Chapter 89: CH 80

Xuan Qiong had already been placed under house arrest in the palace for a whole five days.

Imperial Consort Yu was impossibly in a panic. 

Five days ago, Yu She had made a trip into the palace. He had said something unknown to Emperor Chongan; as soon as he left, Emperor Chongan immediately summoned Xuan Qiong. He ordered everyone else away and kept the doors to the courtroom tightly closed. In less than an hour, Emperor Chongan had ordered for Xuan Qiong to be kept under house arrest in the palace. Nobody was allowed to visit him.

Imperial Consort Yu had been so scared that she had lost half of her wits. Before she could manage to send a message to Prince Yu, Emperor Chongan issued another decree, admitting Yu She back into the imperial family with great fanfare.

Imperial Consort Yu had passed out on the spot.

These past few days, time passed excruciatingly slowly for Imperial Consort Yu. 

Though the emperor hadn’t placed her under house arrest, he had ordered a palace servant to send her a message. The message had been worded nicely, saying that Xuan Qiong had been rude and disrespectful. Getting placed under house arrest was just a small punishment for him. There wouldn’t be any further punishment. Before Imperial Consort Yu could sigh in relief, the messenger gently added, “The emperor is telling Fifth Highness to repent. After Fifth Highness himself realizes why he was wrong and fixes his mistakes, everything will naturally blow over. Right now, the worst thing would be for something else to happen. The emperor has yet to scold Your Highness. Your Highness, please have some patience. Don’t visit Fifth Highness and don’t admit Fifth Highness’ wrongdoings for him. It’d be best… not to have anyone else ask for mercy on Fifth Highness’ behalf either.”

Imperial Consort Yu’s heart skipped a beat. She knew very well that this “anyone else” was most likely referring to Prince Yu.

Imperial Consort Yu had no idea what to do. She didn’t know if this was the meaning Emperor Chongan had wanted to impart, so hurriedly ordered someone to give the palace servant some silver tickets. The palace servant silently accepted them. He lowered his voice greatly and said, “Your Highness, His Majesty has only placed Fifth Highness under house arrest as of now. Some people don’t think this is enough and are in the middle of coming up with other solutions.”

Imperial Consort Yu shouted, “Isn’t house arrest enough? What else will happen?”

The palace servant shook his head. “I don’t know about that. However, since the emperor is forbidding Your Highness from visiting and asking for mercy, that means Your Highness can’t do anything, right? I’ll have to ask Your Highness to be patient for the time being. Perhaps the other party has now gotten what they wanted so are willing to let everyone else go?”

Imperial Consort Yu’s expression changed with anger. “Yu. She.”

The palace servant departed.

Imperial Consort Yu felt very agitated. As of now, Yu She had already been taken back by Emperor Chongan. Soon, he would be named a prince. Things had already progressed to this step. Would he let Xuan Qiong go? 

Impossible.

Imperial Consort Yu wanted to act sick and summon Yu Mucheng into the palace. But after thinking of what the palace servant had said just now, she also worried about drawing attention onto herself. She didn’t dare to infuriate Emperor Chongan.

She could never come up with any plans herself. After great thought, she still couldn’t come up with a good solution. A moment later, she suddenly said, “Oh right. Go…”

Imperial Consort Yu’s voice trembled. “Go summon Tang Qin here!” 

In only a few months, it seemed like Tang Qin had once again aged many years.

In agitation, Imperial Consort Yu said, “Has Eldest Brother told anyone to tell you anything? Is he currently trying to avoid suspicion too? He no longer dares to enter the palace?”

Tang Qin had just received Yu She’s orders. Right now, his expression made it look like he had just eaten a fly.

Tang Qin didn’t want to do anything for Yu She. However, Yu She was purposefully placing the opportunity to reverse an old verdict into his hands. 

He had wanted this opportunity for a long time. But as soon as he thought of the fact that this was Yu She’s intention, he couldn’t help feeling displeased.

