LF Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Guests and Host Alike Rejoice

The next morning, as originally planned, Your Majesty would spend the entire day inspecting the defense lines of the Northern Frontier Army. Jiang Yinghua had thought she could steal half a day of leisure, but unexpectedly, Your Majesty decreed that she and the officials of Prince Zhao Manor should accompany her.

The border defense line stretched for nearly a thousand miles to guard against the invasion of nomadic grassland regimes in the north. Your Majesty would not inspect the entire route, but merely visit a few key fortresses and reward the soldiers.

Jiang Yinghua accompanied the group from Shuofang all the way to the border of Fanyang, for two full days and nights. Even Yan Wanzhi, who was usually full of energy, was as limp as a frost-bitten eggplant after such a journey.

Moreover, Your Majesty’s relentless pace was an eye-opener for Jiang Yinghua. She realized that her elder sister was like this: when she worked, she was full of energy, and no one dared to dissuade her.

She herself was fine, riding in Your Majesty’s carriage, eating and drinking, and even taking a nap. However, she was very worried about the one outside. If she hadn’t given her the job of guarding, she could have rested in the small carriage at the back.

But Jiang Yinghua was clearly insecure, so she insisted on giving Yan Wanzhi this job. Yan Wanzhi had no choice but to ride her horse and stay outside. After days of running around, she wondered if her small body could handle it. Thinking like this, she was very concerned and couldn’t sleep, staring blankly until dawn.

It was almost noon when Your Majesty finally returned to the manor, and Jiang Yinghua felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. After entering the manor, she saw Your Majesty enter the main hall to rest, and Jiang Yinghua quickly went out to find Yan Wanzhi and the others from the manor. Outside the courtyard, these people were all waiting with tired faces. Jiang Yinghua saw the dark complexion of that person and felt particularly worried.

“Everyone has worked hard. I have arranged for someone to take over. Please go back and rest well. Order the kitchen to prepare ginseng soup for everyone, which will be delivered to the duty room later. I trouble the Chief Secretary to take everyone there.” Jiang Yinghua forced herself to cheer up and instructed softly, her smiling eyes looking at Yan Wanzhi.

Yan Wanzhi naturally knew that Jiang Yinghua’s ginseng soup was prepared for whom. Her eyes were full of deep affection, but her face was proper and nodded in agreement.

Jiang Yinghua returned to her room and fell into a dazed sleep for a long time. When she woke up, she opened her sleepy eyes and saw not the cramped room where she was temporarily staying, but the spacious main hall of the manor. She vaguely thought she was still dreaming, blinked again, and yawned.

“Awake? What did you do last night that you slept until dusk?”

What she heard was Your Majesty’s slightly reproachful voice. Jiang Yinghua woke up instantly, climbed down from the bed, and saw that person sitting at the desk, reviewing the memorials. Her mind was muddled, and she didn’t know that she could sleep so soundly that she was carried to another room without realizing it.

The sky outside was already dark, and the palace servants in the hall were preparing dinner. Jiang Yinghua’s heart was pounding, and she timidly walked to the desk, bowed and said, “Your Majesty, have you not rested?”

“Grind the ink.” Your Majesty didn’t look at her, and gave a faint order, her vermilion pen not stopping, her attention all on the memorials. Jiang Yinghua tactfully walked over, rolled up her sleeves to grind the ink, glanced at the memorials, felt sleepy after reading a few lines, covered her mouth and yawned lightly, and then lowered her eyes and stopped looking.

Being an emperor is probably a lonely and physically demanding job, and also a boring chore. Jiang Yinghua thought so, feeling deeply bored. Perhaps she had slept too long during the day, and the fatigue in her body had subsided, but her eyes were sore and swollen, faintly filled with tears, and her mind was not clear.

“Tomorrow, I plan to inspect the river works and water transport. The Ministry of Works will expand the Grand Canal this year. You deserve some credit for this. Go and take a look tomorrow as well.” Your Majesty put down the pen, closed the last memorial she had reviewed, leaned back tiredly in the chair, and looked up to order Jiang Yinghua.

“What credit do I have? I don’t understand these things. Can I not go?” Jiang Yinghua was tired. Following Your Majesty on business trips was really a hard chore. She was afraid her body would fall apart and really didn’t want to get involved.

