Chapter 336: Another Family Struck by Disaster (Part 3)

The common folk, disheveled, rushed out of their homes, exchanging fearful glances with each other.

“Is it the punishment from the heavens again?”

“From the sound of it, could it be an earthquake?”

“No, no, this sound is exactly the same as when Champion Marquis’s mansion was in trouble a while ago!”

The discussions among the crowd rose and fell. The night-patrolling constables of Jingzhao Mansion, sweating profusely, struggled to maintain order but could not stop the tide of panic from spreading.

Inside the Champion Marquis’s mansion, Princess Changle, who was preparing for bed, shuddered suddenly.

“This sound…”

Her pupils shrank, and goosebumps covered her skin beneath the silk nightgown. Without any hesitation, she grabbed a robe and dashed out.

“Princess! It’s late and cold, where are you going?” The old nanny chased after her in a panic.

Princess Changle ignored her, running barefoot into the courtyard.

The night wind blew through her long hair. She paused, thought for a moment, and looked up at the sky, suddenly letting out a twisted, sharp laugh: “Haha, whose house is it this time?”

The explosion sound was all too familiar to her; she wanted to see whose house was suffering this time.

Not only her house was bombed, but tonight someone else would also lose their family like her. Haha, with company, she wouldn’t be alone.

She quickly ran out of the mansion, looking at the crowded streets and the sky dyed red in the distance, her face turned pale: “This, how could it be… the Imperial Palace?”

Her eyes widened, she staggered forward a few steps, continuously shouting: “No, it can’t be, it can’t be…”

The civil and military officials quickly received the decree from the Imperial Consort, hurriedly climbing into carriages or sedans, rushing to the Imperial Palace,

Mr. Wei’s sedan hurriedly passed through the chaotic streets. Having just been acquitted in the evening, he lifted the sedan curtain, his murky eyes reflecting the billowing smoke above the Imperial Palace.

“Faster!” Mr. Wei urged the sedan carriers.

He also recognized that tonight’s commotion was exactly the same as the incident at the Champion Marquis’s mansion.

But wasn’t Wei Dabao already captured and locked up in the Ministry of Justice? Then how did tonight’s explosion sound come about? Why did the Imperial Consort suddenly issue a decree, what exactly happened in the palace?

When all the civil and military officials entered the palace, the heavy palace door, which had been locked earlier, creaked as it was opened again and shut once more…

At the third watch, the palace walls of Honglu Temple were still covered with night dew when Princess Yujia was awakened from her brocade bedding by her tutor nanny.

The bronze mirror reflected a sleepy face, with faint shadows under the eyes.

“Princess, please bear it, this comb is oiled with osmanthus oil, it’ll be smoother this way.”

The elderly palace maid, holding a rhino horn comb, gathered the princess’s long blue-black hair strand by strand.

Yujia closed her eyes, listening to the crisp sound of the golden hairpins clinking in the makeup box, much like the explosion that shook the Capital City the previous night.

Last night, everyone in Honglu Temple heard the explosion.

But today, there was a grand wedding ceremony to be held, and no one in Honglu Temple dared to be negligent, fearing that any mishap might bring the emperor’s wrath upon them, they earnestly remained at their posts.

Honglu Temple Minister Mr. Cui only sent one person out to gather information, and no one else was allowed to leave Honglu Temple even half a step.

“Nanny, that sound last night…” Yujia started to speak, only to have her words cut off by the stern eyes reflected in the bronze mirror.

The tutor nanny firmly inserted a golden phoenix hairpin into Princess Yujia’s bun, “Princess, just focus on being a good bride today, the ministers will handle the unrelated matters.”

Before the words settled, a clashing sound of armor was heard outside the window as the guards changed shifts. As the wedding ceremony approached, these Imperial Army guards surrounded Honglu Temple like an iron barrel.

At the third beating of the morning watch, Princess Yujia, adorned with a head full of jewels, felt sweat slowly seeping from the back of her neck.

According to the ceremony, the bridal carriage should have arrived before the morning watch, but now not even a steward from the Ministry of Rites was in sight.

“Why hasn’t the bridal party arrived?” The tutor nanny anxiously looked outside.

“Indeed, the Ministry of Rites is also nowhere to be seen. This has never happened before!”

Mr. Cui wiped the sweat from his forehead, sensing a foreboding feeling.

“Official!”

At this moment, the servant sent to gather information hurried into the courtyard, stumbling on the flagstone.

“Official, rumors are spreading in the western market, saying that smoke can be seen over the Imperial City from Vermilion Bird Street!”

“What?” Honglu Temple Minister Mr. Cui’s teacup clattered on the stone steps, shattering porcelain splinters onto the tutor nanny’s shoes.

The earth-shattering noise last night came from the Imperial City, and now it’s burning and smoking?

Everyone was stunned and dismayed, Mr. Cui sharply slapped the table and stood up.

“Quick! Prepare the horses! I must personally…”

Before Mr. Cui could finish his sentence, a rapid sound of hooves was heard outside the main gate.

A eunuch with a pallid face and no mustache entered the courtyard with twelve Imperial Army soldiers, the front of his dark official robe seemingly stained with a suspicious dark red.

Immediately, the sharp voice of the eunuch resonated in the courtyard.

“Edict from the Imperial Consort!”