The pirates’ long swords had been painted black, and only the sharp edge of their blades glinted silver in the dusk. It was difficult to see their movements in the dim light.
Lou Jing and Xiao Chengjun pressed their backs close to each other, fending off the pirates’ attacks one by one. The pirates might have been small in stature, but they were incredibly agile and were not easy to counter. For a while, all that could be heard was the sound of the whistling wind and the metallic clang of steel.
“These aren’t ordinary pirates – they’re assassins,” Lou Jing said coolly.
“Careful!” Xiao Chengjun shouted, raising his sword to block a thrust aimed at Lou Jing’s head. At the same time, Lou Jing bent his body and killed one of the pirates that was crawling stealthily toward Xiao Chengjun. Fresh blood spurted onto his face, but before he could wipe it off, he had to leap up again and counter another black shadow that stabbed a sword in his direction.
The black-clad pirate standing on the rock noticed that things weren’t going well, and he said something loudly in that strange language of theirs.
The pirates shouted “Hai!” again, then attacked even more fiercely than before. Their movements were fast and furious, and every strike was deadly, as if they didn’t plan on capturing them alive at all and just wanted to quickly dispose of them right then and there.
Beyond the coconut forest, more than ten Youyun guards were plucking aimlessly at the grass on the ground. The sky was fast darkening, and they were bored to tears, but their masters still didn’t seem to have any intention of returning.
“Are our masters in trouble?” Yun Yi wondered, his brows creasing as he looked in the direction Lou Jing had gone hours before.
“Surely you know what they’re doing,” Yun Jiu said, giving him a sideways glance and smiling wickedly at him. “That beach is completely empty, and our masters will definitely be… busy with each other.”
Yun Yi harrumphed disconsolately. “Our masters shouldn’t be left out of sight for too long. We should check in on them. Who’s going to go?” he asked.
All the Youyun guards couldn’t help thinking back to the time they were at the broken-down temple in Linjiang. The recollection made all of them blush with embarrassment. They held their breaths and refused to look at Yun Yi, some of them casting their eyes to the sky, and the rest looking resolutely at the ground.
Yun Jiu’s gaze swept over his eight subordinates. Yun Shi was already pretending to check the terrain of the land, Yun Shiyi the assassination specialist had a dark, moody personality and wouldn’t go if ordered, and the two who specialised in protecting their masters had run off to look for food. His gaze then fell upon the obedient, honest Yun Shi’er, the archery specialist. “Shi’er, your eyes are the keenest. Go have a look,” he ordered.
“Okay,” Yun Shi’er said nonchalantly. He’d been the one who hunted the two geese they ate that night, and he’d returned after the steamy activity within the temple had stopped, so he didn’t know the dangers of complying with this order. He simply nodded his head, picked up his bow and went off.
Yun Yi shot Yun Jiu a look of respect, and Yun Jiu smiled arrogantly. “All in a day’s work,” he boasted.
Yun Shi’er passed through the dense forest quickly and hid behind the trunk of a large tree, trying to see what was happening on the beach. When he saw what was happening, his blood ran cold. His master, Lou Jing, was tightly surrounded by a few black shadows, and the silver glint of many blades flashed in the air. They were in grave danger!
Lou Jing saw two swords coming at Xiao Chengjun. He didn’t have enough time to counterattack both of them, so he used a foot to kick one of them away, and at the same time, moved into position to block the second man’s blow with his back.
Yun Shi’er raised his bow and nocked two arrows decisively, shooting them both at the same time.
“Qtlhh ktlhh!” Ktf akb jggbkr oifk atgbeut atf jlg jcv rfqjgjafv wlvkjs, bcf yegslcu larfio lc atf wjc atja kjr yglculcu tlr rkbgv vbkc bc Obe Alcu, jcv atf batfg rtbbalcu atgbeut atf fsf bo j wjc ktb kjr jaajmxlcu Wljb Jtfcupec ogbw yftlcv.
