Chapter 583 - 586: The Empress Dowager’s Edict
「After school.」
His buddies excitedly ran up to Li Xun.
"Boss, I brought a football today. How about we go play some Cuju?"
Li Xun hadn’t played Cuju in a while, so he nodded in agreement.
He had only taken a couple of steps when a timid voice sounded from behind him.
"Um, Young Master..."
Li Xun turned to see Ke Lang.
Ke Lang felt his heart pound uneasily under his gaze, but he braced himself and continued speaking.
"Thank you for helping me."
Li Xun raised an eyebrow. "Want to play Cuju with us? We’re short one player."
A game of Cuju usually required twelve people, six per team. They only had five, so they were indeed one person short.
The invitation was so sudden that Ke Lang was taken aback.
He said, flustered, "But I don’t know how to play Cuju."
Li Xun’s buddies immediately crowded around, flanking Ke Lang, and said with wide grins.
"Cuju is simple. You just kick a ball around. You’ll pick it up in no time. Come on, let’s go play together!"
Their invitation was too enthusiastic to refuse. Ke Lang couldn’t say no and was half-coaxed, half-dragged along with them.
The group left the Imperial College and was about to board their carriage when someone called out to them.
"Heir of the Regent King, please wait!"
Li Xun followed the voice and saw a eunuch.
Behind the eunuch was a squad of Yulin Guards. They all looked like they were from the Imperial Palace.
It was the peak time for students leaving school, and people were constantly coming and going from the Imperial College’s entrance. Many noticed the scene and turned to look at the eunuch.
The eunuch stepped forward and bowed. "This servant pays his respects to the Heir of the Regent King. I am from Biquan Palace. By decree of Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, I have come to escort the Young Master to the Imperial Palace for questioning."
After speaking, he took a token from his robes.
It was the token representing the Empress Dowager’s authority.
To see the token was to see the Empress Dowager herself.
Everyone immediately knelt and bowed toward the token.
Only after the eunuch put the token away did the crowd rise to their feet.
Li Xun asked, "Why does the Empress Dowager wish to see me?"
"That, this servant does not know. Young Master, please get in the carriage."
The eunuch turned to the side and made an inviting gesture.
Not far behind him, a large carriage was parked.
Li Xun raised an eyebrow. "And if I refuse?"
The eunuch forced a smile. "This is a decree from the Empress Dowager. I trust the Young Master will not defy an imperial order."
As he finished speaking, the Yulin Guards stepped forward and surrounded Li Xun.
From their formation, it was clear they did not come with good intentions.
Li Ji had assigned two trusted aides to Li Xun. Normally, these two aides remained hidden and did not reveal themselves.
Seeing the young prince surrounded, the two trusted aides instantly appeared, drawing their swords and shielding him.
Ke Lang and the rest of the boys had never witnessed such a scene. They were all terrified.
But not a single one of them backed down. They remained standing with Li Xun.
Li Xun glanced from side to side.
A large crowd had already gathered nearby.
’Under the watchful eyes of so many, if I dare defy the decree, the Empress Dowager will have all the more reason to find fault with me later.’
’And with so many eyes on me now, if anything happens to me in the palace, the whole world will know the Empress Dowager is responsible.’
’Besides, they outnumber us and are obviously well-prepared.’
’A head-on clash would be foolish.’
Li Xun had one trusted aide accompany him and sent the other back to deliver a message.
Seeing that Li Xun was really about to get into the carriage, Ke Lang couldn’t help but ask.
"You’ll be okay, right?"
Without turning his head, Li Xun waved a hand. "Don’t worry. I’ll be fine."
’As long as my father hasn’t fallen from power, no one in the court would dare lay a hand on me openly.’
Under the worried gazes of Ke Lang and his buddies, Li Xun placed one hand on the carriage shaft and leaped effortlessly aboard.
The carriage set off toward the Imperial Palace, with a squad of Yulin Guards on horseback following closely behind.
Just as they were passing through an intersection, a group of masked assassins suddenly charged out from both sides!
The Yulin Guards’ expressions changed drastically as they drew their swords and rushed forward to engage the attackers.
The common folk, terrified by the sudden turn of events, screamed and fled in a panic.
...
The pomelo tree in the courtyard was laden with fruit.
Hua Manman’s mouth watered at the sight, so she had someone pick a few, intending to make pomelo candy.
Hearing she was about to make another tasty treat, Feihua Zhenren eagerly trotted into the kitchen to wait.
Hua Manman peeled the pomelos one by one. She set the fruit aside, washed the rinds, removed the white pith, and tossed them into a pot. She added water and boiled them for a short while before scooping them out to soak in cold water.
While she waited, Hua Manman tasted a bit of the pomelo fruit. It was a little sour.
She frowned and put the fruit down.
Feihua Zhenren said, "This humble Daoist has tried the pomelos from this courtyard before. They aren’t very good."
That was why he wouldn’t even reach out to pick one now, despite seeing the tree laden with fruit.
Hua Manman said she had a way to fix that.
She broke apart the pomelo pulp, thinly sliced some of the soaked rind, and put both into the pot. Then, she added rock sugar and water and left it to simmer slowly.
Once the water had mostly boiled off and the rinds had turned a translucent, golden-yellow color, it was ready!
She scooped it out, let it cool, and then mixed in a generous amount of honey.
Hua Manman used a spoon to stir it all together evenly.
Feihua Zhenren asked curiously, "What are you making?"
"Honey pomelo tea."
Hua Manman scooped a spoonful of the mixture into a cup, added warm water, stirred it well, and pushed it toward Feihua Zhenren, motioning for him to try it.
Feihua Zhenren picked it up and took a sip, his eyes immediately squinting in pleasure.
The pomelo’s sourness was neutralized by the honey’s sweetness, but the sweetness was still infused with the pomelo’s fresh fragrance.
Sweet without being cloying. It was delicious!
Hua Manman made a cup of pomelo tea for herself as well, then poured the rest of the honey pomelo mixture into a ceramic jar and sealed it tightly.
She squeezed the excess water from the remaining soaked pomelo rinds, then added sugar and boiled them.
Once the sugar had fully infused the rinds, Hua Manman used a spatula to scoop them out, spreading them on a tray to cool.
While sipping his sweet honey pomelo tea, Feihua Zhenren asked curiously.
"And what delicious thing is this?"
Hua Manman replied, "This is pomelo candy. But you can’t eat it yet. It needs to dry for a while longer."
Just then, Gao Shan rushed in.
"A trusted aide just returned to report that the Young Master has been taken away by people sent by the Empress Dowager."
Hua Manman immediately stopped what she was doing, her brows furrowing as she asked.
"Did they say what it was about?"
Gao Shan shook his head. "No, but judging by their demeanor, it can’t be anything good."
Hua Manman rolled down her sleeves, strode outside, and gave an order.
"I will go seek an audience with the Empress Dowager. You, send someone to inform the Prince at once."
"Yes!"
Hua Manman changed into men’s clothing.
She felt a carriage would be too slow and directly requested a fast horse from Gao Shan.
She galloped on horseback toward the Imperial Palace.
By now, the sun had set and the sky had darkened. The moon had quietly climbed above the treetops.
As she was passing an intersection, she was stopped by men from the government.
"The road ahead is blocked. Everyone, please take a detour."