Return to the Palace
There were a large group of soldiers gathering around the deserted street encircling the carriage.
As they got closer, Yu Feng recognized that the person who was guarding on the front was one of the guards who was protecting the Emperor earlier.
When the guard saw Qin Zhi Hao, he immediately stepped aside to lead the Emperor into the circle of soldiers. After they had given the Emperor their respect, the Emperor was led into the big carriage and was told that there would be a change of cloth for him inside.
Hearing that he no longer have to wear the commoner's robe, a faint smile curled on his lips before he stepped into the carriage.
Yu Feng stood at the center of the guards and looked around awkwardly. At this time, she was at a loss as no one had said anything to her.
Noticing that Qin Zhi Hao stood at a corner with one of the guards, she then decided to go to him. However, just as she had taken a step, a guard stood in front of her suddenly, blocking her path.
Yu Feng stared at him for a few seconds before she moved to the right. Then, the guard continued to block her path wherever she goes.
In the end, Yu Feng could only stand still while pretending to be in a staring contest with one of the guards.
Meanwhile, Qin Zhi Hao stepped aside with the guard, Pei Lin to discuss the matter regarding the night's incident.
"My lord, we lost three men tonight," Pei Lin reported. "Two of the guards were escorting the Crown Prince back. On their way, they encountered some assassins and were killed as they tried to protect him. The Crown Prince lost a large number of his guards as well."
Qin Zhi Hao's expression turned darker.
When he saw that the other party had sent waves of assassins to assassinate the Emperor, Qin Zhi Hao knew that there was a chance that the other party would have come for the Crown Prince as well.
If the Emperor died, the Crown Prince will ascend. If both the Emperor and the Crown Prince died, then the remaining princes will have the opportunity to ascend the throne.
During the lantern festival banquet, there were a few princes who were not presented as they were unwell. Then, there were two who had left with the Empress and Noble Consort Wei.
Any one of them would be a suspect.
"How is the Crown Prince?"
"General Li Mu's men were patrolling the area when they saw the carriage was attacked by the group of men," Pei Lin said. "He came forward to aid them and escorted the Crown Prince back to the palace safely."
Qin Zhi Hao continued to be in his thought until he saw the hesitant look on Pei Lin's face. "What is it?"
"My lord, I received news that the other princes were attacked as well," Pei Lin said. "The Eleventh Prince, Prince Jing was badly. At this time, the Imperial Physician should be treating his wound."
It was well known that among the brothers, Qin Zhi Hao was the closest to his eleventh brother, Qin Zhi Chen. When Qin Zhi Hao heard that his brother was badly injured, of course, he was worried.
"Officer Zhou Ming went to look to check at the situation," Qin Zhi Hao said. "Did he come back with a report?"
"He hasn't. Officer Zhou Ming is still investigating. Earlier, I heard that Officer Zhou Ming had captured those people on the watchtower and took them to the Department of City Security to be interrogated. Chief Zhang Yue of Department of City Security is taking over this case to be investigated."
Qin Zhi Hao nodded. After gathering a few information from Pei Lin, he then turned around towards the carriage to check on the Emperor. However, his steps halted when he saw that Yu Feng was staring at one of the guards strangely.
"What are you doing?"
"Hold on a minute, I almost win," Yu Feng said.
Meanwhile, the guard who was standing still to guard the Emperor's carriage felt his sweat trickled down his back. It was tiring enough that there was some strange person who wanted to play a staring contest with him. Now that the prince was in front of him, the guard thought that the pressure was too overbearing.
He was only trying to do his job and prevent any unauthorized person to move around freely, ah!
Without saying anything, Qin Zhi Hao pulled at Yu Feng's collar and drag him away. "Come with me. Don't wander off lest you will get lost."
Yu Feng wanted to oppose him, however, she considered that there were a lot of guards around and decided to go with the flow.
However, she was still impressed that the guard can last for a long time without blinking once! Truly, someone who can be around the Emperor as his guard would not be just anyone.
Qin Zhi Hao stopped just before they reached the carriage. He turned to Yu Feng to warn her to stay still and went over to the window at the carriage.
After exchanging a few words with the Emperor in a low voice, Qin Zhi Hao turned and waved his hand. A while later, a guard walked over, pulling a horse towards him.
In one swift move, Qin Zhi Hao climbed up the horse and trod slowly to Yu Feng. He glanced at Yu Feng and spoke. "Climb up."
Yu Feng stared at him, dumbfounded. "Ah?"
"What? You want me to repeat myself?"
Suddenly, Yu Feng could sense that the soldiers around her were staring at them. "This… is not really appropriate, isn't it? I'll just walk with the soldiers."
"The Emperor is afraid that you might have the intention to run away."
Yu Feng shifted her gaze towards the carriage and felt the corner of her lips started to twitch. Suddenly, she wondered what was going on in the Emperor's mind. They were surrounded by guards. Where will she find any opening to run away?
"Still not coming up?"
Yu Feng gave the horse a look over. "I don't know how. My legs are too short to climb up."
Qin Zhi Hao's gaze went to Yu Feng's legs. He wondered how could a small, thin boy like Yu Feng can run so fast with such legs. He stretched his hand over and said, "Hold on tight."
"Oh!" Yu Feng obediently grabbed his hand and suddenly, she was pulled up. A gasp escaped her and Yu Feng braced herself to hold on to Qin Zhi Hao's robe tightly. Before she was able to steady herself, Yu Feng heard the man's voice, loud and clear.
"Return to the Palace!"