Emperor Jingcheng was quiet for a moment before saying to him, “The Regent Prince… was also your teacher. Now that he’s ill, find time to visit him. He would surely be very happy.”
He was the emperor. Every word he spoke would be turned over a hundred and eighty times in people’s hearts, minds, and guts as they tried to figure out what he meant.
Ying Jingjue instinctively looked up and inadvertently met Emperor Jingcheng’s gaze.
He quickly lowered his head. “This son obeys the decree.”
A trace of faint doubt arose in his heart. Father Emperor seemed to genuinely just want him to simply visit Lian Shenwei… without any other meaning.
Come to think of it, Father Emperor had always been partial and indulgent toward him. It wasn’t strange to send him, the Crown Prince, to visit.
As for Lian Shenwei being happy?
Ying Jingjue didn’t think he had that much influence.
The assembled officials withdrew from court, each with their own thoughts.
On the road, the Loyal Righteousness Marquis struck up a conversation with Ying Jingjue. He walked with a limp, yet moved briskly without letting anyone help him. Lowering his voice, he said, “This old official has failed Your Highness. I went to the Wei Manor too late last night.”
Ying Jingjue shook his head. “The one he wanted to eliminate was Lord Wei. Even if you had arrived on time last night, there would have been other accidents causing the Wei Manor’s people to die untimely deaths.”
The Loyal Righteousness Marquis sighed. “Fortunately, the Regent Prince doesn’t hold much military power. Otherwise…”
“When Ningfeng returns, no matter what, Your Highness’s situation will be much better.”
Ying Jingjue smiled bitterly. “You must have heard about the Shunchang Earl’s Manor. Whether Ningfeng will forgive this Prince still depends on him.”
The Loyal Righteousness Marquis nodded. “That’s natural. However, regarding the Shunchang Earl’s Manor…”
He wasn’t familiar with Luan Qingan, but after all, he was his son’s maternal uncle. It wasn’t his place to speak of forgiveness.
The Loyal Righteousness Marquis paused and said, “Your Highness and my son have many years of friendship. He will understand your difficulties.”
Ying Jingjue shook his head. “What this Prince doesn’t understand now is why the Regent Prince absolutely had to kill Lord Wei.”
The two of them actually didn’t have much interaction normally. Though there were political disagreements, thinking carefully, Lian Shenwei didn’t have a compelling reason to kill Wei Li.
The Loyal Righteousness Marquis stroked his beard and said, “Have you considered that perhaps the Nan’an cheating scandal is related to the Regent Prince, so he pushed forward Wei Li as a scapegoat?”
“Your Highness, do you know that throughout all dynasties, when cheating scandals are investigated to the end, which one has ever revealed a small amount of bribery? But this time, no matter how much they torture and interrogate, the places where the Nan’an Education Commissioner said the bribe money was hidden didn’t contain even half a copper coin.”
Ying Jingjue asked, “You mean the Regent Prince took that money?”
“Now that the Wei Manor has been burned to ashes, whatever was inside—isn’t it all up to the Regent Prince alone to say?” The old Marquis voiced his speculation.
His meaning was that Lian Shenwei was the mastermind behind the Nan’an cheating scandal, or at least closely connected to the case. Lian Shenwei had taken the bribe money, then turned around and threw the dirty water on Wei Li, then burned the Wei Manor to ashes with a fire.
“Silver has far more uses than Your Highness imagines. Three years ago, in the frontier battle that cost this old official a leg, the frontier sent twelve military dispatches to the court but couldn’t get even a bit of dry rations, cotton clothing, or medicinal supplies.”
The Great Sheng Dynasty was not like the founding period. After several generations of emperors, the interior was already full of filth and chronic ailments.
The old Marquis squinted, recalling.
“In the snowy winter, the soldiers ate snow and boiled grass roots to fill their stomachs. Just when they could barely hold on any longer… someone, in the name of the common people under heaven, sent a large batch of supplies to the frontier.”