“CL!” atf qlgjaf rmgfjwfv. Tec Vtl’fg’r jggbkr qjmxfv j qecmt, jcv atf wjc mbiijqrfv ab atf ugbecv, tbivlcu tlr fsf lc qjlc. Lf mbcneirfv j ofk alwfr, atfc kfca ralii.
With Yun Shi’er’s help, Lou Jing found it much easier to deal with the pirates. The pirates lost quite a few men, but they didn’t stop their ferocious attacks.
Lou Jing wiped the blood off his face. These pirates weren’t very good swordsmen, but they were quick as lightning, and there were so many of them that they were very difficult to counter.
Yun Shi’er didn’t dare to leave to get the others. He quickly pulled out a flare from clothes, attached it to an arrow, lit it, and shot it toward the sky. Once this was done, he quickly ran toward Lou Jing, shooting as many arrows at the pirates as he could along the way.
When the black-clad man standing atop the rock saw this, he immediately threw some small, strange-looking weapons at Yun Shi’er. The latter dropped and rolled, dodging those sharp flying objects, then shot an arrow from his position on the ground.
The black-clad man got a shock and somersaulted off the stone at once.
“Whizz… bang!” The flare exploded in the air, throwing up a shower of bright sparks. The Youyun guards on the other side of the forest immediately got to their feet and slipped through the forest like ghosts, moving swiftly toward the location of the flare.
Now that their numbers were more evenly matched, the pirates’ speed was less of an advantage. The Youyun guards’ superior swordsmanship soon had the pirates defeated.
“Zhuoyu!” Xiao Chengjun shouted, pulling Lou Jing into his arms and moving to the side. His hands came into contact with something wet and sticky when they touched Lou Jing’s body, and he got a shock. “You’re hurt!”
“Capture two of them alive!” Lou Jing yelled at the Youyun guards. He leaned back on Xiao Chengjun’s body. “I’m fine.”
Lou Jing’s back had been injured when he took a knife for Xiao Chengjun. Now that he was no longer in the heat of battle, he felt the burning pain keenly, but he was worried that his husband would be worried, and so did his best to endure and pretend that he was perfectly relaxed when talking to him.
“You still dare to say you’re fine?!” Xiao Chengjun retorted, looking at his back, which was completely soaked in fresh blood. His heart ached badly at the sight. He squatted down and put his arms behind him. “Get on, I’ll carry you on my back.”
Lou Jing’s forehead was covered in cold sweat now. He didn’t try to feign that he was alright anymore, and just let Xiao Chengjun carry him.
Well, they certainly couldn’t eat grilled fish now. The Youyun guards took the two pirates that had been captured alive and returned quickly to Tingzhi City. Xiao Chengjun took a few companies of county soldiers and surrounded the beach they were on earlier.
“Mmph… it hurts…” Lou Jing lay prone on the bed, whimpering pitifully as the doctor applied medicine to his wounds.
The doctor wiped the cold sweat on his forehead. These oddly seductive moans and groans of pain had drawn Min Wang Dianxia’s attention, and the latter’s gaze was now colder than a glacier in the Arctic.
The doctor finally finished applying the medicine with great difficulty. He was a famous doctor in Tingzhi City, but he was so stressed out now that he nearly fainted. He left some ointment for Lou Jing’s external injuries in the room, then left to boil some medicine for him.
Xiao Chengjun sat by Lou Jing’s bedside and caressed his forehead. It was covered in a sheen of sweat, and he couldn’t help frowning on seeing this. “Is it very painful?” he asked.
“It’s not anymore,” Lou Jing said, tilting his head and looking up innocently at Xiao Chengjun. “I’m sweating because I’m hot.”
The laceration was a long one, but it wasn’t very deep, so it didn’t hurt very much now. Lou Jing’s lips were curled disconsolately, however. His arm had only just managed to heal, and now his back was injured. The most pressing thought on his mind right now was – how was he supposed to be intimate with Xiao Chengjun after getting this injury? He and Xiao Chengjun hadn’t been intimate for more than a month!
