Chapter 66
Chapter 66
The young emperor sensed something was wrong the moment he entered the palace.
When the imperial procession arrived, everyone in the palace should have come out to pay their respects.
Palace maids and eunuchs knelt all over the ground before him, but when he swept his gaze across them, the most important person was missing.
His newly appointed consort was called… Lady Yu, perhaps?
He had granted ranks to many consorts and concubines at once during this selection. The Ministry of Rites had drafted all their titles, each with an auspicious meaning, and he had assigned them one after another. For the moment, he could not remember them all very well.
He recalled only that this Lady was the daughter of the Marquis of Hanyang and exceptionally beautiful.
The emperor was in a good mood today and did not even become angry. He singled out the leading eunuch. “Where is your mistress?”
The eunuch shuddered in fright and prostrated himself deeply. “Her Ladyship… is waiting in the inner chamber. She said she had prepared a special surprise for Your Majesty.”
He was beside himself with panic. My Lady, he prayed inwardly, I hope you truly deliver what you promised. Otherwise, if you anger His Majesty, those of us serving you will be the first under the blade.
“Oh?” The emperor raised a brow, a flicker of interest passing through his eyes.
He was not a tyrannical emperor. When he was in a good mood, he did not mind his consorts using harmless little tricks to compete for his favor and please him.
It appeared the newly appointed Lady Yu wanted to play some innocent game on the night she first received his favor.
“Rise,” he ordered mildly, then led the way inside.
What they found in the inner chamber, however, defied everyone’s expectations.
Lady Yu was indeed there.
There were no elaborate arrangements, nor was she dressed with special care. Wearing ordinary clothes, she sat upright in the seat of honor, her beautiful eyes calm and imposing as she watched the emperor and his entourage enter.
“Lady Yu, how dare you!” Zhao Yixing, the chief eunuch at the emperor’s side, nearly broke into a cold sweat. He barked, “His Majesty has arrived. Why have you not paid your respects?”
The beauty ignored him.
The emperor felt a scrutinizing gaze settle on him and travel over him for a moment. Then he heard her ask, “You wear an emperor’s informal robes. How many generations removed are you from Emperor Gaozu?”
The palace attendants behind him surrounded the emperor almost instantly, waiting only for his command.
How could Lady Yu ask such a bizarre question?
The emperor frowned. He did not know what trick this woman was playing, but by now, all his interest had vanished. “Guards–”
He was about to order them to take her to the palace interrogation office. Whether she was pretending to command supernatural powers or harboring some ulterior motive, the truth could always be extracted there.
Thunder suddenly boomed across the sky.
The moon hung high tonight. Where had the thunder come from?
Zhu Yin glanced at Zhao Yixing and the others. “All of you withdraw. I have words for the emperor.”
A nearly tangible question mark appeared over Zhao Yixing’s forehead. Had Lady Yu gone mad, or was she simply a fool?
This time, the emperor did not need to speak. Zhao Yixing had served him for so many years that he understood the meaning of a single glance.
He raised a hand and signaled for the attendants to seize her.
Zhu Yin watched their movements coldly. She remained sitting upright without moving an inch.
The thunder grew louder.
Just as the first eunuch’s hand was about to touch Zhu Yin–
Boom!
Dark-purple lightning emerged from the void and struck the floor in front of him.
A deep fissure exploded across the hard floor, leaving it charred black.
At last, the seated woman moved.
She shot to her feet and shouted sternly, “Insolence! I am the wedded wife of Emperor Gaozu and mistress of Qingzheng Hall. You dare offend your superior and defy your ancestor?”
As she spoke, she paid no attention to Zhao Yixing or the others. Her eyes remained fixed on the emperor alone.
Her declaration was nothing short of earth-shattering.
Of course, everyone in the hall had already been stunned when the world-shaking bolt of lightning appeared.
Now, hearing this claim as well, they could not decide which was more terrifying: thunder erupting from clear air, or someone declaring herself Emperor Gaozu’s empress.
In any case, the eunuchs did not dare move. They looked at the emperor.
The emperor…
The emperor was confused too.
