novelraw Chapter 192
Chapter 192
"Mother, are we going to die?"
Protected tightly by Yun Wan, Sui felt the imminent danger and the violent jolting beneath them. He asked in a small voice, his little face tense and filled with anxiety.
Yun Wan held him close, suppressing the panic in her heart. Her trembling voice was full of certainty, "No, we will absolutely be fine."
She curled up in the corner of the carriage to reduce the impact of the bumps. Through the satin curtains, Yun Wan quickly analyzed their current situation.
If the carriage plunged into the deep river, neither she nor Sui knew how to swim. Without anyone on the shore to rescue them, they would undoubtedly die.
Glancing again at the dusty ground flying by outside, Yun Wan made up her mind. She quickly wrapped the animal skin cushions available in the carriage around herself and her son, hoping to minimize the impact of hitting the ground when they landed.
After doing all this, she lowered her head to protect Sui's head. Pushing open the carriage door, a flash of determination crossed her face as she stood up, ready to leap—
Bang!
At that critical moment, a violent, sudden stop sent Yun Wan, still holding Sui, falling hard backward, slamming heavily against the carriage wall.
Yun Wan gasped in pain.
When she regained her senses, she realized the entire carriage seemed to have come to a standstill. The urgent galloping and the shrill neighing of the horse abruptly vanished, and everything seemed to fall silent.
A strong scent of blood permeated the air. Then, a man's voice came from outside the carriage, "Your subordinate Xuan Yi has arrived late to your rescue!"
Xuan Yi?
Yun Wan had heard of the Xuanlong Guards. It was said they were a group of death knights who answered only to the emperor. Ranked by their abilities, the one in the first place was Xuan Yi.
Yun Wan lifted the satin curtain. Her eyes fell upon a man dressed in black, blending into the twilight, his face partially concealed.
Immediately after, she noticed the horse's head lying on the ground. Its neck had been cleanly severed by a sharp weapon. Blood had splattered everywhere, dyeing the ground red and filling the air with a metallic stench that made her slightly nauseous.
Realizing the danger had passed, Sui climbed out of Yun Wan's embrace and looked up, wanting to peek outside.
Yun Wan reflexively covered his eyes, turning her own gaze away from the gruesome scene on the ground. She asked hoarsely, "Did His Majesty send you?"
She stared at the sword in Xuan Yi's hand. It was covered in blood but still glinted with a cold light. Clearly, this was the blade that had decapitated the horse.
Xuan Yi nodded. "Yes. Your subordinate has been following in secret. It was my mistake; I nearly fell for the mastermind's ploy to lure the tiger from the mountain, placing both masters in peril."
At the market, he had sensed someone spying from the shadows. The person's behavior was suspicious, but after chasing them for a hundred meters, he realized something was wrong and hurriedly retraced his steps.
Upon discovering the carriage had changed its route, Xuan Yi sprinted after it. It took him some time to catch up, behead the drugged and agitated horse, and intercept the carriage just before it plunged into the river.
Confirming his identity, Yun Wan's shoulders slumped slightly, and her highly anxious heart gradually settled.
For a moment, she had truly feared this man was an assassin hired by the mastermind, coming for her and Sui.
The sky had completely darkened. Yun Wan glanced around and asked, "Where is the young eunuch who was driving the carriage?"
Xuan Yi replied, "He was thrown off just now. He is still breathing and not dead."
"Your Ladyship!"
Torches lit up the distance. Yun Wan heard the voices of the palace servants and saw the Imperial Feather Forest Guards riding over, quickly surrounding the area.
Seeing Yun Wan completely unharmed in the carriage, the servants breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you alright, Your Ladyship? And His Highness the little prince!"
Yun Wan shook her head and, with the help of the servants, boarded a new carriage with Sui.
"Return to the palace first," she ordered.
As for why the horse went mad, or who orchestrated this plot behind the scenes? Yun Wan temporarily had no energy to care.
.........
In the banquet hall of the Ministry of Rites, there was singing and dancing, and glasses clinked in celebration. Sitting at the head seat, Emperor Jingxuan maintained an impassive expression in the face of the envoys' flatteries.
