Catching Monsters

Chapter 603 The visitor is evil

That night, the Imperial Guards were placed under complete martial law, and no one could easily enter or leave the palace without Xiao Jingqing's written order.

Linglong arrived outside the palace, but was stopped by the Imperial Guards.

"Princess Ningyi, His Highness the Crown Prince has ordered that no one is allowed to enter the palace without his permission. You should return now!"

A squad of imperial guards clad in black armor blocked Linglong's path at the city gate. Linglong's face was icy as she said, "My father is dead. Is it not allowed for me to see him?"

The Imperial Guards still blocked her way outside. Seeing this, Linglong knew that these guards wouldn't let her in easily, so she took action and kicked the soldier in front of her aside, saying, "Whoever dares to stop me, I'll kill them!"

Don't mistake me for a pretty face with no substance!

Even combined, these Imperial Guard soldiers were no match for Linglong. Soon, Linglong kicked away all the soldiers blocking her way.

Soon, the Imperial Guards dared not stop them. After all, Linglong was of noble status, and if she were to kill her, it would most likely be a pointless death.

Linglong burst into the palace and strode towards Xiao Yuzheng's bedroom. Amidst the torrential rain, Linglong spotted Feng Yu kneeling outside the bedroom at a glance.

"Eunuch Feng!"

Linglong quickly came to Feng Yu's side, wanting to help him up.

When Feng Yu turned around and saw Linglong, she grabbed her hand and said, "Your Highness, why are you here? You shouldn't be here at this time."

"How did my father die?" Linglong's face darkened, and she asked coldly, "Did Xiao Jingqing kill him?"

Feng Yu's throat bobbed slightly, and he sighed, "There is no father or son before imperial power. This old servant, having mingled in the palace, has long understood this principle, but I never expected that His Highness the Crown Prince, who is clearly the heir, would still..."

"I'm going to see my father!"

Linglong wiped the rain off her face, pushed open the palace door, and went inside. The room was empty, and Xiao Yuzheng's body lay quietly on the bed.

The supreme ruler of the Great Zhou Empire is now barely cold in death, yet there is no one to care for him at his bedside.

Linglong, her face cold, slowly walked to Xiao Yuzheng's corpse, took a deep breath, and heard Feng Yu's footsteps behind her.

"Your Highness, you mustn't act rashly..."

When Linglong saw Xiao Yuzheng's body, her face was cold, but a tear rolled down her cheek: "Eunuch Feng, isn't it strange? I've never been taken care of by my father since I was a child."

"He even once considered killing him when he rebelled and established the Red Lotus Sect."

"But now that he's really dead, I feel quite uneasy."

Feng Yu's nose tingled, and she knelt on the ground: "Your Highness, His Majesty also feels that he owes you too much. After you returned to the capital, he agreed to all your requests. Deep down, His Majesty loves you very much."

"Since Xiao Jingqing killed my father, why don't you avenge him and kill Xiao Jingqing!" Linglong suddenly turned around and stared intently at Feng Yu.

Upon hearing this, Feng Yu lowered his head and said, "We eunuchs are servants of the royal family for life. How can a servant lay a hand on his master?"

It wasn't that Feng Yu lacked flexibility, but rather that eunuchs like Feng Yu were trained from a young age, and their loyalty to imperial power was something ingrained in their bones.

"Fine, if you don't dare kill him, I'll go!" Linglong's eyes were cold as she strode out of the palace. This time, Feng Yu didn't stop her. His eyes were complicated. Perhaps in his opinion, it would be a good thing if Linglong really killed Xiao Jingqing to avenge him.

Meanwhile, in the imperial study, Xiao Jingqing had already impatiently changed into a dragon robe, which belonged to Xiao Yuzheng.

The robe was slightly too big for him, but he didn't care. Wearing the dragon robe, he paced back and forth in the imperial study.

Become!

Become!

Now that Qin Hong has been won over, the entire Tongyou Guard is under their control, which is the strongest group of top experts that the royal family can mobilize.

And they are absolutely loyal to His Majesty the Emperor.

Tomorrow, a memorial service will be held for the Emperor's father. After the ceremony, according to the established rites, he will officially ascend the throne after the New Year.

The emperor's death was also blamed on Jiang Yun. Few people knew the truth, and most of them dared not oppose him.

After the emperor ascends the throne and the situation is settled, he will recall his elder brother and let him accompany their father.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but take out the Imperial Seal, which symbolized imperial power, and stroked it repeatedly, muttering to himself, "Indeed, I was right to do this! I was right."