He had always been precocious, and after ascending the throne, he diligently attended to state affairs. The court and the public praised him for displaying the bearing of the wise rulers among his ancestors. But… he could guarantee that none of those ancestors had ever met another ancestor from two hundred years earlier.
When he remained silent, Zhu Yin said mildly, “Withdraw.”
The emperor did not speak, and Zhao Yixing and the others did not budge.
Then “Lady Yu” arched her fine brows and gave a cold snort. “Emperor, are you certain you want them to hear what I am about to tell you?”
A faint killing intent colored her voice. Zhao Yixing caught it and abruptly started.
Having witnessed lightning that fell like divine punishment, he did not dare speculate recklessly about the woman’s identity.
If–if the sacred soul of Emperor Gaozu’s empress had truly awakened within a Lady of the current emperor’s harem, then such a horrifying secret…
The emperor said, “Leave us.”
Zhao Yixing said worriedly, “Your Majesty…”
The emperor smiled. “It is all right. I trust that my ancestor will not harm me.”
“Your Majesty…” The eunuch tried to persuade him again.
“Withdraw.”
In moments, only two people remained in the inner chamber, leaving it vast and empty.
A slight smile appeared on the emperor’s face. Just as he was about to speak, Zhu Yin said mildly, “The Black-Robed Guard will withdraw as well.”
Only then did a crack finally appear in the emperor’s composure.
His smile vanished as he scrutinized Zhu Yin. “You even know of the Black-Robed Guard. Who are you? Why did you enter the palace under a candidate’s stolen identity?”
He had so readily allowed the eunuchs to withdraw not because he truly believed Zhu Yin’s story, but because the emperor’s real protectors within the palace were the mysterious Black-Robed Guards hidden in the shadows.
The public did not know they existed. Within the harem, he had told only the empress. In the outer court, only the most trusted ministers closest to the emperor knew of this force.
Zhu Yin suddenly smiled. She looked at the emperor with something like approval. “You don’t trust others blindly. You’re not entirely stupid.”
The emperor frowned, deeply displeased.
Since his accession, not even his birth mother, the current empress dowager, had spoken to him again in such a condescending tone.
But Zhu Yin immediately dropped another bomb. “I created the organization with my own hands. How could I not know of it?”
This time, the emperor truly took a step back.
At the same moment, several ghostlike figures emerged from the darkness and landed soundlessly around him, protecting him from every direction without leaving a single opening.
Now the emperor was genuinely dumbfounded.
The existence of the Black-Robed Guard might be secret, but a few people still knew. If outsiders knew, there was always a chance of a leak. Thus, while he had been surprised to hear Zhu Yin utter their name, it had not been wholly beyond expectation.
But the fact that Emperor Gaozu’s empress had created the Black-Robed Guard was an absolute secret of the imperial family.
Across the generations, only when an emperor of Great Yong inherited the throne could he receive this force from the previous emperor, along with the secret.
As an emperor, he quickly regained his composure. Looking at Zhu Yin, who had sat down once more, he began, “You–”
“Aside from this, I have no evidence with which to prove my identity.” The woman seemed to know what he wanted to say and spoke directly.
She frowned, appearing both dissatisfied and impatient. “When Qingzheng Hall was being built, my Qing… Princess Rongqing made a wager with her elder brother and buried a box of gold beads beneath the parasol tree.”
“Is the parasol tree at Qingzheng Hall still there? You may send someone to dig beneath it.”
In truth, the event had never been recorded anywhere. Zhu Yin had just made Barbara conduct an emergency scan of the entire imperial palace. Beneath the largest tree at Qingzheng Hall, Barbara’s specialized instruments had detected a box of gold beads buried for at least two hundred years.
On the spot, Zhu Yin invented a story about a childish wager for the emperor.
.
Late that night, a commotion woke the sleeping empress.
She rose in confusion and draped a robe over herself. A female official came forward with a complicated expression and reported that Eunuch Zhao Yixing, His Majesty’s most trusted attendant, was leading a group of eunuchs in digging up the front courtyard of Qingzheng Hall.
The empress: ?