“Pretending to be stupid won’t work, and don’t even think about shirking your responsibilities. You’ve slept for half a day, isn’t that enough? I haven’t closed my eyes yet.” Your Majesty raised her hand and rubbed her temples. Seeing this, Jiang Yinghua obediently stood over and, imitating Yan Wanzhi’s technique, massaged her shoulders and back.

“Tomorrow, we will inspect along the river, and we will return south all the way. You can just see me off, and I will let you come back halfway.” Your Majesty’s tone softened a little, letting Jiang Yinghua serve her, and closed her eyes to rest.

Jiang Yinghua was a little surprised. She had originally said that she would stay for half a month, but she was leaving in just a few days. Most of Your Majesty’s words were not to be trusted. “I obey Your Majesty’s decree.” Jiang Yinghua responded softly, her eyes dazed, but the strength in her hands was just right.

After about a quarter of an hour, Jiang Yinghua saw that the dinner outside was almost ready, so she asked, “Your Majesty, dinner is ready. I invited a qin player, originally wanting to wait for you to be free to entertain you. I didn’t expect the trip to be so rushed. Are you willing to have someone come tonight?”

“Alright, go and summon them.” Your Majesty stretched out her hand, signaling Jiang Yinghua to help her up, and walked towards the outside. After she sat down, Jiang Yinghua summoned the steward from the corridor and said in a low voice, “Invite the qin player to entertain Your Majesty, quickly.”

The steward heard this and promised repeatedly, trotting to and fro, and in a short while, he invited the person over.

During the meal, the sound of the qin was ethereal. Jiang Yinghua accompanied her, and Your Majesty asked with a smile, “Besides this, what other tricks have you prepared that you haven’t shown? Tell me about them.”

Jiang Yinghua seemed to have her thoughts seen through, and smiled shyly: “There’s nothing new. I also invited a local famous variety troupe, a few famous opera singers, just some clever pastimes.”

“Since you’ve put in the effort, and it’s rare that you’ve put in the effort, put them on later and make it lively.” Your Majesty took a sip, seemingly in a cheerful mood.

Jiang Yinghua was a little surprised that Your Majesty still had the energy to watch these, but since she had spoken, she naturally had to arrange it: “Your Majesty, then I will go and instruct the steward to arrange it.”

Your Majesty nodded slightly, and Jiang Yinghua retreated. Walking to the corridor, she told the steward her request and ordered him to quickly prepare everything in the back garden of the manor. The steward accepted the order and went to prepare, and Jiang Yinghua sent someone to find Yan Wanzhi. After a while, Yan Wanzhi rushed over: “Your Highness, what are your orders?”

“I have another matter to trouble the Chief Secretary with. Your Majesty ordered it in a hurry, and we are going to the back garden to listen to the opera later. Quickly transfer a few trustworthy people to serve by the side, and choose those who are quick-witted.” Jiang Yinghua instructed in a low voice.

“Your Highness, rest assured, I will take care of it.” Yan Wanzhi gave a hasty salute and left quickly.

Jiang Yinghua watched her lithe figure and brisk steps as she left from a distance, and mocked herself secretly. Only she had slept for a long time and was still tired, while everyone else was much more awake than her.

After about a quarter of an hour, the steward came to report that everything in the back garden was ready, and Yan Wanzhi had also brought people to wait in the corridor. Hearing this, Jiang Yinghua led Your Majesty away from the table and into the back garden.

Jiang Yinghua didn’t like crowds, so the stage in Prince Zhao Manor was basically unused. But when she went inside and took a look, the arrangements were quite decent. The viewing area was full of rosewood carved tables and chairs, and several pots of flowers and plants were arranged in a light and elegant manner. Fruits, tea, and snacks were all prepared, and the lights were bright, with many attendants, leaving nothing to be desired.

Considering that Your Majesty had been running around for days, she specially reminded the steward to inform the opera troupe to choose some short, pithy, and interesting pieces, not lengthy and tiring ones, just to make Your Majesty happy.

Half an hour later, the performance was in full swing and nearing its end. The steward led a group of maids to change the tea and candlesticks. Jiang Yinghua glanced sideways, glanced at them, and didn’t pay attention.

