Chapter 20
Yu She summoned steward Feng and shared the general gist of things . He ordered, “Go investigate . What the heck is he going to marry . ”
Sponsored Content
Steward Feng was completely lost too . He carefully asked, “Heir… is there a misunderstanding in this situation?”
Yu She coldly asked, “What misunderstanding?”
Steward Feng cautiously analyzed, “Since historic times, there have been several small or unimportant families who have taken advantage of their surnames to forcefully connect themselves to the famous sages of the past . Either way, there’s no way of proving anything, so they’re only trying to make themselves look better . But… this is the first time this old servant has heard of anyone bragging that they’re the descendants of Kuafu .
“First of all, Kuafu is a character in ‘The Classic of Mountains and Seas . ’ We don’t even know if such a person truly existed, so unless this woman is actually extraordinarily tall, to the point of shocking everyone, nobody would believe her .
“Secondly, Kuafu is not a sage . Forcefully saying that you are his descendant… doesn’t really make you more impressive . If he were inviting this person home to be a family soldier that would naturally be fine, but to be a concubine… it really can’t be considered a good quality . ”
Yu She emotionlessly said, “Perhaps other than being sturdily built, she has nothing else to seduce men with . ”
Steward Feng tried to read Yu She’s mind and answered, “Truly . Such a ploy for gaining recognition can’t be allowed . Today this one says that she’s Kuafu’s descendant; tomorrow another one will say they’re Pangu’s descendant . Two days later, someone else will say they’re Chang-e’s descendant, Meng Po’s descendant, Guan Shiyin’s descendant… What would that make things? In the future, if you don’t somehow connect yourself to a prehistoric god or monster, you won’t be able to marry anyone? Later on, the capital will be filled with all sorts of demons and monsters . How could that be allowed to happen?”
Yu She felt a headache coming on . “Stop talking . ”
Steward Feng hurriedly shut his mouth . Then, he changed the topic and said, “Young Master Zhong must have been tricked by someone . After we get to the bottom of this, he will be the first person we reveal the truth to!”
Yu She angrily rubbed the space between his eyebrows . What a mess this was…
Sponsored Content
“Speaking of spirits and gods,” steward Feng started lowly, “I was just about to tell Heir . Last night, news from the palace came out . They said that if anyone among the aristocrats links Third Prince’s drowning incident to spirits or gods again, they will be tried for treason . ”
Yu She smiled . “The emperor is finally anxious?”
Steward Feng lowered his voice . “He went into a rage several times, but he can’t possibly publicly talk about this issue . Otherwise, more people will know about it . He can only secretly leak some news and try to intimidate the people . ”
Steward Feng wasn’t Yu She’s only confidant . Yu She directly ordered other people to do many of the things related to the outside . Steward Feng didn’t know much about them . He slowly asked, “Who… started all those rumors to create such a mess?”
Yu She could tell what Steward Feng was implying . There was a hint of mockery in his eyes . “It wasn’t me . ”
Steward Feng hurriedly said, “This old slave has been foolish . ”
“If I had done this, I wouldn’t have been so light-handed,” Yu She declared generously . “What is the emperor most afraid of right now?”
Vafkjgv Mfcu atbeuta jybea la jcv jcrkfgfv, “Gfolclafis atja rbwfatlcu firf klii tjqqfc ab jcbatfg qglcmf . Po rbwfatlcu gfjiis vlv tjqqfc, atja kbeiv rffw ilxf… rffw ilxf… atf gewbgr bo tlr atgbcf mbwlcu ogbw vlrtbcfra wfatbvr lr agef . ”
Te Vtf jrxfv, “Ktfc, ktlmt qglcmf lr tf wbra rmjgfv bo rbwfatlcu tjqqfclcu ab atfw?”
Steward Feng hesitated . “Fourth… Fourth Prince?”
Yu She scoffed .
Steward Feng wiped at the beads of sweat on his forehead . His voice was practically inaudible . “You…”
“Right now, he’s most afraid that something will happen to me . ” Yu She spoke normally . He didn’t bother lowering his voice all . “Even if something happened to Xuan Jing and Xuan Qiong, the worst consequence would be more people being able to point fingers at him using what the oracle had said back then . But what of it? What kind of evidence is that? Besides, even if all the princes died, there still might not be anyone capable of usurping his throne . ”
Steward Feng’s heart started beating faster upon hearing this . He nodded, “True…”
Sponsored Content
“But I’m different . ”
Yu She lowered his head and smiled . “At such a crucial time, if something happened to me, it would cause several of his disgusting, previous deeds to come to light . If I were the one plotting everything, the first person I wouldn’t spare would be myself . ”
Yu She looked outside the window and casually asked, “The pond in our courtyard . Has the ice melted yet?”
Steward Feng didn’t know why Yu She was suddenly asking about this . He answered honestly, “Not yet . ”
“This pond is connected to the moving water outside . The layer of ice on top of it can’t be that thick,” Yu She drawled . “Say, if I were to step on it… would I break that layer of ice?”
Steward Feng’s expression immediately changed . He hurriedly said, “This old servant was making things up just now! This obviously has nothing to do with Heir . You… Don’t overthink!”
Yu She’s expression was normal . “I’m not . I just think that at such a point in time, it would be very interesting if I were to drown in an ice hole in the middle of the night . ”
Steward Feng was so agitated that the vein in his forehead had become visible . If anyone else casually brought this up, he would believe that they were only joking around . But the person in front of him had once secretly eaten cold food powder for half a year without telling anybody . He had almost died from arsenic poisoning!
