Building a Harmonious Song Dynasty

Chapter 88

The palace guards ran back and forth countless times, but found no trace of the assassin. Furthermore, due to preparations for the wedding banquet, many people from outside the palace were entering and leaving, making the search extremely difficult. Just as Zhao Gou was growing impatient, the sound of weapons clashing suddenly rang out from Yuxiu Palace.

Qin Zhen and Zhao Gou were both shocked: "Oh no, Jin'er!" Qin Zhen only managed to utter one name before fainting. That name was—"Li Yunluo!"

Zhao Gou barely managed to support Qin Zhen, who was on the verge of fainting. Qin Zhen said sorrowfully, "It's all my fault for being so soft-hearted. I never expected Li Yunluo to be so persistent! If anything happens to Jin'er, I will make sure she is torn to pieces and suffers eternal damnation!"

Zhao Gou was more level-headed. He immediately ordered the guards to seal off all the palace gates and conduct a thorough search. She couldn't have gone far with a child!

As darkness fell, there was still no news of the assassin. Qin Zhen stood at the palace gate, her face as cold as ice, gazing into the distance. Every time a guard came in to report a message, her heart would skip a beat.

Another commotion erupted, and the guards shouted "Catch the assassin!" Qin Zhen dashed off like a wild horse, heading straight for the center of the noise.

The guards were chasing a dark figure. Qin Zhen spotted it and used his long whip to charge forward. Strangely, the dark figure also came straight towards Qin Zhen.

"Junior sister, stop!" Just before Qin Zhen was about to make a move, Su Mufei's voice came. Qin Zhen looked closely and saw that the dark figure was none other than her third senior brother.

"Third Senior Brother, it's you?"

Su Mufei, panting heavily, stood on the roof with Qin Zhen. He said, "I have something urgent to discuss with you. I didn't have time to announce myself before barging in."

"What is it?"

"Jiu'er... Jiu'er, he..."

Qin Zhen's heart almost stopped beating at that moment. Zhao Jin had just been kidnapped, and Zhao Jiu absolutely could not be hurt!

Su Mufei supported Qin Zhen as she was about to fall and said, "Listen to me! Your fifth brother and I brought Jiu'er down the mountain to celebrate the Emperor's birthday. On the way, we received news that Shuihen, who was being held captive at my Alliance Leader's Manor, had escaped. I was worried that he would seek revenge on you and the Emperor, so I rushed here. But as soon as we entered the city, we heard that Jin'er had been captured. At the same time, my men found out where Shuihen was. Jiu'er ignored my advice and immediately ran to rescue Jin'er. Your fifth brother was worried and went after him, sending me to inform you."

"No, no, that's not right!" Qin Zhen said, "It wasn't Shuihen who took Jin'er away, it was Li Yunluo!"

Su Mufei was also taken aback, not expecting that someone else had captured Zhao Jin.

Qin Zhen thought for a moment and said, "No, I'm worried about Jiu'er. Let's find him first. Senior brother, please take me there quickly!"

Without a word, Su Mufei and Qin Zhen left the palace. They rode their horses to a grove of trees on the outskirts of the capital, where the clues Ji Wuhuan had left behind ended. Su Mufei said, "Could they have gone into the woods?"

Qin Zhen plunged into the woods, anxiously searching for someone. Su Mufei quickly caught up. After walking for a short while, a child's scream pierced the night sky, followed by heartbreaking cries from Qin Zhen!

"It's Jin'er!"

They followed the sound into the woods, and when they found Zhao Jin's trail in a clearing, they were stunned!

Zhao Jin sat in a pool of blood, with the corpses of two men lying beside her and a wounded woman lying face down. The two corpses were mangled beyond recognition, with limbs scattered everywhere, and the woman lying not far away was Li Yunluo.

Li Yunluo is no longer the beautiful princess she once was; the brand on her forehead is now clearly visible, ruining her stunning face.

She reached out her blood-stained hand to touch Zhao Jin. Qin Zhen rushed over anxiously to save her daughter, but saw a flash of sword light in the shade of the tree. Li Yunluo cried out in pain, and when she looked again, she saw that her wrist had been cut off!

Qin Zhen then noticed two other people in the shade of the tree: Ji Wuhuan, dressed in white, and her son Zhao Jiu! But what shocked her was that the sword strike just now was actually delivered by Zhao Jiu!

Zhao Jiu drew his sword and walked into the blood, pulled up his crying sister, and held her in his arms. Then, he pointed his sword at Li Yunluo's neck and said sternly, "You dare touch my sister? You're asking for death!"

Li Yunlu coughed up two mouthfuls of blood with a bitter smile, looking at the little boy in front of her, who was as cold as an iceberg, and said: "You're that child? I didn't expect you to survive after being poisoned by me. It seems you can see again. You're truly remarkable..."

Zhao Jiu's face darkened further, and he asked in a hoarse voice, "Did you poison him?"

Li Yunluo burst into laughter, and Zhao Jiu raised his sword to stab, but was suddenly stopped by a hand.

Zhao Jiu turned around angrily, only to meet Qin Zhen's complicated gaze.

