IHOEAYSTTTIW Chapter 8

Chapter 8 The Wealth of the Imperial Family, the Deep Affection of Brothers

Winter departs and spring arrives, and it’s market day again.

The vendors in town thought that by buying Lin Yan’s braised sauce, they could replicate the same flavor, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t imitate it.

Fortunately, Lin Yan only came occasionally, and the things he sold weren’t always the same. The first time it was hot braised food, the second time it was oyster sauce, and this time it was soft and glutinous pastries.

Before Lin Yan’s stall was even set up, the things he brought were snapped up. He absentmindedly put away the newly acquired silver, but his ears perked up, secretly listening to the latest hot gossip.

In the two months since Lin Yan planted the seeds, they hadn’t sprouted, but the Capital City had undergone earth-shattering changes.

The Zhengxuan Emperor, who was still relatively healthy, suddenly died on the eve of the Lunar New Year, and the various factions began to stir. The princes in the Capital City and the princes in their fiefdoms were all eager to make a move, just waiting for some fool to lose their composure and be attacked by everyone.

Before a sacrificial lamb appeared, the Consort Xian, who had little presence in the palace, produced the late Emperor’s decree establishing an heir. The Emperor had named the Third Prince, who had been kept in the Cold Palace, as the Crown Prince, to inherit the throne after his death.

This decree appeared strangely, and the choice of person was also very strange, so no one could be sure whether it was real or fake.

Those die-hard imperial relatives wanted to find another puppet emperor, counting down the lines on the imperial genealogy. Half a year ago, the First Prince died suddenly of illness, and two months ago, the Second Prince was assassinated during a royal hunt, and his whereabouts were still unknown. The unborn child in the Consort Gui’s belly, whose gender was unknown, was also accidentally lost half a month ago.

Counting back and forth, the Zhengxuan Emperor’s descendants were left with only the Third Prince.

No one would think that this was because the Third Prince had good luck, only that he was ruthless and could even kill his twin brother, with whom he had grown up.

Everything the new Emperor did after ascending the throne also confirmed these conjectures.

First, he chose the word “Tyrant” as the Zhengxuan Emperor’s posthumous title, did not posthumously honor his deceased birth mother, Empress Li, and sent all of the Zhengxuan Emperor’s favored concubines to Buddhist halls. The Consort Gui, who had once been the most favored in the six palaces, died of depression on the third day after being sent there. As for his adoptive mother, Consort Jia, the new Emperor gave her the title of Empress Dowager, but Consort Jia didn’t have the life to enjoy this glory. It was said that the first time the new Emperor went to pay his respects, the Empress Dowager suddenly fell ill, not only talking nonsense but also injuring the new Emperor. The new Emperor invited an Imperial Physician to treat the Empress Dowager and allowed her to recuperate well in the Palace of Compassionate Tranquility. After that day, he never stepped into the Palace of Compassionate Tranquility again.

Lin Yan stuffed the heavy purse into his arms and dragged Yun Qi to sweep through today’s market. All kinds of messy palace secrets were constantly pouring in, and Lin Yan gradually sketched out the image of the new Emperor with a green face and fangs in his mind. He leaned close to Yun Qi and whispered jokingly, “Your brother is quite ruthless.”

“N-not really…” Yun Qi fiddled with the *Compendium of Agriculture* on a stall, as if mentioning it casually, “Although Third Brother is deep in thought and his methods… can be considered ruthless, he is definitely not someone who kills innocent people indiscriminately. If the situation in Great Zhou is stable, he can also make great achievements and be remembered in history.”

“Third Brother?” Lin Yan took out his purse and bought the book that Yun Qi had been fiddling with. “It sounds like you’re very familiar with him.”

“Well… not really.” Yun Qi thanked him in a small voice and carefully tucked the book into his arms. “It’s just that when I first transmigrated… he took me in for two days, plus… plus some of the original owner’s memories, so I came to this guess.”

Lin Yan sized Yun Qi up and down, feeling that this kid was a little off today. After two months of getting along, Lin Yan knew that Yun Qi was gentle, sensitive, and prone to internal conflict. Although he was six years older than Yun Qi, he couldn’t understand what this kid was thinking most of the time.

