WMSG Chapter 70

Chapter 70: Chapter Seventy – Can’t Give the Third Prince Too Much Time to React…

Chapter 70: Chapter Seventy – Can’t Give the Third Prince Too Much Time to React…

It’s hard to say why he was so anxious, but in the heat of the moment, Ye Yueshen chose to help as if it were the most natural thing to do, without even a moment’s hesitation about whether to stand by and watch.

Yan Kui was a bit better at martial arts than Xue Dong, and he also knew the terrain here better. Soon, he found a place where they could take advantage and, together with the reluctant Xue Dong, helped Ye Yueshen climb over the courtyard wall.

Ye Lingshen stood not far away, watching them busily working, without offering to help or trying to stop them.

Before jumping down, Ye Yueshen’s gaze inadvertently swept over Ye Lingshen. Their eyes met, and for a moment, both their gazes froze, as if they were particularly unfamiliar with each other.

Rather than dwelling on the mysterious and strange feeling, rescuing Gong Xunwu was a race against time.

Ye Yueshen remembered that something similar had happened in the original book, but it was only mentioned briefly by the author, still revolving around the protagonist Gong Shengyin’s few lines of background explanation. He had encountered setbacks while fighting with the Crown Prince, which was when Gong Xunwu, as his behind-the-scenes golden finger, inexplicably had a fierce quarrel with the Emperor.

The Emperor even slapped Gong Xunwu, followed by a terrifying house arrest. In the original book, this episode served mainly to showcase the protagonist Gong Shengyin’s ability to adapt.

In winter, there was no lush foliage to conceal their movements, only withered branches covered in frost. At a glance, they were useless. Anyone standing there could see everything clearly, but the colors were different from the attire worn by the servants in the detached palace, making it easy to spot intruders from outside.

Ye Yueshen and Yan Kui quietly walked along the base of the wall. On the cautious journey, Ye Yueshen suddenly felt a little dazed. Why was he worried about Gong Xunwu?

Perhaps because the Crown Prince was their common enemy, Ye Yueshen quickly found a justification for himself: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” This argument was so reasonable that it had no flaws.

They saw the Third Prince in a side room of the detached palace. They had originally gone to the main room first, but it was empty and clean, not like a place where anyone lived.

Then, Ye Yueshen waited in a relatively hidden corner while Yan Kui carefully went out to search. After finding the person, he came back to lead Ye Yueshen.

Yan Kui had always treated Ye Yueshen with a mentality of coaxing a child. As the most knowledgeable person about Gong Xunwu, Sha Ou had conveyed to him the meaning that His Highness valued Yue Gongzi.

But Yan Kui knew very little about Ye Yueshen, and he interpreted Sha Ou’s “valuing” as the most superficial desire. From an appearance point of view, Ye Yueshen was indeed enough to be most people’s itching and unbearable dream.

He had brought Ye Yueshen into the detached palace, but he was not confident, until Sha Ou told him to find Ye Yueshen. It wasn’t until then that he understood a little of the weight of the word “valuing”: Ye Yueshen actually dared to do something that could cost him his head for Gong Xunwu.

When Ye Yueshen saw the Third Prince again, he was genuinely shocked. The Third Prince looked as if he had been drained of his energy by a demon, and his whole body was skin and bones.

He was sitting on a futon, tearing apart a tightly wrapped cabbage. The cabbage grew very tightly, a variety that could be stored well in winter, but the tender yellow color was not as vibrant as emerald green in the first place.

Ye Yueshen was almost afraid to approach him, but remembering his purpose in coming here, he leaned close to Yan Kui’s ear and said a few words, then mustered his courage and walked up, calling him softly, “Third Highness.”

The Third Prince’s movements didn’t stop. Ye Yueshen thought for a moment and changed his address, calling him, “Gong Yiyin.”

This was an address he didn’t often hear. After a while, he finally raised his head, as if he had just reacted, and when he met Ye Yueshen’s gaze, Ye Yueshen suddenly found it a little difficult to speak.

Gong Yiyin’s eyes were now like a stagnant pool of water. Imprisonment for him was like a sharp sword hanging over his head. The days of getting out were far away. Perhaps he would have to wait until his father, the Emperor, was in his twilight years and thought of their kinship before he would show leniency, or perhaps he would have to wait until the new Emperor ascended the throne and needed to use him to play the role of brotherly harmony.

But if Gong Shengyin ascended the throne, dying of old age in the detached palace would be his best outcome. If the Crown Prince ascended the throne…

Gong Yiyin most hoped that the Fourth Prince, Gong Xuyin, could ascend the throne. He was the most shrewd and calculating person in his heart, and a guy without true feelings was indeed the most likely person to let him out, because Gong Xuyin’s hypocrisy would need to use him to act out compassion.

