FID – Chapter 911

Chapter 911: Catching a Turtle in a Jar

“Your servant thanks Your Majesty for sparing my life!”

“This concubine thanks Your Majesty for your great mercy.”

The two women kowtowed on the ground to express their gratitude. Very quickly, Ling Xiang was dragged away by the guards to be punished with a beating.

Only then did Shan Lai slowly crawl up from the ground. Her face was pale to the point of near transparency. After kneeling for so long, just slightly moving her knees sent stabbing, bone-piercing pain through her, making it extremely difficult for her to stand.

Feng Mohan stood before her with his hands behind his back, acting as though she was invisible. His pitch-black eyes remained fixed on her, his gaze icy cold.

“Your Majesty, Ling Xiang offended Elder Madam Liu. It was my failure in discipline. From now on, this concubine will keep her under stricter control. As for Elder Madam Liu, this concubine begs Your Majesty to allow me to personally apologize to her.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“If Your Majesty refuses, this concubine’s heart will never be at peace.”

Feng Mohan let out a cold snort, flicked his sleeve, and turned to walk back into the hall.

Still want to see Great-grandma? What are you plotting now? Keep dreaming.

“Oh no! Your Majesty, P-Plum Concubine has fainted!” Just a few steps later, Xiao Banzi cried out in alarm.

Feng Mohan stopped in his tracks and turned to look at the unconscious woman lying on the ground. His gaze was deep and unreadable. After a moment, he spoke, “Someone, take Plum Concubine back to the Changle Palace and summon the imperial physician for an examination!”

Xiao Banzi was a bit stunned by the emperor’s command.

The woman had fainted right in front of the emperor, yet he didn’t carry her back himself? Why go to such trouble and have someone else carry her all that way? 

That seemed far too cold-hearted. Even if that woman wasn’t likable, she was still carrying the imperial heir, wasn’t she?

With a face full of confusion, Xiao Banzi watched as palace maids carried Shan Lai away, then followed closely behind Feng Mohan, hesitating as if wanting to speak.

“What, do you think I’m heartless?” Feng Mohan snorted coldly as he sat back down on the long bench, looking at Xiao Banzi’s foolish expression.

“Your Majesty, this servant also dislikes how Plum Concubine schemed against you back then, but she’s pregnant now. That’s your own flesh and blood…”

“Idiot. That master and servant of hers ran into Elder Madam Liu in the imperial garden, and there was no one else around at the time. Elder Madam Liu would never complain to me about such a thing. In fact, she left the palace with the Empress Dowager shortly afterward. Which means, if Plum Concubine hadn’t confessed herself, I never would have known it happened.”

Xiao Banzi blinked in confusion. “Didn’t she come to confess on her own? Doesn’t that show she regrets it?”

“Kneeling for two hours with a pregnant belly, completely disregarding the royal bloodline—how is that sincere repentance? That was clearly a pathetic attempt at playing the sympathy card in front of me!”

“Why?”

Feng Mohan rolled his eyes, no longer wanting to talk to this servant.

If his uncle were present, there’d be no need for lengthy explanations. He would’ve immediately grasped the suspicious points.

This was nothing more than using the child in her womb to provoke his sympathy and hesitation.

Under normal circumstances, anyone would have immediately carried her into Qiande Palace when she fainted in front of him like that.

Shan Lai staged that whole act for one purpose: to get back into Qiande Palace.

She was likely planning to make a move on him. How else could she harm him without getting close?

Tapping his fingers lightly on the table, Feng Mohan narrowed his eyes, the corner of his lips lifting in a confident smirk that mirrored Feng Qingbai’s to perfection.

Perhaps his uncle’s strategy of joining forces with Dongyue and Beicang to hunt down Xue Zhong was working.

Forced into a corner, the enemy would inevitably grow desperate and strike back hard.

Shan Lai must have received instructions from the mastermind behind the scenes. She was about to make her move on him.

This failure wouldn’t be the last. Another attempt would follow soon, and he just didn’t know what method she’d use.

Poison?

