The emperor rushed into the backyard and saw seven or eight servants lying on the ground, covered in blood, their fates unknown. Several guards were still fighting desperately with a few imperial guards. Furong was hiding behind a pillar in the corridor, being chased and slashed by a guard with a knife, screaming in terror.
"Furong! Xiaoshunzi, hurry!" The emperor ran towards Furong, anxiously calling out to Xiaoshunzi.
Xiao Shunzi was fast and immediately overtook him, rushing towards Furong. "Stop! Anyone who dares to hurt Miss Furong will lose their head! Stop right now!"
The guard paused for a moment upon seeing the emperor arrive in person, then his gaze turned cold as he continued slashing at Furong. Xiao Shunzi's eyes darted around, and he leaped up and pounced, slamming the guard to the ground just as he caught up with Furong, and then began to fight with him.
Furong stopped, panting, and turned to face the emperor, but suddenly her eyes widened and she stopped in her tracks, pointing behind the emperor and shouting, "Watch out!"
Before the emperor could turn around, someone behind him stabbed him in the shoulder and shouted at the guards, "You're too slow! The Empress Dowager has ordered that no one be spared. You should have acted more decisively. How long are you going to fight like this? Watch me!"
The guards all paled, abandoning their fight with the bodyguards, and rushed to stop them, shouting, "Stop!"
Xiao Shunzi turned around with a look of terror on his face and rushed towards the emperor, shouting, "Your Majesty! Protect the Emperor! Quickly protect the Emperor!"
The man who had injured the emperor was startled. He turned the emperor over, who had fallen to the ground, and when he saw that it really was the emperor, he was so frightened that he dropped the knife!
"Your Majesty... I injured Your Majesty? I... I... Your Majesty, spare my life! It wasn't me, it was the Empress Dowager who ordered it! No, no, the Empress Dowager ordered the killing of everyone in this courtyard! I didn't know Your Majesty was here! I didn't know! I... Your Majesty, spare my life!" The man stammered and panicked, taking several steps back before suddenly turning and fleeing quickly, as if knowing that staying meant certain death and preferring to become a fugitive.
Xiao Shunzi helped the emperor up and pointed outside the door, "Chase him! He injured the emperor, we must catch him! You guys quickly find a way to stop the emperor's bleeding, prepare to carry the emperor to the carriage, we must return to the palace immediately."
The guards panicked and followed Xiao Shunzi's orders. The emperor's mind went blank. He touched his shoulder with trembling hands and found his hand covered in blood! He was shocked and in pain, his face turning deathly pale. He was only fifteen years old and had never even seen the bloody scene of a servant being beaten to death. How could he accept seeing himself bleeding profusely? If Xiao Shunzi hadn't been right next to him and calmly giving orders, he probably wouldn't have been able to come to his senses at this point.
Furong recovered faster than him. Seeing that there was no danger, she staggered towards the emperor, kneeling beside him, tears streaming down her face. She wanted to touch him but dared not, sobbing as she tightly grasped his hand, "Husband! Husband! How could this happen? How did you get hurt? It's all my fault, all my fault!"
The emperor's heart, still shaken by the concern of Xiao Shunzi and Furong, calmed down somewhat. He took Furong's hand in return, feeling he couldn't show weakness in front of his woman, so he forced a smile to comfort her, "Furong, don't be afraid, I'm fine, just a minor injury. It's my fault for not protecting you properly. Your misfortune is all because of me. I don't blame you."
The emperor glanced at the several busy and anxious guards beside him, his face turning icy. "Xiao Shunzi, take Furong back to the palace. She'll stay in my side hall. I want to see who dares to enter my bedchamber and kill someone!"
Xiao Shunzi looked shocked and hesitated before asking, "Your Majesty, what about the Empress Dowager...?"
"Don't mention the Empress Dowager to me!" the emperor snorted coldly, his face grim.
Xiao Shunzi naturally sided with him, immediately replying firmly, "Your Majesty, rest assured, this servant swears to protect Miss Furong with his life, and will never let a single hair on her head be lost."
Furong broke free from the emperor's grasp, shaking her head and backing away, both shocked and in pain. "Husband... no, Your Majesty, you... you are actually the emperor! I... I didn't know... I am unworthy of Your Majesty, I must not enter the palace, I... I will leave the capital now, and never set foot in the capital again..."
The emperor sat up abruptly, his hand aggravating the injury on his shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain and his face to contort. He quickly grabbed Furong's arm and pulled her back, saying, "What are you saying? You are my person, and it is only right that you enter the palace to be by my side. Are you afraid? Don't be afraid, with me here, no one will dare to harm you in the slightest."
Furong shook her head, looking at him with anguish, tears streaming down her face before she could speak. "Your Majesty, it's not that I'm afraid, it's that I cannot enter the palace. I know my status is too lowly, and how many people in this capital know about me? If I enter the palace, it will be like smearing Your Majesty's reputation! I cannot allow your name to be tarnished! And..." She glanced at the guards around her, then lowered her head and said, "They... they are probably sent by the Empress Dowager. I understand that the Empress Dowager dislikes me. No mother would like someone like me. I know the Empress Dowager's love for you, and I cannot allow you and the Empress Dowager to become enemies. Your Majesty, please let me go. I will find a nunnery and pray for you day and night, praying for your health and happiness."
