WMSG Chapter 57
by VolareXuedong jumped down from the high spot, rolled twice to regain his balance, and quietly walked behind Ye Yueshen, patting him on the shoulder: “Third Master, how long are we going to wait?”
“Just waiting for some peace of mind.” Ye Yueshen rested his chin in his hand: “There’s not much I can do. I have to wait as long as there’s a possibility; otherwise, I’ll feel like I’m just sitting around waiting to die.”
“You haven’t been idle all day, running back and forth. Even I feel tired.” Xuedong stood behind Ye Yueshen and massaged his shoulders: “To help you relax a bit.”
“Wait.” Ye Yueshen turned his head to look at him: “Will anyone discover my position here?”
“Don’t worry.” Xuedong patted his chest: “I checked everywhere just now, and your position is the best.”
Ye Yueshen remembered how Xuedong had investigated the area earlier, and felt relieved, turning back to look at the detached courtyard not far away. Xuedong reliably pointed out several directions to him: “Don’t think this place is deserted; there are actually people hidden in all these spots.”
“Then can they see us?” Ye Yueshen asked.
Xuedong said they couldn’t: “They each have areas they’re guarding. Important places are divided up like this. We’re not too close, and only some experts patrol around. Since we didn’t come in a sedan, we’re not easily discovered.”
Ye Yueshen said “Oh” again. As they were talking, they actually saw someone coming over. The person leading the way was dressed no differently from the common people in the capital. Ye Yueshen held his breath, watching those people approach the detached courtyard.
After a moment, someone caught up from a distance and said a few words to the ones in front. They only paused for a moment before continuing forward, disappearing into the dense forest.
Without Ye Yueshen instructing him, Xuedong quietly left to investigate. But in the blink of an eye, Xuedong hurried back, whispering, “They’re coming straight this way, Third Master. We need to leave quickly.”
“Straight this way?” Ye Yueshen grabbed Xuedong’s hand: “If we fight them, what are our chances of winning?”
Xuedong suddenly laughed. Since they couldn’t escape anyway, he seriously considered it for a moment: “How could I let you lift a finger? There are three of them. The one in front is clearly the master in disguise, the one who followed at the beginning isn’t very capable, and the one who came later is about the same as me.”
This was the imperial family’s detached courtyard. Ye Yueshen had already realized that the people coming were not simple. Grabbing Xuedong’s hand, he said in surprise, “Heavens, Xuedong, you’re so amazing!”
Xuedong’s face immediately turned red. He scratched his head awkwardly: “Master, what are you thinking? Our butts are on fire, and you’re still so happy.”
“We can’t hide anymore.” Ye Yueshen looked past Xuedong at the smiling Crown Prince in scholar’s robes behind him: “Zherong, I thought it was you back at the temple. They all said they didn’t see clearly, but it really is you.”
Ye Yueshen pulled Xuedong behind him and bowed to the Crown Prince. He had just knelt down when the Crown Prince quickly stepped forward and held his arm: “Hey… you can’t give such a big salute outside. Get up quickly.”
Ye Yueshen was wondering when he had become so familiar with the Crown Prince when the Crown Prince preemptively asked, “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here enjoying the breeze.” Ye Yueshen didn’t care how clumsy the lie was; now that they had met here, there was no need for any pretense.
The Crown Prince was clearly stunned for a moment, as if he hadn’t expected him to be so shameless. He warmly took Ye Yueshen’s hand and patted it: “What breeze are you enjoying here? Why not go offer incense? You probably don’t know, this is imperial territory. If you get any closer, the archers will turn you both into hedgehogs.”
“That’s so scary?” Ye Yueshen pulled Xuedong closer to himself and said obediently, “Then Yueshen will offer incense with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.”
The two, each with their own secret intentions, walked side by side towards the temple. Xuedong leaned in to Ye Yueshen’s ear and asked, “Third Master, should I stay behind and keep watch?”
Ye Yueshen gently shook his head. There was no need to keep watch anymore.
There were very few people in the temple. Besides the two of them and the monks, there was no one else.
A monk accompanied them, introducing which Buddha was inside each door. Ye Yueshen was wearing the clothes he had left Qi Wang Manor in, while the Crown Prince was wearing a scholar’s cloth robe.
Therefore, the monk, acting very unlike a religious person, stayed by Ye Yueshen’s side, introducing everything and hardly paying any attention to the Crown Prince.