Or some kind of curse?

The night was cool like water, and the King’s Manor was especially quiet.

With the masters away, even the servants in the residence got to head to bed early and rest.

Before midnight, the entire residence was already shrouded in darkness, silent and still.

Only the cool moonlight spilled down, casting a faint and pale glow across the palace grounds.

Two shadowy figures slipped silently into the manor, moving with familiarity as they headed straight for Yuqing Courtyard and Liuyun Pavilion.

“Who goes there?!”

With a sudden shout, the once quiet residence instantly burst into activity. In almost an instant, candles lit up the surroundings, light and shadow dancing as the clash of swords and blades echoed without pause.

The intruders were skilled, but two fists were no match for many hands. Surrounded by the shadow guards, they were captured in no time.

Wei Zi emerged from the shadows, his face dark as he watched one of the black-clad men bite down on poison and die immediately after being caught.

The King had calculated everything precisely. He knew that the moment he left, someone would try to infiltrate the manor—and he was right.

The Shadow Guard Battalion had already laid a tight net around the area, waiting to trap the prey. In the end, all they caught were two corpses.

The enemy’s methods were truly formidable.

“Search their bodies. Take everything they have.”

……

The message from the King’s Manor was delivered by a carrier pigeon and arrived around midnight.

Hearing a faint fluttering sound outside the window, the man who had been sleeping suddenly opened his eyes, clear and alert.

He opened the window, removed the item tied to the pigeon’s leg, and after reading it, crushed it into dust with his hand.

“Feng Qingbai, why are you up so late?” came the drowsy, half-asleep voice of a woman from behind the bed curtains.

Returning to bed, he pulled her into his arms and whispered, “It got windy, so I got up to close the window.”

“It’s June. Leave the windows open a bit, it’s not so stuffy.” Her voice grew quieter and quieter, and in the blink of an eye, the woman drifted back to sleep.

“Alright.” He smiled and gently kissed her on the forehead.

It wouldn’t be long now before this whole ordeal came to an end.

When that time came, he could finally be by her side, along with their two children, and enjoy life together.

At the hour of the mao (around 5–7 AM), he got up on time.Though he didn’t need to attend court, he was used to this routine. Once awake at this hour, he couldn’t fall back asleep.

So he simply got up to do some morning training.

When he reached the back courtyard, he found someone had gotten up even earlier than him.

Qin Xiao, Xue Qinglian, and Liu Zhiqiu.

Qin Xiao was practicing martial arts, while Liu Zhiqiu crouched nearby watching with great interest, occasionally cheering him on.

Xue Qinglian sat on a stone bench, looking drowsy and half-awake, his head bobbing like he was dozing off while fishing.

Hearing footsteps approaching, the dazed man instantly snapped awake. A sharp gleam flashed through his eyes as he looked toward the sound.

“Oh, it’s you. You walk like a ghost, so quiet,” Xue Qinglian relaxed when he saw it was Feng Qingbai, and slipped back into his sleepy state.

“If you haven’t slept enough, go back to your room. Sitting out here looking like that is just embarrassing.”

“You think I wanted to get up this early? I was waiting for you!” Xue Qinglian grumbled angrily.

“Waiting for me? What for?”

“The flapping noises from your room in the middle of the night disturbed my sleep.”

Liu Zhiqiu, who had been crouching in front, turned around. “Xue Qinglian, so you heard it too? I thought I was dreaming or imagining it. Looks like I’m getting closer to reaching the expert level! If General Qin would give me some pointers, I could improve by leaps and bounds!”

“No wonder you’ve been kissing up all morning. You’re so eager for quick success.” 

“Who says I’m eager for quick success? This is called ambition! Doesn’t everyone have a dream of becoming a great hero?”

Qin Xiao finished his routine, walked over, and picked up the teapot on the stone table, taking a couple of gulps. “News from that side?”

“Mm. Just as expected.”

Xue Qinglian and Liu Zhiqiu looked at the two of them in unison. “What are you two talking about? Do you mind explaining it to us?”