Xiao Chengjun opened the windows. This was a guest room in the local government office situated on the second storey of the building. The cool sea breeze blew in the moment the windows were opened, bringing with it the salty smell of the sea and making the room considerably more comfortable. “It won’t be peaceful for long now that the pirates have begun to attack. We should leave quickly,” he said.
The pirates they’d met that night were clearly the ones who had been sent as scouts. They didn’t need to interrogate them to know this. Based on past instances of pirate attacks, the real wave of pirates would follow in about three days’ time.
“Mmph…” Lou Jing pressed his face unhappily against the slats of the bamboo mat on the bed.
Xiao Chengjun chuckled, then patted him on the head. “If you want to come to the seaside to play, I’ll come with you after we’re done fighting the pirates,” he said.
“I want to have sex on the beach…” Lou Jing mumbled.
“What?” Xiao Chengjun hadn’t heard him clearly and moved closer to Lou Jing.
Lou Jing raised his head and caught hold of Min Wang’s ear with his teeth. “I want to have sex on the beach!” he said.
“You…” Xiao Chengjun was rendered speechless for a moment. He glared up at Lou Jing, then couldn’t help laughing out loud when he saw that the latter’s pale face had little lines on it because of the way he’d pressed his face against the bamboo slats earlier. He kissed that stripey face of Lou Jing’s. “We’ll talk about this again when you’re well.”
Lou Jing felt his heart flutter like a little butterfly in his chest on feeling Xiao Chengjun’s soft lips press against his cheek. Little happy bubbles started popping in his brain, and he completely forgot to note down this promise of Xiao Chengjun’s in his notebook.
The Capital was not nearly as calm as the Southern parts of the Empire on hearing the news that the Fourth Prince had died in battle. The Imperial Court, in fact, erupted like water on hot oil.
It was worth noting that, after Xiao Chengjun had been deposed as the Crown Prince, there remained only two options for that position – the Second Prince and the Fourth Prince. The Second Prince was physically frail, and as such, the only real option was the Fourth Prince. Now that he had died, the issue of succession was a total mess.
The Empress was overwrought with grief and took a temporary leave of absence from administering the matters of the hougong, passing this duty on to the concubine with the highest rank, Chen Guifei.
Chen Guifei was beaming from ear to ear at this development. She did her makeup, arranged her hair, selected some beautiful robes, and went to visit the Chunde Emperor in his Panlong Palace with a bowl of soup in hand. However, she was stopped at the palace entrance by the eunuch Huai Zhong. “Niangniang, his Majesty is not in a good mood and is not receiving guests for now,” he said.
“I know the Emperor is grieving, so I specially boiled some soup with nourishing ingredients for him,” Chen Guifei said, putting on the perfect expression of worry and concern. “The Fourth Prince was so young, and yet…” Tears ran down her face as she spoke.
“Niangniang, please do not grieve overmuch. The Empress niangniang is already ill with sorrow, and we need you to manage the six palaces of the hougong,” Huai Zhong said. He didn’t particularly care whether Chen Guifei was being sincere or not – he just took it at face value and played along.
Chen Guifei felt very pleased when she heard Huai Zhong say this, and she rewarded him with some silver. “Since the Emperor is not receiving guests now, I will wait here until he feels better. His Majesty must eat something, or it won’t be good for his health,” she said.
“Is that Chen Guifei I hear?” the Chunde Emperor asked. The question came from inside the palace, and was asked in a hoarse voice. Chen Guifei immediately replied, and a young eunuch came out soon after to invite her in.
“The Empress niangniang is not feeling well, and she’s given the matters of the six palaces of the hougong to me to manage. Chenqie is so worried; I’m afraid I will do something wrong,” she said in a tender voice, carefully avoiding the topic of the Fourth Prince.
“These are just trivial matters. How far wrong can you go?” the Chunde Emperor said, waving a hand dismissively. He rubbed the knot between his eyebrows after that.
On hearing this, Chen Guifei’s lips curved upwards into a slight smile. She’d been afraid that the Empress had given her this power as a trap of sorts, which was why she had decided to tell the Emperor that this was all the Empress’ plan, and also remind him that she had no experience in managing these matters, so that if anything did go wrong, she wouldn’t be severely punished.
