EWRN - Chapter 44
Chapter 44: Imperial Fury
After applying medicine and bandaging Huo Jinyu's wound, Hua Ying expressed her apologies, ordered a palace maid to fetch more herbs, and gave instructions for the Emperor's dose the next day before rising to leave the Hall of the Slumbering Dragon.
Di An waited anxiously in Yuzhe Palace. She had suddenly begun to worry whether the Emperor and Hua Ying might do something… else. It wasn't that she didn't trust Hua Ying, but she couldn't trust the nature of men. Then again, perhaps an injured Emperor would be incapable of doing anything to Hua Ying.
As Di An's mind raced with chaotic thoughts, the very person she was "longing for" walked into the hall, completely unscathed. The heart that had been lodged in her throat for who knows how long finally settled. She walked forward, took Hua Ying's hand, and looked her up and down several times before nodding in satisfaction.
Hua Ying was unaware of Di An's thoughts, merely surprised and pleased by her proactive display of affection. She then remembered that her An'er had suffered a fright tonight and should rest well to calm her nerves. She ordered the palace maids to help them both wash up, then coaxed Di An to bed.
The Hall of the Slumbering Dragon.
Huo Jinyu had changed into a plain white robe and was now seated on the main throne in the central hall, an aura of violence radiating from her. Her right hand gently stroked the wound on her left shoulder. Tonight had been truly perilous. The arrangements and defenses she had thought flawless were broken by a mere unforeseen event. Since her rebirth, her various actions and behaviors, so different from her past life, had already caused a massive shift in the course of history. Many things from her previous life had not happened, while this life had been fundamentally altered by her different choices. For example, forcibly marrying the Prime Minister's daughter and bringing down the Bai family. For example, marrying Princess Yan, Yan Xi, who should have died. For example, saving two women from a brothel—a courtesan and a martial artist—who had grown rather close. For example, recruiting her own soldiers and stockpiling arms. There were too many, too many differences. The Second Prince's audacity was now on full display. To dare hire assassins to kill the emperor at the Rite of Heaven banquet, an event he himself was in charge of—he was truly audacious, reckless, and foolish!
Huo Jinyu's right hand clenched into a fist and slammed down on the armrest of her chair. Fortunately, there was no one else in the hall, or they would have been startled.
Just then, Eunuch Wang announced from outside, "Reporting to Your Majesty! A man carrying a Son of Heaven gold medallion and claiming to be Jian Wei requests an audience!"
Hearing Eunuch Wang's report and that it was Jian Wei, the general she had personally appointed, Huo Jinyu thought he must have some good news. Her brow relaxed slightly as she replied, "Let him in."
She had long ago revealed her identity as the emperor to General Jian Wei and had given him one of her gold medallions so he could enter the palace to report on urgent matters.
A moment later, a man with a commanding presence walked in from outside the hall. His features were resolute and sharply defined, his bearing superb. Every movement exuded a fierce energy. Jian Wei knelt and said, "Your humble servant, Jian Wei, pays his respects to Your Majesty!"
Huo Jinyu nodded. "Rise. Have a seat and tell me what's on your mind."
Jian Wei stood but shook his head, not taking a seat. Instead, he began to report to Huo Jinyu with great courtesy.
Huo Jinyu listened for a while and got the gist of it. After this period of covert recruitment, the Brocade Guard Army had grown to over one hundred and forty thousand soldiers. They had seized several peaks behind Baili Mountain to use as strongholds, clearing out quite a few bandits in the process. Subsequent batches of Reinforced Iron Armor had also been produced, and more than fifty thousand soldiers were now equipped.
Hearing this, Huo Jinyu was overjoyed, her face beaming with delight! More than fifty thousand soldiers with extremely high survivability—what a terrifying number! This meant the Brocade Guard Army had truly become a formidable force, lacking only the baptism of war and blood!
After giving Huo Jinyu a moment to digest this news, Jian Wei dropped another bombshell.
It turned out that over a month before the Rite of Heaven, the Brocade Guard Army had produced a batch of gunpowder for the fireworks display. One soldier, on a whim, filled a thin bamboo tube with different types of gunpowder and threw it on the ground, creating a surprisingly powerful explosion. Over the past month, the Brocade Guard Army had improved upon this, making many such pellets from thin iron sheets. They even gave it a nice name: "Thunder Bomb."
After speaking, Jian Wei carefully took a cloth bundle from his robes and opened it before Huo Jinyu, revealing several gleaming metal spheres inside. There were at least a few dozen.
Huo Jinyu reached out, picked one up, and was about to throw it on the ground. Jian Wei hastily stopped her, explaining that the "Thunder Bomb" was extremely powerful and using it in the palace could cause an unnecessary commotion. Huo Jinyu nodded and accepted them.
Jian Wei then chattered on with some instructions, such as how the "Thunder Bomb" had to be used on a hard surface, and how it couldn't get wet, and so on.
Huo Jinyu listened patiently, nodded, and dismissed the general. After stashing the "Thunder Bombs" away, she turned and went to bed. She had suffered a significant injury tonight and had listened to Jian Wei's chattering for half the day. Her head was truly aching. She needed a good rest. Tomorrow, she would settle the score with Huo Jinye!
