Chapter 107: CH 98

Outside the city gates, the officials from the Ministry of Rites and the imperial guards stood, welcoming the emperor. Zhong Wan drew back the curtain and took a look. He narrowed his eyes. “What could be so important that they couldn’t wait for us to enter the city first?”

Yu She lifted his gaze. “What?” 

Zhong Wan lowered the curtain. “There’s an imperial guard who carried a letter and brought it over to the royal carriage.”

A moment later, an old eunuch who served the emperor rushed over to Yu She and Zhong Wan’s horse carriage. With a pained expression on, he said, “Prince, Young Master Zhong, an extremely urgent message from Qian An. Something’s gone wrong! The former Prince Qian An, Xuan Rui… has died.”

Momentarily, the interior of the horse carriage fell silent. Yu She asked, “How did a healthy living person suddenly die?”

“Apparently he encountered a group of runaway bandits! Those fugitives often rob passing merchants. Perhaps they assumed their entourage to be that of a wealthy merchant’s, so…” He sighed. 

“What about the body?” asked Yu She. “Has it been transported back?”

“No. That desolate area is often plagued by wild beasts. When they discovered the scene, not many whole bodies were left.” The old eunuch coughed and sighed. Voice shaking, he said, “Young Master Zhong, my condolences.”

In the horse carriage, Zhong Wan didn’t say a word. A brief pause later, Yu She said, “Zhong Wan is deeply grieving. He can’t speak anymore. You can leave first.”

The old eunuch turned around and left.

In the horse carriage, Zhong Wan dipped his finger in tea and wrote on the table, “Is he testing me?”

Yu She wasn’t sure. He wrote, “We don’t have a reason to kill Xuan Rui. The fear now is that he suspects us of hiding Xuan Rui away. Act more believably later. Everything will be okay as long as the emperor doesn’t notice anything wrong.”

After Yu She wrote this, he felt a bit worried. This pamphlet had arrived at such an inopportune time. It had coincidentally appeared when they were with Emperor Chongan. Emperor Chongan was extremely suspicious. As soon as they entered the city, he was probably going to want to personally see Zhong Wan and pretend to comfort him. He and Zhong Wan both knew that Xuan Rui was currently unharmed. If Zhong Wan happened to make a wrong expression later, it was possible that the emperor could notice something.

Without waiting for Yu She to come up with a plan, Zhong Wan had already thought of a solution by himself. He remembered what Emperor Chongan had told him when he had seen the other for the first time after returning to the capital. 

Emperor Chongan had said that prior to Shi Jin’s death, he hadn’t written a word about any members of his own family on the pamphlet that originally should’ve been a way of asking for blessings for his children and grandchildren. He had only mentioned someone of a different surname, Zhong Guiyuan.

Written on the last pamphlet that Shi Jin had turned in to Emperor Chongan was, “Guiyuan encountered many difficulties in his youth. These past few years, he has suffered too much. If he acts somewhat out of line in the future, may Your Majesty be more forgiving on behalf of the fact that this child has had a hard life. Don’t let him suffer anymore.”

Mere days after the booklet got sent to the emperor, the old imperial preceptor had passed away.

And Zhong Wan, who had been far away in Qian An, had only heard the news two months later. He hadn’t even been able to make it to the old man’s last seven. 

Zhong Wan had never dared to think about this matter in too much detail. Now that he was allowing himself to carefreely think about it, the tears instantly flowed down his face.

Such a sight shocked Yu She. “Guiyuan…”

Zhong Wan smiled bitterly and waved his hands around. He had originally wanted to put on an act, but upon thinking of the old imperial preceptor kneeling for a long time outside the palace and the pamphlet he had written prior to his passing, the tears became impossible to hold back.

Zhong Wan feared that Yu She would worry, so dipped his finger in tea and wrote on the table, “These past few years, I’ve disappointed many people. In the past, I disappointed you a lot, but now I have the chance to slightly make up for it. For Teacher, though…” 

Zhong Wan paused and added, “We are separated by death. I can’t repay him at all. Thinking back now, the person I’ve disappointed the most in this lifetime is probably Old Imperial Preceptor Shi.”

Zhong Wan’s tears kept flowing, landing on the table. He honestly couldn’t keep writing anymore.

After entry into the city, all the carriages needed to follow behind Emperor Chongan to enter the palace. Many twists and turns later, they finally reached the inner palace. Emperor Chongan disembarked from his royal carriage and, as expected, truly asked about Zhong Wan.

