Chapter 742: 343 Father and Son (Eight More Updates)_2 Chapter 742: 343 Father and Son (Eight More Updates)_2 As the old saying goes, children from seven to nine years old tend to be unbearable, even irritating to a dog. Qin Chuyu was at that high-strung age, both rebellious and obstinate, to the point that even the crown prince was growing increasingly reluctant to see him lately.
Queen Jing said softly, “Your father is doing this for your own good.”
Qin Chuyu snorted, “Hmph, if he really cared about me, he wouldn’t tell me lies!”
The queen seemed amused by his petulance, “What lies did your father tell you?”
Qin Chuyu protested vehemently, “He said that the Imperial Great-grandmother is not a good person!”
In all fairness, the emperor had never said such a thing to him. He simply forbade Qin Chuyu from visiting Renshou Palace, and from that, Qin Chuyu inferred his conclusion about the Empress Dowager’s character.
Even though children are naive, they can be surprisingly perceptive about certain things.
For instance, he noticed that every time the emperor looked at the Empress Dowager, his eyes held the same expression that one wore when looking at a villain. Also, the emperor’s insistence on keeping him away from the Empress Dowager further cemented this notion.
Furthermore, Empress Xiao and those around her showed a palpable aversion to the Empress Dowager.
Given these, it was not surprising that he had come to such a conclusion.
Queen Jing gently tousled his hair, “What do you think, Xiaoqi? Is the Imperial Great-grandmother good?”
“Hmm…” Qin Chuyu thought about it seriously, and judiciously said, “At the very least, she isn’t bad! I had dinner at her palace today, and I spilled a large bowl of soup over her. She didn’t punish or scold me.”
Queen Jing gazed at him gently, “Xiaoqi, you are a prince. Nobody would dare to scold you.”
Qin Chuyu turned up his nose, “She even scolded the Emperor! I heard it myself!”
“Is that so?” Queen Jing softly chuckled, lowering her eyes and setting down the handkerchief in her hand.
The emperor had retired to the Imperial Study Room to review the official documents. Halfway through, he calmly set the document he was reading on the table.
“What seems to be the problem, Your Majesty? Is the room too stuffy?” asked Eunuch Wei, concerned.
“Not at all.” The emperor massaged his aching forehead.
Eunuch Wei suggested, “Your Majesty, you should get some rest. The rest of these documents can wait till tomorrow. There is no morning court session tomorrow either.”
In Zhan Country, morning court sessions were not held every day; there were several off days each month.
The emperor took a sip of his tea and said nonchalantly, “I am not tired.”
“Then, what seems to be troubling Your Majesty?” Eunuch Wei asked.
The emperor did not answer his question, instead he ordered, “Where is Eunuch He? Go and summon him.”
Under the cover of darkness, Eunuch Wei brought Eunuch He to the Imperial Study Room.
Eunuch He bowed to the emperor, “Your servant pays respect to Your Majesty.”
“How goes the investigation I assigned you?” the Emperor asked sternly.
He was referring to the investigation into the attack on Queen Jing in the Imperial Garden.
Eunuch He reported, “We haven’t made much progress yet. We’ve only found out that the assassin most likely entered the Imperial Palace from the vicinity of the Cold Palace, where the security is relatively lax. Additionally, the assassin most likely had an accomplice on the inside who distracted the Dragon Shadow Guards, allowing him to approach Queen Jing unnoticed.”
Unfortunately, the Dragon Shadow Guards were mute and only followed orders, never communicating with anyone else. Therefore, it was impossible to extract any information from them.
That’s why Eunuch He didn’t bother trying to interrogate any of the Dragon Shadow Guards.
The emperor was aware of the Dragon Shadow Guards’ unique nature and did not blame Eunuch He for his lack of progress in the investigation.
However, he was curious: how had the Dragon Shadow Guards been distracted?
The Dragon Shadow Guards were not like ordinary sentries, they wouldn’t abandon their duties for a distraction.
Unless Queen Jing had ordered them to chase the distraction. But she hadn’t.
The emperor couldn’t figure out who was capable of luring away the Dragon Shadow Guards.
Moreover, Eunuch He’s search of the entire palace turned up no bodies or traces of blood. In other words, after the Dragon Shadow Guards were drawn away, they had either not encountered the person, or they had encountered the person but had not engaged in combat.
Not encountering the person was impossible because the Dragon Shadow Guards could catch whoever they were ordered to.
So why didn’t they confront the person?
Dragon Shadow Guards wouldn’t readily attack a defenseless person, probably due to an order from the former emperor to prevent accidents with civilians.
Did that mean the person didn’t know martial arts?
But if that was the case, how had the person managed to lure the Dragon Shadow Guards away?
This was giving the emperor a real headache.
Just as the emperor was in deep thought regarding this matter, a eunuch from the Kunning Palace rushed in anxiously, “Your Majesty! There’s been an accident with the 7th prince!”
The emperor quickly set aside his work and rushed to the Empress Xiao’s Kunning Palace.
At the same time Empress Xiao sent the message to the emperor, she also sent for the royal physician. The royal physician arrived at the same time as the emperor at the Kunning Palace. Without pausing to bow to the emperor, the physician hurried into Qin Chuyu’s sleeping quarters, clutching his first aid kit.