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The architecture of the Garden of the Imperial Palace still stood, and Li Hong simply brought Zhao Gou into the Emerald Cold Hall, his own room. With a quick pulse check, he realized that the emperor's injuries were not too severe; most likely, he had suffered from the shock of the attack. However, the main concern was the wound on his abdomen, which had indeed caused Zhao Gou to lose a significant amount of blood.
The mechanism of the assassin's hidden weapon was similar to that of the Nine Li Sect's Fire Glaze; it would explode upon contact with an object. The assassin was highly skilled, and the hidden weapon contained powerful energy. Even though it did not directly hit Zhao Gou's body, the area of his abdomen that came into contact with the weapon was severely lacerated, leaving a deep gash that exposed his internal organs.
Fortunately, at a critical moment, Li Hong had pulled Zhao Gou away. Otherwise, Zhao Gou would have met the same fate as those in Kun Ning Palace, ensuring that there would be nothing left but bones.
Now that there was no major issue, Li Hong felt relieved. He casually found a Cultivating Essence Pill and instructed the imperial physicians to give Zhao Gou a sip of Elixir every hour. He ordered them to stitch up Zhao Gou's abdomen and treat the burns caused by the explosion's heat.
Li Hong was quite unwilling to take matters into his own hands for such minor injuries.
The physicians were greatly alarmed. What seemed trivial in Li Hong's eyes was terrifying to them; if they failed to treat him properly, they feared the entire Imperial Medical Bureau would face dire consequences. When they heard Chu Hongzi, the National Protector, order them to stitch up the emperor's abdomen, each physician was so frightened that their eyes bulged out, and no one dared to take action for a long time.
Li Hong grew impatient and rolled his eyes as he shouted, "Celestial Master! I still need to investigate the assassin. Hurry up and stitch him up! If you don't do it soon, the emperor will bleed more and more; by then, even I won't be able to save him."
Just then, an official from the Imperial Medical Bureau was nearly pushed out by the other physicians. He stumbled and knelt at Li Hong's feet, trembling as he said, "Celestial Master, your medical skills are superb; perhaps you should personally handle the stitching."
Li Hong stood up helplessly. At that moment, Chuxuan and Chu Hai rushed in. Li Hong's eyes lit up as he pointed decisively at Chu Hai and said, "Junior brother, the emperor has a gash in his abdomen; you stitch it up first."
After saying this, Li Hong immediately disregarded them and pulled Chuxuan into the outer hall, asking right away, "What’s going on?"
"Shui Qingzi and others are searching for any suspicious signs near Lin'an; however, there have been no findings so far. Elder Jiang Xuanzi and Green Princess Wei Ming are sitting in the central pavilion of the Garden of the Imperial Palace; they haven't gone anywhere to prevent any return of the assassin. The most troublesome part is that the Empress is missing. It was chaotic at that time; Kun Ning Palace was blown to pieces and is still being excavated. I went there to check; there are no signs of life under Kun Ning Palace. Empress Wu has likely been captured by the assassin."
Just as Li Hong was about to speak, Liu Zhong reported: "The Empress Dowager has arrived."
Li Hong exclaimed in surprise, "Is she alright?"
Chuxuan sneered coldly: "She’s lucky; at that time she returned to Cining Palace to change clothes. Cining Palace is on the very edge of the ruins; although her room collapsed, the palace maids and eunuchs protected her with their bodies. She is unharmed and has come to see her son."
Empress Wei anxiously appeared at the entrance of Emerald Cold Hall with Little Yellow Gate supporting her. Li Hong immediately stepped forward to stop her: "Empress Dowager, the physicians are currently treating His Majesty’s injuries. Please rest assured; my junior brother Chu Hai, Celestial Master is also inside; he will ensure nothing happens to the emperor."
Empress Wei sighed lightly, her expression improving slightly. She wanted to ask something, but Li Hong had already shot a fierce glance at Liu Zhong. Liu Zhong understood and quickly approached to invite Empress Wei to wait inside the hall.
