The sky outside gradually brightened, and Lin Qinghe was awakened by voices outside the palace doors.
Lin Qinghe opened her eyes and listened carefully. It was Imperial Tutor Xu and You Rong speaking.
"How is His Majesty's injury? Is it serious? Why is he not awake yet?"
"Imperial Tutor Xu, please rest assured, His Majesty's injury is not severe. The imperial physicians have treated him and said His Majesty will surely wake up today."
"That's good!" Imperial Tutor Xu asked through gritted teeth, "What about the assassins who tried to assassinate His Majesty? Where are they imprisoned? I want to interrogate them personally to find out who their master behind them is!"
Wang Jiang said, "Imperial Tutor Xu, yesterday's assassins are all imprisoned in the imperial villa's dungeon. Do you wish to go there? This servant will escort you."
"No need! I'll go myself!"
You Rong called out to Imperial Tutor Xu, as if he had something to say to him. However, Imperial Tutor Xu was resolute and did not even pause his steps, heading straight to the dungeon to interrogate the assassins.
Lin Qinghe narrowed her eyes slightly and checked the progress bar. As expected, it had not increased. She took a deep breath, calmed her mind, and weakly called out, "Someone..."
Wang Jiang's face lit up when he heard Lin Qinghe's voice, "It's His Majesty! His Majesty is awake!"
Wang Jiang was eager to enter, but You Rong was a step faster. He quickly went to the bedside, met Lin Qinghe's eyes, and slightly clenched the hands at his sides.
Lin Qinghe saw You Rong standing silently and felt a little puzzled. She feigned extreme weakness and asked, "You Rong? Where... where am I? Right, there were assassins yesterday... I fainted, what happened afterwards? Were you injured?"
Lin Qinghe anxiously tried to get up, then frowned and let out a muffled groan, pretending to have accidentally pulled her wound and be in pain.
As she expected, You Rong quickly stepped forward to support her and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, you are still injured. It is best not to get up for now. The assassins have all been captured, and I am fine, unharmed."
Lin Qinghe leaned "weakly" against You Rong, a look of relief on her pale face. "That's good... It's all my fault for bringing you to the imperial villa. I didn't expect you to encounter assassins. Fortunately, you weren't injured, otherwise I would never forgive myself..."
You Rong's gaze was deep, his thin lips pressed together, thinking about something unknown.
After a long silence, he said indifferently, "It has nothing to do with Your Majesty. I interrogated those assassins last night. They are people of Marquis Pingyang. Their target was me. Even if they didn't come to the imperial villa, they would have found another opportunity to attack me."
Lin Qinghe feigned surprise, "What?! Marquis Pingyang? Why would he want to assassinate you for no reason?"
You Rong pondered for a moment and said, "Imperial Tutor Xu recently purged many of Marquis Pingyang's followers. The vacant official positions were filled by new people who, to varying degrees, have dealings with me. Marquis Pingyang mistakenly believes that I suggested this to Your Majesty and has held a grudge against me."
Lin Qinghe frowned, her face filled with anger, "A good Marquis Pingyang! How dare he! Does he still have any regard for the law, or for me! Fortunately... you are unharmed, otherwise even death would not be enough to atone!"
You Rong's eyes drooped slightly, his expression faint, Lin Qinghe could not discern his emotions. Her heart stirred, and she said with guilt, "All in all, it's my fault. If it weren't for me, Marquis Pingyang wouldn't have held a grudge against you..."
You Rong looked at the guilt-ridden Lin Qinghe with complicated eyes and suddenly asked, "Your Majesty, you must have known that the people who replaced Marquis Pingyang's followers had dealings with me. Why did you still use them?"
Lin Qinghe smiled slightly, her eyes clear, "I trust you! You are upright and dedicated to the people. Anyone you associate with must be good, so... I trust you!" Su Dan Novel Network
You Rong's heart gave a sudden jolt.
An indescribable feeling spread in his heart.
