Chapter 20: CH 18

Zhong Wan’s pupils imperceptibly trembled. His face paled. He struggled forcefully and shouted with anger, “What did you do to Lin Si?”

Yu She: “…” 

Zhong Wan fought to turn around. “He’s a mute, so why must you make things so difficult for him?! Where are you keeping him?! How is he now?”

Yu She shook with Zhong Wan’s motions. Consequently, he tightened his grasp on Zhong Wan’s arm.

Yu She looked at Zhong Wan speechlessly before slowly saying, “In this moment, I actually somewhat pity you.”

Zhong Wan didn’t understand. He furrowed his eyebrows and lowly interrogated, “How did you torture him?!” 

Yu She took a deep breath. “If I were to say I didn’t even touch a hair on his head, would you believe me?”

Zhong Wan directly stated, “No!”

Yu She’s expression was conflicted. “As such, I pity you even more now.”

Zhong Wan was bewildered. “Why do you say that? What… actually happened?” 

“Though you won’t believe me, I still need to defend myself.” Yu She let go of Zhong Wan and turned around to sit down. “I did capture him, but after less than two hours, he left in the same condition he had arrived in. I didn’t hurt a hair on his head.”

Zhong Wan looked at Yu She, alert. “In those two hours, what did you do to him? You didn’t torture him, so you threatened him? What did you threaten him with?! Did you use me to threaten him?!”

“Stop talking, stop talking…” Yu She couldn’t take this anymore. He interrupted Zhong Wan and gazed sympathetically at him. “The more agitated you are, the more pitiful I feel.”

Zhong Wan was completely lost. 

Yu She lowered his head to take a sip of his tea. A long time later, he finally said, “I didn’t threaten him. I asked, he answered. That’s all that happened.”

Zhong Wan refused to believe this.

Yu She chuckled. “Well I have nothing else to offer. I said the truth but you won’t believe me. When you get back, ask him yourself.”

He naturally would. 

After leaving this place, Zhong Wan definitely needed to first confirm that Lin Si was completely safe before he could relax.

Yu She raised an eyebrow and gazed at Zhong Wan. He stated with amusement, “Honestly, he answered so easily. At first, I suspected that your mute dog had lied to me. But seeing your reaction… it must be real.”

Zhong Wan finally remembered to feel embarrassed. He tried his best to maintain a dark expression as he lowly answered, “It has been a long time since that was my name.”

“Princess Consort Ning died. Naturally, no one called you by your childhood name anymore,” Yu She explained kindly. “But if you feel nostalgic, I can call you by this name from now on…” 

Zhong Wan’s ears flushed red. “There’s no need for Young Prince Yu to be so concerned!”

Yu She laughed to himself for a long time.

Zhong Wan looked at Yu She, expression guarded. He asked, “Young Prince Yu has tricked me here with such difficulty only to tease me about my childhood name?”

Yu She didn’t bother hiding anything. He confidently confessed, “Yes.” 

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But he couldn’t expose Xuan Jing like this. Zhong Wan and Xuan Jing could be considered old friends. Besides, there was still a Lin Si trapped in between them.

Zhong Wan decided to push the blame onto Xuan Qiong.

“Heir…” Zhong Wan started with a careful tone, “A few days ago, I discovered a secret regarding the imperial family in Fifth Prince’s estate.”

Yu She lifted his gaze. “Xuan Qiong?” 

Zhong Wan nodded. “It was related to Heir.”

The amusement on Yu She’s face lessened. “What secret?”

Zhong Wan secretly wiped away his sweat and lowered his head to say, “Something relating to Heir’s background.”

The amusement on Yu She’s face completely disappeared. He set his teacup down and said, “Get out.” 

He had already warned Yu She about what needed to be warned. Yu She was very smart. He didn’t need to say anything else; as long as he brought up the topic of background, Yu She would naturally become cautious and act more guarded towards Xuan Qiong.

Zhong Wan had achieved his goal. He turned around to leave.

Yu She suddenly shouted, “Stop right there!”

Zhong Wan stopped. 

Yu She dug his fingers into the arms of his mahogany chair, as if he was struggling to hold something back. After a pause, he finally asked, “What do you know already?”

Zhong Wan thought to himself, Shouldn’t you be asking what Xuan Qiong already knows?

