WMSG Chapter 74
by VolareYe Yuanshen hesitated and told the truth. Ye Yueshen’s matter was hidden from the Junzhu and Marquis Ye, but Ye Lingshen kept asking and couldn’t be hidden from Ye Lingshen.
When the news was brought to Ye Yueshen, he didn’t say anything. He stayed in Jiangyun Palace for one night, and early in the morning, someone came to interrogate him, all wearing official robes and accompanied by imperial guards.
However, Gong Xunwu drove away the imperial guards, leaving only the chief judge who had to be present. Ye Yueshen answered every question, but never added an extra word if he wasn’t asked.
The chief judge could also sense that Ye Yueshen was not in good spirits, so he only asked a few basic questions before Gong Xunwu chased him away.
Ye Yueshen raised his head and saw Gong Xunwu’s face. The punch Ye Yuanshen threw was not light, and there was even some faint bruising. Shā ōu asked the imperial physician to send a hemostatic ointment, but Gong Xunwu did not apply it.
“You were beaten again because of these things.” Ye Yueshen’s voice was very soft, “Don’t blame my brother, blame it on me.”
“What is there to calculate between you and me?” Gong Xunwu’s attitude was so good that Ye Yueshen didn’t dare to talk to him too much. He said in a very reasonable tone, “It’s right for Fú Yí to hit me.”
Gong Xunwu’s expression remained unchanged, and he spoke more and more against his will: “Actually, I’m happy that he hit me. It just shows that he values you and really treats you like a younger brother. It’s nothing for me to be beaten.”
In fact, he wasn’t happy, and wondered why Ye Yuanshen dared to stand in a position closer to Ye Yueshen than he was?
However, he spoke his lies in the same tone. Ye Yueshen lowered his head, and there was another moment of silence.
In the evening, the chief judge came again with the imperial guards. This time, he first presented the imperial decree, stating that Ye Yueshen must be interrogated alone, implying that Gong Xunwu should avoid it.
Gong Xunwu refused. The maximum he could accept was to stay behind the screen without speaking or making eye contact with Ye Yueshen.
Helpless, the imperial guards only asked a few symbolic questions. Knowing that they were destined to gain nothing, they quickly left.
Before Ye Yueshen fell asleep in bed, Gong Xunwu went to bathe and wash. Shā ōu brought in a palace maid with a very high-ranking uniform with a troubled expression. Ye Yueshen had also just finished bathing, and his hair was still wet. He sat on the bed, watching the palace maid warily.
He recognized that this was a palace maid from the Empress Dowager’s side. The palace maid opened her mouth, “Young Master Yue, His Royal Highness Prince Qi is protecting you, but this approach is harmful to both of you. It’s just questioning, what fear do you have if you have a clear conscience? Just now, the Emperor was furious, and his words implied suspicion of His Royal Highness Prince Qi. If you don’t cooperate, I’m afraid that in the end, His Royal Highness Prince Qi will be falsely accused of framing the Crown Prince.”
Ye Yueshen said softly, “I am willing to cooperate.”
“You are willing, but His Highness is not willing?” The palace maid sighed.
Ye Yueshen asked her, “Then, according to the Empress Dowager’s wishes, what should I do?”
The palace maid didn’t expect him to be so sensible. She was stunned for a moment and quickly said, “Young Master Yue, please come with me. Don’t worry, once you leave Jiangyun Palace, the Empress Dowager will protect you.”
“Okay.” Ye Yueshen got out of bed, put on his clothes and a cloak. Amidst Shā ōu’s hesitant and hesitant expression, he left with the palace maid.
As the palace maid led him to the front of Zhaoyang Palace, snowflakes fell from the sky. Ye Yueshen saw palace maids wearing red silk hair ornaments and red lanterns by the door, guessing that today might be New Year’s Eve.
The palace maid said somewhat guiltily, “The Empress Dowager is also in Zhaoyang Palace, don’t be afraid.”