Volume Two: Soaring Eagle 168 Psychological Counseling

mother? "

Zhao Jiu was stunned for a moment, and the murderous aura all over his body vanished in an instant. His previously burning eyes also became clear. Qin Zhen looked at her son, who had changed so much in the past, and felt complicated. But this was not the time to think about this. She said, "Take your sister and wait over there."

Zhao Jiu sheathed his sword, straightened Zhao Jin's clothes, and comforted her while leading her to the side.

Qin Zhen glanced at Li Yunluo's severed wrist, from which blood was gushing out. In a little while, she would bleed to death. There were some things she had to say to her.

“Li Yunluo, you resented me for deceiving you and hurting you back then, but in the end I was also poisoned by you, and my son has suffered since birth. Isn’t all of this enough to repay you? I spared your life, so why are you still so aggressive and even tried to harm my daughter!”

Li Yunlu sat pale-faced in the blood pool, laughing softly like a ghost. The laughter grew louder and louder until it turned into a sobbing cry.

Excessive blood loss gradually caused her to fall into a coma. Her body slowly collapsed, and in her last moments, she only managed to utter one sentence: "I really envy you..."

Qin Zhen stared blankly at the dead Li Yunluo, a feeling of indescribable sorrow welling up in her heart.

Countless torches lit up outside the woods; the Imperial Guards had finally arrived. Qin Zhen glanced at his two senior brothers and the two children, and said softly, "Let's go back to the palace first."

Zhao Jin was frightened and, after returning to the palace to wash up, stayed in Qin Zhen's arms until she fell asleep after a long while. Once her daughter was comforted, Qin Zhen finally came out to see her son and two senior brothers.

At this moment, Zhao Jiu was talking to his father. Zhao Gou was very happy to see that his son's eyes were clear and his eye ailment had been cured. Zhao Jiu also smiled and said that it was thanks to his two uncles' dedicated teaching of martial arts that he was able to suppress the poison.

Qin Zhen recalled the murderous aura emanating from him in the woods, and felt a surge of annoyance. He shouted, "Kneel down!"

Everyone in the room was stunned. It took Zhao Jiu a long time to realize that his mother was scolding him. Although he didn't understand why, he quickly knelt down.

Zhao Gou was puzzled and asked, "Zhen'er, why is this?"

Qin Zhen stared at Zhao Jiu and said, "Kneel here and reflect on your actions. Get up only after you've figured out why I'm punishing you!" Then she said to her two senior brothers and Zhao Gou, "Let's go to the back to talk."

In the back hall of Yuxiu Palace, the atmosphere was tense. Qin Zhen's face was grim. Zhao Gou wanted to offer some words of comfort, but not knowing what had happened, he hesitated to speak. Su Mufei vaguely sensed that Qin Zhen was traumatized by witnessing her son's ruthlessness and willingness to kill at such a young age. Knowing she would likely be reprimanded by her junior sister, she remained silent. Ji Wuhuan, on the other hand, appeared calm and composed, even sipping her tea.

Qin Zhen held back for a long time before finally walking up to Ji Wuhuan and asking, "Fifth Brother, just now outside the palace, you watched Jiu'er kill someone without stopping him. Why was that?"

Ji Wuhuan said, "He killed the enemy and did nothing wrong, so why stop him?"

"He's just a child, how can he be so cruel? It chills me to the bone!"

Ji Wuhuan put down her teacup, looked directly at Qin Zhen and said, "You are simply worried that the child will go astray, but Jiu'er knows right from wrong, and understands what he can and cannot do. He just needs to be more decisive in his actions. He has his reasons for taking action, so you don't need to worry, Junior Sister."

Qin Zhen frowned, clearly disagreeing with Ji Wuhuan's statement. Zhao Gou, who was standing nearby, also heard the commotion; his son had just committed murder, which worried him greatly.

Seeing the tense atmosphere, Su Mufei quickly said, "Actually, Jiu'er is a kind-hearted child and has never acted recklessly. He's been acting strangely tonight. Perhaps it's because Jin'er was the one who was captured that he was a bit too rough."

“My two senior brothers. You have raised Jiu’er with your own hands for the past ten years, and I, as his mother, have not taken care of him. I am already ashamed beyond measure. Although I do not know Jiu’er as well as you do, I am still his mother, and there are some things I cannot ignore. I agreed to let you teach him martial arts for his health, not for him to kill! The three corpses in the forest just now, none of them were intact. Such horrific methods came from the hands of a child. How can I be at ease!”

Ji Wuhuan said calmly, "Jiu'er cut off those people's hands because they touched Jin'er, and he cut off their feet because they kicked Jin'er. In Zhao Jiu's heart, family is the most sacred and inviolable. He was just expressing his love for his family in his own way. Junior sister, you don't know how much Jiu'er values you!"

These words stunned Qin Zhen. Zhao Jiu was actually expressing his love for his family in such an extreme way.

Ji Wuhuan stood up and said, "He must feel extremely wronged kneeling outside right now. If you want to teach him right from wrong, it would be better to talk to him."

Zhao Jiu knelt quietly beneath the candlestick, the shadows of his eyelashes casting flickering light on his face. Qin Zhen slowly approached him, and looking at his frail body, her heart softened.