Zhong Wan wasn’t sure what Yu She was actually afraid of. He avoided the important parts and picked the trivial points to speak about. “According to the news I’ve received from Fifth Prince’s estate… Heir might not be the son of Princess Royal Anguo.”

Yu She smiled disdainfully. His eyes were stormy. 

Zhong Wan was scared that Yu She would view this issue too lightly. After pondering some more, he continued, “I fear that Fifth Prince may suspect… Heir to be the illegitimate son of the emperor.”

“Such groundless rumors have existed since I was a child.” Yu She was unbothered. “Xuan Qiong and his mother have always been worried about this. I’ve known for a while.”

Zhong Wan truly couldn’t understand Yu She anymore. “So you aren’t worried at all? After Third Prince dies, do you think Xuan Jing and Xuan Qiong will fight between themselves first, or come to a temporary truce to get rid of you first?”

“That depends on what conclusion Xuan Jing comes to,” Yu She answered without even thinking about the question. “Prince Yu’s estate stands behind both me and Xuan Qiong. If Xuan Jing chooses to get rid of me first, the power of the entirety of Prince Yu’s estate will become Xuan Qiong’s. In the future, when they must fight each other one to one, Xuan Jing won’t benefit at all. But if he gets rid of Xuan Qiong first…” 

Zhong Wan continued, “You definitely won’t work with him. The only advantage Xuan Jing has is the fact that he’s the ‘older’ of the two. But there’s only a very slight possibility he could win against Xuan Qiong.”

“Smart.” Yu She knocked against the table. “So right now, the one stuck between a rock and a hard place is Xuan Jing. Why should I worry?”

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Zhong Wan furrowed his brows. “What if he really does work with Xuan Qiong?!”

Yu She very directly replied, “Then let them come for me. I don’t mind.” 

Zhong Wan very agitatedly asked, “You’re this confident that the emperor can keep you alive?”

“Of course not,” Yu She laughed. “What I mean by not minding is not that I don’t mind what they do, but that I don’t mind whether or not I die.”

Zhong Wan was furious. This person…

“I’m just a madman.” Yu She gazed at Zhong Wan joyfully. “Didn’t you already know?” 

Zhong Wan’s ears were ringing. He very difficultly got out, “Heir… is your life… truly your own?”

The curve of Yu She’s lips didn’t extend to his eyes. He stared at Zhong Wan and asked in response, “Who else would it belong to? You?”

Since that terrible sickness, Zhong Wan would experience heart palpitations once he became too angry. He didn’t look so great, but still stated, “Our bodies, our hair, our skin, are all given to us by our parents…”

Yu She burst into laughter. 

Zhong Wan calmed himself down. “Since you’re saying this, does that mean you already know about your own background? You…”

“I was only analyzing things according to your thoughts.” Yu She refused to fall into his trap. “You already believe that I am the illegitimate son of the emperor, right?”

Zhong Wan shook his head. “I’m not entirely sure, but I somehow feel that… you already know the truth.”

Yu She nodded. “Naturally.” 

Without waiting for Zhong Wan to respond, Yu She added on, “But I won’t tell you.”

Zhong Wan had originally wanted to find a chance to convince Yu She into letting him stay in the capital. But now, it seemed that Yu She’s guard was still up. Besides, the trust between the two of them had long since disappeared. Suddenly asking would only make Yu She believe that he had other intentions.

He could only set this issue aside and think of another plan.

Zhong Wan lowered his head. “Of course.” 

“Though I don’t know for whom you did it, since you have been so kind as to warn me, I will tell you something too.” Yu She knocked against the surface of the table. “If things go according to my expectations… in the near future, there will be some rumors about ghosts and gods. Someone wants to borrow this to cause a commotion. You can tell that mute dog and have him persuade Xuan Jing to lie low and avoid causing trouble for a few days. Otherwise… he won’t have the chance to fight with anyone else and will become someone’s sacrificial offering first.”

Yu She seemed to not want to say anything more. He waved his hand. “Our conversation ends here. Leave now.”

Zhong Wan turned around and left.

As Yu She predicted, not even two days had passed when multiple rumors engulfed the capital. 

Zhong Wan sat with Lin Si inside the study of Prince Qian An’s estate. One wrote while the other gesticulated. All was silent.

Lin Si gestured, “As expected, someone looked into those old events of the past. They brought up what the oracle said that year, that the current emperor’s throne comes from dishonest methods so he won’t be able to keep a single prince alive.”

