Chapter 42

AUTHOR'S NOTE (IMPORTANT):

I DON'T WANT THIS THING TO HAPPEN AGAIN!

Thanks for the friends who were kind enough to inform me... ♥♥♥

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Back to the story...

At Lotus Palace, Consort Lian sat by the side of her bed silently. Her face looked extremely weary and her eyes had dark circles. It was past midnight. But sleep did not come to her.

Minghe's innocent face came to her mind every second, torturing her again and again. She remembered every time Minghe visited her residence and called her Mother Lian with an innocent and a pure smile.

She loved that child very much. But everytime, she was forced to keep away from the prince. She was afraid he would be tracked as long as he was in her residence. Frankly, she did not trust her dad anymore. All the agents around her were all lackeys of her father. She couldn't be rash.

So the urge to snuggle and cuddle Minghe in her arms, to pat his fluffy head and call him Ah'Ming, these things were forcefully restrained by her. She always appeared to be cold to him and wore a frightening smile so that Minghe won't visit her often.

But to be honest, every time she saw Minghe, she remembered her son. He must be big now, big enough to walk on his own. How was he doing? Is he being fed enough? Does he miss his mom? Shi Jiu did not know.

Her eyes moistened at the thoughts. She rubbed her red eyes with the back of her palms. After a long time, she walked out of her room and stood out of the door. It was cold outside and the night was deep. There was no sound except the lonesome cry of a night owl faraway.

"Chen Gu?" She called out.

For a moment, nothing stirred around her. Then suddenly, leaves of a nearby tree rustled without any wind. Out jumped a frightening tall figure.

His entire body was wrapped in black and his face was veiled in a black mask, only revealing a pair of ruthless eyes.

He knelt forth her with a lowered head. "Mistress! What are your orders?" He asked in a hideous voice. One might have shuddered just by hearing that voice.

But Consort Lian sighed. "Come inside! We need to talk." She said gravely.

Chen Gu, her personal bodyguard didn't say anything and silently followed in to the room after her.

Consort Lian sat on he enormous bed again and looked at Chen Gu with a pale face. "Chen Gu... What about the thing I asked you to do?"

Chen Gu had his face lowered politely. "Over." He simply replied. "There were altogether thirty seven assassin within the past two weeks."

Consort Lian felt as if she was stabbed. Empress Qing really dared to sent assassins to kill her little brother Nuo Nuo... She knew the Empress was after Shen Nuo for making her loose her face at the harem tea party. Her eyes flashed in a dangerous light for a split second before it dimmed away quickly.

Then her face wrenched with worry. Actually she very much liked this lively junior brother of her. But it was her unluckiness that she could not pat his shoulder and call him little brother.

Even every time she meets him, though how hard she tried to keep cold and unfriendly towards him, she couldn't help but call him little brother though Shen Nuo seemed to hate to hear it...

She loved him so much. But she could do nothing than to watch him from afar, protecting him silently. Yes, it was one of her self decided missions to help her little brother to the seat of the Empress. She knew it wasn't anything easy.

She had pretended to be loyal to the Empress only because she wanted to protect Shen Nuo...

She shouldn't leave any weakness behind in this back stabbing game. She obviously knew her life wasn't guaranteed in this play of swords and daggers. But she willingly embraced her fate to live in shadows to keep her siblings safe. She looked at Chen Gu.

"Are you sure you didn't leave any evidence?" She asked in an apprehensive voice.

Chen Gu raised his eyes to look at her. In his deep eyes were clearly dissatisfaction. "Mistress doesn't believe me anymore."

Consort Lian pursed her lips. "That's not what I mean, Chen Gu, you have to be careful!"

Chen Gu didn't say anything anymore. He silently stood for orders like a loyal shadow guard.

After a long time, Consort Lian let out a sigh. "Chen Gu, it's time." She said in a slightly hoarse voice. "Father threatened me and forced me to choose between Minghe and my son! He wants me to kill Minghe..."

"Noted!" The man growled. "When?"

Consort Lian was clearly stunned. After a long time, she narrowed her eyes gravely. "Chen Gu. What do you mean by noted?"

"Killing the Crown Prince, let this subordinate do it!"

Consort Lian gulped. "You should be heartless. But not to this extent. Chen Gu, that little kid used to look at your eyes and call you Uncle Chen. He used to play with you though you did not like it. Can you really kill that child?"

Chen Gu gulped. "I only want my mistress safe. I would do anything to keep you and your child safe!"

Consort Lian was silent for a long time. Her eyes were dead. Her face was very pale. She did not look happy. Then almost in a weak voice, she spoke again.

"Wait for me to think more. You're not to make any move unless I tell you to."

Chen Gu was clearly dissatisfied. "Mistress! If big master asked you to kill him, then you have no other choice if you want to save your child! Would you kill your own son to save someone who even isn't related to you by blood?"

"But I killed his mother." Consort Lian gulped. "I should hold responsibility..."

"But your father won't!" Chen Gu replied at once. "Mistress, I'm sorry. But let me do it. This subordinate does not want your hands to get dirty with blood anymore."