“Chenqie is not like you, the great Emperor, who manages all the great affairs of state and more. These little trivial matters have got me all confused,” Chen Guifei said, acting all cute towards the Emperor.
The Chunde Emperor couldn’t help laughing out loud when he heard this. “You women are just not very capable,” he said arrogantly. This had also been part of the reason why he didn’t like associating with the Empress. Next to these weak women, he felt that he really was the powerful Emperor and ruler of the Empire, but in front of Ji Zhuo, he felt like the weak, useless prince he’d been in his youth.
He suddenly remembered how the Ruizong Emperor had wanted to appoint Xiao Chengjun to succeed him and skip his own generation entirely, and anger rose in his breast. He’d finally obtained the chance to select his successor with great difficulty, but every one of them had posed problems of their own… thinking this, his eyes couldn’t help moving toward Chen Guifei. It would seem that the Third Prince was the only viable option for the Crown Prince now.
If this foolish Emperor could reason this out, it went without saying that the entire Imperial Court had also come to the same conclusion. There were no princes born after the Fourth Prince, and the Third Prince was, without a doubt, the only candidate left for the position of Crown Prince.
Now that Chen Guifei held sway over the hougong, she summoned all the ladies who were of the third rank and above in the Capital to the palace. After informing them about the funeral arrangements for the Fourth Prince, she deliberately asked the wives of the Ministers of the Left and Right to stay behind. One was Zhao Duan’s second wife, and the other was Chen Guifei’s own mother, Madam Chen Li.
“Now that we’ve got some privacy, I have something to say to you two furen,” Chen Guifei said, smiling faintly as she looked at the prim and proper second furen of the Zhao family.
The second furen of the Zhao family was pale-faced when she left the Luanyi Palace. When she got back home, she went looking for Zhao Duan in a panic. “Xiangye , Chen Guifei wants Ji Ming to marry the Third Prince!” she said urgently.
When Zhao Duan heard this, the teacup he was holding fell onto the floor and smashed into a thousand little pieces.
The pirates’ long swords had been painted black, and only the sharp edge of their blades glinted silver in the dusk. It was difficult to see their movements in the dim light.
Lou Jing and Xiao Chengjun pressed their backs close to each other, fending off the pirates’ attacks one by one. The pirates might have been small in stature, but they were incredibly agile and were not easy to counter. For a while, all that could be heard was the sound of the whistling wind and the metallic clang of steel.
“These aren’t ordinary pirates – they’re assassins,” Lou Jing said coolly.
“Careful!” Xiao Chengjun shouted, raising his sword to block a thrust aimed at Lou Jing’s head. At the same time, Lou Jing bent his body and killed one of the pirates that was crawling stealthily toward Xiao Chengjun. Fresh blood spurted onto his face, but before he could wipe it off, he had to leap up again and counter another black shadow that stabbed a sword in his direction.
The black-clad pirate standing on the rock noticed that things weren’t going well, and he said something loudly in that strange language of theirs.
The pirates shouted “Hai!” again, then attacked even more fiercely than before. Their movements were fast and furious, and every strike was deadly, as if they didn’t plan on capturing them alive at all and just wanted to quickly dispose of them right then and there.
Beyond the coconut forest, more than ten Youyun guards were plucking aimlessly at the grass on the ground. The sky was fast darkening, and they were bored to tears, but their masters still didn’t seem to have any intention of returning.
“Are our masters in trouble?” Yun Yi wondered, his brows creasing as he looked in the direction Lou Jing had gone hours before.
“Surely you know what they’re doing,” Yun Jiu said, giving him a sideways glance and smiling wickedly at him. “That beach is completely empty, and our masters will definitely be… busy with each other.”
Yun Yi harrumphed disconsolately. “Our masters shouldn’t be left out of sight for too long. We should check in on them. Who’s going to go?” he asked.
All the Youyun guards couldn’t help thinking back to the time they were at the broken-down temple in Linjiang. The recollection made all of them blush with embarrassment. They held their breaths and refused to look at Yun Yi, some of them casting their eyes to the sky, and the rest looking resolutely at the ground.
