Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 704: Taking Orders
Although Zhang Shou had specifically inquired before leaving the palace and found out that Zhu Ying was summoned to Qingning Palace early in the morning, and it was said that the empress dowager was in a bad mood, so she invited her to chat and relieve her boredom, the fact proved that after her eldest brother suffered such a vicious incident of assassination by a crossbow, it was impossible for the eldest lady to stay in the palace peacefully.
Yuquan wanted to hide it from Zhu Ying, but considering Zhu Ying's fierce temper, she just delayed until lunch time, so that the old and young could have a peaceful lunch, and then told the matter. Sure enough, the Queen Mother was still calm, but Zhu Ying jumped up directly, her face full of undisguised rage.
"How dare he assassinate my elder brother? Is that bastard so bold? When the eldest prince was here, he was polite to my elder brother. Now that he is no longer in the clan or in the capital, that bastard assassinated my elder brother. Isn't he afraid of implicating his master to death? I'm leaving the palace now. I want to see if that bastard dares to say in front of me that his master ordered him to do it!"
Seeing that Zhu Ying still had the most basic judgment even in her anger, the Queen Mother sneered and immediately shouted, "Yingying, don't be impulsive!"
However, before Zhu Ying lost her temper, she said calmly: "At this point, even if we deprive him of his clan membership and detain him in the imperial farm outside the capital to farm, it seems that there is no way to keep him safe. How about this, you go there in person, bring a few hundred elite cavalry battalions, and bring Dalang back to me. Yuquan, you accompany Yingying to the Qianqing Palace, if the emperor agrees, then let's do it."
Zhu Ying was stunned at first, then said with an unhappy face: "Empress Dowager, I have to go back to see my eldest brother first...If anything happens to him, even if I vent all my anger on my enemy, it will be useless!"
Seeing the empress dowager was slightly stunned, Yuquan quickly persuaded her: " Miss
Zhu Ying stared at Yuquan again and again with suspicion, and thought that she was not the type to lie. When she saw the empress dowager again, she smiled. Thinking about all the troubles that the eldest prince had caused in the past, she couldn't help but feel angry. In the end, she readily agreed: "Okay, in this case, I will go to see the emperor first! Anyway, even if you lie to me, Aunt Yuquan, the emperor will never lie to me!"
Seeing Zhu Ying kneeling to salute and then turning around to leave, the empress dowager signaled Yuquan to follow immediately. After the two of them left, she held the teacup and pondered this inexplicable assassination, and then thought of the second prince who had inexplicably sunk.
"Is it Xiang Zhuang dancing with a sword, aiming at Pei Gong, or is it really just a momentary vent of anger, revenge for the master? Or is he instigated by others and has become a puppet against his will?"
Zhu Ying didn't have time to think about all this. She felt that the assassination by the guard named Shi beside the eldest prince was a daunting attempt to kill the eldest prince. This was the limit of the eldest lady's efforts to maintain her sanity. However, on the way to the Qianqing Palace, she thought about the eldest prince's greedy and self-righteous character, and felt that this matter might really be instigated by the eldest prince.
Since there is no hope for the Eastern Palace and the throne, maybe he really wants to throw away everything and do whatever he wants?
Because of this, when she saw the emperor, Zhu Ying stood there angrily, letting Yuquan convey the empress dowager's instructions. When she found that the emperor was silent, she suddenly asked, "Your Majesty, if we find out that the eldest prince sent someone to assassinate my eldest brother, what are you going to do?"
Yuquan didn't expect Zhu Ying to ask so directly, and she immediately broke into a sweat. If she wanted to leave, her attitude of avoiding suspicion was too obvious; if she stayed here, no matter what the emperor's attitude was, it would not be an easy thing to do, and she was in a dilemma whether to persuade or remain silent.
But before her hesitation had any result, Zhu Ying spoke up, "My elder brother fought bravely on the battlefield, and he was almost killed or injured because of someone's momentary madness, and he can't even get an explanation for this?"
Seeing Zhu Ying's pretty face flushed with anger, the emperor vaguely remembered that she had chased the eldest and second princes all the way to the Qianqing Palace with a wooden sword. Even in front of the empress at that time, she still stood proudly, and was not afraid at all when several imperial attendants from the Kunning Palace surrounded her. So he fell in love with this beautiful but strong-willed little girl.
After so many years, he has gradually become the person he hated in the past. Many people have also changed with the years, but Zhu Ying remains the same and still has the same old temper.