Furong cried harder and harder as she spoke, until she was sobbing uncontrollably, as if leaving the Emperor was an unbearable agony. Xiao Shunzi, watching from the side, was amazed and silently learned a few tricks from her. But the Emperor was truly heartbroken. Seeing his beloved in such pain, his eyes reddened, and his hatred for the Empress Dowager intensified. Furong, a courtesan, could be so magnanimous, understanding the Empress Dowager's feelings. The Empress Dowager, of such noble birth, always boasted of her intelligence and shrewdness, yet why couldn't she tolerate a mere Furong, or understand his love for her? Did his throne truly become unstable because of a woman? The Empress Dowager clearly didn't care about his feelings at all; she didn't take him seriously!
The emperor held Furong's hand tightly and laid a hand on Xiaoshunzi.
The order was absolute: "Remember what I just said. You must protect Furong, or I will hold you responsible!"
"Yes, Your Majesty, rest assured!" Xiao Shunzi knelt on the ground, his reply resolute. He then tried to persuade Furong, "Miss Furong, the Emperor concealed his identity from you before because he was afraid of frightening you. He wanted to find a suitable opportunity to bring you back to the palace. The Emperor's feelings for you are as clear as day. I have never seen the Emperor care for anyone like this before. If you truly care about the Emperor, please don't mention leaving again. Just go to the palace with the Emperor. I guarantee no one will dare to harm you, and the Emperor will take care of anything that happens. Look, the Emperor is still injured. Shouldn't you take care of him? Don't you agree?"
Furong looked at the wound on the emperor's shoulder, hesitated for a moment, and nodded, "Alright, this humble woman will go with Your Majesty."
The Emperor finally smiled and gave Xiao Shunzi an approving look. The guards beside him quickly bandaged the Emperor's wounds and together they lifted him into the carriage. Xiao Shunzi simply let Furong also get into the carriage to take care of the Emperor, while he sat outside the carriage and drove back to the palace with a guard.
On the way, they encountered the guards who had gone to chase after the person. They said in fear that they hadn't caught him. The emperor's injuries were serious, so Xiao Shunzi ordered everyone to escort him back to the palace first. The guards were terrified, but it was no use. The struggle for power never considered personal character or integrity; it only divided them into friend and foe. They were following the Empress Dowager's orders to kill Furong. If Furong were just an unimportant person, the emperor would only argue with the Empress Dowager and ignore the guards. But Furong was the emperor's beloved, and amidst repeated rejections and their own resentment at failing to protect her, they had elevated her to a more important position. That meant the guards were doomed.
Whether it was to warn the Empress Dowager, to break with her, or to vent Furong's anger, they were all doomed, just like the Empress Dowager arbitrarily killing the Emperor's confidants.
Upon entering the palace, Xiao Shunzi immediately ordered the guards to be arrested. He then hurriedly summoned all the imperial physicians from the Imperial Hospital to examine the Emperor's injuries. He also made sure the side hall was properly arranged, settled Furong inside, and even had two imperial physicians examine her body, which was quite thorough.
The Empress Dowager rushed over upon hearing the news. Her hair was slightly disheveled from anxiety and fear. As soon as she entered the palace, she grabbed the Emperor and looked him up and down, demanding of the imperial physician, "How is the Emperor's injury?"
The imperial physician reported truthfully that the wound on the emperor's right shoulder was quite deep and had damaged a tendon. It would take at least three months to recover. During these three months, the emperor could not move around freely or write. Whether he could recover to his previous state would depend on the recovery process. If the recovery was not good, there was a 50% chance that he would be unable to use his right arm and would only be able to do some simple things.
The Empress Dowager's face was deathly pale. She forced back tears, not wanting to show her vulnerability in front of the palace servants. She waved them away before grasping the Emperor's hand tightly, her voice trembling, "Does it hurt a lot? It's alright, Yang'er, don't be afraid. We'll use the best medicine, everything will be alright..."
The Emperor shoved her hand away, looking at her coldly and with disgust. "My injuries will be treated by the Imperial Physicians; there's no need for the Empress Dowager to trouble herself. There are no outsiders here now, so why bother with this pretense? Do you really care about me, your son? If you did, you wouldn't have sent someone to kill my beloved woman! I felt guilty this morning for making you sick, but now it seems there was no need. Even lying in bed, you could kill at will. But let me tell you, Furong is mine, and no one can touch her. If you dare to touch her again, even if you lay a single hair on her head, I will not let it go. Get out!"
The Empress Dowager instinctively stood up and took two steps back, her face filled with shock and anger. Pointing at the Emperor, she rebuked him incredulously, "You're going to turn against me for that woman? Who is she? You've only known her for a few days! When you ruthlessly killed Granny Wen, did you ever consider my feelings? I eliminated her for your reputation! You, the Emperor, haven't even been married yet and are already infatuated with a courtesan! How will the world view you?! Not to mention the imperial family, even ordinary people wouldn't tolerate such a thing! I was still thinking of you while I was ill, and you dare to stab me in the heart like this?!"
The emperor remained unmoved, only coldly looking at her. "Am I supposed to live my whole life according to your wishes? Today you can disregard my wishes and eliminate Furong. If I displease you in the future, will you also eliminate me? Anyway, with the Regent here, you can do whatever you want, can't you?"
"How dare you!" The Empress Dowager took two steps forward and slapped him hard across the face, trembling with rage. She had used the Regent for the Emperor's sake, yet the Emperor mocked her like this—was he implying she had sold her body? How could she have raised such a son!
The emperor slowly raised his hand to cover his slapped face, his eyes as cold as ice. "Get out, and don't make me say it a third time!"