Chapter 91
Yu She felt relieved . After saluting Emperor Chongan, he left the palace .
He had angered Emperor Chongan immensely, the latter’s chest hurting for a good while .
The eunuch who usually stayed by Emperor Chongan’s side entered the palace hall . As he knelt down to pick up the booklets on the ground, he smiled . “When Young Prince left, he seemed to be in a good mood . It’s unlike in the past, when he would have a gloomy expression each time . This is so rare . ”
“Whatever he said, We agreed to . So what else could he be unhappy about?” said Emperor Chongan, massaging his temples . “Tell me, just who does this child take after? We’ve tried to tell him explicitly and implicitly many times, yet he seems to not understand at all . ”
The old eunuch sighed . “For so many years, Young Prince was never close with other people . It’s normal for his… worldly wisdom to be more stunted than others’ . ”
“How is he stunted in worldly wisdom? Just now, Ziyou did not understand what We meant . In such a critical moment, he neither asked Us how We would deal with this matter nor did he ask Us how We would handle Prince Yu . Rather, the first thing he asked was how We would handle Zhong Wan . ” Emperor Chongan shook his head . “Could it be that the imperial clan truly gave birth to a romantic?”
The old eunuch laughed . “Speaking of this, this slave will tell Your Majesty a joke . A few days ago, it rained all of a sudden . Spring rain is as valuable as oil . It did not rain too heavily, but our Young Prince had been worried in the Cabinet . Every day, Young Master Zhong would come to pick him up . Young Prince feared that he would arrive early and not have an umbrella, so he specially told the servants to prepare one and deliver it to Young Master Zhong .
“At that time, Young Master Zhong had indeed already arrived at the palace, and was waiting . However, the rain outside grew lighter and lighter . Perhaps Young Master was afraid he wouldn’t be able to use the umbrella . So he disembarked from the carriage, opened the umbrella, and stood in the rain . ”
Emperor Chongan laughed in spite of himself .
Similarly, the old eunuch couldn’t hold back from laughing . “If he was just waiting, then fine . But Young Master Zhong misbehaved a lot . Whenever people who didn’t get along with Young Prince passed by, he would spin his umbrella and splash them with the rain that had accumulated on it . On that day, our Fourth Prince had been in a bad mood as he was leaving the palace . He approached Young Master Zhong, and out of nowhere, was splashed by Young Master Zhong . He even asked Fourth Highness, ‘why don’t you have an umbrella? Are you not afraid of getting wet? Is your face waterproof?’ It angered Fourth Highness so much that he almost fought with Young Master Zhong . ”
Again, Emperor Chongan couldn’t hold back from laughing .
The old eunuch smiled . “Don’t blame Young Prince for liking such an interesting person . Wasn’t Your Majesty very fond of Young Master Zhong in the past?”
“Yes, since young, that child easily makes people like them . Back then…” said Emperor Chongan slowly . “By Prince Ning and Princess Consort Ning’s knees, he was able to make them love him dearly . At the start, We had also liked him a lot . ”
The old eunuch paused, mulling over the words “at the start . ” In a careful manner, he changed the topic by saying, “However, Young Master Zhong is a man after all . It’s not that good… for Young Prince to be so fond of him . ”
Lost in thought, Emperor Chongan said, “It’s not that good . But the father-and-son relationship between Us and Ziyou has just recently improved . It wouldn’t do to hurt our relationship because of this . ”
The old eunuch cautiously consoled, “Maybe this will only last for three to five years . Once they are older, they probably wouldn’t be as inseparable as they are now . ”
Emperor Chongan did not comment on this . Instead, he said, “This is hard to say . Ziyou, this child, has always been the type that wouldn’t give up until he really couldn’t do something anymore . What if he wants to die on this hill?”
The old eunuch felt something was off . He did not dare to continue on this topic .
Emperor Chongan sighed as he shook his head . “It’s hard being a father . We need to get the cabinet ministers on his side, need to handle Prince Yu, and need to handle these trivial matters . ”
The old eunuch could make out the hidden meaning in his words . He braced himself as he said, “Your Majesty, your honored self is knowledgeable of Young Prince’s temper . Once he goes crazy, he won’t make allowances even for his own family members . If your honored self wants to kill Young Master Zhong, this slave fears that in his rage, Young Prince would do something drastic . ”
Emperor Chongan smiled . “Just where are your thoughts going? Why would We kill Zhong Wan? We just want to pave the road for our son . Since he wants my position, he will need to be obedient . ”
Five days later, Emperor Chongan left the imperial palace, taking along his imperial clan members in a grandiose manner to the temporary imperial residence .
