The Sickly Emperor Is Only Immune to Me-Chapter 117 - : A Painful Loss
Chapter 117: Chapter 117: A Painful Loss
The roosters crowed and the dogs barked.
Dawn broke brightly.
The maids pushed open the door, ready to attend to the newlyweds’ washing and dressing.
But the bed was empty.
Sang Yan had vanished.
Only Qiuzhi was sound asleep, oblivious to their entrance.
...
“Qiuzhi, Qiuzhi—”
The maids woke her and asked, “Where’s the young mistress? Where has she gone?”
Groggy with sleep and yawning, Qiuzhi said, “The young mistress is in bed.”
Yet when she rubbed her eyes and looked toward the bed, she couldn’t help but exclaim, “Where is the young mistress?”
Panic struck everyone present in an instant.
They searched inside and out, but found no one.
They had no choice but to inform Sang Kun.
“Master, the young mistress is missing. There’s no one in the room. We’ve searched all of Yingyan House, but she’s nowhere to be found.”
Tears streamed down Qiuzhi’s face in her urgency.
Sang Kun was in the midst of dressing, his spirits once high from the joyous occasion, his face glowing with pleasure. But upon hearing that someone was missing, his expression darkened, “What happened? How can she be missing? Did you search carefully?”
As he spoke, he made his way towards Yingyan House.
Ms. Lin arrived a step before him.
She had been at odds with Sang Kun lately, and they were living separately.
Now, seeing the empty bridal chamber and the maids and servants kneeling in a row, she felt both anxious and furious, “How could you know nothing? Are you tired of living? The future Empress is missing, do you understand the gravity of your crime?”
The maids and servants shivered, not daring to utter a word.
They all had to wait until the master was asleep before they could dare to sleep themselves.
How could they know someone would vanish?
It was the guards of the Sang Mansion who should bear the primary responsibility!
But these things they dared not say.
The lady was fuming, and any further word would only fan the flames.
After scanning through Yingyan House inside and out and confirming Sang Yan wasn’t there, Sang Kun asked, “Where are the mansion’s guards? And the Imperial Palace’s Hidden Guards?”
Each misdeed has its master.
He had to hold these people accountable.
*
Meanwhile, in Sang Jue’s room, those very guards were still fast asleep.
Sprawled across the floor, they looked like corpses.
The first to wake was Sang Jue.
He awoke to the sounds of a servant’s voice.
“Young Master! Young Master, what’s wrong? Don’t scare us!”
The servant’s voice was so loud it also roused the Hidden Guards.
Opening their eyes, their heads throbbing with pain, they supported their heads with their hands, and after exchanging glances, the alarm bells sounded, “This is bad!”
They scrambled to their feet and rushed outside.
They collided with the hurriedly arriving Sang Kun in the courtyard.
“Ah Jue, your sister is missing!”
Upon hearing these words, the Hidden Guards’ faces turned pale: Disaster! They had lost the person they were supposed to protect!
They looked at each other silently before turning to look at Sang Jue.
Sang Jue, being helped up by the servants, was just staggering out of the room.
Clutching his sore forehead, his expression innocent, he asked, “What happened? How could my sister be missing? She’s supposed to be getting married today. Did she run away?”
“Don’t talk nonsense! Your sister would never run away from a wedding!”
Sang Kun sharply defended Sang Yan’s reputation and provided corroborating evidence, “Were you drugged? Qiuzhi said the same, that she slept heavily and had a headache. This must be a premeditated kidnapping! But who would kidnap her?”
Sang Jue remained silent.
Even if he knew, he wouldn’t tell.
The Hidden Guards observed the father and son’s exchange.
Yan Tong signaled with his eyes for two of the Hidden Guards to go and search, while he approached Sang Jue, “Young Master Sang, please come with us.”
They were Hidden Guards, responsible for covertly protecting Sang Yan.
But the previous evening, Sang Jue had said that he received a message from the worldly society—someone had placed a high bounty on the head of the Sang Family’s Demoness.
