Chapter 1101

Ninth Prince and Princess Yu Entered The Imperial Palace

With this shout, the imperial guards wanted to ask who had come, but once they took a good look, it was actually the Ninth Prince Xuan Tianming and Princess Yu Feng Yuheng. All the guards bowed in respect and did not dare to ask the pair why they wanted to enter the imperial palace at this hour and dared even less to ask why they had come, quickly letting them through. At this time, Xuan Tianming and Feng Yuheng could enter the imperial palace whenever they wanted. To these two people, there was no need to inspect them, of course, no one dared to inspect them as well.

Just like this, the imperial palace gates were opened, welcoming these two into the palace, the horses were then cared for by the guards.

The two looked like they were in a hurry, dismounting from their horses and entered the palace without saying anything. They walked quickly and it could be seen that the situation was urgent. The guards at the imperial palace gates were a little confused, discussing in soft voices: “Didn’t the Ninth Prince and Princess Yu follow the others to the hunting grounds? Why did they return? And at this hour?”

“Who knows! For the matters concerning the Masters, it is not something that we can analyse at all. Perhaps the Emperor thought of something at the last minute and asked them to come back and handle it! His Highness the Sixth Prince left the imperial palace during the late You hour and should not have reached that place yet. Anyway, we should be more alert, with the Ninth Prince coming back so hurriedly, His Highness the Sixth Prince might return to the capital as well in the middle of the night!”

(Translator’s note: You hour is 5pm to 7pm in GMT+8)

“Sigh! It’s not easy for it to be peaceful for some time, is a disturbance going to happen again? I have a feeling that the Ninth Prince and Princess Yu today are a little off. I don’t know what is off, it just that it feels a little different from usual when I see them?” This person spoke as he looked through the imperial palace gates, there was no sign of the two people who entered first and the suspicion he felt grew a little stronger.

“Is there anything strange about that?” The other person clearly did not want to care about the matters of the imperial family, “It is them, and as for what they want to do, it is something which we cannot supervise anyway.”

“That is true.” That person stopped feeling suspicious, waving his hand in dismissal, continuing to stand in his own position.

And those two people who entered the imperial palace following the route in their heart, heading straight to their planned destination. During this time, they still discussed a few sentences softly: “It should be this path, right?”

“That’s right, according to the directions on the map drawn by Sun Qi, we will follow this path for the period of one incense, go around half a lake, pass through two gardens, then we can see the location of the death row prison.”

“Un. Anyway, be careful and leave immediately after getting the person.”

As they spoke, when they looked up, someone was walking towards them. Wearing the official robes of a minister, he was clearly stunned after seeing the two of them, then quickly approached and bowed: “This Lowly One greets His Highness the Ninth Prince and Princess Yu.”

A minister in the imperial palace? The two exchanged glances, reaching this conclusion. But they did not dare to speak too much, only standing where they were and looking at that person for a while, half a beat later, the man who was recognised as Xuan Tianming spoke first: “It is already late, why have you not left the palace yet?” No ministers were allowed to stay in the imperial palace at night, this person asking this question was not out of place.

The person who came still spoke respectfully: “Many people from the imperial health hall followed the Emperor to the hunting grounds, leaving This Lowly One to be on duty tonight.”

“Oh.” That person nodded, not saying anything else, but he heard the woman next to him say: “You are an imperial physician from the imperial health hall, but there are not many Masters in the imperial palace tonight, whether you are on duty or not, it does not make much difference.”

Hm? A heavy feeling of doubt spread out in that person’s heart in an instant, he even looked up again to look at the two people in front of him, and when he confirmed that they are really Xuan Tianming and Feng Yuheng, he lowered his head again. But a question kept repeating in his head: Why did Feng Yuheng say that sentence? Who he was, whether he was an imperial physician or not, Feng Yuheng should know it very well, right?

The person who came was no one else, but the person who Feng Yuheng sent into the imperial palace from Hundred Herb Hall, Xu Mao. Even if no one else recognised him, Feng Yuheng should know him. If Xuan Tianming was more unfamiliar with him, Xu Mao would not feel it was that strange, but with these words coming from Feng Yuheng, there was an indescribable strangeness.

Xu Mao lowered his head, constantly thinking about what was going on, but the two people opposite him did not suspect anything, and that “Xuan Tianming” even said: “ This Prince and Princess still has things to settle, you can leave!”

Xu Mao shifted to the side on reflex, giving way to the pair, and when those two people walked past him, he looked at them again from behind. This look caused Xu Mao to frown deeply.

It does not resemble them! A scary thought surfaced in his heart. Their backs do not look like them! Is this really the Ninth Prince and Princess Yu? Why does it look like them from the front but their backs seem so unfamiliar? Especially that woman, even though Feng Yuheng was trained in martial arts and had an excellent martial arts foundation, but when she walked, she would still be like a cultured girl from a respectable family, showing a graceful body unique to females.

But this one in front of him was tough, as if it was a person who only practiced martial arts, their back was completely straight and they walked forward with large steps. Their pace matched the man and did not lag behind at all.

Xu Mao broke out in cold sweat, his legs and stomach trembling. He was afraid of his own thoughts, and was worried that he was overthinking things, what if the two of them really had something urgent to attend to? When Feng Yuheng had urgent matters to attend to, she was rash and hasty as well, so this was not enough evidence to be considered strange. In addition, it was too dark, so they might not have seen him properly.

Thinking this, he backed up step by step, and when he no longer saw the pair who had moved further away gradually, he returned to the imperial health hall anxiously.

