Chapter 1203 - 880: A Bow and a Shadow
Yan Shaoxuan said, "At the Hot Spring Palace, an assassin appeared!"
"What?!"
At the word "assassin," Shang Ruyi’s eyes widened at once, while Yu Wenye beside her also knit his brows. Yet after his initial shock, he instead grew quiet, frowned slightly in thought, and suddenly asked, "Is it that an assassin appeared at the Hot Spring Palace, or that Father met with an assassination at the Hot Spring Palace?"
Hearing this, Shang Ruyi turned to look at him again in surprise.
Yan Shaoxuan was slightly taken aback. A faint glimmer of appreciation flashed in his eyes as he looked at Yu Wenye, but he did not show much of his emotion. After pondering for a moment, he said, "It was at the Hot Spring Palace that an assassin appeared."
Shang Ruyi silently drew in a deep breath.
An assassin appearing, and an assassination attempt—at first the phrasing sounds similar, but on closer thought, they are completely different matters.
And Yu Wenye had seized on the crux of that wording at the very first moment; it showed that though the matter came suddenly, it had not entirely disturbed his composure. His face darkened, and he went on to ask, "Then how was this assassin discovered?"
Yan Shaoxuan said, "This official did not follow Your Majesty to the Hot Spring Palace, so I do not know the exact situation in full detail, only what General Lou described—"
"General Lou? Lou Yingxiong?"
"Yes. He was the one guarding all of Your Majesty’s activities this time at the Hot Spring Palace."
Yu Wenye pondered briefly and said, "Please continue."
Yan Shaoxuan said, "General Lou said that while Your Majesty was enjoying song and dance in the Furong Pool of the West Hall, someone suddenly discovered a human figure appearing on the palace wall outside the Furong Pool. The West Hall was thrown into chaos at once; guards immediately rushed over to seize him. Unfortunately, the man reacted extremely fast. The guards failed to capture him, but at the spot where the figure had appeared, they found a bow he had left behind."
"A bow?"
"Yes."
Yan Shaoxuan glanced at Yu Wenye and said, "It is said that the Furong Pool of the West Hall is newly built, with relatively low surrounding walls, and unlike the other hot springs, this place has no roof, so people can watch the stars at night and see the scenery all around."
Yu Wenye continued, "And if someone around stood at a high point, they could also look down into the Furong Pool?"
"Yes."
"So, moving along the palace wall might allow one to—but it would also be very easy to be discovered."
"...Yes."
Yu Wenye again fell into thought for a while, then suddenly raised his head and said, "Since they did not catch the man, why has Vice Minister Pei been dragged into this case?"
Yan Shaoxuan said, "After discovering traces of the assassin, all the guards at the Hot Spring Palace began searching everywhere, and they ended up finding Vice Minister Pei in the Feishuang Palace."
"Feishuang Palace?"
"Yes."
"What was he... doing there?"
"When the guards arrived, they saw that Vice Minister Pei seemed to be meeting someone there, very secretly, without even lighting a lamp. And the moment that person saw the guards rush in, he immediately fled."
"..."
"The guards couldn’t catch that person, so they arrested Vice Minister Pei."
At this, the faces of both Yu Wenye and Shang Ruyi darkened.
Outside, the wind howled, far more bitter than before, yet within the hall it was so silent that not even the sound of breathing could be heard. The quieter it was, the more suffocating the pressure became.
No one knew how long had passed before Yu Wenye said, "And then?"
"Your Majesty ordered that the Pei father and son be taken into custody, and himself rushed back to Chang An overnight."
"Then you—"
Yan Shaoxuan said, "I was ordered to oversee the investigation of this case. If the assassin truly has something to do with Vice Minister Pei—"
Here, Yan Shaoxuan also fell silent. When his deep-set eyes turned to Yu Wenye, there was no deliberate threat in them, yet the threat behind this affair had already, like the dense night outside, sealed them in on all sides.
Shang Ruyi instinctively clenched at her sleeve. After a long moment, she finally drew a deep breath.
So, this is how it is.
No wonder earlier the court had transferred Shen Wuzheng to Henan Road as a military secretary, sending him to campaign with King Qi. At the time it had made her extremely anxious, thinking they meant to lay hands on Shen Wuzheng; yet Shen Wuzheng himself had remained very calm. With his wits and methods, and with Shen Tu Tai in the army, even if Yu Wencheng and Shang Shoufei combined forces, they might not be able to do anything to him.
And before Shen Wuzheng departed, he had kept warning them that the other side might have some other purpose.
Only now did Shang Ruyi fully understand: the target had always been Pei Xingyuan!
Transferring Shen Wuzheng away was to make them think the target was Shen Wuzheng, so that all their attention would be fixed over there, and they would overlook the problems on Pei Xingyuan’s side. In truth, this was also a "luring the tiger from the mountain," for if Shen Wuzheng had stayed in Chang An, as the legitimate eldest son of Shen Shiyan, he would certainly have followed on this trip. With him present, it would not have been so easy for the other side to lay hands on Pei Xingyuan!
And Shen Wuzheng and Pei Xingyuan—these two were the most capable aides at King Qin’s side. Although Pei Xingyuan’s command and grand strategizing were not on par with Shen Wuzheng’s, he was quick-witted and sharp-eyed, and now he had already been promoted to Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Together with his father’s status as Chief Historian, this was of enormous aid to Yu Wenye’s future command of troops and campaigns.
Yet now, Pei Xingyuan had been thrown into prison, and even his father and the entire Pei Family had been implicated.
If this time, Pei Xingyuan truly—
Then Yu Wenye would have one of his arms hacked off!
Not only that, but everyone at court knew the relationship between Yu Wenye and Pei Xingyuan. If Pei Xingyuan truly became entangled with an assassin, King Qin would inevitably fall under suspicion, even be implicated!
Now Shang Ruyi also understood why, upon returning to Chang An, Yu Wenquan had immediately sent Eunuch Yu to summon the two of them back to the palace at once, forbidding King Qin and Princess Qin from lingering outside.
Yu Wenquan’s suspicion had already fallen upon King Qin!
Even though, when all was said and done, the entire cause lay only in a bow and a fleeting shadow!
Ever since the battle at Longmen Crossing, when Duke Shenwu died, Yu Wenquan’s dissatisfaction with Yu Wenye had only grown. Although Shang Ruyi had given birth to the Imperial Grandson and tried her utmost to use this child to curry favor with the Emperor, thus slightly easing the estrangement between father and son, this present affair would likely cause all their previous efforts to come to nothing.
And now that Yan Shaoxuan had been invited to Qianqiu Palace to speak of these matters, Yu Wenquan was well aware of it. He had not stopped it, most likely because he wanted Yan Shaoxuan to lay certain things out before Yu Wenye, then watch Yu Wenye’s reaction.
He wanted him all the more to give an attitude.
Or an answer!
At this moment, Yan Shaoxuan glanced back at the sky outside, rose to his feet, and said respectfully, "Your Highness Prince Qin, I have already said all that I can. It is late, I—"
Yu Wenye suddenly said, "Lord Yan, has Vice Minister Pei confessed whom he was meeting in Feishuang Palace?"