“What happened?” Hua Chun hurried over to support Yuwen Jie’s arm, the overpowering smell of blood nearly making her unable to breathe.
“His Majesty was attacked at Wanbao Hall and gravely wounded,” Huo Zichong said, his face pale. “Let the imperial physician examine him first.”
Attacked at Wanbao Hall? Hua Chun’s brow furrowed tightly. Supporting the emperor’s arm over her shoulder, she helped him lie flat on the bed and immediately reached to undo his dragon robe without a second thought.
“Prime Minister, don’t move him!” Huo Zichong said urgently. “His Majesty’s injury is severe. Leave everything as it is and let the physician examine him.”
What kind of wound could cause this much bleeding? Hua Chun’s heart pounded hard and fast as she scanned Yuwen Jie up and down. “His Majesty’s martial arts are formidable, and Lord Huo was right beside him—how could an assassin have managed to wound him?”
Yuwen Jie, eyes half closed, said weakly, “It was Ling Niang.”
How much guard could a man really keep up against a woman? Being wounded by a scheming woman in the midst of intimacy was entirely too ordinary.
Hua Chun was practically fuming with frustration and blurted without thinking, “Just as expected—lust is a blade above the head, and now that blade is lodged in your chest, Your Majesty finally feels the pain!”
Something flickered in his eyes as Yuwen Jie looked at the flushed, furious face before him, pressing his lips together. “The Prime Minister is right. I was wrong.”
“It’s too late to realize that now!” She stared at the blood on his chest, wanting desperately to touch it, yet afraid of causing him pain, forcibly pulling her hand back, her tone sharp. “Where is the wound?”
The emperor pointed to his chest.
Hua Chun’s face went instantly white.
Given the medical conditions of this era, could someone survive a wound to the heart? Even in modern times it wasn’t guaranteed, let alone here, and he’d already lost so much blood!
Her throat tightened further, her eyes reddening. She opened her mouth, wanting to scold him, but no sound came out.
Yuwen Jie watched her quietly, his gaze shifting.
The imperial physician arrived quickly, and Hua Chun was ushered out of the inner chamber, standing with Huo Zichong and the others in the outer hall awaiting news.
Word of the emperor’s assassination attempt spread quickly through the palace. The Empress Dowager, Prince Xi, and consorts from every palace hall came hurrying over, and even the Western Xia envoys rushed over in alarm.
The assassin, Ling Niang, was pressed to her knees below, trembling all over.
The Empress Dowager was so anxious tears kept falling, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on the curtain of the inner chamber, unable to speak. Prince Xi looked at Ling Niang for a long while and was about to open his mouth when a furious shout rang out beside him: “Where are the Western Xia envoys!”
Yang Yuanchen knelt forward, terrified, glancing at Ling Niang, then at the furious Prime Minister, murmuring, “This subject knows nothing of this.”
“Lord Huo, please recount exactly what happened at Wanbao Hall!” Hua Chun said, her expression grim.
Huo Zichong nodded and, kneeling halfway with a solemn expression, said, “Today His Majesty visited the Western Xia woman Ling Niang at Wanbao Hall. This servant waited in the outer chamber. Suddenly I heard His Majesty cry out, and rushing in, I found Ling Niang holding a dagger, plunged into His Majesty’s chest. She must have struck while His Majesty was unguarded, catching him by surprise!”
Taking a deep breath, Hua Chun turned her blade-sharp gaze on the kneeling Ling Niang. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
Ling Niang trembled, saying nothing except shaking her head.
“Can the Western Xia envoy offer our Great Liang an explanation?” Hua Chun demanded angrily, turning to Yang Yuanchen. “His Majesty wished to foster good relations with Western Xia, and so favored the woman you presented. Yet you deliberately arranged an assassination attempt on His Majesty?”
“This subject is wronged!” Yang Yuanchen cried, his eyes reddening with panic. “How could Western Xia possibly harbor such intentions? We wouldn’t even dare—this must all be a misunderstanding!”
“A misunderstanding?” Hua Chun slammed a hand down on the nearby table, startling even the Empress Dowager, who stared at her in shock.
“If Western Xia cannot provide an explanation, then this misunderstanding will grow very large indeed. I cannot guarantee that Great Liang’s border troops won’t take it upon themselves to pay a visit to Western Xia territory tomorrow!”
The fury and force radiating from her were so overwhelming that the Western Xia envoys dared not move, their bodies trembling.
“Send a carrier pigeon immediately and inform the Western Xia king of today’s events,” Hua Chun ordered directly, not even minding that the Empress Dowager was present. “If His Majesty is safe, Great Liang will demand half of Western Xia’s territory in compensation for His Majesty’s suffering. If His Majesty should meet with any misfortune… Great Liang’s cavalry will trample every inch of Western Xia’s soil!”
“Prime Minister!” Yang Yuanchen kowtowed repeatedly. “Great Liang and Western Xia have been friendly for generations—this action is truly improper, improper!”
“It’s precisely because we’ve been too friendly that you gained the nerve to attempt an assassination on His Majesty!” Hua Chun snapped. “There is no room for negotiation on this matter. Guards, throw the Western Xia assassin into the imperial prison, to be executed on a chosen day. Escort the Western Xia envoys to Furong Palace and keep them under close watch!”
“Yes!” the guards outside responded, entering to haul away the envoys, whose legs had gone too weak to stand on their own.
Prince Xi glanced at Hua Chun and said, “The Prime Minister is being far too emotional.”
“Empress Dowager.” Ignoring him, Hua Chun knelt directly before the Empress Dowager, her eyes blazing. “This subject will live and die together with His Majesty. If any misfortune befalls him today, this subject will follow him to the underworld. If heaven blesses His Majesty with safety, this subject will personally lead the campaign against Western Xia, expand Great Liang’s territory, and set His Majesty’s heart at ease—I beg the Empress Dowager to grant this.”
