Lian Shenwei had no intention of getting down.
“The rainy night is cold. Your Highness should return quickly,” he said, closing his eyes. “Continue forward.”
Chief Eunuch Li was caught in a difficult position. After a long moment, he raised his hand to signal the servants carrying the palanquin to move forward, then he himself trotted over to Ying Jingjue, saying somewhat fearfully, “Your Highness the Crown Prince, this servant…”
Before he could finish, he saw Ying Jingjue turn and simply follow behind the palanquin without a word.
“Oh my! Your Highness, how can this be proper!”
Chief Eunuch Li could only be grateful that it was raining now and the hour was late. Apart from the guards on duty, there was no one else on the road. Otherwise, if this scene got out, who knew what it would be twisted into.
When they reached outside the palace gates, the palanquin was set down. Lian Shenwei saw Tian Nan, who had been waiting outside all along.
He said nothing, only extended his hand and beckoned.
Tian Nan’s heart skipped a beat. He approached without showing any emotion and offered his arm.
Only when his master stood up did Tian Nan realize that his master was pressing almost his entire weight onto him. He keenly noticed his master’s irregular breathing, unlike usual—
Even worse than before coming to the palace.
And… why was his master’s body temperature so hot!
The more anxious Tian Nan became, the more tightly his face was drawn, looking quite frightening.
“Regent Prince.”
Ying Jingjue said calmly behind him.
Lian Shenwei’s steps paused, and he still turned sideways. “No longer calling me Teacher?”
“Teacher,” Ying Jingjue paused, then said, “This Prince came to find Teacher because of the Wei Manor matter. This Prince heard that the Wei Manor incident was an accidental fire, and though it has nothing to do with Teacher, inevitably some people will slander Teacher.”
Lian Shenwei nodded. “What does Your Highness want to do?”
Ying Jingjue said calmly, “This Prince came to discuss with Teacher—let this Prince take over the subsequent Wei Manor matters. Teacher can rest assured, this Prince will absolutely not let a single unpleasant rumor reach your ears.”
The young man’s gaze fell on his fingers, frozen blue with cold, and paused.
After listening to the young Crown Prince’s words, the Regent Prince didn’t seem to notice the hidden agenda beneath these words. Or perhaps he had noticed but held an attitude of indifference, indulging this wolf cub to act this way.
As if somewhat interested, Lian Shenwei slowly walked two steps forward. “The Wei Manor affair only requires finishing touches. It’s fine to leave it to you.”
He took the opportunity to place the hand warmer he’d been holding into the young Crown Prince’s cold hands, smiling. “It’s cold. Your Highness should return and rest.”
The warm hand warmer startled Ying Jingjue.
But Lian Shenwei gave him no chance to speak further. Tian Nan stepped forward to help him into the carriage, and they rode off at full speed toward the Regent Prince’s manor.
Left behind, Ying Jingjue held the hand warmer, his lips pressed into a tight line.
When the Wei Manor incident occurred, Ying Jingjue had been remarkably calm.
Combined with Luan Qingan’s recent death, he seemed to have completed a seemingly unremarkable transformation in a short time.
He felt that his previous behavior of showing mercy everywhere and not daring to be too ruthless had been utterly foolish.
He’d always wanted to leave room for maneuver in everything, but others wouldn’t give him even the slightest chance to breathe.
Now Wei Li was dead, and the power that could be seized from this matter was only scraps and remnants. But to him, it was invaluable. Because the subsequent handling of the Wei Manor affair involved almost every government department—if he operated properly, he could plant his own people within.
This was how he would do it—bit by bit, hollowing out the power in Lian Shenwei’s hands.
How could Chief Eunuch Li dare let him walk back alone? He quickly held an umbrella for him, accompanying him at his side.
Ying Jingjue walked back with a calm expression. More and more people followed behind him—young eunuchs who caught up, Eastern Palace guards who rushed over after hearing the news.
His status was incomparably noble, destined to sit upon the supreme and solitary throne.
