Emperor Jianwu walked toward the customary exit with Mr. Liu but was stopped by the guards.
"Get out of the way."
Emperor Jianwu shouted angrily.
Several guards saluted respectfully: "Your Majesty, we are only following orders, please understand..."
"Following whose orders?"
Emperor Jianwu’s expression carried a trace of ferocity: "I am the Emperor, you receive your salaries from me, not from the Empress Dowager. You should obey my commands, not anyone else’s. Do not think that just because the Empress Dowager told you to stop me, everything will be fine. I can dismiss you from your positions and have you exiled."
Mr. Liu began censuring the guards pretentiously, pointing at them and reprimanding, "Such fools! His Majesty is the ruler of this nation, his word decides your punishments and rewards. If you don’t listen to His Majesty, whom do you want to listen to? A bunch of stupid clowns, hurry and let us through."
The guards hesitated.
Mr. Liu went over and pushed them aside: "Your Majesty, let’s hurry."
Emperor Jianwu huffed coldly as he walked out the door with Mr. Liu.
"Where is the Emperor going?"
The voice of the Empress Dowager echoed from a distance.
Emperor Jianwu knew this wouldn’t end well.
He turned around to see the Empress Dowager approaching with a large entourage.
"Greetings to the Queen Mother."
Emperor Jianwu hastily offered a bow: "Your son wishes to take a stroll outside the palace."
"Take a stroll outside the palace?"
The Empress Dowager raised her eyebrows, "Are you looking to take a stroll, or are you intending to save your beloved?"
The Empress Dowager hit the nail on the head and Emperor Jianwu’s face turned ashen.
He was incredibly anxious. The Empress Dowager had already dispatched assassins to kill Yun Que. He needed to hurry and save her, and any delay might mean that by the time he arrived, Yun Que would already be dead.
Since he was in such a hurry, Emperor Jianwu did not bother with insincere diplomacy with the Empress Dowager.
He declared loudly, "The Queen Mother is right. I indeed intend to save someone. I did not expect the Queen Mother to be so ruthless, unable to tolerate even a young lady. I did not expect that the Queen Mother could dispatch someone’s life so casually."
As he spoke, his voice grew louder, each word underscored with decisive resolution: "Today, I must go and save her, and no one can stop me."
Fuming, the Empress Dowager took several deep breaths: "Is that little demon more important to you than I am? You would defy me to save her?"
As Emperor Jianwu spoke, he moved forward to push through.
The Empress Dowager waved her hand, and several eunuchs along with some robust nannies surged forward, surrounding and restraining Emperor Jianwu.
"Those who rule must avoid letting their emotions cloud their judgment. It’s not that I cannot tolerate a young girl, but rather an entity that confounds the mind of the Emperor."
The Empress Dowager’s face was cold as she watched Emperor Jianwu being surrounded, his arms seized, his eyes red with rage, unable to overcome the people holding him, unable to run, struggling pitifully.
The Empress Dowager turned her face towards Mr. Liu.
Mr. Liu was startled and quickly shrank to make himself less noticeable.
However, the Empress Dowager did not ignore him: "Someone, drag this servant who does not teach his master well."
Mr. Liu was grabbed by several people, terrified, he desperately shouted and pleaded, "Empress Dowager, spare my life, Empress Dowager, spare me... Your Majesty, save your servant, Your Majesty, save me."
Seeing that not only could Emperor Jianwu not leave the palace to rescue Yun Que, but even Mr. Liu was about to lose his life because of it, he felt both angry and anxious.
In his rage, he seemed to gain a lot of strength, and during the chaos, he crazily snatched a guard’s waist knife and held it against his own neck: "Let’s see who dares to stop me now, Queen Mother, let Liu Fu go, otherwise, your son will die in front of you."
The Empress Dowager trembled with anger. She pointed at Emperor Jianwu, then at Mr. Liu: "You...for his sake, what am I in your heart, as your mother?"
Emperor Jianwu’s eyes were bloodshot, he looked at the Empress Dowager, tears actually fell from his eyes: "Queen Mother, you gave birth to me, I am grateful to you, but since childhood, it has always been Liu Fu who was with me. Initially, when Queen Mother was not highly favored, my situation in the palace was not good either, it was Liu Fu who risked his life to protect me. When I was happy, he was by my side; when I was angry or sad, he was also by my side. Now the Queen Mother actually wants his life, have you ever thought, how would I feel if you killed Liu Fu? I wouldn’t even have someone to talk to."
He spoke more and more sorrowfully: "Yun Que understands me, she knows what I want, we could talk about anything, although she has her faults, I like her, and I can’t be separated from her."
The Empress Dowager felt weak all over, Emperor Jianwu’s words struck her heart heavily.
She, as a mother, couldn’t even compare to Liu Fu, a mere servant.
Look what Emperor Jianwu was saying?
If Liu Fu died, he wouldn’t have anyone to talk to; couldn’t she, as his mother, accompany him in his conversations?
Also, that Yun Que, she definitely could not be kept.
"Release Liu Fu first."
The Empress Dowager, fearing Emperor Jianwu might hurt himself, reluctantly ordered someone to release Liu Fu.
After Liu Fu regained his freedom, he scrambled to Emperor Jianwu’s side and fell to his knees with a thud: "Your Majesty, what merits or virtues do I have? Please put down the knife first, you are the True Dragon Emperor, supremely dignified, you should not risk your safety for a servant, Your Majesty, my life is not worth your concern, but Your Majesty, you are invaluable."
Emperor Jianwu’s knife was still not lowered, he glared at the Empress Dowager: "Let them leave; I want to leave the palace, I am leaving the palace now."
The Empress Dowager looked at Nanny Qin, who nodded.
The Empress Dowager waved her hand: "Alright, let him go."
Emperor Jianwu took the knife, and leaving through a side door with Mr. Liu,
Once they were out of the Imperial Palace, he threw the knife down, then quickly ran with Mr. Liu.
Emperor Jianwu reacted quite fast and left timely, but when he and Mr. Liu reached the residence he bought for Yun Que, they saw chaos and an empty courtyard.
Emperor Jianwu searched every corner of the residence but couldn’t find Yun Que.
He was panicked and terrified, standing in the courtyard and loudly shouting, "Yun Que, where are you? Where are you?"
Mr. Liu, while crying, helped with the search: "Miss Yun, it’s safe now, the master is here, please come out quickly, Miss Yun, I beg you to come out, you can’t be harmed, if anyone should die it should be me, you should live a long life with the master, you can’t be harmed."
The two searched for a long time but did not find Yun Que.
Emperor Jianwu seemed to have lost all his strength.
He knelt on the ground, covering his face and wept aloud.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty."
Mr. Liu knelt beside Emperor Jianwu: "Your Majesty, we haven’t found Miss Yun, but there’s also no sign of her body here, which means Miss Yun is still alive. As long as she’s alive, we can always find her."