HomeGeneral Chang NingChang Ning - Chapter 28

Chang Ning – Chapter 28

Halfway through the banquet, the young Emperor said he was drunk and wanted to sleep. Since it wouldn’t be proper to return to the palace in such a state, Shu Shenhui and the Worthy Prince first arranged for him to rest at the prince’s residence. Shu Shenhui personally escorted his nephew to the room, and after settling him, ordered the nephew’s attendants to stand guard, then returned to the banquet hall himself. Shortly after, Zhang Bao hurriedly sought him out again. He thought something had happened to the Jiang family’s daughter on the women’s side, but unexpectedly, Zhang Bao said that when he returned, he hadn’t seen the Princess Consort. Initially told she had gone to refresh herself, he waited left and right, but she didn’t return. Worried, he went to quietly ask Princess Yongtai, who was sitting beside her. The Princess said that the Emperor and Regent Prince were discussing affairs and had sent someone to summon her away. Zhang Bao knew something was wrong, immediately turned around to find him, and reported back.

Shu Shenhui’s first reaction was to think of the young Emperor. Connecting this with his claim of being drunk, he immediately went to where he was supposed to be resting. Sure enough, the person was gone.

He still didn’t know what the young Emperor intended, but based on intuition, it must be something bad. If this became a major incident, the consequences would be severe. Fortunately, the Worthy Prince was one of his people, so there was no need for discretion. He immediately called the Worthy Prince aside privately and urgently questioned the residence’s servants. Luckily, someone soon said they had seen the Princess Consort heading toward the plum garden. No one was supposed to be there today, making him even more nervous. Knowing the young Emperor was reckless and had previously seemed to have many criticisms of the Jiang family daughter, he feared that if something happened to her in his hands, if things truly went badly, it would be impossible to clean up. Extremely anxious, he rushed over together with an old steward from the prince’s residence.

Coming this way wasn’t just his group of people, but also Princess Yongtai.

After Zhang Bao had asked her about the Regent Princess Consort’s whereabouts and left, the more she thought about it, the more wrong it seemed.

This little attendant was a personal servant close to the Regent Prince. If the Regent Prince had truly summoned the Princess Consort away, how could Zhang Bao not know about it and still come ask her?

She had long admired the female general, and meeting her today had made her even more impressed, feeling as if they had met too late. She was quite concerned, and being someone who liked to involve herself in affairs, she couldn’t sit still either. Coming out, she was told by servants that the Regent Prince and others had all gone to the plum garden, so naturally she also went looking there.

Shu Shenhui rushed to the plum garden and saw from afar that the entrance gate was closed, with one of the young Emperor’s little attendants standing guard outside. He could faintly hear shouting voices coming over the wall, knowing something was wrong. But he still stopped first, telling the accompanying prince’s residence steward and the Princess who had caught up from behind not to follow and to wait here, while he went up alone.

That little attendant was already trembling with fear. Suddenly seeing the Regent Prince arrive, he was terrified beyond measure, hastily knocked on the door, then knelt on the ground, his hands shaking so much he couldn’t even find the door key. Shu Shenhui was extremely impatient and kicked the door open, bursting in just like that.

Though on the way here, he had already had a bad premonition in his heart, he hadn’t expected that what he saw before his eyes would be even more serious than he had imagined.

Plum trees broken at the waist, broken branches and scattered flowers all over the ground, seven or eight palace guards dressed as princes’ residence attendants injured to different degrees… complete devastation everywhere.

The square-faced guard saw him arrive and hurriedly knelt. His several injured but still conscious companions also struggled to get up, enduring pain to kneel together, not daring to raise their heads even slightly.

Seeing this scene, Shu Shenhui completely understood what kind of event had occurred here just moments before.

Fortunately, the Emperor was unharmed, and the Jiang family daughter was also fine!

He finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.

She stood beside the young Emperor, seeming to be well, appearing completely uninjured, only… his gaze swept over her pomegranate red skirt rolled up to her waist, and those undergarments prominently exposed…

He paused momentarily, not attending to the young Emperor first, but quickly walked over, stopped before her, and asked in a low voice: “Are you alright?”

Jiang Hanyuan didn’t respond to his concerned inquiry, nor did she look at him. She simply methodically lowered her skirt hem, covering her undergarments.

He saw her silk shawl that had fallen to the ground and stepped forward to pick it up for her, but she had already walked over herself, picked it up, shook off the few scattered plum blossoms and dust on it, draped it back over her shoulders, and tidied her slightly disheveled hair before saying: “I’m returning to the banquet hall.”

“Let me escort you! Or if you need to rest, I can send you back to the prince’s residence right now!” He followed after her.

“That’s not necessary. I’m fine. The Regent Prince should attend to your affairs.”

She turned back to say this with an extremely polite tone, then turned and left him behind, walking past the young Emperor and those warriors kneeling on the ground.

Shu Shenhui watched her retreating figure, then looked back at the young Emperor, who was hanging his head motionlessly. Just as she was about to exit through the moon gate, his gaze shifted slightly. After a moment’s hesitation, he quickly caught up and blocked her path again, saying in a low voice: “Princess Consort, please don’t blame me! Today’s offense was too much—I’m fully aware of everything in my heart. I will handle this, and afterward, I will give you a satisfactory explanation. It’s good for you to go first. I’ll escort His Majesty back to the palace later. After the banquet, you can return to the prince’s residence first. Once I finish dealing with this matter, I’ll immediately come back to find you.”