Her table was very close to Your Majesty’s, so she could see everything with her peripheral vision. A little maid came forward to pour tea for her, and Jiang Yinghua waved her hand, “No need.” The girl had no choice but to retreat. Jiang Yinghua casually turned her head and saw the steward picking up a new candlestick with a burning candle from the tray in the maid’s hand, about to replace it for Your Majesty.

Jiang Yinghua subconsciously glanced at the one on her table. The candle hadn’t burned out, but the one on Your Majesty’s table was indeed at the bottom. Jiang Yinghua was surprised. The old steward was usually careful in his work, how could he make such a mistake, finding a short candle for Your Majesty?

Suddenly, Jiang Yinghua suddenly reacted and subconsciously raised her eyes to look again. The steward’s face was facing Jiang Yinghua. In that moment, Jiang Yinghua clearly saw a fierce look rising in the muddy eyes of that person.

Her heart was shocked, and she thought something was wrong. She flew forward, wanting to snatch the copper solid candlestick that was still burning from his hand.

Unfortunately, it was still a step too late.

The steward raised his hand and smashed it down. Jiang Yinghua didn’t care about anything and directly leaned over to protect Your Majesty, who was unaware, pressing her on the table, while the back of her head suffered a solid blow, causing her to feel dizzy.

The sound on the stage stopped abruptly, and a group of guards surrounded the garden, blocking it completely.

Yan Wanzhi had been watching all around. Seeing someone get up and rush over, she had already brought people closer. But the accident happened in an instant, and all the guards didn’t have time to react.

One blow wasn’t heavy. If it was just to assassinate, the steward should have taken advantage of the fact that the guards hadn’t rushed up yet, and quickly smashed Jiang Yinghua a few more times, at least taking a life with him, so he wouldn’t lose out on the road to the Yellow Springs.

But when his dim old eyes saw Jiang Yinghua protecting Your Majesty, he retreated in shock, helplessly threw away the candlestick, and cried and laughed maniacally: “Heaven’s will, it’s all heaven’s will, it’s unfair!”

As he spoke, the guards stepped forward and pressed the old man, who was already weak and without much strength, to the ground.

Suddenly being pounced on, Your Majesty’s body reacted instinctively, which was to push away the person on her body. That’s what she thought, and that’s what she did. Jiang Yinghua was very dizzy, and almost staggered after being pushed away. When Your Majesty saw her covering her head with a painful expression, she was also shocked: “Hua’er? Summon the imperial physician, quickly!”

The eunuch heard the sound and ran out in a hurry. Jiang Yinghua, in a state of chaos, turned her head and glared at the decadent steward on the ground, and murmured, “Why? Ah? Why did you do this?”

The steward didn’t say a word, just smiled bitterly, with tears streaming down his face.

“Chief Secretary! Scholar Yan!” Jiang Yinghua became anxious, covered her head and called out to Yan Wanzhi, Yan Wanzhi hurried forward: “I am here, I am here, Your Highness.”

A touch of scarlet official robe came into view, Jiang Yinghua’s blurred eyes glanced over, “Interrogate, go interrogate!” She had already lost her composure, and these words were almost shouted out with all her might.

The old steward was someone from the manor, and Yan Wanzhi was also Prince Zhao’s Chief Secretary. Yan Wanzhi understood that Jiang Yinghua was so angry because of the betrayal of someone close to her. With Your Majesty here, there was no need for her to give orders. Therefore, Yan Wanzhi didn’t move, and turned her hesitant gaze to Your Majesty.

Jiang Yinghua’s head was faintly bleeding, and red blood seeped out from between her fingers. Your Majesty glanced at it and shouted sharply, “Why hasn’t the imperial physician arrived yet?” As soon as she finished speaking, another three or five eunuchs ran to call for someone.

Your Majesty was clearly suppressing her anger. She turned her eyes to Yan Wanzhi and said coldly, “Let you interrogate him, find out the truth, and give the statement directly to me. I am waiting.”

Having received the confirmation, Yan Wanzhi then accepted the order and went forward, looking at the old steward who was being subdued by the guards, feeling a mix of emotions for a moment.

