Chapter 106
"Where has the Minor Imperial Concubine gone?!" Feng Suige rushed to the front gate and immediately questioned the Suosha Guards captain on duty. A quarter of an hour earlier, he had left the room where Xiyang was staying, intending to return to his own quarters to rest. But upon opening the door, he found only cold bedding and a dying candle—Yixiao was nowhere to be seen, and even the maidservants couldn’t say where she had gone.
"Ah... Imperial Son," the guard captain hastily saluted. "Earlier, the Minor Imperial Concubine said she had urgent business and left for the inner city in a large carriage with only one Brocade maidservant. Before departing, she instructed that if she hadn’t returned by the hour of the Ox, I was to seek you out in the inner residence..." A sense of foreboding crept into Feng Suige’s heart. "What else did she say? Speak quickly!"
"Yes! The Minor Imperial Concubine said that if she hadn’t returned by then, I was to relay to you that no matter what rumors you heard, you must not act impulsively. Stall if you can, delay if possible—no matter what, you must wait until Xiao Canjun arrives." The guard captain cautiously glanced around before lowering his voice. "But if there’s no news by dawn, you must find an excuse to leave Brocade immediately and... not concern yourself with her."
"'Not concern myself with her'?" Feng Suige clenched his fists, grinding his teeth in frustration. "What is that foolish woman thinking?" He looked up at the moon, which had just begun its westward descent, then irritably ordered, "Pass down my command: report any unusual activity immediately. No mistakes!"
Amid the sudden upheaval, the Holy Emperor remained unshaken. After his first attempt to break free failed, he seized the moment when Fu Yixiao tightened the Punishment Whip to restrain him—instead of resisting outward, he threw his full weight forward. Caught off guard, Yixiao was knocked to the ground, nearly losing her grip on the whip. Just as Xia Jingshi lunged forward to intervene, the cell door clattered violently as the delayed jailers finally burst in.
"Take one more step, and I’ll gouge out his eyes," Xia Jingshi panted, his voice low but menacing. Though his posture was awkward, he had effectively pinned the Holy Emperor’s struggling limbs, his fingers poised threateningly over the emperor’s eye sockets. The warden and the jailers froze where they stood.
"Xia Jingshi, this sovereign will have you torn limb from limb," the Holy Emperor spat through gritted teeth, veins bulging on his forehead from Yixiao’s chokehold. Trapped between the two, he had no room to move, and Xia Jingshi’s fingers pressed painfully against his eyes. After a few more futile struggles, he finally relented, forcing out a strained whisper, "This sovereign will make you beg for death..."
"Stop!" Xia Jingshi barked at a jailer who had begun edging toward the exit. "Take another step and see what happens." The man instantly halted, stiff as a statue.
Xia Jingshi swept a cold gaze over the men crowding the cramped cell, his mind racing. With just him and Yixiao, there was no way they could fight their way out of the imperial prison—especially not with his severe injuries. Fresh and old wounds alike bled incessantly, sapping his strength. He couldn’t hold on much longer.
"Throw your blade in here," he commanded the warden. The man hesitated briefly, but when Xia Jingshi made as if to drive his fingers into the Holy Emperor’s eyes, the emperor groaned in pain. The jailers gasped in alarm, and the warden hastily unbuckled his sword, tossing it inside with a clatter.
"Now get out," Xia Jingshi said curtly.Yixiao was both nervous and exerting herself, her palms already drenched in sweat. Seeing the saber thrown in, she instinctively transferred the tightly gripped whip from her right hand to her left, preparing to pick up the blade. In that brief moment when her grip loosened slightly, the Holy Emperor mustered all his strength, enduring the suffocating pressure of the whip biting into his neck, and shoved Xia Jingshi aside, lunging for the nearby saber.
In the blink of an eye, the Holy Emperor's hand had already touched the scabbard.
