Chapter 43: Shocking (Part 1)

  In the thatched cottage, although Zhang Hui's words were persuasive, Zhou Wang still shook his head from time to time, and even held onto the cushion tightly.

  Chen Lan took a teacup from the bamboo package, poured a cup of tea and walked to Zhou Wang's side. Zhang Hui Xin saw this and quickly stood up, taking over and coaxing Zhou Wang again. After much effort, Zhou Wang finally loosened his grip on the two cushions he was holding and hesitantly held the teacup to take two sips. Suddenly, as if afraid someone would snatch it away, he poured the entire cup into his mouth in one swift motion, instantly choking him into a fit of coughs. Zhang Hui Xin busied herself trying to calm him down while Chen Lan hastily fetched the gift box and opened it, only to find it filled with all sorts of pitted candied fruits.

  After drinking tea and puffing out his cheeks to chew on candied fruit, holding Chen Lan's hand warmer, Zhou Wang's expression finally calmed down. Looking at the two of them, he smiled and nodded: "You are good people, baby likes you."

  Zhang Huixin smiled and whispered, "Don't be afraid, BaoBao GeGe is just like that. As long as you treat him well, he will smile at you too. He's the most fun person to be with. After I returned to the palace, I went to several palaces, but each time I visited Empress Dowager, I would play with BaoBao GeGe for a while. Although he looks like that, he loves listening to stories about outside the palace, and Empress Dowager likes to listen too."

  Chen Lan had also heard that Zhou Wang was foolish, but from ancient times to the present, fools in the royal family were rare, and there were many examples of pretending to be mad or stupid. Therefore, she once thought that Zhou Wang was also one of them. At this moment, she just asked, and Zhang Hui didn't avoid it, and told her everything.

  Originally, Zhou Wang Lin Tai Kan was born with a deficiency, which wasn't apparent at first, but gradually became noticeable around the age of two or three. Because his birth mother was Empress Wu Xian Fei, who was highly respected by the Emperor, and both the Emperor and Empress pitied his illness, he was well taken care of from a young age, with good food, drink, medicine, and no hardships. Before Jin Wang married his consort, court officials had discussed arranging for Crown Prince Zhou Wang to take a consort first, but the Emperor was dissuaded by Empress Wu Xian Fei's words about not delaying the marriage of noble ladies. In the end, a palace maid who had served Zhou Wang since childhood volunteered to serve him for life and was appointed as his wife.

  "Xian Fei is a very kind person, if it wasn't for my mother saying she's afraid of causing trouble, she almost wanted to recognize me as her goddaughter. Bao Bao Ge Ge is also a very good person, although every time I enter the palace, I have to explain again who I am, but once he thinks you're a good person, he'll share his treasured things with me. My mother says that even though outsiders may sigh and lament when they mention him, it's not necessarily bad luck... anyway, I don't understand these things, at home there are no brothers or sisters to play with, having Bao Bao Ge Ge is also good... right, good sister, today is the Lantern Festival, tonight in Deng Shi Hutong there will be a lantern festival, how about we bring Bao Bao Ge Ge along and go take a look?"

  Although he liked Zhang Hui Xin's rare straightforwardness, Chen Lan thought about his current situation and could only apologetically shake his head: "Let's not talk about how Crown Prince Zhou came out today, even in our own household, we wouldn't be allowed to go out and cause trouble like this. The lantern market is a mixed bag of good and bad people, if something happens, who can take responsibility?"

  "It's true, I'm not worried, but the people who followed him will definitely be severely punished." Zhang Hui sighed and lowered her head, only to remember Chen Lan's other question, and suddenly looked around in all directions. "What's going on with Yang Ge that Baobao brother just mentioned? Even if it were me, he often forgets, how could he remember what Yang Ge said? It's just because his mouth is always talking about mother and sister, no matter how many times the mother says it, she can't change it."

  Chen Lan hadn't taken the three words "Yang Da Ge" to heart before, but now that Zhang Hui Xin mentioned it again, she suddenly felt a stir in her mind. The surname Yang wasn't particularly rare or unusual, but she only knew of two families with that name: the Ningbo Yang family and the Jin Yiwei commander-in-chief Yang Jin Zhou. If this really was about bringing out the Crown Prince, then that imperial court minister would be the most likely candidate.

  After some thought, she said in a low voice: "It's strange to say, even if it's playing hide-and-seek with King Zhou, there shouldn't be no one following him!"

  Two people were looking around, Chen Lan vaguely heard a voice, which seemed to be a man's voice. She quickly pulled Zhang Hui Xin and pointed in the direction of the sound, indicating that someone was coming and they should retreat. But Zhang Hui Xin shook her head and said: "No way, we can't leave Baby Brother alone here. If people come over, I'll ask them how to follow and take care of him. This grass pavilion should also have someone left to guard it, what if something happens!"

  Just then, a scream came from the direction of the voice, and immediately afterwards it was quiet. Chen Lan felt that something was not right, but except for Zhang Hui, there was only the silly Wang Zhou beside her, and the grass shed was clean and tidy without even a blade of grass. She had to take a deep breath, and simply took over the purple sand pot, thinking that if anything happened, it would be good to have one more thing to hit people with.

  Before long, a figure emerged from the plum forest, with a large patch of blood on his chest and a bloody dagger in his hand. Seeing this, even Zhang Hui, who was fearless, immediately softened her legs, but still managed to block Zhou Wang's way, while Chen Lan, holding the purple sand pot, felt his scalp numb.

