Chapter 97: Spicy Pot (Part 23)
Before scaling back over the high wall of the Crown Prince Manor along her original route, Leng Yue casually erased the traces Jing Qian had left in the snow and carefully retrieved the lone eagle claw hook dangling from the wall, as if no clumsy scholar had ever struggled here desperately.
The moment she leaped down from the wall, Leng Yue suddenly understood what Jing Qian had been aiming for with today’s earth-shattering performance.
In this world, there is likely only one thing that could make a person act so irrationally and recklessly, throwing caution to the wind. It was like the Late Emperor calculating his own death date, Zhang Lao Wu choosing his own way to die, Qin Hehuan willingly enduring hardship, Ji Qiu’s obsession, Cui Niang’s waiting, Bi Xiao’s resentment, Jing Yi risking his life to retrieve that worthless little silver bracelet, and even her own foolish trust in Eunuch Zheng’s deceit—ultimately, it all came down to this.
With this realization, Leng Yue felt a sense of relief, and even the bone-chilling cold of the thawing winter snow didn’t seem so bitter anymore. Arriving at An Wang’s manor, her former deputy, now the head guard of An Wang’s residence, efficiently handled the necessary arrangements. Leng Yue then set off across the snow-covered rooftops of countless households toward the Wise Prince Manor.
Jing Yi had said he was going to get revenge on Xiao Zhao Ye.
She believed Jing Yi’s idea of revenge definitely wouldn’t involve charging into Xiao Zhao Ye’s home with a broadsword to behead him. But since it was revenge, some conflict was inevitable. Thinking of Jing Yi relying on the Spirit Focusing Powder—whose effects were unclear—to sustain his energy temporarily, she couldn’t rest easy leaving him alone there.
She had never considered the idea of following him in death if he were to die someday, but over the past two days, she had constantly thought that as long as she lived, she wanted him to live too.
When she infiltrated the Wise Prince Manor and found Jing Yi, Leng Yue instantly regretted it.
The Wise Prince Manor had an elegant garden, and in the garden stood a sizable rockery. Jing Yi and Xiao Zhao Ye were squatting face-to-face on top of the rockery, one in snow-white robes, the other in funeral-white attire. At a glance, they looked exactly like two monkeys covered in snow.
Leng Yue’s stomach twinged with pain again.
“Hmm…” Leng Yue stroked her lower abdomen and whispered soothingly, “Mom also doesn’t really want to admit it, but the one on the right is your dad. Bear with it—Mom has been putting up with this for years…”
The little one in her belly gave no response, as if resigned to its fate.
The area around the garden seemed completely cleared of people. Leng Yue easily approached the “monkey mountain” and concealed herself behind a thick tree trunk, waiting for what felt like an incense stick’s worth of time. The two monkeys remained motionless and silent the entire time.
This scene suddenly reminded Leng Yue of an old incident.
Pursing her lips, Leng Yue bent down, picked up a frozen clod of earth, and hurled it toward the back of Xiao Zhao Ye’s head. With a dull “thud” and a sharp “yelp,” Xiao Zhao Ye’s crouched figure lurched forward, transforming from a monkey admiring the snow into a frog worshipping the moon, barely avoiding tumbling down the rockery.
Jing Yi’s triumphant laughter immediately echoed across the mountaintop.
“Hahaha… I didn’t speak or stick my tongue out at you, and you still lost… Hahaha…”
She had known it would turn out like this…They used to do this when they were kids—squatting face-to-face under the eaves, staring at each other, and whoever moved first would lose. Logically speaking, with her Inner Cultivation, her lower body stability should have been much more solid than Jing Yi's. But every time, she would end up staring at Jing Yi's face until her mind wandered, and then... well, there was no "then."
Back then, she only thought the person across from her was as beautiful as if he had stepped out of a painting, completely failing to notice that his squatting posture actually made him look like a monkey.
Leng Yue patted her quietly growling stomach and whispered comfortingly, "Don't be so hopeless. Your father isn't like this every day..."
Seeing that not a single onlooker appeared after Xiao Zhao Ye's miserable howl, Leng Yue calmly walked out and stood at the foot of the rockery, gazing up at the summit with an air of detached politeness as she asked, "Does Your Highness need assistance?"
The moment that divinely-assisted clod of earth hit the back of Xiao Zhao Ye's head, Jing Yi had guessed it must be this woman who always stood by his side without question. So when Leng Yue emerged, he wasn't surprised and continued watching Xiao Zhao Ye across from him with keen interest.
Xiao Zhao Ye, clinging to the ice-cold mountain rocks with all four limbs, turned his head with some difficulty. He still recognized Leng Yue's attire, and though he couldn't immediately figure out why she was here, in his memory she was at least half an ally. Thus, the gaze he fixed on her instantly warmed considerably.
Leng Yue swore that what Xiao Zhao Ye was thinking right now must be, "Hurry up and help me kill that monkey across from me." But for someone like Xiao Zhao Ye, who had no martial skills to rely on and was currently suffering from a cold and fever, maintaining this position was already difficult. In the end, Xiao Zhao Ye could only manage to utter a strained, "Yes."
"Oh."
After saying "oh," Leng Yue continued looking up politely, showing no intention of turning her sympathy and concern into action.
After being glared at repeatedly by Xiao Zhao Ye, who was enduring with great difficulty, Leng Yue finally couldn't help but break into a radiant smile—both charming and demure. "Your Highness, don't overthink it. I was just asking, nothing more. Please continue."
"..."
In that moment of distraction, the blood rushed to Xiao Zhao Ye's head, and he suddenly understood something. He stared in astonishment at the smiling beauty below. "You... just who are you?"
Leng Yue feigned exaggerated surprise. "I'm Leng Yue from An Wang's residence. Didn't Your Highness already ask me once in the carriage today? How could you forget so quickly?"
