Chapter 191 - Be a Killing Sword of the Emperor!

Thinking about the jade pendant incident that he had investigated earlier, Baili Qingcang narrowed his eyes slightly. A trace of unclear expression flashed through his eyes. Could there really be a connection between the owner of Panlong Villa and his fifth son?

“Summon him in.”

Baili Jinze’s face was pale. When he woke up on his bed, he was stunned. He was lying in bed thinking about something when he unknowingly fell asleep. When he woke up again, a whole day had passed. Moreover, there was a pack of wolves attacking the camp just during this period of time. It was simply unreasonable to call it a coincidence.

He raised his eyes and looked around in the tent. When his gaze fell on Chu Junyi, he gritted his teeth secretly. Shen Ninghua alone was already very difficult for him to deal with. He didn’t expect that Chu Junyi wasn’t easy to tackle either. Who knew how much trouble they would cause in the court in the future when the two of them became a couple and cooperated with each other!

Although he kept thinking about it with indignation, there was not a single trace of abnormal expression on his face. He quickly walked to the center of the camp and knelt on the ground. Then, he bent down and kowtowed deeply. He said earnestly, “Greetings, Father Emperor. Seeing that Father Emperor is fine, my heart is finally at ease.”

Baili Qingcang looked at his son coldly. “Now that you’re awake, aren’t you going to commit suicide again?”

The surrounding officials abruptly lowered their heads, pretending that their ears were temporarily deaf.

Baili Jinze’s heart trembled. Father Emperor actually didn’t give him face in front of the officials!

“Father Emperor, I was worried to hear that. Ever since I woke up and heard a guard say that I had taken an overdose of tranquilizer, I have been really puzzled. I…”

“I don’t want to hear your explanation. Why are you here?” Baili Qingcang interrupted him impatiently.

Chu Junyi’s eyebrows twitched slightly. It seemed that although His Majesty did not completely believe that Baili Jinze was the owner of Panlong Villa, he was suspicious of Baili Jinze, and his suspicion was becoming stronger. Chu Junyi thought that it was time for him to add fuel to the fire.

Baili Jinze’s face turned pale. “Father Emperor, I have come to pay my respects to you. When I heard that a pack of wolves besieged the camp, I hurriedly came over to check on Father Emperor’s safety.”

Chu Junyi raised his head and frowned. “Your Highness, how did you know that wolves surrounded the camp?”

“Of course I heard it from the guards.”

“Did you hear that from the guards guarding your tent?”

“That’s right.” Baili Jinze didn’t understand why he asked such an idiotic question. “Lord Chu, is there any problem with that?”

Chu Junyi narrowed his eyes and said calmly, “Nothing. I just felt curious to hear Your Highness say that. After all, they are Imperial Guards directly receiving orders from His Majesty. His Majesty even personally ordered them not to allow you to move outside the tent. However, not only did you come out, but you also heard that His Majesty was attacked. That was why I asked you the question out of curiosity. Your Highness, please pardon me.”

Imperial Guards? The ones who guarded his tent were members of the Imperial Guards?

Baili Jinze’s heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly raised his head and looked at Baili Qingcang. Sure enough, he saw a gloomy expression. He hurriedly opened his mouth and wanted to explain. “Father Emperor!”

“Shut up!” Baili Qingcang’s eyes were cold. “My son, you are truly capable. My Imperial Guards actually obey your orders!”

“Father Emperor, I was wronged, I…” Baili Jinze felt that he was unable to justify himself. He had just personally admitted that he learned the news from the Imperial Guards, so it was too late to refute it.

Baili Qingcang slapped heavily on the table, causing the paperweight on it to jump up abruptly. “Chu Junyi, go lock up the Imperial Guards who were guarding Fifth Prince’s tent and help the Ministry of Justice interrogate them properly. You can kill anyone who has any problem on the spot. No one in my personal guards is allowed to have any problem!”

The commander of the Imperial Guards was kneeling on the ground aside. His forehead was covered in cold sweat. He was the one who was in charge of the Imperial Guards. If something went wrong, he would be the first person to be held responsible. He might thus lose his life, let alone his position!

Chu Junyi cupped his hands. Streaks of light flashed across his eyes. “Yes, Your Majesty, I obey your decree.”

The Minister of Justice’s face was very pale. Unlike others, he knew the situation well. On the surface, the commander of the Imperial Guards was under the direct leadership of His Majesty. However, in reality, there were various forces in the Imperial Guards. Crown Prince, Second Prince, Third Prince, Fourth Prince… All of them had placed their followers in the Imperial Guards so that they could know the whereabouts and moves of His Majesty. However, he didn’t expect that His Majesty would suddenly order an investigation into the Imperial Guards!

Hearing this news, Shen Ninghua immediately smiled and said, “I thought Chu Junyi would adopt a gentler approach, but I didn’t expect that he actually started with the Imperial Guards.”

Qing Que applied medicine on her wounds aside. “Miss, is it very serious that something is wrong with the Imperial Guards?”

“The Imperial Guards are responsible for protecting the safety of His Majesty as well as the imperial palace. Imperial Guards can go everywhere in the imperial palace except the halls of the harem concubines. If they have problems, the safety of His Majesty will not be guaranteed. Although His Majesty is healthy now and the princes have no evil intentions, this issue will probably develop into a hidden danger in the future.”

The previous dynasty had witnessed a prince successfully force the Emperor to abdicate. If the Imperial Guards were controlled by the princes, it would be really uncertain whether or not such an incident would happen.

