Consort of a Thousand Faces

CHAPTER 52 (1): PRINCE HAO\'S CONJECTURE

The group of imperial guards were scared silly upon seeing Pei Qianhao enter. These people were under the administration of the Imperial Guard Army Commander, Yuchi Mo, who had become Pei Qianhao’s subordinate a few years ago.

“Paying respects to Prince Hao.” All the imperial guards in the courtyard knelt on the ground.

Pei Qianhao waved his hand, signalling for them to get up. “Bring out the three imperial guards who were carried back this morning..”

An imperial guard promptly bowed and obeyed his order, immediately going to call the three who were still resting in the room.

In less than a minute, three imperial guards had already come out while trembling in fear. They stopped before Prince Hao and knelt down with a thud.

“Prince Hao, please forgive us. These subordinates didn’t guard after the Laundry Service Bureau properly, and allowed a thief to sneak in. We deserve death.” The three imperial guards put their heads to the ground and immediately pleaded guilty.

They had heard about the incident in the Laundry Service Bureau right after they woke up this morning. They knew that Prince Hao would call for them eventually; they just didn’t expect that he would come personally.

“Was the person who stole into the Laundry Service Bureau a man or a woman?” Pei Qianhao’s voice was ice-cold, his imposing manner sweeping over the guards.

All the imperial guards in the courtyard were scared yet bewildered. Those three imperial guards are strong and robust, and their skills were considered to be decent. A person who was able to knock out all three of them is definitely a formidable foe.

But why did Prince Hao ask such a question? Could it be that it was a woman? How can that be possible?!

The three imperial guards kneeling on the ground trembled. They weren’t able to provide an answer to Prince Hao’s question, but it wasn’t like they could ignore him either!

Hence, they one of them could only respond in a quivering voice, “Your subordinates deserve death. We don’t know whether the thief was a man or a woman, as we didn’t manage to see the person’s appearance clearly. We didn’t even see their figure.”

All the imperial guards sucked in a mouthful of cold air.

Exactly what kind of talented person had slipped into the imperial palace and gone to the Laundry Service Bureau? They were unable to understand. Why would such an exceptional person’s target be a bunch of lowly palace maids?

At the moment, nobody dared to look at Prince Hao’s expression.

Right at this moment, the Imperial Guard Army Commander, Yuchi Mo, rushed to the scene and knelt on the ground with a single knee. Cupping his fists in respect, he tried to appeal to Pei Qianhao. “This subordinate failed in my supervision. Please punish me, Prince Hao.”

The atmosphere in the courtyard became very solemn. Prince Hao will definitely mete out severe punishment for this incident. Even the Imperial Guard Army Commander won’t be able to escape his ire.

However, nobody expected that Prince Hao would instead speak in a decidedly even tone, lacking any sign of anger at all. “Elaborate specifically. How did you get knocked out?”

The three imperial guards hemmed and hawed timorously, causing Yuchi Mo to chide them, “Even if you didn’t see the figure and appearance of the assailant, you should at least know how you were knocked out, and from which position the opponent attacked.”

Finally, one of the imperial guards replied, “Before this subordinate could turn around, that person’s hand had already forcefully struck the dizzy acupuncture point on the back of my neck. The power used was strong, accurate, and fierce. Thus, this subordinate...”

Yuchi Mo felt that he had no reputation to speak of anymore. The three of them belong to the palace’s imperial guard army, yet their skills are so abominable. They’re simply making me lose face! He could no longer endure it and lambasted again, “I’ll just consider it as me teaching you all in vain. You will be transferred out of the imperial guard army and become ordinary imperial guards in the imperial palace!”

Pei Qianhao waved his hand. “No need, they can’t be completely blamed for this.” The corners of his lips were upturned as he spoke.

All the imperial guards noticed it, especially Yuchi Mo, who was the nearest to him.

What’s with Prince Hao...The corners of his mouth are upturned for no reason. It looks like he is...smiling? This is simply even more terrifying than Prince Hao flying into a rage.

Yuchi Mo was baffled. “Prince Hao, your meaning is?”