Chapter 433

Empress Qian saw the sweat dripping heavily from their foreheads, pulled out a handkerchief, and wiped their brows, soothing them: "The intruder is a master of skill, not an ordinary man—your strength alone could not stop him, so rest easy; the Emperor will not blame you."

The five blinked, eyes reddening; two palace maids' tears fell like broken pearls.

Empress Qian reached for her handkerchief to wipe their tears, remembered she had just wiped sweat, set it down, rolled up her sleeves, and gently wiped their tears, whispering: "Don't be afraid..."

Now not only the maids wept, but the two eunuchs beside them too shed tears; even Cao Jixiang couldn't hold back his old tears.

Empress Qian wiped one after another, and soon her sleeves were soaked through.

Zhu Qizhen returned with several Embroidered Uniform Guards, saw the scene, yanked the Empress aside, his face full of disgust yet unable to hide his concern: "Why are you crying? It's just acupoint suppression—not death. Unseal it and you're fine."

He comforted them gently: "Stop crying. I've confirmed—this acupoint suppression merely blocks the qi in one meridian. Rub it open and you'll be fine. No one will die, and there will be no lasting effects."

Several Embroidered Uniform Guards touched the acupoints on their bodies, first unsealing them, but found their internal force could not break through the blocked qi, realizing the intruder's internal force was extremely profound.

They then coated their palms with internal force and massaged the acupoints back and forth; soon, the blocked qi was loosened.

Cao Jixiang was the first unsealed; he immediately collapsed to his knees: "Your Majesty, your humble servant failed in protection, allowing the thief to infiltrate the imperial bedchamber—I deserve death! Please, Your Majesty, grant me death!"

Zhu Qizhen, watching the Embroidered Uniform Guards unseal the acupoints, reached out one hand to pull Cao Jixiang up: "Stop kneeling. I don't blame you. This thief is terrifyingly powerful—I must capture him!"

Then he would have him teach him this lightness skill.

Cao Jixiang banged his head repeatedly on the ground: "Thank Your Majesty's great grace! Thank Her Majesty's compassionate grace!"

The others' acupoints were unsealed in turn.

Pan Yun had sealed only two acupoints: one near the throat at the collarbone, the other on the major acupoint along the spine—blocking speech and movement respectively.

As soon as the four's acupoints were unsealed, they immediately knelt to beg for punishment.

The Emperor waved his hand indifferently: "This has nothing to do with you."

Seeing their faces still filled with fear, he realized how terrified they had been, and waved again: "Forget it. You don't need to serve tonight. Go rest well, and return tomorrow."

How could Cao Jixiang and the others dare leave?

The Emperor and Empress were always kind-hearted; saying they were forgiven meant they were forgiven—but the palace held not only Wang Zhen, but also night-duty cabinet officials.

With this incident occurring, all five of them, one and all, would be sent to the Northern Capital Security Office and the Three Departments.

Just imagining this turned their faces pale; they all knelt and begged to stay and serve the Emperor and Empress.

Only by staying, letting Wang Zhen and others see the Emperor's attitude, could they possibly save their lives.

Empress Qian knew what they feared, and spoke up: "Let them stay."

She said: "They're all terrified. Your Majesty is protected by the Dragon Qi—let them remain beside Your Majesty; perhaps the Dragon Qi will calm their spirits."

Cao Jixiang nodded vigorously: "Yes, yes, yes! We beg Your Majesty's Dragon Qi to protect us."

Zhu Qizhen had originally pitied them, wanting them to return and rest properly—but since they claimed staying beside him would steady their spirits, he let them stay.

Then he led everyone into the side hall, sat on a chair, and asked eagerly: "Tell me what happened—how did he subdue you?"

The Embroidered Uniform Guards also turned to look at the five, especially Cao Jixiang.

Among them, Cao Jixiang possessed Wu Gong—and it was not weak.

Under their gazes, Cao Jixiang's face flushed red with shame: "Your servants are incompetent. We saw only a black shadow flash past—and all five of us were sealed and immobilized."

The other four nodded vigorously, corroborating: "Yes, yes! We didn't even see the shadow—it felt like a stone struck our spine and collarbone, and then we couldn't move or speak."

Yun Yan said: "If even Master Cao could see only a black shadow, then the intruder's Wu Gong must be high—at least first-rank."

Zhu Qizhen asked excitedly: "How does he compare to you?"

Yun Yan bowed his head: "We are far inferior."

