Chapter 147

11.3 - [ The capital has fallen, and the Emperor's whereabouts are unknown. ]

translator: xiin

editors: alamerysl & BlueBug

It was night time and everything should have been quiet, but a low groan suddenly echoed in the room, followed by the muffled sound of something hitting the ground. The person lying in bed immediately sat up, startled by the slight noise, and lit the candles on the table with a wave of their hand. The movement was swift, making the person who had just fallen into the room widen their eyes, their gaze turning dark.

"Who is it?" The movements from person on the floor stilled because of the voice the bed, and the sharp blade held in their hand remained there instead of flying out. Following that thin voice, someone climbed out of bed.

The man had been badly injured and managed to hold on until he made it to the house. He thought nobody would be there as usual, but unexpectedly, he bumped into house's owner, and his strength was no lower than his own.

But to his surprise, the person who put on a coat and got up to slowly walk towards him was actually a little ger. The ger was beautiful, and his appearance was bright in the candlelight. Because he just woke up, his eyes were still sleepy. That pair of fox eyes were still half-closed and misty, and the mole that identified him as a ger in the corner of his eye looked like a brushstroke. When the ger, who was as beautiful as a painting, moved, he appeared even more vivid, and made the man's lower body half-heartedly want to react.

The other half of him was already unconscious due to the severity of his injuries.

The man lay motionless, and could only look on as the young ger glanced over him. He did not seem to be in a panic at all despite the fact that someone had rushed into the room in the middle of the night. He idly lit another candle and extinguished the one on the table. Then, he brought the candlestick with him as he walked towards the man on the floor.

The light that the candle in his hand let off was much dimmer than the previous one. The man was surprised, but soon he understood his intentions.

Since he was hiding in this house in order to escape pursuit, it was best to take precautions and ensure the candlelight from inside would not be noticed. The man didn't know why, but his tense nerves suddenly relaxed slightly.

The ger brought the candle with him and crouched down in front of the man. The candlelight swept across his face, and the ger raised his eyebrows and asked, "Six Leaf Gate's primary enforcer?"

The man frowned. "You recognize me?" He wanted to defend himself, but his wounds made it so that he was unable to move at all.

The ger did not answer him, and only brought the candle closer to carefully look him up and down. He then asked critically, "How many people were you surrounded by, to end up wounded like this?"

The man pressed his lips together. He did not answer this time, but the little ger seemed to be able to read his mind. He continued for him, "The Xian Prince took over the palace today. Did you rush to the palace because you heard the news?"

"Who are you?!"

"Who were you trying to save? If it was Deng Shi, he has already been escorted away. Relax, nothing happened to him. If you wanted to save the Emperor, then there's nothing to worry about." The man remained lying on the ground. He was becoming weaker due to his wounds, but he was still conscious at the moment. When he heard the ger in front of him say those words, he realized even more clearly that this person was not ordinary. The ger then pinched his chin, and forced him to raise his gaze. His voice was slow and steady as he asked, "Speak. Who are you loyal to?"

The man spat out a mouthful of blood and coolly answered, "Of course I'm loyal to the current Emperor." He knew that if he said something wrong, his next step would be death, but now that he has arrived at this point, the only thing he could do was remain firm in his beliefs.

"Oh." The ger laughed, stood up and said, "You can consider yourself lucky." He went to the door, opened it, and called out, "Shu Heng, come in."

That was a familiar name. The man did not have time to think about it, because he had lost too much blood, and was slipping into a coma.

While he was in a daze, he seemed to hear the ger's voice, speaking calmly and indifferently, as though his words could not possibly be more simple. "I saved your life. It will belong to me from now on." From within his trance, it felt as though he had fulfilled some sort of fate. He was reassured, and relaxed completely, allowing himself to fall deep into unconsciousness.

Shu Heng was called to the room by His Majesty to carry a body in the middle of the night. He was completely muddled, and when he saw the wound on the man, he became thoroughly shocked. It looked like he was basically split in half! Although he was still breathing, could he still be called a human being?nove(l)bi(n.)com

"You were chased?"

"..." He nodded again.

"Since it was for His Majesty's sake, it doesn't matter if you stay." Shu Heng pouted and said, "I'm telling you, His Majesty's identity is special. Don't make a fuss when you see him. You're not allowed to have any ideas about His Majesty; otherwise, I will castrate you."

