"This fire is truly a blessing from heaven! It came just in time!"
Taking advantage of the fire, Yuan Zhen managed to sneak into the Kunning Palace. His eyes sparkled with excitement as he couldn't help but exclaim in delight.
Before they entered the Kunning Palace, they had already found out which courtyard the Eighth Princess was in. So without any delay, they rushed straight towards her courtyard.
The fire in the Kunning Palace had almost captured everyone's attention.
The fire was so fierce that it showed a tendency to spread. For safety's sake, the maids had moved the Empress Dowager to a spacious open area in the Kunning Palace.
Watching the raging flames in the night, the Empress Dowager's face was full of anger. She turned to the head eunuch beside her and said:
"How could there be a sudden fire out of the blue? Why wasn't I informed in time?!"
There were always eunuchs on duty at night in the palace to monitor the situation.
It was the hot summer now, a dry and fire - prone season. So the number of eunuchs on night patrol had been increased from one to three.
Judging from the current intensity of the fire, it was obvious that it hadn't started just a short while ago.
Facing the cold glare of the Empress Dowager, the head eunuch knelt on the ground and quietly wiped the sweat off his forehead.
"Reporting to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, after a preliminary inspection just now, we've determined that the fire started from the duty room."
"By the time we arrived, all three eunuchs on night patrol had been burned to death in the fire."
After saying this, the head eunuch hung his head low, not daring to look at the Empress Dowager's darkened face.
"All three of them are dead?" the Empress Dowager asked in a deep voice.
The eunuchs on night patrol took turns. How could all three of them be in the duty room at the same time and die in the fire together?!
It was so absurd that one couldn't help but doubt the truth behind it.
The head eunuch naturally knew what the Empress Dowager was thinking. He replied respectfully and truthfully:
"Reporting to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, when we put out the fire and found the bodies of the three eunuchs, there was a strong smell of gunpowder around them. And there were wine bottles beside their feet. It seemed that they were slacking off together..."
The head eunuch's voice grew softer and softer until it was almost inaudible.
There were fewer servants on night duty and no one to supervise them. So there were always some lazy ones.
He had repeated his warnings thousands of times and punished many people severely, but there were still those who ignored his words. Now he was implicated because of them!
"You scoundrel! How could there be gunpowder in the Kunning Palace?!"
The Empress Dowager suddenly roared in anger. All the servants around immediately knelt down.
This gunpowder was used for making fireworks. It was highly flammable. How could such a thing end up in the Kunning Palace?
Hearing the Empress Dowager's scolding, the head eunuch's head almost touched the ground. Cold sweat dripped down his face as he whispered in a mosquito - like voice:
"Your Majesty, these fireworks were brought into the palace by the Eighth Princess a few days ago. She said she wanted to prepare a fireworks show for your birthday to give you a surprise. Afraid that you might find out, she had someone hide them in the duty room first."
At this moment, it was as if a swarm of bees was buzzing around the head eunuch's head. He regretted that he had known it was wrong but still yielded to the Eighth Princess's coercion and allowed the fireworks to be brought into the Kunning Palace.
Now, he wished he could slap himself hard!
"Again, it's Wan'er?"
Hearing that it was her daughter who had caused another problem, the Empress Dowager almost gritted her back teeth.
Since the Eighth Princess had entered the capital, she had caused countless troubles, which had given the Empress Dowager a huge headache every time.
At first, the Empress Dowager thought the Eighth Princess was just a bit naughty and didn't punish her severely. Instead, she had the princess stay in her Kunning Palace to discipline her closely.
The Empress Dowager thought this would work. However, the Eighth Princess had constantly pushed her patience to the limit!
"Qi Wan'er! Bring her to me!"
The Empress Dowager called the Eighth Princess by her full name. She was about to give the princess a good lesson. But after the servants searched everywhere, they couldn't find the Eighth Princess.
Her personal maid was also missing. The servants were panicked and quickly reported to the Empress Dowager:
"Your Majesty, we couldn't find the Eighth Princess!"
When the fire broke out in the Kunning Palace, all the servants had been notified to evacuate and put out the fire, and the Eighth Princess's courtyard had also been informed.
How could she be missing now?
Hearing the report, the angry Empress Dowager was shocked. She immediately ordered the head eunuch to lead people to search for the princess and walked towards the Eighth Princess's courtyard herself.
On the other side, Yuan Zhen had led his men quietly to the Eighth Princess's courtyard. Just then, they saw the Eighth Princess walking out of the room, surrounded by her maids.
The two groups bumped into each other. After looking at each other for a moment, the Eighth Princess stared at Yuan Zhen warily:
"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be in prison at this moment?!"
Why would this third prince of Kekqin appear in the Kunning Palace in the middle of the night? It was obvious that he had ill intentions!
"Guards! There's an as..."
The Eighth Princess's personal maid immediately shouted for help. Before she could finish her words, she was stabbed in the throat with a knife and died with her eyes wide open.
"Bi Yun!"
Watching Bi Yun lying on the ground, her body quickly turning red with blood, the Eighth Princess's eyes widened in horror, and her heart was filled with infinite anger:
"I'll skin you alive!"
Although Bi Yun was talkative, she was the maid who had been with the Eighth Princess the longest. The Eighth Princess might have seemed annoyed by her, but she actually valued Bi Yun very much.
Seeing Bi Yun's tragic death, the Eighth Princess roared and rushed towards Yuan Zhen. But before her palm could land on his face, he grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back.
"Princess!"
Seeing this situation, the maids were terrified. Some ran away, some screamed, and some tried to step forward to save the Eighth Princess. But in an instant, they were all killed by Yuan Zhen's men.
"Yuan Zhen, are you crazy? Do you want to die?"
The Eighth Princess's arms were twisted behind her back, and she leaned on Yuan Zhen's shoulder, glaring at him coldly.
Was Yuan Zhen out of his mind? How dare he kidnap her?
"This is the imperial city, the Kunning Palace! It's not a place where you can act recklessly! Even if you don't care about your own worthless life, you should think about whether your Kekqin can withstand the charge of 400,000 iron - clad cavalry!"
Although she didn't know what had driven Yuan Zhen to take such a risk, the Eighth Princess tried her best to calm down in the face of the irrational Yuan Zhen.
She threatened him, hoping to intimidate him.
However, since Yuan Zhen had chosen to break into the Kunning Palace and kidnap the Eighth Princess, he had already decided to go all out!
The Eighth Princess's words only further enraged Yuan Zhen. His eyes turned cold. He grabbed the Eighth Princess's arm and suddenly lifted it up, saying in a cold voice:
"Compared with the noble Eighth Princess, my life is worthless. But you Han people have a saying: even a cornered rabbit will bite. Can't I fight for my own survival?"
Yuan Zhen knew that there was no turning back. He had no way out.
Everything he was going through now was the Empress Dowager's doing. Since she didn't want him to have a good life, he, Yuan Zhen of Kekqin, wasn't going to be a pushover!