Ye Yueshen came back to his senses and nodded, following her inside. The original New Year’s Eve palace banquet was almost hastily concluded. The Emperor and Empress Dowager hadn’t changed out of their auspicious clothes yet, and everyone in the study looked solemn.
The Empress Dowager did not speak to Ye Yueshen. The chief judge stood solemnly next to the Emperor. No one wanted to exchange pleasantries. Ye Yueshen had just knelt down and hadn’t finished his greetings when the chief judge began to ask questions.
The questioning lasted for nearly half an hour. The chief eunuch beside the Emperor whispered in the Emperor’s ear several times, and everyone’s faces looked bad.
On the other side of the Emperor stood a silent palace servant, who seemed a little nervous. His fingers would rub together from time to time. Ye Yueshen was sometimes thinking, and his attention would be unconsciously drawn to his movements.
He noticed that the palace servant’s little fingernails were very strange. The fingernails on both of his little fingers were split in half, with no signs of injury. It looked like they had grown that way naturally.
Ye Yueshen couldn’t explain his previous life clearly. Most of the time, he could only lie: “I really don’t remember.”
But the chief judge was very skillful, and several times he made sharp turns in the questions, catching Ye Yueshen off guard and revealing flaws.
The Emperor coldly ordered the eunuch, “Forget it, let him in.”
When Gong Xunwu came in, Ye Yueshen realized that the questioning had already started, and that he seemed to have messed it up.
Because the Emperor stared at Gong Xunwu coldly for a while, and then coldly instructed him, “You are not allowed to leave the palace during the first month.”
Ye Yueshen heard the implication of confinement. It seemed that Gong Xunwu was not allowed to leave his sight until things were cleared up. The Emperor already suspected Gong Xunwu.
And Gong Xunwu didn’t disappoint the Emperor’s suspicions. He took Ye Yueshen away, and the two of them walked back on the road. The snow had already covered the ground with a layer as thick as a finger joint. Ye Yueshen followed beside Gong Xunwu, who looked very depressed, his face pale.
A palace maid passed by carrying a delicate food box, bowing and greeting them. One of them almost slipped while getting up. In her struggle to maintain balance, the food box fell to the ground, and the box and lid separated, spilling the pastries inside all over the ground.
Ye Yueshen stopped to help her. The palace maid was almost in tears. She choked and said, “It’s over, it’s over, I’m definitely going to be…” As if remembering that she couldn’t say unlucky words on New Year’s Eve, she covered her mouth.
Ye Yueshen looked at the soft, glutinous pastries on the ground for a while, and then comforted her, “You can say that I knocked over the food box. My name is Ye Yueshen, they call me Young Master Yue.”
Gong Xunwu stopped beside them. He had originally wanted to urge Ye Yueshen to go back quickly to avoid more wind and snow, but he suddenly couldn’t speak.
It was as if a crystal-clear, watery flower was blooming in his heart, and his heart became cool and clear.
He recalled a certain morning in Prince Qi’s mansion when Ye Yueshen dragged his tired body after a sleepless night and jumped into the cold pond to help Ruo Ya pick up a bracelet.
Gong Xunwu was stunned. He finally understood the strangeness about Ye Yueshen that he had never been able to decipher.
There was nothing profound about it, just straightforward and obvious kindness, and unlike the celestial nobles and palace servants he had come into contact with, Ye Yueshen possessed an otherworldly temperament.
The palace maid was taken aback, and tears of gratitude streamed down her face, but she still said kindly, “Then what about you?”
Ye Yueshen said softly, “It doesn’t matter to me. Knocking over the food box is the most inconsequential mistake on my part.”
He squatted down, and his fur-trimmed cloak spread out on the ground. Ye Yueshen straightened the food box and handed it to the palace maid: “Let’s divide these pastries.”
The palace maids were completely shocked by this approach. They looked at Ye Yueshen blankly, and then looked at each other.
Ye Yueshen thought they were afraid, so he encouraged them, “You can tell the manager that the pastries were taken away and eaten by me.”