Arriving at a door, Ye Yueshen suddenly stopped and suggested to the Crown Prince, “Your Highness, you are of noble status. Why don’t you go in and offer incense first? I’ll go in after you come out.”
The monk was taken aback, spun around in place, and walked silently to the Crown Prince’s side: “Be careful of the steps.”
The Crown Prince turned back to look at Ye Yueshen, his eyes somewhat gloomy and complex. He gave a dry laugh: “Why don’t you go in and pray first, Cousin? Let’s not worry about seniority.”
Ye Yueshen should have been very certain that the Crown Prince’s arrival was due to the bait he had placed in the Yu Guang Pavilion, but the Crown Prince didn’t go there, instead heading straight for him. He wasn’t sure if the Crown Prince had really seen him at the temple or had only discovered him outside the detached courtyard.
But he was certain of one thing at that moment: the Crown Prince was very reluctant to go in and offer incense.
Ye Yueshen had never thought about whether he was a theist or an atheist, but at that moment, he really didn’t want to go in. He was afraid the incense wouldn’t light, afraid the ashes would burn his hand, and even more afraid that the gods he saw when he looked up would be different from what others saw.
So he proposed, “Why don’t we go in together?”
The Crown Prince happily agreed: “Good.”
The two closed the door, isolating the monks outside. Both the Crown Prince and Ye Yueshen were laymen when it came to offering incense, but at least the Crown Prince, as a prince, couldn’t avoid ancestral rites and other ceremonies. He taught Ye Yueshen the order in which to place the incense in the incense burner.
Ye Yueshen really didn’t understand at all, but since he was here, he learned piously, remembering every word the Crown Prince said, and asking questions to the end when he wasn’t sure.
As a result, after offering incense, the Crown Prince felt much more familiar with him, lending him a handkerchief to wipe off a bit of incense ash on his hand. Ye Yueshen returned the handkerchief to the Crown Prince and lowered his head to sniff his fingers.
Even though there was nothing on his hand, he felt the scent of incense ash lingering in his nose.
“Actually, the one imprisoned in the detached courtyard is the Third Brother.” The Crown Prince gave Ye Yueshen a bitter smile: “I begged Father Emperor to let me see him.”
Ye Yueshen was stunned. So the Crown Prince’s arrival was approved by the Emperor. He regretted not having Xuedong stay outside to keep watch a little longer.
But he shouldn’t be so unlucky as to have the guilty party arrive as soon as he left. From the time he spread the news in the Yu Guang Pavilion to when it fermented, it shouldn’t have been this fast.
“Does Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince want to reminisce about the Third Highness with me?” Ye Yueshen also smiled: “He wanted to kill me.”
The Crown Prince sighed: “I don’t know why he wanted to kill you. There’s not even any contact between you two. Could there be some past animosity?”
“I don’t know either.” Ye Yueshen pushed open the door, and the two walked into the twilight, “Maybe he’s jealous of my good looks.”
The Crown Prince was amused by his joke. Half of his face was plated with a layer of gold by the twilight. Ye Yueshen thought, he really is a hypocritical liar, not worried about Gong Yiyin at all. He’s even laughing happily at this ridiculous joke.
The yard next to the temple was an abandoned area. The Crown Prince’s attendant said that someone used to give out porridge here, and then very eloquently told them: “Now that the Emperor governs the country well and the people live and work in peace and contentment, there are no benevolent people giving out porridge here anymore.”
The Crown Prince and Ye Yueshen looked inside at the same time. Under the courtyard wall opposite them was a tree bearing strings of small red fruits. Ye Yueshen was originally curious, but remembering the fruit that poisoned Liu Qingying, he said nothing.
Instead, the Crown Prince asked, “What’s that?”
“Miao Yu tree seeds. The East Palace’s small kitchen used Miao Yu tree seeds to garnish pastries.”
“I’ll go take a look.” The Crown Prince pushed open the small door, and Ye Yueshen followed.
They crossed a patch of grass. The Miao Yu tree wasn’t tall; they could reach the seeds with their hands. Ye Yueshen tiptoed slightly, and the purple jade beads on his neck made a crisp sound as he landed.
“Zherong, the beads you’re wearing are good stuff.” The Crown Prince said, “Purple jade is something only those with status in the palace are entitled to.”
Ye Yueshen smiled and didn’t speak, tacitly acknowledging his guess. He was more than just wearing jade – he was practically decked out in things from Qi Wang Manor from head to toe.