In that batch of supplies, most were common flatbreads and filling steamed buns, frozen solid along the way but not spoiled.
There was also substantial rice and flour, medicinal materials, dried meat for soup, densely woven and thick cotton clothing, and even many old clothes and washed old bedding collected from various households.
As if afraid they wouldn’t have enough—it was unreasonably practical.
At a glance, you could tell someone had painstakingly, by every means possible, sent over everything they could. Never mind how much silver was needed to supply the frontier soldiers with those materials—just the cost of transporting them all the way was more than some people could afford in a lifetime.
Along with that mighty supply convoy came an anonymous letter, its brushwork naturally carefree, its words full of heroic jianghu spirit.
At that time, the national treasury was empty and times were difficult. The civil officials at court argued endlessly about frontier matters without reaching any conclusion.
It was this batch of supplies that allowed them to survive the most difficult period and live to see the belated grain sent by the court.
Actually, during that waiting period, to say the frontier soldiers bore no resentment would be a lie. But when they saw that patchwork of supplies sent in the name of the common people, many tough men touched those cotton clothes and grain and turned red-eyed on the spot.
Though they didn’t say much, the ferocity with which they killed enemies truly startled him.
Morale was unprecedentedly high.
Because they knew their protection had meaning, and the people they protected were thinking of them too.
The old Marquis was very grateful to that anonymous person who sent the supplies.
Even though these supplies included donations collected from the common people, the vast majority of the grain must have been purchased with that person’s own money. Many of the grain sacks bore the mark of Jinling granaries—presumably that person was someone of outstanding character from Jinling.
Regrettably, afterward when he wanted to thank them in person, he couldn’t find a single clue.
Returning from distant memories, seeing the young Crown Prince frowning in thought, the old Marquis gave a few more instructions.
“This old official is only speculating. Since Your Highness is taking over this matter, you must handle it properly. This old official’s legs are inconvenient, and I won’t come out often in the future. Your Highness must be careful in all things.”
Ying Jingjue replied, “This Prince understands. Ningfeng will return to the capital soon—calculating the time, he’ll arrive within ten days. At the welcoming banquet, I’ll have a good talk with him.”
Watching the old Marquis leave, Ying Jingjue’s mind was still on what he’d just said.
For some reason, he didn’t agree with the old Marquis’s speculation that Lian Shenwei had taken the embezzled money.
He’d been to the Regent Prince’s manor many times. Where was there even half a trace of luxury in its furnishings? Moreover, after all these years of interaction, he didn’t think Lian Shenwei was someone who coveted silver.
Ying Jingjue returned to the Eastern Palace, gathered some tonics, and went to the Regent Prince’s manor.
–
Foquan Temple.
The melodious sound of bells startled birds in the mountain forest.
A young monk, fingering Buddhist beads, hurried into a room.
An elderly man in plain clothes, sixty or seventy years old, sat cross-legged on a cushion, his lips moving as he chanted sutras in a low voice. Though his eyelids drooped loosely, when he opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashed beneath.
“What is it?”
The monk recited “Amitabha”: “Grand Tutor Mo, your letter.”
The monk placed the letter on the table and left silently.
From somewhere in the room, another person appeared. He repeatedly examined the letter, and only after confirming it was safe did he hand it to the old man. “Grand Tutor, it should be from inside the palace.”
“I can tell. Even the paper in the palace is precious.”
Mo Da opened the letter, read it once, then casually burned it.
Mu Xiang asked, “Grand Tutor?”
Mo Da said, “The Regent Prince has actually fallen ill. With his illness, who knows how many people have thoughts. Interesting. He killed Wei Li. Wei Li isn’t like that fool Luan Qingan—though his abilities were mediocre and he was pedantic and stubborn, he could still be called loyal.”
“However, the Nan’an cheating scandal has actually been taken over by the Crown Prince…”
He spoke very slowly and deliberately, old and hoarse. After a moment of silence, he said, “Go do something. Do it without leaving a trace.”
