Chapter 54 Night Raid
It was not a trivial matter to surround the Taizi Mansion at night. But to get hold of the evidence, the key was to get the stolen goods.
It was at night that Huo Xu gave an order to let the carefully selected soldiers break into the Taizi Mansion. He had already wiped away the last hesitation in his heart.
Huo Du pushed his wheelchair slowly to the front courtyard and saw that the guards of the mansion and Huo Xu’s soldiers were already at a stalemate, he hooked his lips and laughed.
“Third Imperial Brother came here late at night. This is…?”
The crimson bedclothes were mostly covered by the moon white cotton cloak, and only a little of the front of the shirt was faintly exposed, making his skin even whiter in the night.
Huo Xu hated Huo Du’s calm appearance the most as if he did not care about anything. He sneered in his heart, but there was a gentle smile on his face, “There is an important thing to disturb Imperial Brother late at night. I heard that Imperial Brother had captured a remnant of country Li yesterday, but you have not reported it to Imperial Father. Therefore, I specially came here to confirm that Imperial Brother won’t do such a stupid thing, right?”
Hearing this, Huo Du chuckled and said, “Just because of the groundless rumors, Imperial Brother led troops into this loneliness mansion. Have you ever thought about the consequences of breaking into the Taizi Mansion?”
Although the voice was not loud, the cold tone came into Huo Xu’s ears which still made his heart sink by three points. But he thought that the reason why Huo Du was so unscrupulous was that he thought he could not find the secret prison in the Taizi Mansion?
But now, he had a secret letter from Zhizhi. Thinking of this, his heart became even more confident.
“I ask Imperial Brother for permission. This move is also for the sake of Imperial Brother. If this is really a misunderstanding, it can also save Imperial Brother from those groundless rumors.”
“All right.” Huo Du raised his eyelids, glanced at him lazily, then waved his hand, signaling the guards to make way, “Third Imperial Brother search slowly.”
Such a casual gesture made Huo Xu even more baffling. He set his eyes on Huo Du’s disabled leg and gritted his back teeth.
He was obviously a lame person, but he had never seen any look of inferiority on his face. On the contrary, the disabled leg was like something remarkable to him.
For which reason does he always look so arrogant?
For which reason was he born a Taizi?
For which reason!
Huo Xu stared at his disabled leg firmly, with a trace of regret in his expression. He should not have been soft-hearted back then. He should have disabled both of his legs. No, he should have killed him directly at that time!
Huo Xu moved his gaze up and saw that the guards standing around Huo Du spread out. They really made way for him.
Take retreat as advancement, right? Want to use this to attack my psychological defense?
You must be dreaming.
“Then I’ll have to disturb Imperial Brother.” Huo Xu took two steps forward, and then ordered in a deep voice without hesitation, “Search for me.”
The elite soldiers walked in neatly along the narrow road that was vacated. Following Huo Xu’s instructions before they set off, small groups of four people scattered around and searched at random. The rest of the soldiers centralized and rushed towards the eastern courtyard!
Huo Xu walked at the end, quietly waiting for his mansion soldiers to find the secret prison deep in the eastern courtyard according to the instructions given in Zhizhi’s letter.
Not long after, the frontline of his mansion soldiers came hurriedly.
“His Royal Highness, there is a discovery! There is indeed a secret prison in the eastern courtyard.”
The big stone in his heart landed, and Huo Xu followed his mansion soldiers into the dark passage of the secret prison with confidence.
There was a faint smell of blood floating in the dark secret prison, and the more they went further down, the eerier their feeling became. Finally, walking down to the bottom, there was only a weak man with disheveled hair tied up in the empty cell.
Judging from the figure, he was very similar to Fu Xian.
Huo Xu was beaming with happiness and sent someone to pull aside his hair to take a closer look.
It’s not Fu Xian!
He’s just an ordinary prisoner.
Huo Xu was shocked. He had fallen into a trap!
“Withdraw!” The footsteps turned sharply, and Huo Xu walked upward quickly.
He only entered the secret prison to search for a while, but the outside seemed to have changed a whole lot.
Except for the few mansion soldiers who followed him to the secret prison, the rest of the people who were waiting on the top were all lying on the ground weakly at this moment, not knowing whether they were alive or dead. The originally frail guards of the Taizi Mansion had long since disappeared. And standing beside Huo Du, surrounded by layers upon layers of cold and solemn imperial guards.
