The Prime Minister's Darling novel Chapter 1208

Chapter 1208: 590 Brave Little Zhuang Zhuang (second update)

Zhuang Chief Steward paused, "Strip him of his clothes and tear them apart for me!"

Prince An resisted fiercely, pinned to the ground by two men, his elbows and knees rubbed raw and bloody.

As the two men stripped and tore, by the end, they almost left him with nothing but his underpants.

"Master, there’s nothing!"

Prince An curled up, shivering on the cold ground.

Zhuang Chief Steward, enraged, kicked him: "Where the hell did you hide the imperial edict!"

"Master! Master, it’s terrible! The Study Room is flooding!"

Zhuang Chief Steward’s pupils contracted, and as he looked again at Prince An shaking on the ground, he saw the corner of Prince An’s lips curl up in a smug smile as he weakly said, "Did grandfather... anticipate this?"

When Zhuang Chief Steward rushed to the Study Room, the fire had already grown uncontrollable.

The steward said anxiously, "...I don’t know how it started. By the time I saw the flames and came here, it was beyond control, but I managed to save the seal and memorials from your desk..."

Yes, ordinary people facing such a fire would naturally grab what they thought Zhuang Chief Steward cared about, without paying attention to anything else.

Zhuang Chief Steward stood before the raging fire, his heart sinking as he carefully pieced together the sequence of events and roughly understood what had happened.

First of all, Zhuang Yuheng had returned with ulterior motives, and Zhuang Chief Steward had been too trusting of this grandson, never expecting him to do something even more outrageous, even after he had run away from home.

Next, Zhuang Yuheng had guessed that Zhuang Chief Steward wouldn’t carry the imperial decree too far away; he had hidden it in a corner of the Study Room and set it ablaze!

When he came out of the tea room, the servant told him that Zhuang Yuheng had returned once, prompting Zhuang Chief Steward to check the painting in the Study Room immediately. Discovering the missing decree, he immediately suspected Zhuang Yuheng of stealing it.

Zhuang Yuheng must have started the fire from a corner obscured by the bookshelf.

In his rush to retrieve the decree, Zhuang Chief Steward entered and exited quickly, failing to notice the small flames in the corner.

Zhuang Yuheng, oh, Zhuang Yuheng, you’ve grown quite capable in just a few days!

The decree was not only Qin Fengyang’s trump card but also Zhuang Chief Steward’s greatest asset for turning the tables against the odds. The late emperor’s testament held legitimate authority; its prestige was supreme, even over the current emperor!

With it, should he establish any of the other princes as emperor, ministers loyal to the cause would surely follow, and with the support of his years of influence and the help from Nangong Family of Yan Country, how could he fail to succeed!

But now, the decree he had placed so much hope in was destroyed by his most valued grandson!

The fury in Zhuang Chief Steward’s heart was enough to burn Prince An a hundred times over!

He stormed to the entrance of the mansion, where Prince An’s clothing was already torn to shreds; now covering him was the cloak of a guard.

Zhuang Chief Steward was not one to resort to violence readily, but he couldn’t help it now: "Zhuang Yuheng, well done, well done! You don’t want to live anymore, do you? Fine! I’ll grant your wish! Guards! Drag him down and beat him to death!"

Such a traitorous grandson, better to be without!

"Grandfather!"

Zhuang Yuexi suddenly rushed over, throwing herself on Prince An, turning her head towards her grandfather: "Grandfather, please don’t beat my brother!"

Zhuang Chief Steward was burning with fury: "Even you want to go against me?"

Zhuang Yuexi kneeled before him, clinging to his legs: "Grandfather! Don’t be angry with him! Brother didn’t mean to! Please forgive Brother!"

Zhuang Chief Steward kicked Zhuang Yuexi away: "Why are you not acting!"

Two guards seized Prince An.

But the words at the tip of his tongue stopped short, remembering this fellow could forge even the imperial edict; there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t dare to do.

The Prince of An raised an eyebrow: "I could have gotten out on my own without your help!"

"No need to thank me," Xiao Hen said indifferently.

"Hmph," the Prince of An turned his face away.

When the two returned to Bishui Alley and the Prince of An changed his clothes, Princess Xinyang also came over.

It was the first time the Prince of An had seen her come, and he was unaware of Xiao Hen’s real identity, so her sudden visit was quite a surprise.

He didn’t know, and he dared not ask.

"The imperial edict, is it really burned?" Princess Xinyang asked.

The three of them were sitting in Xiao Hen’s Study Room.

"No, I brought it out," the Prince of An said as he took out a blank imperial decree and placed it on the table. _{freewёbn૦νeɭ.com}

Princess Xinyang picked up the decree paper, her fingertips gently stroking the texture and pattern on it: "True to the former emperor’s decree, even the paper is different from today’s, silky smooth. It’s said to be made of a special kind of silk bamboo, with a faint scent of bamboo. How did you manage to bring it out? Weren’t you searched?"

The Prince of An scratched his head: "I was searched, but... they didn’t expect me to sew the imperial edict there."

Princess Xinyang brought the imperial edict to her nose and inhaled deeply, closing her eyes to savor its scent: "Where?"

The Prince of An: "In my underpants."

Clatter.

The imperial edict in Princess Xinyang’s hands dropped!