novelaction Chapter 418 Escape
Chapter 418 Escape
The emperor hugged Queen Ji and waited for a long time but did not see Jiang Shaozhao enter the palace. Instead, he waited for Queen Ji who seemed to have come back to her senses.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."
A voice of extreme grievance and crying was heard in his arms. The emperor, who was about to doze off, was startled and suddenly woke up as if he had been hit on the head with a stick.
"Jia Ru, Jia Ru, what's wrong with you?"
She shrank into his arms, "Your Majesty, I'm so scared. Just now, Concubine Rong kept holding me back, not letting me answer you..."
With a loud bang, the emperor seemed to hear thunder coming from above his head.
Sure enough, it was Concubine Rong’s ghost who came to harm Jiaru!
He continued to curse at the air, then quickly held the person in his arms tighter, "It's okay, it's okay, Jiaru, I will protect you, she won't dare to come looking for you."
Queen Ji shrank and nodded, a gleam of success flashing in the corner of her eyes.
Only then did she speak softly.
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid that I will not live long, just like last time." She seemed to have sensed something, sniffed, and sighed softly.
The emperor's expression, which had relaxed for a moment, suddenly became gloomy and tense again. "What nonsense are you talking about? Bah, bah, bah, my queen will naturally live a long life and enjoy this beautiful country with me! Jiang Shaozhao hasn't arrived yet, so don't say such depressing words!"
The person in his arms trembled as he nodded, his voice as thin as a feather. "Your Majesty, I did harm the Fourth Prince. I know my crime is unforgivable, so I must leave first. However, I have no other choice. You haven't seen Xu'er, because he suffered physically and I was demoted to a prince. I promised him that the throne of Crown Prince would be reserved for him by your father. It is only temporarily in his hands."
"Unexpectedly, those bluffs have become a huge thorn in his heart, causing him unbearable pain every day. He feels hurt, and the Crown Prince is so foolish that the position will inevitably fall to the Fourth Prince. Recently, due to his illness, the Fourth Prince has repeatedly provoked and insulted him, causing him to attempt suicide several times. It was only the palace servants who stopped him from doing such a foolish thing. It's a pity for those palace servants, who lost their lives in the chaos trying to stop Xu'er."
She rubbed her eyes. "Xu'er told me today that he felt there was no hope anymore, and he even called Siluan to counsel him. I also thought that the Fourth Prince had gone too far, so I just gave him a severe beating and locked him up in Renzhi Hall to reflect on his mistakes. But for some reason, he might have been so angry that he actually jumped into the well. I admit that I did send someone to talk to him, and my tone was not kind. But his suicide was definitely not my fault..."
"Okay, okay, I get it. Look at you, crying again..." He stroked her hair gently, having long forgotten the two lives that had been lost.
The person is already dead, and he doesn't want to think about those bad troubles anymore.
Since Jiaru has already confessed, the matter is over. Why should she feel so guilty now?
Wiping the tears from her eyes, the emperor said gently, "Why had you explained to me earlier? Why did you endure such a fierce fire before? Do you want to make me die of heartache?"
Hearing the tenderness and sweetness in his words, Empress Ji finally stopped crying, smiled faintly, and said coquettishly: "Your Majesty, I am afraid that it will be difficult for you..."
Sniffing, she straightened herself slightly in his arms, and put her arms around his neck. "Your Majesty, Xu'er has already attempted suicide twice today. I'm really scared. If he does it again tomorrow, and if no palace servants stop him, won't we really have to watch him die in vain? This is my only son, you..."
She didn't say the next words, but she knew that the emperor already understood.
Looking at Ji Jiaru in his arms, the emperor sighed in his heart.
How could he not understand?
Now that Lin'er is dead, Xu'er is the only child left among his biological children.
Does he have any choice?
Including this harem, only Jiaru is left...
The emperor's throat moved and he chuckled softly, "Alas, you didn't tell me earlier. I was originally going to give the crown prince position to Xu'er, but I had originally planned to tell him after his injury healed, so that he would be truly happy with the double happiness. I didn't expect that he would almost die because of this!"
Her eyes lit up, and Queen Ji suddenly became alert: "Really?!"