The victory had been decided.
“What? Third Imperial Brother didn’t find an old friend?” Huo Du smiled, playing with the purple stone in his hand.
Huo Xu still wanted to fight back. He tried his best to keep his face calm and calm his tone, “Since it’s a misunderstanding, then I won’t bother Imperial Brother.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the few soldiers standing beside him slumped and fell straight to the ground.
In an instant, fear climbed all over his body. Only then did Huo Xu remember that the secret guards who had been sent to the Taizi Mansion to inquire in the past had never survived. He looked up at the dark night sky, just now the moon was still bright, and now even the stars were hidden by the thick clouds.
Could it be that he was going to die here today?
“Brother Ah Xu, the person who hijacked the carriage yesterday was Brother Fu Xian, and now he is locked up in the eastern courtyard of the Taizi Mansion…” Huo Du recited a few words of the secret letter without expression, and then looked at Huo Xu’s unpredictable expression with great interest.
“You!” Huo Xu suddenly felt dizzy. After barely standing still, he covered his aching heart, gritted his teeth, and said, “You set up a trap to harm me!”
The handwriting on the letter was not mistaken, but Huo Du actually knew it all. This showed that Zhizhi’s dealings with him have been discovered by Huo Du. He did not know what method he used to force Zhizhi to write this letter.
Unable to resist the blackness in front of his eyes, Huo Xu suddenly knelt on the ground. Before losing consciousness, he frowned and worried about Le Zhi’s current situation.
Even if he could not get out of the Taizi Mansion today, he did not care. When he was on the verge of death, he realized that the only thing he could not let go of was Zhizhi.
“Deal with them.”
The secret guards were ordered to act quickly to drag away all the people who fell to the ground. Not long after, Huo Xu was the only one left, lying quietly on the cold ground.
An elegant and delicate shadow hidden in the dark came out, walked to Huo Du’s side, naturally grabbed the clothes on his shoulder, and asked in a low voice, “Did he really pass out?”
“It’s no different from dying.” Huo Du said leisurely, “He won’t wake up even if you kick him.”
It was originally a joke, but Le Zhi took it seriously. She took a few steps forward and tried to touch Huo Xu’s arm with the toe of her boot. Seeing that he really did not respond, she took the courage and kicked his side face hard.
This scene fell into Huo Du’s eyes, which made him feel a little happy.
He missed the way she killed people before, but today he saw her kicking a person. It was truly…
Damn good-looking.
But he still pushed the wheelchair over, held her wrist, and asked, “Really not going to kill him? There’s still time if you want to change your mind now.”
After a short moment of silence, Le Zhi shook her head, glanced at the person on the ground again, and smiled, “It’s not going to be fun anymore if to kill him now.”
Huo Du looked at her face with fascination and was shocked to realize that the words she said were becoming more and more like him. So, he also imitated her just now, stretched out one foot, and kicked Huo Xu’s face on the other side.
Sure enough, it was very interesting.
However, he quickly retracted his feet and frowned.
Dirty.
—
When Huo Xu opened his eyes again, he met Huo Changyun’s angry gaze.
Regardless of the pain in his cheeks, Huo Xu quickly got up and knelt on the ground. He was shocked to realize that he was in the imperial study.
“Breaking into the Taizi Mansion, with the intention of murdering the Taizi of the dynasty.” Huo Changyun threw a stack of papers at Huo Xu, “After the defeat, your mansion soldiers took poison to commit suicide, and you took the fake death medicine in an attempt to lay the blame to frame Taizi!”
After a pause, Huo Changyun suddenly laughed, but his tone was cold, “Great, what a great Jingxian Wang! You are indeed my good son!”
Huo Xu, who had just woken up from a blackout, was confused, and he looked at Huo Changyun with a puzzled look on his face.
What is Imperial Father talking about?
In addition to breaking into the Taizi Mansion, which one of the latter that he said was made by him?
Huo Xu glared at Huo Du, who was standing beside him, marveling at his shamelessness!
“It’s true that I have broken into the Taizi Mansion, but I just went to search for the remnant of Great Li, and absolutely never intended to murder Imperial Brother. Imperial Father, please investigate this matter!”