“Are you also under house arrest?” Gong Yiyin asked him, “Did the Ninth Imperial Uncle not want you anymore?”

Ye Yueshen was actually a little scared. There was a debt of human life between them, and he was afraid that Gong Yiyin would suddenly start fighting with him.

Now, Gong Yiyin was so thin and sickly that Ye Yueshen could knock him down with one punch, but Ye Yueshen had not come here to fight.

In the empty room, with the small windows, Ye Yueshen took a deep breath. The person and the scene in front of him made him feel depressed.

Ye Yueshen: “I’m here to make a deal with you.”

“I don’t make deals.” Gong Yiyin looked at Ye Yueshen. There was a sudden flash of light in his eyes. In fact, he needed a deal too much. The days of imprisonment made him feel like he was living worse than dead.

“It wasn’t me who let you into the detached palace.” Ye Yueshen turned his gaze away. “We are not enemies.”

The mental energy that had already been consumed in this environment began to gather with Ye Yueshen’s appearance. Gong Yiyin stared straight at Ye Yueshen, pretending to be confused and saying, “The Emperor is the monarch of a country. I won’t resent the Emperor’s decision.”

Ye Yueshen narrowed his eyes: “Gong Yiyin, there’s no one else here right now, so why don’t you stop pretending?”

Gong Yiyin didn’t say anything, just looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

In fact, what Ye Yueshen was about to say was very risky, but the Emperor was angry because of Gong Xunwu’s unauthorized actions. If they couldn’t find some evidence of the Crown Prince’s past crimes, then Gong Xunwu might really suffer the punishment of house arrest, just like in the original book’s plot.

Although, according to the Emperor’s tolerance for Gong Xunwu, and with the Empress Dowager, his mother, mediating in between, he would be released sooner or later.

But Ye Yueshen had bad associations, presumably Gong Shengyin had already seen the strangeness between him and Gong Xunwu at the palace banquet. It wasn’t that Ye Yueshen was narcissistic, but he was afraid that Gong Shengyin would take advantage of the situation because he was wary of Gong Xunwu.

Ye Yueshen believed in Gong Xunwu’s status and means, but he didn’t dare to bet on the protagonist’s luck with his “belief,” so he had to take a risk at this moment.

“Since that’s the case, then I’ll say it.” Ye Yueshen sat down on a slightly higher chair next to him: “The day I offended the Fourth Prince for the Fifth Prince, it was your servant who led me to see the winter jasmine, so I was able to witness the struggle between the princes.”

Gong Yiyin still wouldn’t budge: “You took your father’s spanking paddle because you shouldn’t have known about the royal scandal. You’re too young, otherwise you should have pretended that you didn’t see anything.”

“You’re smarter than me on this kind of thing.” Ye Yueshen looked at him coldly.

Gong Yiyin trembled all over, unsure if what he said was what he understood it to mean.

Ye Yueshen relaxed slightly when he saw his reaction. He looked at Gong Yiyin: “You were born into the royal family, so you know the rules of survival in the royal family better than I do. So you didn’t say anything.”

“What do you mean?” Gong Yiyin had become a little frightened, and he was sweating nervously.

Ye Yueshen opened his mouth coldly, his tone very calm: “Your servant bumped into the Crown Prince having an affair with someone. In his panic, he alarmed the Crown Prince. When he ran away, he encountered me, the unlucky scapegoat. He originally just wanted me to be discovered by the Crown Prince, so the Crown Prince would suspect that I saw him having an affair, and he would no longer investigate and find him.”

Gong Yiyin could no longer make a sound. From the moment he learned of this secret, he had made countless guesses, and even dreamed that he had used the secret to bring down the Crown Prince, and the Emperor had rewarded him and given him the position of Crown Prince according to seniority.

He had developed the ambition to seize power because of this secret, but he became timid and guilty when he saw the Crown Prince.

He fantasized about revealing the secret at some point in the future, but the current fear was the reality of his limited scheming.

He didn’t have the ability to seize power, so the secret became the shackles he carried on his back, which he couldn’t forget or shake off. When he was imprisoned in the detached palace, he had a sense of finality: he no longer had to struggle.

Ye Yueshen paused and said, “The reason why your servant was so panicked was that the person having an affair with the Crown Prince was none other than…”

His memory returned to that day in the cellar of the Ye family, when Gong Xunwu told him that he smelled a familiar incense, and then Gong Xunwu took him and the little princess to the palaces of the Consort Gui and Shunpin.

Then there was the palace banquet. He looked at Gong Xunwu, who stood indifferently next to Consort Yu, asking the seemingly frivolous question with particular seriousness: “What incense does Consort Yu use?”

