Love Lock

Chapter 184 Who else suffered this misfortune?

Turning past the vermilion palace wall, the outline of Weiyang Palace gradually came into view. Two plain white lanterns swayed in the wind in front of the palace gate, erected to mourn the family of the Marquis of Champion.

Upon seeing the emperor's arrival, the palace maids guarding the gate hurriedly knelt down, but Emperor Jing raised his hand to stop them.

"Has the Empress retired for the night?" he asked in a low voice.

"Your Majesty, the Empress is copying Buddhist scriptures in the warm pavilion..." Before the palace maid could finish speaking, Emperor Jing had already strode inside.

As I walked through the corridor, a suppressed cough came from the direction of the warm pavilion.

Emperor Jing paused, his heart suddenly tightening.

After the Empress fell ill from excessive grief, the Imperial Physicians examined her pulse daily, but always said that a heart ailment requires a heart remedy.

On the gauze window of the warm chamber, the Empress's profile was as thin as paper. Her posture as she wrote at her desk remained dignified, but her slightly trembling shoulders betrayed her inner sorrow.

Emperor Jing stood in the shadows under the corridor, hesitant to approach, and unsure of what to say.

His ascension to the throne was largely due to the Empress and her family.

After tomorrow, this woman who gave him her whole heart will have to share her husband with another woman. And he won't even be able to give her a proper period of mourning.

At that moment, he himself felt like a dog.

"Your Majesty?" Li Zhongxin's cautious call from behind startled him awake.

Emperor Jing took a deep breath and straightened his clothes.

When he pushed open the door to the warm pavilion, a gentle smile appeared on his face: "Ying'er, I've arrived."

Su Ying was the empress's maiden name, and she was of the same generation as Marquis Su Ce and General Su Qi, who was stationed in Jingzhou.

Upon suddenly hearing Emperor Jing's voice, the Empress was so startled that her brush tip veered off course, and a blot of ink immediately spread across the half-written Xuan paper.

She hurriedly rose and bowed, her wide, plain white sleeves knocking over the celadon brush washer on the table, and the clear water spilled over the half-copied "Rebirth Mantra".

"Your Majesty, I have been disrespectful..." The Empress's voice choked with sobs as she lowered her head to pick up the shards of the brush washer, but Emperor Jing caught her.

"Don't move." He grasped her cold fingers. "Be careful not to cut yourself."

In the candlelight, the dark circles under the empress's eyes were obvious, and her lips were as pale as snow.

Emperor Jing felt a pang of pain in his heart and, without saying a word, pulled her into his arms.

The empress was initially stiff as a stone, but after a moment she finally broke down, clutching his dragon robe and silently shedding tears.

Warm tears seeped through his clothes, burning Emperor Jing's skin.

"Today, the Dali Temple has found the murderer." He gently stroked the Empress's thin back. "It is a branch of the Wei family in Cangzhou, named Wei Dabao."

The Empress abruptly looked up, a flash of anger in her bloodshot eyes: "So you really are a member of the Wei family?" Her voice was so soft it was almost inaudible. "My brother has always lived in the capital and has never had any conflict with the Wei family, why..."

"I have ordered a thorough investigation to determine if anyone is behind this," Emperor Jing interrupted her, stroking her damp cheek with his thumb. "Rest assured, I will not let the Marquis of Champion's family die in vain."

The Empress stared at him blankly, then suddenly gave a bitter smile: "Your Majesty is to marry a new bride tomorrow, why bother tonight to comfort your old flame?"

Emperor Jing was struck by the bitterness in her words. Somewhat embarrassed, he personally helped the Empress to sit down on the soft couch.

"What new or old lovers? In my heart, only Su Ying is my wife." He pointed to the familiar brocade box on the table. "I remember you said that the fine wine was waiting for me to drink with you. Tonight is an auspicious night, so I will drink with you and have some intimate conversations."

The Empress's gaze fell on the brocade box, and her expression suddenly turned sorrowful. Seeing the object reminded her of her brother's family.

