Раusing slightly, Guan Zhi instаntlу undеrstооd his master's intentiоn. Indignаntly resрonding with a "Yеs," hе swiftlу wеnt tо fеtch the itеms.
Feng Yue turned back, loоking аt him somеwhat рuzzlеd: "Whаt? Рlanning tо lоdgе а сomрlaint against thе Сrown Рrince at thе palаce?"
Strаightеning his lареls, Yin Gеzhi glаnced аt hеr and sаid, "Nо nеed fоr such trоublе."
Lodging cоmрlaints wаs hardly his stylе. Besides, if hе wеrе to сomplain, hе shоuld hаve trаnsроrtеd thе сorрsеs into thе pаlacе last night. Аftеr а night, the sсеnt оf blоod had fadеd, and the dishes had gonе cold—what wаs the pоint?
Loоking аt the gеntle expression on his face, Feng Yue involuntarily shivered, suddenly feeling a bit of sympathy for that brainless Crown Prince.
Yin Chenjue returned to the palace but couldn't sleep. The moment he closed his eyes, the gruesome scene of dismembered limbs and bloodshed flashed through his mind. Wrapped in a blanket, he trembled uncontrollably, filled with terror.
Seeing his state, the palace attendant hurried to inform the Empress. The Empress rushed over immediately, dismissing all the palace servants, and anxiously asked, "What's wrong?"
After recounting the events at the Prince of Filial Piety's Mansion, Yin Chenjue looked at his mother with trembling fear: "Mother, can I not compete with him anymore?"
Empress Shi frowned sharply: "You are the Crown Prince! Do you know how much effort I expended to secure this position for you? Although Prince Xiao is to be exiled, there are still people in the court pleading for leniency on his behalf. If this continues, the Emperor might revoke his decree, and he will become the greatest threat to your position as Crown Prince! If you don't seize the opportunity now while the Emperor is wary of him, when will you?"
"But... but..." At the mere thought of Yin Chenbi's face, Yin Chenjue trembled in fear: "If he truly decides to compete with me, there's no way I can win against him!"
Gritting her teeth in frustration, Empress Shi wore an expression of exasperation: "His mother passed away early, and he has no support in the rear palace. He lacks solid connections in the court, relying only on some past prestige. How could you possibly lose to him? Besides, the Emperor currently favors you—what does he have?"
After a year as a hostage and nearly a decade of dedicated service to the Wei Kingdom, Yin Gezhi now had nothing!
Yin Chenjue looked bewildered. Empress Shi pondered for a moment and said, "Didn't he slaughter many at the Prince of Filial Piety's Mansion? And those killed were all City Garrison soldiers! We can use this to lodge a complaint against him, saying that when the City Garrison was on night patrol near the Prince of Filial Piety's Mansion, a conflict arose, and Prince Xiao indiscriminately killed people. If we find some witnesses, he will surely be left speechless!"
Thinking it was quite feasible, the Empress herself rose and went to the doorway, summoning a palace maid for a whispered conversation.
Yin Chenjue watched gloomily, a hint of weariness in his eyes, but he remained silent, simply hanging his head and waiting.
As dawn broke and the palace gates opened, court officials filed orderly toward the court hall. Censor Wu Ze was yawning when he suddenly felt someone squeezing in behind him.
The procession into the palace was strictly arranged—who would be so unruly as to push in like this? Frowning, he turned around, intending to reprimand the person, only to see Yin Gezhi's expressionless face, like a cool morning breeze, instantly jolting him awake.
"Prince Xiao?!"This exclamation startled the two rows of officials who had been walking, causing them all to halt. At the very front, Shi Hongwei was slightly taken aback, frowning as he turned around. He saw that Prince Xiao was not wearing court robes, nor even formal attire—only a light, elegant white garment, his eyes calm and unruffled.
What was going on? The assembled officials were all bewildered. Those closer to Yin Gezhi quickly gathered around him, whispering, "What does Your Highness intend to do?"
Yin Gezhi replied, "I have something to say to His Majesty in court."
His Majesty, not Father.
Taking a sharp breath, Wu Ze tugged at his sleeve and advised, "The Emperor has been in a foul mood lately. Acting like this will surely provoke his wrath."
"If he doesn’t get angry, I’ll have come for nothing," Yin Gezhi said calmly, brushing off his hand. "Gentlemen, please continue forward. It’s unseemly to block the way here."
Wu Ze was an old friend of Yin Gezhi’s and had been promoted to Censor with his support. Hearing this, he said nothing more and simply ordered the procession to continue.
Shi Hongwei frowned as he watched, pondering for a moment before also continuing toward the court without speaking.
Thus, Emperor Wen of Wei’s relatively good mood that day was shattered the moment he sat on the dragon throne and looked down.
"Chenbi?" Emperor Wen’s expression darkened. "Why have you come?"
Stepping forward and kneeling, Yin Gezhi said, "Your son has failed to live up to Your Majesty’s high expectations and has come to seek punishment."
"Oh?" Emperor Wen showed a flicker of interest. "What has happened?"
Yin Gezhi raised his head calmly and said, "Being a prince is dull. Your son wishes to resign and become a commoner, traveling the mountains and rivers. I have failed Your Majesty’s profound grace and high hopes, and I beg for your forgiveness."
What in the world?
The entire court was stunned by these words! Throughout history, countless princes had existed, but never had one stood in court and declared that being a prince was boring and that he wanted to become a commoner to wander the land! Wasn’t this a public slap to the emperor’s face? And a heavy one at that, leaving Emperor Wen of Wei speechless for a long moment.