Gong Yiyin’s eyes widened, and he looked away from Ye Yueshen, as if he was lost in thought, muttering to himself, “Consort Yu.”

Gong Yiyin was not at all surprised to hear these three words. He lowered his head, picked up all the cabbage scraps on his body and threw them on the ground. He slowly stood up and asked Ye Yueshen, “Tell me about your deal.”

“I want you to go with me to the Emperor and accuse the Crown Prince of having an illicit relationship with Consort Yu.”

As soon as Ye Yueshen finished speaking, Gong Yiyin couldn’t help but laugh loudly. He laughed so hard that he bent over, supporting his knees with both hands. Compared to his current skeletal face, his appearance was simply terrifying.

“Zherong.” Gong Yiyin’s attitude suddenly improved, and he even became a little earnest: “Didn’t I just tell you to pretend that you didn’t see the royal scandal, otherwise you would take your father’s spanking paddle?”

Ye Yueshen also reluctantly curled the corners of his lips: “It’s just a spanking paddle.”

Gong Yiyin raised an eyebrow: “What if it’s the Emperor’s spanking paddle? What if he kills you to silence you?”

Ye Yueshen didn’t care: “Haven’t I always been killed to silence you?”

“You…” Gong Yiyin stared at him blankly for a long time before saying, “A person like you is actually truly in love with Qi Wang…”

Ye Yueshen subconsciously retorted: “What’s wrong with a person like me?”

“Zherong, Qi Wang has deeper roots than you imagine. He doesn’t need you to save him.” Gong Yiyin spoke sincerely: “Even if you do nothing, Qi Wang will at most be imprisoned for a few days and take a few slaps from the Emperor. But if you go to accuse him, your ending will be unpredictable.”

Ye Yueshen thought of the plot of the original book again and said perfunctorily, “Just treat me as being sentimental.”

But in his heart, he had already regarded this matter as a result. Once this matter was over, he would never see Gong Xunwu again. Once the Crown Prince was overthrown, no one would kill him.

If the Emperor blamed him, he would take a few spanking paddles once and for all. It would be best if the Emperor sent someone to be his close attendant, following him every step of the way.

As long as it wasn’t a death sentence, then every day after that would be free for him. Freedom was his hope for survival, not an endless and fruitless entanglement with an old man.

As for being sentimental, Ye Yueshen didn’t admit it in his heart.

Gong Yiyin pondered: “What can I get?”

“You can get out of here.” Ye Yueshen said very confidently. In fact, this was just his guess. If he helped Gong Xunwu, Gong Xunwu would naturally give Gong Yiyin something in return. To get him out of here, it shouldn’t be difficult for Qi Wang, who was so powerful that he could support a prince.

But his tone was as if he had already received Gong Xunwu’s guarantee, and Gong Yiyin actually believed him based on his word alone.

Gong Yiyin opened his mouth, just about to say something, when Ye Yueshen suddenly pulled him behind the screen, lifted the wooden lid of a large box, and climbed in first, then used his mouth to silently tell Gong Yiyin to come in as well.

Fortunately, the box was empty. The personal belongings that Gong Yiyin brought with him didn’t even fill up the box that was originally here.

He stared out from the crack in the box with a puzzled expression and saw a person appearing with a broadsword, searching around in the room. Gong Yiyin’s heart was about to jump out of his throat: someone was going to kill him!

They didn’t come out until almost a quarter of an hour had passed. The assassin didn’t find him and left, perhaps going to another courtyard.

Ye Yueshen’s face was a little pale from being suffocated in the box for a long time, looking as if he was scared. He looked at Gong Yiyin: “You’ve been living such a frightened life all the time. What reason do you have for not making a deal with me?”

Gong Yiyin was also guided by him and felt aggrieved, as if he really had assassins breaking into his place hundreds of times every day.

In fact, this place was heavily guarded. Unless you were a master of martial arts, it would be difficult to break in without anyone noticing.

Gong Yiyin almost trembled: “I didn’t say anything in front of the Emperor… If I really wanted to accuse him, I would have done it a long time ago. The Crown Prince is my own second brother… How could he… how could he be so ruthless…”

“Third Highness, I will immediately enter the palace to meet the Emperor. It shouldn’t be long before the Emperor sends someone to pick you up and bring you back to the palace to testify.” Ye Yueshen patted the box: “You should hide well first.”

Ye Yueshen walked to the window where he had come in. Yan Kui was waiting nearby and quickly helped him climb out. The two of them walked and stopped, and finally after getting out, Yan Kui claimed credit with him: “Yue Gongzi, was my assassin good or not?”

“Good.” Ye Yueshen praised him perfunctorily, and then said, “We have to go back quickly. It’s best if we can get the Emperor to issue an edict to summon the Third Prince today. We can’t give the Third Prince too much time to react.”