The Emperor and His Thief - Chapter 47
Two weeks before the Court Hearing…
The Emperor, Qin YiJun returned to the palace and went straight to his study in order to read his memorials. It was only close to sundown did he stop doing his work. Just as he put down his brush after writing a few reports, the shadow guard called An Yi came bringing news of his investigation.
“Your Majesty, this slave has followed the young lady as ordered and found out that she is currently living at the Xia family household. She is betrothed to the Xia Patriarch’s son and will soon be wed together. But just a few days ago, the Patriarch of the Xia family had requested to have a court hearing. Apparently, the guests that were staying with them were attacked by assassins,” An Yi then proceeded to give out a detailed report about what happened.
“Also, there is a young man that has a striking resemblance with Xinglan Wang and this slave believes that he is the same young man that had bumped into His Majesty today,” the shadow guard added. He knew how important Li FangMing was to the Emperor and any news that may be related to him must be reported to the Emperor right away.
“Do you think that person is Li FangMing?” Qin YiJun asked. Though his expression didn’t change, he was praying in his heart that it was indeed Li FangMing.
“This slave is not sure… the people within the Xia household refers to him as Lin Xiao. When this slave wanted to go and investigate further, this slave was stopped by three fierce tigers who seems to be guarding the two guests.”
“Tigers?” Qin YiJun then remembered the report he received two years ago when he went to rescue Li FangMing. The soldiers had also mentioned tigers back then. ‘Is it really Ming-er? Or is it just a coincidence?’ Qin YiJun wondered.
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“An Yi, you mentioned that the patriarch of the Xia family requested for a court hearing? Find out when they will be called to court. Zhen will go and see this person,” Qin YiJun said before he dismissed the shadow guard.
As a result, two weeks later, the Emperor made a surprise visit to the Imperial Court which made the officials who worked there shake in fear. Qin YiJun only brought a few people with him as he did not wish to raise any commotion by his visit.
He had only taken a mere ten-step from the entrance when an official with purple robes hurried over to greet the Emperor. Based on the patterns on his robes, it can be seen that he held the highest position in this Imperial Court.
“This minister sees the Emperor! May the Emperor live for ten thousand years!” the official kowtowed to the Emperor and the rest of the officials followed him.
“En. The beloved minister and officials may rise,” Qin YiJun said and the officials who were kowtowing on the ground slowly stood up one by one. “Beloved minister, Zhen wish to ask if the Xia family has arrived for their court hearing or not. If they have, Zhen wishes to know which hall they are in.”
“This…” the one with the highest rank was none other than the Minister of Justice. He was just relaxing in his office this morning and most of the work was left to his assistant to handle. Matters regarding the Xia family, he really did not know.
“Do you not know?” Qin YiJun asked, eyes narrowing at the minister in a dangerous manner.
The Minister of Justice began to shake in fear, but luckily his assistant came to his rescue. The assistant whispered into his ear before retreating a few steps. Only then did the Minister of Justice regained confidence to answer the Emperor.
“Answering to the Emperor, the Xia family is currently hearing their court procession at the Hall of the Star. Please allow this minister to be your guide,” the minister said as he bowed deeply towards the Emperor.
“There is no need. Zhen will be able to find the way. All of you, return to your post,” Qin YiJun said as he waved his sleeves, dismissing the officials that surrounds him.
Since the Emperor has ordered so, they can only lower their head and return to do their work.
Back inside the Hall of the Star, Lin Xiao’s expression had turned extremely ugly. Elder Xiang’s glib tongue had managed to drag out the procession and he was getting more and more impatient. More and more questions were aimed towards him and Long YinLian as if they were the ones who is guilty.
“Master Long YinLian, is it true that you once took part in hunting down the rebels back then? And when you encountered accidents, you decided that you were plotted against? Now that you have returned, you wanted to exact your revenge?” the official asked Long YinLian and the last string that was holding Lin Xiao’s composure snapped in half.
“This official–!”
“The Emperor, Qin YiJun has arrived!” a shrill sounding voice entered the room and not long after, the door was opened.
Qin YiJun entered the hall in a calm manner, followed by his entourage behind him. The arrival of the Emperor came as a sudden to the people in the hall and they had reacted slowly.
The first one to react was the official in a purple robe. He quickly stood up and kowtowed to the Emperor. “This official sees the Emperor! WanSui!”
“The servants see the Emperor! WanSui! WanSui! Wan WanSui!”
Only after hearing the official greets the Emperor did the rest quickly followed suit. But Lin Xiao was still in a daze as his eyes continued to look at Qin YiJun. He truly could not shake off that sense of familiarity in his heart.
Long YinLian seemed to have noticed that Lin Xiao has yet to pay his respect to the Emperor, so he quickly pulled Lin Xiao down to his knees. “Xiao-er, you need to pay your respect to His Majesty…” Long YinLian said in a soft whisper, though one could hear the worry in his tone.
Long YinLian knew that since Lin Xiao had forgotten his past, the boy has also forgotten things such as etiquette. He did remember that he had to teach Lin Xiao basic etiquette before when meeting people. Now that they are before the Emperor, he felt that he has failed as both master and parents for not teaching Lin Xiao the basic palace etiquette.
“Until the Emperor said so, don’t raise your head,” Long YinLian whispered once more to Lin Xiao when he felt that Lin Xiao was lifting his head.
Hearing this, Lin Xiao immediately lowered his head once more. Even though he was curious as to why he finds the Emperor’s figure to be extremely familiar, he can’t risk endangering his master. After all, they say that the Emperor’s heart is a fickle. If he angered the Emperor, they might end up being punished heavily.
When Qin YiJun had entered earlier, his eyes was also locked with Lin Xiao’s and he almost felt that he was in a dream. He wanted to approach Lin Xiao when he saw the man beside Lin Xiao pulled him down to kneel, which made him frown. But at the same time, he understood that the man beside Lin Xiao is only worried about the other. After all, he has the identity of an Emperor and therefore, they have to pay their respect.
With this in mind, Qin YiJun can only let out a sigh. “Everyone may rise,” he said and only then did everyone in the hall stood up.
“Thanking His Majesty for his benevolence,” the officials said, and the rest repeated his word. This includes Elder Xiang who sported a sorry figure of being tied up in front of the Emperor.
“Ah! It’s you!!” a voice, that is oddly familiar to Lin Xiao exclaimed. When he looked over at the source, he saw someone dressed as an imperial guard pointing at him. As soon as Lin Xiao saw his face, he began to feel his palm starting to sweat.
Hearing that one of the people he brought along seems to be familiar with Lin Xiao, Qin YiJun can’t help but ask: “Meng Chen, is there something the matter?”
“Your Majesty,” Meng Chen cupped both hands as he bowed before the Emperor. “This lowly guard wonders if the Emperor remembers about the thief, I mentioned two weeks ago. That’s him over there,” Meng Chen said as he pointed at Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao cursed under his breath as he quickly glanced at the Emperor. But the moment their eyes met; Lin Xiao felt an indescribable feeling bubbling inside him. That sense of familiarity was back, it was as if he had once met with the Emperor long before he lost his memories. The Emperor stood and walked towards him. His attendants following closely behind. Lin Xiao couldn’t take his eyes off the Emperor and only when the Emperor spoke up did he realize how close they are standing.
