novelhk Chapter 112 So who exactly is it?
Chapter 112 So who exactly is it?
Time quickly came to the day of the royal auspicious ceremony.
A large group of people headed to Jietai Temple. Besides the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, Chen Xianlin, and Wen Yanxi were also taken along.
After the sacrificial ceremony, they would stay overnight at Jietai Temple before setting off back to the palace the next day.
Pei Wenyu was sent to protect Chen Xianlin, and Wen Yichuan was also dispatched, but he was by the emperor's side, responsible for protecting the emperor's safety.
Pei Wenyu pretended to patrol outside Chen Xianlin's door, but in reality, he was having a fierce internal struggle.
Pei Wenyu knew that Zheng Luoqi would send someone to assassinate Chen Xianlin tonight, and all he needed to do was light a sleeping potion to make Chen Xianlin faint.
Then the assassin sent by Zheng Luoqi will make Chen Xianlin die in her sleep without anyone knowing.
Pei Wenyu paced back and forth at the door, hesitant and unsure whether to tell Chen Xianlin about it and urge her to run away.
Chen Xianlin was also at the window when she saw Pei Wenyu pacing back and forth at the door. She went up to him with a puzzled look and asked, "Cousin, is something on your mind?"
When Pei Wenyu saw Chen Xianlin come out, he bowed and said, "Greetings, Your Highness. I am fine, but I have not had a good appetite lately, so I am a little irritable. Your Highness, aren't you going to rest so late?"
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you, cousin. We’ve become a bit estranged. But please call me cousin in private,” Chen Xianlin replied with a smile. “I saw you pacing back and forth in front of my door and I thought you were hiding something on your mind!”
Upon hearing Chen Xianlin's words, Pei Wenyu smiled and said, "We should still observe proper etiquette. However, the weather has been chilly at night lately, so my cousin should go back and rest. It wouldn't be good to catch a cold."
After hearing from Pei Wenyu that she was alright, Chen Xianlin didn't linger and went back to her room to rest.
midnight
Pei Wenyu ultimately didn't go through with it, but the assassin sent by Zheng Luoqi didn't give Pei Wenyu any time to hesitate. The assassin bypassed Pei Wenyu and rushed into Chen Xianlin's room, raising his sword to slash at Chen Xianlin on the bed.
With one strike, the assassin realized he had missed. Incredulous, he had never missed before. He tried several more times, each time aiming precisely at the target right in front of him, but he still couldn't hit it.
Chen Xianlin was awakened from her sleep by the noise of the assassin. Upon waking, she saw an assassin standing at the head of her bed, holding a sharp sword. Chen Xianlin cried out in alarm, "Help! Help! There's an assassin!"
While Pei Wenyu was still hesitating, the assassin had already gone in and started to act. Pei Wenyu heard Chen Xianlin's cries for help and rushed over immediately. He pushed open the door and saw the assassin chasing after Chen Xianlin, slashing at her.
Pei Wenyu reacted swiftly, blocking the assassin's path. Upon seeing Pei Wenyu, the assassin didn't linger, leaping out of the window without hesitation and escaping. Before fleeing, he deliberately 'dropped' a token from the Wen family through the window.
Seeing that the assassin had escaped, Pei Wenyu hurriedly stepped forward and asked Chen Xianlin with concern, "Cousin, are you alright? Are you hurt?"
Chen Xianlin was still shaken, but she shook her head to indicate that she was alright. She told Pei Wenyu, "I'm fine. The assassin didn't have a chance to hurt me before I spotted him, so he didn't succeed."
Just then, a commotion arose outside the door, and a guard rushed in to report that the Emperor had been assassinated.
Upon hearing this news, Pei Wenyu and Chen Xianlin's expressions instantly turned serious.
Chen Xianlin spoke first, anxiously asking, "How is the Emperor now?"
"Your Majesty is alright for now. All the assassins have been captured!" the guard replied.
After hearing this, Chen Xianlin rushed to Xue Huaiyu's residence, with Pei Wenyu following closely behind.
Throughout the journey, Pei Wenyu kept wondering: Had Zheng Luoqi not only ordered the assassination of Chen Xianlin, but also targeted the Emperor? Had he also sent assassins to kill the Emperor? How could he be so treasonous? What was he trying to do?
With many questions in mind, Pei Wenyu followed Chen Xianlin to the emperor's residence.
As soon as Chen Xianlin saw Xue Huaiyu, she rushed over, looked him over from left to right, and asked with concern, "Your Majesty, are you alright?"
"I'm sorry to have worried you, Xianlin. I'm fine!" Xue Huaiyu replied, seeing Chen Xianlin's concerned expression.
"Xianlin was frightened tonight, is she alright?" Although Xue Huaiyu already knew that Chen Xianlin was going to be assassinated, he was still a little worried when he heard that she was frightened.
"I'm fine, I was just a little frightened!" Chen Xianlin said gently to Xue Huaiyu.
Wen Yichuan and Pei Wenyu, who had rushed over from the side, noticed the affectionate scene between the two and consciously shifted their gaze away.
Wen Yichuan felt terrible seeing Chen Xianlin being affectionate with someone else, but there was nothing he could do but silently endure it and try his best to appear normal.
Pei Wenyu's mind was still preoccupied with what had just happened. Were both groups of people sent by Zheng Luoqi?
The two of them stood there for a while before Xue Huaiyu remembered that there were other people nearby. He then looked at Wen Yichuan and Pei Wenyu and asked, "Have you found any clues? Who sent these people?"
Pei Wenyu bowed respectfully and replied, "Your Majesty, I have not yet found any useful clues. However... when the assassin fled the scene, he left behind a token belonging to the Wen family." After speaking, he looked up at the Emperor and saw that the Emperor's face was gloomy.
Upon hearing this, Xue Huaiyu looked at Wen Yichuan with a cold gaze and questioned, "Wen Weiwei, what is your explanation?"
Wen Yichuan was startled and quickly knelt down, kowtowing and apologizing, saying, "Your Majesty, please understand! This humble subject knew nothing about this matter! This token may have been deliberately planted to frame the Wen family. I beg Your Majesty to grant me some time, and I will certainly investigate this matter thoroughly and give Your Majesty an explanation!"
Xue Huaiyu remained silent for a moment, when suddenly a guard came to report that several assassins who had tried to kill the emperor had just confessed that the prime minister had sent them to assassinate the emperor.
Upon hearing the guard's report, a hint of smugness flashed in Wen Yichuan's eyes.
Now it was Pei Wenyu's turn to be dumbfounded. He knew that Zheng Luoqi had sent the assassin to kill Consort De, but he didn't know whether Zheng Luoqi had sent the assassin to kill the emperor. Could it be that the Grand Commandant had really taken action and was planning to frame the Prime Minister?
It has to be said that Pei Wenyu was right. Tonight, Zheng Luoqi sent someone to assassinate Consort De, intending to frame Grand Commandant Wen. And Grand Commandant Wen also orchestrated an assassination attempt to frame the Prime Minister.
However, before Xue Huaiyu came to the sacrificial ceremony, Pei Wenyu told him that Grand Commandant Wen would assassinate him on the day of the ceremony and then frame the Prime Minister. It was hard for Xue Huaiyu not to have doubts.
He pondered to himself, "Was tonight's events all arranged by the Grand Commandant to frame the Prime Minister? Were those assassins just putting on a show for me?" His eyes sharpened.