Chapter 993
What Exactly Is the Meaning of This?
This shout caused Feng Yuheng to immediately stand up and poke her upper body through the window. This scared Xuan Tiange into thinking that she was about to jump down, as she quickly pulled her back.
They then heard Feng Yuheng say: “It’s Zhang Yuan! It’s actually Zhang Yuan!” She could recognize this familiar voice. It was the eunuch who accompanied the Emperor at all times, Zhang Yuan. But instead of accompanying the old emperor in the Imperial Palace, he had come out to the execution site to stop the execution. What was the meaning of this? Was he coming to his rescue at the last second?
The observing official, Xu Jingyuan, was also unable to understand this. As someone who stood on old seventh and old ninth’s side, he really was all too eager to chop off the eighth prince’s head; however, who knew that just as the deed was about to be done, another hurdle appeared, and it just happened to be Zhang Yuan.
Xu Jingyuan felt his head swell. As the Emperor’s personal eunuch, once he spoke, that would be the same as the Emperor himself speaking. Intuition told him that he would not be able to execute this eighth prince.
While thinking, Zhang Yuan’s horse had already arrived. He did not immediately get down from his horse. Instead, he looked over at the living eighth prince and furrowed his brow. His appearance was not at all of someone who was happy that he was alive. On the contrary, there was a look of “did I come too early” on his face. Not only did he frown, but he also looked up at the sun then at a sundial to the side. Very well! He had come at the exact right moment. Why could he not have arrived a step later! If he had been a step later, the eighth prince would have been executed. How great would that be.
Zhang Yuan helplessly sighed and raised an imperial decree in his hand, saying to Xu Jingyuan: “His Majesty has made a decree. The eighth prince’s case will be re-tried. Would Lord Xu immediately send him back to the palace. His Majesty wishes to see him personally.”
Xu Jingyuan quickly stepped down from the observation stage and arrived in front of Zhang Yuan in confusion, asking: “Eunuch Yuan, what exactly is going on here? Things have already gotten to this point. Why is it being re-tried? Aren’t things already very clear?”
Zhang Yuan helplessly shook his head, “I also have the same feelings as Lord Xu, but this is indeed His Majesty’s intention.” He looked at Xu Jingyuan and got down from his horse. Walking a bit closer, he quietly said: “These days, because of the eighth prince’s matter, His Majesty has not been eating or drinking, and he has gotten significantly thinner. The night before last night, Talented Lady Liu came. For some reason, His Majesty met with her. The two spoke for a while, and there was nothing at first. But for some reason, His Majesty suddenly changed his mind just now and forcefully chased this servant out with this imperial decree. Lord Xu, let’s wait until we get into the palace to talk about it! Even if you ask me now, I am unable to say anything for certain.”
Xu Jingyuan received the imperial decree and stared at the jade seal imprinted on it. He felt extremely complicated. Yet it was at this time that Xuan Tianmo heard the conversation between the two and knew that Zhang Yuan’s imperial decree would save him. He could not help but laugh: “You see that! I already said it. I have lost, but you also will not win! As long as I do not die, there are a plethora of possible outcomes! Xu Jingyuan, go back and tell your master that the next one to be brought to the execution stage might be him! Hahaha!”
He laughed extremely loudly, and the sound echoed clearly. It was also quite filled with arrogance.
On the second floor of the teahouse, Feng Yuheng’s fists were tightly clenched, as she nearly shattered her teeth from gnashing them so hard. “Even this isn’t enough to get him killed? Why exactly is this?”
Nobody could answer her question because nobody understood. Nobody could figure it out. Xuan Tiange also stood at the window for a long time and could only manage to say: “A-Heng, your premonition was really accurate!”
Fung Tianyu’s thoughts were a bit more detailed, tugging at Feng Yuheng’s clothes and quietly saying: “A-Heng, look, isn’t Zhang Yuan looking for someone? Whom is he looking for?”
Everyone looked over. Sure enough, they saw Zhang Yuan looking all around. It looked like he was searching for someone. As for Xu Jingyuan, he had already accepted the imperial decree’s orders and brought the eighth prince back to the criminal transport, slowly heading in the direction of the Imperial Palace.
All of the citizens who had come to observe were very emotional. Most of them were poor people who had come from the northern part of the city. All of them had come while holding in some feelings of wanting to see the eighth prince die to console the souls of the deceased. Just as they were about to see it happen, they never thought that an imperial decree would appear just as he was about to depart for the underworld. The people really wanted to ask Zhang Yuan what was going on. Although Zhang Yuan was a type of person with a low ranking, he had a direct connection to the Emperor. Those who wished to ask directly had some reservations. With nobody leading the way, nobody dared to ask.
Some went and followed the criminal transport and wanted to know what the final outcome would be. Gradually, the execution site began to empty out. This quickly left just Zhang Yuan and the officers tasked with cleaning up the execution. Zhang Yuan continued to look around. When he finally looked up and met Feng Yuheng’s gaze, he stomped his foot and waved to Feng Yuheng, gesturing for them to come down.
Feng Yuheng led her sisters and left the teahouse. Zhang Yuan quickly met with them and looked at the citizens looking on. Only then did he lean closer and lower his voice, saying: “Princess, I fear that something has happened in the palace.”
“Something has happened?” Feng Yuheng was shocked and was a little unable to understand what these words meant, “What could possibly happen in the palace?” The eighth prince had been locked up the entire time. Could it be that there were still some scattered members of his faction who could threaten the Emperor? That was impossible! Xuan Tianming and Xuan Tianhua had already made thorough preparations. No suspicious people would be able to get into the Imperial Palace, and it was impossible for any of the eighth prince’s faction to still remain in the palace. Of course, this excluded his birth mother, Talented Lady Liu, but she was a lowly talented lady. What could she do?