In the long, dim palace corridor amid wind and rain, bamboo curtains half-lowered, wind chimes tinkling, he held the hand warmer and felt this path was much warmer than when he’d come.
–
The Regent Prince’s manor fell into chaos.
Tian Nan, with a cold expression, helped Lian Shenwei, who had fainted the moment he stepped into the bedroom, onto the bed.
When Feng Ke rushed over and saw Lian Shenwei’s complexion, he immediately cursed under his breath, his expression grave.
“Come, come, come—Tian Nan, tell me, what did this guy go and do now?!”
Tian Nan quickly recounted the events, emphasizing the heart meridian constriction at the Wei Manor. “At the time, I clearly saw my master wasn’t angry or enraged, and his emotions couldn’t be called agitated at all. Physician Feng, what’s my master’s condition really like?”
Feng Ke’s fingertips clearly felt Lian Shenwei’s chaotic pulse. He simply didn’t know how to curse properly.
No emotions? Not agitated? Nonsense!
Anything connected to Fudu Manor—how could he possibly remain calm?
Wearing the skin of this extremely composed Regent Prince, yet his thoughts were heavier than anyone’s.
The unconscious friend on the bed was oblivious. Feng Ke looked at him, saying irritably, “You—”
He paused, then said with a headache, “Forget it. I owe you.”
Feng Ke continued, “Your master can’t use many basic medicinal ingredients. He can’t take medicine for treating colds—he can only endure it. Go find some alcohol to wipe his body and lower his temperature, then go to my room and get the box I placed on the high shelf.”
Tian Nan hurried off.
Ye Mingqin had also been awakened, running back and forth to help, not sleeping for most of the night.
She was to report for duty at the imperial prison tomorrow and insisted on watching over her sworn brother, but was fiercely shooed away by Feng Ke.
He opened the brocade box. Inside was a small piece of softwood-like medicine that gave off a strange fragrance when smelled. He carefully cut off a tiny bit with a silver knife and placed it in Lian Shenwei’s mouth for him to hold.
“No one in the world is as precious as you, using such things to suppress a cold…” Feng Ke muttered, putting it away with distress.
He stretched lazily, saying drowsily, “Fine, watch over your master. If he wakes up in five days, there won’t be any major problems. If he doesn’t wake up…”
“What will happen?” Tian Nan asked nervously.
Feng Ke replied, “If he doesn’t wake up, I’ll examine him again.”
Tian Nan: “…”
–
Gong Du’s consciousness had reached the peak of laziness in his soul sea.
After his body fell unconscious, he seemed to have fallen unconscious in his consciousness sea as well. If not for his eyes occasionally opening to groggily eat snacks, Little Light Orb would almost truly think he was asleep.
It worried, “Are you alright?”
Gong Du replied weakly, “&*@￥#…”
Little Light Orb leaned in to listen before hearing him say, “Should be fine for now, I guess.”
Little Light Orb: “…”
A bit panicked.
Gong Du shifted, even his ears drooping, curling himself into the fluffy little cushion, drowsily closing his eyes.
Really wanted to sleep, really wanted to slack off.
Probably even Gong Du himself hadn’t anticipated that this randomly assigned illness would have such a significant impact on his own soul.
Although he truly wanted to slack off and truly hadn’t written scripts, the script in his mind kept turning pages and constructing itself. He didn’t want it this way, but he couldn’t control it…
Script writing had become a habit—it really couldn’t be changed overnight.
The three protagonists of this world: one was Ying Jingjue, who held the script of ruling the world; the second protagonist was Young Marquis Li Ningfeng, who held the script of a famous general’s conquests; the third protagonist was Ye Mingqin, who held the script of a renowned minister and female chancellor.
The three of them would support the gradually declining Great Sheng Dynasty and usher in a new prosperous era.
In the original world line, Lian Shenwei hadn’t had much entanglement with Li Ningfeng or Ye Mingqin.
Gong Du didn’t plan to do it that way. Even with his soul languishing, designing scripts to harvest fortune energy seemed imprinted in his instincts.
The blood relationship between this body and Ying Jingjue was a natural script that didn’t require deliberate writing.