“No, no, no… That’s not what I meant.” The palace maid was a little embarrassed. Ye Yueshen was willing to take the blame for the slippery road in the snowy weather, how could they still worry about punishment and Gu Feng Ye Yueshen’s kindness?
Several young girls generously took a pastry each. There was one left in the box, and the palace maid turned the box opening towards him, signaling him to eat one too.
Ye Yueshen took out the last pastry, then turned back and gave it to Gong Xunwu. Gong Xunwu didn’t expect to be taken care of too. He thought for a moment, but still couldn’t let Ye Yueshen eat a cold pastry, so he listened to him, took it, and ate it.
He didn’t expect Ye Yueshen to squat down, pick up a pastry covered in snow, and say something to the palace maids with a smile as quickly as lightning, then throw the pastry into his mouth and eat it.
“You…” Gong Xunwu turned Ye Yueshen’s face around. Ye Yueshen was a little afraid that he would pry the food out of his mouth, so he sped up his chewing, his cheeks bulging.
Gong Xunwu sighed helplessly: “Spit it out, be good, it’s dirty on the ground.”
Ye Yueshen swallowed it whole, then waved to the palace maids, turned back and took Gong Xunwu’s arm, as if that would make Gong Xunwu forget that he had eaten a piece of pastry that had fallen on the ground.
“Let’s go.” Ye Yueshen pushed his arm, Gong Xunwu sighed and didn’t waste any more time with him in the icy and snowy weather.
After all the commotion, it was almost midnight. Both of their hair was frozen. Ye Yueshen had washed his hair earlier, so there was less ice. Gong Xunwu’s hair was almost a clump.
The two of them sat next to the warm stove. Ye Yueshen reached out to break the ice in his hair, asking in a very soft voice: “It’s frozen hard, will it break your hair?”
“No, don’t touch it, your hands will get cold.” Gong Xunwu reached back to grab him, and Ye Yueshen rubbed his hair in the palm of his hand a few times.
Gong Xunwu suddenly stopped moving. He retracted his arm and sat obediently. Since Ye Yueshen’s identity was exposed, Ye Yueshen had been frighteningly calm, and had become more gentle towards him.
Tonight, perhaps because it was too late, both of them were at their most emotionally vulnerable. Gong Xunwu couldn’t bear to break the illusion of warmth at this moment.
“I’ve caused you trouble.” Ye Yueshen wasn’t repenting, but settling the score: “But this is actually your own fault, it doesn’t have much to do with me.”
Gong Xunwu quickly admitted: “I know, I understand.”
“Will you be okay?” Ye Yueshen asked.
Gong Xunwu denied: “No, my imperial brother is old, he can’t bear to kill his son, nor can he bear to punish him too harshly, he even wants to get by. People may be blinded by blood relatives when they get old.”
“Is there a way to make the Emperor make up his mind faster?” Ye Yueshen squatted down beside Gong Xunwu’s leg, his hand naturally resting on Gong Xunwu’s knee. Gong Xunwu sat on the chair next to the warm stove, stiffening for a moment.
He thought for a moment, tentatively placing his hand on the back of Ye Yueshen’s hand, and realizing that this was Ye Yueshen’s act of pleasing him.
Ye Yueshen didn’t hide it either, and said very honestly: “I am now ashamed to see people, and I want to leave the palace as soon as possible. Every time I see someone other than you, it reminds me that I am a fake.”
Gong Xunwu was overwhelmed by Ye Yueshen’s “exception,” feeling that he was special in Ye Yueshen’s heart.
“If you still can’t do it,” Ye Yueshen said: “I’ll give you an idea.”
He had noticed one of the assassin’s hands among the assassins captured by Yan Kui and the others at the Marquis’s residence before.
The man’s hand was very dirty, his skin was rough, and his nails were short and wide. Blood flowed from his sleeve, passing over the back of his hand and fingers, leaving a thin, dark red line that split the little finger’s nail evenly.
Ye Yueshen asked: “Who was the person next to the Emperor just now?”
Gong Xunwu recalled, “He’s an eunuch from the Noble Consort’s palace, the Crown Prince’s birth mother.”