Tang Qin’s gaze was murky. He thought of his younger biological brother who was currently in Yu She’s clutches; it was unknown whether or not the other was still alive. He sighed. His voice was hoarse as he said, “In reply to Your Highness’ question, Prince has not sent any messages to this slave.”

Imperial Consort Yu’s eyes were filled with resentment. “He wants to cut things off with us too, right?!”

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“That couple…” Imperial Consort Yu’s eyes were filled with anger as she grinded her teeth together. “Seems like they want to switch boats now, right? Exactly. At the end of the day, the two of them truly did raise Yu She. Even though the affection has disappeared, he wouldn’t necessarily risk being called unfilial just to punish them. But what about me and Xuan Qiong?”

Tang Qin had listened in silence. He lowly said, “As of now, Your Highness can only work to save yourself.”

Uneasy, Imperial Consort Yu asked, “What plan could I have?!”

Tang Qin slowly said, “In the imperial decree, the emperor said that Young Prince Yu is his son with a respectable woman from the princess’ estate.” 

Imperial Consort Yu’s brows knitted together. “You mean…”

Tang Qin said, “This is a worry of the emperor. As long as the incidents of the past are revealed, His Majesty will definitely try to come up with a plan to cover them up. Mother and child are linked together. To keep Little Imperial Consort Zhong’s story a secret, he’ll need to temporarily delay promoting Young Prince Yu… This all depends on what His Majesty finds more important. If His Majesty wants to save his own reputation, he’ll have to aggrieve Young Prince Yu.”

Imperial Consort Yu fell into a panic. “But what if the emperor disregards his own reputation just to name Little Imperial Consort Zhong’s son as crown prince?”

Tang Qin paused for a moment, then replied, “Then we’ll just have to come up with a plan of action when the time comes. At that time, Your Highness can once again use Young Prince Yu’s identity to cause a fuss. Little Imperial Consort Zhong was the previous emperor’s consort. Who can say… who the biological father of the son born from her womb was?” 

“Right. If the emperor is adamant about crowning him, I can still use his identity as leverage. But…” Imperial Consort Yu felt lost. “I can’t be the one to make this move. Who can expose this information?”

Tang Qin lowered his voice and said, “This old slave is still in contact with a few of Prince Yu’s trusted subordinates from the early years. I can ask them to help.”

Imperial Consort Yu hurriedly shook her head. “No. If the emperor finds out about them, wouldn’t Eldest Brother get dragged into this mess?”

Tang Qin sighed. “Your Highness, can’t you tell that Prince is either going to play it safe to save himself or stand on Young Prince’s side? If you don’t drag him in now, what are you waiting for?” 

Imperial Consort Yu was in a daze. A while later, she hardened her heart. “Yes. He doesn’t want to help me. I need to force him to help me… Only this isn’t enough. Help me spread this news throughout the palace too. Don’t they want to hide this information…? Well I’m determined for everyone to find out.”

Like this, an extremely embarrassing piece of secret news regarding the imperial family exploded simultaneously inside and outside of the palace.

Emperor Chongan, who hadn’t attended morning court for many days, had originally been planning to attend court this morning. However, after hearing the news, he quickly cancelled morning court.

Due to a fateful series of events, Yu She just so happened to skip today’s morning assembly. Because of his absence, while believing by default that Yu She was doing this to avoid arousing suspicion, the court officials also believed the rumors that said his biological mother was Little Imperial Consort Zhong. 

After morning assembly, the imperial clan relatives and Imperial Censorate launched an attack together. Among this group included people Shi Jin had left for Zhong Wan, individuals Yu She had arranged, and several officials who had ties to Xuan Jing and Xuan Qiong. It seemed like everyone had all planned this together. Innumerous booklets were sent to the Cabinet: their contents were largely the same. All of them were questioning Yu She’s identity.

Many people spoke up. Except for the trusted allies belonging to the same side as Prince Yu’s estate.

Emperor Chongan gazed at this huge pile of documents. His gaze was dark. “Well Prince Yu’s people haven’t joined in the mess this time.”