Qing Que nodded. “Miss, what should we do next?”

Shen Ninghua pulled the blanket and lay down on the bed. “Chu Junyi asked me to trust him, so I’ll just focus on healing my injuries now.”

Inside the tent, Baili Qingcang held a memorial in his hand and his fingers trembled. He was so angry that he was almost speechless, “This… actually… ha…”

Chu Junyi stood silently aside with no expression on his face. His handsome face contrasted finely with a screen featuring a waterfall nearby. It seemed that he was part of the picture on the screen. His expression remained calm and composed no matter how splendid the waterfall was.

The Minister of Justice aside, however, was not as composed as Chu Junyi. His clothes were so wetted by cold sweat that he seemed to be just lifted out of the water.

The veins popped out on Baili Qingcang’s fingers. He squeezed the memorial out of shape. “My sons are really great. My sons are really great! All of them are actually busy with planting agents at my side. Great, it’s really great!”

His voice was filled with grief and indignation. The expression in his eyes showed the pain of being betrayed. He was an emperor, but he was a father as well. How could he not feel heartache when his sons schemed against him like this?

“Please take care of your health, Your Majesty.”

Baili Qingcang sat dejectedly on the chair, reading the content of the memorial word by word as if he wanted to imprint every word into his mind. After quite a long while, he slowly closed the memorial and looked at Chu Junyi and the Minister of Justice with a serious expression.

“Don’t say a single word about today’s incident to anyone. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I obey the decree.” The two of them cupped their hands in response.

Baili Qingcang examined Chu Junyi and the Minister of Justice closely for a long while before saying again. “Minister of Justice, step down. Chu Junyi, stay here.”

The Minister of Justice heaved a sigh of relief and quickly retreated.

Baili Qingcang stood up and said, “Do you know why I let you stay?”

Chu Junyi raised his eyes and said, “I don’t know, Your Majesty, please make it clear.”

“You have a tough personality and are smart. More importantly, you are a man of finesse, and Ninghua has taken a fancy to you.” Baili Qingcang paused for a moment. “I need a sword. Would you like to be a sword in my hand?”

Chu Junyi raised his head and said, “Your Majesty, I am your subject. Not to mention a sword, I am willing to be the earth under your feet if needed!”

“Great!” Baili Qingcang took out a jade token from his sleeve. “I believe in Ninghua’s judgment, so I give you this jade token. You can use it to mobilize the Imperial Guards. I will give you a month to clean up the Imperial Guards!”

A cold expression flashed in Chu Junyi’s eyes, and his voice carried a trace of undetectable coldness. “Yes, I obey your decree.”

Inside the tent.

Shen Ninghua held the jade token bestowed by Baili Qingcang and frowned slightly. “Now that His Majesty gave you this jade token, what do you plan to do with it?”

Chu Junyi leaned against the soft couch and sniffed the fragrance of the tea from the cup. “Naturally, I will obey the orders of His Majesty and become a sword in his hand.”

“There are sharp swords and blunt ones. Which one do you want to be?”

“The situation is chaotic. Only a sharp sword can cut a tangled skein of jute.”

“A sharp sword is rigid and easy to break.”

“It doesn’t matter. As long as it has a little steel blade left, it will be enough for killing. Besides, what I want to be is not an ordinary killing sword, but a divine weapon!”

Chu Junyi’s eyes shone brightly. The expression in his eyes was blurry under the steam of the tea. However, Shen Ninghua could clearly see the ambition and determination in his eyes.

“Alright, then let’s take the Imperial Guards as your first grindstone.”

Chu Junyi laughed. He stood up and carefully hugged Shen Ninghua in his arms. “Ninghua, I will protect you. I will become a sharp sword in your hand. My heart lies where your sword points to.”

Shen Ninghua’s heart trembled. She felt a sense of tingling sprawling across her body. Her eyes turned slightly red, and a hint of water appeared in it.

After the Imperial Guards were investigated, there was no further movement until His Majesty ordered to leave the camp and return to the imperial palace.

Baili Jinze secretly sent someone to inquire about the Minister of Justice. But the Minister of Justice seemed to be determined and refused to reveal anything. Baili Jinze could only return to the palace in fear.

When the Crown Prince received the message, he took it in his hand and went to Ningkun Hall. “Mother Empress, look, this is the message sent back to me.”

Zhao Huiying looked at the densely packed content on the paper and frowned slightly. She sneered, “His Majesty was attacked, the Second Prince was injured and disfigured, the Fifth Prince was grounded, Shen Ninghua was injured… Hah, this hunting trip is really “lucky”.”

“Mother Empress, what should we do?”

“Things have changed so quickly. Our people haven’t had time to report to us. So calm down and wait. We can make a decision only after they send back all the details. Before that, waiting is the best policy.”

The Crown Prince nodded. Since there was no better way in his mind, he could only do so first.

The Empress burned the message clean and raised her head to ask Baili Jinyi, “When you help His Majesty govern the country, you must make sure that everything is handled properly. You must report to him and ask for his opinions on important issues. Now, His Majesty must be irritated. Do not ask for trouble for yourself.”

“Yes, Mother Empress.”

However, their discussion didn’t help. The Crown Prince still fell into trouble in the end.

Baili Qingcang punished the Crown Prince under the pretext that he failed to handle affairs properly by having him copy twenty volumes of books. For a moment, the imperial palace was in a state of panic.