Chapter 122: Receiving the Imperial Edict

“Which one is Third Brother’s residence?”

That single question shocked not only Qi Simiao, but also the Second Prince, Li Yinglian, and Zheng Fan standing nearby.

As the victim, Zheng Fan had actually been told very little about the investigation. The Sixth Prince’s merchant caravans were not the Secret Intelligence Department. They could gather rumors and pick up traces, but if they had been capable of operating on the level of something like the Embroidered Uniform Guard, then the Sixth Prince’s head probably would have been separated from his shoulders long ago.

So all this time, Zheng Fan had simply been following the Marquis of Jingnan’s reasoning.

Originally, Zheng Fan had already decided that Qi Simiao was the enemy who designed the attempt on his life. And naturally, the Second Prince could not possibly have been innocent either.

Zheng Fan had even wondered whether he truly possessed the face of a born rebel.

Or perhaps the Second Prince was so wary of the Sixth Prince that the moment he discovered the Sixth Prince trying to extend his hand outward and cultivate influence, he would immediately sever that hand without hesitation.

But after the Marquis of Jingnan asked that one question, the turn came so suddenly that Zheng Fan nearly pulled his waist.

Were all these Princes really this ruthless?

How exactly had the Yan Emperor managed to father an entire nest of monsters?

With that twist, many things previously hidden behind cloud and fog suddenly became clear.

The assassins had used the Second Prince’s men. Because of his maternal connection to the Tian Clan, the Second Prince possessed a certain degree of influence within the Jingnan Army itself. Put plainly, there were people inside the army he could call upon.

Killing Zheng Fan would sever one of the Sixth Prince’s arms. No matter how convincingly the Sixth Prince played the role of an idle Prince, he had only begun doing so after his maternal clan was exterminated and his mother was sent a white silk cord.

The Princes older than the Sixth Prince had been old enough to remember what he was like before that.

They had seen with their own eyes how high-profile the Sixth Prince had once been and how much their father had favored him.

Even if they did not understand why Father Emperor had suddenly begun suppressing Sixth Brother, instinct alone would make them unwilling to watch a Sixth Brother who had remained dormant for so long suddenly begin laying foundations and building influence again.

Of course, if the true mastermind really was the Third Prince, then killing Zheng Fan had only been the appetizer.

This was the real blade behind the dance.

Using the Second Prince’s people to act created the appearance that the Marquis of Jingnan had colluded with Jin, which then triggered everything that followed. It was precisely because of that assassination that Jin and Qian had begun fanning the flames from the sidelines, calling the Marquis of Jingnan the “Prince of Jingnan.”

And the Marquis of Jingnan was the Second Prince’s biological maternal uncle. By natural alignment, he belonged to the Second Prince’s camp.

If someone wanted to cut off the Second Prince’s road to the throne, then the Marquis of Jingnan was a pillar that had to be brought down first.

Make him show all his sharpness.

Push him into the very center of the storm.

On the surface, it looked like they were building momentum for him and lifting him higher.

In truth, it was praise meant to kill.

History was filled with examples of cunning rabbits dying and hunting dogs being cooked afterward. Especially when the power and reputation of an outside minister reached a certain height, how could the man seated on the dragon throne possibly feel no suspicion?

That was the obvious layer.

There was also a far more vicious layer underneath.

Judging from how Qi Simiao had responded when the Marquis of Jingnan directly pronounced him guilty—appearing to protect the Second Prince while actually binding the Second Prince to the crime—it was obvious he had prepared for such a situation in advance.

At the very least, he had mentally rehearsed it.

That meant they had already prepared a fallback plan.

If the matter was ever traced back to them, they would sacrifice Qi Simiao, then deliberately implicate the Second Prince with him and permanently destroy the Second Prince’s chance of inheriting the throne.

One link after another.

One step calculating the next.

Calling this merely killing someone with a borrowed knife no longer did it justice.

They had already learned to make that borrowed knife dance.

Qi Simiao’s mouth opened wide.

He seemed as though he wanted to speak.

But no words came.

Before such an overwhelming Marquis of Jingnan, he understood that anything he said was useless now.

