AFDPIRAB Chapter28

Winter in the capital this year seems to be colder than in previous years. The weather has been gloomy for several days, and finally snowflakes began to fall in the early morning of this day.

 

Yan Muning listened to his fifth brother’s words and was preparing to take a stroll into the palace today. At this moment, he was standing in the front hall, looking up at the snow.

 

“Your Highness, the carriage is waiting at the door.”

 

Old Steward Zhou took a heater and put it in Yan Muning’s hand: “It’s snowing. The old servant asked Xiao Jiu to get a thicker cloak for Your Highness.”

 

The little prince took the heater, held it in his palms, and nodded in response.

 

He seems to be in a bad mood these days. He has no energy to do anything and just wants to lie lazily in the warm attic.

 

If the little prince hadn’t been thinking about important business in the palace, he might have dared not to go.

 

“It’s cold today!”

 

Xiao Jiu opened the cloak from behind and helped Yan Mu Ning put it on: “Uncle Zhou, I will accompany Master, don’t worry.”

 

Yan Muning also meant this. He told the old steward to rest in the house for a while and then walked out with Xiao Jiu.

 

“Master, have you been worried these past two days?”

 

Sitting in the carriage, Xiao Jiu looked at Yan Muning’s expression and asked, “Are you thinking about Shiyi?”

 

Yan Muning leaned against the wall sleepily, closed his eyes, and spoke lazily: “No, I’m just very tired. Maybe it’s because the weather is too cold. I don’t want to move.”

 

Xiao Jiu frowned and saw that he was about to fall asleep, so he stopped disturbing him and just stood by quietly.

 

Unexpectedly, he actually fell asleep during this short journey. When he got off the carriage, it was obvious that he was not fully rested, and his eyes were red from rubbing.

 

.

 

“It’s been a long time since we last saw Your Highness Prince An. His Majesty often thinks about you.” The young eunuch said as he led Yan Muning into the Linhua Palace.

 

After walking a few steps, the little prince yawned continuously, and his eyes were filled with tears due to sleepiness.

 

“Chendi greetings to Your Majesty.” Yan Muning bowed politely, but he did not hear his second brother’s voice asking him to stand up.

 

The little prince secretly raised his eyes and took a glance, then said with a sudden inspiration, “Cough, cough, cough, Chendi misses Your Majesty so much ah, but this unfortunate cold… Cough, cough, hope Your Majesty will not blame me.”

 

He pretended to cough twice, his voice was soft, and he had a little nasal sound because he had just woken up. As expected, his second brother fell for his trick and was reluctant to do it even though he knew he was pretending.

 

“Ai! That’s enough, that’s enough, stop acting in front of Zhen.”

 

The emperor said helplessly, “Little bastard, come here and let Zhen take a good look at you!”

 

When the little prince heard this, he immediately stood up and rubbed against the emperor’s side and said, “Second Brother… I missed you so much!”

 

“Don’t try to fool Zhen. Why have you lost so much weight? You’ve been back in the capital for a while already, but you haven’t recovered yet? Does the chef in the mansion meet your expectations? If not, Zhen will immediately have the imperial kitchen send someone to you…”

 

After hearing this, the little prince estimated that if he didn’t stop him, his second brother would nag him for half an incense stick of time without saying anything, so he immediately raised his paws in a bold manner and covered his ears.

 

What a joke. I can’t cover His Majesty’s mouth, and I can’t even cover my own ears?

 

The emperor really treated his own brother as dear as the apple of his eye. He knew at a glance that the little bastard was impatient with his nagging again, so he just raised his hand and knocked on his forehead and stopped talking.

 

“Your fifth brother will be here soon. Eat some cakes first, and then we can talk together when he arrives.”

 

The emperor pointed to the plates of snacks on the table. They were all his favorite cakes prepared in advance, knowing that Yan Muning would be entering the palace today.

 

The little prince was always polite in front of his second brother. He thanked him politely, then picked up a piece of glutinous rice milk cake and started to eat.

 

On weekdays, he likes to eat this kind of fragrant and glutinous cake the most, which is very delicate in the mouth.

 

But who would have thought that after eating just two bites today, he would feel nauseous in his chest. He almost vomited it, but he frowned and tried to suppress the nausea, then picked up the teacup beside him and gulped down a few gulps.

