Chapter 149 Burnt Ends: Traitor
Five days after Gan Qingjia and Qi Jianqiu"s wedding, the day of the important Mid-Autumn Banquet has arrived. Only princes and princesses, Dukes from various parts of the countries and only officials of the Third Rank and above could attend the banquet. Only the Emperor could bring his concubines. The guests could not bring their families to attend the banquet.
Situ and Gan Qingjia stood at a corner of the Imperial Garden and started chitchatting. They would occasionally glance at the people walking around and talking to each other. There was still an hour before the banquet started. The princes were getting to know the officials before the Emperor came.
"Where did the news come from?" A faint light shone on Situ"s face, but it failed to put any warmth on his cold expression.
"One of his subordinates mentioned it when he was talking to his wife," Gan Qingjia was wearing a serious expression as well, "and the people who were caught a few days ago were also sent by him."
"He is putting his stake on this final blow." Situ"s voice was very light but every single word hit hard onto Gan Qingjia"s heart. Gan Qingjia couldn"t help but felt a chill ran down his spine. He stuttered a little. "Are you saying that he wants to…"
Gan Qingjia"s eyes were filled with disbelief. He saw a girl walking towards them and swallowed his words, "Why is Miss Feng here?"
Situ turned around. The Imperial Attendant was guiding Feng Luodi towards the Imperial Garden.
Situ gave a death glare to the Imperial Attendant. The Imperial Attendant and Feng Luodi saw Situ as well and walked towards him.
"Anping Duke," the Imperial Attendant paid his respects to Situ in fear. Before Situ replied, Gan Qingjia frowned. The Imperial Attendant had served the Emperor for a long time. Even the princes had much respect for him. If someone told the Emperor about how afraid the Imperial Attendant was of Situ, it would cause a lot of troubles.
Situ nodded at the Imperial Attendant and looked at Feng Luodi. "Why are you here?"
Feng Luodi looked slightly worried and confused. She looked at the Imperial Attendant. The Imperial Attendant explained, "The Yushan Commandery is sick and the Emperor allowed his grand-daughter to take his place at the Mid-Autumn Banquet."
Situ stopped breathing. He looked at Feng Luodi and saw her confidence. He regained his composure and said to the Imperial Attendant, "I will bring her in later. Yushan Commandery"s seat cannot be moved easily. Please add a seat beside me for her."
The Imperial Attendant agreed and left.
Situ and Gan Qingjia stared at Feng Luodi when he left. Feng Luodi replied in a confused tone. "This is very suspicious. After my father had left for the palace, the Imperial Attendant came in with the Imperial Decree and I had no choice but to enter the palace with him."
Gan Qingjia muttered, "What is the Emperor thinking? All the ladies that come tonight are either princesses or concubines. If you appear, it would cause a huge commotion and place you in a difficult position."
He finished his sentence and complained to Situ, "You even ordered her to sit beside you. Anyone who doesn"t know the details would think that you are looking down on the Kingdom"s traditions and would complain about you to the Emperor."
Situ replied indifferently, "This is to prevent anyone from plotting against her."
Feng Luodi gave a slight smile. "I can sit beside my father. I haven"t had the chance to tell him that I will be coming."
Gan Qingjia tilted his head and looked at Feng Luodi"s as she walked away. He asked Situ, "Why do I feel that she is acting a little weird? They way you two interact is so weird."
Situ sighed faintly, "if I guess correctly, Moyin has pa.s.sed his Shadow Agents to her. The more she knows, the more confused she gets."
"The Shadow Agents are under her now?" Gan Qingjia was surprised. "I thought that Moyin would hand it over to the second Prince. Sigh, the future is really hard to predict."
Situ looked away, his gaze stretching far out of the palace walls. Gan QIngjia continued, "Miss Feng is just a lady. There are pros and cons of her getting the Shadow Agents. Will she be able to handle them?"
"I believe her." Situ opened his mouth slowly and didn"t want to explain further. The Shadow Agents are the most powerful intelligence organization in Chang"an. All the officials feared them and even the Emperor was a little afraid of them. However, no one would expect the Shadow Agents to fall into the hands of a lady who only knew how to play the zither.
"There needs to be a change of plans," Situ suddenly said and looked directly into Gan Qingjia"s puzzled eyes, "Luodi is here. I can"t put her in any danger."
Gan Qingjia sighed helplessly. He turned around and shrugged helplessly. "Okay, okay, I know what to do."
Music played and palace maids started entering the banquet. The officials toasted one another. Feng Luodi helplessly looked at Situ as he slowly walked towards her. "My father actually had the same idea as you. This is so rare."
Situ poured himself some wine and looked at Chamberlain Feng who was sitting not far away. The corners of his mouth went up a little and said, "That is a good decision."
Feng Luodi grabbed his wine gla.s.s and gulped down the wine. She smiled and said, "He is just holding his horses since he doesn"t know what the Emperor is doing yet."
Situ"s gaze fell on her lips. Her lips were enticing under the flickering candlelight, just like that night. Situ"s heart just started pounding when the Imperial Attendant shouted.
