Palace Fighting: Naive Concubines' Ascent to Power-Chapter 398 Restlessness

Indeed, heaven has eyes, and when it seeks to destroy a man, it first drives him mad. Just as we were worrying about not having a Letter of Challenge, here comes one weighty enough. Once we confirm the details, both the Guo family and the Xue family can be destroyed in an instant, and then our family will no longer need to hide.

This matter is of great importance, and he dares not speak of it rashly, demanding to see the leader of the Internal Guard Bureau before he would reveal the clues.

Originally, he was only thirty percent confident, as accusing a family of crimes worthy of extermination is a grave accusation; he could not guarantee that the Guo and Xue families would dare to undertake such risk. But after meeting with the Ancestral Master of the Internal Guard Bureau, his confidence rose to seventy percent.

If he could truly pique the interest of the Ancestral Master of the Internal Guard Bureau and clarify the issue, that would be enough.

Should he uncover more concrete evidence and confirm his suspicions, he dares say, he even has the right to an audience with the Emperor.

However, just relying on him and Uncle Ma’s manpower, they could not handle such a large matter alone. Firstly, he did not have much time, as his mother was seriously ill, and he couldn’t leave the capital for too long; secondly, the matter was too significant, and the manpower he and Uncle Ma could muster was far from sufficient, not to mention the high risk involved—he had to ensure the safety of his own people before discussing other issues; thirdly, he had yet to gain trust, and rashly touching upon this matter could easily lead to being crushed by imperial power and invite a catastrophic disaster.

At night, while waiting for someone to arrive, he suddenly felt restless, his eyelids kept twitching, sensing that something had gone wrong at home.

Yet the arrow was already on the bowstring and had to be launched. During the meeting with the Ancestral Master of the Internal Guard Bureau, this restlessness nearly tripped him up, but thankfully, there were no mishaps, and he got through it smoothly.

The youthfulness of the Ancestral Master of the Internal Guard Bureau surprised him; he was only a few years older than himself. Under normal circumstances, one would definitely doubt whether this person was truly the Ancestral Master, but he knew it to be true.

He had specifically paid attention to this information before, knowing that the Ancestral Master of the Internal Guard Bureau was capricious, temperamental, and a ruthless character who would even dare to kill his own father. Seeing him today, it was clear that his reputation was well-deserved; the slightest error, and Uncle Ma and he would not have returned.

This nocturnal venture proved to be worth it, having established a connection.

In the shadow of the night, Uncle Ma looked back and whispered, "Young Master, it seems we’ve finally shaken them off."

Uncle Ma had come to understand the people of the Internal Guard Bureau were indeed very cautious. They had someone track them after they left. Fortunately, the Young Master had anticipated this possibility; he had already planned a route, rented a house in advance, and executed a feint. Even so, they almost got discovered, proving quite troublesome.

"After all this detour, we’ve finally lost them. Uncle Ma, let’s head back," said Lian Bao, changing direction and walking another way.

Their carriage was in another location; they’d retrieve it on their way back.

His sense of unease grew stronger. Before leaving, everything at home was calm, his mother seemed all right, with his father and second brother looking after her, Miss Li and her guards were there too. Even if their location was discovered, they should have been able to get away unscathed. He genuinely couldn’t understand where this anxiety was coming from and could only hope he was just being paranoid.

On the way back, Uncle Ma couldn’t help but ask directly, "Young Master, how can you be so sure that those shipments of grain signal such a significant issue, especially since they were moved in batches? If it was for business, that would be plausible too."

Lian Bao smiled slightly, "Uncle Ma, that’s exactly where their ingenuity lies. Transporting in batches draws less attention, but it also shows their nervousness. If it was business, the more they transport at once, the more they reduce transportation costs and losses. You know that businesses usually give a nod to the Grain Transport Gang to move goods via the official grain transport channels. We asked around, and the Grain Transport Gang brothers hadn’t heard a thing, proving they are not dealing in business. There is something fishy going on."

Uncle Ma nodded, that made sense; no wonder the Young Master had asked him to inquire with the Grain Transport Gang brothers. After learning there was an issue, he followed the trail and found several batches of winter clothing for warding off the cold had been sent out, which even included forbidden iron.

Continuing, Lian Bao said, "Winter clothing, iron tools, and grain—Uncle Ma, if you look at these separately, they might not seem obvious, but when linked together, what do you think of?"

Uncle Ma hesitated, "Military supplies?"

Lian Bao smiled confidently, "Exactly. Moreover, the people transporting the items were all from their inner circles, looking as if they dared not let anyone else know, which only makes me more suspicious."

Uncle Ma lowered his voice, "But what reason could they have to maintain private soldiers? That’s a crime punishable by the extermination of their whole family."

Lian Bao’s peach blossom eyes narrowed, as he coldly replied, "Human greed knows no bounds—when the Xue family reigned supreme a decade ago, and now that their power is waning, they must be driven into a corner, so nothing is impossible."

The evidence is always there; the Guo family regularly sent out batches of grain under the guise of distant relatives. Despite their efforts to be secretive, they invariably left traces that, based on these clues, made it possible to infer anomalies.

Winter was nearing its arrival, and this was likely to be their last delivery of the year. If they didn’t send it out now, the river would freeze and heavy snowfall would come, making it impossible to dispatch any further.

Therefore, if they wanted to investigate, this was the best opportunity. He hoped that the Internal Guard Bureau would live up to its reputation and not let him down.

"Uncle Ma, speed up a bit more, let’s return early," he said, feeling constantly on edge and very uneasy.

"Alright, Young Master, hold on tight," Uncle Ma responded, cracking the whip and heading toward a compound in Southern City.

This night was destined to be restless.

Within the Imperial Palace, Changzai Zhou opened her eyes in the dark and glanced at Liu Ying, who was on night guard, then quietly got up.

The beads on the curtain swayed as she appeared beside Liu Ying, who was sound asleep. A coldness filled her heart.

This servant was deceitful and truly deserved to die.

The box had not been found, and she was uncertain whether it had sunk to the bottom of the well, had been taken by someone, or if this servant had concealed something.

But none of that mattered anymore. The servant had to die!

In the darkness, Changzai Zhou raised her hand and walked toward the inner chamber.

The beads on the curtain swayed once again, and the room returned to its peaceful state.

Liu Ying turned over, half-awake, and opened her eyes. It seemed she had sensed a shadow looming over her, but upon opening her eyes, she found nothing, thinking it was just her sleepy confusion.

She scratched her neck, feeling a bit itchy, and habitually glanced inside the chamber. Seeing nothing unusual, she drifted back to sleep.

In Canglan Court.

Lian Hua finally fell asleep, but her snooze was restless. She broke into a sweat, and her brows furrowed slightly. However, she was much more settled than when she had been having nightmares.

The Emperor held her, wiping her sweat and quietly breathed a sigh of relief as he too gradually drifted off to sleep.

In the South City Compound.

The night was deep, and in another Shichen Chinese Time, dawn would come.

Lian Changhe’s shout broke the silence: "Doctor Huang, it seems something is wrong with my wife. Please come quickly and take a look."

The people standing guard outside all rushed in, making way for Divine Doctor Huang.

Divine Doctor Huang looked over and saw that Su Ran, who had just soaked in a medicinal bath and lay on the bed, now had rapid breathing and was sweating profusely.

He immediately checked Su Ran’s pulse, which was extremely chaotic.

Thinking to himself that something was wrong, his hands did not stop moving as he swiftly pressed several major acupoints to protect her heart meridian.