Concubine Jing, along with her palace attendants, hurried back to Jinghua Hall not long after the Ghost Valley Master departed.
"This Leng Ruo Li truly cannot be tolerated. Prince An had clearly stopped breathing, yet she managed to revive him."
Concubine Jing spoke with a somber expression, a tempest of murderous intent raging within her eyes.
"Your Highness, please do not be angry. Although Prince An has regained a heartbeat, he has not yet regained consciousness. Anything could happen throughout the night," the wet nurse in Concubine Jing's service comforted her.
After hearing the wet nurse's words, Concubine Jing felt a significant clarity dawn upon her.
"That's right, how did I not think of that just now?" Concubine Jing said with a sinister smile.
"Your Highness, this servant has a plan," the wet nurse whispered, leaning close to Concubine Jing's ear.
Concubine Jing immediately understood the wet nurse's intention.
"I shall entrust this matter to you!" Concubine Jing said inscrutably.
"Yes, this servant obeys!" the wet nurse replied and then departed.
Afterwards, Concubine Jing walked towards her Jinghua Hall.
However, upon entering her Jinghua Hall, she froze. Her palace had been turned upside down, left in utter disarray.
Her heart skipped a beat. She rushed into her bedchamber and looked up to see the door to her secret room ajar. Her head spun; if not for the palace maid behind her catching her, Concubine Jing would have collapsed to the ground.
Later, once Concubine Jing steadied herself, she bolted into her hidden chamber. Looking up, she discovered that the Imperial Seal, which she had placed on the jade bed, had been stolen. She then fainted on the spot within her secret chamber.
...
Meanwhile, at Prince Ning's manor.
Prince Ning returned to his manor from the imperial palace late at night.
Subsequently, he hurried back to his room.
But the moment he opened his room door, he noticed something amiss. The items in his room seemed to have been moved.
Thus, he quickly checked the place where he kept the Thousand-Year Warm Jade. When he moved the small stone in the hidden compartment, he found it was completely empty.
He was furious. He immediately used his internal energy to shatter the vases, tea sets, tables, and chairs in his room.
Prince Ning's eyes blazed with anger, his fists clenched, his knuckles cracking. Veins bulged on the backs of his strong hands. He raised a fist and struck the hard wall, his hand bleeding shortly after, the blood dripping to the floor. Yet, he felt no pain.
After a long while, Prince Ning finally regained his composure. He strode out of his room and coldly ordered his personal guard, "Have all the hidden guards and guards who were on duty in my courtyard tonight drink poison and die."
"Your, Your Highness... this..."
Upon hearing this, the personal guard's face turned deathly pale, feeling that this matter was truly too abrupt.
"What, are you trying to plead for them?" Prince Ning's expression was so calm it was terrifying.
"No, no, it's not that, Your Highness. It's just that this subordinate wishes to know what offense they committed?" the personal guard asked fearfully.
"They allowed someone to sneak into my room and steal a valuable item I had collected. Do you think they deserve to live?"
Prince Ning paused for a few seconds, his eyes narrowing, the cold light within them like flashing blades. When he spoke again, his voice slightly rose, his words laced with anger.
Hearing Prince Ning's words, the personal guard was stunned.
Good heavens!
No wonder His Highness was so furious in his room just now. It turned out not only had a thief entered his room, but a valuable item was also stolen.
This time, he truly couldn't save the brothers on duty tonight.
Alas...
How could they have been so careless?
Prince Ning's personal guard was rendered speechless by the anger towards those individuals.
After leaving his courtyard, Prince Ning rushed back to the imperial palace.
...
At this moment, Concubine Jing had just woken up.
After Concubine Jing fainted, the palace maids, seeing that she did not emerge from the secret room for a long time, sensed that something was amiss. They immediately entered the secret room to find her, only to discover her unconscious inside. Thus, they helped Concubine Jing out and placed her on the bed to rest.
As Concubine Jing opened her eyes, the first thing she wanted to ask was, "Wet nurse, where have all the palace attendants who were on duty in Jinghua Hall tonight gone?"
"Your Highness, they, they were all killed. Their bodies were dragged behind the large screen in the hall," the wet nurse said, her voice choked with sobs.
"What? Even they were killed?"
Hearing this, Concubine Jing's face was filled with shock.
"Yes, Your Highness. Their throats were slit with a single stroke," the wet nurse said with a heavy tone.
Upon hearing this, Concubine Jing's head throbbed even more.
"Then quickly have someone take care of them," Concubine Jing said indifferently.
She mused inwardly, she had stolen the Imperial Seal from the Imperial Study herself years ago, and even her son, Prince Ning, did not know. Who could have discovered her secret?
Just as Concubine Jing was racking her brain, a young palace maid entered to report.
"Your Highness, His Highness Prince Ning has arrived."
"Xiao'er, didn't he leave the palace? Why is he coming to Jinghua Hall so late? Allow him to enter."
Concubine Jing's eyebrows furrowed into a tight knot, her tone revealing a hint of annoyance, though it was not due to Prince Ning's arrival.
"Yes, Your Highness!"
The young palace maid responded obediently.
Subsequently, Prince Ning strode two steps at a time to Concubine Jing's bedside.
He saw that Concubine Jing's complexion was poor, and his brow immediately furrowed again. He asked with concern, "Mother Consort, are you feeling unwell?"
Hearing this, Concubine Jing did not answer immediately. Instead, she had all the palace attendants in her bedchamber withdraw.
She then slowly said to Prince Ning, "Xiao'er, my Jinghua Hall has been robbed."
Concubine Jing's statement was startling.
"What? Mother Consort, even your Jinghua Hall was robbed? Then did you lose anything?"
A look of worry spread across Prince Ning's face.
"Xiao'er, what do you mean 'also robbed'? Has your Prince Ning's manor also been infiltrated by thieves?" Concubine Jing asked, also puzzled.
"Yes, thieves stole the Thousand-Year Warm Jade I had carefully collected."
As soon as Prince Ning said this, Concubine Jing immediately jumped up from her bed.
"What did you just say? You said the Thousand-Year Warm Jade was stolen?" Concubine Jing asked again, unable to believe it.
"Yes, Mother Consort!" Prince Ning replied truthfully.
"Who in this damned world would do such a thing? Not only was the Imperial Seal in my possession stolen, but my Thousand-Year Warm Jade was also stolen. If I find out who this person is, I will tear them limb from limb."
Concubine Jing blurted out in anger, revealing the secret that she had once possessed the Imperial Seal.
"Mother Consort, what did you just say? You said the Imperial Seal was stolen from your hand?" Prince Ning stared at her with wide eyes, his face filled with disbelief.
"Xiao'er, since you've heard it, Mother Consort will not hide it from you. More than ten years ago, out of a moment of anger, when the Emperor and Empress were arguing, Mother Consort managed to steal the Imperial Seal from the Imperial Study. Then, I kept it hidden in my secret room for over a decade."
Concubine Jing said to Prince Ning, her brow tightly furrowed.
"Mother Consort, if Father Emperor finds out about this, he will surely kill us both. It's good that the Imperial Seal is lost," Prince Ning sighed deeply.