Lin Si very worriedly added in sign language, “They also say that the next one to meet his fate will definitely be the fourth prince.”

Zhong Wan wrote, “What did Xuan Jing say?” 

A sigh, and Lin Si signalled, “He throws tantrums every day, saying that he wants to find the source of the rumors at all costs, that he wants to kill that person to set an example. I tried to talk sense into him, but… he won’t listen.”

Zhong Wan wrote, “Two birds, one stone.”

If Xuan Jing acted like this was nothing and didn’t become more cautious, him being plotted against by someone else would be considered the condemnation of the gods. Nobody would be able to clearly identify anything. If he overly cared about it and was in a rush to find the culprit, he would be admitting through his actions that the rumor about “the throne coming from dishonest methods” was true. This would be breaking Emperor Chongan’s taboo.

Zhong Wan brows were knit tightly together. Yu She had hit the nail on the head. Right now, the one stuck between a rock and a hard place truly was Xuan Jing. 

Lin Si was a bit anxious. He signed, “What to do?”

“He definitely can’t look into this matter,” Zhong Wan lowly said. “Right now, the only one who can protect him is the emperor. If he offends the emperor, he won’t have a chance at becoming the crown prince.”

Zhong Wan lifted his gaze to look at Lin Si. “Doesn’t he listen to you? Keep him in line.”

Lin Si laughed bitterly and gestured, “He won’t listen regarding these matters. Since returning from Third Prince’s estate, Xuan Jing has been constantly outraged. He personally wrote Young Prince Yu and Fifth Prince’s names onto a pile of paper, found over a hundred pieces of pottery, glued them all on, then found a stick this big!” 

Lin Si used his hands to make a shape about the size of a bowl. Zhong Wan was shocked. “To do what?”

Lin Si signed, “He shouted once and swung that stick at the pottery. Then he shouted again and swung it at a different article of pottery. Rinse and repeat…”

Zhong Wan remained silent for a long time. He asked, “After destroying all of them, did he feel better?”

Lin Si shook his head and gesticulated, “No, because later on, he got too into the rhythm of things and accidentally broke a nine-ringed glass cup that the emperor had gifted him. That glass cup was extremely valuable. Previously, when the emperor visited his estate, he had specially checked on it. Fourth Prince was scared that the emperor would ask about it in the future and felt great remorse. While he continued cursing Fifth Prince and Young Prince Yu, he also picked up the pieces of the glass cup. In total there were… several hundred fragments? They were mixed in with the other ceramic pieces. It was like finding a needle in a haystack. When I left to come here, he was still separating them out.” 

Zhong Wan had a headache. “In the past, he was only lacking in talent. How come his brain has stopped working now too? He’s like this but still has the face to fight for the position of crown prince?”

Lin Si sighed and gestured, “Does Master have anything else to say? If not, I’ll head back now and help him pick out the glass fragments.”

Zhong Wan nodded. “You can go.”

Lin Si suddenly recalled something else. He signed, “Master, Young Prince Yu is so wary of others mentioning his background. Will he allow you to stay by his side? If not… you should just return to Qian An.” 

“No,” Zhong Wan replied without thought. “He naturally doesn’t trust me anymore, but I can’t just not care about him… Ey, whatever. At most I’ll just get humiliated by him a few times. What else can he do?”

Lin Si thought to himself, According to Yu She’s current unstable temperament, things probably wouldn’t be as simple as “getting humiliated a few times.”

But Lin Si had never been able to change Zhong Wan’s mind on things the other had already decided on. He sighed and turned around to leave.

“Wait,” Zhong Wan suddenly said. “There’s another important matter I need to ask you about.” 

Lin Si stared at Zhong Wan seriously.

Zhong Wan very solemnly asked, “A few days ago, did Young Prince Yu capture you to ask about my childhood name?”

Lin Si was furious. He signed, “Young Prince Yu is so rude and unreasonable! When he asked about Master’s childhood name, I was going to answer on the spot! But as soon as he caught me, he had someone hold me down. I’m mute so obviously couldn’t use my mouth to answer. I had to suffer so long for nothing.”

Zhong Wan thought of the scene where he had harshly asked Yu She whether or not the other had tortured Lin Si. His gaze became desolate. 

Zhong Wan weakly waved his hand. “You’ve been extremely wronged… you may leave.”

Lin Si simply kowtowed and left.

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