Emperor Chongan also brought his sons and daughters . Apart from the empress, he did not bring along any of the other imperial concubines .
Zhong Wan sat in a carriage, leaning against the soft cushions . He lifted the curtain for a glance outside . Shaking his head, he said in a soft voice, “The emperor is truly ruthless . There are so many people in the imperial harem, yet he did not bring even one person . In any case, they are the mothers of the imperial princes . Is he not afraid that Prince Yu would take one of them as hostage?”
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Yu She split the pile of booklets in half, giving one half to Zhong Wan . “What did the emperor ask you just a while ago?”
Zhong Wan did not speak . Rather, he picked up a writing brush and wrote in a blank booklet, “He asked me if I wanted to bring Congxin and Xuan Yu . ”
Yu She frowned . The two shared a look . Yu She wrote, “Is he suspicious?”
Zhong Wan shook his head and wrote, “It’s hard to say . I don’t believe he’s unaware that the twins are no longer in the capital . For him to purposely ask me this makes it more likely that he’s probing for answers . ”
After some thought, Zhong Wan wrote, “The news of Xuan Rui being robbed and killed hasn’t spread to the capital yet . He should not know of this . Otherwise, he would not empty the capital of imperial clan members and royalty . ”
Silent for a moment, Yu She wrote, “Too smart for his own good . ”
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Zhong Wan smiled . He picked up the booklet that was full of writing . Shredded it to pieces and put them into the carriage’s small incense burner one by one .
The two continued to go through the booklets . Zhong Wan was quicker than Yu She . After he gave an official response to them all, he looked all around . Said softly, “Approximately when would the emperor make a move?”
Yu She fell silent for a while, before shaking his head . “He didn’t tell me . But… it should be soon . ”
A sigh escaped Zhong Wan’s lips . “I’ve never been to the temporary imperial palace before . I want to have a lot of fun for a few days . ”
Yu She didn’t take his words too seriously . “In the future, you’d live here as long as you’d like . ”
“What are you talking about, Young Prince?” asked Zhong Wan, smiling . “Are you that confident that I’d be able to stay in the temporary palace whenever I want in the future?”
Yu She did not respond . Zhong Wan wholeheartedly wanted to be lovey-dovey to Yu She . He shuffled close to Yu She’s side, leaning against his shoulder comfortably . With his imagination unfettered, he said, “Forget about this temporary imperial palace . It’s too big . I can’t live here . If things truly go without a hitch in the future, make a smaller one for me . When we’re still young, we can treat it as a vacation area . When we’re older, we can treat it as a place for retirement, alright?”
Yu She nodded . “Alright . ”
Zhong Wan bent his legs, placing his hands on his knees . He smiled as he asked, “At that time, will you accompany me?”
Yu She still nodded . “Yes . ”
Narrowing his eyes, Zhong Wan looked at Yu She . All of a sudden, he felt that some things didn’t need to be asked .
For some reason, Zhong Wan felt confident that what Congxin worried about would never happen .
He and Yu She had staggered along up until now . For this reason, they would not gradually grow estranged in the future .
The group of people traveled for no less than a whole day . They finally reached the temporary imperial residence during the evening .
Yu She did not try to avoid suspicion at all; he did not allow Zhong Wan to stray even half a step away from him . Zhong Wan’s expression was very natural, as if the two were originally together .
Since Emperor Chongan turned a blind eye, no one dared to say a thing . After a lively banquet, everyone returned to their own courtyard .
The courtyard Emperor Chongan had given Yu She was in a great location . It wasn’t far from the emperor’s wing, yet was also peaceful enough . After Yu She and Zhong Wan took a tour around their courtyard and appreciated the place, they returned to the bedroom . Once they sent away all the servants, Zhong Wan lightly sighed .
Yu She smiled . “This day has finally come . What? Are you scared now?”
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Zhong Wan shook his head . “I’m not afraid… Ziyou, you’ve been inseparable from me today . Just now, you purposely ordered servants to get me this and that in front of other people . What was your motive?”
Yu She paused . “How could there be any motive?”
Zhong Wan clenched his teeth . “If you didn’t have a motive, then why did you tell the servants so loudly that I must take a bath before I sleep, that petals must be placed in the tub, that the petals must be fresh? And that they must only use big and red petals? What’s that supposed to mean?! Do you want everyone to know that I am fussy? When did I ever need to use flower petals when I bathed?!”
Embarrassed, Yu She turned away . Did not speak .