 

The emperor carefully noticed that he put down his snack and stopped eating and asked, “Is it not to your liking? Why do you look unhappy?”

 

“Second Brother, what kind of incense do you use in this hall?”

 

Yan Muning frowned and said, “I feel dizzy from the smell.”

 

He did not mention the discomfort he had just felt, but he did not talk nonsense either. The incense in the hall really made him feel a little stuffy in his chest, and even his head felt a little dizzy.

 

“You are the pickiest one.”

 

The emperor scolded him lovingly, then turned to Eunuch Li behind him and ordered, “Li Wei, go put out the incense and open the window a little more.”

 

While they were talking, Prince Cheng arrived.

 

Eunuch Li was quite perceptive and led the eunuchs out.

 

The emperor raised his hand and summoned the two brothers to his presence and asked sternly, “Chen Bai is back?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Prince Cheng was serious and didn’t beat around the bush. He went straight to the point and said in a deep voice, “The troops stationed there that Lao Qi saw were actually done by the Third Prince. According to the information that Chen Bai has verified, he not only secretly stationed troops there but also stored a large amount of food and silver. However, he tried to influence Prince Wei Chi, but it seems that he was unsuccessful.”

 

“He must have just started preparing when he was accidentally bumped into by Lao Qi. That’s why he cruelly sent people to hunt him down along the way. Afterwards, he must have found out that the news had been sent to the capital, so he turned around and wanted to kidnap Lao Qi instead. I guess he wanted to negotiate with His Majesty to protect himself.”

 

The young emperor’s face turned cold, he rubbed his jade ring with his fingers and sneered, “Heh.”

 

“Yan, Mu, Han ah…”

 

“In the past, Zhen thought he had the heart but not the courage. Zhen never thought that he really underestimated him!” The emperor raised his eyes and ordered, “Let Chen Bai continue the investigation. As for Lao San[mfn]That’s the third Prince[/mfn], it’s also time for him to return to the capital.”

 

Yan Muning did not interrupt but just sat there and listened quietly.

 

At first, he accidentally discovered that some people were secretly training troops at the foot of a mountain in Yuzhou, and the leader was actually a close confidant of his third brother, Yan Muhan.

 

Although the little prince was simple-minded and kind, but he was not ignorant. He secretly followed the confidant for two days and found that although his third brother had never shown up at the garrison, but he would meet with his confidant in person every night.

 

He originally wanted to find out the number of troops stationed, but he was not careful and was discovered by his vigilant confidant, which led to the subsequent pursuit and hasty reporting.

 

Listening to Prince Cheng’s words, Yan Muning couldn’t tell what he felt in his heart. They were all his brothers, and they all doted on him since he was a child. He had heard many stories about royal brothers fighting with swords, but he never thought that one day it would happen to his own brothers.

 

The little prince was a little sad.

 

“Muning, I’ll let Chen Mo and his team live in your mansion temporarily. With them protecting you, Imperial Brother and I will feel more at ease.” Prince Cheng looked at him and said.

 

The little prince nodded obediently. In fact, he had soldiers and personal guards in his mansion as well, but if he didn’t agree, his two brothers would definitely be worried. This is already annoying enough for everyone right now, he won’t lose sight of these things.

 

“Zhen still has…”

 

“Ah, that’s right!”

 

The Emperor and Yan Muning spoke at the same time.

 

The emperor nodded and signaled him to speak first.

 

Yan Muning pulled out a piece of paper from his bosom. On it was the assassin’s tattoo that he had drawn in Jinzhou. “Second Brother, Fifth Brother, this is the tattoo I saw on the assassin. It looks familiar, but I can’t remember where it is. Let Chen Bai check it out as well.”

 

The emperor took it, frowned, looked at it, and handed it to Prince Cheng: “Thanks for your hard work.”

 

“Zhen… has one more thing.”

 

The emperor lowered his voice, “Do you remember that Zhen mentioned to you earlier that there was a letter in the will left by Emperor Father, and the ‘Xuezhu’ was mentioned in the letter? Zhen thought it was a person before, but Zhen met with Zhong Gelao[mfn]An official position in ancient Chinese governments that translates to “Cabinet (government) Elder”.[/mfn] a few days ago and found out that this ‘Xuezhu’ is an organization that only serves the emperor.”

