Emperor An's face flushed with embarrassment. After taking the golden elixir, he had felt vigorous and powerful, especially in matters of the bedchamber. Recently, he had indulged too much, and Madame Qin had already warned him about it. But a wolf craving meat is not easily deterred, and the combination of the elixir and beautiful women was simply irresistible.
The palace had recently welcomed a few charming and clever concubines, whose sweet whispers and soft words often left him unable to leave their side. However, Emperor An still valued his dignity. Moreover, thanks to Xiao An's life-saving efforts and Tangning's earlier display of loyalty and care, he found himself feeling unusually paternal toward the young girl.
Seeing that Lady Qin was about to say more, Emperor An quickly spoke up, "I understand. I will follow the medical advice. You can rest assured, Lady Qin."
Please, no more.
Lady Qin didn't press further. After leaving the prescription and agreeing to return the next day to check on Emperor An's pulse, she went back to tend to Xiao An's injuries.
Once she was gone, Emperor An let out a sigh of relief, ignoring the strange looks from Gu Helian and Rong Yue. He coughed lightly and then said to Tangning, "Since Lady Qin says Xiao An is fine, he will be out of danger. Let him rest and recover at home for the time being."
Tears welled up in Tangning's eyes. "Thank you, Your Majesty. When I passed by the market earlier, I saw that the carriage had been crushed. Thank goodness both you and Brother Xiao are safe. Otherwise, I wouldn't know what to do..."
The young girl seemed to be made of water, her tears falling freely, her face pale and pitiful.
Rong Yue, seeing this, was filled with heartache. She hugged her niece tightly, her face also showing fear. "You travel back and forth to the academy every day, always passing through that market. I don't know whose horses those were, but how could they have gone mad and charged like that?"
"Thank goodness Commander Yu and Governor Xiao were with Your Majesty. If it had been Tangning in that carriage, she would have..."
Just the thought of Tangning being in that carriage made her tremble with fear.
Gu Helian was also visibly shaken. Not only was Tangning the child of his beloved Rong Yue, but after spending so much time together, he had come to regard her as his own daughter. However, he was thinking more deeply than Rong Yue. "At this hour, the market in the southern part of the city should have already closed. Where did those mad horses come from? And why did several of them go wild at the same time?"
Emperor An's expression darkened as he recalled the horses charging straight at him. "Are you saying that tonight's incident was an assassination attempt?"
Gu Helian: "It probably wasn't aimed at Your Majesty."
Emperor An looked at Tangning. "Are you saying someone wanted to harm her?"
"Your Majesty is surrounded by guards. If someone wanted to harm you, they wouldn't have used just three mad horses," Gu Helian said grimly. "Tangning has been busy with the academy lately, leaving early in the morning and returning late at night. The route from the academy to Jiyun Alley passes through that market. Anyone with ill intentions could easily have figured that out."
Tangning's face grew even paler, as if she were terrified.
What had initially seemed like an accident now appeared far more sinister to Emperor An.
The sudden appearance of the three mad horses was too coincidental. If it wasn't an "accident," then it was clearly aimed at whoever was in the carriage.
Emperor An's visit to the academy had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, but he had been accompanied by a large contingent of imperial guards. If not for the sudden onset of his headache, which had prompted him to seek medical treatment at Jiyun Alley, he would have returned to the palace in his imperial carriage, escorted by Xiao An and the others. After he left, it would have been Tangning who took that carriage back to Jiyun Alley.
His headache had come on suddenly, and only those at the academy would have known about it. The fact that he had taken Tangning's carriage to seek medical treatment wouldn't have been common knowledge. If the mad horses weren't an accident, then the person behind it must have been targeting Tangning.
If Tangning had been in that carriage tonight, without Xiao An risking his life to protect her, the young girl would likely have been killed.
What a vicious scheme!
Seeing Tangning's pale, trembling face and Rong Yue's equally grim expression, Emperor An said sternly, "Don't be afraid. I will find out what kind of demons are behind this."
