Chapter 32: Under Attack

Chapter 32

As the slanting sun spread over the courtyard, Yuwen Hao still had not entered the palace.

Yuan Qingling felt a little uneasy, this day had gone so smoothly, unlike anything since she traveled here.

After helping clean Fubao's wounds at night, Steward Chang told her to rest in the Western Warm Pavilion.

Yuan Qingling went out to the outer hall and saw the imperial carriage of Emperor Ming Yuan arrive at the palace gate. She hesitated, wondering if she should leave quickly or stay to greet him before leaving. But she saw a guard come up and say a couple words, and Emperor Ming Yuan's expression drastically changed as he immediately turned to leave.

He was leaving as soon as he reached the outer hall? Did something big happen?

Distracted, Yuan Qingling returned to the Western Warm Pavilion. Granny Xi came to change her bandages. Yuan Qingling washed herself with hot water and felt much more comfortable after washing her face.

After taking an anti-inflammatory pill, she went to bed.

She had been taking these pills for days, leaving her listless and tired. As soon as she hit the bed, her eyelids drooped.

She didn't even get a chance to wonder why Emperor Ming Yuan had come and gone.

In the middle of the night, Granny Xi woke her up.

Yuan Qingling rubbed her eyes and looked at Granny Xi standing there holding a lamp, an obscure sadness in her expression. Yuan Qingling practically leapt out of bed and hoarsely asked, "The Retired Emperor..."

"No, no!" Granny Xi immediately interrupted her. "Consort, get up and change clothes to leave the palace. Gu Si is waiting outside for you." Nêww chapters will be fully updated at novelhall.com

"Leave the palace?" Yuan Qingling was confused. What was this about leaving the palace in the middle of the night?

"Don't ask, just go!" Granny Xi pulled back her blankets. "Attend to the Consort and help her change."

Only then did Yuan Qingling see there were two other palace maids in the hall besides Granny Xi.

A cold wet towel was placed on her face. Granny Xi said, "The Consort must wake up a bit."

The cold shocked Yuan Qingling fully awake. She didn't ask any questions. Granny Xi was the Retired Emperor's person. Her leaving the palace must have been at his order.

Was the Retired Emperor angry with her?

So he was kicking her out in the middle of the night?

Outside, she saw a young man in silver armor with a sword at his waist waiting under the eaves. Seeing her come out, the guard bowed with his hands clasped. "Gu Si escorting the Consort out of the palace."

Yuan Qingling recognized him as Gu Si, the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guards.

Tang Yang didn't know why the Retired Emperor had called for the Consort. Steward Chang only said she was the only one who could save the Prince.

Yuan Qingling didn't have time to wonder how the Retired Emperor knew. Recalling how the Emperor had come to the Celestial Hall last night only to leave again, she guessed the Prince's people must have gone to report.

Following behind, Gu Si couldn't help asking upon hearing Tang Yang, "Does the Consort know the Retired Emperor's intentions?"

"I don't know. Let me go see first." Yuan Qingling felt her foot aching badly and her heart panicking. Perhaps the original host's lingering emotions were at work.

Arriving at Yuwen Hao's Xiao Yue Pavilion, the head guardsman Xu Yi heard their footsteps and opened the door. The indistinct lamplight and bloody smell gushing out created a stifling, deathly atmosphere.

The bloody smell made Yuan Qingling's legs go soft. Reaching to steady herself on the door, it swung back with her push and she stumbled forward.

The Prince's maid Qi Luo hurriedly caught her. "Consort, be careful."

Yuan Qingling's forehead was cut and bled a little, making her head feel even heavier.

She was secretly annoyed with herself. What was wrong with her? It wasn't like she hadn't treated critically ill patients before. Why was she so flustered?

With great difficulty, she made it to the bedside and saw the person lying there. She gasped.

Was this...the Prince of Chu, Yuwen Hao?

A long gash ran from beside his left ear to his brow bone. The depth exposed the bone, the surrounding area swollen. His head was wrapped, clearly injured too.

His eyes were shut tight, his face as pale as rice paper, his lips colorless. He seemed to have no breath at all, like a dead man.

"Eighteen wounds. Two swords pierced his abdomen. Arms, legs, back, all injured," someone said quietly from the corner.

Yuan Qingling looked over and saw it was Prince Qi, his voice anguished.

Yuan Qingling sucked in another breath. Eighteen cuts, and he was still alive?

"Where are the imperial doctors?" She hoarsely asked. "Why haven't you summoned them?"

"They've already returned to the palace," Tang Yang heavily replied. He had been the one to escort the doctors back. They said even gods could not save him now, and he only had one breath left.

"Lift the blankets. Let me look at the wounds," Yuan Qingling immediately said.

Tang Yang came over and pulled back the covers. With his robes removed, only his lower abdomen and thighs were covered by a thin sheet. The wounds had been treated but were oozing blood, truly in critical condition.

Yuan Qingling bent down to check his breathing and heartbeat. His heart was very weak, occasionally stopping. Massive blood loss had led to heart failure.