The Miao Yu tree seeds were very small, not even as big as a fingernail. Ye Yueshen removed the stems and put a dozen Miao Yu tree seeds into his mouth at once. The taste was very unique, with a sandy, cottony texture.
He picked another string, patiently peeling them off the stems. Suddenly, he was pushed hard by the Crown Prince, and the red Miao Yu tree seeds were thrown into the air.
Ye Yueshen hid under the tree, watching Xuedong and the Crown Prince’s attendants fighting with assassins who had appeared out of nowhere.
The Crown Prince pulled him out from under the tree. Ye Yueshen rolled up his sleeves, wanting to go up and help Xuedong, but the Crown Prince grabbed his wrist: “Zherong, don’t make trouble.”
Then Ye Yueshen was pulled by the Crown Prince and ran out of the abandoned side yard. The two hid and dodged in the temple, constantly looking for a safe place.
This sudden situation of a common enemy easily closed the distance between them. Ye Yueshen and the Crown Prince naturally formed an alliance, their conversation consisting of simple phrases like, “Go this way,” “Okay, watch your step.”
The assassins behind them were relentlessly pursuing them. Ye Yueshen blamed himself for being careless, clearly suspecting that there was more than just the Third Prince behind this, yet still running to this remote place. He was indeed too impatient.
The Crown Prince was still unfamiliar with escaping pursuit, so he opened the door of a side room with great force and confidently pulled Ye Yueshen inside.
“No! They’ll be chasing in soon. We have nowhere to run. We have to get out.” Ye Yueshen said, pushing the door.
The Crown Prince pulled him back and pushed a shelf taller than a person against the door to block it. Helpless, Ye Yueshen could only go up and help.
With a brief moment of free time, the Crown Prince leaned against the shelf, trying to catch his breath. Ye Yueshen found a window and looked outside.
Before long, people caught up. The shelf they used to block the door was useless, to say the least. Ye Yueshen suspected it wouldn’t withstand even two kicks before falling apart along with the door.
Ye Yueshen wanted to escape by jumping out the window. He had been standing by the window looking out just now, also intending to use this way to escape. With one leg on the windowsill, he turned his head, wanting to call for the Crown Prince to follow.
The Crown Prince was looking at him, unsure whether he was scared stiff or exhausted, with no intention of following.
Ye Yueshen was very particular about responsibility in certain matters. For example, these assassins were targeting the two of them, so the Crown Prince, who had been implicated, deserved his responsibility.
Ye Yueshen suppressed his instinct to escape and quickly returned, pushing the Crown Prince to the side, dodging a knife that was about to slash at the Crown Prince’s shoulder.
The Crown Prince looked back and saw the knife mark that had already been embedded deeply into the wall behind him, his eyes wide with horror. Ye Yueshen, who had saved him, got up from the ground and pulled his hand forcefully.
The assassin had already pulled the knife out of the wall. Seeing that he couldn’t dodge, Ye Yueshen grabbed a feather duster at random and directly fought the assassin. The Crown Prince frowned at the sight, finding Ye Yueshen brave and decisive, but also thinking his resistance was a bit ridiculous.
When Ye Yueshen swung a feather duster over, the damage to the opponent was almost negligible, but the feather duster in Ye Yueshen’s hand broke.
Even so, he still instructed the Crown Prince, “Go out and call for help,” and then picked up the fallen door bolt to fight the assassin.
“Run!” The Crown Prince pulled Ye Yueshen behind him, kicked the assassin down, and then threw Ye Yueshen out through the window, following closely behind.
Xuedong and the Crown Prince’s attendants had already dealt with the few annoying guys there and came to join them. They breathed a sigh of relief after finding that they were not injured.
Ye Yueshen didn’t bother to say anything to the Crown Prince and ran over to examine the corpses. At this moment, he only cared about one thing: “Can I take these people away?”
The Crown Prince looked at the “people” lying scattered on the ground and nodded: “As you wish.”
Ye Yueshen was a bit exhausted. He reached out to check the breath of everyone, and then couldn’t help but sit down on the ground to rest. Xuedong drove the sedan over, and Ye Yueshen very stubbornly supported himself to stand up, not caring about moving the corpses on the ground with Xuedong.
The Crown Prince couldn’t stand it anymore, raised his hand to signal his men to help, and then pulled Ye Yueshen aside: “Save your energy, don’t you find it unlucky?”
