Xi Qingyue flew quickly to the city gate with Xi Weilan in her left hand and Lu Qianning in her right. However, instead of flying in, she landed in front of the city gate.
The guards on duty immediately assumed a defensive posture when they saw her. They had been severely scolded just now.
"Do you want to harm the princess?"
The sudden angry shout made the guards on duty stunned for a moment. They just wanted to stop people. How did it become an attempt to harm the princess?
Xi Qingyue shouted at them again, "Hurry up and make way. The Ninth Princess wants to enter the city. She was just assassinated by the killers sent by the Fourth Prince. Now her life is hanging by a thread and she urgently needs to enter the city to see the imperial doctor. If you stop her from entering, you are attempting to harm the current princess. What crime should you be punished with?"
The faces of the group of guards turned pale. While they were still hesitating, a gentle but unyielding voice came from behind them, "Let them enter the city. I will take the responsibility if anything goes wrong."
The guards looked back and saw that it was the First Princess, Lu Shiwan, who had arrived in a carriage.
She jumped out of the carriage and quickly ran to Lu Qianning. She reached out to feel her breath. The weak breathing shocked her greatly.
She quickly took the unconscious girl from Xi Qingyue's arms and strode towards the carriage. Xi Qingyue followed her into the carriage with Xi Weilan in her arms. This time, no guards stopped the sisters.
Blood dripped on the ground at the city gate. The on - lookers among the common people couldn't help but sigh with pity. Many people sighed as they walked away, and there were those who had been pre - arranged to quickly spread this news to every corner of the capital.
In the carriage, Lu Shiwan looked at Lu Qianning's miserable state in disbelief.
She clearly knew how high - level Lu Qianning's martial arts were. In this capital, there was hardly anyone more powerful than her. It's just that she usually kept a low profile and didn't casually show her skills. Most people in the capital had never seen Lu Qianning in action. Most people only remembered her as gentle and virtuous.
So even a master could be seriously injured. She couldn't help but sigh.
After Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan got into the carriage, they quietly sat on the chairs on one side, with sad expressions on their faces, as if a loved one was about to pass away.
Lu Shiwan told the coachman to speed up, and Xi Qingyue even stretched her head out and shouted outside, "Get out of the way! The Ninth Princess needs to see the imperial doctor. She was assassinated and is about to die."
Hearing this, the common people all quickly dodged to both sides, fearing that they would delay the treatment of the Ninth Princess.
Many people in the shops on both sides of the street put down the things they were about to buy and walked to the door to look in the direction of the carriage. Even the people in the teahouses and restaurants heard the loud shout. They all stretched their heads out of the upstairs windows and looked down.
For a moment, the carriage passed through smoothly, and the common people on both sides all knew that Lu Qianning had been assassinated and was now in critical condition and needed to see a doctor.
When the carriage arrived at the Princess Mansion, the servants who came out to greet them all had red - eyed. They looked worriedly at Lu Qianning, who was being carried out of the carriage. Her body was covered in blood, and the blood on her face almost covered it up.
Lu Shiwan ordered the servants in the mansion, "You go and invite the doctors. Invite all the doctors in the capital. I'll go and invite the imperial doctor right away. You must save Little Nine's life. Whoever doesn't do their best, I'll cut off their head later."
"Yes, Your Highness." Everyone quickly scattered and ran towards different medical clinics on the street.
Taohua, Lu Shiwan's maid, carried Lu Qianning and strode towards the mansion gate. Xi Qingyue and her sister followed on both sides.
So, the common people in the capital saw such a grand sight today.
First, Lu Shiwan took the blood - soaked Lu Qianning in a carriage and rushed from the city gate. There was also Xi Qingyue's shouting from the carriage, shouting all the way that the Ninth Princess was dying and asking people to make way.
Next, Zhao Fenghua, the Left Wing Commandant of the Imperial Guard, led dozens of imperial guards running into the city. While running, he shouted, "Get out of the way! Don't delay us from inviting the imperial doctor for the Ninth Princess."