Ye Yueshen nodded: “His little fingernails are very strange. The assassin’s fingernails that Yan Kui caught earlier were the same. Can you investigate along this line?”
Gong Xunwu paused before saying okay. In fact, he didn’t lack the means to bring down the Crown Prince. Since the death of the eldest imperial prince, he had been dormant for many years and was no longer satisfied with just bringing down the Crown Prince to avenge himself, but wanted to uproot the Noble Consort’s family’s power in the court, leaving nothing behind.
But Ye Yueshen was impatient, and he couldn’t bear to disappoint Ye Yueshen.
Yan Kui dug up the assassin that night, and soon returned to tell the Crown Prince that their fingernails were because of a “crossbow.” This crossbow relied on a string to generate power, and could fire multiple shots in succession, so fast that people couldn’t dodge.
But this “crossbow” had a drawback. Once pulled open, it would fire arrows non-stop. To temporarily stop it, you had to use your little finger to jam the mechanism. Over time, this would create a groove in the middle of the fingernail, and over time, it would even cut it in half.
Therefore, not many people used this type of crossbow. After decades, most Dàqí soldiers and Jianghu bandits had abandoned this “unstoppable” weapon. Only the Miao people used it more often.
Foreigners were not allowed to enter the palace as servants under assumed names, let alone foreigners who had practiced martial arts for a long time.
The Fourth Prince’s birth mother was a Miao dancer. Gong Xuyin understood this, which is why he didn’t compete for the throne in a high-profile manner. But it was impossible to say that he didn’t covet the throne.
Ye Yueshen’s emotions changed greatly. Last night, he could put his hand on Gong Xunwu’s knee and talk, but after one night, he was so silent that he didn’t even want to make eye contact, hanging his head like a wilted flower.
Gong Xunwu comforted him: “What you said last night was very useful. The Crown Prince will soon have no chance of turning things around, I promise.”
Ye Yueshen’s eyes moved, as if it took him a long time to understand his words, and he said to him in a slightly hoarse voice: “Thank you.”
Gong Xunwu really didn’t disappoint his expectations. The Miao assassin who had been buried for several months was dug up again and transported to the palace. The Emperor’s anger towards Gong Xunwu had accumulated to the limit, and he smashed a porcelain cup and roared at him, “It’s the first day of the new year, and the first month hasn’t even ended yet!”
Gong Xunwu disregarded everything and said: “This humble brother is afraid that it will rot clean after a long time, and also afraid that someone will notice and dig the person away first.”
Not only was the Miao assassin dug up, making it impossible for the Emperor to turn a blind eye, but he had to issue an order to ransack the Noble Consort’s palace and the Crown Prince’s East Palace.
The ransacking of the palace wasn’t over yet when news came from Mángzhōu that the barbarians were occupying the mountains and becoming bandits, growing stronger day by day. Mángzhōu requested permission to send troops to quell the rebellion. This happened at the end of the twelfth lunar month before the new year. Unexpectedly, five thousand Dàqí soldiers led out twenty thousand barbarian soldiers. Now, Mángzhōu had already started fighting.
Bad things came together. Originally, Gong Xunwu and Ye Yueshen thought that the Crown Prince’s matter would be postponed again. Unexpectedly, the Emperor was unexpectedly decisive and quickly placed the Crown Prince under house arrest in a different courtyard, a place even more remote than where the Third Prince was confined.
With the Crown Prince under house arrest, Ye Yueshen no longer had to be interrogated.
The news reached his ears late at night. He couldn’t possibly leave the palace in the middle of the night, but staying and talking to Gong Xunwu was also something he didn’t want to do much.
Out of fear of the unknown, he suffered from insomnia. Not only was he panicking about his future life, but also about the war in Mángzhōu.
Originally, this matter was supposed to happen at the end of next year. After a series of influences, like a butterfly effect, this war was brought forward.
Ye Yueshen thought of Liu Qingying. If the plot hadn’t been changed too much, Liu Qingying’s family would probably be in danger.