"Ah!" Xiao Zhonghui cried out at the sight. At the same time, Xia Qingqing tightly seized Song Qingshu's hand, too nervous to speak.
Song Qingshu frowned. If she witnessed Yuan Chengzhi being hacked to death by a flurry of blades, it would probably leave her with psychological scars for life. He raised a hand, preparing to secretly intervene.
Just then, another voice rang out. "Stop!"
The owner of that voice seemed to carry considerable authority. The guards all halted and looked toward the speaker in confusion.
Saba said gravely, "His appearance in the inner palace in the dead of night is no trivial matter. We should carefully investigate the truth of this before reaching any conclusions."
Both Xiao Yuanshan and Xiao Shiyilang secretly nodded. If Yuan Chengzhi died like this, rumors of Consort Wen secretly meeting a man in the middle of the night would spread everywhere. With the dead unable to testify, even if nothing had happened, gossip would make it seem as though something had.
Seeing that Yuan Chengzhi would not die for the moment, Song Qingshu abandoned his plan to intervene. As he watched the guards take Yuan Chengzhi and Xiao Zhonghui into custody, Xia Qingqing could not help asking, "Qingshu, what do we do now?"
"If we are to save him, we cannot make a move inside the palace. The commotion would be too great," Song Qingshu said in a low voice. The palace's defenses had now been fully mobilized, and Imperial Guards were everywhere. Trying to rescue him now meant confronting thousands upon thousands of palace guards head-on. Even if they succeeded by luck, they would have to flee afterward.
Song Qingshu had come secretly to the capital this time. Since his business remained unfinished, he naturally did not want to lose sight of the