20demayo Chapter 2194 Entering the Palace to Meet the Saint
Chapter 2194 Entering the Palace to Meet the Saint
"What? The master was taken away?" Xiao Jingheng was also shocked. Looking at Wan Shufang's angry expression, he frowned and opened his thin lips slightly: "Madam, I will go with you to find the master."
"No need, Jingheng, you stay here and take good care of Ah Chu. Please ask the county magistrate to lend me some men. I will personally lead them there to investigate."
"I will go and gather the men right away."
Since the matter concerned Chen Changli, the county magistrate did not dare to delay and left the room after he finished speaking. Wan Shufang just hurriedly wrote the list and handed it to Xiao Jingheng, then followed closely behind.
It was already late at night, but she didn't care about too much. She said goodbye to the Shangguan family that night, rode at full speed, and returned to Yongzhou City to meet the emperor in the palace.
When Wan Shufang arrived at the palace gate, the sky was just beginning to turn pale. Seeing the guards opening the palace gate, Wan Shufang immediately dismounted and stepped forward: "Your Majesty, I, the wife of the Duke's Mansion, request an audience."
"Madam?" The guard was shocked. Seeing Wan Shufang nod, he immediately bowed respectfully and said, "Madam, please wait a moment. I will go in and inform you."
"Good work."
As soon as he finished speaking, the guard left in a hurry. Not long after, Eunuch Zhu came out quickly. Eunuch Zhu was a favorite of the emperor. When he saw Wan Shufang, he smiled and saluted.
"This old servant greets Madam. Madam, His Majesty learned that you requested an audience, so he specially sent this old servant to come and receive you."
"Thank you, eunuch." Wan Shufang nodded slightly and followed Eunuch Zhu straight to the imperial study. At this moment, the emperor was sitting in a chair reviewing memorials.
Seeing Wan Shufang come in, he put on a warm smile. Before Wan Shufang could bow, he said, "Madam, there's no need to be so polite. What news did you get from Changli when you came to the palace this time?"
"Your Majesty, this is exactly why I'm here." Wan Shufang handed over the secret letter, her tone anxious, "Your Majesty, the commander of the Imperial Guards, Zhao Yue, has captured Chen Changli."
"what?"
"Your Majesty, this is the last letter Changli sent. I'm afraid something has happened to him. This involves the Imperial Guards, so I have no choice but to come to the palace to ask for an audience with Your Majesty."
Hearing this, the emperor's expression became solemn. He opened the secret letter and when he saw the contents, he flew into a rage: "How dare Zhao Yue arrest people at random!"
"Come here!" the emperor shouted angrily, and then he quickly wrote an imperial edict and handed it to the waiting eunuch Zhu: "Little Zhu, you take the imperial edict now and go to the Zhao Mansion and bring the Duke out safely."
"I obey your order!" Eunuch Zhu knelt down and kowtowed, respectfully took the imperial edict and walked out. Wan Shufang also hurriedly bowed and followed.
At the same time, the Zhao family.
Zhao Yue was anxious, worried that something might happen if things took too long, so he decided to strike first and call his confidant, saying, "Aqiang, go to the kitchen right now and ask someone to make a meal and send it to the man in prison."
"Remember, you have to kill with blood."
Hearing this, Aqiang understood instantly, nodded slightly and left.
In the cell, A Qiang personally brought food to Chen Changli. Looking at Chen Changli sitting upright in the corner of the cell, A Qiang's face was full of mockery and he shouted loudly: "Hey, it's time to eat."
He deliberately threw the food on the ground and stared at Chen Changli, as if he would not leave unless he ate. After a long stalemate, Chen Changli's eyes flickered and he walked over silently.
He looked down at the food, which was all delicious. His face darkened, but he still pretended to eat it.
Seeing Chen Changli start to eat, A Qiang silently breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and left. After everyone left, Chen Changli took advantage of the jailer's inattention and secretly vomited out the poisoned rice.
"Zhao Yue, do you really want to kill me?" As he said this, he looked outside and saw that the jailers were all dozing off. A plan came to his mind, and he quietly used a hidden thin wire to probe into the lock hole of the shackles.
After several attempts, the chains were finally untied. However, the sound of the chains falling to the ground woke up the jailers. When they saw Chen Changli's actions, their faces changed drastically.
"Oh no, he wants to run, stop him!" The jailer screamed loudly, and soon a group of people rushed towards Chen Changli with a fierce momentum.
Amidst the flashing of swords and the shadow of sabers, Chen Changli had a hard time coping. Meanwhile, compared to the fighting in the cell, the situation outside was not peaceful either. Eunuch Zhu came to the Zhao family with the imperial edict. After reading it, he wanted to see Chen Changli, but was stopped by Zhao Yue in every possible way.
"The prison is in chaos. Please wait a moment, Eunuch Zhu. I will go and ask the master to come out personally."
"No need, we'll follow you."
"Eunuch Zhu!" Zhao Yue stretched out his hand to stop the man, his face full of hypocritical smile: "Eunuch Zhu, wait a minute, this cell is where the prisoners are kept, it is bound to be bloody, Eunuch, you'd better not go there."
"Besides, I have to go and apologize to the master to avoid him getting angry and blaming me..."
Zhao Yue tried to persuade them but refused to let anyone in. This made Wan Shufang feel something was wrong. She frowned and pushed Zhao Yue away.
"Zhao Yue, if you dare to stop me again, it will be considered as disobeying the imperial order, which is a serious crime punishable by the execution of all nine generations of your clan." She said in a cold tone, and after she finished speaking, she no longer cared about Zhao Yue and rushed in with her men.
Rushing all the way, Wan Shufang and her men arrived at the prison and happened to see two sides fighting. Seeing Chen Changli covered in wounds, her face changed drastically and she immediately ordered: "Catch them!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
The Imperial Guards responded and surrounded everyone. The fighting stopped for a moment. Wan Shufang showed the imperial edict and shouted, "Your Majesty's decree, who dares to disobey!"
Upon hearing this, those people looked at each other, and finally knelt on the ground and saluted Wan Shufang.
"Long live my emperor."
Seeing that everyone was behaving themselves, Wan Shufang did not let them go. She ordered with a cold expression, "Come here, tie up these people, including Zhao Yue, and bring them all to the palace."
After that, those people were controlled by the jailer. Wan Shufang hurried to Chen Changli and said in a somewhat anxious voice: "Changli, are you okay?"
"It's okay." Chen Changli spat out a mouthful of blood foam, his face gentle as he tidied her hair: "Shufang, why are you here?"
"Shangguan Chu received a secret letter. I was worried about you, so I went to the palace to ask His Majesty for help."
"I see. Let's go to the palace first."
Seeing that those people had been taken away one after another, Wan Shufang nodded gently, and the group went into the palace to meet the emperor. When they saw the emperor, Zhao Yue immediately knelt down in fear and trepidation to apologize: "Your Majesty, I acknowledge my guilt."
Hearing this, the emperor snorted coldly and questioned, "Hmph, then you know you are guilty. Tell me, why did you attack Duke Chen?"
"It was my fault for being blind. I failed to recognize the Duke and arrested him by mistake. I hope Your Majesty will punish me." Zhao Yue kowtowed heavily and looked at Chen Changli.
He continued, "Everyone knows that the Duke has gone out to travel. I thought someone was impersonating the Duke, so I was a little cautious. I hope you will forgive me."
His words were well-reasoned and clear, and he knelt down and kowtowed to apologize with a very sincere attitude, which left the three angry people speechless for a moment.