In her Jinxiang Palace, Yan Xi stood silently by the window, her head slightly raised to gaze at the starry sky and the moon, her heart uneasy. She stood like that for a long time. Only when a palace maid came to report that Hua Ying had left the Hall of the Slumbering Dragon, fully dressed and unharmed, did she finally breathe a sigh of relief. It was a sigh of both comfort and worry.
Yan Xi did not sleep the entire night, her mind filled with more than just anxiety or heartache.
The next day.
Hall of Imperial Governance.
After such a major and serious incident the night before, none of the ministers had rested well. Many of the older ones came to court with dark circles under their eyes. Huo Jinyu had not yet arrived, and the ministers were all chattering about the previous night's events.
Huo Jinye stood at the front of the assembled officials, looking anxiously toward the side entrance to the high platform. He secretly wished that Huo Jinyu was either bedridden or, better yet, dead! That way, he could ascend the throne with perfect justification!
The ministers waited for a while. The hall first fell silent, but as Huo Jinyu remained absent, they grew restless again. Could something have happened to His Majesty?
Just as everyone was anxiously lost in their own thoughts, Huo Jinyu finally appeared in their line of sight, dressed in a bright yellow dragon robe. She sat down behind the desk on the high platform, and Eunuch Wang quickly poured her a cup of tea.
The ministers and the Second Prince, Huo Jinye, stole a few glances at Huo Jinyu. Seeing that she was merely pale but otherwise unharmed, the Second Prince's expression darkened. The ministers, however, all breathed a sigh of relief. As long as His Majesty was safe, all was well.
Huo Jinye silently cursed the assassins, who were now corpses. Utterly useless. They couldn't even take Huo Jinyu's life. What good were they? Fortunately, they were all dead, leaving no one alive to talk. Now there was no evidence. Excellent, excellent!
Huo Jinyu sat on her high throne, sizing up the expressions of everyone below with a flash of contempt in her eyes. She spoke, "Let the court begin."
Upon hearing this, Eunuch Wang immediately let out a shrill cry, "Court begins!"
Only then did the ministers kneel and pay their respects. "Long live the Emperor, long live, long, long live!"
"All beloved subjects, rise!" Huo Jinyu said faintly. The ministers dusted themselves off and stood up. Just as the Second Prince, Huo Jinye, was about to rise, a furious voice boomed from above. "Huo Jinye! You will kneel for Us!"
Huo Jinye, halfway to his feet, trembled in shock. His knees slammed back onto the floor with a loud thud. The sharp pain made him grimace.
Huo Jinyu said nothing, simply staring daggers at the Second Prince. An immense pressure emanated from her, crashing down on Huo Jinye like a tidal wave.
Huo Jinye was like a blade of grass in the wind, trembling on the verge of collapse. He knelt on the floor, shaking uncontrollably, his mind screaming, It's over. My damn Imperial Brother is going to make his move.
"Huo Jinye, do you know your crime?" Huo Jinyu looked down upon the Second Prince from her lofty position.
Cold sweat poured down Huo Jinye's face. He feigned ignorance and said loudly, "Imperial Brother, your subject does not understand what you mean!"
"You don't understand? Truly Our good imperial brother. Last night, at the Rite of Heaven banquet you organized, We were attacked by assassins. You truly don't understand?" Huo Jinyu retorted with a cold smile.
"Your subject has been wronged! I have been wronged! Your subject truly knew nothing of this!" Huo Jinye pretended to kowtow, but his head didn't even touch the floor.
"Then where were you when We were fighting for Our life?" Huo Jinyu shot back another question.
"Your subject… your subject was scared witless at the time. I know my fault, and I beg Imperial Brother's forgiveness!" Huo Jinye began to panic. He quickly admitted to a minor fault while continuing to evade the matter of the assassination. But Huo Jinyu had no intention of letting him off so easily. The wound on her shoulder would not be suffered in vain!
Huo Jinye felt as if he were facing a great enemy, his mind racing to find a way to escape this calamity. His brain spun rapidly, trying to devise a countermeasure.
However, Huo Jinyu gave him no extra time to think. Seemingly unwilling to waste any more time on the matter, she shouted, "Guards! For failing to protect the sovereign and for the massive lapse in the banquet's organization, drag the Second Prince, Huo Jinye, out of here! Administer thirty strokes with the rattan cane! Carry it out immediately!"
Hearing this, the Second Prince's body swayed, and he nearly collapsed onto the floor. He quickly began to beg for mercy. "Your Majesty, see clearly! I beg Your Majesty to see clearly! Your subject is truly innocent! Truly innocent!"
Two guards ran in from outside the palace, grabbed the Second Prince, and dragged him out. All along the way, he pleaded pitifully, his small frame looking so helpless that a few ministers felt a pang of sympathy. He looked so much like their own sons. A few were about to step forward to plead his case but were promptly stopped by the ministers beside them. What a joke. Couldn't they see His Majesty was just looking for a scapegoat? If they stepped out now, they would become the ones to be vented on.
The slapping sound of the rattan cane hitting flesh echoed into the hall, along with the Second Prince's incessant wails, which slowly grew weaker before ceasing altogether.
A short while later, a guard came in to report that the Second Prince had fainted.
Huo Jinyu nodded in satisfaction, thinking to herself, He really can't take a beating.
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