Bang.

The door to the Imperial Study was kicked open. Just then, a thunderclap sounded outside due to the torrential rain. With a loud bang and flashes of lightning, Linglong's figure stood in the doorway, soaked to the bone and with a cold gaze.

Princess Ningyi.

Upon seeing the visitor, Xiao Jingqing casually put down the Imperial Seal, slowly sat down on the dragon throne, and calmly asked, "What brings you to me?"

"How dare you call yourself 'I'? You killed my father, and today I will avenge him!"

Five daggers instantly appeared in Linglong's hand, and she swiftly launched them toward Xiao Jingqing's chest.

Unexpectedly, the five daggers only flew into the air before stopping and falling. Then, a man dressed in black robes appeared in the imperial study; it was the Black Shadow.

"The shadowy figure." Linglong's expression changed. She hadn't expected the shadowy figure to protect Xiao Jingqing. She hurriedly said, "It's one thing that you failed to protect my father, but now I want to avenge him, and you dare to stop me!"

The figure in black remained calm and slowly said, "I am ordered to protect His Highness the Crown Prince. Princess Ningyi, please return. With me here, you cannot harm His Highness the Crown Prince in the slightest."

A faint smile appeared on Xiao Jingqing's face, followed by a cold look in his eyes. He said, "Princess Ningyi, how dare you attack and plot against me! Bai Ying, listen to my command! Seize Ningyi and issue an imperial edict to immediately strip her of her princess status, demote her to a commoner, and imprison her in the Imperial Guard prison!"

In an instant, the white figure appeared and, caught off guard, struck Linglong hard on the back with a palm. After all, Linglong's strength was only at the third rank, far from being a match for the white figure.

She was quickly captured, but Linglong gritted her teeth and said, "Xiao Jingqing, do you think I care about this worthless princess status? You just wait and see. So what if you ascend the throne? I am the leader of the Red Lotus Sect. I am very experienced in rebellion. Even if you become emperor, I will overthrow you sooner or later."

"Do you really think I wouldn't dare kill you!" Xiao Jingqing said coldly, his face grim.

“Go ahead and kill me,” Linglong said coldly, showing no sign of compromise.

Seeing this, the shadowy figure quickly whispered, "Your Majesty, tomorrow is His Majesty's funeral, followed by your coronation ceremony. Killing too many people might damage your reputation."

Xiao Jingqing wanted to say that he had even killed his own father, so why would he be afraid to kill an older sister?
After taking a deep breath, Xiao Jingqing suppressed the thought and said in a deep voice, "Take her away and have the Embroidered Uniform Guard keep a close watch on her. Also, have Gu Zhengyu come to see me!"

Not long after Linglong was taken away, Gu Zhengyu rushed over. Gu Zhengyu had led the Imperial Guards in a major battle against the Embroidered Uniform Guards, and was stripped of his position as commander of the Imperial Guards and imprisoned.

Now that his suffering has finally come to an end, he entered the imperial study dressed in his robes and knelt respectfully on the ground, saying, "Your subject pays respects to Your Majesty!"

"Commander Gu, you're talking nonsense. I haven't even ascended the throne yet, you can't do that."

"Sure, it'll only be a few days later," Gu Zhengyu said with a smile.

"Alright, let's get down to business." Xiao Jingqing's face became more serious, and he said in a deep voice, "Jiang Yun has not yet been captured, and his family members are also nowhere to be found."

"Qi Lang is in charge of the Imperial Guards protecting me. You shall immediately lead a group of Imperial Guards to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion to search for Xu Suwen and Jiang Qiaoqiao."

"If you can't find them, bring Tao Yuelan back to me!"

Hearing Xiao Jingqing's words, Gu Zhengyu's expression changed slightly, and he advised, "Your Majesty, Xu Xiaogang is currently leading troops in battle. If we arrest his mother, won't that cause him..."

"You've reminded me. Send Zhang Pengyu with my imperial edict to the southwest and hand over command of the entire army to him."

"Make Xu Xiaogang relinquish his military power and return to the capital to participate in my enthronement ceremony."

Zhang Pengyu was a nobleman's son with whom Xiao Jingqing had a close relationship.

Upon hearing this, Gu Zhengyu frowned and said, "Zhang Pengyu only hangs out in the capital and knows absolutely nothing about leading troops. Sending him to lead troops in the southwest..."

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, it would be better to send some experienced people."