Live and die together.
The Empress Dowager was stunned by these words, staring at her wide-eyed, momentarily unable to gather herself.
Not a blood relation, not even someone the emperor had shown any particular great kindness to—yet the Prime Minister’s entire loyalty to the emperor lay in those four words. Those present were all somewhat moved. Even a palace consort couldn’t necessarily commit to dying alongside the emperor without hesitation, yet the Prime Minister, holding great power, would remain wealthy and honored even without the emperor, above ten thousand others—and still Hua Jinghua declared he would follow him to the grave.
Even Yuwen Xi couldn’t help but frown, looking at her deeply.
“To have a Prime Minister like you is truly a blessing accumulated by the Yuwen family across generations,” the Empress Dowager said, choked with emotion. “This palace believes the Prime Minister acts entirely for His Majesty’s sake, and supports you. Whatever the Prime Minister decides to do once there is news from within, this palace agrees.”
“Mother.” Prince Xi frowned slightly. “The Prime Minister’s decision is made in a moment of impulse. Waging war on Western Xia would only harm Great Liang, with no benefit.”
Glancing at him, the Empress Dowager said, “That’s not necessarily so. Xi’er, you haven’t thought this through as thoroughly as Prime Minister Hua has.”
Anyone with clear eyes could see that a campaign against Western Xia was aimed squarely at the gold mines—how could that be no benefit at all? The Empress Dowager might be kind-hearted, but she wasn’t foolish.
Prince Xi paused, glanced at Hua Chun, and flicked his sleeves.
This Hua Jinghua—trusted by the emperor above, revered by the Empress Dowager, supported by the officials below—was truly difficult to deal with.
Hua Chun bowed deeply to the Empress Dowager once more, her expression solemn.
Her heart was very calm, like a windless lake surface, without a single ripple. She simply waited quietly for the outcome, to see whether the emperor would live or die.
“Prime Minister Hua,” Eunuch Qin emerged from the inner chamber, wiping sweat from his forehead. “His Majesty is somewhat conscious now. Please come inside to speak.”
A gust of wind swept through, and the calm lake surface churned into waves. Hua Chun immediately rose and hurried inside, tripping over her own feet and nearly falling.
The imperial physician emerged from within and knelt before the Empress Dowager. “As long as His Majesty makes it through tonight, there will be no danger to his life. This servant and the others will do everything in our power to treat him. Please set your mind at ease, Your Highness.”
Hearing this, it seemed the situation wasn’t as dire as imagined—if the emperor’s injury had been critical, the physicians wouldn’t have appeared so composed, and would have begged for their lives from the Empress Dowager already.
Somewhat relieved, the Empress Dowager said, “Since that’s the case, everyone may disperse. Don’t all crowd around here—go back to your palaces and pray for His Majesty. This palace will also go to the Buddhist hall.”
“Yes,” everyone responded and began filing out.
Prince Xi hesitated in his steps, clearly wanting to stay and see more, but the Empress Dowager turned back and said, “Xi’er, come with this palace.”
“…Yes.”
Her face pale, Hua Chun rushed to the dragon bed, where Yuwen Jie turned his head toward her, eyes half-closed. “Prime Minister Hua.”
“This subject is here!”
“My chest hurts terribly.”
Hua Chun choked up. “Your Majesty is wounded, of course it hurts. Once it heals, you’ll be fine.”
Her voice had turned soft as if soothing a child, and she herself had softened unusually, seeming almost girlish.
Yuwen Jie pressed his lips together and asked quietly, “What happened to Ling Niang?”
Still worried about a woman even in this state? Hua Chun felt both angry and heartbroken. “She’s been thrown into the imperial prison, to be executed on a chosen day.”
“You didn’t do that just because you dislike her, did you?” the emperor said.
Hua Chun nearly wanted to slap him right on the chest, just to let him taste real pain!
“Anyone who attempts to assassinate the emperor should be executed, regardless of who they are. This subject did not act out of personal grudge,” she said. “If Your Majesty has the spare thought to worry about her, you’d do better to worry about yourself!”
“I’m fine.”
“Fine?!” Hua Chun slapped the edge of the bed. “Do you have any idea how serious a wound to the heart is? So many people think they’re fine at the time, only to suddenly lose their lives later—do you know that?!”
In her agitation, she forgot all sense of rank and glared at him fiercely. “I don’t understand—in Your Majesty’s heart, what matters most, truly? Does the realm and your own body really matter less than one woman?”
Startled by her outburst, Yuwen Jie stared at her blankly, gazing into her glistening eyes, and suddenly felt his heart soften.
“Don’t be angry.”
“This subject is not angry!” Hua Chun gritted her teeth.
“Then what is it?” the emperor asked, raising an eyebrow.
Right, what was it? She slammed a fist hard on the edge of the bed, producing a dull thud, the impact making her own hand throb painfully.
“Have you lost your mind?” the emperor frowned, reaching out to pull her hand toward him, his expression darkening at the sight of her swollen knuckles. “Got energy to spare with nowhere to put it?”
Hua Chun opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, he yanked her hand hard, pulling her against him. Her lips were caught, suddenly and firmly, in a bite.
“Ah!” She cried out in pain, tears springing to her eyes, hands instinctively bracing against his chest to push herself up. “What are you doing!”
He licked his lips and said nothing, simply lying back against the pillow, watching her.
Furious, Hua Chun looked down and saw her hand pressed right against his wound, her face changing instantly. She hurriedly pulled her hand back. “You… are you alright?”
“I already told you, I’m fine,” Yuwen Jie said flatly. “You’re just too nervous.”
What was going on? Hua Chun, still not quite recovered, reached out again and pressed lightly on his chest.