The booklet-keeping eunuch who was performing the brush and ink duties for Emperor Chongan softly said, “Prince is loyal and knowledgeable. He naturally wouldn’t believe rumors so easily.” 

“But how come… no matter how I investigate, everything seems to point to the fact that the rumors started from Prince Yu’s estate?” Emperor Chongan’s expression was foul. “A few days ago, Qiong’er was disobedient and actually started looking into old matters. I asked him if this was because he had heard his uncle say something. Qiong’er stubbornly said it wasn’t.” Emperor Chongan scoffed.

Emperor Chongan lowered his voice and said, “Qiong’er is more willing to be placed under house arrest by me than betray his uncle. So he values his uncle more than his imperial father…”

Murderous intent flashed through Emperor Chongan’s eyes. The eunuch remained deathly silent. He didn’t dare to respond.

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Emperor Chongan asked, “Has anything else happened with Prince Yu?” 

The booklet-keeping eunuch shook his head. “After morning court, Prince Yu didn’t personally enter the palace, but tasked a palace servant to pay respects to Imperial Consort Yu in his stead. Everything was quite rushed. He told Her Highness to ensure that Fifth Highness was obediently repenting, urged Her Highness to reflect on herself behind closed doors, and also told Her Highness to not listen to or believe the rumors.”

The eunuch softly said, “Prince Yu’s estate is in a bit of a mess. Almost as if… they really didn’t know in advance.”

“As such, I’m even more disbelieving.” Emperor Chongan scoffed upon hearing this. “It matters not if the imperial clan court asks about matters pertaining to the Heavenly family. What are these court officials joining in for? If you’re saying nobody is pushing for them to, who would believe that?”

Emperor Chongan threw the booklet in his hand onto the ground. “Baseless rumors. I have nothing to say about them.” 

The booklet-keeping eunuch picked the booklet up and softly asked, “Is Your Majesty not adding comments?”

“No,” Emperor Chongan answered, quite fatigued. “Tell the senior cabinet officials to not leave comments on these. Additionally, have someone investigate who is causing trouble and making up rumors.”

The eunuch acknowledged this. Emperor Chongan looked up. “Where’s Ziyou? He didn’t enter the palace today?”

The eunuch shook his head. “He took a sick day. After closer questioning, they said, they said…” 

Emperor Chongan furrowed his brows. “Could it be that he had known beforehand that someone was going to cause trouble?”

“No no,” the eunuch hurriedly replied. “They said that Young Master Zhong at the estate has been feeling somewhat unwell. Thus, Young Prince Yu… got stuck at home.”

Emperor Chongan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Ziyou ah.”

The eunuch pondered what Emperor Chongan was thinking. He lowly said, “These past few days, it seems as if Young Prince Yu has spent a lot of energy on this Young Master Zhong. Should Your Majesty…” 

Emperor Chongan fell silent for a moment. He shook his head. “Nevermind. Let him do as he wishes. Zhong Wan’s a man—what trouble could he possibly cause? I won’t be the villain.”

The eunuch lowered his voice and replied, “But Young Master Zhong… No matter what, he’s still a member of the Zhong family.”

The amusement faded from Emperor Chongan’s face. “I’ve only left him alone because he’s a member of the Zhong family.”

The eunuch furrowed his brows. Shortly after, he reached a sudden realization. “Yes. The more Young Prince Yu cares for Young Master Zhong, the more he’ll help Your Majesty hide the events of the past! Otherwise, if Young Master Zhong finds out the reason for the slaughter of the entire Zhong family, he’ll definitely alienate Young Prince Yu…” 

Emperor Chongan furrowed his brows. The eunuch instantly quieted.

A long time later, the eunuch softly said, “Your Majesty is wise. In the past, this servant had been curious about why Your Majesty was so indulgent regarding this matter. Now, I see that controlling Young Prince Yu in this manner is a good plan.”

