Chapter 396: Only Him (Third Update)

Inside the Palace.

Rong Jiu strode purposefully, heading rapidly toward the Imperial Study.

The palace servants he encountered along the way all offered their respectful greetings.

Now that the Crown Prince and the Empress were both under house arrest, His Majesty had delegated many matters to the Third Prince. It was obvious to everyone that the political tides of the Imperial Capital were about to shift.

However, seeing Rong Jiu’s tense expression, which suggested something urgent was afoot, the servants did not dare to say much.

Rong Jiu walked briskly, his heart filled with frustration.

He had calculated everything, yet he had failed to realize that Situ Xingchen had also been in the Empress's palace at that time!

If he had been more careful, he certainly would have noticed something was wrong; or, if he had taken one more step to pull back the screen, he would have discovered Situ Xingchen!

But—he hadn't!

Things had progressed too smoothly over the past few days, to the point that he had been so careless as to forget this person's existence!

At first, he hadn't paid much mind, but looking back now, he felt that everything was laced with hidden motives!

Situ Xingchen had entered into an engagement with Rong Jin, and even after Rong Jin ran into trouble, she had never requested to annul the engagement.

If this wasn't a scheme, then what was?!

Situ Xingchen must know something to be so willing to help the Empress and Rong Jin!

He had actually failed to think to investigate Situ Xingchen until now!

Before he even reached the Imperial Study, Rong Jiu heard a sudden burst of hurried footsteps ahead.

He looked up and immediately saw Emperor Jiawen walking at the very front.

The expression on Emperor Jiawen's face was a grimness and ruthlessness Rong Jiu had never seen before, carrying a heavy aura of slaughter!

Rong Jiu was startled—what on earth was happening now?!

"Your son greets Imperial Father!"

Rong Jiu stepped forward quickly and bowed in greeting.

Seeing Rong Jiu, Emperor Jiawen's brow furrowed into a tight knot

"Why are you still in the palace?"

By this hour, Rong Jiu should have already left the palace.

Rong Jiu immediately replied

"Imperial Father, your son has returned because there is an urgent matter that I must inform you of immediately!"

However, Emperor Jiawen did not stop his pace, continuing forward.

"Whatever it is, wait until I return!"

As he spoke, he passed by Rong Jiu.

Rong Jiu froze: W-what is going on?!

"Imperial Father, your son truly has urgent business—"

"Oh my, Third Prince, you had better wait a moment!"

Eunuch Min walked up to Rong Jiu's side, waving the whisk in his hand, and advised him earnestly.

"Can't you see how anxious His Majesty is right now? In short, His Majesty certainly has neither the mood nor the time to listen to whatever you have to say! Please wait patiently for the time being!"

Rong Jiu asked suspiciously

"Please, Eunuch Min, enlighten me. Why is... why is Imperial Father in such a hurry? Where is he going?"

"You don't know yet?!"

Eunuch Min blurted out in shock, then hurriedly glanced around before pointing toward the sky and lowering his voice

"Did you not see that commotion just now?"

Rong Jiu was stunned for a moment, then suddenly understood.

"That signal was..."

"That was a message sent from the Imperial Mausoleum! How could His Majesty not be anxious?!"

Eunuch Min slapped his thigh.

"This old servant must hurry off. Third Prince, as for everything else, you'll have to handle it yourself!"

With that, Eunuch Min immediately hurried off to catch up with Emperor Jiawen.

Rong Jiu stood in place, his heart churning with waves of emotion.

After his conversation with Chu Xianmin just now, his mind had been filled with shock, anger, and regret; he had rushed back to the palace without time to think about anything else.

While walking on the road, he had also noticed those massive fireworks.

He knew they were used for transmitting messages, but because his entire focus had been on Situ Xingchen, he hadn't realized they were warnings coming from the direction of the Imperial Mausoleum.

This meant—something had happened at the Imperial Mausoleum!

Although Rong Jiu was away from the capital for much of the year, he knew that Sijin Peak, where the Imperial Mausoleum was located, had always been heavily guarded by troops; it was a place of strict defense.

For news like this to suddenly arrive, there must be a massive problem!

It would be strange if Emperor Jiawen wasn't nervous and anxious.

Just as Rong Jiu was contemplating whether he should simply head back to the Empress's palace to check and confirm if Situ Xingchen had been there, Emperor Jiawen, who had just left, was intercepted again.

This time, it was a guard clad in armor.

He had rushed over in a frenzy, his expression panicked. He actually threw himself to his knees before Emperor Jiawen, shouting with a face full of wretchedness and terror

"Your Majesty! It's bad!"

Emperor Jiawen felt as if his head were being struck by something heavy; his brain throbbed with pain!

Bad?!

Something has already happened at the Imperial Mausoleum, what could be worse than this?!

"Speak!"

Emperor Jiawen was forced to stop, shouting in a deep voice.

The guard prostrated himself on the ground, his body trembling violently.

"Your Majesty, the Empress... the Empress has passed away!"

The surroundings suddenly fell into a deathly silence.

Emperor Jiawen's expression froze instantly.

Hearing this, Rong Jiu looked up and saw that the guard was indeed the person responsible for guarding the outside of the Empress's palace!

He just said the Empress had passed away?!

An ominous premonition surged in Rong Jiu's heart!

He took large strides and quickly walked to the guard's side

"What did you just say?! Say it again!"

The guard was startled by this sudden interrogation, shrinking back slightly before saying in a trembling voice

"The... the Empress... committed suicide!"

"Useless!"

Emperor Jiawen finally reacted, delivering a heavy kick to the guard's solar plexus.

"Did I not say that, no matter what, you must keep a close watch on the Empress?!"

The things the Empress had done did not warrant a thousand deaths, but he still had many things he hadn't clarified with her. Now that she had suddenly died like this, what was he supposed to do next?!

"You! How on earth are you people doing your jobs!"

The guard endured the pain and said tremblingly

"Your Majesty, we were originally guarding outside and went in to check every half an hour. But... but... for some reason, the Empress... she slammed into the wall. By the time we heard the noise, the Empress had already..."

They were actually quite wronged!

The Empress had been in the same state for the past few days; even though she was enduring extremely painful torture, she was still holding on.

Who could have imagined she would suddenly seek death like this?!

She was determined; that impact was incredibly violent. Her face and head were covered in blood, and her skull had almost cracked open.

How could they have foreseen such a thing?

Emperor Jiawen was already frantic because of the incident at the Imperial Mausoleum, and hearing this news now, he felt the blood rushing violently in his chest and abdomen. Then, with a "waah" sound, he spat out a mouthful of blood!

"Your Majesty!"

"Imperial Father!"

Eunuch Min and Rong Jiu both cried out in alarm.

Eunuch Min, who was standing beside Emperor Jiawen, hurriedly supported his swaying body.

"Your Majesty! You must take care of your imperial health!"

Contrasted against the blood at the corner of his mouth, Emperor Jiawen's face appeared even more pale.

He stared fixedly at the guard, asking word by word

"Today, who has been to the Empress's palace?!"

He was certain that the Empress had absolutely not committed suicide suddenly!

There must be a deeper reason behind this!

A thought suddenly flashed through Rong Jiu's mind.

Could it be Situ Xingchen—

The guard's voice trembled slightly

"Re... replying to Your Majesty, today... only the Third Prince has been to the Empress's palace."

Rong Jiu's heart jolted! He snapped his gaze toward the guard!

(End of Chapter)