The cup shattered, porcelain shards bouncing far across the floor.
Probably extremely angry, in his twenty-six years of life, the number of times Lian Shenwei had been this furious could be counted on one hand. A series of unstoppable low coughs forced their way out from his lungs.
His emotions fluctuated too severely. His heart meridian and the major meridians through which internal energy circulated throughout his body all flared with pain. He felt his vision darken.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Feng Ke stuck a needle in his fingertip and patted his back to help him catch his breath. “You’re so angry—can you really kill him?”
Ming Zhu, afraid he’d catch cold again, quickly grabbed a cloak and draped it over their master’s shoulders.
Lian Shenwei coughed for a good while. Only when he tasted iron rust in his mouth did he slowly stop. After a long time recovering, his voice was hoarse. “Tian Nan.”
“Master, I’m here!”
Lian Shenwei’s eyes were somber. “Dig up Wei Li’s grave for me and smash his bones inch by inch.”
Tian Nan didn’t hesitate. “Yes! Master, should I do it now?”
“…”
Lian Shenwei closed his eyes, his brow tightly furrowed, waves of pain coming from his heart meridian.
Feng Ke watched with alarm as Lian Shenwei broke out in a cold sweat all over, his eyes closed as he steadied his breathing, and the silver needle trembling non-stop on his ice-cold fingertip. “Calm down, calm down, please stay calm, calm…”
How angry must he be? In over twenty years of acquaintance, he’d never seen Lian Shenwei like this.
That boy Ying Jingjue truly had remarkable abilities.
For a time, the room was filled only with Lian Shenwei’s breathing, suppressing cold fury.
After a long while.
Lian Shenwei’s breathing finally slowly calmed down.
Just moments ago, he had truly wanted to grab the Cangshan Sword and slaughter that little bastard.
Even though Ying Jingjue didn’t remember what happened to him as a child.
“…After the Nan’an cheating scandal is resolved, let him stay in his ancestral tomb for a while first.”
Aside from Wei Li, the others were just corpses he’d pulled from mass graves—vagrants or criminals without a drop of Wei family blood, buried in the prestigious Wei family ancestral tomb, receiving incense offerings from his students on festivals and holidays. It was supremely ironic and laughable.
This barely made him feel a bit better.
He couldn’t dig up Wei Li’s grave now. Once he did, it would mean Ying Jingjue hadn’t handled this matter well, making him vulnerable to being exploited.
The Nan’an cheating scandal wasn’t complicated. He’d investigated it very clearly—the Nan’an Education Commissioner, Provincial Governor, and Governor-General had all participated.
However, he didn’t want Ying Jingjue to complete it so easily, so he’d moved the original location of the embezzled funds. While leaving clues, he’d also leaked information to both the First Prince and Third Prince.
Those two were indispensable whetstones on Ying Jingjue’s path to ascending the throne.
If he could find the embezzled funds before those two, it would truly allow many ministers at court to see his capabilities clearly and reassess this struggle for the throne.
Since Lian Shenwei dared to openly transfer the embezzled funds and turn this matter into training for Ying Jingjue, he wasn’t afraid of people discovering his manipulation.
As long as Emperor Jingcheng sat on the throne for one day and the nation’s foundation wasn’t shaken, he could turn heaven upside down without consequences.
It’s just that there was still a knot of anger stuck in his heart, uncomfortable in its blockage.
Feng Ke removed the silver needle from Lian Shenwei’s fingertip and quickly made eyes at Ming Zhu and the other. “Quickly go get something to eat, remember it should be soft and easy to swallow. Your master is hungry.”
“Yes.”
Before leaving, Ming Zhu cleaned up all the broken porcelain shards on the floor to prevent Lian Shenwei from stepping on them.
After they left, Lian Shenwei supported himself and stood up, went to the desk on the east side of the bedroom, and turned the inkstone. The bookshelf clicked open, revealing a wall.
Lian Shenwei reached out and knocked on the wall several times.
The wall loosened, the wooden layer pulled open, revealing a sword case inside.
Feng Ke sighed. “So you hid Cangshan here. Aren’t you going to open it and look?”
“Before, when I had pent-up anger, a good fight would make me feel much better.”
The young man’s palm rested on the sword case.
Sealed inside the case was his seventeen-year-old self—riding freely through the jianghu, unrestrained and carefree.
Lian Shenwei didn’t open it. “I’m reminded of an old friend.”
Feng Ke obviously knew who he meant. “It’s you who didn’t want him to know you were here. He doesn’t blame you. All these years, he’s traveled the jianghu everywhere, inquiring about news of you. Every June, that person goes to Jinling.”
