Chapter 704: with translation of chapter title

After long enduring many trials, Xiao Yin has already developed a certain keen sense.

These past few days, although he remained steady in the rear, his mind was never at ease; upon hearing that Jiu Yue had come alone to the palace bearing Ling Feng's waist token to request an audience, he instinctively felt that something had happened to Gu Jiu Ling.

"Summon!" Xiao Yin hastily rose and went out, not even having time to put on the emperor's regular robes outside.

Eunuch Zhao also grew a bit flustered, hurriedly following and bringing Jiu Yue into the main hall of the Hall of Nurturing Heart.

Xiao Yin stepped forward, stared at Jiu Yue, and asked, "Has something happened to the Empress?"

Jiu Yue fell to her knees with a thud, her eyes already red, and cried, "Your Majesty, a traitor has appeared in the East Sea Area; someone in the martial world used puppet arts to set a trap and lure away the two young princes, and now we do not know where they have been taken."

Those people are using the young princes' lives as leverage to force their master to follow them.

The Empress and the young princes who are about to return to the capital are now emotionless puppets.

The Empress left marks along the way; Ling Feng went ahead to follow those traces, while Commander Ling ordered the servant to rush back on horseback to warn the Emperor, lest he be harmed by the false Empress beside him.

Now the Empress and the young princes are both fake!

Xiao Yin furrowed his brows tightly; despite his broad experience, Jiu Yue's words still made his heart pound.

Puppet people? A case of substituting one for another?

He and Gu Jiu Ling had endured countless hardships to get to this point, never expecting those clueless ones to simultaneously strike at his wife and children.

Xiao Yin's body instantly stiffened there, then he staggered back a step, which frightened Eunuch Zhao badly.

Eunuch Zhao hurried over to support Xiao Yin, but Xiao Yin shoved him away.

"Issue the order! Summon the Prime Minister, the Grand Commander, and all first-rank officials to enter the palace at once!"

"Also, send an urgent military order to General Zhao Lang, ordering him to return to Shang Jing immediately to oversee the regency! This cannot be delayed!"

Oversee the regency? And they're using a frontier commander who leads troops abroad?

Is the Emperor perhaps gone mad?

Eunuch Zhao was now somewhat frightened silly; Zhao Lang commands hundreds of thousands of elite troops, already somewhat overbearing when stationed at the Bei Di frontier, and now giving him temporary authority to oversee the regency—are they not afraid he will rebel?

Moreover, from the Emperor's demeanor, it seems he intends to leave the palace for a period of time.

This time, Eunuch Zhao felt that the capital would once again fall into chaos, but as a servant, he hardly had the right to think such things.

He hastily turned and hurried away to deliver the Emperor's oral decree, while Jiu Yue these past days had been traveling day and night, risking her life to race toward Shang Jing.

She was worried that those puppets would get ahead of her and then do something to the Emperor, which would be utterly disastrous.

Fortunately, bearing Ling Feng's waist token, she encountered no obstruction at all when entering and leaving post stations and palaces, and even received considerable assistance.

By then she was utterly exhausted; after delivering the message, she completely fainted.

Xiao Yin ordered someone to send Jiu Yue back to the Fengyi Palace to rest, while he himself turned and sat at the Dragon Desk in the Hall of Nurturing Heart, brush in hand, writing something.

At this moment Xiao Yin's inner panic had reached its peak, yet he understood that he must not panic, for the more he panicked, the more cruelly his wife and children would die.

After Xiao Yin finished writing those oral decrees, Wang the Prime Minister and others had already entered with their retinue, waiting outside the Hall of Nurturing Heart.

Wang the Prime Minister was a former third-place finisher in the imperial examinations; his character is steady. Although he is far less capable than Gu Kang in reforming policies, he is a bona fide central official who does not form factions, does not collude with princes, and always conducts affairs with clear distinction between public and private.

Now Xiao Yin's sole wish is for court stability; ministers like Gu Kang are easy to employ, requiring no worry, yet Xiao Yin harbors a certain apprehension toward Gu Kang.

Therefore, even though he himself must now leave Shang Jing, he dare not heavily rely on Gu Kang, instead summoning Zhao Lang from afar back to the capital.

Anyway, the Bei Di frontier is also a mess, and the internal power struggle in the court has already reached white-hot intensity, so Xiao Yin need not now fear Bei Di.

"Long live the Emperor, ten thousand years!" Wang the Prime Minister and others followed Eunuch Zhao inside, then all knelt down together and kowtowed to Xiao Yin.

These individuals were all promoted by Xiao Yin himself and hold key positions in the court.

Xiao Yin does not usually summon officials at night, unless it is a major state or military matter.

Tonight, with the night already deep, the Emperor nevertheless summoned them all together into the Hall of Nurturing Heart; who knows what great matter has arisen?

Just now we had received the news that the Emperor had issued an order for General Zhao Lang to return to the capital to oversee the regency—is this not a joke?

Letting a man who commands hundreds of thousands of troops return to oversee the regency is undoubtedly like letting a feral wolf manage a flock of lambs.

Overseeing the regency? It could easily become a matter of toppling the state in an instant.

"Rise, no need for excessive ceremony! Now I have important matters to entrust to you; in a moment I will myself tell you what should and should not be done during these days when I am not in Shang Jing."

"Your Majesty?" Wang the Prime Minister and others were truly anxious; at this critical juncture, is the Emperor intending to leave Shang Jing?

Judging by this, it is not just a matter of one or two days; it seems it will be a period of time.

At this juncture, the Emperor leaving Shang Jing is absolutely not a wise move.

Moreover, he is even recalling to Shang Jing a general who commands hundreds of thousands of troops.

Wang the Prime Minister and others had always considered the current emperor sage and martial, but now they feel he is no longer that emperor, as if he had become foolish.

Wang the Prime Minister knelt and said: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I dare to offer my counsel—Your Majesty's departure is probably inappropriate!"

"If Your Majesty has any matters that need attending, we, your servants, can handle them personally; we would die ten times over without regret."

"But if Your Majesty leaves, once Shang Jing falls into chaos, it may well be irredeemable."

At this moment Xiao Yin's heart had already flown to Gu Jiu Ling and the children; he could not tolerate these people tripping him up in his presence, and he coldly gazed at Wang the Prime Minister before him.

"My affairs are not something you can handle."

Now the winds and clouds shift, the situation is not clear, and Xiao Yin also dares not spread the news that the Empress has been replaced by a puppet.

At this moment Xiao Yin slowly rose, ordered the handwritten decree before him to be distributed, and delivered it into the hands of the several senior officials present: "If you can keep Shang Jing safe during these days, I will naturally reward you upon my return."

"If you do not follow the rules written in my hand decree, and some major mishap occurs, you had best wash your necks clean in advance."

Wang the Prime Minister and others were about to ask a few more questions when Xiao Yin drove them out.

At this moment the officials in the Hall of Nurturing Heart had already withdrawn, leaving an instant silence.

Xiao Yin sat there dazedly, his handsome features shifting between light and shadow in the flickering candlelight.

He drew a deep breath, only then noticing that the hand resting on his knee had already trembled uncontrollably.

He was terrified; the fiercer he appeared before those people, the more fearful he actually felt inside.

He feared that Gu Jiu Ling might meet with misfortune, and also feared that the two children might be murdered.

He now doesn't know who is plotting against him, but there is one thing that can be assured: he will absolutely not let those scoundrels off.