The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 833 - 833 384 Spousal Abuse Scum (two updates)_4

Chapter 833: 384 Spousal Abuse Scum (two updates)_4 Chapter 833: 384 Spousal Abuse Scum (two updates)_4 Xiao Liulang spoke with a downcast emotion, “Doctor Song has seen her and said she has lost too much blood…”

The emperor’s eyes turned cold, and he looked at Xiao Liulang’s arm, “And what happened to you?”

Xiao Liulang lowered his gaze and said, “This humble official is fine, merely a dislocated arm, which has already been set back in place.”

A dislocated arm and nothing’s wrong? How could a frail scholar endure such pain?

The emperor’s face turned ugly, “What exactly happened? Where were you injured?”

Xiao Liulang said with deep sorrow, “It was near Chang’an Avenue. This humble official encountered an assassin on the way home from the Hanlin Academy. By chance, Jiaojiao came to the academy to pick me up and fought with the assassin. Jiaojiao was overpowered and sustained serious injuries. Later, Jiaojiao destroyed the assassin’s mask with a hidden weapon, and only then did the assassin flee.”

The emperor asked, “Did you get a clear look at the assassin’s face?”

Xiao Liulang shook his head, “Things were too chaotic at the time; this humble official did not get a clear look at his features, but I remember there was a tattoo on his face…”

The emperor quickly asked, “What kind of tattoo?”

“It looked like… like…” Xiao Liulang tried hard to recall and said, “Forget it, perhaps this humble official saw it wrong.”

The emperor frowned and said, “You may speak without fear.”

Xiao Liulang hesitated for a moment and then said, “Like a turtle, but also like a snake.”

The body of a turtle and the tail of a snake.

Xuanwu.

The tattoo of the Dragon Shadow Guard!

The Dragon Shadow Guards were death soldiers, but not every death soldier had the privilege of becoming a Dragon Shadow Guard. The late emperor had bought a large number of death soldiers from Yan Country, and when they arrived, they were already strong enough, yet the late emperor was not satisfied with their strength.

He then invited an expert to train the death soldiers extensively, and out of more than a hundred, only about ten became Dragon Shadow Guards.

Some Dragon Shadow Guards died on missions; what the late emperor left to him were the youngest of them.

He was shocked at first sight of the Xuanwu tattoo on their faces; it was said that the late emperor had them tattooed to distinguish the Dragon Shadow Guards from ordinary death soldiers.

Under all the heavens, no one else bore such tattoos.

The emperor’s mood became complicated in an instant, “Are you sure you did not see it incorrectly?”

Xiao Liulang thought for a while, “This humble official… is not certain. It was just a quick glance in the haste, it could have been a mistake.”

The emperor closed his eyes.

He must have seen it wrong.

The Dragon Shadow Guards were now in the hands of Concubine Jing; how could she possibly send someone to assassinate Xiao Liulang?

Although she was reluctant to get close to the people connected to Empress Dowager Zhuang’s lineage, strictly speaking, Xiao Liulang was not from Empress Dowager Zhuang’s lineage; Xiao Liulang was an official personally promoted by the emperor, a scholar in the emperor’s service, his own man!

Concubine Jing had no reason to harm Xiao Liulang.

The emperor waited in the room for a while, during which Doctor Song came to change Gu Jiao’s medicine once, but Gu Jiao never woke up.

As the emperor watched basin after basin of bloody water being carried out from behind the screen, he could hardly bear to look any further.

On the way back to the palace, he did not utter a word.

“Your Majesty,” Eunuch Wei tried to remind him that they had reached the Imperial Palace.

But the emperor suddenly sighed, “Concubine Jing wouldn’t do such a thing, right?”

“Ah?” Eunuch Wei was taken aback.

What situation is this?

Could it be that His Majesty suspects the person who attempted to assassinate Xiao Liulang was sent by the Noble Consort?

The Dragon Shadow Guards usually wore masks; Eunuch Wei was unaware of the tattoos on their faces.

“It certainly wasn’t her,” the emperor’s words were unclear whether he was addressing Eunuch Wei or reassuring himself.

Eunuch Wei dared not join the conversation.

This is a matter between mother and son; I cannot interfere.

He remembered that the emperor and the empress dowager also seemed to drift apart over time, seemingly overnight the emperor grew less close to the empress dowager, and gradually the emperor began to argue with the empress dowager over trivial matters, blaming everything on her.

Sometimes he actually felt injustice on behalf of the empress dowager.

It appears that what goes around comes around; now it’s Concubine Jing’s turn?

Your Majesty, do you have a condition that compels you to infuriate your own mother to death?

“Cough!”

Eunuch Wei covered his mouth before he could slip up.

The emperor dismounted the carriage.

His thoughts were a mess, with two voices in his head; one voice told him Xiao Liulang wouldn’t lie to him, while another voice told him Concubine Jing would not betray him.

“Who’s there?” Eunuch Wei suddenly spoke up.

“What’s the matter?” the emperor asked.

Eunuch Wei pointed towards the end of the Imperial Garden, “This servant just saw a suspicious figure heading that way.”

Isn’t that the direction of the Greeting Room?

Perhaps someone is in a hurry to attend to their needs.

The emperor didn’t care to check on a servant taking care of their business, but for some reason, he felt uneasy. He took a step toward the Greeting Room.

Since it was the Greeting Room, the emperor did not really walk in but stood quietly at a distance and observed.

Unexpectedly, he heard a familiar voice.

“What? You failed again? Calling yourself a Dragon Shadow Guard, how can you not even kill a scholar without the ability to truss a chicken!”

This was… Concubine Jing’s voice!

Concubine Jing said, failed again.

Concubine Jing also said, a scholar without the ability to truss a chicken…

It must be a misunderstanding…

The voice continued.

“Does His Majesty know how useless you are? When His Majesty handed you over to me, it wasn’t for you to loaf around! It’s just the killing of a crippled lad, not some martial arts master! Is this all the capability you Dragon Shadow Guards have?”

“Had I known, I would’ve been better off hiring a few assassins from the Jianghu! They would get the job done more cleanly than you!”

It was impossible for the emperor to deceive himself any longer that this voice did not belong to Concubine Jing.

He felt a chill rising from the soles of his feet, rushing straight to the top of his head!