“Now I can’t even draw my sword. How can I meet an old friend?”
Lian Shenwei was silent for a moment, then put the sword case back. “But you’ve reminded me—after spring, Jingjue will be sixteen. It will be Elder Sister’s tenth death anniversary. He and I should both return to Jinling to visit.”
Once a sharp blade at his side, now forever sealed in its case. Feng Ke didn’t know what to say, his heart filled with mixed feelings. “The Crown Prince is precious, and he has no memories. How will you get him to leave the capital for Jinling?”
Lian Shenwei closed the bookshelf, saying flatly, “There will be a way.”
–
Preparations for the welcoming banquet proceeded vigorously, and the Regent Prince’s manor also sent word indicating that Lian Shenwei would attend.
Li Ningfeng, the guest of honor, followed Ying Jingjue around all day, so busy he was nowhere to be seen. This completely extinguished the hopes of those wanting to drive a wedge between them, and they turned to thinking of other methods.
Since Li Ningfeng said he wanted to review the case files, Ying Jingjue first took him to the Court of Judicial Review. The records there were hastily and roughly written, so they made another trip to the imperial prison.
After all, when Luan Qingan was finally taken away, he’d left from the imperial prison.
Upon entering the hall, they were greeted by a Prison Warden’s deputy—a woman with delicate features who handled affairs without any ambiguity, quite efficiently.
Ye Mingqin said, “The Prison Warden will arrive shortly. Your Highness the Crown Prince and Young Marquis, please wait a moment.”
Though the court had very few female officials, this was the first time Li Ningfeng had seen one serving at the imperial prison.
Only after Ye Mingqin walked away did Ying Jingjue explain. “The imperial prison originally had no female officials. She’s called Ye Mingqin, a deputy recommended by the Regent Prince.”
Li Ningfeng understood. “Someone the Regent Prince planted in the imperial prison?”
Ying Jingjue paused, somewhat hesitant. “Hard to say. She’s a formidable figure with real talent and learning who has resolved quite a few wrongful cases in the prison, and she’s ruthless too. In the Nan’an cheating scandal, this deputy has been far more useful than the Prison Warden himself. Moreover…”
“Moreover what?”
“Aside from being close to the Regent Prince’s manor, I haven’t noticed Ye Mingqin favoring the Regent Prince in any way,” Ying Jingjue said. “Her achievements speak for themselves. The small imperial prison won’t contain her for long. In a while, you and I will see her at the Ministry of Justice.”
The Prison Warden quickly arrived, and the case files were placed on the table for them to review.
Ying Jingjue waved his hand, dismissing him.
The evidence of Luan Qingan colluding with the enemy consisted of only a few sparse sheets of paper, along with testimony that seemed to have been given under duress. These couldn’t reveal much—at most, one could see that the so-called evidence of collusion was all fabricated, and Luan Qingan had been wrongfully slandered and killed.
The capital and various regions indeed spread this version: The Regent Prince was sinister and vicious. Simply because the upright Lord Luan had impeached him, he was charged with collusion and his entire family was executed.
Lord Luan was pitiful, and the Young Marquis fighting at the frontier was even more pitiful.
Ying Jingjue glanced at his friend’s somewhat grave expression and couldn’t help saying, “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking—what if my uncle hadn’t died the wrongful death everyone knows about, but had actually colluded with the enemy?” Li Ningfeng paused, his sharp brows pressing down. “Given my relationship with him, the frontier soldiers would definitely be suspicious and wary of me too. At best, they wouldn’t follow my orders; at worst, military operations would be delayed. The consequences…”
Both fell silent.
The case files recorded the ‘testimony of collusion’ word by word, stroke by stroke, clearly written, seeping with bone-chilling coldness.
Li Ningfeng exhaled. “Thank goodness it wasn’t true.” [T/N: errmm ….actually…..]
“Lord Luan won’t have died wrongfully in vain, and the Shunchang Earl’s Manor won’t become a sacrifice for Lian Shenwei to vent his anger. And Lord Wei as well,” Ying Jingjue promised. “Lian Shenwei will definitely pay the price in the future.”
It’s just that what he currently held in his hands was still too little.
Ying Jingjue said, “Lian Shenwei will attend the welcoming banquet. I’m worried he’ll act against you.”
“I hold half the military authority. He won’t do anything to me,” Li Ningfeng said. “Even if he does make things difficult, I’ll face it all.”
“He can’t just slap me with a charge of colluding with the enemy too—that would be too foolish.”
Ying Jingjue replied, “In any case, be careful in all things.”
–
Taiji Palace.
The welcoming banquet.