But the two months that little Yun Qi had spent with him had been mostly happy.

Putting aside everything else, the wound on Yun Qi’s face had healed, leaving only a faint scar. When he first arrived, this child was skinny and bony, but after two months of conditioning, he couldn’t be said to be plump, but his fur was smooth.

Lin Yan’s attention was on Yun Qi. He casually tore off a piece of cured meat, took out two coins from his purse, and handed them over.

The meat seller was chatting with the stall owner next to her. She weighed the meat, threw the coins into the box without looking, and continued chatting.

“Brother Zhao, what has your son been busy with lately? Why hasn’t he come to help at your stall these past few days?”

“Official food isn’t so easy to eat. He’s been posting notices everywhere these days, so busy that his feet don’t touch the ground.”

“Looking for someone? Looking for who?”

“Well… wasn’t the Second Prince lost during the winter hunt? That Second Prince is the current Emperor’s own brother.”

“That’s truly deep brotherly affection.”

“Of course.” The old vegetable seller sneered and snorted a few times from his nose. “That prince has a very noble status, so naturally, they have to go to great lengths to find him.”

Realizing that the gossip was about himself, Lin Yan pulled Yun Qi away.

The imperial family is ruthless, and those displays of brotherly respect are just pretenses for outsiders. Yun Qi was both the eldest and born of the first wife. According to the temperament circulating outside, finding someone was just a facade, and wanting to kill him was the real intention.

Lin Yan didn’t want to get involved in these messy things, but the current Yun Qi was from a Different World like him. He was probably the only person in this world who could understand him, and for that reason, he wanted to keep Yun Qi.

Even if they had to be displaced, even if they had to hide.

And these things weren’t troublesome for him. He wasn’t someone who could stay in one place for long anyway, and wandering around was just ordinary.

Lin Yan rented an ox cart and took Yun Qi, who could be captured at any time, all the way… well, the ox cart couldn’t travel at the speed of light and electricity. There was no speeding at all, and they safely returned to Lin Family Village.

Lin Yan had encountered Lin Dazhuang twice out of the three times he went to the market. Today was the same. As soon as Lin Yan got off the cart, Lin Dazhuang appeared out of nowhere and reached out to take the things in Lin Yan’s hand. “Lin Yan, you’re back. The Li Zheng is counting the population in front of the yamen. Remember to register. You bought so much stuff again? Let me help you…”

Yun Qi snatched the things from Lin Yan’s hand, blocking himself between the two of them without leaving a trace. “No need, I’ll do it.”

“Xiao Qi is here too…” Lin Dazhuang chuckled twice, wanting to say something, but met Yun Qi’s unfriendly gaze. He touched the back of his head, feeling that the early winter weather was a bit chilly. “Alright, you two brothers go ahead. I haven’t bought the things my mother asked for yet.”

In Lin Yan’s view, Yun Qi’s abnormality was because he was worried about being taken back by his brother. He ruffled Yun Qi’s hair and comforted him softly, “It’s okay, Lin Family Village is remote and small. No one will notice.”

Yun Qi nodded, and only when they reached the courtyard gate did he seem to make a big decision and say with difficulty, “Brother, actually I…”

“Hey? They’ve sprouted.” Lin Yan caught a glimpse of the courtyard and rushed in before Yun Qi could finish speaking. Yun Qi watched Lin Yan pick up the sprouted potatoes, smiling so wide that his teeth were showing. “These are high-quality seeds. They can mature in two months, and the yield per acre in the ground can reach five thousand pounds.”

Three out of the five potatoes had sprouted, and the other two also had green spots.

Lin Yan turned this one over and looked at that one, and it took him a while to remember that there was still someone beside him. He scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed, and wanted to continue the previous topic, “What… what were you going to say just now?”

“No, it’s nothing.” Yun Qi shook his head, his eyes glued to the potatoes.

“Oh.” Lin Yan carefully put the potatoes down, pacifying White, who had come to inspect, muttering to himself, not knowing who he was talking to, “Are you hungry? Let’s have Steamed Cured Meat Combination tonight.”