Raiders of the Duke and Duchess

Chapter 917: Waiting for the Rabbit, but the Rabbit Hasn't Arrived
The emperor was suddenly startled.

For a moment, he seemed to see Shangguan Shou, who was once young and strong enough, through the old body in front of him... At that time, Shangguan Shou, under his calm and stubborn appearance, still hid an ambition that was not well concealed.

The emperor, who was already old and weak, felt a little timid for no reason when facing his ministers who were in their prime.

Others could not see his cowardice, but the emperor himself understood Shangguan Shou's implication the moment the other party finished speaking - Shangguan Shou was threatening him, and the army was indeed ambushed somewhere outside the city!
The fingertips pierced the palm of his hand, causing pain. The emperor sneered, "Hehe", and the laughter was creepy. He laughed and muttered to himself, "Good... very good... you are all very good! I thought I raised a dog, but I didn't expect to find out in the end that I raised a group of white-eyed wolves! Shangguan Shou, do you really think that I can't do anything to you?!... cough cough cough!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he had a heart-wrenching cough. Zhang Dexian was startled and took care of him in a panic. While serving him, he advised, "Your Majesty, don't get angry. You will hurt your body. Master Shangguan is just worried that Miss Ji will have no one to take care of her in the palace. As an elder, most of them are like this. Please talk to her nicely, talk to her nicely... Don't get angry."

"Yes, father." Li Yiwei also advised, "Miss Ji has the merit of saving the emperor after all. If you punish Mr. Shangguan now and it gets out... it won't sound good." After saying that, he frowned slightly, thinking that the emperor's temper was actually quite inexplicable. Upon closer inspection, it didn't seem like he was angry, but more like a bluff after being powerless. He was like an old tiger whose claws were no longer sharp and whose teeth were no longer sharp. It could only roar at the other party, and as soon as it opened its mouth, it showed its timidity.

This was the first time Li Yiwei had seen such an emperor. He was shocked and confused.

The emperor looked like he was about to cough out all his internal organs, his face turned as red as liver. He raised his hand to block the imperial doctors who wanted to come forward, then glanced at Shangguan Shou and asked, "I'm asking you one last time, are you... really determined not to leave?" The hands that were clinging to the edge of the bed were so skinny that they looked like a layer of wrinkled skin wrapped around fragile bones that could fall apart at any time.

The wind outside...is getting stronger.

Dark clouds gathered more and more, and in the dimly lit hall, the emperor's face on the bedside took on an abnormal dark red color, and even in his cloudy eyeballs, a strange red color was faintly visible.

Ji Wuyan, who had been paying attention to the emperor's expression from beginning to end, felt her heart skip a beat. She almost took a step forward and knelt in front of her grandfather. She stood in front of the old man and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. Grandfather is also concerned about the chaos. I will go back and persuade him, and then send him back to Jiangnan in the next two days."

Shangguan Shou was unwilling to do so. He frowned and said unhappily, "Xiao Ning, don't worry about it..."

"Shut up!" Ji Wuyan turned around suddenly, and shook her head almost invisibly at Shangguan Shou out of the emperor's sight. She changed her tone that was almost treasonous just now, and advised earnestly, "Grandfather, I know you are worried about me, but I am not a child anymore. Besides, I am in the palace, and His Majesty is a sensible man. He just said he would reward me... Besides, my third brother will accompany me, so what are you worried about? But the business in Jiangnan cannot be done without you in charge."

She only said "business", but to those who were paying attention, it was already more than just business.

The emperor gripped the edge of the bed with ever greater force, his fingernails digging into the wood and leaving a hand full of sawdust. Zhang Dexian watched from the side, sighing in worry, but there was nothing he could do.

Shangguan Shou wanted to speak, but the little girl looked solemn. He hesitated for a moment and didn't say anything, but he didn't say anything either. He just knelt there with his old arms and legs stretched out, like a stubborn donkey that can't be pulled back. There were lightning and thunder in the sky, and dark clouds gathered, but the raindrops didn't fall.

Normally, there is more snow than rain in the winter in Yanjing City. It is even rarer to see thunder without rain like today. It seems as if winter has suddenly gone and spring has come. The cold wind is blowing like a knife, but it is clearly the coldest time of the year.

Where the thunder struck, a strange laugh was heard suddenly. The "hehe" sound reminded people of some ominous bird flying into the sky, roaring. The bird should have a strange face and be covered with black feathers. In strange stories and miscellaneous talks, it should be a symbol of disaster. Wherever it passed, no grass grew.

The sound came closer in the blink of an eye. Ji Wuyan only had time to stand up and pull Shangguan Shou behind him. The old man was caught off guard and stumbled into a flower stand beside him. An empty vase on the flower stand shook and fell to the ground with a "bang", shattering into pieces.

But no one cared.

It was clearly a daytime sky, but it was so dark that it felt like night.

The rain that had accumulated for so long finally poured down. The old man felt a piercing pain in his lower back from being hit, but he did not bother to ask Ji Wuyan what happened. He just stared at the bead curtain in amazement... The strange laughter was already very close, but no guard stopped it, and not even a palace maid came to report it. The only sound in the whole world was the sound of the rain and the ominous laughter.

Ji Wuyan subconsciously glanced at Ning Xiuyuan, and exchanged the same solemn look - Lin Yi. She had set up a formation in Ji's house and laid bait to wait for Lin Yi, but he didn't expect that he would come to the palace first.

Ji Wuyan glanced at Li Yiwei again. The other party also had a shocked expression, as if he didn't know Lin Yi would appear here. But he quickly reacted, coughed, and asked, "Who is outside? How can you be so rude in front of His Majesty? Leave immediately!"

This was a strange thing to say. This matter was full of cunning. That person was rude, but no one informed him. The prince did not investigate or question him, but just let him leave as soon as possible...

This time, everyone saw the contradiction in Li Yiwei.

In the dim light, a black figure stood outside the bead curtain, and it was hard to see what he looked like. He stood there so audaciously, and his voice was even more unpleasant to hear, like the words of a ghost, "It's so lively here today... It would be a pity if I left now. Speaking of which... Miss Ji is worthy of being the young master of the Ji family. A silver needle ruined my good fortune!"

"Your good fortune?" an imperial physician murmured, and after a while he suddenly realized, "It's you! His Majesty has become what he is now, all because of you?!"

The emperor reacted instantly and shouted, "Someone come!"