Mu Ge: "???" Just as he wanted to ask him what he meant, another person stepped into the yard.

Xue Ling had also gone out to buy some necessities. He also purchased some new clothing and changed into a new set while the rest was put away into the system space. When he came back, he had a fan in his hand and looked like a fashionable gongzi. The cinnabar mole in the corner of his eye had been covered up by salve, but it had no way of hiding the attractiveness of his face.

"Awake?" As soon as Xue Ling entered, he saw the two people standing and staring foolishly in the courtyard. He closed the fan in his hand and said, "Now that you're awake, we'll have the noon meal, and depart after eating. Prince Xian should still be paying attention to Deng Shi, and has not yet noticed that We have not died." He narrowed his eyes and smiled at Mu Ge. "If We remember correctly, you should be Mu Ge, the primary enforcer for Six Leaf Gate. Back then, when you won Our recognition, We gifted you with an inscription?"

Mu Ge's eyes opened wide as he finally realized identity of the person in front of him. He knelt down violently, and had no time to consider why the person who he had clearly seen was a ger last night had turned into a man. He bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty is unharmed. It is really fortunate for our Xue Dynasty!"

He finally remembered why this person was so familiar to him. Years ago, when he had still been a secret guard in the palace, he had spent a night guarding him. At that time, the night was long and the job as a secret guard was boring. He found himself looking at this person often. Back then, the little Emperor had been a young boy who had not yet grown up, and the temperament evident between his brows now had not been present before...

As time went on, he became aware that his thoughts were different from that of the others. He knew that the person in the Emperor's position was not someone who could be coveted, but he had no way to tear his gaze away from him. In order to ensure he did not do anything out of line, he transferred out of the secret guard department and entered the Six Fan Gate. After that, he ruthlessly threw himself into his work, gained fame, and finally received an inscription from him...

It was also those unspeakable thoughts that made him leave everything behind and run desperately to the palace when he learned that the throne had been overthrown. Even if he died, he wanted to save that person from the sea of bitterness...

Xue Ling closed the door and glanced at the scowling Mu Ge. He sneered and spoke, "You can say those words to anyone, but I am an exception. You should have retained your memories from last night, and you should be aware of what kind of person We are."

Mu Ge's heart jumped, and he recalled the red cinnabar mole he had seen in the corner of this person's eyes last night.

"I saved you, so your life is mine. Whether you like it or not, it was easy to save you, and killing you would not be difficult either. Understood?"

Mu Ge lowered his head and answered, "This minister is Your Majesty's man. Even in death, I will be Your Majesty's ghost!"

Xue Ling nodded his head, and did not mention how strange these words were. Instead, he said, "Get up, after the noon meal, I'll help you put on a disguise. We are leaving the Capital and going to the Jinji Ferry Port." That was the closest ferry port from the Capital. Boats came and went from there every day. It was the shortest route to the South.

Mu Ge did not ask him why he had made such plans. He nodded his head several times quickly, and then got up.

Xue Ling looked him over again before shifting his gaze away and sitting down for the noon meal.

Thousands of miles away from the Capital, in Zhanjing. Inside Zhennan Palace, the Zhennan Prince had lost control over his temper and was currently smashing things.

His deputy general stood beside him was worried as he tried to restrain His Royal Highness while anxiously asking the attendants standing to the side, "What exactly happened here!"

"I don't know!" The little servant was also anxious as he helped to restrain him. He was so stressed that sweat had begun to form on his forehead. "His Royal Highness woke up this morning in an extremely irritable mood. Just now, the more he held back, the angrier he got, and then he suddenly started breaking things!"

The deputy general was tongue-tied, but His Royal Highness finally seemed to have smashed enough and felt better as opened his mouth to order, "Have people come and tidy things up."

The deputy general quickly waved his hand to let the little servant tidy up before going up and asking in a bit of a panic, "Royal Highness... You are..."

Prince Zhennan pressed his fingers to his forehead and shook his head. "I don't know. After receiving this piece of news last night, I felt turmoil in my heart. Last night especially, I had continuous nightmares and a kind of ominous feeling."

The deputy general somewhat curiously accepted the letter from His Royal Highness, and was surprised as he gave it a glance.

[ The capital has fallen. The Xian Prince ascended the throne, Deng Family fled, and the Emperor's whereabouts are unknown. ]