Yu She had to help Zhong Wan out of the horse carriage. 

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Zhong Wan bowed deeply and got helped away by Yu She.

“Have the imperial doctor take a good look at you after you return to your estate.” Emperor Chongan showed concern in a manner that could be genuine or fake. He gazed at Yu She. “Ziyou, stay here first. I have things to tell you.”

Yu She kept a grip on Zhong Wan. Under the cover of his huge sleeves, he quickly wrote a “Bei” in Zhong Wan’s palm before letting go. 

Yu She followed Emperor Chongan into the resting palace. Emperor Chongan wiped off the regretful expression that he had shown to everyone else just now and slowly sat down. “Ziyou, tell me… Does something seem wrong about this situation?”

Yu She calmly said, “Naturally.”

Emperor Chongan looked at Yu She. Yu She’s voice was flat as he said, “Bandits wouldn’t necessarily kill even when they’re robbing common merchants. Now that they’re robbing a member of the royal family, though, they haven’t left any survivors? Truly courageous.

“Of course, it could also be that they didn’t know the truth at first. After acting out, it became difficult to turn back. They could only eradicate all witnesses and do their best to destroy all physical evidence. But before Xuan Rui left, Zhong Wan specially told me to send a message to the Imperial Clan Court, telling them to take good care of Xuan Rui. My people checked too. They only rested at ease upon learning that the Imperial Clan Court had truly sent enough guards for the trip,” Yu She said. “There were members of the imperial guard and servants as well. Dozens and dozens of people. Would they have been so easily killed by bandits? Then how many bandits must there have been?” 

Yu She scoffed. “A big group of bandits consisting of over a hundred people is definitely one that has achieved some fame. How many of these groups could there be along the path? All we need to do is investigate them one by one.”

Emperor Chongan observed Yu She. Upon noticing that his face carried no hint of grief, he said, “Yes, we do need to provide an explanation to Prince Qian An’s estate. Zhong Wan was from Prince Ning’s estate. Even if you don’t investigate, he’ll definitely want an explanation anyways. However…”

Emperor Chongan calmly stated, “Since Zhong Wan didn’t feel confident in having Xuan Rui travel alone, why didn’t he ask you to send people? If your people were following him, did they get killed too, or…”

Yu She laughed coldly in his heart. How terribly unfortunate. He had actually prepared for this possibility well in advance. 

“Zhong Wan did tell me to, but only to ensure that my people would send Xuan Rui out of the city. After leaving the city, my people came back.” Then Yu Zhe generously shared, “If Your Majesty doesn’t trust me, you can conduct a thorough investigation. Ask the relevant officials from the Imperial Clan Court. Ask the soldiers on guard at the city gate that day. See if I’m lying and if I was the one who killed Xuan Rui.”

Emperor Chongan burst into laughter. “Oh, child. I wasn’t suspecting you! I was only hoping that your servants were skillful enough to escape so that they could tell us what actually happened. Xuan Rui is cowardly and useless. He hasn’t made any enemies either. This situation is too strange.”

Yu She stopped speaking. Emperor Chongan muttered to himself, “But perhaps you had a few trusted subordinates who wanted to help you out. Or, they listened to private orders from Zhong Wan and secretly went? So… it’s still better to investigate.”

A hint of ridicule flashed through Yu She’s eyes. He didn’t answer. 

In an instant, Emperor Chongan ordered a palace servant to send a message ordering an investigation. He turned around and placated Yu She, saying, “Don’t think too much. I’m doing this for your own good too. In case they really find out that someone on your side acted of their own accord, I would know in advance and be able to cover up for you. Don’t just stand there. Sit. Wait with me and see what they can find.”

Two hours later, the palace servant returned. He knelt to say, “In reply to the emperor, the day the former Prince Qian An left the capital, Young Prince Yu truly did send people to follow him. However, they returned after travelling ten li away from the capital. They were all family soldiers from the side courtyard of Prince Yu’s estate. There are records of their entrance and exit from the city gates. Us servants looked into it just now and those dozen or so family soldiers have all been seen around the capital these past few days. There are witnesses too.”

Only now did Emperor Chongan finally rest at ease. He shook his head and chuckled before saying to Yu She, “See? Isn’t everything nice and clear now? In case anyone later happens to say that you did it, I can help you out.”

