CHAPTER 233: CHAPTER 233 OBEDIENT

Marquis Dongxiang only knew that Su Jin and Xingxing had encountered danger.

Now, the danger had been averted.

But he did not know what kind of danger they had encountered.

With Su Jin and Xingxing’s meager martial skills, there was no way they could escape from this group of men in black.

Hence, Marquis Dongxiang, seeing from afar, had no doubts.

After all, no one has a rule stating that you can’t wear black clothes during the day.

But the assassins were guilty at heart.

Their eyes dodged, breathing was rapid, and their hands gripped the sword hilts.

In Marquis Dongxiang’s eyes, this practically meant admitting guilt.

Daring to hurt his daughter, they had a death wish.

Regardless if they were guilty or not, better to catch the wrong person than let them go free.

"Attack!"

Marquis Dongxiang didn’t even need to take action himself.

The twelve servants he brought with him charged forward.

Soon enough,

The assassins’ bodies lay scattered and disorderly.

They died with their eyes open.

These assassins knew they couldn’t escape and chose to bite the poison hidden in their teeth to avoid capture and commit suicide.

Only one was left with his jaw dislocated, wishing he could die but couldn’t.

Inside the meditation room of the Great Buddha Temple,

Eunuch Fu lay unconscious on a small couch.

The Emperor, though awake, was much more seriously injured than Eunuch Fu.

Su Jin only saw that the Emperor’s arm was scratched, not knowing that his back had been slashed by an assassin.

In no time, a pool of blood had accumulated on the ground.

The Shadow Guard, carrying golden sore medicine, wanted to help the Emperor stop the bleeding.

But with such a deep wound, he wasn’t very confident.

Yet if anything happened to the Emperor, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Xie Jingchen pulled the Shadow Guard aside.

Su Jin instructed Xingxing, "Get the needle and thread."

"Huh?" Xingxing was a bit confused.

"Go find someone to get needle and thread," Su Jin repeated.

They themselves did not have such things on them.

Xingxing went to find a young monk to get the needle and thread.

Xie Jingchen helped the Emperor remove the brocade robe, revealing the wound on his back.

Su Jin helped the Emperor clean his wound.

The Emperor frowned in pain.

Su Jin said, "Endure it, Your Majesty."

Before the Emperor could respond, Su Jin said to Xie Jingchen, "Let him bite onto a handkerchief, and if it becomes unbearable, knock him out."

The Emperor, "..."

Xie Jingchen, "..."

Xingxing threaded the needle.

Su Jin took over the needle and began to sew the Emperor’s wound shut.

The sensation of the needle passing through the flesh was horrifying.

The Emperor broke into a cold sweat from the pain.

Xingxing looked at Xie Jingchen and said, "Gongye, knock the Emperor out."

Xie Jingchen did not act.

Xingxing lifted her hand, imitating the way her family’s Marquis knocked people unconscious, and chopped at the Emperor’s neck.

The Emperor flinched from the pain.

But he did not faint.

Xingxing, "..."

The Emperor, "..."

Xie Jingchen, "..."

Xie Jingchen raised his hand and knocked the Emperor out directly.

Xingxing’s face turned red.

She touched her own hand.

It hurt a lot.

But she dared not cry out.

The Emperor had to endure her chop in vain.

Hopefully, the Emperor would not hold a grudge.

After the Emperor fainted, Su Jin finished sewing the wound, applied golden sore medicine, and then bandaged it with gauze.

After treating the back, next was the arm.

Then they helped the Emperor lie on his stomach on the bed.

Next, they helped Eunuch Fu remove the arrow from his shoulder.

Eunuch Fu had been unconscious.

When Su Jin dug out the arrowhead, the pain woke him up forcibly, only for Xie Jingchen to knock him out again.

After attending to the wound, Su Jin washed the blood off her hands.

Marquis Dongxiang arrived with people.

As soon as he entered, he asked, "Is anyone injured?"

Su Jin shook her head, "Father, don’t worry, I’m not injured."

"The Emperor is injured," Xingxing said.

Marquis Dongxiang frowned and went over to see the Emperor.

Half an hour later.

The Emperor woke up and saw Marquis Dongxiang sitting nearby, drinking tea leisurely.

That look was irritating no matter how you saw it.

