HomeAfter I Bloom Hundred Flowers DieChapter 596: Trapped in a Deadly Game

Chapter 596: Trapped in a Deadly Game

Dream without a trace—the “traceless” nature referred to how, when burned, it would make people lose their rationality, arousing passion like an aphrodisiac, causing men and women to forget themselves in a passionate embrace. Yet after the incense burned out, it would leave no traces.

The body would show no signs of being drugged, and the burning location would retain no evidence. This incense was extremely fine—after burning, its dust would float in the air like scattered ashes, dispersing with the wind.

Therefore, when Liu Sanzhi sent people to examine the lady-in-waiting, he went to investigate the scene but found no traces.

Returning with Liu Sanzhi was the Marquis of Zhenbei. While the Marquis of Zhenbei and Marquis of Pingyao were both searching for the assassin, the Marquis of Pingyao had caught Fazhao and the lady-in-waiting, while the Marquis of Zhenbei had dragged back a corpse and brought two people under arrest.

“This is…” Emperor Youning’s expression immediately darkened.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, while pursuing the assassin, your subject followed the trail to…” the Marquis of Zhenbei paused before continuing, “outside Noble Consort Rong’s chambers, where I encountered these two eunuchs trying to dispose of the assassin’s body!”

The two eunuchs trembled in fear. When Noble Consort Rong saw the person whose face covering had been removed, all color drained from her face.

This person was from the Rong family!

She had indeed sent this person out, but not to assassinate His Majesty—rather to capture Shen Xihe’s people.

She had set up an intricate trap. Ziyu was just a diversion. When Ziyu was abducted and noticed something unusual about the cat, she would certainly alert Shen Xihe’s people before fainting, worried that Shen Xihe had been set up.

However, within Xianguo Temple, the number of people each master could bring was limited. Only one person could remain on guard, while the rest would be housed with ladies-in-waiting from other palaces, unable to act rashly for even a moment without alerting others.

Thus, when Shen Xihe’s guard received Ziyu’s warning, they would surely investigate the kitchen. Noble Consort Rong had already made arrangements there, knowing that Shen Xihe’s maids were all carefully selected from the Northwest, skilled in martial arts.

Not daring to be careless, she had chosen a capable young member of the Rong family—Noble Consort Rong’s half-brother’s eldest legitimate son, who served in the Imperial Guard and could move freely, easily escaping if necessary.

If they could capture another of Shen Xihe’s maids and frame it as an assassination attempt against her, Shen Xihe’s power grab and harm toward a Noble Consort would be no minor crime.

Noble Consort Rong never imagined that Shen Xihe would be even more ruthless. She had only wanted to paint Shen Xihe as someone who would stop at nothing for power, but Shen Xihe had turned her into someone who would commit treason by attempting to assassinate the Emperor!

Xiao Changqin closed his eyes while Xiao Changying clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. The brothers had warned their mother not to easily make an enemy of the Eastern Palace—the Crown Princess was no ordinary person. She had controlled the palace power for so many years, and even if she continued, His Majesty wouldn’t formally establish her position. Why exhaust herself over this?

Yet their mother was blindly devoted to His Majesty, always believing that by holding palace power, after the Crown Prince’s death, His Majesty’s vow not to establish another Empress (made to avoid undermining the Crown Prince’s position) would naturally be broken. For the sake of the empire, establishing a new Empress would simply follow the natural course of events.

Such foolish delusions, completely ignoring their brotherly advice, had led to this deadly trap!

The one whose expression was most telling wasn’t Noble Consort Rong, but Emperor Youning. While others might not understand the assassination attempt, how could Emperor Youning not know?

His person had disappeared—they should have voluntarily surrendered to the Marquis of Zhenbei, been captured and brought back, been detained for severe interrogation, and finally found a way to quietly conclude the matter through suicide from guilt.

Naturally, some vague, circumstantial evidence would remain pointing to Shen Xihe. Emperor Youning wasn’t so naive as to take down Shen Xihe easily—after all, the plot was hastily arranged, and any carelessness could leave evidence.

But even now the Marquis of Zhenbei hadn’t found his person. With such a commotion, the person he had sent to assassinate had vanished like mist. They had likely fallen into Shen Xihe’s hands, or if not, they would have to remain hidden now that the Marquis of Zhenbei had captured the Rong family member—they couldn’t appear anymore.

“Your Majesty, Mother has served you for over thirty years. You know whether she harbors ill intentions. Rong Qiu is now dead and cannot testify—those who truly meant to assassinate Your Majesty may have already set their trap, killing Rong Qiu to frame Mother,” Xiao Changqin boldly stepped forward, standing straight-backed.

“Your Majesty,” Xiao Changmin stepped forward, bowed, and said, “I saw Rong Qiu during his shift change tonight, less than half an hour ago. Your Majesty was attacked after the shift change. After the assassination attempt, we all rushed here. Your humble son cannot understand how anyone could so quickly kill Rong Qiu and disguise him as an assassin.

The Imperial Physician is here—perhaps he could determine when Rong Qiu died?”

When did Rong Qiu die?

When Emperor Youning was being assassinated, it was exactly when Rong Qiu was about to harm Zhenzhu. They had fought, and Shen Xihe had people secretly watching. When shouts about an assassin came from Emperor Youning’s meditation chamber, taking advantage of the chaos as everyone rushed to protect His Majesty, they had captured him. At that time, everyone’s minds were solely on His Majesty, overlooking many details. It was also when security was most scattered—killing someone and delivering the body to Noble Consort Rong’s chambers would have been simple.

As for the two eunuchs, they were indeed disposing of a body. Finding a corpse suddenly, and hearing about His Majesty’s assassination attempt—if they didn’t dispose of it, were they supposed to wait for His Majesty’s people to catch them red-handed? They would be executed too!

The time of death determined by the Imperial Physician completely matched the assassin’s trial, and remarkably, Rong Qiu’s cause of death was suicide, with no signs of struggle on his body.

Therefore, Prince Xin’s suggestion that Rong Qiu had been killed earlier to frame Noble Consort Rong didn’t hold up. Not only was time too tight but why would Rong Qiu return in the assassin’s garb right after his shift? Rong Qiu couldn’t have been bought by outsiders—as an Imperial Guard himself, he knew well he had no right to move about inside after his shift.

“Your Majesty, Noble Consort Rong summoned Rong Qiu away. This humble servant and several colleagues were present,” Bu Shulin stepped forward to say.

Indeed, Rong Qiu had been summoned by Noble Consort Rong after his shift. To avoid suspicion about Rong Qiu’s whereabouts, Noble Consort Rong had summoned him openly. If it hadn’t involved His Majesty’s assassination attempt, even if Noble Consort Rong had openly summoned Rong Qiu, even if Shen Xihe’s people had captured him, Noble Consort Rong would have had a way to save him.

She hadn’t expected things to align so unfortunately, coinciding with His Majesty’s assassination attempt. At this moment, Noble Consort Rong even suspected Shen Xihe was behind His Majesty’s assassination—how dare she be so bold!

“Your Majesty, Mother had no intention to harm you, and neither my elder brother nor I have any disrespect toward Your Majesty!” Xiao Changying knelt before Emperor Youning.

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