"Of course I take it seriously!" He squeezed her hand tightly and sighed, "If that's the case, it would be a good idea to tell him earlier. However, I also have a request."
"any request?"
The emperor thought for a moment, then smacked his lips and said, "Yan'er, he's already a fool. Now that Lin'er is gone, you and Xu'er, you must never hurt him again. For you and Xu'er, mother and son, I haven't visited him for many years. He's about to give up the throne of crown prince, and he no longer poses any threat to you. Now that General Lu has returned, the Anguo Mansion has a stabilizing force. For the sake of you and your son, please spare his life."
His words were in a negotiating tone, and the emperor thought that Empress Ji would suspect him of siding with the prince as usual.
Unexpectedly, she immediately kissed him passionately on the cheek and said coquettishly, "Do I need you to tell me?"
The emperor felt itchy in his heart because of her kiss. When he looked at her, his face seemed to turn a little redder and his eyes became very gentle.
Empress Ji teased him little by little, and then followed up closely, "When will the emperor tell the civil and military officials?"
"It will be within the next two days. Starting tomorrow, you can ask Xu'er to go to court with you. I will give him a surprise."
"Okay!"
From under the dragon and phoenix brocade quilt, Queen Ji's laughter could be heard, like the day when he first met her outside the Duke's Mansion when he was still Niu Saner, or like her passionate and shy girlish love in her boudoir back then.
The emperor was immersed in it with ease, with dim candlelight, fluttering brocade quilts, and the Kunning Palace bedroom was as peaceful as a beautiful day, as if it was just an ordinary beautiful night.
In less than an hour, both of them had forgotten the bloody scene in the first half of the night and the two lives that were lost.
Under the Kunning Palace, a cluster of two green sprouts emerged and quickly retreated back into the ground.
The thick fog was overwhelming, covering the towering palace and the Dali Temple prison, seeping through the windows of the prison's high walls and into the damp prison that was already in a deep sleep.
In the prison, torches burned brightly and snoring sounds like thunder rose and fell.
In the quiet room, Jiang Yuanfeng, who was meditating on the dry grass, suddenly opened his eyes.
The faint gleam in his eyes was like a ghost fire in the dark night, flickering on this destined to be unusual night.
He pulled out two talismans from his possession and threw them into the air, muttering an incantation. Soon, the shadow that had been sitting cross-legged in the prison vanished without a trace.
After leaving the prison, he walked out of the Dali Temple smoothly. At the corner of the street outside the temple, a large carriage with an ordinary appearance was waiting quietly.
Jiang Yuanfeng walked to the carriage and whispered, "Here they come."
The carriage trembled slightly for a moment, and then the curtain was lifted. The shadow stared at the vast void, bowed, and walked out of the carriage.
The carriage drove out of the capital smoothly, sped along the official mountain road at night, and headed straight for Xuanyuan Temple.
At this time, in the Dali Temple prison, Prince Jin and the Dali Temple Shaoqing visited the criminal who committed the crime during the day at night.
The jailers were still in a dream when they were suddenly enlightened by the shouting outside and the light of the torches and thought it was daybreak.
"Where is Lord Jiang, who was imprisoned during the day? I am here to interrogate him."
Jiang Xing and Huang Zhiwang were imprisoned.
A group of jailers opened their eyes in a daze. When they saw that it was Lord Shaoqing and Prince Jin, they were stunned at first, and then they smiled as flatteringly as possible.
"Your Excellency is working tirelessly, yet you're still trying to interrogate me at this hour..."
Although the jailer was suspicious, he didn't think too much about it. He nodded and led the two to the prison.
But when they arrived at the prison gate, the jailer was dumbfounded.
"No, it's not!" His eyes were bigger than lanterns, and he pointed at the empty pile of dry grass, almost jumping up and down anxiously. "Your Highness, Master Shaoqing, I really watched it. I even checked every one before going to bed tonight. How come there's no one there in the blink of an eye?!"
However, Prince Jin in front of him was remarkably calm. He only glanced at him briefly before saying in a deep voice, "Gather your troops! Someone has escaped from the Dali Temple. Search the entire city immediately!"