Jiang Hanyuan raised her eyes and met this man’s gaze. His eyes were fixed intently on her, his expression appearing extremely earnest.

She looked at him for a moment and said, “I’m truly fine. The Regent Prince need not be so concerned.” She withdrew her gaze and walked out.

Shu Shenhui once again watched her departing figure. After that silhouette disappeared and she was gone, he whirled around abruptly.

Shu Jian was secretly raising his head to peek. Suddenly seeing him turn to look at himself, his gaze shooting over like lightning, he was startled and hurriedly approached, saying ingratiatingly: “Third Imperial Uncle! Don’t be angry! I have an idea! Isn’t the capital’s six-armed spring competition coming soon? Third Imperial Aunt is so capable, and she’s a female general, too. How about inviting her to arrange troops and serve as a judge then…”

As he spoke, seeing that he was only staring at himself with a stern expression that not only didn’t soften but showed rare anger on his face, his usual clever tricks could no longer be deployed, and his voice gradually lowered.

“I… I just wanted to test her abilities… I didn’t intend to hurt her… Third Imperial Uncle, you saw it too—none of us brought weapons…”

He finally stopped, dejected, not daring to meet his gaze anymore. His head drooped down again, and he remained silent.

Shu Shenhui rarely became angry, but at this moment, his fury was truly irrepressible, surging up within him.

He took a breath, forcibly suppressing his anger, his gaze sweeping over the young Emperor’s attire, and said coldly: “However you came, return to your room the same way. Don’t let anyone see you looking like this! Change your clothes and come out to return to the palace! I’ll handle the aftermath here.”

“I understand… I climbed over the wall to get here earlier, so I’ll climb back over the wall to return to my room…”

Shu Jian mumbled a response, looked at the injured people scattered on the ground, then turned and ran toward the depths of the plum garden.

Shu Shenhui turned to the only square-faced palace guard who appeared uninjured and ordered him to follow.

This palace guard was named Jia Xiu and was the leader of these men. Seeing the scene just now between the Regent Prince and that woman, he suddenly realized with dawning comprehension that the person he had led everyone to surround and attack was actually the Regent Prince’s female general Princess Consort.

Thinking about it, he should have known—besides the female general, who other woman in the capital could withstand a siege by eight men like himself? The young Emperor hadn’t mentioned it initially, probably fearing that if they knew her identity, they wouldn’t fight with full effort. He had been terrified, but now, seeing that the Regent Prince didn’t seem to be transferring his anger to them, feeling fortunate and grateful, he kowtowed forcefully to him, then got up and hurriedly chased after.

Shu Shenhui watched the young Emperor leave, asked the people still kneeling on the ground a few questions about what had just happened, and after listening, walked out. He called in the prince’s residence steward, who was still waiting outside, simply saying these people had gotten drunk and fought, each sustaining some injuries, and asked him to arrange to send them out of the residence.

The steward vaguely guessed that the young Emperor had probably caused some major trouble here today, or perhaps offended the Princess Consort. Naturally, this absolutely could not be spread around. He repeatedly agreed and told him not to worry. After finishing their conversation, looking again at the people on the ground, he secretly gasped. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he truly couldn’t believe that the Princess Consort alone had beaten so many seven-foot-tall men into such a sorry state.

“Where is Yongtai?” Shu Shenhui didn’t see his cousin and asked.

“Just now, when the Princess Consort came out, the Princess followed her!”

Shu Shenhui pondered briefly, estimating that Princess Yongtai had probably also guessed the inside story. However, though her temperament was carefree and lively, she wasn’t someone who didn’t know what was appropriate. When he returned, he could have Chen Lun remind her again.

In the women’s banquet hall, Jiang Hanyuan had returned. She nodded to the Worthy Prince’s wife in acknowledgment and took her seat again. The precious lotus cover for the plum wood-roasted squab in front of her was still there. A servant was about to remove the cover for her when the old Princess Consort quickly said: “It’s probably cold by now. Once it’s cold, it loses its flavor. Don’t use it anymore! Bring something else!” She repeatedly ordered new dishes to be served.

Jiang Hanyuan smiled: “It’s fine. I wasn’t gone long—no need to change it.” The servant followed her words and removed the lotus leaf wrapping for her, revealing the squab inside. Indeed, it was still warm, emitting faint steam.

The old Princess Consort laughed: “Then eat quickly! Next time I see the Regent Prince, I’ll certainly have to scold him, relying on my age to lecture him. No matter how capable one’s wife is, you can’t exhaust her like this, asking about military matters! Can’t even eat a meal in peace.”

Everyone at the table laughed along and continued their flattery.

Shu Shenhui returned to the banquet hall.

The people inside were completely unaware. The old Worthy Prince was still socializing with guests. Seeing him return, he cast an inquiring glance. Shu Shenhui nodded slightly at him, indicating all was well, then took his seat. Soon, a palace attendant also arrived, saying the Emperor had awakened and wanted to return to the palace. Everyone then rose together, including those from the women’s banquet hall, all lining up in formation to wait.

Shortly after, the young Emperor appeared with his imperial retinue, eyes downcast and head lowered. Amid the respectful farewell sounds behind him, he exited the great gate of the prince’s residence and boarded his imperial carriage. The Regent Prince accompanied him as an escort.

Walking to the main gate, he turned back and glanced at that pomegranate red skirt silhouette in the crowd behind him, then followed the imperial retinue as it departed.

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