Reign of the Phoenix

Yan Han rushed to Yan Feng, his voice choked, “Feng’er, you’re out of your mind. Feng’er, please forgive a father’s heart. You’re both my flesh and blood, I will not favor one over the other. This matter needs to be discussed carefully, impulse won’t bring results. “

He pulled Yan Feng back to sit down on the chair and personally put the crown back on his head.

Chiyun Yuexuan also calmed down. “Can you let me go to that temporary palace and look for clues? The most important thing now is to find Princess. With some of her memory still missing, the consequences will be dire if she falls into the wrong hands.”

Yan Feng summoned Qi Shangming and ordered, “Arrange a eunuch to take General Chiyun to the temporary palace. Call people of the Imperial Security Office to see me.”

…

As Chiyun Yuexuan meticulously searched the temporary palace, Chun Xing stood nervously with her head down.

Chiyun Yuexuan asked Chun Xing, “When did the emperor leave last night? When did Princess go to bed?”

Chun Xing’s voice was almost too light to be heard, “His Majesty left before midnight. Princess went to bed right after he left. Shortly after, my head felt heavy. When I regained consciousness, it was already morning and Princess had disappeared. I checked the courtyard and found that the eunuchs and ladies-in-waiting who were on duty had all passed out, and the main gate was opened from the inside. Princess must have opened the door herself and left.”

Chiyun Yuexuan clenched his fist, his voice was filled with jealousy, “What were the emperor and Princess talking about all night?”

Chun Xing nervously bowed. “I only heard His Majesty play a song Princess. As for what they said, I was outside the door and couldn’t hear clearly, only vaguely figured that they were arguing.”

Chiyun Yuexuan punched the stone table. “Has the emperor done anything impolite to Princess?”

Chun Xing made a deep bow in terror. “General Chiyun, please don’t make wild guesses. His Majesty always treats Princess with courtesy. I used to wait on Princess in the palace, and I’ve never seen him let Princess suffer a little injustice, let alone slight her.”

Chiyun Yuexuan roared, “You mean that I slighted her, I wronged her? What a joke! Base on what?! That Yan Feng!!”

Chun Xing knelt to the ground in fear. “I have a stupid mouth, please forgive me. His Majesty and General Chiyun both hold a deep love for Princess, just that…”

Chiyun Yuexuan shouted, “Just what? Just that you also think he’s more worthy of Princess than me?”

Chun Xing was so scared she started to slap her own mouth. “This servant didn’t mean that. I mean that Princess is caught between His Majesty and General, which is very difficult for her. I just felt that Princess was very pitiful.”

Chiyun Yuexuan’s voice softened, “Do you think Princess likes me or the emperor? Tell me the truth, whatever it is, I’ll deem you innocent.”

Chun Xing stood up. “I only heard Princess told His Majesty yesterday that she was your fiancee and His Majesty’s imprisoning her here will damage the reputation of all three of you. As far as I can see, Princess was unwilling to stay here. She should like you a little more. I’ll take you to her room to look for clues.”

Entering Murong Zhining’s room, Chiyun Yuexuan suddenly felt sad and somewhat scared. The room was filled with her fragrance, while the person herself was somewhere unknown to him. He was scared of losing her again.

Chun Xing suddenly said, “That’s right, His Majesty said that Princess lost her memory. But just last night, she told me about a childhood event with General, saying you had called her Little Tabby at that time. It’s obviously a happy story, but I saw her cry. I felt that her memory had been recovered. She also said that she wanted to return to Shangxia and didn’t want to get married.”

Chiyun Yuexuan felt a strain in his heart, which ached as if pricked by a needle. He absently left the room and searched everywhere outside the gate without finding a single useful clue. Just when he was on the edge of despair, a flash of light in the grass at the foot of the wall caught his attention.

Chiyun Yuexuan parted the grass to find a peach blossom hairpin quietly lying there. He picked up this object that he was very familiar with. Murong Zhining had once used it to leave a scar on his back. In Gao Chenghao’s underground prison, she had thrown this very hairpin through the iron bars, and he had used it to open the copper lock of the cell.

