Chapter 171.2: A Scream
From afar, he watched Jing Wan follow along the original path and cross the little stream, appearing exceptionally simple and effortless. However, Li Hong Yuan licked his lips, did his darling know about her red lips that anyone with a discerning would know at a glance what happened?
Li Hong Yuan looked to the roast fish that was inserted into the ground, casually grabbing one. Looking it over, he took a bite, tasting the flavor. In this short period of time, it still hasn’t gone cold, so the flavor was actually still pretty good. In the eyes of the people by his side, his daily meals couldn’t be more carefully selected for quality, but at this very moment, he had the small fish, aside from the head area, all eaten, together along with the fish bones. That att.i.tude was actually no different from when he normal ate.
Eunuch Mu had his eyes to his nose, his nose to his heart, hanging his head. En, master’s fondness towards Miss Luo, as expected, was deep into his bones.
“Mu An, have the remaining two fish taken back.”
“Yes.” Eunuch Mu hurriedly responded. Without something convenient to put them in, he could only carefully carry them in his hands. This wasn’t two roast fish, but rather the world’s most delicious delicacy.
“Have the severed heads fetched over for this prince, and as before, send them to Ruan Fang Fei.” Li Hong Yuan said.
The bodyguards were shocked. Master means to say that these three were sent by that soon-to-be side consort? Then again, judging from their final action, one just knew, they clearly came for the future w.a.n.gfei. They all knew, that one from the Ruan family liked master, thus for her to send people, really wasn’t all that strange. Just, although they’d long known that the Ruan family rear court had problems, today was actually their first time truly crossing blows. They were even stronger than they’d antic.i.p.ated. Although, aside from their leader, they were all ordinary bodyguards, but compared to other family’s shadow guards, they all shouldn’t be inferior. But in the end, under the circ.u.mstances of one on one, they actually weren’t the other party’s opponent!
However, to consequently just conclude this, wasn’t it a bit subjective? But in an instant, they just had this thought thrown out. How could master make the wrong judgement? Even if it was a mistake, whoever he says it is, is precisely who it is, so even if it isn’t Ruan Fang Fei, it still is.
Since with ordinary methods, they weren’t able to have people inserted into the Ruan family rear court, master also no longer continued using other methods. As for exactly how, that wasn’t something they can know. ———-The things master lets them know they can know, and even if they know, it still needed to rot in their stomach. And as for the things they don’t know, they absolutely must not look into.
However, this ‘as before’? What ‘before’? In the end, it was still An Yi that instantly understood———-that servant girl during the Dragon Boat Festival.
“Send people to the front………” Li Hong Yuan nonchalantly ordered.
Hearing his words, as expected, in master’s heart, only the Luo family’s third miss was a treasure. To dare touch her, one needed to be prepared to bear the most miserable fate. However, master only needed to say this one line, but for them, as the people below, they instead needed to break their legs from running. It was best if they can take care of it appropriately, if not, then they were just incompetent idiots. Just, handling this matter now really wasn’t that easy. Along the way, everyone was all together, and there weren’t just each family’s bodyguards, but also the Imperial Guards. With the security extremely tight, the possibility of getting discovered was very high. But it can’t be helped, that woman’s brain was broken, insisting on angering master at this time, causing them to also be troubled. If they don’t properly teach her how to ‘behave herself’ this time, then it was truly difficult to make up for their suffering of being squeezed dry by their own master.
As she got closer, Jing Wan used her brocade handkerchief to cover her lips. It was true that she couldn’t see, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t feel the slight stinging sensation. It can be seen, just how ruthless a certain beast was with his mouth.
Jing Wan suddenly stopped, turning around to look towards Yu Zhong Qing. This man was less than thirty, his features also quite handsome, and as the Commander of the Imperial Guards, his position was a high third-rank[1]. Moreover, this man, according to rumors, still haven’t married, and was also one of the golden bachelors in the capital. “Sir Yu, matters involving this one, later, asking to please not say.”
Yu Zhong Qing understood her meaning, “Miss Luo can rest a.s.sured.”
“Many thanks.” Jing Wan curtsied.
“Miss is too serious.” Jin Qinw.a.n.g was infamous for being l.u.s.tful towards beauties, with the beauties by his side switched out batch by batch. He did hear about his so called ‘extreme pampering’, but the specifics, he has never witnessed before. All say Jin Qinw.a.n.g was affectionate yet fickle, never truly stopping for any one woman. From what he saw today, this perhaps wasn’t exactly true. At least, towards his current fiancee, he was very attentive. And Jing Wan, through the previous matter, one can also conclude, not only wasn’t delicate, but also extremely courageous and perceptive.
The marks on Jing Wan weren’t considered obvious, but also not that hard to discover. For instance, Luo Old Madam noticed her condition first thing, immediately getting up in alarm, quickly stepping forward, “Wan Wan, what happened?”
Jing Wan aptly let out a bit of panic, “Grandmother, we encountered a.s.sa.s.sins.”
“What?” Not just Luo Old Madam, everyone present were all endlessly shocked. “Wan Wan, what exactly happened?”
Before Jing Wan could reply, Le Cheng Emperor’s furious voice already sounded on the other side, “Yu Zhong Qing, where’s Jin Qinw.a.n.g?” These people came back, yet his son and his son’s close attendants and bodyguards, not a single one was seen!
“Replying to your Majesty, the a.s.sa.s.sins have already all been executed. w.a.n.gye is in good health. w.a.n.gye said, he needed to stay behind to investigate the situation, ordering this subordinate to escort Miss Luo back.”