The appearance of these two people sounded alarm bells inside Xu Mao, in addition, the incident with Xu Mao also caused the pair to feel worried. Especially that woman, perhaps she was affected by the instinct which women had, so she could not help but ask: “That person just now, would he see through this? I keep having the feeling that he seems to be acquainted with us, oh, I’m talking about being acquainted with Da Shun’s Ninth Prince and that princess, and we acted too unfamiliar just now, would this cause any problems?”

That man waved his hand in dismissal: “Who cares if he is confused or not, there is no master in the imperial palace now, he is just an imperial physician, what can he do even if he could sense anything? Can he deploy troops or dispatch the commanders? In addition, even if did sense something was wrong, that is only a guess, at least for you and me, from our faces, we are that Ninth Prince and Princess, who can do anything do us?”

That woman smiled coldly, “You are correct, who can do anything to us? We just need to take that person out, whether Da Shun’s court is chaotic or not, it is not our business anymore.”

The pair headed straight for the death row prison, occasionally discussing in a low volume during this period, and when they reached the door of that death row prison and stood in front of the warden guarding the gate, the amazing effect of the “feature of moving freely in the imperial palace” which came with these faces worked, the warden did not ask anything much, opening the prison gate.

This death row prison was managed by Xuan Tianming in the first place and Feng Yuheng could enter and leave freely. Even if these two came at this time, people would assume this was because of an urgent matter. There was no need to ask too much about the Ninth Prince’s business, everything he did had its reason, and it would be on the same battle line as the Emperor. This was the rule which was set in the hearts of the people a long time ago and as those two entered the death row prison, no one dared to even utter a refusal.

Finally, the two stopped in front of the jail cell of the Eighth Prince Xuan Tianmo. And when they looked at Xuan Tianmo, they could not help but shudder. It was too wretched! This was the thought both of them had, they heard that Da Shun’s Eighth Prince was thrown into the death row prison, but they did not expect that the scene would be this tragic.

The man summoned someone to open the door of the jail cell, walking in together with the woman. The woman approached until she was very close, examining Xuan Tianmo’s face very closely and even reached out to touch it a few times. It felt as if she was checking the condition of this face. When she was satisfied, she nodded towards the man, then she heard the man tell the warden: “Untie him, His Majesty wishes to deal with him at the hunting grounds, This Prince and Princess returned personally to get him.”

This reason was very persuasive, Xuan Tianmo had rotted to this extent, the wardens were close to being unable to tolerate it. They were all guessing all day when they could get rid of this person completely, and today, when they heard that it would be handled at the hunting grounds, no one suspected him. Therefore, two people came and released Xuan Tianmo from the frame. With a “plunk” sound, Xuan Tianmo fell into the dirty water on the floor and the fall made him somewhat alert.

He looked up and saw the two people “Xuan Tianming” and “Feng Yuheng”, gritting his teeth immediately and shouting in a hoarse voice: “Xuan Tianming! Feng Yuheng! Why are the two of you here? Did you come to laugh at me? Do not worry, I will not let both of you off even after my death, I will repeatedly summon your souls everyday underground and will summon your souls down there one day. At that time, let’s have a fight and we’ll see who will win!”

The Eighth Prince’s shouts did not create any waves in this incident and even solidified the identities of the two people in front of him. The wardens heard him scold others and even kicked him twice.

But “Feng Yuheng” could not continue watching the Eighth Prince’s face being covered in dirty water, speaking quickly: “Alright, Father Emperor is still waiting at the hunting grounds, the execution needs to be done tomorrow, we cannot dally any longer.”

“Xuan Tianming” nodded, approaching personally, picking him off the floor with one swoop, and holding him in his arms like he was a small chicken, the person headed outside with large strides.

Feng Yuheng followed behind, bringing a few wardens along, with no one suspecting anything. Because the Ninth Prince Xuan Tianming was that exaggerated and had always been allowed to do whatever he wanted since young, who could stop him in doing what he wanted.

Until they left the prison, someone asked: “Does Your Highness need any help?”

“Xuan Tianming” shook his head: “No need, all of you should just stand guard properly, This Prince will leave the imperial palace now.” As he spoke, he pulled “Feng Yuheng” towards him and they quickly returned in the direction from where they came.

The pair walked hurriedly and even if they met countless palace staff, they ignored the bowing and kneeling from the palace staff and concentrated on heading towards the palace gate. The palace gates were originally locked but knowing that the Ninth Prince and Princess Yu had entered the palace, they still left the gate open for them. When the pair left the palace, they mounted their own horses, then placed the Eighth Prince horizontally at the front of the back of the horse which “Xuan Tianming” was riding, then just like that, they spurred on the horses, leaving together with him. What was left behind, other than the slightly dazed expressions of the imperial guards, was only the angry shouts of the Eighth Prince.

As the imperial guards watched the three people on two horses leaving hurriedly, someone said: “Why didn’t they come in a carriage? Transporting a person like that is very tiring.”

“We don’t know where they are going either. Looking at the direction they left, they’re not heading towards the hunting grounds?”

Doubts formed in the hearts of the imperial guards at the palace gates, but in the end, these doubts were not as strong as the ones felt by Xu Mao. Ever since Xu Mao returned to the imperial health hall, he could not sit still. He was the only one on duty at the imperial health hall tonight, and even Sun Qi went to the hunting grounds. He wanted to find someone to talk about it, wanted to find someone to analyse why the Ninth Prince and Princess Yu would suddenly return to the imperial palace at this critical juncture, what did they come here to do? Unfortunately, he was the only person in this empty imperial health hall.

He walked outside, standing in the courtyard, thinking while frowning deeply, then he heard the palace staff chatting with each other as they walked past: “Did you hear, His Highness the Ninth Prince and Princess Yu took the Eighth Prince out from the death row prison!”

Xu Mao’s heart gave a “thunk” as he finally realised that the matter was really not right!