The sunlight was faint, the temperature cool but not cold. Spring peeked through among the flowers and grass. This welcoming banquet wasn’t set up inside the hall but arranged outside.
The servants from the greenhouse had done everything possible, filling the surroundings with flowers—beautiful but not gaudy. The four-season begonias clearly hadn’t reached their March flowering period, yet somehow someone had made them bloom early.
Officials coming and going exchanged greetings and, amid laughter and conversation, took their seats one after another.
“The Regent Prince has arrived. Is your health better now?”
“We few have been quite worried. If you hadn’t forbidden entry, we would have already visited your manor to check on you.”
Whether genuine or false, these were all the face-saving formalities of officialdom. There were too many such greetings, and Lian Shenwei selectively responded.
Ming Zhu and Tian Nan accompanied their master to the banquet. Lian Shenwei’s seat was at the head of the ministers’ side—quite spacious. In these years as regent, he’d never been ill for such a long time.
Seeing him take his seat, some people’s scrutinizing gazes inevitably turned toward him.
Today wasn’t particularly cold, yet Lian Shenwei wore a thick dark green cloak. His long hair was gathered up, his complexion like moonlight, adorned with a simple jade hairpin. He even held a hand warmer, looking somewhat thin and pale, with an air of illness.
However, he didn’t carry any unpleasant medicinal smell, making it hard for people to tell whether he was actually ill or not.
It’s just…
Some people muttered inwardly—had someone provoked the Regent Prince today? Why wasn’t there even half a trace of a smile on his face?
After a while, everyone had arrived. The assembled officials bowed to Emperor Jingcheng, but Lian Shenwei alone didn’t move. He slowly sipped the fruit wine at hand, raising his eyes to look at Ying Jingjue sitting directly across from him.
As Crown Prince, he deserved the head seat on the right, directly opposite him. Likely by prior arrangement, Li Ningfeng’s seat was beside Ying Jingjue.
Lian Shenwei didn’t plan to maintain the superficial harmony of teacher and student with that brat Ying Jingjue anymore. He wanted to genuinely pressure Ying Jingjue and force him to grow.
Of course, most importantly, he had pent-up anger. Not going after him with a sword was already the limit of his patience.
If Ying Jingjue viewed him as an obstacle to ascending the throne, then sooner or later they’d tear off the facade. Sooner or later was all the same—might as well take the initiative and advance it. A maternal uncle disciplining his nephew—even if Emperor Jingcheng, the father, was here, what could he say?
Emperor Jingcheng said, “All ministers may rise. There’s no need to mind Us. Be at ease.”
After Ying Jingjue sat down again, he detected a somewhat cold gaze looking at him. He looked up to see Lian Shenwei’s eyes and froze.
For some reason, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up stiffly.
Suppressing the urge to rub his arms, Ying Jingjue thought it was because he’d taken over the Nan’an cheating scandal that made Lian Shenwei unhappy.
His mind taking countless turns, he smiled and raised his cup. “Congratulations to Teacher on recovering from your serious illness. This Prince toasts you.”
A palace maid immediately filled Lian Shenwei’s cup with fruit wine.
Ying Jingjue smiled slightly and drank the wine.
Lian Shenwei picked up his wine cup and slowly poured the liquid onto the ground.
Almost at the moment Ying Jingjue finished drinking, Lian Shenwei poured out every drop.
The gazes of all the ministers gathered here, watching with alarm. They hadn’t expected the Regent Prince to refuse to give the Crown Prince even this much face.
Ying Jingjue narrowed his eyes.
Li Ningfeng tapped his fingers on the table, saying meaningfully, “Though I’ve been long at the frontier, I still know that the Crown Prince is the heir apparent. The heir—a sovereign. The Regent Prince achieved top scholar rank and once served as the Crown Prince’s teacher. Surely you understand the relationship between sovereign and subject.”
Lian Shenwei smiled. “Since I’m the Crown Prince’s teacher, I must be responsible to the Crown Prince. The Young Marquis speaks of the sovereign-subject relationship, so you must also know about respecting teachers and valuing education.”
“The physician said I’ve just recovered from a serious illness and that drinking alcohol harms the body. What if I drank this full cup of wine and inadvertently died? Wouldn’t the Crown Prince be equivalent to killing his own teacher?”
Li Ningfeng paused. “It’s just one cup of wine. It wouldn’t come to that.”
Lian Shenwei’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. Meeting Ying Jingjue’s gaze, he said gently, “Your Highness the Crown Prince, this minister merely avoided the possibility of you committing teacher-killing, preventing you from once again, in your capacity as a student, sending this minister to eternal rest just as you sent Lord Wei to his burial.”
#
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152