This was the very person my brother had ordered Princess Chang Le to bring to the palace on the night his family had their accident.

Her slender fingers traced the patterns on the brocade box as she softly said, "This wine... was sent by Chang Le, who said it was a rare and fine brew."

"That's perfect." Emperor Jing opened the brocade box, picked up two hand grenades inside, their military green protrusions reflecting an eerie light in the candlelight. "Let us drink this wine together and relieve our worries."

The Empress suddenly pressed his hand down: "Your Majesty, it is not advisable for you to drink too much for the grand ceremony tomorrow..."

Emperor Jing laughed: "It's alright! Don't you know my drinking capacity?" He broke free from the Empress's hand and poured the amber liquid into two luminous cups. "Come, this cup is to honor the spirits of the Marquis of Champion's family in heaven."

In the corner, the all-black myna suddenly flapped its wings, causing the gold cage to shake violently.

"Idiot! Drink up, drink up!" The myna's shrill voice pierced the air in the hall.

Hearing that annoying myna bird call him an idiot again, Emperor Jing's face suddenly darkened, and he slammed the grenade in his hand heavily on the table.

"Insolence!" He glared at the myna bird that kept repeating "idiot," his eyes filled with murderous intent. "Guards, throw this beast out! If it dares to spout nonsense again, I'll have its tongue ripped out and made into soup!"

Li Zhongxin hurriedly ran forward. When he picked up the birdcage, the myna was still fluttering inside, its black bean-like eyes fixed on the hand grenade on the table, its cries growing more joyful.

"Idiot! Drink up, drink up!"

The Empress gazed at the birdcage being carried away, a rare smile curving her lips.

"Why should Your Majesty bother with a hairy beast? Let's drink instead!" She reached out and hooked the pin on the grenade.

Emperor Jing snorted coldly and picked up the grenade in front of him: "Hmph! Let's not talk about that beast. Come, Ying'er, let's drink together as husband and wife."

"Your Majesty, just pull this ring," the Empress gently instructed, her fingernails stained with bright red balsam juice, appearing as dazzling as blood in the candlelight.

Emperor Jing's fingers gripped the pull ring: "Ying'er is so thoughtful."

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

With two soft clicks, the pull rings of both wine jugs were pulled open simultaneously, and the safety levers sprang open as well.

Emperor Jing and the Empress smiled at each other and clinked their glasses together.

"Respectfully……"

"boom!"

The moment the Queen uttered her toast, the entire world exploded in a flash of white light.

The two grenades detonated almost simultaneously, and the shockwave shattered the carved window frames and the nanmu beams.

Emperor Jing's smiling face twisted and deformed in a fraction of a second, then turned into a rain of blood.

The empress's magnificent court robes were instantly torn to shreds, and her pearl-inlaid belt shot into the gilded pillar like an arrow.

The priceless glass screen collapsed with a crash, and before the four palace maids guarding the door could even scream, their throats were slit by flying shards of porcelain.

The high temperature generated by the explosion quickly ignited the emperor and empress's torn clothing and the hanging, fluttering gauze, and the fire quickly became uncontrollable.

Li Zhongxin, who had just stepped into the courtyard carrying a birdcage, was knocked to the ground by the blast wave.

He turned around in horror and saw that most of the main hall of Weiyang Palace had collapsed, and the raging fire inside illuminated half of the palace.

The caged myna bird frantically pounded against its cage, feathers flying everywhere, its cries piercingly mournful: "Idiots! They're all dead! They're all dead!"

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

Li Zhongxin cried out in pain and collapsed to the ground, the birdcage rolling from his hands. His shout was drowned out by the screams that came from all directions.

The first to arrive were the Imperial Guards patrolling nearby. The commander rushed into the smoke-filled hall, then staggered back out, his armor covered in blood and flesh scraps.

"Quickly...quickly seal the palace gates!" he cried out in terror, his voice trembling. "Go and...quickly go and invite the Imperial Noble Consort!"