He glanced at the sky outside, calculating that his wife should have returned to the palace by now and be preparing for dinner.
Jiang Fusheng stood quietly by his side with a smile, until his apprentice Xiao Dezi hurried in through the side door and whispered a few words in his ear.
Jiang Fusheng's expression drastically changed. Not daring to delay for even a moment, he hastily relayed the news to Emperor Jingxuan.
"Crash—"
At the sound of a shattering wine cup, the Minister of Rites and the envoys looked over. In the blink of an eye, Emperor Jingxuan was no longer at the head seat.
Burning with anxiety, Jiang Fusheng did not forget to offer an explanation: "Envoys and my lords, please remain calm. An unexpected incident has occurred in the palace, and His Majesty has urgent matters to attend to. Please, enjoy yourselves."
The Minister of Rites pressed, "What happened in the palace? Eunuch Jiang, could you disclose a little?"
Jiang Fusheng merely replied, "My lord will know very soon."
He didn't linger, rushing off to catch up with Emperor Jingxuan, leaving behind a group of thoroughly bewildered officials and envoys.
Emperor Jingxuan left the banquet hall, mounted a fine horse tied in the courtyard, and rode toward the palace gates, unable to wait a single second.
The night was cold, and the freezing wind howled past his ears. Emperor Jingxuan's expression was grim, his handsome and sharply defined face pulled taut. His dark phoenix eyes were sharp and profound, like a fierce beast ready to pounce.
He turned a deaf ear to everything around him. Only one thought circled in his mind: his wife had met with an accident on her way back to the palace, and her carriage horse had suddenly gone mad.
Throughout history, there were countless examples. Once a horse went mad, the people inside the carriage would suffer broken bones and severe injuries at best, and lose their lives at worst.
Neither outcome was something Emperor Jingxuan wanted to see.
"Hyah!"
With a crack of the whip, he galloped as fast as lightning. Emperor Jingxuan's heart felt as though it was boiling in fire, and his desire to see Yun Wan and their son with his own eyes reached its peak.
The two parties finally met at the palace gates. The escorting guards grew vigilant upon hearing the rapid hoofbeats, until they saw clearly and exclaimed, "It is His Majesty!"
Yun Wan called for a stop and hurriedly got out of the carriage. Upon seeing that familiar figure on horseback, she ran toward him without hesitation—
"Your Majesty!"
"Imperial Father!"
The ancients said that a day apart feels like three autumns. In the short fifteen minutes it took him to ride here, Emperor Jingxuan had imagined countless possibilities, all of which vanished without a trace when he saw the mother and son running toward him one after the other.
He swung his long leg over and dismounted swiftly, taking wide strides forward to pull Yun Wan into his arms, not forgetting to scoop up Sui with one hand.
"My wife!"
"I'm sorry, I arrived late." His voice was low and hoarse, laced with heavy emotion. His back was covered in a cold sweat.
Yun Wan buried her face in his chest, her neat hair bun slightly disheveled. She looked up, tears shimmering in her clear eyes.
"Xuan Yi arrived just in time. I had originally planned to jump from the carriage with Sui, but he arrived in time to kill the maddened horse."
She spoke with a sob in her voice, and her usually rosy lips were now completely drained of color.
Tightening his long arms, Emperor Jingxuan's eyes were filled with worry. "I am here. Don't be afraid anymore."
Zichen Palace.
The imperial physicians, who had rushed over through the night and arrived early, had been waiting for a long time. After a thorough examination, Yun Wan had no external injuries other than a few bruises from the bumps.
As for Sui, he had been protected so tightly by Yun Wan during the crisis that he emerged completely unscathed.
Thank goodness. The group of imperial physicians wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads.
Zhou Rubing said, "Her Ladyship and His Highness suffered a fright today. I have prescribed a soothing potion, but otherwise, there is no major harm."
The spring cold was biting, and her mind had suffered a shock. Unexpectedly, starting from the latter half of the night, Yun Wan's body turned burning hot, and she fell into an unconscious stupor.
Zichen Palace remained brightly lit throughout the night.