bookrandom Chapter 118 Kidnapping the Imperial Concubine
Chapter 118 Kidnapping the Imperial Concubine
Just as Gu Simo was about to step forward and seize the fake Ni Xiao, she suddenly sprang up from the ground and rushed towards Consort Lan with lightning speed, twisting Consort Lan's arm with one hand while forcefully grabbing Consort Lan's neck with the other—
"Get out of my way, all of you! Or I'll kill her!"
"Your Majesty!" This scene startled the palace maids, nannies, and eunuchs in the hall, who all cried out in alarm.
"How dare you!" Yu Chi Sheng hadn't expected her to be so bold. He couldn't help but point at her and growl, "If you dare to harm the Imperial Concubine even slightly, I will have you torn apart by five horses!"
"Haha!" The fake Ni Xiao burst into wild laughter, then glared at them with a twisted face, "Since I'm not going to die a good death anyway, I might as well take someone down with me!"
Granny Chen stepped forward, knelt before them, and pleaded, "Please don't hurt our Lady. If you must arrest someone, arrest this old servant instead!"
The fake Ni Xiao roared, "Get out of my way!" Then she yelled at Yu Chi Sheng again, "I'll count to three, and if you don't let me go, I'll strangle her right now!"
Seeing her tighten her fingers, Yu Chi Sheng shouted before she could even begin counting, "Get out of the way!"
Yu Chi Ling took two steps back to the side without expression.
Ye Shishu also pulled Gu Simo away.
The silver needles that had been protruding from Gu Simo's fingers disappeared silently. The murderous aura from before faded away, leaving only endless indifference as she calmly watched them.
Ye Shijun was already quite far away, so it was even less of his business.
The fake Ni Xiao used Consort Lan as a human shield, twisting her as she retreated out of the palace.
Yu Chisheng dared not make any other moves, fearing that she would kill Consort Lan, so he could only follow her step by step.
The palace servants of Lanxia Palace followed behind him, each staring at the fake Ni Xiao with fear and unease.
As the fake Ni Xiao exited the gates of Lanxia Palace, she ran into the Crown Prince and Crown Princess who had just arrived.
"Your Majesty!" The couple were both shocked.
“Crown Prince…” Consort Lan looked at them, her eyes reddening.
Yu Chi Rui pointed at the fake Ni Xiao and threatened, "If you dare to harm the Imperial Concubine, I will tear you to pieces!"
The fake Ni Xiao yelled shrilly, "Get out of my way! Or I'll strangle her right now!"
Seeing her acting so aggressively, Yu Chi Rui and Zhu Huaning had no choice but to make way for her.
Ni Xiao twisted and gripped Consort Lan as they retreated step by step toward the palace gate. More and more imperial guards followed, but Consort Lan was held tightly by Ni Xiao's grip. In addition, neither the Emperor nor the Crown Prince nor Prince Cheng made any statement, so no one dared to make any rash moves. They could only follow closely step by step and watch her hand movements intently.
This standoff lasted for nearly an hour, from Lanxia Palace to the palace gate.
Consort Lan seemed to have been tortured to the point of exhaustion, her head bowed the whole time. As they were about to leave the palace, she suddenly spoke in a low voice, "That's enough, you can go now."
The fake Ni Xiao threatened in a low voice in her ear, "You better pray that I can leave the capital safely, otherwise I can't guarantee what you'll confess if you fall into their hands."
"Do I need you to remind me?" Consort Lan snorted.
At first she was angry and scared, but after thinking about it carefully, she realized that taking the woman hostage and helping her leave was the wisest thing to do!
After all, she has fallen into the hands of Prince Cheng, who will definitely try every means to force this woman to talk. Once she confesses about her relationship with the Crown Prince, the consequences will be unimaginable.
Once she was certain that Ni Xiao truly intended to protect her and help her escape, the fake Ni Xiao shouted, "Prepare a fast horse for me, or I'll kill her!"
Yu Chi Rui immediately shouted to the guards, "Prepare the fast horses!"
The imperial guards all turned to look at Yuchi Sheng, the emperor.
Yu Chisheng didn't speak, but nodded with a stern face.
Before long, Wu Yue, the commander of the guards, appeared leading a large horse.
