Chapter 496
Chapter 496: Thunderstorm (1)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The day brightened hazily . The clouds gradually gathered above Jingdou and turned the hazy light into blurry darkness . In the mess of buildings in the rear of the Royal Palace, the sleeping eunuchs and serving girls were still turning in their sleep . However, some among them had woken up a long time ago .
Hong Zhu forcefully steadied his state of mind . He slapped his face repeatedly, trying to use this motion to make himself maintain his composure . He had not been on duty in the Eastern Palace, so he had not been killed by the eunuchs and guards . Even though he was in the courtyard near the laundry facility, he still felt scared . He had no idea what he would face next .
A sound suddenly came from outside the courtyard . Although it did not disturb the people in their dreams, it scared Hong Zhu so much he shot to the window . The hand in his sleeve held tightly to the poisonous dagger Fan Xian had once given him to defend himself . He was prepared, at any moment, to fight for his life with the people who came to silence him .
If he struggled, it would be difficult for him to escape the path to death . If he didn't fight and just surrendered to the capture, it was not something young Eunuch Hong, who was as stubborn as a scholar, would be able to do .
His hands shook as he placed his ear against the door, listening for sounds outside the courtyard . Occasionally, he heard a tragic groan and the sound of crying ringing out . The sounds rang out quickly and immediately disappeared .
His face was deathly pale . He knew there was someone killing people outside . The eunuchs and serving girls who lived near the laundry facility were almost all servants who served either the Eastern Palace or Guangxin Palace . Of course, Hong Zhu knew exactly the reason for which the things outside were happening . He held the dagger tightly and anxiously bit his lip . He didn't notice that he had made a small cut on his lip .
He didn't know when the people would come to kill him .
He didn't know if he could kill one person in a struggle .
Hong Zhu nervously waited for the arrival of death .
After an indeterminable amount of time, no one came to knock on Hong Zhu's door . Gradually, the movements outside the laundry facility disappeared, and the courtyard outside recovered its peace .
Hong Zhu swallowed a mouthful of saliva that had the taste of blood . Nervously, he looked out through the crack in the door and found that there was no one outside . He wanted to push open the door to see what exactly had happened outside, but his body had long been frozen by fear . For a moment, he couldn't move at all .
He crouched down to rub at his ankles . He then summoned his courage to push open the door and walked out onto the street of the laundry facility . He looked around absent-mindedly and found that, not far away, the door to where the eunuchs and serving girls lived were tightly closed, as if there was nothing out of the ordinary .
He walked to one of the courtyards and carefully stretched out his hand to push at the door .
The door wasn't bolted and opened immediately at his push .
Hong Zhu looked at the courtyard in front of him . His face became even paler, and even his lips began to lose their color .
He didn't see a courtyard filled with bodies, but he did see a few puddles of blood in an unremarkable corner . The courtyard was empty . Not one person existed here .
Presumably, the other courtyards were also like this . The eunuchs and serving girls in these courtyards had already been ordered to death by the Emperor . Their bodies had been dragged, under the cover of darkness, to some secret place to be burned .
The Emperor's hands were indeed bloody .
Hong Zhu backed out of the empty courtyard in a daze and stood in the empty alley . He didn't understand why he wasn't killed . A feeling of gratitude and fear for the new lease on life twisted in his heart, making his entire body shake .
Crack!
A streak of light flashed in the depths of the dark clouds in the sky . In an instant, the sound of thunder traveled through Jingdou and surrounding countryside . Immediately after, a strong wind picked up . Countless raindrops began to fall to the ground, accompanied by the wind and thunder .
Hong Zhu stood upright in the downpour and allowed the water to wash over his face and wet his thin clothing . After a long time, he finally returned to his senses . Holding tightly onto the knife like a life-saver, he returned to his own little courtyard, closed the door tightly, and didn't dare to open it again .
…
…
"Father, what is this for?" The Crown Prince gazed angrily at his father with a rarely seen rage and roared loudly, "Why!"
The Qing Emperor did not reply to his question . He only stared at the empress' dazed face . Putting his hands behind his back, he slowly lowered his head and placed his face beside the empress' .
Her body shook without reason . She looked at the middle-aged man she was most familiar with, loved the best, and also hated the most, come closer to her . She saw clearly the black edged brilliant gold robe on his body and golden threads on the dragon robe, and she smelled the scent on his body . She could not see the man's expression clearly or the emotions below the expression clearly .
Many years had passed, but the empress had never truly seen the Emperor clearly .
Her body shook again . It was clear that this empress felt a deep fear toward the Emperor .
Beside her ear, the Emperor quietly said, "This is the good son you've raised . "
The empress immediately froze in surprise . She had no idea why such a terrifying thing as purging the Palace had happened today . Hearing the Emperor's words, only then did she realize that it had something to do with the Crown Prince . But, the Crown Prince had recently been very playing his role very smoothly . What trouble could he possibly have caused? Particularly after hearing the Emperor say this, an emotion unique to women excited the empress . She screeched in a sharp voice, "My son? Is he not your son?"
The sound of a crisp slap was the response to her words . The Emperor slowly pulled back his hand and looked at the empress in front him, who was holding her face and didn't look at him directly . Coldly, he said, "If you want me to abolish you, then don't make so much noise here . "
Although the words were soft, they carried chilling coldness .
A glimmer of hopelessness flashed through the empress' eyes . She gazed at the Emperor and laughed maniacally . "You hit me…you actually hit me? In these dozen years, you couldn't even be bothered to glance at me . You actually hit me right now? Should I thank you?"
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