 

“According to Zhong Gelao, this ‘Xuezhu’ is very powerful, but unfortunately he doesn’t know how to get in touch with them. Do you guys… have any ideas?”

 

Speaking of this, Yan Muning was also worried about his second brother.

 

Their Emperor Father passed away suddenly when he was in his prime, and he didn’t even have the chance to give any instructions.

 

The current emperor is Yan Murong, who was the Crown Prince at the time. Fortunately, the important officials in the court had no other intentions. The Crown Prince succeeded to the throne smoothly according to the edict that had been set long ago. However, because everything happened too suddenly, he was exhausted day and night in the first two years after he ascended the throne to stabilize the various forces in the court.

 

This year, he finally had some peace and stability, but then his third brother popped up again. It was really…

 

“Your Majesty, don’t worry too much. This matter is not urgent. Let Chendi and your humble servants investigate it together.” Yan Muchen’s tone was quite weak. He also had not had a single day of rest in the past two years.

 

There really was no better way to deal with the matter at the moment. The emperor rubbed his brows and nodded in agreement.

 

.

 

The Linhua Palace was silent for a long time.

 

“Little bastard.” The emperor suddenly spoke and broke the silence.

 

Yan Muning: “??”

 

Who did I offend? Why are you scolding me again…

 

The emperor ignored his pouting and continued to ask, “Have you brought over your sweetheart?”

 

Oh, so we have finished talking about state affairs, and now it’s time to start talking about family affairs.

 

Yan Muning had a blank expression on his face. “Shiyi has gone to pick him up. Calculating the time… he should be arriving in the capital in the next two days.”

 

The emperor seemed to be finally satisfied and nodded: “When the person arrives, remember to bring them into the palace for Zhen to see. Zhen wanted to see what kind of fairy could win the heart of a little bastard like you.”

 

Prince Cheng couldn’t help laughing, as there was indeed a hint of jealousy in the emperor’s words.

 

He called him a little bastard, but his words are full of the good cabbage that he has been pampering for a long time, which was taken away by some unknown pig without him paying close attention.

 

Yan Muning responded with a perfunctory “hmm”.

 

The little prince really didn’t expect that he would be slapped in the face as soon as he returned to the palace after agreeing to the emperor’s request.

 

There was really nothing wrong with the date he calculated; Shiyi is back.

 

As for why he came back two days earlier? Because he came back as fast as he could.

 

The reason he rushed back to the capital was… He didn’t pick the person up.

 

“What did you say!?”

 

The little prince was so angry that he slammed the table.

 

Shiyi had no choice but to repeat the truth: “Your Highness, I really didn’t find anyone.”

 

“The subordinate went to look for him at the location you mentioned. The subordinate waited for a whole day but saw no one coming in or out. The subordinate had no choice but to… climb over a wall and found that the house was empty.”

 

“Then the subordinate asked the neighbors again, and they said that Physician Jiang had not appeared for quite some time already. Then the subordinate went to the Renji Tang in Jinzhou City, as you said, but not only was the person you wanted to pick up not there… But even Shopkeeper Qi you mentioned had been replaced…”

 

Shiyi looked at his master’s expression and spoke in a lower voice.

 

Yan Muning felt like he was about to explode with anger, and his fingers, which were gripping the edge of the table, turned white from the force they exerted.

 

The little prince laughed in anger, with a smile on his lips, but his eyes were red. “Jiangli, you are really great ah… It’s a pity that I still miss you so much! You are really a scumbag!”

 

“Are you afraid that I will come looking for you… So you left so cleanly and thoroughly…”

 

The extremely angry little prince felt that all his sincerity had been wasted, and the nausea that he had forced himself to suppress in the palace just now surged up again.

 

He leaned on the edge of the table, suddenly leaned over, and gasped a few times.

 

This scared Xiao Jiu and Shiyi so much that they were busy trying to calm him down and give him water.

 

After a while, the little prince stood up, supported by the table, brushed away the two people’s hands, and staggered to the soft couch alone: “You two can retreat, I’m fine. I’m very tired, I want to sleep for a while.”

