The Beloved Imperial Consort Chapter 113

“Your Highness, Mu shufei has been found. She was knocked out in the water pavilion by the lotus pond.” Yan Cheng Zhou has mobilized the guards. On the grounds of arresting the rebellious faction, he searched every inch of the prince’s residence again and again. Yet, he found no trace of cefei. 

Now that they’ve found the third miss, at least they finally had some clues. Under his Highness’s increasingly cold and grim gaze, Yan Cheng Zhou didn’t dare to utter any more words as he was afraid to stir this person’s temper which would bring about another bloody purge. 

Zhong Zheng Lin recalled that just now a manservant has come to report that Zhong Zheng Ming, to one’s surprise, was not in the front yard. A person who was supposed to be resting in the side hall has strangely disappeared without any sound. 

“Bring her in.” Zhong Zheng Lin had some vague speculations in his mind. If it could be confirmed by Mu Xi Ting, then Mu Xi Yao should not be in danger at the moment. However, he was afraid that some hardship was unavoidable. 

When he thought of her current circumstances, Zhong Zheng was ridden with guilt. 

Blast it! Mu Xi Yao was in her eighth month of pregnancy. She should have been resting but was instead targeted by the rebels. His carelessness was to be blamed, for implicating her.   

Zhong Zheng Lin rubbed the space between his eyebrows and forced himself to calm down. He mustn’t panic. With her wittiness, she should be able to protect herself for the time being. She was waiting for him to rescue her. 

“Wei Zhen, quickly go and ask for mister.” 

Having received the orders, Wei Zhen hurried to Di Wu Yi Zhao’s residence. He was inwardly worried. If something were to happen to cefei…just by looking at how his Highness usually protected her one could know that the inner yard was doomed. He could only hope that mistress Yao would be safe and sound and quickly return to the residence. Otherwise, another disaster would be awaiting them. 

Zhong Zheng Lin closed his eyes to contemplate. He stroke the thumb ring on his hand and slowly turned it around. 

The rebels decided to take action on the day of the residence establishment. They infiltrated themselves among the guests. Additionally, they took advantage of a large number of people during the day when it was inconvenient for shadow guards to deploy people to organize a defense and hence have exploited this loophole. As for the person on the inside helping them, Zhong Zheng Lin’s face darkened. Having a spy in the residence was inevitable. Perhaps, some woman of the inner yard was the key. Who was it? 

To be able to grasp Mu Xi Yao’s temperament and imitate 70% of her. Evidently, they have received reliable information. This woman who could get into contact with Mu Xi Yao as well as sent out information about her must be one of those few people. How brave of her, daring to get involved behind his back. Did she collude with rebels in an attempt to eliminate Mu Xi Yao for the sake of favor or was she the spy from the kingdom of Shu? 

Just as Zhong Zheng Lin was ruling out the suspicious people one by one, he saw Mu Xi Ting being brought in while weeping. She has obviously suffered too much fright. 

“Shut up.” The sixth Highness spoke coldly. Mu Xi Ting quietened a bit after being reprimanded.

Watching the disheveled woman in front of him, anger stirred within Zhong Zheng Lin. His impression of Mu Xi Ting got so bad it couldn’t be any worse. If it was not for this foolish woman being meddlesome, how could have been Mu Xi Yao taken away? 

Right now, Zhong Zheng Lin had to force himself to hold his rage in check. He looked at Mu Xi Ting as irritably as much he was impatient. If it was not for worrying Mu Xi Yao being sad, Zhong Zheng Lin would have killed her! 

“Speak clearly about what has happened from head to tail. Don’t think that since you’re her shu sister, bendian won’t touch you. Although bendian cannot harm Mu House, bendian is still able to do something with that birth mother of yours.” 

Mu Xi Ting was scared out of her wits by his cold and gloomy threat. This was the first time she faced Zhong Zheng Lin’s anger. She originally thought his sixth Highness was cold in the face but warm inside. However, at this moment, he was wrapped in a menacing air. Mu Xi Ting trembled all over. She thought about her and her mother’s outcome if Mu Xi Yao couldn’t be saved.  

This woman already had a timid nature. Furthermore, there was Zhong Zheng Ming who was tenderly protecting her in the residence. Now that she’s been scared by Zhong Zheng Lin, her mind was in utter chaos. Not only didn’t she clearly explain the matter, she even fell into disarray and her brain turned into mush. 

Zhong Zheng Lin’s face darkened when he saw her open mouth several times but uttering no words. His anger bubbled up. 

This woman was useless. How could Mu Xi Yao have such an unbearable shu sister? In a critical situation, she could not even make a reply. Wanting to find out Mu Xi Yao’s circumstance from her was unexpectedly difficult.

The sixth Highness and Mu Xi Yao have lived with each other for a long time. He completely forgot about how did a sheltered maiden look like. Today, when he saw Mu Xi Ting’s way of handling things, it was simply hard for him to tolerate it. 

“Say!” Zhong Zheng Lin’s patience has exhausted. He slapped the long narrow table with the palm of his hand, making a loud clatter sound.  

“Ah!” Mu Xi Ting shrieked in fear and kept moving backward. 

Zhong Zheng Lin’s phoenix eyes were filled with frost. Just as he was about to call people to drag her down and extort a confession from her, he was stopped by quickly arrived Di Wu Yi Zhao. 

“Your Highness, please let your subject handle this matter.” 

