Chapter 393: Had the Emperor Gone Mad?
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“My Lord, have you finished dinner? Your servant has brought you some tea.”
The maidservant knocked on the door, but Su Ying didn’t respond. After knocking for a while, the maidservant pushed the door open and entered the room.
She saw that the food on the table had already been eaten, and Su Ying had fallen asleep on the bed.
Upon seeing this, the maidservant cleared away the dishes and left. Then, she came to Yi Kun. “My Lord, His Lordship from the capital has fallen asleep.”
Yi Kun frowned with displeasure. Why did he feel that this fellow was unreliable? This fellow was not in a hurry to solve such an important matter. Up till now, he did not seem to be anxious at all.
“My Lord, do you think… he has discovered a flaw?”
A trace of maliciousness surfaced in Yi Kun’s eyes. “What does he know?”
When the minor official saw this, he shrank his neck back in fear. “Did you verify his identity, my Lord? Is he really an official from the capital?”
“The guard saw the token in his hand. He is indeed from the higher-ups, but he never once revealed his identity.” This was also something that Yi Kun was unsure of. There was no news from the capital informing them who the Emperor had sent this time to deliver the original blueprints.
For such an important thing, the person delivering the blueprints was definitely not a simple character.
“What about the things he brought?”
“I didn’t see anything. He only had a bundle. It doesn’t look like it has blueprints inside.”
Yi Kun’s face sank. “1’11 go take a look tonight.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
As the night deepened, a black figure sneaked to the door of the guest room. He held a stick of knock-out incense in his hand and blew on it through a gap in the window.
A moment later, the figure quietly pushed open the window and jumped in.
Making use of the pale moonlight, the figure found the bundle Su Ying had brought and rummaged through it. He discovered that there were only one or two sets of clothes inside, as well as the token and document to clear the pass.
It was written on the document that this person who came was an armed Imperial Guard serving the Emperor.
The Emperor’s Imperial Guards were highly skilled in martial arts and fit the requirements of the candidates sent by the Emperor. However, where did he keep the blueprints?
The man could only leave first after finding nothing.
That person didn’t notice that Su Ying, who was lying on the bed, had been watching his every move with open eyes.
After confirming that the other party had left, Su Ying sat up and climbed out of the window to go to Zhu Lin’s guest room.
In the dim candlelight outside the door, Su Ying could see two people standing guard outside.
Su Ying came up to Zhu Lin’s bed, opened his mouth, and stuffed a pill into his mouth. When she came over during the day, she discovered that this fellow had been poisoned. However, the amount of poison wasn’t fatal, so she wasn’t in a hurry to act.
After feeding him the medicine, Su Ying took out the antidote syringe and injected it into his body. In less than 30 minutes, Zhu Lin’s pale face slowly regained some of its rosiness.
Su Ying took out a silver needle, grabbed his finger, and inserted it into his finger. Thereafter, she squeezed out a few drops of blood.
Zhu Lin slowly opened his eyes. When he saw someone grabbing his hand, he immediately raised his hand to hit the other party.
Su Ying swung around rapidly and grabbed his wrist. Before he could open his mouth, she whispered, “Shut up. It’s me.”
Zhu Lin could recognize Su Ying’s voice, but his two eyes still widened in shock. He felt that he was hallucinating, or else why would Su Ying appear in this godforsaken place with a man’s face?
Su Ying watched him calm down gradually before letting go of his hand. “Don’t be suspicious. It’s me. Tell me what happened to you?”
Zhu Lin came back to his senses and verified once again that the person in front of him was Su Ying. The look in her eyes was definitely not wrong.
Zhu Lin clutched his chest and sat up. When he thought of what he had experienced during this period of time, his blood began boiling as he became furious.
“His Majesty instructed me to check the progress of the dam construction. When I first arrived, everything was normal, but not long ago, there were incidences of loosening and collapse. I realized that the situation was not right, so 1 immediately reported it to His Majesty.”
In the beginning, the city officials of Jing Prefecture were very cooperative. They were actively looking for the root of the problem in the dam. They said that there was a problem with the gravel used, and as long as they hacked it off and rebuilt it, it would be fine. When he got the news and brought the craftsman from the capital city to verify the situation, the craftsman suddenly lost his footing, fell into the water, and drowned.
“At that point, I felt that something was wrong, but the craftsman was dead. I was worried that they would attack me, so I pretended to be stupid and waited for the Imperial Court to send someone down. However, before the news spread that night, I suddenly fell ill.”
Before he fainted, he used his last bit of strength to get his trusted aide to quickly send a message to the capital, but he was worried that the news would be intercepted, so he did not say it too overtly.
However, what surprised him was that when the Imperial Court’s assistance arrived, it turned out to be Su Ying, of all people.
“Are you saying that these people tampered with the dam?”
Zhu Lin nodded and then shook his head. “1 don’t have any conclusive evidence, but from their behavior, they definitely have something to do with the new dam’s problem.”
Su Ying’s brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. The lives of thousands upon thousands of people were at stake here. This was no small matter.
“Your Imperial Highness has brought the original blueprints?”
Su Ying nodded.
“Your Imperial Highness, you didn’t give them the original blueprints, did you?”
“Not yet.”
Zhu Lin sighed with relief. “Thank goodness you didn’t give them. I suspect that they wanted to destroy the blueprints.
“What does Your Imperial Highness plan to do?”
Su Ying’s eyes darkened. Yi Kun and his group definitely had something to do with the dam’s problem. Since they even dared to harm Zhu Lin and his men, they would definitely have no qualms about harming other people. There might even be someone behind the scene who wanted to use this incident to cause trouble.
“Tell me all the information you have gotten and continue to pretend to be unconscious. I’ll take care of the rest.”
Zhu Lin was somewhat worried. If this matter was not handled well, many commoners might even lose their lives.
“What does Your Imperial Highness plan to do?”
Su Ying narrowed her eyes. “1 will let them know I am here.”
Revealing Su Ying’s identity was actually a very risky decision, but if things went smoothly, it would also be a great opportunity for the Empress to win the hearts of the people.
There were both risks and opportunities, and Su Ying decided to go for the opportunities.
Early the next morning, just as Yi Kun was about to instruct someone to check on Su Ying, he saw a minor official rush in anxiously.
“My Lord, my Lord, she’s here! She’s here!”
Yi Kun said with displeasure, “Speak clearly. Who’s here?”
“The Empress is here.”
“What?”
Yi Kun thought he had heard wrong. “The Empress is here?”
It was only when Yi Kun saw Su Ying’s phoenix carriage arriving outside the City Guardian’s Residence that he believed this news to be true.
“Your humble official pays his respects to Your Imperial Highness. May Your Imperial Highness be blessed with abundant fortune.”
Su Ying alighted from the horse carriage and swept her gaze across Yi Kun’s face with an indifferent expression. “Rise.”
“Yes, Your Imperial Highness. This way please.”
Su Ying followed Yi Kun into the City Guardian’s Residence and was treated like a distinguished guest. Yi Kun stood at the side and felt uneasy inwardly. He did not know why the Empress had suddenly arrived in Jing Prefecture.
“I heard that there was a problem with the dam at the Aquarius River. The Emperor specially sent me to deliver the original blueprints of the dam.”
Yi Kun was stunned when he heard this.. Had the Emperor gone mad?
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