The Second Prince, meanwhile, practically sprang up from his kneeling position and shouted, “Third Brother did this?”

The Second Prince had always been called an “honest man” by officials and commoners alike.

But a Prince was still a Prince.

An honest man and an idiot were not the same thing.

“Reporting to the Marquis, Third Highness’s residence is in the rear,” Li Yinglian answered immediately.

The Marquis of Jingnan walked over to the Second Prince.

The Second Prince stared blankly at his uncle.

The Marquis looked seriously back at him.

Then the Marquis simply stepped around the Second Prince and left the pavilion.

Zheng Fan and the personal guards beside him followed the Marquis out.

Nobody watched Qi Simiao.

He simply remained kneeling where he was.

Many of the eunuchs and palace maids around the pavilion had already soaked through the backs of their clothes with sweat.

The Second Prince opened his mouth.

He seemed short of breath.

Li Yinglian hurriedly rose to support him, one hand rubbing the Prince’s back while soothing him.

“Your Highness, it’s over. It’s over. It’s over.”

The Second Prince gasped for breath.

Then nodded, still shaken.

Afterward, his gaze slowly fell upon Qi Simiao, who remained kneeling on the ground.

“Teacher Qi, this Prince has called you Teacher for three years. Why would you treat this Prince this way?”

Qi Simiao did not answer.

“Has this Prince ever failed you? Has this Prince ever wronged you? Why would Teacher insist on driving this Prince to death?”

Hearing that Qi Simiao suddenly smiled.

“Teacher, why are you laughing?”

Qi Simiao remained kneeling.

Then slowly said, “Every Yan Emperor throughout history, including His Majesty today, has either indulged in extravagance or exhausted the state through endless warfare.

“Only Third Highness can create a true age of prosperity for Great Yan, restore the governance of the sages, and give the realm lasting peace!”

Qi Simiao understood perfectly well that today’s matter could no longer end peacefully.

So he no longer cared.

He simply said everything.

“Third Brother.

“Hehehe.

“Third Brother…”

The Second Prince first laughed.

Then suddenly broke into violent coughing.

“Ah! Your Highness, you’re coughing blood! Someone! Someone come!”

……

Anyone who had spent time in the workplace probably understood one principle:

Choosing the right boss mattered enormously.

Anyone who had worked inside an official system understood it even better.

Right now, Zheng Fan genuinely felt that following the Marquis of Jingnan seemed rather comfortable.

First, when Zheng Fan had gone into Qian to act impressive and nearly gotten wrapped up like a dumpling, the Marquis of Jingnan had personally led ten thousand Jingnan troops to rescue him.

And now, after entering the capital, the Marquis had practically embodied arrogance and dominance to the fullest.

At the very least, following this kind of boss meant you did not have to swallow grievances.

The Third Prince’s residence stood directly behind the Second Prince’s.

When the Marquis of Jingnan arrived with his personal guards, a crowd had already gathered outside as though they had received advance warning.

There were palace maids.

There were eunuchs.

And there were scholars.

The Third Prince had long possessed a literary reputation.

The Ji imperial clan of Great Yan had always been associated with martial prowess on horseback.

After so many generations, genetic mutation had finally occurred and produced a genuine scholar among the Princes.

Naturally, that kind of image made him the darling of Yan’s literati.

There was no shortage of people willing to cheer for him or feel affection toward him.

Because the Princes had not been sent out to establish separate fiefs and were still living inside the Princes’ Residence, the Third Prince did not possess a personal military guard.

The Eldest Prince commanded the Tiancheng Commandery troops, so naturally he did not lack soldiers around him.

The Second Prince commanded the Imperial Guards in the capital, meaning the guards outside the Princes’ Residence followed his orders.

Apart from those two, there was one other Prince who enjoyed the formal allotment of personal guards.

That was the idle Prince, Little Sixth.

In fact, strictly speaking, the only Prince permitted to openly maintain a personal guard quota rather than borrowing troops from the commandery or Imperial Guards was the Sixth Prince alone.

But Little Sixth had no reason to feel proud of that special treatment.

