The Gilded Cage - Chapter 156

Leave the City–Can’t Wait Any Longer (1)

The East Palace, which was separated from the Taiji Hall by a wall, had a serious and dignified atmosphere.

Xiao Yu came back from the government office with a gloomy face and met the strange expressions of Zhao Yue and Xu Rong, and a bad premonition suddenly surged in his heart.

“Why? What’s the matter?”

He strode into the Guangtian Hall without a maid, hurriedly took off his robe, wiped his face, and then sat on the couch, drinking warm tea while frowning and asking questions. Even if he didn’t like Zhao Yue, he allowed her to stay.

Xu Rong stood outside, asked all the maids in the hall to leave, went to close the door himself, and repeatedly confirmed that the people outside the hall had retreated, before returning, “Your Highness, there was news from the Imperial Academy in the afternoon that Lady Chu… had been established as a queen by the Holy One.”

Xiao Yu’s face froze, his impatience quickly flashed, he waved his hand and said, “I already knew when I met them this morning. If you have anything to say, just say it.”

Zhao Yue, who was on the side, said coldly, “Your Highness, this ex-Crown Prince’s Consort was calm and forbearing. Not only did she go directly to the Taiji Palace to become a queen, but she also begged the Emperor to protect the people around her. I used to look down on her weak and incompetent demeanor, but now I am impressed.”

At such a depressing and embarrassing moment, when someone whispered this in his ear, the impatience in Xiao Yu’s heart became stronger, and he put down the teacup in his hand heavily, and said angrily, “Shut up and see your identity clearly.”

Zhao Yue was also surprised by today’s changes, so she said these words. Although she was dissatisfied now, she didn’t want to delay the business, so she didn’t speak anymore.

Xu Rong, on the other hand, would never interfere with the quarrel between the newlyweds. He was silent for a moment, and when the atmosphere had calmed down, he said, “Your Highness, after the Imperial Academy’s decree came down, someone also came to arrest Eunuch Zhao and transfer him away.”

This incident happened more than an hour ago, when all the government officials were still dealing with official duties. It seemed that the people in the Ministry of Officials had just heard the news, so they went directly to the East Palace to pick him up, and even Zhao Yanzhou himself didn’t seem to know about it.

He felt that something was wrong, and he didn’t want to let him go so easily, but firstly, the official procedures were complete without any omission. Secondly, the other party had a large number of people, and there were several guards around him, so he couldn’t stop him at all. He could only wait until the prince returned and report it to him directly.

Zhao Yanzhou had a special status. He can be regarded as Chu Ning’s confidant, and now that Lady Chu was going to be the Empress, he had also been transferred away by the emperor himself, which was really shocking.

Xiao Yu obviously thought of this, and his originally unattractive expression suddenly became serious, adding a layer of worry.

Obviously, the other party had already calculated the timing. Taking advantage of his marriage, Chu Ning happened to get rid of her past identity and had nothing to do with the East Palace.

“What about Chuzhou? Is there any news from Chuzhou?”

He was very clear in his heart that besides Zhao Yanzhou, Chu Ning’s weakness was her two little cousins in Chuzhou.

Xu Rong pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, “Your Highness had ordered someone to keep an eye on them, and there was no unusual news for now.”

After hearing this, Xiao Yu wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but he continued, “But Chuzhou is a long way from Changan, even if something really happened, we would have to wait a few days to hear about it, so I don’t want to be rash and draw conclusions.”

Xiao Yu’s heart tightened all of a sudden.

Xu Rong was right, he couldn’t pin his hopes on this. Thinking of the attitudes of Chu Ning and Xiao Kezhi during the day, he felt more and more frightened.

Could it be that they know something? Especially Chu Ning…

“Could she… already know what happened back then?”

Zhao Yue, who was at the side, frowned when she heard the word “Chuzhou” just now, and she was already guessing that this might be the Chu family’s handle in Xiao Yu’s hands. Unexpectedly, there was another “event of the past.”

“What else happened back then?”

In vain, she almost really thought that Xiao Yu had some affection for the Chu family before, but now, it seemed that it was just superficial.

Xiao Yu ignored her, and Xu Rong glanced at her. Without permission, he would not reveal it casually, so he carefully comforted Xiao Yu, “Your Highness, don’t worry, almost no one who knew about what happened back then was gone. There will be no mistakes.”

Xiao Yu shook his head straight, “No, no, A’Ning is not such a heartless person. She must have known that she wanted to break up with me…”

The matter of Chu Qianyu was a secret that he had kept in his heart for two or three years, tormenting him from time to time like a nightmare, and now that he had come to this point, he could no longer suppress it.

“Sh-She must hate me very much…” He muttered to himself while thinking over and over again in his heart about the arrangement he had revealed with Chu Ning earlier, “Fortunately, fortunately…”

He had always been wary of this day and would never tell her all about his arrangements. All she knew was that he was going to have something to do with the Zhao family.

So, there was always some room to wiggle.

He got up from the couch and paced back and forth in the room, feeling very restless.

“What’s the arrangement for leaving the city?”

According to their original plan, in the past few days, when he was inspecting the government office outside the palace, he should quietly disguise himself, change his identity, leave Changan quickly, and gallop all the way to the southwest to meet the Bozhou Zhao Lun, who was already on his way. The main force of the army would converge there.