Yu She said, “Actually, the day that Princess Royal had ordered you to tell me to stay far away from the edge of the water, I already considered this . ”
Steward Feng anxiously said, “You! You…”
“I’m just teasing you . ” Yu She laughed . “I don’t really want to sleep in an ice hole anymore . ”
Yu She thought of what his spy had told him before . His gaze darkened . “I need to figure out first… what concubine he’s planning on marrying . ”
Steward Feng heaved a sigh of relief . He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry . “You really are…”
Steward Feng wanted to laugh, but thinking back on what Yu She’s life had been like these past few years, he suddenly felt a twinge in his heart .
Sponsored Content
“It’s best that you don’t have such silly ideas,” said Steward Feng in a comforting manner . “It’s quite late . Will Heir rest now?”
Yu She nodded, then stood and headed to the bedroom .
Steward Feng ultimately couldn’t completely relax . He was preparing to leave for a bit, so couldn’t keep an eye on Yu She overnight . He could only call a few family soldiers over and order them to strictly guard the door and window of Yu She’s bedroom . They were not, under any circumstances, to allow him to leave in the middle of the night . Even if they couldn’t stop him and let him get out, they still had to follow him, maintaining a distance of not even a foot away .
The family soldiers acknowledged his orders . Steward Feng calmed himself down, then headed out .
At the same time, the lights were still bright in Xinghe Palace .
Emperor Chongan sat on the bed in the warmroom . His expression was dark and his voice low and raspy . “Could it be that Ziyou is being unreasonable again?”
Cabinet member Liang Qi sat on a small stool and gently shook his head . “Doesn’t seem like it . Young Prince Yu acts decisively . If he were the mastermind behind this, Third Prince probably wouldn’t have been able to live until now . ”
Emperor Chongan’s eyes were stormy . “Is that so? That year when he ate those things, I already thought that perhaps he had such thoughts and was purposefully breaking my heart . ”
Emperor Chongan sighed, fatigued . “I asked myself and believe that I haven’t mistreated him in any way . Among all my children, he’s the only one I’ve spoiled since young . Back then… I had even been tempted to recognize him as my own . ”
“Absolutely not!” Liang Qi rose to his feet . He bowed and said, “Young Prince Yu is talented beyond others, but he has an antisocial personality and cruel nature . If he’s uninterested in becoming crown prince, all is well, but if Young Prince Yu is actually interested and Your Majesty hastily admits him… Your Majesty might place Fourth and Fifth Prince in grave danger . By then, the country will be in turmoil and there will be no peace in the world . ”
Speaking of Xuan Jing and Xuan Qiong caused Emperor Chongan’s expression to become even worse . “If the two of them were impressive in any way, why would I even have these thoughts? My sons shame me…”
“The two princes have just reached adulthood; there is still time to teach them . ” Liang Qi was worried that Emperor Chongan truly wanted to recognize Yu She because of his lack of offspring . He added, “We can first disregard how difficult it will be to calm both the public and royal clan down if you were to admit him as a prince . If in the future, Young Prince Yu asks about his birth mother, how does Your Majesty plan on answering him?”
Emperor Chongan lowered his gaze . “She was just an old lover I had from my estate…”
“What if Young Prince Yu is determined about getting all the details?” Liang Qi was extremely worried . “Even if he doesn’t ask, in the future… if Your Majesty wants to declare Young Prince Yu to be the crown prince, Your Majesty must eventually give the royal clan members and all the officials a believable reason . Otherwise, this decision will be considered unjust and unmerited . There will always be people who try to use this to cause trouble . Of course, Your Majesty might not actually want to make him the crown prince, which leads us back to the question at hand… Can Young Prince Yu allow the other two princes to live?”
Emperor Chongan leaned against his pillow and sighed . “You think that he’ll allow the two of them to live if I don’t admit he’s my own?”
“Young Prince Yu currently isn’t interested in the fight for crown prince . Besides, he has a different surname, which makes this unjust and unmerited . As long as Your Majesty doesn’t recognize him, he won’t be able to become a threat . ” Liang Qi lifted his gaze to glance at Emperor Chongan, then softened his voice . “In order to ensure the safety of the princes, if anything happens in the future, as long as Your Majesty can be harsh enough, it will be possible…”
Emperor Chongan instantly opened his eyes . He coldly asked, “Are you telling me to personally get rid of him?!”
Liang Qi knelt .
The inside of the warmroom was quiet for a long time .
Emperor Chongan leaned against his pillow and shook his head . “I don’t have many sons left… he’s the last hope I have that I’ve left with Princess Royal . If anything happens in the future, regardless of if he’s willing or not, he’ll have to… nevermind . You may rise . ”
Liang Qi knew that Emperor Chongan couldn’t bear to, so didn’t continue trying to persuade him .
“Keep looking into it,” Emperor Chongan said after a long pause . “I don’t think this looks like Ziyou’s work either . ”
Liang Qi stood up . He pondered for a moment, then asked, “Your Majesty, regarding Young Prince Yu’s background… does he already know?”
Emperor Chongan responded, tone tinted with fatigue, “He’s known since six years ago . I still remember, remember how he broke through so many of the palace’s lines of defense and charged in in the middle of the night, covered in snow . It was right here where he asked me…”
Liang Qi asked, “What… did he ask?’
Emperor Chongan pressed on the corners of his eyes . He didn’t want to reminisce about that event, so merely waved his hand to signal for Liang Qi to leave .
The eunuch outside the warmroom drew back the thick curtains for Liang Qi . A gust of cold wind snuck through . Emperor Chongan was coming along in his years, so shivered slightly and started coughing .