Her guards

Chapter 85 After One Night

uncertain?
Princess Wuyang was taken aback.

Their mother always taught them not to provoke the Empress and the Emperor, those two precious darlings.

Why didn't her mother reprimand her for saying disrespectful things about Princess Heisei and the Prince of Donghai this time? Instead, she said it might not be true.

Is this agreement?

"Mother, how do you plan to please Father and make him treat me and the Prince of Linhuai as the apple of his eye?" she asked in a low voice with great interest.

Consort Li raised her head, seemingly just coming back to her senses: "What? What nonsense are you talking about again? I'm thinking about something." She then waved her hand, "If you want to please your father, you don't need me to step in or bring the calligraphy to him. You can just work hard in your own palace and it will reach his ears."

How boring! Princess Wuyang didn't want to hear this. "I've been writing since early this morning without eating breakfast. I've already worked hard enough." With that, she got up, took her leave, and left without taking the calligraphy copybook she had left on the ground.

Consort Li ignored her, seemingly lost in thought.

A trusted palace maid came in and picked up the calligraphy copybook.

"Your Majesty, why not have the princess visit His Majesty at noon, so that he can inquire about the safety of the young lady from the Duke of Ding'an's mansion and let His Majesty review the princess's studies?" she said.

The Empress had previously asked if she had forgotten to tell Princess Wuyang about such a good opportunity.
The emperor was woken up last night for some business, and the empress also didn't sleep well. Is she feeling unwell?
Consort Li raised her head: "No need. We haven't found out the details yet, and we don't know how that young lady is doing. If it's not a good thing, mentioning too much might displease His Majesty."

Even if the young lady of the Duke of Ding'an's mansion has done something wrong, what displeasure does His Majesty have? Shouldn't he be reprimanding the Duke of Ding'an? It has nothing to do with Princess Wuyang. The palace maid was puzzled and was about to say something when Consort Li spoke up again.

“Go and have your uncle’s men come here,” she said. “I need to ask about what happened last night.”

If you really want to ask what the young lady of the Duke of Ding'an's mansion is like, the palace maid said no more and replied yes.

.......
.......
The morning light was already bright. There was no grand court assembly today. The emperor had a simple breakfast and then went to the imperial study with a frown. Before he even got close, he could hear faint recitations.

Upon hearing this voice, the emperor's tightly furrowed brows instantly relaxed, and a smile spread across his face.

The emperor gestured to the eunuchs to be quiet, then quietly walked to a side hall and looked inside through the window lattice.

In the morning light, the young girl sat upright in the palace, holding a book and reading softly. When she read something she enjoyed, a smile appeared on her face. After some time, she suddenly turned her head and saw the emperor standing outside the door.

"Father!" Princess Heisei called out with a smile, putting down her book.

The emperor also came in and sighed.

"What's wrong, Father?" Princess Heicheng asked hurriedly, her expression concerned. "Is something troubling you?"

"What troubles me is that I have become lazy and am not as diligent as my son, Emperor Heisei," the emperor said.

Princess Heicheng smiled and said, "Father, please don't make fun of me. It is precisely because Father is diligent in governing and sets an example that I am like this."

The emperor smiled as he looked at the table and saw calligraphy scrolls laid out on the paper, the ink still wet.

"Why are you up so early to read today, when you're off work?" he said. "It's not hard work."

Princess Heisei smiled and said, "Father, I do enjoy it. Doing what you enjoy doesn't feel like hard work."

The emperor's smile deepened: "That's right."

"Father, you should also go do what you like," Princess Heisei said with a smile.

The emperor laughed heartily and said no more: "Don't leave after you finish reading. Let's go boating in the Imperial Garden together after I'm done with my work. We need to balance work and rest."

Princess Heisei smiled and replied, "Yes."

The emperor went out, stood at the door and looked back. He saw that Princess Heisei had sat down at her desk again, focused on writing. The morning light enveloped the girl, giving her a halo.

The emperor stared blankly, as if he could see another person through the halo of light.

He withdrew his gaze, his face grim, and summoned the chief eunuch.

"Select two palace maids to go to the Duke of Ding'an's mansion to help him teach the young ladies in the household!"

The emperor looked disgusted as he said this.

"To prevent each generation from becoming worse than the last!"

……

.......
"What's going on?! Aren't we in school today? Why are you waking me up so early?"

Yang Hui shouted angrily, stomping her feet.

"I finally got a good night's sleep."

After speaking, he saw the Duke of Ding'an and his wife in front of him, and noticed that their eyes were red, their faces were haggard, and they looked distraught.

Yang Hui was startled.

"Father, Mother, what's wrong?"

The Duke of Ding'an said weakly, "Stop arguing. You should be grateful that you can get a good night's sleep."