However, after being absent-minded for a moment, the emperor said calmly, "If he really ordered it, and he has not repented and has become even more evil, I will not tolerate him. Erlang, who went to Qiongzhou to plant trees, has killed a boatload of people. I don't have that many people for these unworthy sons to squander. If he wants to 'seek benevolence and get it', I have no choice but to fulfill his wish."
This time, it was Zhu Ying who was shocked. The justice she wanted was simple: to lock up this evildoer, preferably in a dungeon where he never sees the sun, so that he can never come out to see people again. As for killing the eldest prince to pay for his life, even someone as bold as her knew that it was unlikely.
Just like what Zhang Shou said to the Fourth Prince, the First Prince was the Emperor's son after all. She also thought so.
Therefore, thinking that she had forced the emperor to give an explanation, and that the emperor might actually give such an explanation, Zhu Ying suddenly hesitated. But this time, the emperor did not give her time to hesitate, and directly ordered: "I will give you two hundred soldiers from the Ruiqi Battalion, you go to Huairou Royal Farm and bring Dalang back to me."
Although she was in a complicated mood just now, Zhu Ying regained her composure immediately after the emperor and the empress dowager really gave her such a difficult task. She accepted the order without thinking and then walked . Seeing this scene, Yuquan, who was originally sent here for this matter, was slightly startled, and then hurriedly knelt down to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, this is just an oral order, where is the proof?"
The emperor then realized that in his haste he had forgotten to give Zhu Ying the token. He smiled to himself and said to Chen Yongshou, "Take my handwritten order and order the Imperial Treasure Department to record it and give Zhu Ying a gold medal."
Chen Yongshou hurriedly agreed. Seeing that Yuquan had already run after Zhu Ying, he immediately went to the emperor. He saw that the emperor picked up a piece of paper, wrote a handwritten edict, and stamped it with his personal seal. He reached out to take it, but could not wait for the ink to dry, and walked out like a gust of wind.
When they left the Qianqing Palace, Yuquan had indeed intercepted Zhu Ying. He hurried forward and said with a smile, "Miss, you are walking too fast. Even if it is you, if you run to the Ruiqi Camp without any evidence, no one will pay attention to you. So, let's go to the Shangbao Division quickly. We have to get the gold medal after inspection there."
Zhu Ying only realized her mistake when Yuquan stopped her. When Chen Yongshou teased her, she pulled a long face and said, "Eunuch Chen, you and Aunt Yuquan only know how to talk after the fact. Why didn't you say it at the time? Okay, let's go!"
But she still couldn't leave, because Yuquan grabbed her arm. The head of the harem's female official looked up at the sky and said unhappily, "I'm also very anxious. It's already so late. By the time you get to Huairou Royal Manor, it will probably be very late. How can you bring someone back? You might have to stay there for the night!"
"The Queen Mother probably just said that casually before, and I was confused. No, I will ask the Emperor for instructions again."
Seeing Yuquan turn around and go back into the main hall of the Qianqing Palace after he finished speaking, Zhu Ying was slightly stunned. The initial shock and fear she had felt when she heard that her elder brother had been assassinated gradually disappeared, and was replaced by a kind of inexplicable irritation.
Seeing her so upset, Chen Yongshou, who originally wanted to go in and ask for instructions, finally stayed where he was with Zhu Ying, in case this young lady did something unexpected.
Fortunately, Yuquan went in quickly and came out quickly. In a split second, he walked out quickly, saying, "The emperor has ordered us to leave the city immediately, and when we get there, we should stay overnight and come back. Eunuch Chen, you accompany the young lady and me to the Shangbao Division, and I will personally escort the young lady to the Huairou Royal Manor."
Chen Yongshou couldn't help but take a deep breath when he learned that Yuquan had actually abandoned the Queen Mother in Qingning Palace and wanted to personally escort Zhu Ying there. Zhu Ying was also shocked and instinctively wanted to refuse.
But Yuquan didn't give anyone a chance to object, and said in a deep voice: "Eunuch Chen, you go to Qingning Palace from the Shangbao Department and report to the Queen Mother for me. I think the Queen Mother will understand. If the eldest prince goes crazy and does something messy, I'll be there, at least I'll have one more strong witness."
Since the other party had said so much, Chen Yongshou could only agree. After he sent the person to the Shangbao Division and exchanged the gold medal with the emperor's handwritten order, he saw Yuquan and Zhu Ying rushing to the Xiyuan Ruiqiying branch station, and he ran to Qingning Palace.
Even though he was a person who often kept fit, he was still almost exhausted when he arrived at Qingning Gate. He held his knees with both hands for a long time, and then he adjusted his breathing and slowed down his pace to go in. When he arrived in front of the main hall of Qingning Palace, someone had already informed him of his arrival, and soon he was summoned.
