlier was that fortunately, imperial concubine dowager did not neglect her martial arts training completely, otherwise she might have suffered an accident today."
Heh, martial arts training? Why had she never heard of it before?
Grannie Cai served a cup of hot tea.
"Let me do it!" The Emperor took the tea and personally offered it to Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing, who looked a bit sluggish, then he finally turned his attention back to Marquis Xuanping.
He said coldly, "Marquis Xuanping, what exactly is going on here?!"
Marquis Xuanping felt very wronged. He also wanted to know what was going on! That d.a.m.n old wine jar, was he playing him for a fool?
He said solemnly, "Your Majesty, this brocade box was given to this official by Chief Huo. This official has never opened it before, and didn’t know that it contained a hidden weapon."
He might be a rogue and a ruffian, but he wasn’t a thief who would steal fragrances and jade or spies on people"s privacy.
Of course, the main reason was that he didn"t expect Old Chief to be such a trickster!
For what reason?!
The Emperor"s expression turned icy as he commanded, "Summon Huo Xian!"
"Yes!" Eunuch Wei answered.
Eunuch Wei immediately sent a eunuch to the Imperial Academy to summon Old Chief to Huaqing Palace.
Empress Xiao and Imperial Consort Zhuang also stayed here, waiting together for the Emperor"s verdict.
Old Chief calmly and candidly entered the Qiuhua Hall in Huaqing Palace, his gaze sweeping over everyone, seeming a little surprised to see so many people. He cupped his hands and greeted, "This official greets Your Majesty the Emperor and the Empress, greets the imperial concubine dowager and the imperial n.o.ble consort."
The box and dart have already been picked up by the palace servants and placed on the table beside the Emperor.
The Emperor impatiently waved his hand, "Skip the formalities. Zhen didn"t call you here to see you greet me!"
Old Chief secretly raised his eyebrows. Seems like the Emperor is truly very angry.
The Emperor picked up the box from the table and coldly threw it on the ground in front of Old Chief, saying, "What is this thing?! Do you recognize it!?"
The box broke open as it hit the ground, and the shiny dart rolled out, landing right at Old Chief"s feet.
Old Chief crouched down and picked up the box and the dart, his expression showing a hint of strangeness.
"What? Don"t you recognize it?" The Emperor looked deeply at Marquis Xuanping as he spoke.
Marquis Xuanping said to Old Chief, "Surnamed Huo, don"t play dumb. You handed me this brocade box last night and asked me to deliver it to imperial concubine dowager on your behalf."
It was a taboo for court officials and imperial concubines to engage in private exchanges, but Old Chief was known for his integrity, which made people not doubt his intentions.
Old Chief looked innocent and said, "Yes, I did hand you the box, but what was inside?"
The Emperor said coldly, "This dart is what was inside the box!"
Old Chief looked bewildered and said to the Emperor, "How could that be? This official put twenty taels of silver inside!" He turned to Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing and said, "Does imperial concubine dowager remember years ago when this official went to the temple to burn incense and my money was stolen by a thief among the worshippers? You happened to be pa.s.sing by and asked me about what happened, and then you lent me ten taels of silver for me to offer to the temple. This official promised to repay you double when he had the chance!"
It had been a long time since that incident, and Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing had almost forgotten it. She tried to recall and asked with uncertainty, "Didn"t we agree at that time that it was the fee for buying a pair of couplets from you? This money doesn"t count as me lending it to you."
Old Chief spoke firmly, "Imperial concubine dowager helped this official in my time of need and was afraid of damaging my self-esteem, so she said she would buy a pair of couplets written by me. But as this official promised, he must return this money someday.”
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing didn"t have much impression of it afterwards.
After all, who would keep track of an account worth only ten taels of silver for several years?Raz P."s Thoughts
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