 

“Also, no one is allowed to call the physician!”

 

.

 

Yun Jiangli had arrived in the capital a few days before his departure. In the past two days, he had been secretly asking around in the city to find out which royal relative’s family had a handsome youth.

 

“Young Hall Master, let me say this, but if we keep asking around, people will think I’m some old scoundrel!”

 

Ah Xiao complained with a sad face, “To be honest, I think if I continue to ask around in the city for two days, someone will report me and have me arrested.”

 

Yun Jiangli raised his eyebrows: “Are you sure you are not stupid? How come Lao Qi and Du Zhong are fine?”

 

Ah Xiao: “……”

 

A word of disagreement leads to personal attacks. This task cannot be done.

 

Yun Jiangli has been in a good mood since he decided to go to the capital. After all, he is getting closer and closer to catching the brat.

 

Following the various clues found, they seemed confusing, but when finally put together, they all clearly pointed to the capital.

 

Although the capital city is so big, but it shouldn’t be that difficult to find a young master from a noble family as handsome and eye-catching as Xiao Qi.

 

In short, Yun Jiangli is happy now.

 

This kind of emotion is so rare to Yun Jiangli that the three subordinates who follow him have been looking at their boss as if he were a rare animal every day recently.

 

.

 

On this day, several people were reporting news in the study when people from the Renji Tang headquarters suddenly came to Yun Mansion in the capital.

 

“Young Hall Master, this is the letter that Old Hall Master asked me to deliver to you.” The man took a letter out of his arms and handed it to Yun Jiangli.

 

Yun Jiangli opened the letter in surprise. He had just corresponded with his father a few days ago and didn’t hear anything about it. Why did he suddenly send someone to deliver a letter?

 

Looking at the concise words written by his father in the letter, Yun Jiangli realized that the emperor’s younger brother, Prince An, was ill, and his father asked him to go and see him.

 

It’s also interesting to say, why would Renji Tang have to go and see him when there is an Imperial Medical?

 

Yun Jiangli was puzzled and asked the person who came to deliver the letter with doubt, “It’s just a few words. Is it worth it for the old hall master to ask you to bring the letter?”

 

“Uh… Old Hall Master said that if you asked, he’d just give you this letter… If you didn’t ask and went directly to Prince An’s mansion, then there is no need to show it to you…”

 

The subordinate awkwardly took out another letter from his pocket and handed it forward.

 

He swore to God, he was just an errand boy, why should he get involved in the evil deeds of this father and son!

 

The subordinates standing in the room had different expressions. The daily lives of these two hall masters were indeed still as… magical as ever.

 

Who knew that the old hall master with such a temper could raise a son with such a cold personality like the young hall master?

 

Yun Jiangli: “……”

 

This is his father’s usual style.

 

He lowered his eyes and opened the second letter. This piece of paper was obviously written in more detail. The general idea was:

 

I don’t know the specific reason, but I heard that Prince An, who has always had a gentle temperament, refused to see the old men in the Imperial Medical when he got sick this time, and the physicians in the palace were helpless.

 

The emperor felt sorry for his younger brother, so he sent someone to the Renji Tang in the capital to ask for the young hall master to help go to the palace to have a look.

 

It turned out that Yun Jiangli’s purpose of going to the capital was to arrest someone, so the Renji Tang in the capital did not know that their young hall master was in the capital at this time.

 

After going through a long circle, the news was delivered to the old hall master, and then it reached Yun Jiangli.

 

“Tsk.”

 

Yun Jiangli frowned in dissatisfaction, “It seems that the pampered little prince doesn’t seem to be sick since he’s still struggling, I guess he is just showing off his spoiled temper.”

 

Ah Xiao was curious: “So what Young Hall Master meant is you’re not going?”

 

“Why not? I have to go.”

 

Yun Jiangli folded the letter and thought for a while: “However, since they still have the energy to rush to the old man in the Imperial Medical, then I will go in two days. Don’t delay my work, you guys go and find the person quickly.”

 

As for this little prince, Yun Jiangli thought, how could he be more important than his little youth?

 

The author has something to say:

Mouyou: That’s what you said. What about Xiao Wangye being unimportant? Don’t regret it. (Shaking legs crazily)