As for adopting Ye Mingqin, he’d accumulated quite a bit of favorability over the years. The purpose was to prevent himself from truly slacking off completely—so when leaving this world, he’d at least have a guaranteed fortune energy return.
Having Li Ningfeng learn one of Fudu Manor’s inherited sword techniques by accident was meant to deepen the bond with this protagonist.
After all, in many places in the jianghu, inheritance relationships and master-disciple relationships were sometimes far more important than ordinary brotherhood or father-son bonds.
Therefore, with Li Ningfeng being “the only person with martial arts talent who learned Elder Sister’s sword technique over all these years,” it would be perfectly natural for him to treat Li Ningfeng a bit specially, a bit better.
Moreover, that guy had a wild and unrestrained temperament. Aside from respecting teachers and elders, Gong Du felt there weren’t many angles he could exploit.
Gong Du yawned.
In this world, he had no formal script, yet every step was calculated.
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, he had grown accustomed to using his real or fake “pain” and “weakness” to elicit the maximum emotional response from others.
Still so exhausting…
Gong Du had moved up his death time by quite a bit, scheduling it for the earliest possible moment.
He could take advantage of this coma to stay in his consciousness sea for a few extra days.
Little Light Orb wasn’t a foolish orb. It roughly guessed that this randomly assigned illness had a somewhat significant impact on Gong Du, but Gong Du wouldn’t tell it anything.
It couldn’t help feeling anxious. After worrying and pondering for a long time, it connected with this world’s world consciousness to discuss matters.
–
After news of the Regent Prince’s illness spread, various factions reacted differently.
At the morning court session the next day, the Loyal Righteousness Marquis was dressed impeccably. His small iron prosthetic leg clanked on the ground, drawing everyone’s attention.
He had prepared to challenge Lian Shenwei at court, but unexpectedly, the other party simply didn’t show up today.
Ill? What coincidence was this?
The Loyal Righteousness Marquis’s expression was strange. Could it be that he wasn’t coming to avoid him?
Unlike other indignant ministers, Ying Jingjue didn’t get agitated. Instead, he took the opportunity to report to Emperor Jingcheng that he would take over the subsequent Wei Manor affairs.
Emperor Jingcheng looked at him deeply, pondered for a moment, and said, “In that case, the Regent Prince is ill, but the Nan’an cheating scandal cannot be delayed. Before the Regent Prince recovers, both it and the Wei Manor matter shall be handled by you together.”
Ying Jingjue was stunned. He instinctively looked up.
The Nan’an cheating scandal and the Wei Manor matter were two completely different things. Everyone knew Wei Li had died unjustly—handling the Wei Manor affair was just a slightly larger mosquito bite.
But the former was a real, substantial case that all the princes coveted and wanted to handle.
The cheating examinees needed silver to bribe officials, and the officials were connected to the local Education Commissioner. Without profit exchanges between officials, the cheating wouldn’t have proceeded smoothly.
Whoever gained power over this case and successfully resolved the Nan’an cheating scandal would immediately see their status at court rise significantly.
The First Prince and Third Prince also realized this and both stepped forward. “Imperial Brother is young. Please allow this son to assist Imperial Brother, Father Emperor!”
The ministers standing with them naturally spoke on their behalf.
It looked like another argument was about to break out.
Emperor Jingcheng raised his hand to silence them. “Enough. The Crown Prince can handle it alone. He is our dynasty’s heir apparent. If he cannot handle even this matter, he will have disappointed our expectations.”
With these words, Ying Jingjue quickly calmed down. He glanced at his two imperial brothers, whose expressions varied, and made his calculations.
If he couldn’t handle the Nan’an cheating scandal well, his position as future heir would likely be even more precarious than before.
If he completed it smoothly…
Ying Jingjue sneered inwardly. How could it be completed smoothly? Who knew how many obstacles there would be?
Nevertheless, he accepted the case without showing any emotion, saying respectfully, “This son will definitely not disappoint Father Emperor’s expectations!”
#
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152