Besides the emperor, empress, and concubines, the only other people in the palace are guards and palace servants.

With most of the Weiyang Palace collapsed and such a catastrophic event occurring, the first thought of the commander of the guards was to summon the highest-ranking Imperial Noble Consort to take charge. In less than a quarter of an hour, the entire palace was like a honeycomb that had exploded.

Torches were lit everywhere, and the disheveled concubines, supported by palace maids, surged toward Weiyang Palace.

Upon seeing the scene inside Weiyang Palace, everyone was stunned and stood frozen in place, unable to recover for a long time.

The Imperial Noble Consort staggered over, supported by her maids. Her phoenix hairpin was askew, and her face was ashen.

As she approached and saw the blood and flesh splattered everywhere in the hall, she suddenly bent over and began to gag.

After finally stopping her nausea, she summoned Li Zhongxin, who was pale with fright, and the surviving palace servants of Weiyang Palace to inquire. She learned that Emperor Jing and the Empress were drinking inside when the explosion occurred for some unknown reason.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty."

"The Queen."

"Your Majesty, Queen."

The concubines only dared to stand in front of the ruins, calling out and searching, but dared not go forward.

At this moment, the imperial physicians rushed over from the Imperial Hospital. They carried their medicine boxes and searched in vain through the ruins, eventually only managing to pull out some scattered limbs, mangled and bloody, with no one able to tell whose was whose.

Once it was confirmed that Emperor Jing and the Empress had indeed been killed in the explosion, everyone burst into tears.

However, among them were also concubines who had been secretly bullied and suppressed by the Empress, and who had suffered miscarriages and lost their children. Although they wore sorrowful expressions and wept bitterly, they secretly thought to themselves, "This is retribution!"

The Imperial Noble Consort's trembling finger pointed to the pool of flesh and blood mixed with gold thread embroidery on the imperial physician's hand. It took her a long time to calm herself down, but her voice was still trembling.

"Quickly...strengthen security...soon summon the civil and military officials...to the palace immediately!"

With the Imperial Noble Consort's order, security in the palace was heightened, and the Imperial Guards and Emperor Jing's secret guards were all mobilized, completely surrounding the palace.

Meanwhile, chaos reigned outside the palace. In the quiet night, the sound of grenades exploding could be heard more than ten kilometers away.

As a result, the entire capital city was alarmed.

The night watchman dropped his clapper in fright, pedestrians were terrified, and even those who were asleep were awakened by the explosion.

The people rushed out of their homes, disheveled, and looked at each other in fear.

"Is divine retribution coming again?"

"Judging from that sound, could it be an earthworm turning over?"

"No, no, this voice is exactly the same as when the Marquis of Champion's mansion had that incident a few days ago!"

Whispers rose and fell among the crowd. The constables of the Jingzhao Prefecture, sweating profusely, tried to maintain order, but they could not stop the panic from spreading like a tide.

Inside the Marquis of Champion's residence, Princess Chang Le, who was preparing to go to bed, suddenly trembled.

"This voice..."

Her pupils contracted sharply, and a fine layer of goosebumps rose on her skin beneath her silk nightgown. Without any hesitation, she grabbed an outer robe and rushed out.

"Princess! It's late and the dew is heavy, where are you going?" The old nanny chased after her in a panic.

Princess Chang Le ignored him and ran barefoot into the courtyard.

The night breeze ruffled her long hair. She paused, thought for a moment, looked up at the sky, and suddenly let out a distorted, shrill laugh: "Haha, whose house is it this time?"

She was all too familiar with that sound of explosions; she wanted to see whose house had been hit this time.

Now it's not just her house that was bombed; tonight, others will lose family members just like her. Haha, at least she has company, so she's not alone.

She rushed out of the mansion, and seeing the crowded streets and the red-tinged sky in the distance, her face turned deathly pale: "This, how could this be... the palace?"