“Where is the remnant of Great Li?” Huo Changyun snorted coldly, “How dare you make excuses! How can such morality be worthy of the word Jingxian!”
Huo Xu swept his eyes over the paper on the ground. He picked it up and looked at it, and he was shocked. His carefully selected mansion soldiers had all signed on the unwarranted confession.
The defeat was decided, and he lost completely.
“Someone, pass on my order to abolish the title of Jingxian Wang from Huo Xu, the third prince. From today onwards, the third prince will be confined to the mansion, and cannot come without an imperial order.”
Huo Xu could not hear what he said later. His body and mind were exhausted and painful, and he fainted in the imperial study. He did not even know that the little eunuchs carried him back to the mansion.
The imperial study finally calmed down again. Huo Changyun watched Huo Du and wanted to say something but hesitate. In the end, he did not say anything and waved him to retreat.
In today’s event, he could see clearly who was right and who was wrong. But right or wrong was not important, winning or losing was important.
What Huo Changyun needed was a most capable son. Whether it was Huo Du, Huo Xu, Huo Xiang, or the young princes, he only needed the most powerful son among them.
It did not matter to be merciless and ruthless. Only in this way could he hand over Great Qi to him with confidence and fulfill his wish to unify the five kingdoms and three tribes for him after his death.
Thinking of this, Huo Changyun got up and walked into the inner room of the imperial study, where there was a sand table, and the flags of the five countries and three tribes were planted on their respective territories.
It’s just that the flag of Great Li has been replaced with a flag with the word Qi, and another territory that has been replaced with the flag of Great Qi was…
Shengnuo Tribe.
Huo Changyun’s eyes gradually darkened, and his heart was a little stuffy, but he tried his best to ignore this uncomfortable feeling. Then turn his greedy eyes to the remaining three countries and two Tribes.
He had to be faster.
—
The sun was shining brightly, and the New Year ambiance was everywhere.
Le Zhi sat in the garden, looking at the people in the mansion busy shopping for New Year’s goods, and could not help but curl her lips. Just now Li Yao had already told her about Huo Xu’s abolition, and Huo Du would be returning home soon in a while.
Again… a victorious battle.
Huo Xu was grounded, so she would not have to see his disgusting face again for a long time. And during this time, she could help her sister to recuperate. Also, she was going to send Xia Ming and Ah Chan to find the whereabouts of her sister-in-law and Yu’er.
At this time, Lin Yue passed by the garden holding boxes of various sizes. When Le Zhi saw her, her heart moved, and she suddenly remembered something and called out to her.
“Master, is there anything you want to tell Lin Yue?”
Lin Yue put the box in her hand on the stone table and asked after taking a few breaths. But Le Zhi pulled her hand, let her sit down, and said in a low voice, “The medicine you bought at Yongchun Hall last time… the effect is not very good…”
Le Zhi thought about it over and over again and felt that this matter still had to be explained to Lin Yue. Firstly, she was the one who bought the aphrodisiacs last time, and secondly, she was smart enough to do this.
“Ah?”
Lin Yue was startled. After all, she was a girl who had not yet married. She could not help but blush. “The doctor from Yongchun Hall said that the medicine was the best. His Highness, he…”
Still cannot?
For some reason, Le Zhi’s heart was choked up with anxiety. She shook her head softly, and instructed earnestly, “You go ask again if there are any milder herbs or prescriptions that are best to regulate slowly.”
“Yes!” Lin Yue nodded seriously.
When she stood up, her hands hanging by her side clenched into fists, Lin Yue secretly swore that she would definitely do this for her master!
She walked towards the gate and when she was about to step out of the mansion, she ran into Huo Du who was returning to the mansion. Apart from the calmness and respect when she saw His Highness Taizi in the past, Lin Yue felt sorrier in her heart at this moment.
She bowed respectfully to salute and then quickened her pace towards Yongchun Hall.
Huo Du, who did not fully recognize the maids in the mansion, had a vague impression of the maids serving Le Zhi. Therefore, when entering the mansion, he glanced at Lin Yue who was saluting.
At this glance, he happened to see her eyes.
Strange eyes.
He frowned subconsciously, and an unpleasant emotion rose in his heart for no reason.