Liu Ying also recognised him as the attendant beside the Third Prince and rolled off his horse, grabbing the attendant by the lapels, “Say that again.”
This follower had been rescued by Song Yin’s men at first and woke up to find himself in a cave. He was so frightened that he tried to escape, but just as he ran out of the cave he was caught in a net and thrown back. Unable to do so, he had to hold back his thoughts and looked for an opportunity to run out to Liu Ying every day and tell him that the Third Prince had been killed by the Second Prince.
It was not until today that he found the opportunity to escape.
“When we chased Chu Yunxiao to Wuji County, we were about to take him down when it was the Second Prince’s men who suddenly appeared and not only killed our master, but also took away Chu Yunxiao.”
Liu Ying could not believe it.
The Second Prince had saved his sister’s family, and he had sworn to follow them for the rest of his life, but it turned out that the Second Prince had set up a trap! First, he had killed the Third Prince, then he had enlisted him so that the Second Prince could become the Crown Prince with no worries.
“Do you have any evidence?”
The attendant pulled out a token from his bosom, “This was ripped off the secret guard sent by the Second Prince before I passed out.”
Liu Ying took it, the word An in the middle of the token was clear, he stumbled a little, good, very good, the Second Prince was playing him like a monkey.
He gritted his teeth and squeezed one word out from between them, “You will follow me into the palace.”
In his rage, he didn’t hear the attendant say who the Third Prince was chasing, all he could think of was to put the Second Prince to death.
If the Second Prince had not killed the Third Prince, how would the Wu family have suffered? How could the imperial concubine have died? How could she have recognized the thief as her master?
If he didn’t get all this back from the Second Prince, he would never be a man!
When they reached the palace gate, Liu Ying threw away the reins and let the Third Prince’s attendant follow him to the palace gate, handing his waistband to the eunuch watching the gate, “Liu Ying of the Feather Forest Army has an important request to see His Majesty, please let him know.”
The eunuch did not dare to be lax, so he took the badge and hurriedly ran to report.
Liu Ying waited at the entrance of the palace.
The Second Prince happened to come out of the palace and saw Liu Ying from afar, slightly quickening his pace.
“Second Highness.”
Liu Ying bowed, hiding the hatred in his own eyes.
The attendant followed suit and bowed.
“Commander Liu this is ……?”
The Second Prince behaved as he did with the others.
“It’s about the military.”
The Second Prince didn’t think much of it, Liu Ying was his man now and wouldn’t lie to him.
Nodding, he passed by Liu Ying and walked towards the distant carriage. He did not see that Liu Ying did not salute him as he had done before, turning his body all the way towards him as he moved, but stood up straight with his fists clenched.
The young eunuch soon returned, searched his body and led the man to the front of the imperial study.
Liu Ying went in with Eunuch Huang and his attendants stayed outside.
“My humble servant has met His Majesty, Long Live Your Majesty.”
“Get up.”
Liu Ying knelt without moving.
The emperor narrowed his eyes.
“Your Majesty, I have brought someone with me who knows who killed the Third Prince.”
Eunuch Huang snapped his eyes at him, then turned his head to look at the Emperor.
“What are you looking at me for? Go and bring the man in.”
Eunuch Huang was busy lifting his feet and heading out, gesturing for the palace staff in the imperial study to retreat as he went, his heart pounding, his gut feeling that something big was about to happen.
The attendant was waiting outside the door, and when he heard Eunuch Huang’s voice, he hurried in with him and knelt down with a poof, “Long live Your Majesty.”
“Do you know who killed the Third Prince?”
The attendant did not dare to raise his head, “Yes, I am the Third Prince’s attendant ……”
“Who was it?”
“It was the second prince.”
Eunuch Huang drew a cold breath backwards.
The emperor’s voice trembled, “Do you know what you are saying?”
“I vouch for it with my head, everything I say is true. My lord found out that Song Yin was Chu Yunxiao and chased him all the way from Youzhou to Wuji County, and was about to catch him when the Second Prince’s men suddenly appeared and not only saved Chu Yunxiao, but also killed my lord. I fainted from my injuries, and when I woke up, I found myself imprisoned in a cave, and only today did I find the opportunity to escape.”
After saying this, he pulled out a token from his pocket and held it high above his head.
Eunuch Huang suppressed his wildly beating heart and walked over to take it and present it to the Emperor.
His Majesty had always thought that Chu Yunxiao had sent the Third Prince to kill him, but he had never imagined that it was the Second Prince who had done it! The Second Prince had too much guts to collude with Chu Yunxiao, did he think his life was too long?
The Emperor stared straight at the token, the word “An” on it stung his eyes, he ripped it off and slammed it on the ground, furious!
“Proclaim Chu An and Song Yin into the palace!”
……
Song Yin was “shocked” to receive the decree.
Song Si shoved a silver ticket into the hand of the eunuch who had delivered the decree, “Does the eunuch know what the Emperor has asked him to enter the palace for?”
The eunuch did not want to pay any attention to him, but when he saw the denomination on the silver ticket, he gave him face, “Commander Liu has brought his men into the palace, I don’t know what he said, but the emperor was very angry.”
Song Yin came back from his shock, “Eunuch wait a moment, I’ll go and change my clothes.”
“Hurry up, the emperor is still waiting.”
“Song Yin quickly changed his clothes and came out, following the eunuch who had delivered the decree all the way to the palace gate, and just as he dismounted, he saw that the Second Prince’s carriage had also arrived.
“Second Highness.”
The eunuch who had delivered the decree saluted, and Song Yin followed suit.
As if he didn’t know him, the Second Prince didn’t even give him a glance, striding towards the palace, with Song Yin following at a distance of three paces.
The Second Prince’s heart was troubled, Liu Ying was one of his men, yet soon after entering the imperial study, his father sent someone to summon him to the palace, and he thought all the way to the palace but could not imagine what it was for.
The two men entered the imperial study one after the other.
The second prince saw the token thrown on the floor at a glance, and his heart jumped, “My son has met the father.”
“Song Yin” knelt down, “The grassroots pay respects to Your Majesty.”
The emperor stared soberly at them.
Sweat soon broke out on the Second Prince’s head.
Song Yin maintained his kneeling posture, his head hanging down, so he could not see his expression change.
“Chu An, what you’ve done!”
Just as the Second Prince was about to hold himself up and ask, the Emperor’s extremely angry voice rang out from above his head.
It was rare for the Emperor to call him this way, and once he did, it meant that he was really angry.
The Second Prince tried desperately to keep his composure, “My son has made a mistake, please ask Father to chastise me.”
Whatever it was, he had to admit it beforehand, so that his father could get over it.
But this time he was wrong, when his words came out, the emperor was not only angry, but even angrier, “You really did this, how could I have raised such a malicious son like you!”
A heartless son?
The second prince looked up sharply and met the emperor’s fiery eyes, he panicked, “Father, father, what are you saying, I don’t understand.”