He turned his head and said coldly, "Yu Yanfeng, investigate this for me. Find out who has the audacity to commit such a crime right under the emperor's nose!"
Yu Yanfeng hesitated for a moment.
Emperor An raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
Yu Yanfeng: "After Your Majesty was attacked, the hidden guards sealed off the southern market. The three horses had been fed large amounts of Epimedium, which causes animals to become frenzied. Additionally, the hidden guards caught a suspicious person at the scene..."
"Why didn't you say so earlier?!" Emperor An roared.
Yu Yanfeng: "Your Majesty was concerned about Supervisor Xiao's injuries and didn't seem in the mood to discuss other matters. Moreover, that person..." He glanced at Emperor An, hesitating to continue.
Emperor An: "Speak up! Why are you hesitating?"
Yu Yanfeng looked at Tangning and the others before lowering his head and saying hesitantly, "That person is connected to the second son of the Lu family..."
Emperor An's expression changed instantly.
Rong Yue, hearing that the Lu family was involved, trembled with anger. "The Lu family again! What are they trying to do? How dare they use such methods to harm Tangning! Do they really think the Rong family has no one left?!"
Gu Helian's eyes darkened. "What a fine Lu family! Lu Chongyuan keeps saying he feels guilty toward Tangning, and yet he sends his son to kill her. These shameless scoundrels, calling themselves an aristocratic family—they're nothing but disgraceful cowards..."
"Uncle!" Tangning tugged at the furious Gu Helian, glancing at Emperor An before saying softly, "Maybe it's a misunderstanding. Let's just drop it."
"Drop it? Lu Qin tried to kill you, and you call it a misunderstanding?" Gu Helian poked her forehead with his finger. "You're usually so clever, but now you're being foolish. They've put a knife to your throat! If you hadn't been lucky today, you'd be dead in that market right now, and you're still defending them?!"
"I'm not defending them. It's just... the Lu family has no reason to want me dead. Maybe someone is framing them."
"Are you stupid? They caught the person red-handed! Who else could it be? Besides these so-called aristocratic families who think they're above the law, who would dare to harm someone in broad daylight..."
"Uncle!"
"How dare you!"
Yu Yanfeng's rebuke and Tangning's urgent cry came almost simultaneously.
Tangning quickly turned to Emperor An. "Your Majesty, my uncle didn't mean to offend you. He's just upset. The Lu family... the Lu family wouldn't do this..."
Emperor An had initially been angered by the mention of "above the law," but seeing Tangning, clearly frightened and tearful, still insisting it was a misunderstanding and even defending the Lu family, he paused. He realized she was worried about the fact that he had let Lu Chongyuan go despite his crimes and that he had no intention of punishing the Lu family.
Earlier, in the carriage, Xiao An's bitter self-mockery had made Emperor An feel ashamed and angry. But now he understood what Xiao An had meant.
Xiao An had said he wanted to use the emperor's authority to intimidate the Lu family and protect Tangning. What had Emperor An said in response?
He had said that no one would dare to commit such crimes under the emperor's watch.
But now?
Today, he visited the academy, showing his support for Tangning and the Rongsheng Academy. Yet Lu Qin still dared to send someone to kill Tangning, using such a crude and brutal method. Did Lu Qin have no respect for the emperor? Did Lu Chongyuan think that just because they had some leverage over him, they could ignore imperial authority and act with impunity?
Did they really think they were above the law?
"Enough. I will investigate the Lu family's involvement. You take good care of Xiao An."
Emperor An, filled with cold fury, left Tangning's residence and boarded his imperial carriage. He then ordered coldly, "Lu Qin has attempted to assassinate the emperor and plotted treason. Yu Yanfeng, go to the Lu family and arrest him personally."
"If anyone in the Lu family dares to resist, treat them as accomplices!"
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You can read ahead to chapterr 400 (100+ extra chapters) here
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