  It's in the mansion of the King of Jin, and with so many guests present, there should be strict precautions everywhere. How could an assassin have slipped in?

  The assassin saw the three people on this side, and was stunned for a moment before rushing over. At this moment, Chen Lan's body was stiff all over, but he still managed to muster up his strength, fiercely smashing the purple sand pot towards the assassin, then grabbed Zhang Hui Xin with one hand and pulled Zhou Wang's sleeve with the other, hastily running towards the other end of the thatched pavilion.

  The assassin originally thought there were only three people here, two of whom were women, and didn't expect anyone to make a move. As a result, he dodged too late and was hit on the left shoulder, but fortunately, the teapot contained only warm water, and Chen Lan's strength wasn't great, so he only paused for a moment before continuing to charge forward several steps. Just as he was about to rush into the grass pavilion, another person suddenly appeared from behind a plum tree, without saying a word, and made a swift move with his hand.

  As soon as Chen Lan heard the noise and turned around, at the moment she saw the face of the person who made the move, the assassin who had pounced on her earlier was already heavily fallen to the ground with a thud, with a dagger deeply embedded in his calf, and blood gushing out.

  The person who intercepted them from the other side rushed in, but didn't even look at the three of them. Instead, he directly knocked down the chin of the man on the ground, then twisted both arms, and with two cracking sounds, it seemed like both arms had been dislocated. Only then did he untie his belt to bind the injured leg of that person, pulled out the dagger, and from his pocket took out medicine to sprinkle on the wound. Several movements were done in one breath, without any hesitation or delay.

  After doing all this, the assassin finally fell to the ground and came forward, lightly lifted his robe and knelt down on one knee: "Your Highness please forgive me, I was late."

  At this time, Chen Lan finally felt a real after-fright, suddenly loosening his grip on Zhang Hui's hand and also letting go of Zhou Wang's sleeve. However, Zhou Wang seemed to have not noticed the danger just now, smiling and going forward, squatting down in front of the newcomer, staring intently at his face with great interest: "Brother Yang is so awesome, baby wants to learn!"

  Yang Jinzhou saw that the thick, long cloak on Zhou Wang's body had been dragged to the ground, and there was still a bit of honey sugar stuck at the corner of his mouth. He couldn't help but let out a sigh, quickly straightening up his leg and helping Zhou Wang sit down beside him before turning his head to look at the two girls standing nearby.

  Zhang Huixin had only returned from Jiangnan for a few months, but he had seen her several times when entering the palace, so naturally he recognized her. However, the girl beside her was just somewhat familiar. He looked up and down, his gaze starting from the pearls on her head, the crimson short jacket with apricot flowers, the rose-purple crane cloak, then to her skirt and jade pendant, finally falling on those sheepskin boots before withdrawing it.

  "The two young ladies were frightened."

  Chen Lan had met Yang Jinzhou twice before, but now she found that he seemed to have not recognized her. She was relieved and shook her head slightly. However, she didn't want to get involved too deeply, and Zhang Hui's frightened heart suddenly spoke up: "Are you the Brother Yang that BaoBao GeGe mentioned? If you brought him out, why did you leave him alone here with his other people?"

  "Your Highness brought eight eunuchs and guards, all of whom were waiting outside the second gate, originally to prepare for watching lanterns on Lantern Festival tonight. At first, he was playing hide-and-seek here, and I happened to have an order to deliver a message to Prince Jin, so I left for a while, but unexpectedly encountered someone attempting assassination." Yang Jin answered politely, seeing Chen Lan frowning in thought, suddenly remembering that she had just chopped off the purple sand pot to block the assassin's attack, and when escaping, didn't forget to pull along Zhou Wang and Zhang Hui Xin. He couldn't help but say to her, "Just now, thank you for pulling His Highness away, if His Highness had continued playing without retreating, it would have been disastrous."

  Zhang Huixin only then remembered that when her legs were weak just now, it was Chen Lan who pulled her to escape. She looked down at the blood-stained dagger on the ground and couldn't help but shudder. She turned sideways and hugged Chen Lan tightly, suddenly feeling scared in her heart. Her throat was choked with emotion, and she couldn't say a word. Chen Lan was also afraid, but he could only force himself to comfort her. Finally, he said to Yang Jinzhou: "Lord Yang, don't be polite. At that time, I didn't think much either, it was just a moment of desperation."

  Yang Jinzhou was about to speak when he suddenly felt someone tugging on the back of his shirt. He turned around to see Zhou Wang, and his originally somewhat stern expression softened. After speaking softly to placate Zhou Wang for a few sentences, he finally turned around to see Chen Lan gently patting Zhang Hui's back, saying some comforting words, but still looking pale. He immediately thought of another pressing matter.

  "By the way, how did you two ladies end up here? It seems like Red Snow Pavilion is already quite far from here."

  "It's my fault." Zhang Hui finally let go of Chen Lan, wiped her eyes twice and told the whole story of how they escaped from the poetry meeting. Finally, she stood up straight and said, "If the Brocade Guard has any questions, just ask me. Chen's sister was dragged here by me, it has nothing to do with her."

  Chen's sister?

  Yang Jin's heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but take another glance at Chen Lan before asking in a warm tone, "May I ask if this is Miss Chen San or Miss Chen Wu?"

  PS: Additional updates are coming. Tomorrow it may go online, just a heads up...