He had instructed them to obey his scheduling arrangements and protect Sang Yan.
As a result, the person disappeared last night.
And it just so happened that they had all gathered together, listening to him dictate the evening personnel scheduling arrangements, and then, they all fainted in his room.
Everything seemed like a conspiracy.
When Sang Jue saw that they suspected him, he said angrily, “What do you mean by this? Are you suggesting that I would harm my own sister? She’s my own flesh and blood!”
He had no motive for the crime.
At least on the surface, he had no motive whatsoever.
Even the mishap with Sang Yan would definitely affect his interests adversely.
But Yan Tong didn’t need to find his motive for the crime.
All he needed to do was to report the entire process truthfully to the Emperor.
*
The Emperor waited at the entrance of the Imperial Palace for the bridal procession.
Behind him stood the luxuriously commanding honor guard, accompanied by groups of officials.
It was the middle of August.
The weather was still very hot.
Though it was only early morning, the blazing sun was scorching, making everyone’s temper flare up.
“The day has just begun, and the Emperor is acting like this, ah, look, standing like a statue pining for his wife.”
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“That’s right, right after the Emperor took control of the government, even though there were many matters awaiting his attention and he was full of zeal, he was never this eager to attend court.”
“Hahaha, one of life’s four great joys is the bridal chamber’s candle night! Of course one must be a bit more enthusiastic!”
…
They quietly exchanged words among themselves.
He Ying was far away from them and didn’t hear clearly.
He had no mood to care about others’ thoughts, fervently scanning the horizon.
From afar, a column of people on horses galloped quickly towards him.
Leading them was Yan Tong who, when about two zhang (approximately six or seven meters) away from He Ying, dismounted, walked on his knees for a few steps, and bowed in front of him: “Your Majesty, please forgive me, Lord Sang has disappeared.”
A bolt from the blue!
He Ying’s joyful expression vanished instantly, and he stiffened: “What, what did you say?”
Yan Tong reported the details truthfully: “We were responsible for protecting Lord Sang, but early yesterday morning, Young Master Sang said he had received news from the worldly society that someone believed Lord Sang to be an ominous demoness, enticing worldly assassins to kill her. Naturally, we were on high alert. However, in the evening, Sang Jue gathered us together under the pretext of arranging the schedule, and then, we all succumbed to a sleeping drug and collapsed in his room. When we awoke the next day, Lord Sang had disappeared.”
“Your Majesty, I have been wrongly accused.”
Sang Jue, with an innocently beautiful face, retorted: “They made a mistake and lost my sister, and now they are blaming it on me—”
“Ah!”
It was Yan Tong’s cry of pain.
He was kicked in the chest by a raging He Ying and sent flying a good distance.
Sang Jue’s words were cut off and upon seeing this, he also fell silent.
The Emperor was enraged!
It was the first time Sang Jue directly faced the Emperor’s anger, and he was somewhat intimidated.
“Immediately investigate Jiang Ke’s whereabouts!”
“Three days!”
“If you can’t find the person, you will atone with your lives!”
He Ying roared these words.
After roaring, he mounted his horse and sped off to the Sang Mansion.
The eunuchs, palace maids, and guards who were in charge of close attendance all followed.
The ministers looked at each other in dismay, all remaining where they stood.
“This doesn’t bode well.”
“Couldn’t she really have been abducted and killed by people from worldly society?”
“Who would be so bold to dare kill a future Empress?”
“I’ve heard there have been calls from the people to kill the demoness.”
“Oh heavens, such a calamity.”
“To tell you the truth, if the Sang Family’s daughter has met with misfortune, given the Emperor’s temperament, there’s bound to be some slaughter in this land!”
…
The ministers whispered among themselves.
Sang Jue watched the Emperor’s retreating figure with a dark and cold gaze: He Ying, do you feel the pain of losing a loved one now? Do you realize, when you chose to stand with Yu Pochuan, the torment I endure day and night?