Yun Jiu’s gaze swept over his eight subordinates. Yun Shi was already pretending to check the terrain of the land, Yun Shiyi the assassination specialist had a dark, moody personality and wouldn’t go if ordered, and the two who specialised in protecting their masters had run off to look for food. His gaze then fell upon the obedient, honest Yun Shi’er, the archery specialist. “Shi’er, your eyes are the keenest. Go have a look,” he ordered.
“Okay,” Yun Shi’er said nonchalantly. He’d been the one who hunted the two geese they ate that night, and he’d returned after the steamy activity within the temple had stopped, so he didn’t know the dangers of complying with this order. He simply nodded his head, picked up his bow and went off.
Yun Yi shot Yun Jiu a look of respect, and Yun Jiu smiled arrogantly. “All in a day’s work,” he boasted.
Yun Shi’er passed through the dense forest quickly and hid behind the trunk of a large tree, trying to see what was happening on the beach. When he saw what was happening, his blood ran cold. His master, Lou Jing, was tightly surrounded by a few black shadows, and the silver glint of many blades flashed in the air. They were in grave danger!
Lou Jing saw two swords coming at Xiao Chengjun. He didn’t have enough time to counterattack both of them, so he used a foot to kick one of them away, and at the same time, moved into position to block the second man’s blow with his back.
Yun Shi’er raised his bow and nocked two arrows decisively, shooting them both at the same time.
“Qtlhh ktlhh!” Ktf akb jggbkr oifk atgbeut atf jlg jcv rfqjgjafv wlvkjs, bcf yegslcu larfio lc atf wjc atja kjr yglculcu tlr rkbgv vbkc bc Obe Alcu, jcv atf batfg rtbbalcu atgbeut atf fsf bo j wjc ktb kjr jaajmxlcu Wljb Jtfcupec ogbw yftlcv.
“CL!” atf qlgjaf rmgfjwfv. Tec Vtl’fg’r jggbkr qjmxfv j qecmt, jcv atf wjc mbiijqrfv ab atf ugbecv, tbivlcu tlr fsf lc qjlc. Lf mbcneirfv j ofk alwfr, atfc kfca ralii.
With Yun Shi’er’s help, Lou Jing found it much easier to deal with the pirates. The pirates lost quite a few men, but they didn’t stop their ferocious attacks.
Lou Jing wiped the blood off his face. These pirates weren’t very good swordsmen, but they were quick as lightning, and there were so many of them that they were very difficult to counter.
Yun Shi’er didn’t dare to leave to get the others. He quickly pulled out a flare from clothes, attached it to an arrow, lit it, and shot it toward the sky. Once this was done, he quickly ran toward Lou Jing, shooting as many arrows at the pirates as he could along the way.
When the black-clad man standing atop the rock saw this, he immediately threw some small, strange-looking weapons at Yun Shi’er. The latter dropped and rolled, dodging those sharp flying objects, then shot an arrow from his position on the ground.
The black-clad man got a shock and somersaulted off the stone at once.
“Whizz… bang!” The flare exploded in the air, throwing up a shower of bright sparks. The Youyun guards on the other side of the forest immediately got to their feet and slipped through the forest like ghosts, moving swiftly toward the location of the flare.
Now that their numbers were more evenly matched, the pirates’ speed was less of an advantage. The Youyun guards’ superior swordsmanship soon had the pirates defeated.
“Zhuoyu!” Xiao Chengjun shouted, pulling Lou Jing into his arms and moving to the side. His hands came into contact with something wet and sticky when they touched Lou Jing’s body, and he got a shock. “You’re hurt!”
“Capture two of them alive!” Lou Jing yelled at the Youyun guards. He leaned back on Xiao Chengjun’s body. “I’m fine.”
Lou Jing’s back had been injured when he took a knife for Xiao Chengjun. Now that he was no longer in the heat of battle, he felt the burning pain keenly, but he was worried that his husband would be worried, and so did his best to endure and pretend that he was perfectly relaxed when talking to him.