She said she trusted him. Did she ever consider that he hated her, despised her? By appointing people who associated with him, she was undoubtedly strengthening his influence in court, increasing the threat to her by a degree.
System prompt: "Progress bar increased by 5%, total progress bar at 21%."
Lin Qinghe's eyes brightened slightly.
The progress bar had increased again! It seemed this performance was not in vain, and this injury was not suffered for nothing!
Just as Lin Qinghe was about to express her feelings to You Rong again to further increase the progress bar, You Rong spoke first, "Your Majesty, you have just woken up. I will go find an imperial physician to examine you."
After speaking, You Rong helped Lin Qinghe lie down, stood up, and strode out.
Wang Jiang stood by, about to say that he would fetch the imperial physician himself, but before he could speak, You Rong had already disappeared through the doorway.
Lin Qinghe lay on the bed, wanting to chase after him, but she was still injured and appeared weak, making it inconvenient to get up and pursue. She had to give up for now.
After all, You Rong's opinion of her had begun to change. Increasing the progress bar in the future should not be too difficult.
As soon as You Rong left, the dark guards entered. Lin Qinghe dismissed the palace maids and eunuchs.
As soon as the palace doors closed, the dark guard said fearfully, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. This subordinate deserves death for allowing Your Majesty to suffer such a serious injury!"
Lin Qinghe waved her hand dismissively, "Get up. I am fine. You did very well. This is exactly the effect I wanted."
The dark guard wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Lin Qinghe: "That's enough. If there's nothing else, you may withdraw. Remember what I ordered you to do about having people mingle among the assassins. No one is to speak of it, not even Imperial Tutor Xu. Do you understand?"
"Yes, this subordinate understands. Please rest assured, Your Majesty."
Meanwhile.
You Rong emerged from Lin Qinghe's sleeping quarters and, in a secluded spot, a servant quickly approached and cupped his hands, "My lord."
You Rong removed a jade pendant and handed it to the servant, "Deliver this jade pendant to Minister Huo at the Imperial College and inform him that everything is well and he need not worry."
"Yes, my lord. This servant will attend to it immediately."
After the servant left, You Rong stood there in thought.
Before coming to the imperial villa with Lin Qinghe, he had prepared for the worst. If Lin Qinghe wanted to humiliate him again, he would not hesitate to kill her himself. But he never expected...
You Rong lowered his gaze, and after a long while, turned to walk back.
Imperial Physician Zhang came to examine Lin Qinghe's injuries and concluded that she was not seriously hurt and would recover in a few days with proper rest. Imperial Tutor Xu, who had been extremely anxious, visibly relaxed.
Imperial Tutor Xu said indignantly, "Fortunately, His Majesty is alright! Otherwise, this old minister would surely return to the capital and chop Marquis Pingyang, that old traitor, into pieces!"
Lin Qinghe smiled helplessly, "I have made Imperial Tutor Xu worry."
Imperial Tutor Xu cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty! Since there is evidence and witnesses, Marquis Pingyang is guilty of treason and intended to assassinate you. I shall return to the capital immediately to arrest and bring him to justice!"
"How about this, I have awakened now, and Imperial Physician Zhang said my injuries are not serious. I will return to the capital with you."
"Impossible! Your Majesty is still injured and needs to rest for two more days. How can you endure the hardship of travel immediately? This matter shall be handled by this old minister, and Your Majesty need not worry! Marquis Pingyang, that old traitor... he won't be able to fly away even with wings this time! This old minister will definitely catch him and bring him to justice!"
Lin Qinghe was about to say more when You Rong spoke, "Your Majesty, I believe you should listen to Imperial Tutor Xu and remain at the imperial villa to recuperate for two more days before returning. With Imperial Tutor Xu handling everything, you need not worry."
Since You Rong had spoken, Lin Qinghe naturally would not refuse, and said, "Very well, I will recuperate at the imperial villa for two more days before returning to the capital. The matter of apprehending Marquis Pingyang shall be left to Imperial Tutor Xu."
Imperial Tutor Xu: "Yes, this old minister obeys."