In front of the cold-faced Chuxuan and Li Hong, Empress Wei did not dare to voice her opposition and nodded, following Liu Zhong.
As soon as she left, Zhao Ding hurriedly arrived, skipping the formalities and stating directly, "I have already arranged everything outside. The ministers have been ordered back to their residences, and the entire city is under martial law. Now, aside from the troops at the Hall of Audience, the streets are cleared. I think it’s best to start a citywide search for the assassin. What does Celestial Master think?"
Li Hong shook his head. "Martial law is acceptable, but a citywide search is unnecessary. You don’t even know who the assassin is; how can you search?"
Zhao Ding's expression darkened as he whispered, "I heard it was one of the first-ranked ladies who attended the audience. While I don’t know exactly who she is, all their husbands are court officials. I have instructed the Hall of Audience to keep them all under guard; we should be able to trace the assassin's whereabouts through them." Thinking of this made Zhao Ding uncomfortable; it was indeed a huge joke that the assassin came from a first-ranked official's wife.
Li Hong replied, "Don't keep them under guard; let them all go home. They are not related to the Noble Ladies at all. I suspect that the female assassin is Li Xiaolou herself. She disguised herself and escaped immediately after striking. It’s unfortunate that those gentlemen are left without their wives for no reason; why add to their misfortune at this time?" Li Hong sighed.
Zhao Ding suddenly looked shocked. "Are you saying that the female assassin is the direct superior of the Autumn Maidens? That ruthless Golden Kingdom Female Celestial Master?"
"Who else could it be?" Li Hong frowned. "I suggest you stop worrying about the assassin; if Shui Qingzi and her group can't find her, you certainly won't either. There's no need to create chaos in the city and disturb the people. Right now, hurry with me to Kun Ning Palace and see if the Empress has passed away. Sigh, just after her enthronement, Consort Wu—no, Empress Wu—she really is unfortunate."
Li Hong shook his head and sighed as he led Chuxuan towards Kun Ning Palace.
Zhao Ding was drenched in sweat as he suddenly remembered that Empress Wu was at the center of the explosion; he had almost forgotten about her! He didn’t dare to say anything out loud but internally agreed with Li Hong's words; Empress Wu truly was unfortunate. Before she even settled into her throne… He wiped away beads of sweat from his forehead and hurriedly ran to catch up with Li Hong and Chuxuan.
At Kun Ning Palace's ruins, a large group of Eunuchs and guards were carefully moving debris under the direction of the deputy commander of the Hall of Audience, searching for Empress Wu and several Noble Ladies.
At that time, there were Empress Wu, concubines, first-ranked ladies who entered the palace early on, palace maids, Eunuchs inside Kun Ning Palace, while outside there were many Noble Ladies and Eunuchs waiting—roughly estimated to be at least five or six hundred people.
Outside the hall, aside from a few who were killed by falling stones, most people were not seriously injured; they were primarily shaken by the explosion's aftermath and would recover after some time. However, those inside Kun Ning Palace were not so fortunate.
Soon they discovered the first corpse—a palace maid—and then more bodies began to be uncovered. Most of these individuals had been crushed by collapsing bricks. By midnight, all bodies had been cleared away; Kun Ning Palace had become an empty expanse of rubble, but no trace of Empress Wu’s body was found—none at all.
At dawn, the losses had all been counted and summarized. Fifteen palaces centered around Kun Ning Palace had collapsed, resulting in the deaths of twelve concubines, twenty-five Noble Ladies, and over two hundred palace maids, eunuchs, and guards. The most critical issue was that Empress Wu was missing.
When Zhao Ding received the report, his hands trembled uncontrollably. He had been busy all night, his face pale. His eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, but he did not rest and went directly to find Li Hong with the list in hand.
Li Hong was sitting in a pavilion in the Garden of the Imperial Palace with Jiang Xuanzi, listening to Green Lotus recount what had happened.