“You still dare to say you’re fine?!” Xiao Chengjun retorted, looking at his back, which was completely soaked in fresh blood. His heart ached badly at the sight. He squatted down and put his arms behind him. “Get on, I’ll carry you on my back.”
Lou Jing’s forehead was covered in cold sweat now. He didn’t try to feign that he was alright anymore, and just let Xiao Chengjun carry him.
Well, they certainly couldn’t eat grilled fish now. The Youyun guards took the two pirates that had been captured alive and returned quickly to Tingzhi City. Xiao Chengjun took a few companies of county soldiers and surrounded the beach they were on earlier.
“Mmph… it hurts…” Lou Jing lay prone on the bed, whimpering pitifully as the doctor applied medicine to his wounds.
The doctor wiped the cold sweat on his forehead. These oddly seductive moans and groans of pain had drawn Min Wang Dianxia’s attention, and the latter’s gaze was now colder than a glacier in the Arctic.
The doctor finally finished applying the medicine with great difficulty. He was a famous doctor in Tingzhi City, but he was so stressed out now that he nearly fainted. He left some ointment for Lou Jing’s external injuries in the room, then left to boil some medicine for him.
Xiao Chengjun sat by Lou Jing’s bedside and caressed his forehead. It was covered in a sheen of sweat, and he couldn’t help frowning on seeing this. “Is it very painful?” he asked.
“It’s not anymore,” Lou Jing said, tilting his head and looking up innocently at Xiao Chengjun. “I’m sweating because I’m hot.”
The laceration was a long one, but it wasn’t very deep, so it didn’t hurt very much now. Lou Jing’s lips were curled disconsolately, however. His arm had only just managed to heal, and now his back was injured. The most pressing thought on his mind right now was – how was he supposed to be intimate with Xiao Chengjun after getting this injury? He and Xiao Chengjun hadn’t been intimate for more than a month!
Xiao Chengjun opened the windows. This was a guest room in the local government office situated on the second storey of the building. The cool sea breeze blew in the moment the windows were opened, bringing with it the salty smell of the sea and making the room considerably more comfortable. “It won’t be peaceful for long now that the pirates have begun to attack. We should leave quickly,” he said.
The pirates they’d met that night were clearly the ones who had been sent as scouts. They didn’t need to interrogate them to know this. Based on past instances of pirate attacks, the real wave of pirates would follow in about three days’ time.
“Mmph…” Lou Jing pressed his face unhappily against the slats of the bamboo mat on the bed.
Xiao Chengjun chuckled, then patted him on the head. “If you want to come to the seaside to play, I’ll come with you after we’re done fighting the pirates,” he said.
“I want to have sex on the beach…” Lou Jing mumbled.
“What?” Xiao Chengjun hadn’t heard him clearly and moved closer to Lou Jing.
Lou Jing raised his head and caught hold of Min Wang’s ear with his teeth. “I want to have sex on the beach!” he said.
“You…” Xiao Chengjun was rendered speechless for a moment. He glared up at Lou Jing, then couldn’t help laughing out loud when he saw that the latter’s pale face had little lines on it because of the way he’d pressed his face against the bamboo slats earlier. He kissed that stripey face of Lou Jing’s. “We’ll talk about this again when you’re well.”
Lou Jing felt his heart flutter like a little butterfly in his chest on feeling Xiao Chengjun’s soft lips press against his cheek. Little happy bubbles started popping in his brain, and he completely forgot to note down this promise of Xiao Chengjun’s in his notebook.
The Capital was not nearly as calm as the Southern parts of the Empire on hearing the news that the Fourth Prince had died in battle. The Imperial Court, in fact, erupted like water on hot oil.
It was worth noting that, after Xiao Chengjun had been deposed as the Crown Prince, there remained only two options for that position – the Second Prince and the Fourth Prince. The Second Prince was physically frail, and as such, the only real option was the Fourth Prince. Now that he had died, the issue of succession was a total mess.
The Empress was overwrought with grief and took a temporary leave of absence from administering the matters of the hougong, passing this duty on to the concubine with the highest rank, Chen Guifei.