Then, Deputy Governor Wang He of Jingzhao Prefecture led the officers and soldiers of Jingzhao Prefecture, pulling several carts with the assassins who had been killed while trying to assassinate Lu Qianning on them. And beside Wang He was Luo Ling, who was crying sadly.
Some idle young masters who were watching the excitement even gave the soldiers some silver to inquire about the details. The soldiers sighed and described the tragic scene they saw when they arrived outside the city. Everyone who listened couldn't help but sigh.
The whole capital was talking about the fact that Lu Qianning had been assassinated before she even returned to the capital. Many people even scolded the Fourth Prince behind closed doors. Everyone felt indignant and sorry for Lu Qianning's experience.
The noble princess was harmed so badly. If the Fourth Prince recovered from his illness and was made the crown prince, would the common people have a good life in the future?
The common people started from whispering to discussing loudly. In the end, the whole city was talking about the Fourth Prince being immoral, incompetent, and ruthless.
Different from the common people, the court officials were divided into three factions.
One faction advocated punishing Lu Qianning. The leader was Wei Shao, the Grand Tutor and the father of Consort De.
Wei Shao had been living a leisurely life in the suburbs of the capital. After the news that the Fourth Prince had been poisoned and was in a coma spread, he returned to the capital.
But what he didn't expect was that after he left, his grandson also returned to the capital from the suburbs and was killed by a child in a restaurant.
When he learned that the child who killed someone was related to the Seventh Princess, he wanted to submit a memorial to the emperor. But now he found that the two children seemed to have a special relationship with Lu Qianning. They even went out of the city specially to pick her up.
He immediately turned his spearhead towards Lu Qianning. She had posted notices everywhere, ruining his grandson's chance to become the crown prince. The children related to her had also killed his own grandson. He wouldn't let this matter go.
"Your Majesty, the Ninth Princess was supposed to represent the Great Jing in a marriage alliance with the Northern Yue. Instead, she assassinated the Northern Yue Emperor, causing a war between the two countries and making the common people homeless. I think she should be severely punished. And those two children, they openly killed my grandson in the restaurant. Such behavior is extremely arrogant. Please, Your Majesty, uphold justice for this old minister and seek justice for my dead grandson."
Wei Shao said with tears in his eyes. He even wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.
The old emperor was also extremely angry. Not only was his favorite son poisoned and in a coma, but he was also being spread around by Lu Qianning as colluding with the Great Prince of Beiyue. If this was confirmed, it would be a big problem.
As for those two children, he had no good impression of them at all. Since they came to the capital, they had made a mess of the place in just a few days. Now they even started killing people. They were really too arrogant.
Just as he was about to get angry, another court official spoke up.
"Your Majesty, what the Grand Tutor said is unfair. The matter of the Ninth Princess has become well - known. It is said that the princess also brought back letters proving that the Fourth Prince colluded with the Great Prince of Beiyue. That's why she was assassinated outside the city. If Your Majesty punishes the Ninth Princess without asking for the reason, what will the common people in the world think?"
When Lin Yongzhi, the Imperial Censor, said this, he slightly raised his eyes and glanced upwards. He was not afraid of the emperor's increasingly darkening face, while Wei Shao was so angry that he wanted to go up and beat Lin Yongzhi. It was this meddling person again.
Lin Yongzhi's words continued, "Your Majesty, the grandson of Grand Tutor Wei Shao is notorious for his arrogance and tyranny in the capital. The son of the vice minister of the Ministry of Justice was severely beaten by him and is still lying in bed. He only beat the other to a critical state just for a private room. It hasn't been long since then, and he has become even more outrageous. I heard that he was killed because he forcefully abducted those two children to his mansion as maids. He knew that the two children were the adopted sisters recognized by the Seventh Princess, but he still forcefully took them away. Your Majesty, his such behavior shows that he doesn't even put the princess, let alone the royal family, in his eyes. Such an act deserves to be punished by death!"
