WMSG Chapter 69
by VolareChapter 69: His Majesty is Furious and Wants to Imprison His Highness…
The vicinity of the detached palace remained as silent as an abandoned wasteland, yet they were all aware that guards patrolled within several li around them.
Xue Dong quickly figured out the frequency of the guards’ shift changes and approached the detached palace with great speed. They paused behind a well-concealed pile of rubble to rest.
Ye Lingshen found this behavior perplexing. “Why are we here? Do you think we can see the Third Prince just by getting past the guards? Is he just standing outside the wall?”
Ye Yueshen rummaged around his waist for a moment before opening his palm to show Ye Lingshen; it was the jade token Gong Xunwu had given him.
He had tried to return the jade to Gong Xunwu several times, whether handing it back directly or quietly leaving it at the Qi Wang Manor or the Jiangyun Palace. Yet, it always reappeared on him when he left, as if it were growing on him.
He smiled wryly at the token. Last night, he had placed the token under the mattress during one of his awakenings, but he hadn’t expected it to be on him now. He had no idea when Gong Xunwu had put it there.
“What does this mean?” Ye Lingshen asked him.
Ye Yueshen said daringly, “I want to use this token to get in. Do you think it’s possible?”
Xue Dong clutched his head, stared at Ye Yueshen in astonishment for a moment, and then turned away wordlessly, having given up trying to dissuade him.
Ye Lingshen was stunned for a moment, then chuckled and reached out to poke Ye Yueshen’s forehead. “What’s going on in that head of yours all day?”
“Thinking about staying alive,” Ye Yueshen said earnestly. “I can’t bear to part with the good life I have now.”
If Gong Xunwu didn’t bother him, his life would be perfect; he had a mother and brothers, and everyone cared for and loved him.
Ye Lingshen disagreed. “You’re like a gust of wind and a shower of rain. Yesterday, you were complaining that we didn’t understand your ideals and ambitions, and today you’re acting like you treasure us.”
Ye Lingshen patted Xue Dong’s shoulder. “Xue Dong, do you think someone can really change so much, suddenly know what’s good for them?”
Xue Dong turned around and chimed in, “That’s right, Second Master. Our Third Master is like a different person. Could it be that he’s been eaten by a monster, and the person in front of us is a transformed demon?”
Two people from different times and worlds with no intersection could hardly be too similar. Since arriving in this world, Ye Yueshen had heard many comments about the changes in his temperament, so he just nonchalantly brushed them off, “Yes, I’m a demon in disguise.”
Xue Dong and Ye Lingshen suddenly looked in the same direction. They pulled Ye Yueshen down, gesturing for him to be silent and crouch down.
Before long, Ye Yueshen heard approaching footsteps. He assumed the guards had discovered them, but soon Xue Dong and Ye Lingshen also realized that there was no point in hiding any longer; the footsteps were headed straight for them.
Ye Lingshen stood up first, and the footsteps stopped. Ye Yueshen also stood up. The person who had come was not a guard, but Yan Kui from the Qi Wang Manor.
Yan Kui was slightly out of breath. He gave Ye Yueshen a hurried bow. “Young Master Yue, His Highness Qi Wang is currently in Zhaoyang Palace. His Majesty is furious and wants to imprison His Highness in the dungeon. Master Mo is currently not in the capital. Now that things have come to this, Sha Ou has sent me to find Young Master Yue.”
The news Yan Kui received also came from Sha Ou. He didn’t know much and could only tell Ye Yueshen a little.
This morning, the Consort, the Crown Prince’s birth mother, brought an old Imperial Physician who had already retired to his hometown to see the Emperor. The old Imperial Physician claimed that Gong Xunwu had found him and forced him to say that the First Prince had died of poisoning.
Before the Emperor could react, the Consort knelt on the ground with a thud, crying that Gong Xunwu had been trying to link the death of the First Prince to the Crown Prince and begging the Emperor to do justice for her and her son.
The Emperor trembled with anger and rebuked her for being absurd.