With a sudden burst of quick thinking, Yixiao used the momentum of being pulled forward by the Holy Emperor to leap ahead, seizing the hilt of the saber just before he could.
With a metallic clang , the cold glint of the blade reflected off the Holy Emperor's pale face. Yixiao steadied the tip of the saber against his throat, forcing a wry smile. "Your Majesty's reflexes are quite impressive," she remarked. The Holy Emperor snorted but dared not make any sudden moves. "Fu Yixiao, do you realize the gravity of the crime you're committing by holding the sovereign hostage?"
"Of course I do," Yixiao replied with a laugh, though her grip on the saber didn't waver in the slightest. "But I have no other choice, do I, Your Majesty?" "What about Feng Suige?" the Holy Emperor countered. "Don't forget your current status. If Su Sha gets dragged into this because of you—" Before he could finish, Yixiao pressed the blade forward slightly, forcing him to take a step back. "Status?" She advanced another step. "More importantly, shouldn't Your Majesty be more concerned about your own safety right now?"
Xia Jingshi, who had been catching his breath nearby, stood up again and quietly ordered, "Warden, lock all the remaining prisoners in the empty cells and hand the keys to me." The warden hesitated, stammering, "Your Highness... in my humble opinion, no matter how great the injustice, it would be unwise to escalate the situation... uh... His Majesty is merciful and surely won't mind—"
"Do as I say," Xia Jingshi interrupted. "This matter has nothing to do with you. If you don't want to be implicated, stay here quietly. Someone will come to release you at dawn." He glanced at the Holy Emperor. "His Majesty is merciful and surely won't mind this small arrangement of mine, will he?"
The Holy Emperor glared coldly at him. "You won't escape—if you kneel and beg for forgiveness now, I might spare your life." Xia Jingshi smiled faintly. "Your Majesty's kindness is noted, but I must decline."
Though it was not yet winter, two braziers had already been lit by the bed, leaving even the maidservants standing quietly nearby drenched in sweat. Yet Feng Xiyang, bundled tightly under the covers, showed no sign of perspiration. Her thick, dark lashes cast shadows over her fever-flushed cheeks, and in the flickering lamplight, it almost seemed as if her soul might slip away with the shifting darkness.
The room was unbearably stuffy, and Feng Suige's anxiety in the outer chamber burned even hotter. Xiyang remained unconscious, and Yixiao's fate was still unknown. But even if Xiyang woke up, what then? Emotionally, he hoped Xiyang hadn't deceived him, but rationally, he trusted Yixiao's honesty more. And if Yixiao returned, what then? The uncertainty of what might happen next tormented him, the weight of his worries driving him nearly to madness.
Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed in the corridor. Feng Suige sprang to the door and flung it open. "News?" The captain of the guard rushed forward, his expression grave. "Your Highness, the Holy Emperor has arrived." "Why is he here...?" Feng Suige narrowed his eyes sharply. "How many men did he bring?" The captain hesitated before replying, "It seems... just a single carriage and one driver."Feng Suige was taken aback. "Are you certain it's the Holy Emperor himself coming?" The captain of the imperial guard shook his head. "This subject cannot be certain, but when I approached to inquire, an Imperial Gold Token was handed down from the carriage. I examined it—there could be no mistake." "I'll go see," Feng Suige replied tersely.
The sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the corridor. As the lights at the main gate of the guest residence drew nearer, Feng Suige's heart pounded faster and faster. The moment he stepped over the threshold, his heart leaped into his throat—under the bright illumination of the lanterns, the face revealed behind the half-lifted curtain of the carriage was unmistakably that of the Holy Emperor.
"Your Majesty has quite the refined taste, emulating the ancients in their candlelit night outings," Feng Suige remarked coolly, his gaze sweeping casually around the surroundings.
Empty.
"Phoenix Prince," the timid voice of the carriage driver called out just as Feng Suige was puzzling over the situation. "His Majesty wishes to speak with the prince alone."
OpenNovel