In fact, Green Lotus had been very close to Empress Wu at that time; she stood beside the phoenix chair, curiously observing the group of Noble Ladies. When the sudden change occurred, having never encountered such a fierce battle before, she was stunned. Li Hong broke through the palace roof and flew into the air while she was still looking up at the large hole above her out of curiosity. Then the explosion happened, and debris fell like rain. Thanks to her Initial Stage of Caution cultivation, she instinctively protected her head and face as she dashed through the falling stones, immediately encountering her father Jiang Xuanzi, who was shouting and looking for her.
In other words, she actually knew nothing.
Li Hong smiled bitterly; this Princess Jingwei truly was inexperienced. Such a serious incident occurred, yet she didn’t pay attention to the assassin or to Empress Wu, who had always treated her well, but instead stared at the big hole above her head. It was hard to know what to say about her.
However, Li Hong realized that at that moment Green Lotus might have only been worried about herself, her gaze unconsciously following him. Because of this, she did not notice the assassin nor take action. But it was fortunate she did not act; if she had done so, she would have likely been harmed by Li Xiaolou and might even have lost her life.
Green Lotus blushed slightly and murmured, “I only know how to enjoy songs and dances while wearing beautiful clothes every day. I feel guilty about being Princess Yao Xian of the Great Song. After returning this time, I must practice diligently and not waste time playing around.”
Jiang Xuanzi felt greatly relieved upon hearing this and comforted his daughter: “It’s not your fault. Fortunately, you didn’t take action; otherwise, you might have been captured by that wicked woman.”
At this point, everyone was certain that the assassin was indeed Li Xiaolou. The question remained: where had she hidden?
Zhao Ding came up with the list; everyone passed it around with tightly furrowed brows. It was unsettling to think that she had managed to infiltrate right under their noses without them noticing—almost killing Zhao Gou and abducting Empress Wu while killing so many people. Just thinking about it made everyone feel uneasy.
Zhao Ding said anxiously, “Other matters can be dealt with; but what should we do about Empress Wu’s disappearance? I have already issued orders for no one to speak of this and for a citywide search for Empress Wu’s whereabouts. However, there is currently no news at all. Celestial Masters, what should we do about this?” He was truly anxious and exhausted; his speech began to falter.
After pondering for a moment, Li Hong suddenly had a flash of insight and exclaimed, “Autumn Maiden!”
With this reminder, everyone hurriedly rushed toward the dungeon.
Upon entering the dungeon, they found the Autumn Maidens unharmed inside. Li Hong took a deep breath and ordered the guards to keep a close watch, then turned to leave.
Behind them, the Autumn Maidens sneered, "Anyone who isn't deaf can hear the commotion above. Just wait, the Mistress will definitely come to rescue us. By then, you so-called Celestial Masters will have no place to bury your bodies!"
Chuxuan raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but mock, "That Mistress you speak of has probably forgotten all about you. You should think about how to save your own lives first."
Li Hong was too lazy to argue with her and calmly instructed, "Do not give them any food. Let them go hungry for a couple of days and see if they still have the strength to curse."
The Autumn Maidens were furious and jumped up in anger. Li Hong pulled Chuxuan along and left the dungeon without looking back.
Zhao Ding frowned and said, "The spies are still so defiant; they must truly feel invincible. This place isn't safe anymore; we'll have to ask the Celestial Masters to guard it personally."
Li Hong thought for a moment, leaving Wei Ming and the others behind while instructing them not to underestimate their enemy. If Li Xiaolou really came, they could only retreat and not confront her directly. After all, they were no match for Li Xiaolou and could only serve as an early warning.
Suddenly, Li Hong felt something and focused his Divine Consciousness. After a moment, he sighed; it was Shui Qingzi, who must have news.
Shui Qingzi flew over quickly and upon seeing Li Hong and Jiang Xuanzi, said urgently, "It is indeed Li Xiaolou. We discovered clues she intentionally left behind; she has vacated the premises, leaving only this letter on the table."
He handed over a plain sheet of paper.
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