bookcurios Chapter 163 Undercurrent surging
Chapter 163 Undercurrent surging
Little Swallow skipped and hopped over to Little Swallow's side, excitedly saying, "Empress Mother, today's ceremony is so lively! I'm so happy!"
Little Swallow smiled and patted her head: "As long as Princess is happy, you must learn the rules well in the future and not be naughty."
Little Swallow pouted, "Empress Dowager, I know, but I just can't help it. By the way, Empress Dowager, I want to go play in the Imperial Garden with Qing'er and Yongqi for a while, is that alright?"
Little Swallow nodded in agreement: "Go ahead, but be careful not to fall."
Watching Little Swallow's departing figure, Little Swallow's heart was filled with affection. At this moment, Consort Ling walked over and said softly, "Your Majesty, Little Swallow is innocent and adorable. However, Your Majesty should also be careful, as there are always some eyes watching in this palace."
Xiao Yanzi looked at Consort Ling gratefully: "Your Highness is right, I will be careful. When will the power struggles in the palace ever end?"
Consort Ling sighed, "As long as these three palaces and six courtyards exist, it will be difficult to have peace. Take Consort Na, for example. Although she is imprisoned, who knows if there are others plotting behind her back?"
Xiao Yanzi's eyes narrowed: "No matter who it is, if they dare to cause trouble again, I will not let them off easily!"
In the Imperial Garden, Little Swallow was playing with Qing'er, Yongqi, and Ertai. Little Swallow smiled and said, "Let's play hide-and-seek! I'll hide first!"
Qing'er replied, "Okay, Princess, go hide it quickly, and we'll count it."
The little swallow ran off happily and hid in a flower bush. Little did she know, a pair of eyes were secretly watching them from not far away. It turned out to be a palace maid from the concubine's entourage. She had taken advantage of the lax guard and sneaked out, hoping to see if there was an opportunity to do something for the concubine.
Upon seeing Little Swallow, the palace maid's heart stirred, and she quietly approached. At that moment, Yongqi seemed to sense something and shouted, "Princess, are you hidden well? I think I heard a noise."
Just as Little Swallow was about to answer, the palace maid suddenly covered her mouth and dragged her aside. Little Swallow struggled desperately, but couldn't break free.
Qing'er and the others waited for a while but Little Swallow didn't respond. Sensing something was wrong, they began searching everywhere. Yongqi said anxiously, "Could something have happened to Princess? We have to find her quickly!"
Meanwhile, the palace maid dragged Little Swallow to a secluded corner. Little Swallow glared at the maid and shouted, "How dare you grab me! Father Emperor and Mother Emperor will not let you get away with this!"
The palace maid said viciously, "Hmph, it's all your fault that my mistress was imprisoned. Today I'll make you suffer!" With that, she raised her hand to hit Little Swallow.
Just then, Ertai suddenly appeared and shouted, "Stop! You wicked palace maid, how dare you harm the princess!" It turned out that Ertai had been searching everywhere after discovering that Xiaoxiaoyanzi was missing, and happened to witness this scene.
The palace maid was startled and turned to run away, but Ertai rushed forward and subdued her in a few moves. Yongqi and Qing'er also arrived and breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Little Swallow was safe and sound.
Yongqi said angrily, "Send her to Father Emperor and let him deal with her!"
The group, accompanied by the palace maid, arrived at the imperial study. Upon hearing of this, Hongli was furious: "How dare this palace maid! She actually dared to assassinate a princess in the palace! Empress, go and interrogate that concubine thoroughly to see if she has any accomplices!"
Xiao Yanzi obeyed the order and went to the prison. The concubine, seeing Xiao Yanzi, was startled: "Your Majesty, what brings you here?"
Little Swallow said coldly, "That concubine, you really have some tricks up your sleeve! You sent palace maids to harm the princess, do you know what crime that is?"
The concubine quickly shook her head: "Your Majesty, I am innocent! I am imprisoned here and cannot command the palace maids at all. Someone must be framing me!"
Little Swallow scrutinized the concubine: "Do you think I'll believe you? If you confess now, you might save your life."
The concubine cried and said, "Your Majesty, I have truly been wronged! I beg Your Majesty to investigate!"
Xiao Yanzi was puzzled. Consort Na didn't seem to be lying. Could it be that someone was deliberately framing her?
Xiao Yanzi returned to Hongli's side and voiced her doubts. Hongli pondered for a moment and said, "There must be something fishy about this. I will have Su Peisheng and Gao Wuyong investigate secretly to see who is behind this."
At this time, Hongzhou entered the palace to request an audience. Upon seeing Hongli and Xiaoyanzi, Hongzhou said, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I was very worried when I heard about the assassination attempt on the princess. I think this may be related to the previous Jianghu forces, who may want to use this to incite internal strife in the palace."
Hongli frowned and said, "Hongzhou, what you say makes sense. I also suspect there is a bigger conspiracy behind this. I will have General Zhaohui strengthen the palace's security, just in case."
Little Swallow said worriedly, "Your Majesty, if it really was done by forces from the martial arts world, then the palace is in danger. We must find out the truth as soon as possible and protect everyone."
Hongzhou comforted her, "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will do my part. I have some connections outside the palace, and I'm sure I can find some clues."
Through investigations by various parties, clues gradually emerged. It turned out that all of this was the work of a mysterious organization. This organization attempted to exploit the palace intrigues to gain control of the court. They first manipulated the concubine's jealousy to incite strife in the harem, and then sent someone disguised as the concubine's maid to assassinate Little Swallow, hoping to frame the concubine and cause even greater chaos.
After learning the truth, Xiao Yanzi said to Hongli, "Your Majesty, this mysterious organization is so insidious and cunning that we must be careful. We cannot let their conspiracy succeed."
Hongli nodded: "Empress, I know. I will stand with you, and with Hongzhou and the others, to fight against this force. No matter what, I will protect my family and the peace of this palace."
After this incident, Little Swallow became much more sensible. She said to Little Swallow and Hongli, "Father Emperor, Mother Emperor, I will be good from now on, learn my skills well, and not worry you anymore."
Little Swallow and Hongli looked at their little swallow with immense pride. But they also knew that the road ahead was long, and many more challenges awaited them. When would the undercurrents within the palace finally subside?
This chapter concludes here. Stay tuned for the next chapter.