That day, after a father-and-son audience, the Yan Emperor had been so delighted that he lavishly rewarded his Sixth Son, granting him a stipend equal to that of a Prince.

In later terms, it was something like “enjoying benefits at such-and-such administrative rank.”

The next day the Sixth Prince’s maternal grandfather’s entire clan was exterminated.

His mother was cast into the Cold Palace by Father Emperor.

Later, she was even granted white silk.

The Marquis of Jingnan’s personal guards had been handpicked from the Jingnan Army.

They were the finest tiger-and-wolf soldiers.

As they approached, the pressure they radiated immediately threw the scholars, eunuchs, and palace maids into panic.

“Who goes there!”

“How dare you behave so insolently!”

Several scholars stiffened their necks and began shouting.

To Zheng Fan, this scene was almost painfully familiar.

The Marquis of Jingnan did not stop.

He continued advancing.

At a time like this, as a subordinate, you needed to clear the road for your superior.

Truthfully, Zheng Fan had been his own boss in his previous life and had never really spent much time in an ordinary workplace.

But ever since awakening in this world, he had genuinely been flattered so much that he had learned the technique.

In fact, being flattered by others in reverse had developed an instinct inside him.

“Shing!”

Zheng Fan drew his saber and strode quickly forward.

The personal guards who had originally been following behind the Marquis immediately copied Zheng Fan, drawing their sabers and accelerating to follow.

Fuck.

Brothers, you’re really giving me face!

This this was exactly the feeling he wanted.

Even if it was merely a fox borrowing a tiger’s power, it still felt damned good.

Zheng Fan thoroughly enjoyed this moment.

The barbarian soldiers at Willow Fort feared him deeply as well.

But apart from obeying orders flawlessly in battle, during ordinary days they genuinely trembled like they had seen a Demon King whenever they encountered him.

These Jingnan personal guards were different.

They had such chemistry.

They knew exactly how to cooperate with the pose.

Besides from a purely aesthetic perspective, these magnificently equipped armored guards looked far better than the barbarian soldiers back at Willow Fort.

Especially after Fan Li had taught those barbarians to shout “Ura!”

From that moment onward, Zheng Fan’s sense of military aesthetics had completely collapsed.

These personal guards moved in perfect coordination with him.

It felt like leading an entire squad of Olympic champions through synchronized gymnastics.

Magnificent.

“Personal Guard!”

Zheng Fan roared.

“Here!”

“Here!”

Nearly a hundred men shouted together.

Hiss…

So damned satisfying.

“The Marquis is here! Anyone who dares obstruct him— kill without mercy!”

“Kill without mercy!”

“Kill without mercy!”

More than a hundred personal guards shouted together and accelerated behind Zheng Fan.

Every one of these men, Zheng Fan included, had killed and seen blood.

The moment they charged, the killing pressure shattered the nerve of the palace maids, eunuchs, and scholars trying to block the road.

They screamed and fled in every direction.

Not one dared remain behind.

Zheng Fan led from the front.

He strode directly into the Third Prince’s residence.

He had not even entered any building when, in the front courtyard, he spotted two men seated at a stone table.

One young.

One older.

A eunuch stood respectfully beside them with his hands lowered.

When Zheng Fan entered, the eunuch continued standing there as though half-asleep.

The Third Prince remained drinking tea with his tutor.

Zheng Fan swung one arm.

The personal guards behind him immediately spread out and surrounded the courtyard.

These men truly were considerate.

When he got back, he would have to tell the Blind Man that his own future personal guards needed to be trained like this.

Soon the Marquis of Jingnan walked in.

The moment the Marquis appeared the eunuch was the first to kneel.

“This servant Wei Zhen greets the Marquis of Jingnan.”

The Third Prince and his tutor, who had still been drinking tea, exchanged a smile and rose together.

“This nephew Ji Chengyue greets Uncle.”

“This humble subject Tan Guang greets the Marquis of Jingnan.”

The Marquis ignored their greetings.

He walked directly into the courtyard and advanced toward the Third Prince.

At that moment, Eunuch Wei Zhen shifted on his knees and moved directly into the Marquis’s path, still keeping his head lowered.

