Chapter 544: Discovered
Editor: Atlas Studios
Every night and early in the morning, it was time for the palace to clean up the trash. Bai Li and the others hid the people in the dung cart to transport them out. After finding a place to change out of their guards’ clothes, Bai Li and his men pulled the cart out through the side door.
During this period of time, the palace had been changing guards diligently. The greatest benefit of that was that they were not familiar with the laborers coming and leaving.
A guard felt that these people were too skinny, so he took a few more glances. Eunuch Su, who was in charge of sending them out of the palace, came from behind and muttered unhappily, “You’re too slow. I chose you because I saw that you were strong. Now, you’re not even comparable to the old and weak. What’s the use of having you?”
Bai Li could only bend down and beg for mercy in a low voice. The guard looked away and asked, “Are these all newbies? Why did they replace so many at once?”
“I didn’t want to, but there are so many from the previous batch that are now dead or injured. The remaining people who have worked for more than 20 years aren’t able to work anymore. This was why we chose some stronger ones from among their sons and nephews to replace them. However, who knew that they would only eat but not work? They even spill feces when they pour it out. What kind of place is this? How can such dirty things be exposed? I think you don’t have to come tomorrow. Otherwise, you’ll implicate me and cause me to lose my job.”
After saying that, he complained in a low voice that the masters and stewards in the palace had been too strict recently, making their lives even more difficult.
Just as Eunuch Su was complaining grumpily, the guards finished checking the token and casually knocked on the dung cart to complete the inspection.
The guard who was staring at Bai Li also looked away. He waved his hand and said, “Go ahead.”
Eunuch Su waited for all the dung carts to leave the palace before muttering in dissatisfaction. Only then did he turn around. He still had to go back and deliver the news to the consort.
Bai Li lowered his eyes and bent down slightly to pull the carts out of the palace. It was not until he turned a corner that the guards behind him realized that the clothes on his back were completely wet. However, at this moment, he did not dare to stop or relax. He lowered his head slightly and said, “Let’s move quickly and go to the meeting place.”
The others were also very nervous. Upon hearing this, they pulled the dung carts out of the Imperial City. The remaining people waited for them at the intersection in front. As they had calculated the time, they managed to avoid the patrolling imperial guards when they arrived.
The three of them kept watch while the others pulled the dung carts closer to a small courtyard. Bai Li opened the lid and pulled out the people inside, then whispered, “Be quiet. Don’t let the neighbors hear you.”
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Matriarch Yuan trembled as she was helped out. She felt dizzy and only managed to avoid falling with Madam Shen helping her out.
Matriarch Yuan smiled bitterly. “I always thought that my health was good.”
Madam Shen lowered her voice and said, “It’s not Mother’s fault. We’ll be bored if we stay inside. Let’s rest for a while.”
Although the dung carts had been washed, the stench inside was still unbearable. However, no one dared to complain at this moment. Even the youngest four-year-old child was lying quietly in his mother’s arms, not daring to make a sound.
Bai Li went in to meet the person who came to receive them. Everyone simply nodded simply to acknowledge the other party and waited for the next group of imperial guards to go over.
Even with the help of the three families and the servant girls left behind in the palace to cover things up, they did not know how long they could keep the matter under wraps. Therefore, it was better for them to leave the city as soon as possible.
Those people only rested for a moment before being led away through another door. This time, they walked straight into a small alley. There were no imperial guards patrolling here, but it was dark. The adults either held the hands of the children or carried their young children under the protection of the guards for about 45 minutes. The water in front rippled, and the moonlight shone sideways on the water, reflecting blurry shadows.
The family members were a little puzzled. Why had they come to the river?
Bai Li hoped that the exposure of the matter could be delayed, but at this moment, the palace was in chaos. The people in the palace had already discovered that some people had gone missing in the courtyard.
Because the new Emperor wanted to show his friendliness to the officials’ families, during dinner, he casually ordered a few good imperial dishes for Matriarch Yuan and the other officials’ families.
Even if the new Emperor did not receive recognition from outsiders, he was still the Emperor. Therefore, when he rewarded someone, the person who received the reward had to come out to thank him no matter what. However, the eunuch who came to deliver the dishes did not even see Matriarch Yuan and Qi Feng. Instead, the servant girl stopped him from seeing them.
The eunuch saw that something was wrong. Just as he was puzzled, he was knocked unconscious by the guards behind him.
When the eunuch who had gone to deliver the food did not return for a long time, the chief eunuch sensed that something was wrong and brought a team of guards over to check. However, they were likewise attacked by the guards guarding the courtyard.
The chief eunuch was furious. It was only at the reminder from a guard that he realized that something was wrong with those guards. They were not the guards from before.
However, there were so many guards in the palace, and the guards were constantly changing, especially during these few days. How could he recognize who was who?
When they finally rushed into the courtyard, more than half of the guards who had resisted were dead, and those who were not dead also had their throats slit on the spot.
After an examination, they realized that it was actually a tall eunuch in disguise. The guard from before had been knocked unconscious, stripped, and thrown into a small room.
The eunuch in charge was about to explode from anger. Before he could get angry, a guard came to report that the Yuan family and the Qi family were all gone. Two children each from the other three families were also missing.
The eunuch in charge was so frightened that he broke out in cold sweat and could not stand straight.
As expected, as soon as he reported it, the new Emperor flew into a rage and immediately got someone to investigate. He also detained the remaining officials’ families in the courtyard. He originally wanted to kill one to serve as a warning for the others, in hopes that they would tell him the whereabouts of the people who had escaped. Unexpectedly, the Empress, who was beside the new Emperor, said, “Your Majesty, if we kill them, I’m afraid we’ll really become enemies with the generals. Wouldn’t we lose more than we gain?”
“If I don’t kill one to serve as a warning for the others, they will still think that I’m easy to bully.”
However, the Empress said with a smile, “If you want to kill someone, you should do it in front of those generals. That way, you can at least intimidate them a little. By killing them now, you’ll only incur hatred. There are children from those three families among those who escaped. They’ve put in so much effort to send them out, so they definitely won’t confess.”
However, the new Emperor said, “It’s not a matter of scarcity but of inequality. There are many children in each family, but they only managed to send two away each…”
The Empress’s expression froze.
At night, the courtyard where the hostages were imprisoned was filled with blood. The Emperor asked the chief eunuch to investigate.
The chief eunuch received the hint and directly pulled out a seven-year-old child and asked, “Let me ask you again. How did you people send them out? Who was involved?”
Seeing that no one said anything, the chief eunuch sneered and raised his hand. The child screamed as his arm was cut off at the shoulder. The child’s mother cried out and tried to rush forward to snatch the child, but she was restrained.
The chief eunuch looked at her disdainfully and asked, “Madam, it’s better to say it. Otherwise, I’m afraid you won’t be able to save this child. You have to know that your sons haven’t been sent out.”
As he spoke, the knife slid down a few inches and landed on the child’s neck.
As the seven-year-old child was still young and could not withstand the pain of losing his arm, he fainted from the pain. The child’s mother cried out loud.