Chapter 3603: The Most Favoured Woman in the Inner Palace (22)
Chapter 3603: The Most Favoured Woman in the Inner Palace (22)
Ning Shu held her breath and listened to the minute sounds of the shadow guards’ footsteps. Under the surveillance of her spiritual energy, every move they made was clear to her.
The shadow guards thrust their swords directly into the two small cribs, only to find them empty. They turned their gazes toward the large bed and began slowly creeping toward it.
They raised their blades, intent on killing everyone in the bed, whether adult or child. Afterward, they would simply claim that an assassin had infiltrated the inner palace. Once everyone was dead, they could weave whatever story they pleased.
Ning Shu threw a handful of powder at the three shadow guards. Immediately, the maid who was trained in martial arts leapt out and began to fight the three men, whose eyes were now filled with lime.
“Assassins! Catch the assassins!” Ning Shu screamed at the top of her lungs, shattering the silence of the deep palace.
The guards stationed at the door frowned and rushed inside.
“Your Highness, we are coming in!” they shouted.
The guards began battering the door.
Inside, the maid fought the three shadow guards. Because Ning Shu had blinded them with lime powder, their eyes were burning and watering uncontrollably. While it was difficult for the maid to handle all three at once, she had Ning Shu assisting her with fine needles from the sidelines.
Seeing that the situation was turning against them, the three black-clad guards tried to retreat. Ning Shu shouted, “Capture one!”
The maid quickly blocked one guard’s path. Ning Shu flicked a fine needle into the man’s knee. He buckled in pain and fell to the floor, where the maid promptly restrained him.
When the palace guards finally burst in, they saw the captured assassin. Before they could do anything, the shadow guard bit down on a poison sac in his mouth. Toxic blood instantly filled his throat, and his body went limp on the floor.
The maid looked at Ning Shu. Ning Shu was huddled on the bed, clutching the children with a face full of terror. She cried out to the guards, “Go report this to the emperor! Assassins have entered the palace! Hurry, go!”
“Yes, Your Highness!” One guard ran to inform Ao Tianze while the others remained in the room, standing guard with their weapons drawn.
Ning Shu lowered her head as she soothed the wailing infants. Her expression was cold and focused.
Before long, footsteps echoed outside, and Ao Tianze entered the room. He looked at the black-clad man lying on the floor and frowned. Were his shadow guards really this useless? They couldn’t even kill a woman and two children?
“Your Majesty, I almost didn’t live to see you again!” While clutching the babies, Ning Shu stumbled forward and collapsed to her knees before him. “Your Majesty!”
Her voice was so shrill it made Ao Tianze’s eardrums ache.
“What happened here?” Ao Tianze asked with a frown. “Empress, who is this man in black?”
He knew exactly who it was, yet he was playing innocent. Ning Shu began to sob. “Your Majesty, an assassin entered the palace to kill me and the children! Please, Your Majesty, you must seek justice for me! I am the mother of the realm, living deep within the inner palace. Who could possibly want to kill me?”
Ao Tianze ordered the guards to drag the corpse away. “Examine it thoroughly for any clues.”
“Your Majesty, if it weren’t for this maid who knows martial arts, my head would be separated from my body right now. I never would have seen you again.” Ning Shu looked paralyzed with fear. “Your Majesty, I was so afraid I would never see your face again!”
Ao Tianze remained unmoved by her words. His eyes were cold and indifferent, showing not a single ripple of emotion.
Ning Shu ignored his coldness and continued to wipe away tears, babbling incessantly about how she couldn’t bear to leave him.
Ao Tianze looked at her. “Empress, think carefully. Have you offended anyone? Someone clearly risked their life to enter the palace and kill you. On my desk, I have reports stating that your father allowed his servants to injure commoners and even murdered the victim’s entire family afterward.”
A flurry of thoughts raced through Ning Shu’s mind. She said in a panicked voice, “I am being framed! My father is innocent!”
He was going to move against the Tan family. If anything happened to her family, her position as empress would be unstable, and she would likely be sent to the cold palace.
“Whether he is innocent or not, I will send men to investigate. For now, stay in Jiaofang Palace and do not leave.” Ao Tianze whipped his sleeves around to leave.
Ning Shu released a fine needle, which shot directly into Ao Tianze’s back. He felt a sudden prick against his skin, but the sensation was gone in an instant.
Ao Tianze turned back to look at Ning Shu. She was holding the children, looking terrified and lost. Seeing him staring, she immediately wailed, “Your Majesty, my father is truly innocent! I beg for your mercy!”
Ao Tianze hummed coldly and left.
“Your Majesty!” Ning Shu shrieked. “Your Majesty!”
The piercing sound was enough to give anyone goosebumps. Ning Shu felt as though the world owed her an Oscar.
She rubbed her throat, feeling the strain on her vocal cords.
“Your Highness.” Xi’er wept as she helped Ning Shu up. Ning Shu looked utterly helpless until the guards finally cleared out of the room. As soon as they were gone, she grabbed a cup of water and drank it down. Her throat felt like it was on fire.
Ao Tianze returned to his own chambers and saw the three shadow guards. Only two had returned. His chest heaved with fury. These elite guards, masters of eighteen styles of martial arts, couldn’t even kill a palace woman.
The two guards, covered in white dust, knelt to ask for forgiveness. “It was our negligence. She threw lime powder, and it got into our eyes. The burning pain was agonizing.”
Ao Tianze looked at their bloodshot eyes. When lime got in the eyes, you couldn’t wash it with water. You had to use oil.
He frowned deeply. His expression was full of impatience. “Get out.”
Had the empress prepared that lime powder in advance? He couldn’t tell if her actions had been intentional or just a stroke of luck.
It was the middle of the night, and Ao Tianze’s head felt heavy and swollen. He took an elixir. “Wait on the matter of the two children. What did the investigation find?”
“We found the painting Noble Lady Li gave to Lady Min. The ink was mixed with musk,” a shadow guard reported.
“Noble Lady Li?” Ao Tianze didn’t even recognize the name. There were too many women in the inner palace. Most saw him once or twice and then never again, and just wasted their youth in the palace.
Ao Tianze slapped the table. “Audacious woman! Have her executed by the most painful means possible.”
His chest tightened with rage, and his heart began to beat at a frantic pace. He felt a sharp, agonizing pain, and a mouthful of blood sprayed out across the imperial petitions on his desk.
“Master?” the shadow guard called out. Ao Tianze wiped the blood from his mouth and stared at the red stains on his fingers. He had actually vomited blood.
It really was the result of his anger.
Ao Tianze took another elixir and forced himself to relax, trying not to let his emotions get the better of him.
“How is Lady Min now?” he asked. His mouth tasted of iron. He took a sip of tea and spat it out.
“Lady Min has woken up. She took her medicine and some food and has gone back to sleep. Her Ladyship seems very grieved.”
Ao Tianze rubbed his eyebrows. What could he do? The child he had been so looking forward to was gone.
He had set up so many safeguards. Noble Lady Li’s painting hadn’t even been hung in the room. To say that the painting had caused Fu Min’s miscarriage was almost impossible.