"The Emperor has arrived."
The one who came along with the Emperor was pregnant and expecting Concubine Shu. Concubine Yao was very pretty and amorous, her eyes gentle and calm. Concubine Shu looked very elegant and graceful. Her eyes were gentle as well but there was a hint of viciousness in it. The Eight Prince was very happy and Concubine Shu"s family was elated too. However, the Minister of the Right looked indifferent.
Feng Luodi looked at them from the side.
Situ held onto Feng Luodi"s hand as he toasted the other officials and chatted with them. Feng Luodi started to feel angry. She was about to flare up at Situ when she noticed Chamberlain Feng looking in her direction and immediately acted as though nothing had happened. When Situ resumed his sitting position, she immediately smiled brightly at him and squeezed his hand forcefully. Situ felt the pain but didn"t say anything. Besides Gan Qingjia, no one saw the interaction between them. He shook his head and sighed. These two are so childish. My Qi Jianqiu is so much better. I wonder what she is doing at home now.
After having some wine, the Emperor started complimenting and reprimanding the various princes. This was the first time Feng Luodi saw the First Prince. He had eyes that went up at the corners and a square shaped face. His nose was just in the right position, making him look gentle and sincere. It was hard to not notice the smile in his eyes. He was someone with both a strong and a weak presence.
The First Prince was sitting at the end of the line. If someone talked to him, he would reply and gave his opinion. However, if no one approached him, he sat silently, drinking his wine. This was different from all the other princes that were trying to make friends with the officials.
Feng Luodi knew that the First Prince had ambitions and naturally felt disgusted by his actions. However, Situ supported the First Prince so she decided to keep her opinions to herself. Perhaps, Feng Luodi"s stare was so intense that the First Prince looked towards her and smiled, raising his gla.s.s and nodded towards Situ who was beside her. Situ returned the ttoast. Feng Luodi hurriedly grabbed her gla.s.s, her palm sweaty. The First Prince looked very gentle but somehow, he made her very nervous. His gaze was oppressive, just like Situ when he was angry.
Feng Luodi instinctively grabbed onto Situ"s clothes. Situ suddenly laughed softly and leaned towards Feng Luodi. "How are you feeling?"
Feng Luodi coughed, "You have good foresight."
Situ pa.s.sed a goblet of wine to her. Feng Luodi listened as the Emperor started acknowledging the hard work of the officials, recognising the various effort and time put into maintaining the kingdom. The princes started toasting the officials after the Emperor finished his speech. At the same time, dancers entered the hall and started their performance. This was a tradition of the Xuan kingdom and a rule between the monarch and his officials.
Many princes came to toast Situ. Even though Feng Luodi did not know their names, she had no choice but to return their toast. It was only after all the drinks that she noticed the other officials staring at her with a weird look. At first, Feng Luodi was puzzled. Only when her eyes met the Chamberlain"s look of helplessness did she realise that she looked exactly like a wife entertaining guests beside her husband. Upset, but not wanting to cause a ruckus in front of the Emperor, Feng Luodi quickly regained her composure.
A joyous atmosphere quickly took over the banquet, the Emperor pleased with what he saw. The year had been eventful and to some extent, problematic, but they were all over and it was peaceful now. When winter arrived, this eventful year would come to an end.
Just as everyone was getting into the mood, a commotion came from outside the Imperial Garden. There were sounds of arguing as well as sounds of metal striking upon metal.
"Who is causing such a commotion?" the Imperial Attendant got the permission of the Emperor and shouted. The dancers had stopped their performance and retreated to the side. All the officials were looking outside the Imperial Garden with hesitation and suspicion. Very soon, footsteps sounded and a voice rang out among the commotion.
"The EIghth Prince and Eleventh Prince had violated the honour of the Emperor and killed him. I am going to avenge my father. Follow my lead, men! We shall catch the traitors!"
An official near the entrance shouted, "It is the voice of the dethroned Heir."
The Emperor glared angrily as the Heir stepped into the Imperial Garden in formidable array. The situation outside was already in a mess. The Heir swung his sword and the cut off the head of the official.
Everyone was angry and afraid. The Emperor stared at the army behind the Second Prince and shook in anger. "It"s the Imperial Army. How dare you secretly mobilise the Imperial Army?"
He paused. "No, it"s you, a.s.sistant Chief Zhu! How dare you rebel together with the Second Prince?"
a.s.sistant Chief Zhu stood beside the former Heir expressionlessly. This meant the 10 thousand imperial guards that were under a.s.sistant Chief Zhu were now in the hands of the Second Prince. The prince seemed to have bought two thousand guards with him inside and left eight thousand of them outside to control the perimeter.
All the officials climbed towards the Emperor. Situ silently pulled Feng Luodi behind him. The EIghth and Eleventh Prince stared in fear at the Heir while the First Prince stood beside the Emperor.
"You unfilial son, what are you trying to do?" The Emperor breathed heavily. Concubine Yao and Concubine Shu immediately held onto him.
The Second Prince smiled brightly and cruelly, like a poisonous snake under the bright sky, poised to strike. "I want to take the throne from your hands!"