But when he finally regained his composure, Emperor Wen was furious. He threw the memorial in his hand down and roared, "Nonsense! This is the imperial court! How dare you speak such absurdities in front of so many people?! The Yin imperial family bore and raised you—was it just to witness such treasonous behavior today?"
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger—" The ministers on both sides knelt, pressing their foreheads to the ground.
Yin Gezhi knelt upright, his back straight, and said calmly, "In these twenty-odd years, does Father believe that what I have repaid to the Yin imperial family is still insufficient?"
He paused, then looked up at the throne. "If not, perhaps send me back to the Wu Kingdom as a hostage, to grow old and die in a foreign land. That might ease Father’s heart."
These two sentences choked Emperor Wen’s anger, and the ministers’ hearts tightened as well.
Indeed, speaking of the debt of life and upbringing, the contributions the First Prince had made to the imperial family over the years surpassed those of all the princes and emperors of two dynasties combined. If one were to truly weigh the scales, it was unclear who owed whom.
Emperor Wen’s gaze wavered slightly, torn between anger and shame. After all, he too had wronged his own son, but this behavior was truly excessive. How could the dignity of an emperor be trampled upon like this?In the eyes of Emperor Wen of Wei, no one would willingly give up wealth and honor to become a commoner. Therefore, Yin Chenbi’s actions were a ploy of playing hard to get, an expression of dissatisfaction with his edict of exile, an attempt to force him to retract his command.
He had grown tired of such tricks in the harem and despised people like this the most. If you want to be a commoner, then go ahead and be one!
Slapping the armrest, Emperor Wen turned and asked, “What does the Prime Minister think of this matter?”
Shi Hongwei stepped forward, bowing respectfully with clasped hands. “Your Majesty, this old minister may know the reason for Prince Xiao’s actions today and had intended to report this matter to Your Majesty—last night, the City Garrison patrolled near the Prince of Filial Piety’s Mansion. For unknown reasons, over a hundred soldiers were killed by Prince Xiao’s hand, their bodies piled like mountains, their grievances unappeased.”
The court erupted in uproar. The emperor was shocked, glaring at the kneeling figure below, only to see him calmly state, “Your son is bloodthirsty and therefore unworthy of the title of prince.”
Wu Ze could no longer listen and stepped forward to refute, “When the City Garrison patrols, would over a hundred soldiers go to the Prince of Filial Piety’s Mansion at once? Even if the prince is bloodthirsty, he would never slaughter the innocent indiscriminately. There must be some reason behind this, and it should be thoroughly investigated!”
The Chief of the Palace Guard behind him stepped forward and said, “The palace gate records show that the Crown Prince left the palace after midnight last night and returned two hours later. His whereabouts are unknown, and it is unclear whether this is related to the incident at the Prince of Filial Piety’s Mansion.”
Shi Hongwei had thought, based on the Empress’s suggestion, that this was truly Yin Gezhi’s fault. He never expected the Crown Prince to be implicated! He cursed inwardly, thinking how foolish women could be, using anything as leverage!
“If not for this incident, then this old minister would not know the reason for the prince’s departure.” Cutting off the topic, Shi Hongwei clasped his hands and said, “But, Your Highness, by degrading yourself like this without considering His Majesty’s feelings, you are being unfilial.”
If the father is not kind, how can the son be filial? Yin Gezhi smiled faintly but did not argue. He only said, “Prime Minister Shi, why say so much? When His Majesty asks for your opinion, a single ‘approve’ would save you a lot of trouble.”
Shi Hongwei fell silent, appearing to ponder carefully, though he already had an answer in his heart.
Prince of Filial Piety’s Mansion.
Feng Yue waited anxiously, staring eagerly outside, about to mutter whether Lian Heng had failed to deliver the message when she heard a commotion in the backyard.
“Catch him! Hurry!”
“Reinforcements, come quickly!”
“Block them, don’t let them pass!”
They’re here! Hearing the commotion, she knew it was General Yin’s usual tactic of creating a diversion. All the patrolling guards rushed to the backyard for support, while Shi Chong, immensely strong, climbed over the front wall, ran to her, and without a word, lifted her onto his shoulder before dashing out!
“You finally came!” Feng Yue’s tears nearly spilled. “I’ve been waiting for you so long!”
“We’ve been searching for you just as long,” Shi Chong said excitedly as they jumped over the wall and into a carriage. “You have no idea, Madam Qiu has been crying for days, hitting anyone who tries to console her! General Feng has also searched all over Lidu, and if he couldn’t find you, he would have gone mad. Who would have thought you were in the Prince of Filial Piety’s Mansion? Why didn’t the prince say anything…”
“If he had spoken up, you would have snatched me back. He’s not that foolish,” Feng Yue rolled her eyes. “Not only is he not foolish, he probably even helped you search, sending people daily to ask if you’d found me.”Wide-eyed, Shi Chong looked at her in astonishment. "How did you guess?"
How could she not guess? With Yin Gezhi's shameless style, he would definitely do something like that!
Wiping her face, Feng Yue asked, "How are things on your end?"
Shi Chong replied, "We were originally going to kill Shi Youxin, but Madam Qiu said she wanted to wait for you to do it yourself, so we've been keeping him caged and fed. We haven't had much going on lately, mostly focused on searching for you. But just now, news came from the palace that Prince Xiao wants to demote himself to a commoner. The court is fiercely debating it, and Emperor Wen of Wei seems inclined to agree, while the ministers are still arguing."
Demote himself to a commoner? Feng Yue was stunned, but after a moment's thought, she realized what Yin Gezhi was plotting.
That shameless scoundrel!
But if he's going to be shameless toward the Yin imperial clan, this is going to be quite a spectacle to watch!
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