Yu She’s expression was as cold as ice. The palace servant feared that Emperor Chongan would be left high and dry, so hurriedly said, “Exactly! With His Majesty as a witness, nobody will dare to suspect Young Prince anymore.” 

Yu She honestly didn’t want to hear these things again. He forced the disgust down and said, “Many thanks, Emperor.”

Emperor Chongan gave the palace servant a meaningful look to order him to leave. Right now, he wasn’t worried about Yu She at all, which was why he dared to discuss with him. “Say… Is Xuan Rui really dead?”

Yu She coldly answered, “I don’t know.”

Emperor Chongan was most annoyed by Yu She when he acted so nonchalant towards him. Vexed, he asked, “So what if I investigated you? Why are you acting like this? If not for the fact that you always keep me at an arm’s length, would I suspect you?” 

Emperor Chongan’s expression had darkened too. “Ziyou, a thunderstorm and a raindrop are both blessings from Heaven. Don’t you understand?”

Yu She’s expression remained the same. He knelt. “Thank you for your mercy, Master.”

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“You!” Emperor Chongan was so angry that he kept pounding on his chest. He wanted to tell Yu She to get out, but these past few days, he had often been unable to focus. He didn’t have enough energy and was more careless. He wanted to discuss with someone else, but the people around him either couldn’t be trusted or were useless. Among all his sons, he could only rely on Yu She. “Nevermind! Stand up and speak.”

Yu She rose to his feet. After straightening out his robes, he said, “If he’s alive, we need to see him. If he’s dead, we need to see his corpse. Right now, we can’t find even a piece of his corpse. We can’t confirm if Xuan Rui is truly dead or not. To come to a conclusion, we can only investigate.” 

Emperor Chongan thought to himself, you’re only stating the obvious.

Though Yu She was the head of the Dali Temple, he had only fooled around for all these years. It was possible that he didn’t actually understand anything. Without any expectations, Emperor Chongan asked, “How?”

“Immediately send out the order to have all officials in government offices two hundred li within the scene of the incident to report by themselves how many bandit strongholds there are in the area they’re in charge of, how many people are in each bandit stronghold, and if these bandits have fled within the past month.

“Tell them very clearly that no one will be blamed for past allowances of bandits to perform robberies. However, if anyone dares to know information but not report it, withhold critical information in their report, or lie in their report, they will be killed with no exception. 

“Additionally, order all officials in government offices within three hundred li of the incident to investigate the pawn shops in their areas. Look over all the objects the pawn shop has accepted in the past month. Check if those objects contain things that nobles or officials would use. If anything is found, cross reference with the results of the bandit reports. Something will surely be revealed.

“A child of the imperial clan died halfway through his trip and everything about his death is shrouded in confusion. The officials along the way must all be held accountable. However, those officials who have aided in the investigation can have their efforts recorded into their list of achievements for this year. After the case is closed, they’ll also be promoted.”

Emperor Chongan temporarily felt lost listening to this. He stared at Yu She while blanking out.

Yu She furrowed his brows and continued to ask, “Does Your Majesty think it’s plausible?” 

Emperor Chongan came back to his wits and nodded. “Very well thought out. But what if… what if we can’t find anything even after doing all this?”

“Then that means it’s possible that Xuan Rui isn’t dead, but has been abducted by ill-intended people instead. As for why… I’m unclear.”

Emperor Chongan’s heart was racing. Recent events kept causing him to panic. He could faintly tell that things shouldn’t be so coincidental. Xuan Rui shouldn’t have suddenly been attacked by bandits at this critical time.

Emperor Chongan looked up and glanced at Yu She. As of now, his only comfort was that he was starting to believe, more and more, that Yu She wasn’t actually as absurd as he had thought. 

Emperor Chongan couldn’t help thinking, as expected, dragons birth dragons and phoenixes birth phoenixes?

This son of his, who had the hardest life, had been born to be emperor?

Emperor Chongan gazed at Yu She and thought, I have a successor. He felt slightly better in his heart, so said, “Okay, then we’ll do what you just said. Go arrange for it. I’m honestly feeling a bit uncomfortable and want to get some rest first…”

Yu She still hadn’t stood up yet when a palace servant charged in. Expression strange, he glanced at Yu She. 

Emperor Chongan had originally wanted Yu She to retreat, but he wasn’t feeling great. He knew that he didn’t have the energy to take care of anything else. Tiredly, he said, “Nevermind, just say it.”

The palace servant took two steps forward and seriously stated, “Emperor, regarding Prince Yu… Something’s wrong.”