Jiang Yinghua had a splitting headache, not only from the pain of the heavy blow, but her mind was full of confusion and she was already muddleheaded. What was going on? The old steward, who had been with her for nearly twenty years and whose hair was about to turn white, why did he act like a moth flying into a flame, wanting to assassinate Your Majesty? She couldn’t understand why the close people around her had betrayed her one by one.

Hua Yan was like this, the steward was like this, her Southern Yue cousin was like this, and her deceased uncle-in-law Lou Shan was like this…

“Support Prince Zhao back to the hall.” Your Majesty looked at her distressed appearance and was finally distressed. This was just an accident. That steward had no skills to rely on, and his desperate struggle was for some reason. It was just hard on Jiang Yinghua, who was worried and worked hard every day, guarding against everything, but it was hard to guard against domestic thieves.

The palace servants reached out to help Jiang Yinghua, but she shook them off with brute force and staggered towards the direction of the sleeping palace, forgetting the etiquette of being with Your Majesty in front of her.

“What are you standing there for? Follow closely.” Your Majesty’s anger had not subsided, and she reprimanded the maids who were standing there foolishly. Seeing her walk away, Your Majesty then summoned her personal guards and whispered, “Go find Yan Wanzhi and investigate in detail together.”

From the scene just now, Your Majesty calmed down, and after a little review, she guessed a rough idea. That old eunuch must have been acting on a whim, and it was impossible for him to escape. He didn’t want to live at all, he just came to fight for his life.

As for Jiang Yinghua rushing up foolishly, Your Majesty didn’t expect it. After all, there were many archers and crossbowmen ambushed in the manor. Even if that person raised his hand and smashed it, he might not be able to survive when he hurt Your Majesty. And Jiang Yinghua suddenly appeared, and the archers and crossbowmen were afraid to rashly shoot arrows, injuring the current Prince.

In the dungeon of the manor where temporary prisoners were held, Yan Wanzhi felt heartache when she recalled Jiang Yinghua’s sad appearance just now, and looked at the person in front of her, hating him so much that her teeth itched. The Secret Division’s interrogation methods were used mercilessly, which was somewhat emotional.

“Commander, take it easy. He’s an old bone, if you beat him to death, who will clear the name of Your Highness’s manor?” Just as he was furious, Your Majesty’s personal guard hurried over and spoke to remind him.

“What the lord says is true, you interrogate him.” Yan Wanzhi instantly sobered up, tugged at the collar of her neck, let herself take a breath, and retreated to the back.

Jiang Yinghua walked in a daze, not even distinguishing the road, and was stopped by Your Majesty who rushed over and dragged her back to the main hall. The imperial physician rushed over in a panic after hearing the news, bandaging Jiang Yinghua’s wound as she lay on the bed, messing around for half an hour.

Jiang Yinghua didn’t say a word. It must have been very painful to have a hole broken in her head, but her heart was numb, and she didn’t care about the pain of her flesh. The imperial physician asked her about her symptoms, but she only nodded and shook her head blankly, startling the old doctor to sweat profusely, constantly raising his sleeves to wipe the sweat on his forehead.

After a while, Jiang Yinghua glanced at the old imperial physician kneeling on the ground with a head of gray hair, stared at him with complicated eyes, and sneered: “What are you afraid of? I won’t die, go.”

Your Majesty saw that she had finally spoken, and put down most of her hanging heart, and asked the imperial physician: “Is Prince Zhao’s injury serious?”

“Your Majesty, rest assured, it should be a skin injury. Perhaps Your Highness was frightened, I will prescribe a soothing decoction.” The old imperial physician cupped his hands and answered in a trembling voice.

“Go down.” Your Majesty instructed softly, and seeing the person walk away, she raised her foot and approached, sitting on Jiang Yinghua’s bed, “Silly girl, what did you rush up for? Foolish. I won’t leave tomorrow, I will wait until you are better before setting off.”

“You should still leave, I am incompetent and can’t even see the people around me clearly. If Your Majesty is in danger, I will die ten thousand times without redemption.” Jiang Yinghua was still lying there, her tone a little bitter.

Hearing this, Your Majesty lowered her eyes and sighed softly, “Did you lose your soul from the hit? Don’t be willful, wait and see, when the statement is sent over, everything will be clear.”