Her eyes widened as she staggered forward a few steps, repeatedly shouting, "No, no, it can't be..."

The civil and military officials quickly received the imperial decree from the Imperial Noble Consort, and hurriedly climbed into carriages or sedan chairs, rushing to the palace.

Prime Minister Wei's sedan chair hurried through the chaotic streets. He had just been released without charge at dusk, and when he lifted the curtain, his cloudy eyes reflected the thick smoke billowing above the palace.

"Faster!" Prime Minister Wei urged the sedan chair bearers.

He also realized that the commotion tonight was exactly the same as the one that happened at the Marquis of Champion's mansion that day.

But wasn't Wei Dabao already captured and imprisoned in Dali Temple? So where did tonight's explosion come from? Why did the Imperial Noble Consort suddenly issue an edict from the palace? What exactly happened in the palace?
After all the civil and military officials had entered the palace, the heavy palace doors, which had been locked and then reopened, creaked shut again...

At the third quarter of the hour of Yin (3:45 AM), the glazed tiles of the Honglu Temple were still covered with night dew, and Princess Yujia had already been awakened from her brocade quilt by her tutor.

A sleepy face was reflected in the bronze mirror, with faint bluish shadows under the eyes.

"Princess, please bear with it. This comb is coated with osmanthus oil, so it will be easier to comb your hair."

An older palace maid, holding a rhinoceros horn comb, carefully gathered up the princess's waist-length black hair, strand by strand.

Yu Jia closed her eyes and heard the crisp sound of the gold hairpins clinking in the dressing case, just like the explosion that had shattered the capital last night.

Last night, everyone in the Court of State Ceremonial heard the explosion.

But today, as the marriage ceremony is to be held, no one in the Court of State Ceremonial dares to be careless, for fear of causing any trouble for the ceremony and being punished by His Majesty. They all earnestly stick to their posts.

Minister Cui of the Court of State Ceremonial only sent one person out to gather information; the rest were not allowed to leave the Court of State Ceremonial even for a moment.

“Granny, that noise last night…” Yu Jia had just started to speak when she was interrupted by the stern gaze reflected in the bronze mirror.

The headmistress inserted a golden phoenix hairpin heavily into Princess Yujia's hair. "Princess, just be a good bride today. The court officials will take care of those irrelevant matters."

Before the words were finished, the clanging sound of armor clashing as guards changed shifts came from outside the window. The closer the marriage ceremony got, the more these guards from the Imperial Guards surrounded the Court of State Ceremonial like an iron barrel.

As the morning drum sounded three times, Princess Yujia, adorned with jewels and jade, felt a fine sweat gradually seeping from the back of her neck.

According to etiquette, the wedding procession should arrive before 7:00 AM, but now not even a single official from the Ministry of Rites is present.

"Why haven't the wedding procession arrived yet?" The headmistress looked anxiously outside.

"That's right, the Ministry of Rites is nowhere to be found either. This has never happened before!"

Lord Cui raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead; he seemed to have a bad feeling.

"grown ups!"

At this moment, the servant who had been sent out to gather information rushed into the courtyard in a panic and tripped on the bluestone slab.

"My lord, people in the West Market are saying that they can see smoke rising from the Imperial City from Zhuque Avenue!"

"Ah?" The teacup in the hand of Minister Cui of the Court of State Ceremonies clattered on the stone steps, and shards of porcelain splashed onto the shoes of the teaching nanny.

Last night's earth-shattering noise came from the capital city, and there was even smoke and fire.
Everyone was shocked and speechless, and Lord Cui even slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly.

"Quickly! Prepare the horses! I must go myself..."

Before Lord Cui could finish speaking, the sound of rapid hoofbeats suddenly came from outside the gate.

A pale-faced, beardless eunuch led twelve imperial guards into the courtyard, his black official robes seemingly stained with suspicious dark red.

Immediately afterwards, the eunuch's shrill voice came from the courtyard.

"Imperial Consort's decree!"

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