When Di Wu Yi Zhao saw Zhong Zheng Lin’s expression, he secretly shook his head. His Highness was too concerned about cefei. His mind wasn’t thinking clearly. Coming upon this third miss only aggravated the situation. 

Ah, these two sisters of Mu House were too different. While one was so astounding that she dared to publicly challenge the house of a duke, the other one was so timid and cowardly it exasperated people.  

Di Wu Yi Zhao took Mu Xi Ting whose expression blanked from the fright elsewhere for questioning, leaving behind Zhong Zheng Lin in deep contemplation. 

“Wei Zhen, suppress the information. Only tell the outside world that his fifth Highness had an urgent matter and has left the capital. Cefei has suffered a great fright which caused her fetus to be unstable. She’s been sent to her parental house to nurse back her health. The disappearance of cefei requires Mu House’s cooperation for covering up. Ask sir Mu to be very cautious and mindful. Seal off the inner yard and put everyone under house arrest.” 

Zhong Zheng Lin sorted out his thoughts and started to work out, one by one, the most important matters at the moment. 

Half an hour later, Di Wu Yi Zhao followed Zhong Zheng Lin into the study. The two had a private discussion for a whole night until the sky turned slightly bright. 

Early in the morning, the guards of the prince’s residence could be seen searching all over the place on the streets of Shengjing. The patrolling division of the capital and its surrounding area was also frequently mobilized, conducting extensive investigations in the capital. Afterward, news that set off a violent storm has spread across Shengjing. 

On the same evening of establishing the residence, the rebel faction from the kingdom of Shu has attempted to assassinate the sixth Highness. His left shoulder was seriously injured. As a result, he was currently recuperating in his residence. 

When Yuancheng Emperor who was still at the temporary palace in the city of Jin received the news, under the rage, he issued a decree to lock the city gate and carry out a strict investigation. No rebel was allowed to get away. He then immediately sent two groups of imperial physicians to the prince’s residence and ordered the chief eunuch in the palace to open the private treasury and bestow the century-old medicinal ingredient to Zhong Zheng Lin for his injuries.  

At the same time, rumors started to spread through Shengjing.  

The reason why the sixth Highness recuperated behind the closed doors and conducted searching all over the city was due to a runaway woman. What’s more, this woman was cefei of Mu House who had previously provoked much discussion. The fact is that this lady Mu fled from the residence because she had an affair with the fifth Highness. The two’s love was as deep as the sea. They went as far as to commit adultery behind the sixth Highness’s back and conceive a child. Nowadays, it has come to the point of elopement. The city gate was locked by Yuancheng Emperor because he wanted to catch the two of them. The kingdom of Shu’s rebel faction was merely an excuse to cover up the scandal, the imperial household’s final fig leaf. 

When Zhong Zheng Lin heard the rumors, his guesses were finally confirmed. 

The rebels intended to kill two birds with one stone. Not only did they wanted to assassinate him but also destroy the good reputation of Zhong Zheng Ming. Mu Xi Yao was nothing more than a pawn that was ruthlessly used by them. 

The mastermind behind this plot had a crafty mind. It could be seen through his overall arrangements which were cleverly planned. 

Zhong Zheng Ming was well-reputed among the imperial censors and scholars. Once the elopement scandal comes out, it would be enough to completely ruin his reputation and leave him with a foul name for thousands of years to come. 

The rebels wanted to destroy the foundation of Yuancheng Emperor’s two most capable princes. Even if he, Zhong Zheng Lin, escaped the assassination, as long as he was involved in the falling-out with a brother or nefarious affairs, he would, too, have a hard time to protect his reputation. 

Nevertheless, Mu Xi Yao as a pawn used by others was in an extremely dangerous position. 

Even if she could escape from the tiger’s mouth by a stroke of luck and preserve her life for the time being, she would have to face the whole Shengjing’s condemnation later on. If he could prove that the elopement was pure nonsense, then he and Zhong Zheng Ming would be naturally proven to be innocent. 

However, it was an indisputable fact that Mu Xi Yao was abducted. Usually, when a woman’s reputation suffered damage, it was not tolerated by aristocratic families. Let alone the imperial family of the Great Wei. Zhong Zheng Lin was well aware of what sort of decisions Yuancheng Emperor would make if he learnt about the truth. As an emperor, he won’t hesitate to sacrifice one woman to preserve his two sons. 

This time, he and Di Wu Yi Zhao have gained the initiative by striking first. They have released the false news before the rebels and have vigorously searched the whole city only to seize the winning advantage and do their utmost to exonerate the two. However, it was impossible to eliminate the influence of the rumors. Especially when Yuancheng Emperor will return to the capital in three days. If the two of them were not brought back by the time, the truth will be hard to hide. 

Zhong Zheng Lin stood in the inner room of Danruo Courtyard all by himself. Pain could not be concealed from his phoenix eyes as he watched the cold beddings. He clenched tightly the ring on his chest that Mu Xi Yao has gifted him and closed his eyes for a good while. 

Jiao Jiao, where are you? 

Translation notes:

Relationship Diagram  (by Sith Kazar)

Translator’s notes: 

For those who are confused by a sudden appearance of kingdom of Shu. It is actually a translation mistake I’ve recently noticed. In the past I referred to it as Shu province because I mistakenly thought it was a province belonging to Great Wei which started a rebellion. However, when I read some historical sources I found out that it was a kingdom, not province. As a result, I’ll gradually correct this mistake in the translations where this term occurs. Thanks!

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