Mo Da whispered a few sentences.
Mu Xiang acknowledged, “Yes.”
“Also, the Young Marquis is returning soon, isn’t he?”
Mo Da lightly fingered his Buddhist beads, slowly stood up, and squinted toward the window. Outside, the spring rain had just passed, and the pine needles looked fresh.
“The capital should liven up.”
–
When Ying Jingjue arrived at the entrance to the Regent Prince’s manor, he was stopped by Tian Nan.
Tian Nan bowed. “Your Highness the Crown Prince, please forgive me. My master has caught a cold and is unwell. To avoid spreading the illness, all visitors today cannot enter.”
Ying Jingjue smiled, asking with concern, “Is Teacher’s cold serious?”
Tian Nan was Teacher’s guard. Though he still looked energetic now, his eyes were somewhat darkened—he must have been up all night.
Could it be that Lian Shenwei’s illness was very serious this time?
Last night, he’d merely been caught in the rain. When speaking to him from the palanquin, he had clearly been fine.
Ying Jingjue instinctively recalled the warm hand warmer Lian Shenwei had given him that night. His smile faded slightly as he inevitably wondered—was it because he gave him the hand warmer that he caught this cold?
But it didn’t take long from the palace gates to the Regent Prince’s manor, and moreover, he’d left in a carriage…
The next second, the young Crown Prince couldn’t help feeling annoyed. Why was he subconsciously concerned about Lian Shenwei again? Every time it was like this—truly strange!
Ying Jingjue had just received his assignment today and still needed to visit the imperial prison and the Court of Judicial Review. He said, “This Prince has brought some things for Teacher. When Teacher wakes, tell him this Prince has already visited.”
Tian Nan replied, “Yes.”
Tian Nan collected the items Ying Jingjue sent and placed them separately. Every time the Crown Prince sent things, though his master wouldn’t say anything, he could tell his master was pleased.
When his master was pleased, he was pleased.
For the next seven consecutive days, the capital was extremely lively. After Ying Jingjue familiarized himself with the Nan’an cheating scandal, he got up to speed very quickly, though inevitably the First Prince and Third Prince tried to trip him up.
After being ambushed a few times, Ying Jingjue calmly learned his lessons, grew rapidly, and when the opportunity arose, smiled and bit back.
The moment Emperor Jingcheng delegated authority over the Nan’an cheating scandal to him, this struggle for the throne truly began in earnest.
The tense atmosphere of the imperial city didn’t reach the silent Regent Prince’s manor at all.
On the fourth day of Lian Shenwei’s coma, Feng Ke took his pulse. His expression was relatively calm as he said the high fever had subsided and he would wake on the fifth day.
But it was already the seventh day, and Lian Shenwei still showed no signs of movement.
Feng Ke had pulled out quite a bit of his hair, muttering “this shouldn’t be” incoherently for two whole days, repeatedly adjusting the usable medicinal ingredients, and couldn’t help beginning to doubt whether his medical skills had tarnished his Feng family’s ancestral reputation.
He looked quite haggard and pitiful.
What he didn’t know was that this wasn’t a problem with his family’s inherited medical skills—someone was ignoring his efforts and didn’t want to wake up.
Gong Du huddled in his consciousness sea, decadently playing games. He’d played Plants vs. Zombies countless times, still on the first level. Because he simply couldn’t be bothered to click on plants to fight zombies.
Until noon on the ninth day.
A young man wearing silver armor with his dark hair tied high came riding on horseback with a flourish, reining in his mount beneath the eastern city gate with a cry.
Behind him, hoofbeats sounded and dust rose.
The city guards called out, “Who goes there!”
The young man swung the long spear in his hand. He raised his token and declared loudly, “Loyal Righteousness Marquis Manor, Acting General Who Suppresses the North Li Ningfeng, returning to the capital for an audience!”
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Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152