The Person Beside the Emperor

The lively atmosphere in the observation tower continued.

Qin Zhi Hao has been pacing back and forth as he waited for news to come over. Because the boy who was supposed to act as their runner had suddenly gone missing, Qin Zhi Hao had to rely on other methods. A eunuch he trusted waited at the entrance to deliver the letters for him.

However, if Qin Zhi Hao wanted to send out an important message to his men, he had to rely on the pigeon bird.

It has been a while since the banquet started and Qin Zhi Hao had heard that two of his pigeon birds had failed to reach its destination. Someone could have taken those birds away in hope of intercepting his messages.

Fortunately, the messages between his men were often written in codes. Even if someone had taken those birds away, it would be difficult for them to decipher those messages.

Qin Zhi Hao was standing beside the small window when a pigeon landed. He took out the small scroll on the bird's legs and read the messages.

His men had investigated the western district and had not found anything. Other than a man was found dead with his throat sliced, there was nothing out of ordinary. Even the route that the His Majesty was supposed to take to return to the palace was cleared.

However, Qin Zhi Hao was not able to rest well. His heart jumped, knowing that something bad was going to happen. Until he found out the person who wanted to hurt His Majesty, Qin Zhi Hao will not able to rest well.

At the side of the stage, the princes were eating and drinking merrily.

The third prince, Qin Zhi Lin, glanced at his brother who was busy looking after their safety instead of enjoying the festivity and sneered.

Hearing the sound he made, the Crown Prince, Qin Zhi Xuan turned around and with a brow raised. "What are you laughing about?"

The third prince reached for the wain cup and downed its content. He turned to the Crown Prince and smiled. "Some of us had the chance to enjoy this good food and drinks and be merry, while someone has to be on duty and look over our safety. Your Highness, don't you think that this is amusing?"

Everyone was aware that the Crown Prince and the Third Prince had a bad relationship. However, as this was a festivity and everyone was gathered as a family, the two had no other choice but to play nice.

The Crown Prince pursed his lips.

After he had been plotted by the Third Prince a few times, the Crown Prince knew that he had to be on his guard and don't fall into another of his brother's tricks.

Qin Zhi Chen, who was the closest to Qin Zhi Hao was displeased upon hearing the Third Prince's words. He slammed the wine cup on the table and gave their third brother a warning look. "Third Brother, what are you trying to say?"

"I am not saying anything," the Third Prince said in a low voice. "But there were words outside that the Seventh Brother was favored by His Majesty. I'm just trying to say that this news seemed fake. If Seventh Brother was indeed favored, His Majesty would not let him stand at the side and watch as all of us here eat and drink."

Qin Zhi Chen gritted his teeth. "Third Brother, I dare you to speak those words out loud and let His Majesty hear you."

The Third Prince chuckled. "Eleventh Brother, you are indeed still a child. Just a merely arguments such as this, and you still wanted to report everything to your father.

The Crown Prince glanced at the two brothers who had started to quarrel at the side and decided not to join in. His gaze fell towards their Seventh Brother and his eyes darkened.

Just because their Seventh Brother was not joining them to eat and drink merrily like the rest of the imperial family members, others had started to speculate that he was not favored.

The Crown Prince thought differently. His Majesty had at utmost trust towards the Seventh Prince. That was the only reason His Majesty had let the prince be responsible for his safety.

As someone who had been around the Emperor's side for years, the Crown Prince was fully aware that His Majesty was someone who was a suspicious person. If he did not trust the Seventh Prince, then he would not dare to let this banquet be held outside the palace.

Who cares about being favored. As long as you can be the person that His Majesty trusted the most, then your safety and future will be assured.

Prince Yi was someone who never showed his desire for the throne. But at this time, the Crown Prince thought that he did not want Qin Zhi Hao as his enemy.

…

In the western district, Yu Feng was running stealthily. One moment she was hiding beside a wall, and the next time, she was hiding at another.

After she had gathered her thoughts, Yu Feng began to observe her surroundings and found that she was still in the western district. She got panicked while she was inside the drainage and had walked around aimlessly.

In the end, when she finally got out of the drainage, she found that she had not gone out of the western district.

At this time, she could no longer use the drainage as her shortcut. Yu Feng could only hope that the fight at the end of the street has ended and that she would be able to get out of this area without running into anyone she should not run into.

Her top priority was to return to the city center, find Officer Zhou Ming or any of those men in black, and tell them what she had heard inside the drainage before something bad happened.

Her mind whirled and her thought was brought back towards the words that the bad man had told her a few days ago. He had mentioned that on this day, someone was going to attempt to take the Emperor's life.

Yu Feng had thought that perhaps, that bad man was only exaggerating. But now that she had run into those bed man, Yu Feng began to realize the seriousness of this situation.

That bad man was trying to find out the person who wanted to harm His Majesty and right now, she happened to have seen the faces of those who were involved as well as what they were planning to do.

...

The Princes mentioned in this chapter:

Prince Yi / Qin Zhi Hao / Seventh Prince

Crown Prince / Qin Zhi Xuan

Qin Zhi Lin / Third Prince

Prince Jing/ Qin Zhi Chen/ Eleventh Prince