Chapter 632: Chapter 412: Fury

The hour was nearing midnight, the doors of the neighborhood had already closed, but Xiao Song had the Ministry of Criminal Justice token, and with it, over two hundred men from the two mansions easily returned to their respective homes.

Ran Yan and Xiao Song arrived at the Inner Gate, and there they saw Ge Lan.

“Lady, my lord.” Ge Lan bowed in greeting.

“How are the children?” Ran Yan asked as she dismounted.

Ge Lan said, “The two young masters had their milk and have long been asleep, while the young lady refused the wet nurse’s milk, ate a bit of steamed egg, and still hasn’t slept.”

Upon hearing this, Ran Yan immediately ordered someone to prepare hot water, hurried to the bathhouse for a quick bath, and then returned to the bedroom.

Ruoruo sat earnestly on a small couch, her chubby little face unconsciously pouting as she fiddled with some small toys, while Wan Lu sat in front of the couch watching her.

“Lady!” Wan Lu, hearing footsteps, looked up, saw Ran Yan, and joyfully said, “You’re finally back!”

As soon as Ruoruo heard Wan Lu call out ‘lady,’ she immediately looked up to find the person, saw Ran Yan, pouted her small mouth, her eyes filled with tears as she looked at Ran Yan, dropping the things in her hand and hurriedly stretching out her arms to be held by her mother.

Ran Yan, distressed, picked her up, kissed her little face, and whispered, “Has Ruoruo been good today?”

The child, not yet a year old, naturally wouldn’t respond, but Ran Yan was accustomed to such interactions. Wan Lu said, “The young lady has been very good. She spent the afternoon looking around for you, without crying or making a fuss. On the contrary, the two young masters cried miserably, no amount of soothing worked, and kept the whole household busy.”

“Mama…” Ruoruo’s small face kept burrowing into Ran Yan’s chest.

Ran Yan smiled, stroked her little head, and unbuttoned her gown to nurse. It was fortunate that Ran Yan had started to introduce some supplementary foods to them at six or seven months old, otherwise, in such sudden situations, Ruoruo would have been hungry all day.

Xiao Song, having just finished his bath, entered with his ink-black hair loosely tied behind him.

Wan Lu bowed and said, “My lord.”

Ruoruo quickly turned her head to look, flashed Xiao Song a grin, and then busied herself with eating.

Xiao Song smiled slightly and said, “Ruoruo can understand words now; Xiao’s daughter is indeed clever.”

“Vain, children of that age can understand some words.” Ran Yan stated bluntly.

Xiao Song sat down beside her, and Ran Yan asked, “Did you see the eldest and the second child? I heard they cried fiercely today.”

“Just saw them, they’re asleep.” Xiao Song casually picked up a book from the table to read.

Ruoruo fell asleep in Ran Yan’s arms. After carefully patting her for a while and making sure she was soundly asleep, Ran Yan had Wan Lu take her to the nursery.

Ran Yan went to check on the other two little ones and seeing they were sleeping well, she felt at ease and returned to her room.

When she entered, Xiao Song put down the book in his hand.

Exhausted, Ran Yan lay down on the bed, and Xiao Song lay beside her. Turning to embrace him, Ran Yan said, “This day has felt as long as ten years.”

“Everything will settle down after the Crown Prince stabilizes his position.” Xiao Song embraced her and whispered, “For now, we should just observe the situation. When autumn arrives and the children have all turned a year old, if the situation remains unclear, you should take the children to Lanling.”

“Mm.” Ran Yan acknowledged softly.

Worn out in body and mind, the couple leaned on each other and soon fell asleep.

After sleeping for two hours, the drum of the watch rang, and Xiao Song rose from bed again, hastily had his breakfast, and then went to Court.

The atmosphere in the hall today was deadly silent, everyone held their breath, heads bowed, eyes cast down in contemplation. The murderous encounter on the banks of Qujiang the night before, with its bloody rain and gory wind that took the lives of over a hundred people, and even mobilized the Forbidden Army, was a rare event beneath the walls of the Imperial City since the era of Good Governance under Li Shimin, whose rage could only be imagined.

Li Shimin had been continually irritable lately and was also not in great health. He coughed and slowly said, “Is there any clue as to who masterminded that band of outlaws?”

Sun Zhen, holding his tablet, stepped forward and said, “When the outlaws took their own lives last night, they shouted: ‘Loyal to our lady till the end.’ Other than that, there are no clues.”

Li Shimin frowned and leaned to the side, saying indifferently, “Were all the outlaws apprehended?”

“Yes! Initially, three escaped, but they were surrounded by General Zheng and seeing no way out, they took their own lives.” Sun Zhen answered.

“Causing trouble under the shadows of the Imperial City, repeatedly attempting to assassinate Court officials, injuring dozens, and even harming students from the Imperial College, what should their punishment be?” Li Shimin spoke calmly, but for some reason, he seemed to be gritting his teeth.

The officials sensed his mood, but with the dead already dead, the only option left was mutilating the corpses—an action that would never fall from the Emperor’s lips.

What punishment to impose related greatly to the Ministry of Criminal Justice, yet Zhang Liang stood as if rooted to the spot, still as a statue. After a moment of silence, Xiao Song was obliged to step forward and say, “Their heinous crimes merit their bodies be mutilated for public display, as a warning to others.”