Chapter 96 You Came at the Right Time

Chapter 96: You Came Just at the Right Time

Su Zheng smiled slightly, reached out as if to support Luo Yunchen, and said, “It’s nothing. You came just at the right time. Rise.”

Luo Yunchen lowered his gaze to the hand extended before him, ignoring their difference in rank before others, and directly placed one hand on top of it.

As Su Zheng’s words trailed off, he had meant to pull his hand back behind him, but found it held fast and couldn’t pull free. After a brief pause of surprise, he chuckled, didn’t pull back, but instead grasped the hand that had been placed on his and pulled it toward himself.

Luo Yunchen rose, following Su Zheng’s pull. Over the past two years, he had grown considerably taller, now half a head taller than Su Zheng. Standing before Su Zheng, his body was just enough to block Su Zheng from sight.

Su Zheng swept his gaze over Luo Yunchen from head to toe, saw nothing wrong, looked up and asked, “Were you hurt?”

Luo Yunchen looked very obedient, shook his head with a bright smile, and his fingers unconsciously stroked the back of Su Zheng’s hand a couple of times. With his other hand, he reached inside his robe, pulled out an oil-paper packet, placed it in his palm, and offered it to Su Zheng.

Su Zheng immediately caught a hint of fragrance, twitched his nose slightly, leaned in toward Luo Yunchen’s palm, looked up, his eyes lighting up as he raised an eyebrow at Luo Yunchen, and whispered, “How did you have time to stash pastries on you? Where did you get them?”

Luo Yunchen blinked: “When I passed by some palace, the small kitchen had just made them. They smelled good, and I thought Your Highness might like them, so I just grabbed them. I already tried one—it’s not poisoned.”

Su Zheng: “...”

Seeing Su Zheng look at him with an amused expression, Luo Yunchen didn’t think it was improper. He raised his hand again, offering the packet to Su Zheng, signaling for him to open and taste.

Su Zheng subconsciously turned his head to glance behind him. Inside the palace behind him were two crucial sovereigns and a group of courtiers who might have been scared out of their wits, all stewing with anxiety.

If he were to take his time eating pastries here, with the palace attendants and guards kneeling or standing outside watching, wouldn’t that be somewhat inappropriate?

Luo Yunchen squeezed Su Zheng’s palm to draw his attention back, his tone both comforting and authoritative: “Your Highness, rest assured, they wouldn’t dare peek.”

Su Zheng nodded, opened the oil-paper packet. Since no one would see, there was nothing inappropriate about it.

A few pieces of pastry were finished by Su Zheng in no time.

Luo Yunchen timely unfastened the water pouch from his waist, opened the drinking spout, and handed it to Su Zheng at the right moment.

Su Zheng noticed his gesture, and his eyes, already smiling, softened even more.

“Crown Prince!”

“Cough! Ahem, ahem...”

Su Zheng was eating contentedly and drinking water with satisfaction when a sudden voice from behind him startled him so much that he choked.

Luo Yunchen hurriedly stepped forward, gently patting Su Zheng’s back to help him catch his breath, while shooting a cold glare at the speaker.

The speaker was none other than the Grand Tutor. After the Crown Prince left the hall and there was no movement for a while, the Grand Tutor and several others, burning with anxiety, summoned the courage to step out of the hall.

Once outside, they found the scene more peaceful than they had imagined. Although the soldiers standing in formation outside exuded a chilling, murderous aura that inspired fear, they didn’t seem like rebels.

The Grand Tutor and the others exchanged glances. The Grand Tutor was about to ask the Crown Prince what the situation was, but for some reason, as soon as he spoke, the Crown Prince suddenly choked and coughed.

The Grand Tutor wanted to step forward to check, but was frozen by an icy glare. He looked ahead in surprise, uncertain whether he was more shocked that this person had appeared here, or more intimidated by his cold, forbidding aura, instinctively afraid to approach.

Su Zheng stopped coughing, turned to look at the Grand Tutor and the others, and said somewhat reproachfully: “Old sir, don’t you know you can scare someone to death?”

The Grand Tutor was completely baffled, hesitating, momentarily unsure where to begin: “This, this...”

Su Zheng waved his hand: “Everyone, do not worry. The rebellion has already been quelled. The rebels were subdued by Heir Luo leading the Tianyuan Army. The traitors—those who deserved death are dead, those who needed capture have been captured, awaiting final sentencing.”

The Grand Tutor and the others exchanged glances, breathed a sigh of relief, but also voiced their doubts: “Your Highness, shouldn’t Heir Luo and the Tianyuan Army be at the Northern Plains? When did they arrive in the capital?”

“Over the past few years, the Shen faction’s power has been growing day by day, their arrogance even beginning to surpass that of imperial clansmen. Father Emperor and I had long suspected the Shen family, but we didn’t expect that even the Empress and the Tenth Brother would harbor rebellious intentions. To avoid alerting them, Father Emperor did not mobilize the troops from the outskirts of the capital. Instead, he had me secretly contact Heir Luo, so that he could lead the Tianyuan Army to come in secret to act as circumstances allowed. Only thus were we able to suppress the rebellion in time and minimize the damage from this uprising.”

After hearing Su Zheng’s explanation, the courtiers showed a mix of emotions: some were gratified, some relaxed, some revered, some still harbored doubts, and some had ambiguous feelings.

But before they could organize their words to speak, a shrill cry came from inside the hall: “Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Someone come quickly!”

Su Zheng and Luo Yunchen exchanged a glance. Luo Yunchen nodded slightly.

Luo Yunchen had someone give Emperor Yuanjing a heavy dose of medicine, which temporarily restored and boosted his vitality, but also exhausted his body’s functions. At this point, he wouldn’t last much longer.

Su Zheng led the way, with Luo Yunchen half a step behind, and the courtiers followed last into the hall.

Inside, the imperial physician was performing acupuncture treatment on Emperor Yuanjing, who was lying flat on the bed. Without announcing the Emperor’s death, he seemed to be unconscious but still breathing.

Everyone waited in tense silence. The physician withdrew the needles, turned to face Su Zheng, cupped his hands at Su Zheng and shook his head.

Su Zheng frowned: “What do you mean? When will Father Emperor wake?”

The physician knelt and bowed: “Your Highness, this minister is incompetent. His Majesty... His Majesty, I fear, has little time left.”

Su Zheng looked incredulous, as if unable to accept this fact: “How could this be?! Father Emperor... wasn’t he much better earlier?”

“Reporting to Your Highness, that was a final rally before death. Earlier, His Majesty was relying on a last breath to keep up a good appearance, but now that breath has dissipated, so has his vitality.”

“How could...”

“Ah! Wang’er! My Wang’er!” A shrill female voice drew everyone’s attention.

Empress Shen had somehow been dragged to the side hall entrance and held down. Now she was screaming and struggling wildly in one direction like a madwoman.

Su Zheng followed her gaze. Outside the hall stood a squad of soldiers, each holding up a severed head.

The head at the front was unmistakably Su Wang’s—its hair tied up, facing the hall, instantly recognizable as whose it was.

Su Zheng gave Luo Yunchen a look of helpless fondness, knowing that Luo Yunchen had arranged this to shift attention away from himself and also give Empress Shen a punishment, although the scene was a bit spectacular.

True enough, successive gasps and sharp breaths could be heard from the crowd.