But the Consort had come prepared, with reasonable and sincere arguments, acting entirely like a loving mother who was anxious for her son.
“If I had known about this at any other time, I would have kept it to myself. But now that the Crown Prince has made a mistake and is under house arrest, I fear that some people will not let go of this opportunity. Your Majesty, he is the child I raised myself. I would rather suffer in the Crown Prince’s place, but this is not within my control. I beg Your Majesty to do justice for me and the Crown Prince!”
The death of the First Imperial Prince was a pain that the Emperor and Empress could not let go of, but it was Gong Xunwu who had insisted on investigating the cause of death.
After the First Imperial Prince died, the Second Imperial Prince, Gong Ruiyin, became the eldest Imperial Prince and was soon named Crown Prince.
Many people suspected that the death of the First Imperial Prince was related to the Crown Prince, and Gong Xunwu thought so too, but he never said it.
The Empress had mentioned it with a deathly pale face. The Emperor could not blame a mother who had just lost her son for not being calm and dignified, but he was indeed provoked into a rebellious mood and subconsciously did not think it was the Crown Prince’s fault.
In the summer when the Crown Prince died, the Emperor traveled south incognito, taking his second and fourth sons with him. Naturally, the eldest son had to stay in the palace to temporarily take on important responsibilities.
One day, the Crown Prince was covered in red rashes, his entire face swollen beyond recognition. The fever lasted for a day and a night. When his body and spirit were extremely weak, the Crown Prince choked and begged the Emperor, “Father, let’s go back to the capital. Your son is going to die.”
As a father, he felt sorry for his son, but as an Emperor, he could not tolerate raising a pretentious and weak good-for-nothing. So, the Emperor flew into a rage and scolded the Crown Prince. In the end, the Crown Prince’s condition worsened in his grievances. The Emperor saw all of this.
Half a month later, an urgent secret letter arrived from the capital, stating that the First Imperial Prince had died ten days earlier.
The Crown Prince had mentioned returning to the capital before the First Imperial Prince died. If he really wanted to kill the First Imperial Prince, why would he want to return to the capital himself? The Emperor remembered this point, and with no evidence pointing to the Crown Prince, he firmly sided with the Crown Prince in his heart.
The Emperor and Empress grew estranged as a result. Except for necessary occasions, they hardly ever met.
Under these circumstances, the Emperor accepted the cause of death pointed to by the evidence: accidental consumption of stale rice on the farm, at least on the surface.
Yan Kui only told Ye Yueshen vaguely, “His Highness is secretly investigating the case of the First Imperial Prince. This matter is intolerable to the Emperor. Young Master Yue, the person in charge said that if evidence can be found now, His Highness will be fine.”
Ye Lingshen was not having it. “Your person in charge’s brain has been kicked by a donkey. The First Imperial Prince died over ten years ago. Qi Wang hasn’t found out who killed the First Imperial Prince in ten years, and you want my eighteen-year-old brother to investigate? And rush to save your Highness?”
Yan Kui was also unsure, but that was indeed what Sha Ou had told him to say.
“Even if my brother can really investigate, why should he save the person who bullied him?” Ye Lingshen angrily shoved Yan Kui. “Go back and tell your person in charge, ‘Blood is thicker than water.’ Who doesn’t know that Qi Wang is the Emperor’s brother from the same mother? We outsiders can’t get involved and end up pleasing no one. Tell your person in charge to throw away his brain and fill his skull with tofu, you stupid thing.”
“Serving the Emperor is like serving a tiger…” Yan Kui didn’t even know what he was doing. He hadn’t expected Ye Yueshen’s second brother to be there. Sha Ou hadn’t foreseen this either.
Looking at Ye Yueshen again, he was looking down, seemingly thinking about something, unconsciously pinching his palm with his fingernails.
“It’s not about investigating the First Imperial Prince’s affairs,” Ye Yueshen raised his head. “It’s another matter. Yan Kui, help me get into the detached palace, quickly!”