She squatted down beside Zhao Jiu and asked, "Jiu'er, do you know where you went wrong?"

Zhao Jiu shook his head and said in a wronged tone, "I don't know."

Qin Zhen sighed, pulled him up from the ground, and sat down with him on the bench. She said, "Mother knows you did a lot to save your sister tonight, but do you know that killing is wrong? They deserved to die for capturing Jin'er, but what you should have done was to bring them back to Dali Temple for trial, instead of killing them so cruelly."

Zhao Jiu asked, puzzled, "They'd all die anyway if I handed them over to the Dali Temple, so why is it wrong for me to kill them?"

Qin Zhen hugged her son and said, "There is a way to everything. Although you killed someone who deserved to die this time, if you develop this habit and do everything according to your own judgment, what if you accidentally kill an innocent person one day? I hope that Jiu'er will be a good child with a kind heart. It hurts me to see your hands stained with blood."

Zhao Jiu nodded obediently in Qin Zhen's arms and said, "I understand, Mother."

Volume Two: Eagle Soars Through the Sky 169 The Duck Can't Keep Up with the Board

The abduction of Jin passed quickly, but Qin Zhen still had one question: what role did Shuihen play in the incident? She asked Ji Wuhuan, "Second Senior Brother clearly said that night that you were going to find Shuihen, but why did you find Li Yunluo instead? Where is Shuihen?"

Ji Wuhuan chuckled and said, "Him? He's gone off to wander the world." Having uttered this nonsensical remark, Ji Wuhuan didn't want to say anything more. She then asked Su Mufei, who also told Qin Zhen not to worry about Shuihen returning for revenge. Confused, Qin Zhen didn't know what they were implying, but she at least guessed that Shuihen's hatred should have been resolved.

May was approaching, and the princes and princesses were all safe and sound. The birthday banquet proceeded as planned, and the palace was filled with joy. Everyone was happy. Zhao Jiu couldn't find Zhao Yi among the crowds, so he asked Qin Zhen, "Mother, hasn't Fan Nianjing come?"

Qin Zhen said to him, "You can't call him that anymore. He is Zhao Yi, the son of your late emperor's uncle. He has already been recognized as a member of the imperial family and is your rightful elder brother. Do you understand?"

Zhao Jiu felt a little dizzy. How did that person suddenly become his brother? But this didn't conflict with his search for Zhao Yi. He asked again, "Where is my brother now?"

"He's still by the Yellow River. What, does Jiu'er need him for something?"

Zhao Jiu didn't answer his mother's question, but just laughed proudly. He could see again, but Zhao Yi's Yellow River wasn't tamed yet. He had won the last agreement!

Speaking of Zhao Jiu's eyes, Qin Zhen was still very worried and often asked Ji Wuhuan if his eye disease would relapse and if he really didn't need the Eight-Leaf Lotus Eye Grass to cure it.

Ji Wuhuan gave her a very surprising answer: "Jiu'er's martial arts skills are already above the rest of us. The poison in his body has been transformed into a part of him. He is now immune to all poisons!"

Qin Zhen exclaimed in surprise, "What? How is this possible?"

Ji Wuhuan said with a proud look on his face, "Do you think I gave him medicine for ten years for nothing?"

Qin Zhen looked frustrated, unsure whether this was a good thing or not: "You... what kind of freak have you turned Jiu'er into!"

"Wrong. You should ask yourself what kind of freak you gave birth to. His internal energy growth rate is astonishing, and it's not my doing."

Qin Zhen shook her head; she really couldn't understand such strange things. Oh well, children and grandchildren have their own blessings; why should she worry so much?

The period of peace didn't last long before the ministers stirred up another uproar in the court, urging Zhao Gou to immediately appoint a crown prince. Zhao Gou replied that he needed to think about it some more, a statement that immediately divided the court officials into two factions: the "pro-Zhao Gou faction" and the "pro-Zhao Gou faction."

Those who support Zhao Jiu argue that he is the emperor's eldest son and that his eyesight has improved, making his succession to the throne a matter of course. Those who support Zhao Yi, however, claim that the current emperor ascended the throne after Prince Yi's disappearance, and now that Zhao Yi has been found, he naturally has priority in the succession, especially given his exceptional performance in recent years.

The various pronouncements from both parties reached Qin Zhen's ears, leaving her speechless and shaking her head. The atmosphere of free speech in the court these days was truly astounding. The "Pro-Friendship Party" dared to say anything—weren't they afraid of being beheaded? She really didn't know whether her efforts to instill democratic ideas in Zhao Gou in recent years had been a good thing or a bad thing!

Qin Zhen called Zhao Jiu to her side and asked, "Jiu'er, tell your mother what's on your mind. If Zhao Yi is made crown prince, will you resent us?"

Zhao Jiu smiled and said, "Mother, you must make my elder brother the crown prince. My eyes have only recently recovered. I still want to go out and see more of the world."

"Will you regret it later?"

"Why regret it? Being the emperor isn't a good thing. Look at Father, he works from dawn till dusk every day. All I want is to travel the world with my sister."