Zhang Yuan’s expression was filled with anxiety, as he said to Feng Yuheng: “Just now, there were many people here, and this servant did not dare say too much to Lord Xu. In truth, His Majesty has been ill since last night, and he fell ill quite suddenly. Zhao He Hall called for an imperial physician, but they could not figure anything out. They just said that His Majesty’s heart had been filled with anxiety and that he needed to rest. They analyzed it and said that it was because of the eighth prince that His Majesty got angry, but there was nothing that they could do. They cannot treat emotional wounds. They could only prescribe some medicine to relieve the symptoms; however, this servant feels that things are not so simple…”
With him saying this, Feng Yuheng waved her hand to stop him. She then turned to say to Xuan Tiange: “I am going into the Imperial Palace right now. Will you be coming?”
“I will!” Xuan Tiange said, “Since Imperial Uncle is ill, I must go into the palace to see him.”
She made her stance clear, thus Fung Tianyu and Ren Xifeng immediately expressed that they would go home first to tell their fathers. For something like this, as a general and as a prime minister, they could not be left in the dark.
Feng Yuheng nodded and said: “That’s fine. I’ll ride in your imperial carriage! Eunuch Yuan, you come with us. Tell us more about the situation in detail along the way.” After arranging things on this side, she turned and said to Wang Chuan: “Quickly return to the palace and bring my medicine kit.” As she said this, she removed her identification plate and handed it to Wang Chuan: “If you haven’t caught up to us, just use my identification plate to get into the Imperial Palace and search for me in the direction of Zhao He Hall. Xuan Tianming should have received this news already and headed into the palace. Let’s not delay and leave immediately.”
The group moved out with just a few words, immediately dispersing. Feng Yuheng brought Zhang Yuan and Huang Quan into Xuan Tiange’s imperial carriage, racing in the direction of the Imperial Palace. Zhang Yuan analyzed the situation for them from the carriage: “To say that His Majesty became angry because of the eighth prince’s matter, that is definite. But based on this servant’s understanding of His Majesty from being with him for many years, even if he was angry, it should not have reached this point. Looking at it even more broadly, even if he did fall ill from a broken heart, he should not have insisted on making this sort of an imperial decree at a critical moment like this.”
“Why exactly did Imperial Uncle make such a decree?” Xuan Tiange asked with her brows furrowed, “You just said that His Majesty met with Talented Lady Liu? Did Talented Lady Liu request something?”
Zhang Yuan shook his head, “His Majesty did meet with Talented Lady Liu. He initially did not want to see her, but he felt that Talented Lady Liu would be losing her son quite soon. He felt a bit of sympathy for her, thus he met with her. At that time, this servant was also present, and Talented Lady Liu did beg His Majesty to give the eighth prince another chance. After she was refused by His Majesty, she cried for a stint, but there were no other movements that were made. But today, just before noon, for some reason, it was as though he had suddenly been possessed. He suddenly sat up from his throne and grabbed a hold of this servant’s hand. He said, Xiao Yuan, quickly go and cancel that imperial decree and have the Board of Punishments let him go! We cannot kill Our son. We cannot let old eighth just die like this. He is Our son!” He copied the Emperor’s actions and mannerisms. “At that time, this servant was dazed from what had been said. When had there ever been someone freed at a time like this? His Majesty’s feelings for the eighth prince had also never been this profound! But His Majesty’s actions… were just as this servant had described. It was as though he had become possessed, as he strangled this servant while telling me to cancel the imperial decree. There was nothing that this servant could do. An imperial order could not be ignored. It was because of this that today’s events occurred.”
“Saying it like this, this decision was made suddenly?” Feng Yuheng was able to notice something, “And you said that before making this decree, it looked like he was possessed, which is to say that he was not fully awake. At the very least, his state of mind was not the same as it usually is?”
Zhang Yuan nodded: “That’s what I meant. To say something very inauspicious, when this servant heard these words, I was wondering, had His Majesty gone insane? Or had he been startled by a dream? This is not his usual style of doing things!”
Indeed, the Emperor was usually aloof and clear in his actions. Even if he was a bit hesitant to act when it concerned his sons fighting for the throne and hurting each other, it would not be to the point of doing something like this. “Things might not be exactly like that. It might not be as simple as Father Emperor having fallen ill. There is definitely some other trick at play.”
Zhang Yuan’s brow was soaked with sweat from anxiety, “Princess, regardless of whether or not there is a trick, this servant is just a lowly eunuch and cannot understand too well. This servant just wants to know, nothing will happen to His Majesty, right?” He had been with the Emperor since a young age. Although there was still the old eunuch from the Yu Palace, they were master and disciple. At that time, the old eunuch was taking care of him. Zhang Yuan was not afraid of anything. The one thing that he was afraid of in this life was that something might happen to the Emperor. If this old emperor passed away, how should he live? Upon thinking of this, he began to cry.
Xuan Tiange angrily kicked him: “What are you crying for? If there’s a problem, just solve it. What’s the point of crying?” After saying this, she looked toward Feng Yuheng, “A-Heng, what do you think of this matter?”
Feng Yuheng shook her head, “I don’t know. I still don’t know at this moment. Everything will need to wait until I have seen Father Emperor in the palace to say. It’s just that I fear that things are not so simple. The eighth prince did not die facing this great trial. Once he regains power, I fear that it would be bad for us.”
“I really am worried about Imperial Uncle’s illness.” Xuan Tiange was also anxiously rubbing her heads and repeatedly muttered: “Heavens’ blessings, you must let Imperial Uncle live on healthily. Absolutely nothing must go wrong!”
Feng Yuheng slightly closed her eyes, as a bad premonition quickly arrived…