Chiyun Yuexuan stuffed the hairpin into his chest pocket. He closed his eyes and recalled how he had inserted the hairpin back into her hair after escaping Gao Chenghao’s estate.

There was new dried blood on the tip of the hairpin. Apparently, Murong Zhining had stabbed her captor with it last night. Chiyun Yuexuan deduced that she hadn’t run away on her own will.

Chun Xing walked out and asked, “Did General find any clues? I searched the whole place again and found this. Please have a look, General.” She handed over a torn piece of brocade.

It looked as if it had been torn from the kidnapper’s clothes. With Murong Zhining’s cleverness, Chiyun Yuexuan guessed that this should be a clue she deliberately left behind.

Chun Xing said, “The maids and eunuchs in the courtyard are awake now. Do you want to question them? A maid-in-waiting wasn’t drugged last night, she was knocked unconscious, but she said that she didn’t see the face of the other party clearly.”

Chiyun Yuexuan waved his hand in dismissal. “No need. I already have a good idea.”

…

Outside the gate of the Imperial Security Office, a guard wearing a blade shouted at Chiyun Yuexuan, “Who are you? You blind? Can’t see where this is? Get out of here!”

Chiyun Yuexuan ignored him and rushed straight into the compound. The guards at the door all drew their weapons and formed a circle around him.

Chiyun Yuexuan sneered. “Get out of my way, and tell your master to come out.”

A man in a light-purple tapestry brocade outfit with serpent patterns and a black official cap hurried out from the hall and asked in a harsh tone, “What’s the matter?” When his eyes fell on Chiyun Yuexuan, he paused a little before bowing respectfully with cupped hands. “You blind? You don’t even know General Chiyun? Step down. I didn’t know General was coming to my office, my bad, my bad. Please, General.”

Yin Fei is the deputy commander of the Imperial Security Office and also a confidant of Yan Feng. Last time in Lotus Pond Hollow, it was him who had kidnapped Murong Zhining by Yan Feng’s order.

Ignoring Yin Fei, Chiyun Yuexuan walked into the lobby and sat down on the seat of the commanding officer. His charming phoenix eyes looked askance at Yin Fei. “Two days ago, it was you who kidnapped my fiancee for the emperor?”

Yin Fei cupped his fists in a deep bow. “Under this sky, there’s no place that doesn’t belong to the Son of Heaven, and so do the people on this land. Heeding His Majesty’s orders is the duty of us officials. Please understand my dilemma, General Chiyun.”

Chiyun Yuexuan took out the brocade piece from his pocket. “Take a look and help me identify the status of the person who wears this material?”

Yin Fei received it. “From what I can see, this is from the uniform outfit of guards in high-ranking court officials’ houses. Where was this found? Any clue about Princess’ whereabouts?”

Chiyun Yuexuan gnashed his teeth and growled, “Aren’t you Imperial Guards omnipotent? Since you dared to tie up my fiancee, then you will help me find her. If you can’t find her, I will tear down this abode of yours.”

“I’m only working for His Majesty, please don’t make it difficult for me,” said Yin Fei with unease.

Chiyun Yuexuan swept everything on the desk to the ground, and then walked out of the compound with his hands behind his back. Looking at the high-hanging plaque above the entrance, his anger burned stronger and stronger. He barged into the courtyard again and stripped a long sash off a guard’s waist and tied it to his dagger.

Holding the other end of the sash, he threw out the dagger. With a deep resounding noise, the dagger stuck into the plaque. Chiyun Yuexuan then yanked the sash and the plaque fell with a bang.

Yin Fei rushed out to stop Chiyun Yuexuan. “Please hold on, show mercy. We all serve under His Majesty.”

Chiyun Yuexuan pushed him away and viciously stomped on the plaque, which broke into pieces in a series of cracking sounds.

Before everyone’s eyes, Chiyun Yuexuan swaggered away. Behind him, Yin Fei sighed, “Oh dear! He’s a real living hell. Whoever annoys him will have to at least shed a layer of skin if not killed.”