Chen Guifei was beaming from ear to ear at this development. She did her makeup, arranged her hair, selected some beautiful robes, and went to visit the Chunde Emperor in his Panlong Palace with a bowl of soup in hand. However, she was stopped at the palace entrance by the eunuch Huai Zhong. “Niangniang, his Majesty is not in a good mood and is not receiving guests for now,” he said.
“I know the Emperor is grieving, so I specially boiled some soup with nourishing ingredients for him,” Chen Guifei said, putting on the perfect expression of worry and concern. “The Fourth Prince was so young, and yet…” Tears ran down her face as she spoke.
“Niangniang, please do not grieve overmuch. The Empress niangniang is already ill with sorrow, and we need you to manage the six palaces of the hougong,” Huai Zhong said. He didn’t particularly care whether Chen Guifei was being sincere or not – he just took it at face value and played along.
Chen Guifei felt very pleased when she heard Huai Zhong say this, and she rewarded him with some silver. “Since the Emperor is not receiving guests now, I will wait here until he feels better. His Majesty must eat something, or it won’t be good for his health,” she said.
“Is that Chen Guifei I hear?” the Chunde Emperor asked. The question came from inside the palace, and was asked in a hoarse voice. Chen Guifei immediately replied, and a young eunuch came out soon after to invite her in.
“The Empress niangniang is not feeling well, and she’s given the matters of the six palaces of the hougong to me to manage. Chenqie is so worried; I’m afraid I will do something wrong,” she said in a tender voice, carefully avoiding the topic of the Fourth Prince.
“These are just trivial matters. How far wrong can you go?” the Chunde Emperor said, waving a hand dismissively. He rubbed the knot between his eyebrows after that.
On hearing this, Chen Guifei’s lips curved upwards into a slight smile. She’d been afraid that the Empress had given her this power as a trap of sorts, which was why she had decided to tell the Emperor that this was all the Empress’ plan, and also remind him that she had no experience in managing these matters, so that if anything did go wrong, she wouldn’t be severely punished.
“Chenqie is not like you, the great Emperor, who manages all the great affairs of state and more. These little trivial matters have got me all confused,” Chen Guifei said, acting all cute towards the Emperor.
The Chunde Emperor couldn’t help laughing out loud when he heard this. “You women are just not very capable,” he said arrogantly. This had also been part of the reason why he didn’t like associating with the Empress. Next to these weak women, he felt that he really was the powerful Emperor and ruler of the Empire, but in front of Ji Zhuo, he felt like the weak, useless prince he’d been in his youth.
He suddenly remembered how the Ruizong Emperor had wanted to appoint Xiao Chengjun to succeed him and skip his own generation entirely, and anger rose in his breast. He’d finally obtained the chance to select his successor with great difficulty, but every one of them had posed problems of their own… thinking this, his eyes couldn’t help moving toward Chen Guifei. It would seem that the Third Prince was the only viable option for the Crown Prince now.
If this foolish Emperor could reason this out, it went without saying that the entire Imperial Court had also come to the same conclusion. There were no princes born after the Fourth Prince, and the Third Prince was, without a doubt, the only candidate left for the position of Crown Prince.
Now that Chen Guifei held sway over the hougong, she summoned all the ladies who were of the third rank and above in the Capital to the palace. After informing them about the funeral arrangements for the Fourth Prince, she deliberately asked the wives of the Ministers of the Left and Right to stay behind. One was Zhao Duan’s second wife, and the other was Chen Guifei’s own mother, Madam Chen Li.
“Now that we’ve got some privacy, I have something to say to you two furen,” Chen Guifei said, smiling faintly as she looked at the prim and proper second furen of the Zhao family.
The second furen of the Zhao family was pale-faced when she left the Luanyi Palace. When she got back home, she went looking for Zhao Duan in a panic. “Xiangye , Chen Guifei wants Ji Ming to marry the Third Prince!” she said urgently.
When Zhao Duan heard this, the teacup he was holding fell onto the floor and smashed into a thousand little pieces.