"Don't worry, Zhang Pengyu is only temporarily in charge. I have my own considerations." Xiao Jingqing said slowly, "Alright, this is not your concern. What you need to worry about right now is how to capture Jiang Yun and his family members."

“Jiang Yun is a man of great loyalty and affection. Once we have his family in control, he will be easy to deal with.”

……

At night, as the rain poured down, Tao Yuelan sat in the Zhenguo Duke's mansion, constantly chanting Buddhist scriptures, hoping that the gods and Buddhas would bless the Zhenguo Duke's mansion so that it could safely overcome this difficulty.

News of Xiao Yuzheng's death has already spread throughout the capital, and ordinary people naturally feel great regret for him.

Putting aside the outside world, at least during the years that Xiao Yuzheng was in power, the area around the capital was a place of peace and prosperity, where people had no worries about food and clothing.

Many powerful and influential people also knew that something big was probably going to happen in the next few days, so they tried to stay home as much as possible.

Suddenly, a servant from the mansion rushed to the entrance of the Buddhist hall and said, "Madam, something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened!"

Hearing this, Tao Yuelan frowned slowly and asked in a deep voice, "What happened?"

"Outside the Duke's mansion, a troop of imperial guards arrived, claiming they wanted to search the young master and young lady..."

Upon hearing this, Tao Yuelan's heart sank slightly. She took a deep breath and said, "I'll go outside and take a look."

After saying that, she opened an umbrella and quickly arrived at the gate of the Duke's mansion. Her face was cold, and outside the gate, a large number of imperial guards were standing.

And the one who led this imperial guard was Gu Zhengyu.

At this moment, Gu Zhengyu had changed into the uniform of a high-ranking official of the Imperial Guard and said with a smile, "Madam Tao Yuelan, this is an imperial edict. We are ordered to search for fugitives."

"Madam Tao Yuelan, your Zhenguo Duke's Mansion has been known for its loyal and virtuous families for generations. You wouldn't do something like harboring a fugitive, would you?"

Upon hearing this, Tao Yuelan took a deep breath, took the imperial edict, read it over, and turned to the many armed servants behind her, saying, "Make way."

Wu Chi, standing behind her, also gripped an iron rod and said, "Madam, we can't let them in! Something's happened at the Jiang residence, what's the point of searching our Zhenguo Duke's mansion?"

"Why?"

Wu Chi certainly couldn't let these people in. Xu Suwen and Jiang Qiaoqiao were currently hiding in a secret room underground in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

Of course, this matter was top secret, and only Wu Chi and Tao Yuelan knew about it.

What if they really come in and take Xu Suwen and Jiang Qiaoqiao away...

Wu Chi said loudly, "Our Duke is still out there leading troops in battle, yet they come to our residence to arrest people. Isn't this bullying?"

"Correct!"

Many servants behind her also shouted in response. Most of these people were from the military. As long as Tao Yuelan gave the order, they would dare to fight the Imperial Guards to the death.

Tao Yuelan frowned deeply: "Don't do anything reckless! Get out of my way."

"this!"

Wu Chi opened his mouth slightly and sighed. Soon, a large number of imperial guards poured into the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion and began a thorough search. Gu Zhengyu stood slowly beside Tao Yuelan with his hands behind his back and said, "Madam Tao, His Highness the Crown Prince has instructed that if we can find the fugitive from the Jiang family, that will be fine."

"If we cannot find it, I'm afraid we'll have to ask Madam Tao to come back with me."

Wu Chi, standing to the side, frowned and reprimanded, "How dare you! Even when His Majesty Xiao Yuzheng was still alive, he treated our lady with utmost courtesy!"

"You actually want to kidnap my wife!"

Tao Yuelan slowly raised her hand, signaling Wu Chi not to act rashly.

Wu Chi's heart sank. He stepped back, then found two servants and whispered, "Take some men to the armory at the back and get weapons. If these Imperial Guards dare to lay a hand on the Madam, we'll fight them to the death!"

"We must protect the lady at all costs!"

Wu Chi understood that the visitors were up to no good, and if his wife were really captured, no one knew what might happen.

In such power struggles, once someone is captured, the chances of them returning alive are probably very low.

"Also, have the third brother lead a team of men, armed with bows and crossbows, to the rooftops outside the street to prepare. This group of imperial guards is only about two hundred strong, but we are not to be trifled with."

"Yes!"

Soon, the servants in the Duke's mansion sprang into action.

(End of this chapter)