Leng Yue clearly saw Xiao Zhao Ye's face pale dramatically. His lips, slightly blue from the cold, parted as if to speak but then closed again without a sound.
Jing Yi understood better than Leng Yue the complex emotions behind Xiao Zhao Ye's aborted words. He couldn't help sighing, with a tone of having done all one could. "I told you not to dismiss everyone all at once, but you wouldn't listen. Making it seem as if I really wouldn't harm you..."
"..."
Xiao Zhao Ye lay there for a moment, cooled by the mountain breeze, before managing to restore his usually calm expression from one twisted with suppressed fury. "Could you tell me the truth—is that token really in my residence?"
Leng Yue was slightly startled.
Had Jing Yi already figured out what the token was?
Jing Yi raised three fingers to the sky and declared resolutely, "I swear by my monastic name—it truly is."Thinking of Jing Yi’s seemingly bargain-bin monastic name, Leng Yue always felt its authenticity was somewhat questionable.
Xiao Zhao Ye clearly had his doubts as well, but at the moment, aside from trusting Jing Yi, he truly had no other choice.
"Fine..." Xiao Zhao Ye sighed as if resigned to his fate, speaking slowly, "I admit defeat in this round. You don’t need to reveal what the token is, and I won’t pursue your escape... The items I confiscated from you are all in the second compartment from the top in the standing cabinet against the west wall of my study. If you trust me, I’ll take you to retrieve them. If you don’t, you can go yourself. Although there are a few guards stationed near the cabinet, with your skills, handling them should be more than enough."
Leng Yue was taken aback.
She wasn’t surprised that Xiao Zhao Ye could be coaxed by Jing Yi into climbing his own rockery to act like a monkey. After all, Xiao Zhao Ye had gone to such unscrupulous lengths with his deceptive tactics precisely to get his hands on that item before anyone else learned of its existence. Now, if Jing Yi simply mentioned he knew about it, it would be like putting a noose around Xiao Zhao Ye’s neck. Forget acting like a monkey—even if he had to grovel like a grandson, Xiao Zhao Ye would surely do it without hesitation.
After all, no one else was around to witness it. As long as he could secure the token and ascend the throne smoothly, he could pick and choose his methods for silencing witnesses later.
What she couldn’t understand was how quickly Xiao Zhao Ye had given up.
Even a petty thief, when caught red-handed, would struggle desperately to wriggle free. Xiao Zhao Ye had endured all these years, finally bringing his plot of patricide and usurpation to the brink of success, only to surrender so easily because he was stuck on a rockery and couldn’t get down...
Leng Yue felt as though she had dozed off while listening to a storyteller at a teahouse, missing some crucial part of the tale.
But there was an advantage to listening to stories with someone else: the parts she missed, Jing Yi had heard in full.
As soon as Xiao Zhao Ye finished speaking, Jing Yi hugged his knees and hopped forward lightly, stopping just a fingertip away from stepping on Xiao Zhao Ye’s stone-gripping, whitened hands. Xiao Zhao Ye shuddered in fright, nearly tumbling down.
Jing Yi crouched before his fingertips, gently poked the back of his stiff hand, and smiled brightly. "Did you think I’d believe, like you do, that you wouldn’t harm me?"
Xiao Zhao Ye took a moment to steady his nearly frightened-out-of-him soul. Listening to his still-thumping heartbeat, he replied with a hint of grievance, "Why would you say that, Lord Jing..."
"Tell me the truth," Jing Yi continued smiling, though the warmth had vanished from his eyes. "The moment we take the item and leave, we’ll soon learn what misfortune has befallen my family, and then we’ll have no choice but to return the item to you, right?"
Xiao Zhao Ye ultimately couldn’t bring himself to utter a straightforward "yes."
Leng Yue’s heart chilled.
After all, he was still the one in charge of investigating the Late Emperor’s death. If nothing else, at least the Imperial Guards currently stationed at Jing Yi’s residence still answered to him. Moreover, with a suspect under his watch escaping to avoid punishment, apprehending the suspect’s family members was a logical and unavoidable duty.
As for the methods used to interrogate them after their capture—that would be entirely up to Xiao Zhao Ye.Even if the token had already reached the Crown Prince's hands, and even if the Crown Prince had smoothly ascended to the throne, having a member of the Jing family in their grasp would at least serve as the most solid protective talisman.
The hope of forcing the Crown Prince to share the empire was likely slim, but preserving their lives shouldn't be a problem.
Rebels always seemed to share the same illusion—even if they failed overnight, as long as they kept their lives, there was always hope for a comeback.
Because of this, Leng Yue completely dismissed the thought of letting Xiao Zhao Ye down from the rockery.
Xiao Zhao Ye seemed not to have expected Jing Yi to figure it out so quickly. He froze for a moment before giving an innocent smile. "Then what do you plan to do?"
Jing Yi appeared to ponder seriously before saying, "Alright then, I'll let you keep everything you took from me, as long as you tell me one thing... You know I can tell truth from lies, right? If you lie," Jing Yi gently stroked the bulging veins on the back of his hand, "I'll smash the pot completely."
Leng Yue couldn't think of anything more important than that token and was about to intervene when she heard Xiao Zhao Ye say "Deal" without hesitation.
Since they knew the item was indeed with him, even if they didn't know exactly which one it was, they could simply lay out all the possibilities when the time came.
After all, knowing exactly which one wasn't the most crucial—having it was what mattered.
Xiao Zhao Ye's thoughts aligned perfectly with Leng Yue's—what could possibly be more important than that token?
Jing Yi nodded with satisfaction, looking at the composed Xiao Zhao Ye, and asked with a smile, "Who exactly put you up to competing for the emperor's throne?"
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