Zhu Qizhen grew even more excited: "He must be a hermit master, enraged by the corrupt officials in the imperial court, and thus emerged from seclusion!"

Everyone:...

Your Majesty, have you forgotten you are the Emperor?

This sounded like an insult to himself—but Zhu Qizhen was oblivious, continuing excitedly: "Such a master emerging—how could I let him leave?"

He ordered: "Find him! Dig up the earth three feet deep—you must find him!"

Yun Yan: "If he is a master, and has left Jingcheng..."

"He won't leave Jingcheng," the Emperor said. "He said he would bring me a gift. The gift hasn't arrived—how could he leave?"

Zhu Qizhen declared confidently: "He is a master—he would never lie to me."

Yun Yan: "... How can Your Majesty believe the word of a thief who broke into the inner palace?"

Zhu Qizhen waved his hand: "Jianghu people are always unconcerned with petty formalities. To us, breaking into the palace is a grave crime—but to them, it's nothing."

Yun Yan was exhausted: "But..."

"No buts! Go find him! Increase manpower—search every inn, every house currently being rented, even brothels. He has money, so check the luxurious, wealthy districts too."

Remembering the two rare coral trees he had produced, and the vast quantities of grain and cloth he had donated, Zhu Qizhen added: "Also look for houses long vacant that have suddenly been occupied—he's this rich, he might even own a house in Jingcheng."

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Yun Yan: "... Your Majesty, I request assistance from the Southern Capital Security Office and the Shuntian Prefecture."

With so many places to search, the Northern Capital Security Office alone cannot manage it.

Jingcheng is no small town—just the sheer number of rental and vacant homes would take them months to check.

The Emperor frowned: "I don't want court ministers or Master Wang to know about this. Leave it entirely to your Northern Capital Security Office."

"But we lack manpower..."

Zhu Qizhen: "Gather every man in Jingcheng—surely that's not enough?"

Yun Yan dared not say it was insufficient, bowed his head: "Yes, Your Majesty, I'll act immediately. What of Master Wang's stolen treasure case..."

Zhu Qizhen snorted coldly, his tone ambiguous: "Recall all your men. Stop investigating. If Ren Ze says he guarded the courtyard the entire time after Master Wang left his study and saw nothing unusual, then whether the theft was real or fake—only Master Wang knows."

Yun Yan paused, then said: "Your Majesty suspects Master Wang is crying wolf—that he moved the treasure himself and framed the thief?"

Zhu Qizhen: "The first theft may have been real—but this second one? Not necessarily."

Yun Yan began to suspect too.

At first Zhu Qizhen suspected Pan Yun, but later he overturned that suspicion himself; up until this point, he still believed Wang Zhen.

He believed that Wang Zhen had truly lost the treasure.

After testing Wang Zhen, Zhu Qizhen changed his mind.

Given the degree to which Wang Zhen loved himself, money, and power, it was not impossible that the thief had cried "stop, thief."

It could be said that at this point, Zhu Qizhen, apart from himself and Empress Qian, suspected everyone.

As a member of the Brocade Guard, Yun Yan quickly sensed the Emperor's suspiciousness, did not dare to ask further, and instead asked: "Then what about the manpower at Yin Zhai?"

Zhu Qizhen waved his hand and said: "Hand it over to the Southern Garrison Command to investigate. The Hu Jing case was originally the Southern Garrison Command's case. It would be best if they could obtain evidence that the Yin Song siblings are harboring wanted criminals; if they can't, at the very least they must find the people."

Mentioning this matter made Zhu Qizhen think of the Japanese pirates along the southeastern coast; thinking of the Japanese pirates, he could not help but have those few curses that person had hurled pop into his mind, and his mood soured. He asked: "Yun Yan, could it be that I was wrong to relocate the common people out of the regions ravaged by pirates? To spare them from being plundered and slaughtered by pirates—should they not be grateful to me?"

Yun Yan said in a low voice: "Ungrateful wretches never know what's good for them."

The Emperor felt he had a point and nodded.

Cao Jixiang, standing to one side, held back for a moment, but still could not help himself, and said softly: "Your Majesty, peace is indeed heavy, but food and warmth are also important."

Thinking he had been tactful, he said: "If they are only spared from pirate raids but food and warmth cannot be guaranteed, then rather than starving or freezing to death, they might as well fight for it. If they are lucky, they might evade the pirate raids altogether?"

Good night

(End of chapter)