"Bring him over here!" the fake Ni Xiao shouted menacingly.
Wu Yue led his horse closer and closer to her.
Seeing her opportunity, the imposter Ni Xiao swiftly mounted her horse as she pushed Consort Lan away, and galloped off at top speed into the distance.
"Your Majesty!" Wu Yue helped Consort Lan up.
Yu Chisheng, Yu Chirui, and Zhu Huaning rushed forward to check on her condition.
Consort Lan weakly nestled into Yuchi Sheng's arms.
Yu Chi Sheng immediately shouted, "Escort the Imperial Concubine back! Summon the Imperial Physician!"
Granny Chen from Lanxia Palace led the palace maids forward to greet them.
The atmosphere was tense, but with the emperor in charge, no chaos occurred.
After Consort Lan and the people from Lanxia Palace had left, Yuchi Sheng stood with his hands behind his back, staring in the direction the horses had fled, and shouted at Wu Yue, "Chase them! Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, catch them!"
"Yes!" Wu Yue accepted the order and proceeded.
Zhu Huaning walked up to Yu Chiling and Ye Shishu, and asked with a worried expression, "What exactly happened? Where did this woman come from, and why is she here at Lanxia Palace to kidnap Her Highness?"
Yu Chi Ling looked at her expressionlessly and said, "I don't know where this woman came from who deliberately impersonated Ni Xiao to get close to me."
Zhu Huaning said with dissatisfaction, "Prince Cheng, the Imperial Concubine is your mother. Your coldness is too heartless!"
Ye Shishu wiped her eyes, choking back tears, and said, "Sister-in-law, look closely! My lord's face is pale with fright, he's almost scared out of his wits! In that situation, what do you expect us to do? Do you want us to provoke the kidnapper so she can harm our mother?"
Zhu Huaning had intended to give a public lecture to criticize Prince Cheng for being indifferent and unfilial. However, Ye Shishu's tearful outburst unexpectedly put her in an embarrassing position.
Seeing that everyone's eyes were on her, she immediately changed her tone and gently comforted her, "Sister-in-law, that's not what I meant. I just heard that the woman was after my second brother. He knows the truth better and will definitely be able to persuade the robbers more effectively, so that the Imperial Concubine can suffer less."
Ye Shishu continued to speak on behalf of Yu Chiling, saying, "My sister-in-law doesn't know anything about what happened. The prince didn't even speak to that woman. How can he persuade the kidnappers to release her? If everyone were to accuse the prince without distinguishing right from wrong like my sister-in-law, people would think we sent people to kidnap Mother Consort!"
"I..." Zhu Huaning almost lost her composure.
Seeing his woman losing ground, Yu Chi Rui glared at her fiercely, signaling her to shut up.
Yu Chi Sheng looked at them with displeasure. "What are you arguing about? Go back to your quarters!"
……
Everyone returned to the palace.
But this time it was in the Golden Palace.
After hearing the whole story of Consort Lan's abduction, Yuchi Rui looked indignant and pleaded with Yuchi Sheng, "Father, those disciples of Huaxiang Pavilion are truly audacious and lawless. Not only did they get close to Prince Cheng, but they also abducted Consort Lan. They simply don't respect our royal family! Such villains should be executed as soon as possible to prevent them from causing chaos and overthrowing our Great Ye Dynasty!"
Yu Chi Ling said coldly, "Your Majesty, it's true that the woman has problems, but her confession is all one-sided. Before there is sufficient evidence to prove that Hua Xiang Pavilion has problems, it is too arbitrary for Your Majesty to want to eradicate a martial arts sect based solely on the words of a woman with ulterior motives!"
Yu Chi Rui retorted indignantly, "She dared to commit violence in front of the Emperor, so she must have a powerful force backing her up. Who else could it be but Hua Xiang Pavilion? This concerns the stability of the country and the nation. We should rather kill a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free. Otherwise, if the court is harmed, who can bear the responsibility?"
"What a fine 'better to kill a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free'!" Yu Chi Ling sneered. "As the Crown Prince, is Your Majesty so tyrannical and ruthless? One person's mistake should lead to the deaths of hundreds of innocent people? With so many criminals every day, at Your Majesty's rate, the people of my Great Ye Kingdom could be wiped out in less than a year."