Emperor Chongan furrowed his brows. “What’s wrong?”

The palace servant hesitated for a moment before lowly saying, “Prince Yu still refuses to admit that he organized the assassination…” 

“There are both witnesses and physical evidence. Just what have you people even been doing?” Emperor Chongan asked in outrage. “Of course he won’t admit to it! Don’t you guys have other solutions?”

“B-but…” The palace servant said in agitation, “Prince Yu is admitting to crimes, but not this one. He said that in these past few years, he really has done something that has wronged the royal family, among many other things. Now that he’s already been taken to the Imperial Clan Court, he’s willing to confess about all of them, Emperor!

Panicked, the palace servant asked, “Prince Yu, h-he, what is he about to say?”

The color immediately disappeared from Emperor Chongan’s face. 

The palace servant said in agitation, “Prince Yu hasn’t said anything yet, but the older clan relatives have already become alarmed. As of now, the Imperial Clan Court plans on inviting all the clan relatives. Prince Yu says that he has lots of witnesses and physical evidence in his possession. If anything happens to him, the truth will become known to the whole world. Emperor…”

Emperor Chongan’s hands suddenly started trembling. He fell back onto his throne.

Abruptly, Emperor Chongan thought of something. He whipped around to look at Yu She. In a whisper, he inquired, “Xuan Rui, Xuan Rui… Could it be, could it be that…”

Yu She’s expression was calm. He gently nodded. 

Emperor Chongan’s voice was hoarse as he forced out through clenched teeth, “Yu Mucheng…”

“Emperor! Emperor!” An old eunuch ran in from outside while holding a few booklets. Expression panicked, he yelled, “Emperor! Something has happened!”

Emperor Chongan couldn’t be bothered with anything else at this time. In a loss of composure, he yelled, “Get out!”

The old eunuch jumped in fright. He knelt on the ground with a plop and turned to look at Yu She while shaking. 

Yu She calmly said, “The emperor is feeling unwell. Normal matters are all to be set to the side.”

“This isn’t a normal matter.” The old eunuch’s voice was trembling. “This is a pamphlet from the Cabinet. Emperor, something has truly happened…”

Emperor Chongan had a terrible headache. “What?! What now?!”

In agitation, the old eunuch said, “Emperor, something has happened in the north! There’s chaos with the Beidi tribes. And, and…” 

“There are only so many Beidi soldiers in total!” Emperor Chongan completely lost his composure. He roared, “Either fight or retreat! Does the Ministry of War not have any plans? The Cabinet doesn’t have brains? Why are you telling me?!”

“That’s not it, Emperor.” The old eunuch sounded like he was about to cry. “Two hours ago, someone came to report that Fifth Highness has colluded with the Beidi tribes in private and desires to help the Beidi chief cross our borders! Using this as a reason, he wants to force Young Prince Yu to lead soldiers into battle and then frame Young Prince Yu for committing treason with the enemy!”

The four words “treason with the enemy” slammed into Emperor Chongan’s heart. His head instantly felt like it had been blown up.

No one was more familiar than him about this method of framing. 

Emperor Chongan listened to what the old eunuch was saying. He thought of the crimes Yu Mucheng was about to confess to. For a moment, he only felt like the world was spinning. He couldn’t even discern if the old eunuch was talking about Xuan Qiong or himself.

Agitated, the old eunuch said, “A letter written in blood that the Beidi chief sent to Fifth Highness in private has been brought over too! Though that letter is already extremely damaged, everything is written very clearly on it. Emperor, Emperor? Emperor! Someone come…”

Emperor Chongan spat out a mouthful of dark blood and fell directly off of the throne. The palace instantly exploded in a frenzy.

Palace maids, servants, imperial doctors… Innumerous people rushed past Yu She’s side, brushing shoulders with him. Yu She lowered his gaze in order to hide the pleasure in his eyes better. 

If not for the fact that he still had the clarity known as Zhong Wan saved in his heart, Yu She wouldn’t be stopping himself at all from carefreely laughing in this palace.

It wasn’t time yet. He still needed to hide the madness in his heart.

Yu She closed his eyes to enjoy the sounds of everyone’s panicked footsteps and Emperor Chongan’s terrified groans.

He knew very clearly that he himself wasn’t clean. Thus, these past seven years, he had suffered daily. 

Now, it was finally time for everyone else to get a taste of their own medicine.

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