“Ziyou is a child who’s hard to control when he’s angry.” Emperor Chongan sighed. “Ours is an ill-fated relationship.

“The recent events have wronged Ziyou.” Emperor Chongan rubbed his forehead. “Go… gift him some things. Also, tell him to come into the palace and pay his respects to me if he has no business to attend to. The more rumors there are outside, the less affected he should act. Otherwise, wouldn’t this just prove how guilty he is? Also. 

“Ask. If Zhong Wan has returned to health, tell him to come too. The last time I summoned him into the palace, Ziyou stopped him from coming. As of now, I’m telling the both of them to come together. He shouldn’t be against this anymore, right? I’m just worried he isn’t interested in these things…”

Emperor Chongan furrowed his brows. “Now that such rumors have gotten out, who knows how distressed Ziyou is?”

The side courtyard of Prince Yu’s estate. Yu She was truly very distressed.

Since morning, Zhong Wan had been acting miserable. 

“If I were a woman, do you know what this situation would be considered?” Zhong Wan had many complaints. “This would be the equivalent of you forcing me to drink a pot of safflower! You’d be preventing me from ever falling pregnant again. How could you have such an evil heart?”

Yu She patiently coaxed, “I’m doing this for your own good…”

Zhong Wan broke down. “You’re making me impotent for my own good?”

Yu She was exasperated. “Who said I’m making you impotent? This is just some medicine to calm your urges.” 

“Then why do I have to take this calming medicine?” The more Zhong Wan thought about it, the more horrified he felt. “Ziyou, sometimes I really don’t understand. Why are you so good at causing trouble? We are clearly the only two people in this estate, but you’ve somehow managed to make our life together more complex than life in the imperial harem. Is this medicine really not something that a concubine from some other family is giving to another concubine to fight for adoration?”

Yu She was confused. “What are you talking about? What concubines?”

Zhong Wan couldn’t understand. “Or do you think that I have too much time on my hands? Are you scared that I’ll feel bored while healing? There are no concubines in this estate, so you yourself are fighting with me?”

Yu She was completely lost. He hurriedly explained, “I only wanted you to calm down a bit…” 

“Why do I need to calm down?” Zhong Wan glanced at Yu She, highly alert. “Right now, I’m even worried that one night, you’ll shave my head bald while I’m asleep and force me to become a monk.”

“Why would I randomly shave your head?” Yu She forced himself to remain patient. “Today, there have been great changes in the court. We’ve been planning for several days and the conflict begins today. I still want to make a trip to the palace. Be good and drink this medicine. Then, I’ll leave.”

Zhong Wan shrunk into a corner. “I refuse.”

Yu She furrowed his brows. “You…” 

Zhong Wan cautiously asked, “Will you summon someone to hold my mouth open and force-feed me?”

Zhong Wan still maintained a last bit of hope. “Or will you feed me mouth to mouth?”

While Yu She wanted to, he worried that he would get turned on by Zhong Wan again if he did so. He could only say, “Nevermind. If you don’t want to drink it, then don’t. I’m leaving first. Rest well.”

Zhong Wan lay back in bed, bewildered. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like Yu She had been acting weird. A short moment later, Steward Feng walked in while carrying a painting scroll. 

Zhong Wan sat up. “What’s wrong?”

Steward Feng hurriedly said, “This is the scroll that Heir specially wrote for Young Master in the study prior to leaving. He wants Young Master to hang it over the head of the bed so Young Master can see it every day.”

Zhong Wan smiled. That lunatic finally understands that he wronged me. He even knows to write me a love poem to make me happy?

However… 

Zhong Wan slightly furrowed his brows while staring at the painting scroll in Steward Feng’s arms. One piece of letter paper was enough. Why did Yu She use such a big scroll?

Without waiting for Zhong Wan to accept it, Steward Feng unfurled the enormous scroll. On the painting scroll, Yu She’s strokes were powerful. Very elaborately, six large words were written.

“Uphold heavenly justice. Annihilate human lust.”

Zhong Wan: “…”

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