“The unluckiest one right now is me.” Ye Yueshen dusted off his clothes. These were the clothes that Gong Xunwu had just changed for him, and he felt a little guilty for getting them dirty and wrinkled so quickly.
The Crown Prince brushed a stray strand of hair from his temple behind his ear, a gesture that could be described as intimate. Ye Yueshen subconsciously took a step back.
The Crown Prince said rather self-consciously, “Why are you avoiding me? I didn’t say you were unlucky. In that dangerous situation just now, you clearly had the chance to jump out the window and escape, but you risked your life to save me. If I were to dislike you even touching a corpse, wouldn’t I be an ungrateful person?”
Ye Yueshen didn’t say anything, but was actually thinking that you didn’t even know those people were originally trying to kill me. I just didn’t want to implicate you; if you think I risked my life to save you, then you’re thinking too much.
People and corpses couldn’t ride in the same sedan. Xuedong slowly drove the carriage in front, while the Crown Prince, Ye Yueshen, and the Crown Prince’s attendants walked towards the capital.
Ye Yueshen asked him, “Didn’t you come in a sedan?”
The Crown Prince said, “I came on horseback, but the horse was let loose by the assassins.”
“I see.” Ye Yueshen stopped talking. He was actually a bit too tired to walk. Keeping his mouth shut was in hopes of conserving a bit of energy.
As the sun set and the sky grew completely dark, Ye Yueshen couldn’t help but worry about whether his mother was already sending people everywhere to look for him. Now that everyone knew he was being chased, he didn’t know how panicked his family would be.
Ye Yueshen turned his head to look at the Crown Prince, thinking, could it be the Crown Prince who wants to kill me? But now is a good opportunity, and he doesn’t seem to have any intention of doing so. So he relaxed a lot and couldn’t help but think of Gong Xuyin.
One by one, the princes were eliminated, and the clues pointed to Gong Xuyin, but why didn’t Gong Xunwu think so?
The Crown Prince looked at the distant horizon. In the sky that had not yet been completely swallowed by darkness, a bright moon had already appeared early, standing alone in the boundless dark blue.
The Crown Prince turned his head and saw Ye Yueshen, whose facial profile didn’t have a single flaw. In the dim light, Ye Yueshen was vivid and beautiful, like a wooden statue absorbing the sun to maintain its vitality, and now he was being swallowed by the darkness.
The Crown Prince spoke in a deep voice, his tone low, as if he had just made a difficult choice after an internal struggle: “The matter of you being chased, it’s not necessarily just the Third Prince who is the mastermind.”
Ye Yueshen paused, stunned, looking at the Crown Prince in shock, not understanding why he was telling him this.
The strong premonition of about to learn a clue made Ye Yueshen unable to speak. He looked at the Crown Prince somewhat blankly, not understanding the situation, and even less understanding the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince closed his eyes, an expression and gesture of entanglement and determination. Sure enough, he said, “Since it involves the imperial family, I’ll point you in a direction.”
Ye Yueshen nodded slightly: “Your Royal Highness, please speak.”
“Yongning Junzhu, your mother, had some friendship with the deceased First Imperial Prince.” The Crown Prince suggested, “While ensuring your own safety, you can pretend to accidentally mention the First Imperial Prince to the person you suspect. If he reacts too strongly, maybe he has something to hide.”
Ye Yueshen didn’t dwell too much on the Crown Prince’s words. Instead, the Crown Prince’s expression and tone of voice kept lingering in his mind.
The First Imperial Prince was born to Concubine Xian, but was raised under the Empress after the Emperor made the decision. There wasn’t much description of the First Imperial Prince in the original book, only a slight mention when introducing Gong Xuyin, as an explanation for why Concubine Xian adopted Gong Xuyin.
When Ye Yueshen couldn’t sleep at night, he tossed and turned in bed, thinking that perhaps he should find someone he suspected and mention the First Imperial Prince. This was a test without any losses.
He felt that the basically clear logical thread was being obscured by fog again. He couldn’t help but struggle with one thing: why didn’t Gong Xunwu think that Gong Xuyin was another mastermind?
Ye Yueshen shrank back into the quilt. The bedroom door was knocked twice and then pushed open. Ye Yuanshen placed a food box on the high table next to his bed and said to him, “I met Qi Wang when I got off work. He asked me to bring you this medicinal cuisine.”
Ye Yueshen felt that a completely unreasonable guess had appeared in his mind. He began to worry about his intuition again, but this time the intensity of his intuition overshadowed his doubts about himself.