When he reported every detail of what happened in the Qianqing Palace to the Queen Mother, after a moment of silence, he heard the Queen Mother laugh: "Thanks to Yuquan for thinking carefully, this is the best. It is impossible to travel back and forth overnight, so let Yingying stay there for one night. Go and tell the emperor, I know everything."
When Chen Yongshou rushed from Qingning Palace to Qianqing Palace, Ah Liu had already arrived at the foot of the imperial city. There were four gates in the imperial city, and he was not sure which gate Zhu Ying would go through. After thinking about it, he simply entered the palace first with the waist badge. Sure enough, when he arrived at Xuanwu Gate from Bei'an Gate, he found out that Zhu Ying had gone to Xiyuan.
Although he had no idea why Zhu Ying went to Xiyuan, Ah Liu still rushed there as soon as possible... Then, he met Zhu Ying, who was wearing riding clothes and wearing a long sword at her waist, at the training ground where the emperor was training the Sharp Cavalry Battalion.
Zhu Ying, who used to accompany the emperor to the West Garden to ride horses and practice swordplay, also had her own room in the West Garden, and her wardrobe was filled with riding clothes for spring, summer, autumn and winter. Not only her, but even Yuquan, who was of similar stature to her, had changed into riding clothes.
At this moment, the two women and Ah Liu were both surprised. Zhu Ying was the first to shout, "Ah Liu, why are you here? Is there something wrong with Ah Shou?"
Ah Liu stared at Zhu Ying's outfit in confusion, then glanced at the fully armed cavalrymen around him, then stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Miss, can I have a moment with you?"
How could Zhu Ying say no? Without thinking, she stepped forward and grabbed Ah Liu's sleeve, pulling him aside. After measuring the distance between him and Yuquan and the others, she then pulled him away for at least ten steps, then lowered her voice and asked, "Ah Liu, tell me the truth, what happened? I have something urgent to do, don't hide it!"
Ah Liu also glanced at Yuquan and others not far away, then he took a deep breath, gathered his words into a line, and told Zhu Ying everything about his time at the Zhu family in the Zhaoguo Mansion - of course, don't expect the young man to know how to embellish, because he knew that Zhu Ying didn't have that much time, he couldn't relay it word for word, so he could only state the facts dryly.
Knowing that her eldest brother was obviously fine, but her grandmother, mother and second brother had teamed up to act and make others think that he was seriously injured, Zhu Ying felt angry and amused, but the heavy stone in her heart was finally let go.
When she learned that Ah Liu had hurried into the palace to escort her home and then pick up Zhang Shou , she immediately smiled even more happily: "Ah Liu, thank you for being so concerned about my safety! I am going to Huairou Royal Manor now to see how the eldest prince is doing and then bring him back. You see, Aunt Yuquan is escorting me, and there are also 200 people from the Ruiqi Battalion."
Ah Liu had already made some guesses when he saw this scene just now. Now that his guesses were confirmed, although he was not that surprised, he still couldn't help asking: "Guards have been sent to the mansions of all ministers. Miss, you took so many people with you. Will the remaining people be enough?"
Such a question is exactly in line with Ah Liu's usual simple style, but when Zhu Ying heard it, she couldn't help but be slightly startled.
She actually did a rough calculation with her fingers, and when she realized that the emperor had sent out troops to protect important officials and had allocated some to her, there would probably not be many people left in the Ruiqi Battalion headquarters, and more than half of the Xiyuan branch was empty. The remaining people would have to be transferred from the Ruiqi Battalion headquarters to the palace. She felt a little uneasy.
She immediately left Ah Liu behind and walked quickly towards Yuquan, whispering her worries. Yuquan smiled and said, "The 3,000 soldiers in the Ruiqi Battalion are all the best of the best. Although the word 'cavalry' is in their name, they are trained in horsemanship, but in fact they don't have that many cavalry. The ones we sent to each family are half infantry and half cavalry. That is, the ones who went with us to Huairou are all elite cavalry."
"As for the palace, the West Garden has a constant supply of food, fodder, and beans. The Sharp Cavalry Battalion is stationed there on a rotational basis, and the people who are on duty have also trained in the West Garden before. You don't have to worry." At this point, she raised her voice a little, as if she was not worried about being overheard. "Besides, there is more than just the Sharp Cavalry Battalion in the capital. It takes someone else to be able to lure the tiger away from the mountain and take advantage of the opportunity."