“If investigating the situation needs for him, a w.a.n.gye, to take care of himself, then what the h.e.l.l is your job for?”
“Your Majesty, please forgive, this was what w.a.n.gye ordered, this subordinate didn’t dare to not obey.”
Yu Zhong Qing’s one line blocked Le Cheng Emperor’s mouth, “Immediately send people back…………..”
“Your Majesty, w.a.n.gye has returned.” Le Cheng Emperor’s close attendant called to his attention.
Sure enough, Jin Qinw.a.n.g led along two people, and neither quickly nor slowly approached. That undisciplined behavior made Le Cheng Emperor burn in anger, nearly flipping the chessboard on the table. By the time Li Hong Yuan got close, “b.a.s.t.a.r.d………..”
“This son merely spent a bit of time to wash off the blood, and came back a little later, so how did this son anger imperial father this time?” Li Hong Yuan’s gaze towards Le Cheng Emperor was just like looking at someone that was unreasonably causing trouble.
The blue vein on Le Cheng Emperor’s forehead directly popped. This b.a.s.t.a.r.d, this b.a.s.t.a.r.d…………Le Cheng Emperor tried his hardest to calm his anger, and after a long while, finally asked, “What exactly happened?”
“Ask Yu Zhong Qing, this son is going to change clothes.” Just as he was preparing to leave, his gaze landed on Jing Wan again, and then said to Luo Old Madam, “Old madam, this matter is this prince’s fault. Just, the a.s.sa.s.sins appeared too suddenly, so Miss Luo might have been frightened, and previously, even accidentally fell. Also, there seems to be a few scratches on her face, so apply some medicine for her, then boil a bowl of nerve calming soup. Otherwise, just call the imperial physician over for a look.”
“Many thanks w.a.n.gye.”
Afterwards, Li Hong Yuan left, while Jing Wan got taken away by Luo Old Madam.
Yu Zhong Qing then narrated the course of events.
Since Li Hong Yuan didn’t have all his people brought back, then at this moment, perhaps they were taking care of the final clean up.
Le Cheng Emperor thought for a moment, and didn’t send more people over. Since it was a.s.sa.s.sins, then the only possible place where clues may be left was on their body. That b.a.s.t.a.r.d son of his wasn’t stupid, would he not search?
When Luo Old Madam saw Jing Wan’s lips, how would she still not know what happened. After getting angry, she also could only helplessly sigh, and didn’t say anything. As for the matter regarding the a.s.sa.s.sins, she carefully asked some questions. In reality, what Jing Wan took part in was just that frightening brief moment. As for more, she really didn’t know. After contemplating, Jing Wan didn’t have her suspicion that the other party actually came for her said out loud. To say who had an enormous grudge against her, it was probably just Ruan Fang Fei alone. But for a young lady of the boudoir like her, how did she have such capabilities? If she really was able to accomplish this much, then Jing Wan needed to suspect her origins.
Afterwards, Li Hong Yuan didn’t appear again. Le Cheng Emperor wasn’t in the mood to continue playing, but he didn’t leave either.
With An Yi in the lead, the remaining people finally returned.
“Any discoveries?” Le Cheng Emperor bluntly asked with a heavy expression.
An Yi pretended to hesitate, and then had an object taken out. That was a piece of command plaque that was less than three fingers wide.
Seeing that thing, Le Cheng Emperor’s face darkened like the bottom of a pot. That was something that belonged to treacherous traitors, the descendants of the previous dynasty’s imperial family. Since the establishment of Qi Yuan till now, he was already the fifth emperor, but this bunch was just like a bunch of rats with a formidable ability to survive. No matter how one striked, they were all unable to go extinct, and every once in a while, they would come out to bounce around. And the thing they liked to do most was a.s.sa.s.sinate people of the imperial family. As long as one had relations to the imperial family, they will seize the opportunity to bite a few times. However, these people have already disappeared for several years, so to actually appear again, how could Le Cheng Emperor not be angry………….
But, these people were too crafty, so what you wanted to investigate now also won’t yield any results.
Le Cheng Emperor brushed his sleeves and left.
Afterwards, the Luo family’s place finally quieted down.
This matter got suppressed by Le Cheng Emperor, so as to avoid making everyone alarmed.
Near noon, each family all began burying the pots and making food. For a moment, the aroma permeated in all directions.
“Ahh———-”
A scream shattered this ‘tranquility’.
“Seems to have come from the Ruan family, what happened?”
[1] 正三品 – So something that I’ve sort of skipped over in my explanations is the ranking system of court officials because it really is pretty long and convoluted. And I may have explained something wrong in a due to my misunderstanding. In the court ranking system, it goes from [从]cong ninth rank to [正]zheng first rank. You can understand 从(cong) and 正(zheng) as low and high. So for each number rank their is a high(正) and a low(从), totaling to eighteen ranks in total. And obviously a high(正) third rank is higher than a low(从) third rank. Also, do know that 从 and 正 don’t actually translate to low and high, their actual translations are: 从 – from, through, follow; 正 – straight, upright, proper, main; I just translate them as high and low for easier understanding.
Tbh this is just the rough explanation because sometimes within each of these they are divided further into different levels, as well as the different categories of positions such as literary official of the capital, military official of the capital, literary official outside of the capital, and military officials outside of the capital. Additionally there are also the non-ranked positions, which are at the very bottom because they have yet to enter the rankings.