He felt as if he were tossed about on the sea all night, his heart skipping several beats.

Although the Marquis of Yichun repeatedly stated that he did not send anyone to attack, he certainly did not believe him.

He didn't witness his sister's death in Baima Town, but he did see the streets full of corpses last night, and the way the child narrowly escaped death.

The assassination was real.

Before leaving, he was warned by the Marquis of Yichun not to say anything he shouldn't. On his way back, he wanted to rush towards the imperial city several times, but he was worried that he would be killed as soon as he got close to the city.

When he returned home, although he originally wanted to keep it a secret from Lady Ding'an, she had already guessed it.

The couple were filled with anxiety.

Fortunately, the Imperial Guard and the Prefectural Government came to inquire about the matter.

This means that things have escalated, and the Marquis of Yichun has no intention of hiding it.

As dawn approached, the emperor also sent someone.

This made him feel even more relieved.

In any case, now that the emperor knows his family is in danger, his family is much safer.

"Get up quickly, it's a good thing," Lady Ding'an urged her daughter.

……

.......
"His Majesty instructed that we inform the Duke that the thugs from last night have been identified as remnants of the rebel Sun Shu, who infiltrated the capital with the intention of causing chaos."

"In addition, His Majesty is very angry that Miss Yang did not stay at home peacefully, but wandered around and encountered this danger."

"Therefore, His Majesty bestowed palace women upon him to teach him manners and etiquette."

"For the next three days, the young ladies of the manor will rest and not go to school. They can stay at home and learn proper manners."

Listening to the eunuch relay the emperor's words, Mo Zheng, who had personally witnessed it, Yang Luo understood it clearly, and Liu Chan also learned the general outline that night, so she didn't react much.

Yang Hui was completely unaware. Upon hearing of the rebellion, she was frightened; upon hearing that Yang Luo and others had encountered rebels, she was excited; upon hearing the emperor's reprimand, she was gloating; until she heard the last sentence...

"Why should I have to learn it too?" she shouted, looking bewildered. "I didn't go wandering around!"

My mother said it was a good thing, but what kind of good thing is this!
She was truly caught in an undeserved disaster!
……

……

The night is dark.

Exhausted from a night and a day, the Duke and his wife of Ding'an could no longer stay awake and fell into a deep sleep.

Yang Hui, exhausted from being taught the rules all day, was both angry and tired and went to bed early.

The entire Ding'an Duke's mansion fell silent.

As birdsong filled the night, Mo Zheng, who was sleeping in bed, opened her eyes and gently got up.

Yang Luo, who was sleeping on the small bed, also sat up.

"Is something the matter?" she asked in a low voice, then added, "Do you need my help?"

She hadn't paid attention before, or rather, she didn't care, but she knew that this guard had many strange things about him. Until that night when their identities were switched, she could no longer ignore it. She knew that Ah Sheng had many people helping him, such as the beggars in the city and the butcher next door, which enabled him to be well-informed and able to handle everything.

Although Ah Sheng never told her anything, she also kept many things from him, and she was the one who benefited from all the things Ah Sheng did.

She could no longer pretend to be deaf and dumb, and had to do everything she could to help.

Mo Zheng looked at the young lady sitting on the small bed, who hadn't even taken off her clothes.

"It's nothing. I asked my neighbor, Brother Zhang, to help me find out information before I left," she said softly. "He's come to give me a message now. I'll go out and take a look. You go to sleep."

Yang Luo said okay and lay down.

Previously, Miss Yang's mind was not on her and she did not pay attention to her strange behavior. Now, Miss Yang knows that she has many strange things about her, but she does not ask any questions.

That's good.

They can only gain something if they each take what they need.

Mo Zheng smiled, then walked out the window and disappeared into the night.

.......
.......
"There are many more soldiers on the streets."

"The city gates are also under martial law."

"Everyone in the city is having their identity checked."

Standing at the corner of the outer wall of the Ding'an Duke's Mansion, Peach Blossom told her about the city's events that day.

“From last night to today, different groups of people have come to this alley. Among them, the Imperial Guard and the Prefect of the Capital Prefecture just made a show of it and left without even entering the gate.”

"A group of unidentified people thoroughly searched the place inside and out."

"There were even more eyes peering out from outside the alley, making it impossible to tell who they were."

Hearing this, Mo Zheng looked at her and asked, "Xiuyi didn't appear?"

Before she left last night, she told Zhang Shengyou and Taohua not to go out easily these days. They didn't need to pay attention to the government officials and soldiers, but they should be wary of Wei Jiao and Xiuyi, as these people were very sharp-eyed.

But only a day later, Peach Blossom came to find her.

Peach Blossom nodded: "Wei Jiao has left the capital."

(End of this chapter)