Chapter 65: Massacre in the Dark Night

Back when she served as a companion reader in the palace, apart from Prince Chang's overt attempts to curry favor, Prince Gong would also constantly cast his gaze toward her.

She could sense the restrained and obscure affection hidden within those glances. It was simply that back then, back then she had simply not cared.

Over the years, just like his title suggested, Prince Gong had always appeared respectful and deferential to everyone, never revealing a single trace of his sharpness and hiding his true thoughts extremely deep.

If she hadn't noticed those inadvertent gazes that lingered upon her, they would have been very difficult to detect.

Yet, would he be willing to expose himself for her sake?

Lin Chuyan dared not be certain.

But she had to try.

She asked the jailer for brush and ink, and wrote a brief letter.

Then she offered her personal jade pendant and sachet.

By doing this, she believed that once Prince Gong saw them, he would surely understand her feelings.

She hoped that Prince Gong could rescue her from the prison as soon as possible.

After all, the death of Princess Huai'an had nothing to do with her whatsoever.

She was wronged.

She murmured softly, "Your Highness Prince Gong, you must not let this maiden down, and you must not make this maiden wait too long!"

Meanwhile, the very Prince Gong she was longing for was kneeling before Consort Zhao, struggling and making his plea, "Royal Mother, you have always known my true feelings."

"How could a delicate woman like her be kept in such a filthy place?"

"Usually, Royal Mother strictly ordered me not to get close to her, and your imperial son obeyed you every time, constantly restraining his feelings and treating her with indifference."

"Now that Third Miss Lin is trapped in dire straits, I can no longer sit by and do nothing."

Consort Zhao looked with a complex expression at the son upon whom she had pinned her highest hopes, wishing that he could stop being stubborn, know when to stop, and cease meddling in this affair.

Yet Prince Gong stubbornly refused to get up, remaining motionless as he knelt on the ground and continued to plead.

"Royal Mother, your son always listens to you in everything and has never once defied you even a fraction. Today, I am begging you!"

"Go and intercede with Royal Father; Royal Father will certainly listen to you and will no longer insist on keeping Third Miss Lin locked up."

"Even if she cannot be released, having her confined to a courtyard would still be better."

"How can a woman as pure and untainted as her remain in a filthy and chaotic dungeon?"

"Royal Mother, I beg you!"

With that, he bowed deeply again and again, kowtowing heavily onto the floor several times.

He had been kneeling in Consort Zhao's palace for more than two hours, his knees aching terribly, yet he endured it stoically.

At the thought of Lin Chuyan still languishing in the dungeon, ached profoundly for her.

Usually, those emotions could be concealed, but today they erupted like a tsunami, all at once, completely beyond control...

Consort Zhao truly couldn't bear it any longer and earnestly lectured her son, "Ling'er, although I hold some favor with the Emperor, within the inner palace, even I dare not provoke Imperial Noble Consort Li."

"It is obvious that Prince Chang has taken an interest in Lin Chuyan, so you must not display even a shred of affection on the surface."

"Otherwise, if we pit ourselves against the Noble Consort and her son, we stand not a single chance of winning."

"All these years, the two of us have walked on thin ice, living low-profile lives and fearing we might make a single misstep, which is how we have managed to survive safely in the inner palace until now."

"Do you really intend to shatter our original peaceful life just for the sake of a woman?"

"Have you ever considered what our days would be like once we are targeted by Imperial Noble Consort Li and her son?"

Prince Gong, Huo Ling, still unconvinced, retorted, "Royal Mother, we have endured for so many years; must we endure for a lifetime?"

"If I cannot even fight for the woman I adore, nor dare to show the slightest bit of my feelings, and now when she is in trouble, I still dare not step forward to help—what meaning is there in being an imperial prince? I might as well just drop dead!"

Having said that, he lowered his head in utter despair, looking as though he were in absolute agony.

Consort Zhao could truly harden her heart no longer, and she waved her hand. "You may withdraw for now! I will change my attire and take some pastries to the Emperor..."

Hearing that his mother had agreed, Huo Ling finally let out a long sigh of relief.

Supported by his personal bodyguard, he limped away toward his own palace.

Halfway there, a guard handed him a letter, a jade pendant, and a sachet.

Looking at the familiar, elegant handwriting on the items, Huo Ling instantly knew whose they were.

Happily, he unfolded the letter, reading through it at a glance.

Then, with utmost reverence, he tucked the jade pendant and sachet against his chest, a radiant smile of pure delight spreading across his face.

His years of infatuated devotion had finally received a response.

His heart felt as sweet as if he had eaten honey.

*****

The sky was pitch dark, resembling a massive, oppressive curtain.

Prince Rui and Prince Chang were hiding inside a cave, clinking cups and conversing.

Prince Chang wore an expression of utter decadence and frustration.

Prince Rui consoled him, "Through my surveillance today and the information gathered from various sources, Wei Zixing has not made contact with the Emperor or the Crown Prince. That is to say, we still have a chance."

"You must still step up your search on your end and give him no opportunity to turn things around."

"Additionally, we must accelerate our efforts to buy off and rally the Wei family army."

Prince Chang nodded.

"Understood, Imperial Elder Brother. We have already secured the support of the majority of the civil officials in the court."

"Now the objective is to find a way to acquire military power, and I will have General Li hasten his actions as well."

Prince Rui thought for a moment and suddenly said, "While gathering intelligence all day today, I discovered an important clue."

"Many bizarre events have occurred recently, and they all seem to be connected to the Lin family, specifically the Lin family's sixth young miss."

"Besides, when have you ever seen Huo Yucheng protect any woman? Yet today, he unexpectedly broke all precedent and spoke a good word for Lin Pianran several times."

"I always feel that this matter is highly suspicious."

"I intend to make a move on that Sixth Miss Lin and capture her to interrogate her thoroughly."

The two brothers chatted and drank, consuming a considerable amount of alcohol before they even realized it.

They were even beginning to feel slightly intoxicated.

A quarter of an hour later, Prince Rui rose to take his leave.

He was dressed entirely in black, draped in a thick, heavy cloak that swallowed his figure into the deep night, followed by twenty highly skilled elite hidden guards as he hurried toward the campsite.

Suddenly, dense showers of arrows shot out continuously from the dense forest.

Although the hidden guards were skilled and possessed extremely swift reflexes, several of them were still struck by arrows and killed.

Those hidden guards quickly converged toward the center, tightly shielding Prince Rui in their midst.

Following that, another wave of arrows rained down like a downpour.

Even though they all moved together to parry and deflect, those arrows still killed several more hidden guards.

After three or four successive waves of arrow storms, only a few hidden guards remained alive, and every single one of them had been pierced full of holes, meeting their demise in the netherworld.

Watching the dwindling number of guards, Prince Rui panicked inwardly.

Barely maintaining his composure, he demanded, "What kind of petty villains are you, daring to assassinate a royal prince? Are you not afraid that my Royal Father will execute your entire clan?"

"Oh, still putting on airs!"

"Then keep shooting him! Hunt him down to the end!" Baili Qingyun said with a smile.

He wore a mask and a tight-fitting black outfit, his eyes flashing with a chilling, cold light.