One of the guards suggested, “Your Honor, you should report him to His Majesty. This plaque was written and bestowed by the emperor himself. He’s guilty of offending the monarch for what he just did.”

Yin Fei said with a wry smile, “He even dares to tear down Jinluan Hall[1], this little Imperial Security Office is nothing. Go get someone to make an imitation and hang it on. Don’t you know who he is? That’s someone we can’t afford to offend!”

——

Murong Zhining slowly opened her eyes and looked around. In the candlelight, a little servant girl knelt in front of her bed.

Seeing her awake, the servant girl said in a soft voice, “Hello, Miss Murong. My name is Zi Yu. My master had me wait on you.”

Murong Zhining rubbed her eyes. “Stand up to talk. Where is this? What’s your master’s intention by detaining me?”

Zi Yu stood up and bowed her head. “This is the Sage Prince Estate. My master is Fifth Sage Prince in the capital. Miss Murong may have been drugged and has been unconscious for an entire day. As for why the prince placed you here, I dared not pry. If you have any orders, just tell me.”

Murong Zhining furrowed her brows, the name Fifth Sage Prince Yan Jing flashed in her mind. When she and Chiyun Yuexuan went through Zhuang Cheng’s account books, Yan Jing was on the list.

As she contemplated, a deep, coarse voice rang out from a distance in the corridor outside, “I’d like to see what kind of foxy girl provoked my younger brother, His Majesty, into disregarding his status to take her from that hellish general?”

A shrill voice unctuously chimed, “Your Highness, you have experienced all the beauties in the world. The concubines in the emperor’s harem aren’t even as beautiful as the songstresses in your estate. The princess of Shangxia, who is said to have the Hu blood, certainly can’t compare to our Huayan ladies in looks. I’m sure she can’t enter your stellar eyes.”

The door was rudely kicked open. Zi Yu prostrated on the floor. “This servant greets Fifth Sage Prince.”

Yan Jing shouted, “No business for you here, get out!”

Zi Yu retreated to the door on her knees before she stood up to leave.

Yan Jing’s haughty eyes swept into the room. Murong Zhining wasn’t panicking as he had expected. She calmly watched the scenery outside the window with her back facing him, as if everything that happened in this room had nothing to do with her.

Yan Jing gasped. Her relaxed and composed manner actually put him at a loss. He walked over and violently yanked her. Calmly, Murong Zhining turned around and looked at him. “Fifth Sage Prince, I am the Princess of Shangxia and the fiancee of General Chiyun. What is the purpose of your imprisonment of me?”

Yan Jing stared unblinkingly at Murong Zhining. He hadn’t expected her to be so calm. And her beauty wasn’t the gaudy charming fox type in his imagination, but the quiet, calm, clear and cool like that of ice yet vivid type. Her limpid almond eyes were covered with a thin layer of water mist that disturbed people’s minds when they moved.

Upon regaining his wits, Yan Jing circled around Murong Zhining. “And there I was wondering what kind of woman that could make my emperor brother and General Chiyun fight like irreconcilable adversaries for her. Princess’ holy mien has solved my doubts. Your beauty is enough to sway my city.”

Murong Zhining’s face was calm yet high and mighty. “I disdain to sway your city, it’s too small. Have you ever thought about the consequences of kidnapping this princess? There’s still time to let me go now. If I’m not mistaken, you want to use me to threaten His Majesty and General Chiyun because of Zhuang Cheng’s black account books.”

Yan Jing lifted her chin in a frivolous way. “Princess is not only beautiful, but also extremely intelligent. I’m impressed. Was that a threat, Princess? What consequences do I have to fear? Who would know that I have you? Suddenly, I don’t want to use you to threaten my brother anymore. I want to keep you by my side.”

Murong Zhining gracefully turned her face to evade his hand while making it furtive to avoid arousing his anger. “Since I have vanished in the capital, His Majesty and General Chiyun will turn the city upside down. Where do you have to hide me? I’m afraid it won’t be long before someone will come to investigate the Sage Prince Estate.”

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[1] Jinluan Hall. The Imperial Golden Hall, where official court meetings take place.