Consort Lian smiled. Her eyes actually moistened. She looked grave and weary. "Would that wash away my sins? Chen Gu, stop it! I'll find a way to save my son. Let Minghe be!"

Chen Gu looked displeased. His face became more and more ugly. "Mistress!" His voice was very frightening, like a beast.

Consort Lian sighed. "Chen Gu, once you used to work for my father. What did you get in return? Once he asked you to kill Li Yan. But what happened? When you were closer to your death, did he care about your life?"

Chen Gu's eyes flashed with a frightening light when he heard the words Spring Hunt. He was actually a deadly assassin. Once he tried to assassinate the Emperor under orders of Grand Martial Shen Ruoyun during one of the previous Spring Hunts. He used to be the most powerful assassin in Wolf Head Assassin Organization and was quite confident of his success.

He still remembered the incident like it was yesterday. He faced the Emperor who was alone on his horse back in the middle of the forest. But after exchanging a few moves with the Emperor, he realized that he had really underestimated the strength of the Emperor.

Just within three moves, the Emperor disarmed him single handedly, and pinned him onto a pine tree with the sword he tried to kill the Emperor.

He was hung on the pine trunk with the sword through the stomach for one day and one night. He was nearly close to death when he managed somehow to carefully pull away the sword himself.

He crawled day and night like an injured animal. When he returned to the organization for help, he was ruthlessly kicked away by Shen Ruoyun for the sake of failing the mission.

When he was at the verge of end, by a curious chance, it was when he met her. She didn't ask him anything. She simply saved his life and asked him to serve her as a repayment.

So he had been working for her ever since. Later, he got to know she was none but the actual leader of the assassin organization that he used to work for. So he killed for her, stole for her, framed for her and did numerous sinful crimes for her.

He wondered numerous times if he had the feelings of being grateful for her because she saved him or they were just some other feelings. But he never spoke of them. He contented himself working for her and protecting her from the shadows...

He was willing to the point of giving up his revenge towards the Emperor for the sake of her. He gritted his teeth. He would do anything for the sake of her. He lowered his head even more.

"No. This subordinate was ignored by him!"

"Then are you loyal to me or my father?"

"Mistress! I'm loyal to you!"

Consort Lian nodded. "Then I want your help! Perhaps I won't be able to stop the assassination from happening. I can only alert and warn others before I make my move. Minghe mustn't die. But my son mustn't die either. As long as I try, I'm sure father won't kill my son."

Chen Gu nodded grimly. "At your service, mistress."

"How is brother Zhanhua's spies doing at our organization?" She asked pressing her brow bone wearily.

"They are very careful." Chen Gu replied darkly. "But they don't know yet that we already know who they are."

"Good!" Consort Lian smiled painfully. "Just pretend you know nothing. Brother Zhanhua will be useful in this case. Just spread rumors in the organization about the murder that's going to happen and make sure they hear it! Minghe mustn't die!"

"Yes, Mistress." He said grimly bowing. "But mistress, you seem not to trust Minister Zhanhua... Why do you trust him in this case?"

"Though I feel something bad and strange about him, I feel like he is protective of Minghe than any." Consort Lian said furrowing her brows.

Chen Gu creased his brows. "Mistress had never told me of this matter of him being strange. Do you need this subordinate to investigate this matter further?"

"No need. It just so happened that his recent behavior seemed a bit uncovering. The things I want to know, I already know. There's something serious that big brother Zhanhua is hiding."

"Mistress?"

Consort Lian sighed. "He's meeting with strange people who are not local to Li Yang. He has an extremely powerful network of guards and spies spreading through the Imperial Capital and the Palace even that Li Yan doesn't know. Half of the ministers of the court are loyal and sided to him. Unless he's secretly rebelling, what can this mean?"

Chen Gu was flabbergasted. The Minister of Revenue he used to know was a gentle mild character who always smiled and helped others. Even he was shocked to hear this. He was speechless for a moment. "Then..."

Consort Lian nodded her head. "That's why I need your help now, Chen Gu, do you know the reason why I summoned you here? I want you to lure Shen Nuo into Xuehua Brothel tomorrow. But make sure you won't lure anyone else. Specially not Zhangsun. If Emperor gets to know of this, little brother Nuo Nuo will get in trouble. Understood?"

"Xuehua Brothel?"

"Hmm, there's something interesting that he must see with his own eyes." Consort Lian said. "Of this matter, it's better for Shen Nuo to be fore warned. He would definitely learn whom he should trust, and whom he shouldn't."

"Understood!" Then Chen Gu raised his eyes to look at Consort Lian. "Mistress. Everyone hates you because of what you choose to do. But at least you should think about yourself more."

There was a strange silence inside the room. Consort Lian's fingers subconsciously tightened onto the bed sheets. She pursed her thin lips. "Chen Gu, I'm sleepy. You can leave."

Chen Gu gulped. He didn't say anything. He just stared at her for a moment with eyes full of inexplicable emotions before he disappeared out with his sheathed sword...

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Ok, so here starts Zhanhua's hidden story...

Hope you enjoyed the story.

Hope y'all have a good day!💕