787: A Palace Draft

A Palace Draft

Lu Liangwei was shocked. Chen Xuping stabbed Lu Yunshuang?1

Frowning, Long Yang interrupted Hong Xiu. "I'm asking you if there's anything special about Lu Yunshuang's body."

All of a sudden, Hong Xiu understood what he meant, and her voice shook as she replied, "Lady Lu's heart is on the right side of her chest…" She trailed off and hung her head.

Judging from the Emperor's question, something must have happened to Lady Lu.

Fear crept into her heart, and the clothes on her back were instantly drenched in a cold sweat.

"On the right side of her chest?" Lu Liangwei was surprised.

"Yes, Your Highness," Hong Xiu said in a trembling voice.

"Why haven't I heard of this before?" Lu Liangwei was astounded by the sudden revelation. There was no mention of Lu Yunshuang's heart being on the right side in the book. However, it was not surprising, considering how many of the events happening now had already diverged from the original story.

However, if Lu Yunshuang's heart was on the right, that meant…

Hong Xiu explained, "That's because nobody knew about this except Madam Zheng and me. Madam Zheng hid this because she was afraid that other people would view Lady Lu as a freak, so she even kept it from the Dowager Duchess and the Grand Duke."

Zhao Qian was astonished to hear this too. "Then it's very likely that Lu Yunshuang's not dead."

Chu Qi was just as dumbfounded. None of them had expected Lu Yunshuang's heart to be on the right. In that case, the Grand Duchess's flying dagger must have failed to kill her.

Lu Liangwei exchanged a glance with Long Yang, and remembering something, said, "Wait—Zeng Lunan probably knows about this too."

Long Yang nodded. "You make a good guess. After all, Lu Yunshuang was brought to the imperial capital by Liu Fu after she was born, so Zeng Lunan probably knows about this too."

"What a sly fox! No wonder he looked so calm; it's because he knew that Lu Yunshuang wasn't dead. He said he wanted to take her away and bury her, but he was actually planning to escape with her. We've all been deceived," said Lu Liangwei, her brow furrowed. She thought that Lu Yunshuang had died, but she had, in fact, escaped death, thanks to her unusual heart condition.

Hong Xiu kept her head lowered, shock gripping her heart as she listened to what they said.

In that case, Lady Lu may still be alive…

"Master, what should we do with this girl?" Just then, Zhao Qian spoke up.

Long Yang pondered for a moment, then instructed, "Lock her up for now."

Hong Xiu was quickly taken away by the imperial guards.

"Pass my order to arrest Lu Yunshuang and Zeng Lunan in secret." Long Yang issued another order right away.

Zhao Qian and Chu Qi immediately understood their master's intention.

Lu Yunshuang must have thought that she had fooled everyone by faking her death and escaping. If they publicly declared a search for her, she would be alerted of the danger and go deeper into hiding, which would make it even harder to find her. Therefore, a secret arrest was the best plan.

"Also, keep an eye on Xuyang," Long Yang added.

"Yes, Master," Zhao Qian answered.

The Crown Prince had been demoted to Prince of Xuyang, so it was likely that Lu Yunshuang would go there.

…

The Crown Prince's deposition was a significant event in the court. Long Yang issued the edict and exposed Long Chi's assassination attempt to the kingdom, throwing the entire court into an uproar.

However, now that the position of Crown Prince was vacant, the court officials started itching for action.

Back then, when the Emperor made his nephew the Crown Prince, there were numerous speculations that he was impotent. However, now that he had deposed the Crown Prince so mercilessly, all kinds of possibilities started creeping into the officials' minds.

It seemed that the Emperor was very much in good health.

Therefore, when the chaos surrounding the Crown Prince's deposition had died down a few days later, several court officials began to propose a palace draft to fill up the imperial harem. 

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