The Emperor felt uncomfortable lying prone, and when he moved, the pain in his back made him gasp.

"The Emperor’s martial arts are really poor," Marquis Dongxiang said disdainfully.

The Emperor, "..."

"Honest words are harsh on the ears. If the Emperor used the time for playing mahjong to practice martial arts, should he ever leave the palace and encounter assassins, and my daughter can’t rush to save you in time, you could protect yourself," Marquis Dongxiang said.

The Emperor, "..."

This was revenge for making him write about "a bad example corrupts all society."

Just as Xie Jingchen finished writing the memorial.

The Emperor fell into his hands.

This was fate.

Marquis Dongxiang was in a good mood.

Putting down his teacup, Marquis Dongxiang said, "This is the second time my daughter has saved the Emperor. Two life-saving graces, that’s enough to be made a princess, right?"

"Saved me?" The Emperor frowned.

Clearly, it was he who saved his daughter, okay?

The wound hurt already.

Now, being angered by Marquis Dongxiang made his whole body hurt.

"Otherwise, my daughter is so well-behaved and sensible, how could she make enemies everywhere and invite disaster?" Marquis Dongxiang said righteously.

The Emperor, "..."

Xie Jingchen, "..."

Xie Jingchen looked at Su Jin.

Su Jin glared at him.

What kind of look was that?

Didn’t he think she was well-behaved and sensible enough?

Xie Jingchen was speechless.

Did everyone at Qingyun Mountain misunderstand the words well-behaved and sensible?

The Emperor pondered, those assassins indeed seemed to be targeting him.

If they truly wanted to kill Marquis Dongxiang’s daughter, they wouldn’t have left her aside to focus on attacking him.

But conferring a princess title...

Two instances of life-saving grace more than sufficed for a princess title.

Recalling the wasp nests run rampant in the Imperial Palace, and the daughter, Princess Shouning, whom he couldn’t recognize after being stung, the Emperor hesitated.

He looked at Marquis Dongxiang, "Why are you fixated on getting a princess title?"

"I thought the Emperor could protect my daughter, but now it seems the Emperor needs my daughter’s protection more," Marquis Dongxiang said, filled with disdain.

The Emperor, "...!!!"

Truly.

If not for the excessive blood loss.

The Emperor was almost about to spit three liters of blood.

"Two life-saving graces couldn’t even prompt the Emperor to decree my daughter as a princess, then let me make it clear at the Great Buddha Temple, if the Emperor ever wishes to confer her a title in the future, I just might disagree," Marquis Dongxiang said.

The Emperor furrowed his brows.

Why did those words sound so uncomfortable?

It seemed as if he certainly would confer his daughter as a princess.

The Emperor recalled that dream.

Feeling even more uncomfortable.

Marquis Dongxiang extended his hand and ripped the Dragon-shaped Jade Pendant from the Emperor’s waist.

Marquis Dongxiang looked at it for a moment, then casually handed it to Su Jin, "This is the Emperor’s reward for you."

Su Jin, "..."

The Emperor, "..."

"This pendant was bestowed on the Emperor by the late Emperor, possessing this allows free access in and out of the Imperial Palace," Marquis Dongxiang said.

"..."

"With this pendant, you can act first and report later, killing a corrupt official or two wouldn’t be a major issue," Marquis Dongxiang added.

"..."

The Emperor almost burst a lung.

This pendant had been with him for twenty years.

It was meant to be passed to the Crown Prince he establishes in the future.

"Marquis Dongxiang!" The Emperor gritted his teeth and said.

Marquis Dongxiang looked at him, saying, "Before I get impeached by anyone, I admit it myself. On my way rushing to the Great Buddha Temple, I made a small mistake."

"But I will fix it," Marquis Dongxiang said.

"What mistake?" The Emperor felt a bit uneasy.

"I accidentally knocked over the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice."

"..."

"Was it the Left Vice Minister or the Right Vice Minister, I didn’t get the chance to discern," Marquis Dongxiang said candidly.

The Emperor, "..."

Having confessed proactively.

The Emperor couldn’t fathom how terribly the Vice Minister was hit.

"However, rushing here contributed to success, as I encountered assassins targeting the Emperor, leaving one alive, and destroying the others," Marquis Dongxiang said.

"Balancing the merits and demerits, I won’t claim rewards from the Emperor."

"..."