Masquerade in Bridal Attire and Marry the Prince

204. A Fire in the East Palace

Translator: Bryan

In the dead of night, someone yelled in alarm, “There’s an assassin in the East Palace! Someone help us! There’s an assassin in the East Palace!”

“The East Palace is on fire! Come and help put it out!”

A few shouts abruptly broke the silence of the capital city. All guards and eunuchs in the vicinity of the East Palace were thrown into confusion. Some went to get water, and some others went to pursue the perpetrator. The whole East Palace had turned into an inferno when the Emperor and the Empress arrived in haste. The flames were so fierce that they both involuntarily took a few steps backwards.

“Where’s His Highness? Where is he?!” Zhao Ling’er’s dwelling place was closest to the East Palace, which was why she had made it out of the palace almost immediately. Not until she found a second wind did she realize that Fang Rui had also fled the palace under the protection of some handmaids, but Yuxing Tianrui was nowhere to be seen.

The imperial couple who had only just arrived exchanged a glance, both appearing anxious. “How did this happen? Where are the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess? Why am I not seeing either of them?”

A eunuch abruptly rushed out from the side. Due to the thick layer of soot on his face, it was impossible to tell who he was. He slumped to his knees and began to wail, “Your Majesty, Your Highness, I’m the one on night duty in the East Palace tonight. A thug intruded into the palace. His Highness is severely wounded. I’m afraid the two of them are still trapped in the palace!”

On hearing the man’s words, Zhao Ling’er glanced at the inferno and fainted. Compared to her, Fang Rui looked much more composed. She tried her best to calm herself down. “Your Majesty, Your Highness, now is not the time to look into the cause of the fire. The first priority is to send more men to put out the fire. Also, the court physicians should get ready.”

The Emperor nodded. “Concubine Zhao is not in good health. Desheng, have them prepare a bedchamber so the Crown Prince’s two concubines can take a good rest there. And get more men here!” On hearing the Emperor’s words, everybody finally caught on to what they should do and they immediately followed the orders.

Fang Rui, who had been ordered to leave by the Emperor, couldn’t help but glance at the imperial couple again. For some reason, she felt that these two people didn’t really care much about Yuxing Tianrui who was still in the conflagration. Normally, parents would rush into the fire to save their children immediately after being informed that their children were trapped in there.

No matter what she thought of them, she could only follow Eunuch Desheng away. However, when she reached a corner near the palace wall, she couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder, but she was surprised that the Emperor actually had the whole palace cordoned off, and he didn’t seem to be trying to rescue the Prince at all.

Not until shortly before daybreak did they finally extinguish the fire in the East Palace. Fortunately, there were no casualties. Zhao Ling’er only found out about the news when she woke up in the morning. She was finally relieved. There were no casualties, which meant that she hadn’t become a widow shortly after marrying the Prince. It was really great news for her.

“But as an assassin made an attempt on the Crown Prince’s life last night, and he was trapped in the fire for too long, his life is in dire danger. His Majesty sympathizes with him and has given him permission to nurse his injury in another palace. Nobody except the Crown Princess is allowed to approach the palace until the Crown Prince fully recovers.” Having announced the emperor’s fiat, Eunuch Desheng looked at the two of them with a beam.

“All buildings in the East Palace has been burnt down so I’m afraid Your Highnesses will have to rough it in this place for some time. His Majesty has given the order. I think the Ministry of Works will finish the preparatory work of the reconstruction of the East Palace in a day or two.”

“What do you mean by that?” Fang Rui’s reflexes were quicker than Zhao Ling’er’s. There was no problem with settling the two concubines in this palace. After all, this palace was the closest to the East Palace, which made it understandable that they had been brought here. It struck her that the Emperor had plans to have them stay here forever, keeping them from meeting Yuxing Tianrui.

“Please be patient, Your Highnesses. These are trying times. His Majesty believes Your Highnesses are both from prestigious families and naturally can understand how important it is to act for the greater good, that you won’t add to his trouble in these circumstances. The fire last night caused quite some disquiet among the common folks, if…” Eunuch Desheng didn’t have to finish his sentence, for the point he was trying to make was only too obvious.

Zhao Ling’er was just about to contradict him by saying that she could go back to her parents’ place when she saw Fang Rui stand up respectfully, take the decree and set off to show Eunuch Desheng out.

“Are you brainless? We won’t receive any news if we’re cooped up in here. They won’t let us leave here unless His Highness recovers. Who knows how long that will take? It might be a year, or three years, or even ten years!”

Zhao Ling’er was beside herself with anger. She hated being trapped in one place. This palace was actually just a lounge, and it barely had enough room for one person, and now the two of them actually had to share it.

Fang Rui’s face instantly hardened. There wasn’t anybody else around so she didn’t have to resort to any particular tactics to handle this brainless woman. “If you have another way, just shout it out. If you’re not as stupid as I think you are, you should have noticed all your handmaids have been taken away. All those left here are from the palace.”

Not until she was reminded by Fang Rui did Zhao Ling’er look around. She had just woken up when she heard such important news. How could she have spared any thoughts for any of those around her? It was only then that she realized that the Emperor had the two of them locked up in here. As for whether it was Yuxing Tianrui or the Zhao Family or the Fang family that the Emperor was threatening, she had no idea.

Fang Rui sighed in relief when she saw that Zhao Ling’er finally calmed down. Sitting aside, she closed her eyes and started to ponder what she had missed. She had already done everything she was told to do. How come things were developing in a completely different direction?

What the two women were thinking about didn’t concern anybody. Du Chuxuan was standing outside the palace, seeing Yuxing Tianrui off. “It never occurred to me the Emperor planned to use those two women to control the Zhao Family and the Fang family. This will save me a lot of trouble.”

“The Zhao Family and the Fang F1amily will catch on sooner or later, and when they do, their counterattack will be fierce.” Yuxing Tianrui disagreed with him, but it was almost time for him to depart so he couldn’t expound on the issue. “Luo Ying is the fastest and is best at disguise. If you need to contact me, send him and he’ll get the job done.”

“I will.” Du Chuxuan held him in his arms tightly and sighed resignedly, “Promise me you’ll stay safe. If you get hurt, I won’t forgive you.”

The two of them talked affectionately for quite a while. It was not until they couldn’t delay the departure anymore that Du Chuxuan told Yuxing Tianrui to mount his horse. Standing on the gate tower, he watched Yuxing Tianrui riding away. Not until his eyes were sore and he couldn’t see anything then he sighed, turned around and walked off.