“You…” Zhong Wan pursed his lips . “Are you worried the emperor would kill me in passing?”
Yu She kept quiet for a while . “It’s possible . ”
Zhong Wan sat on the bed and arched a brow . “That’s why you purposely let everyone know that I’m sleeping with you . You want the emperor to refrain from shooting at the rat in fear of breaking the vases . To fear hurting you by killing me, right?”
“Preparedness averts peril . ” Yu She sat down . Dully said, “The emperor has always treated you gently, so don’t let that fool you . ”
“Of course not . I’m just suddenly a bit worried about other things . ”
Zhong Wan placed his hand on Yu She’s leg, writing characters on it .
“Xuan Qiong is involved with Prince Yu . The emperor doesn’t want Prince Yu to rule from the shadows . He also doesn’t want to be confused by you . He thinks that you’ll be softhearted and lenient toward Prince Yu in the future . As such, he simply abandoned this chess piece that is Xuan Qiong . So who does the emperor have left?
“Other than me, who else can influence you?”
Zhong Wan glanced at Yu She . Then he wrote, “The empress dowager would act as a regent…”
Yu She’s heart sank .
Zhong Wan softly said, “Ziyou, we packed a lot of tea and refreshments coming here, right? How about you have your servants send some to Princess Royal Anguo?”
Yu She and Zhong Wan shared a gaze . He already understood what Zhong Wan meant . Shortly after, he nodded . “Alright . ”
During the period of Chou, Yu She and Zhong Wan lay in bed still awake .
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Zhong Wan grabbed Yu She’s hand and played with his fingers, the latter letting him have his way with them . Softly, he said, “Sleep . If anything happens, I’ll wake you up…”
Before Yu She could finish speaking, a mess of shouts sounded from outside . The lights outside the window swayed . It seemed many people had rushed into the courtyard .
Zhong Wan’s breathing grew hurried and brief . Sure enough, Emperor Chongan acted quickly .
A moment later, a servant rushed over to the doors and slapped them, yelling, “Young Prince? Young Prince, are you alright? Young Prince? Something bad happened! Something really bad happened!!!”
After getting up, Yu She draped his outer robe over his shoulders . He unsheathed the sword by his bedside . Opened the doors . “What happened?”
“Something bad!!!” The servant dropped to a kneel with a bang . Cried as he said, “For some reason, many assassins infiltrated the temporary imperial residence! I don’t know how long they hid here . Just now, they took advantage of the night to act and attacked His Majesty and Princess Royal!”
Under the cover of darkness, Yu She’s eyes gleamed . “How is Princess?”
“She’s still fine! She’s still fine!” blurted the servant . “Someone outside encountered the assassins by accident, discovering them early . The imperial guards also rushed there in time, so only Princess’ arm was injured . It wasn’t too serious!”
Zhong Wan, who was inside the room, let out a breath of relief . Expression ice-cold, Yu She asked, “What about the emperor?”
The servant rushed to say, “His Majesty is extremely lucky . Nothing happened to him . However, we don’t know how many assassins are left or where they are hiding . His Majesty cannot be at ease, and had the princesses and princes head for the main palace hall immediately! There are many imperial guards there, so nothing could go wrong!”
Yu She put away his sword . “Alright . ”
Ten minutes later, Yu She brought along Zhong Wan to the main palace hall . Xuan Jing and Xuan Qiong had just suffered a fright . Expressions poor, they stood at a side . Once the old eunuch from the palace hall caught sight of Yu She, he hurried to welcome him .
Within the inner chamber, Emperor Chongan had a robe draped over his shoulders . His expression was frigid as he sat on the bed . After he had heard the report of the imperial guards, he said, “Did you finish investigating? Where did the assassins come from?”
Uncertain, an imperial guard said, “In the courtyard… there is a bamboo forest . It’s lush and thick, so we were negligent in guarding that area . After we searched it, we found a secret path . ”
At that moment, the chamber grew incomparably silent .
Emperor Chongan took his time to say, “This is Our temporary imperial residence . Even We don’t know this secret path exists . ”
Cold sweat trickled down the imperial guard’s forehead . “It’s unknown how long ago this secret path was made . It’s hidden underground and a tall slope hides it from sight . It’s also difficult to be eroded by the rain, and difficult to collapse . It truly… is hard to find . ”
The old eunuch by Emperor Chongan’s side took half a step forward . He said in a soft voice, “Your Majesty, if this old slave remembers correctly, wasn’t Prince Yu the one who supervised the construction of this temporary imperial residence?”
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