“You intend to block this Marquis?”

“Reporting to the Marquis, this servant is lowly and would naturally never dare obstruct you. But the Marquis came carrying anger. As His Highness’s personal companion, this servant cannot allow the Marquis’s anger to strike His Highness.”

“Good.

“Your surname is Wei.

“What is Wei Zhonghe to you?”

“Reporting to the Marquis, Duke Wei is this servant’s godfather.”

“Godfather?

“Do you understand that even if Wei Zhonghe himself stood here, he would not dare speak to this Marquis in this manner?”

“This servant has only one Master in this life.

“This servant’s life belongs to that Master.

“This servant dares ask the Marquis to calm your anger.

“Once the Marquis’s anger has passed, this servant will personally serve you tea!”

“And if this Marquis refuses?”

“Then this servant…”

The sleeves hanging from Wei Zhen’s lowered arms suddenly began fluttering.

Green motes of light flickered from his cuffs.

“Shing!”

Every personal guard prepared to move.

The Marquis raised one hand and stopped them.

Wei Zhen kept his head lowered and continued, “Marquis, this servant is best at brewing tea.

“Even His Highness praises the tea this servant makes.”

According to legend, during the previous Emperor’s struggle for the throne, he once fell into desperate danger and was driven from the capital.

Assassins intercepted him on the road.

Only because a qi refiner at the previous Emperor’s side fought desperately to block them did the Emperor manage to escape with his family into Beifeng Commandery.

That qi refiner suffered grievous injuries.

Though he survived, even that particular part of his body had been destroyed in the fighting.

After the previous Emperor seized the throne, that qi refiner became Chief Eunuch of the Inner Palace.

From that point onward, palace eunuchs with aptitude were trained in qi cultivation and honored him as their founding patriarch.

Eunuch Zhang beside the Sixth Prince was also a qi refiner.

This Eunuch Wei Zhen was the same.

Still, Zheng Fan was not especially worried about the Marquis of Jingnan’s safety.

Because when Zheng Fan had once asked Hero Chen why he did not simply go cause trouble for the Marquis of Jingnan—

Hero Chen had answered with complete honesty:

Tian Wujing?

I can’t beat him.

That alone proved the Marquis was unquestionably an extraordinary Martial Artist.

Zheng Fan even suspected his cultivation might not be inferior to Shatuo Queshi before death.

When the Marquis of Jingnan saw the eunuch apparently preparing to fight him he did not become angry.

Instead, he laughed.

“You are… stalling for time?”

“This servant would not dare. This servant…”

Before he could finish a long shout came from the distance.

“THE IMPERIAL EDICT ARRIVES!”

Zheng Fan turned.

The envoy came alone.

Though he traveled on foot, his speed was astonishing.

Only a few breaths passed from the moment his voice first sounded in the distance to the moment he entered the residence and reached the courtyard.

The man was not even flushed or winded.

His face was soft and fair, carrying an ingrained humility.

There was something feminine about him, yet beneath that softness rested a certain steel.

Zheng Fan did not know it at the time but this man was the very Wei Zhonghe, Eunuch Holding the Seal of Great Yan’s Directorate of Ceremonial, whom the Marquis of Jingnan had repeatedly mentioned introducing Zheng Fan to.

“The imperial edict arrives!

“Third Prince Ji Chengyue, receive the edict!”

Wei Zhonghe stood in the center holding the imperial decree.

Third Highness Ji Chengyue stepped forward and knelt.

“This son is present!”

His tutor Tan Guang also knelt to receive the decree.

The Marquis of Jingnan remained standing.

He merely turned to face Wei Zhonghe.

Wei Zhonghe immediately put on an apologetic smile.

“His Majesty said:

‘The Marquis of Jingnan guards the frontier for the state and has labored greatly. To possess such a pillar of the realm is the fortune of the common people, the fortune of Great Yan, and My own fortune.

He is exempt from kneeling.’”

The Marquis of Jingnan cupped his fists.

Very calmly, he said, “This Marquis thanks His Majesty.”

Then, the Marquis simply walked to the stone table and sat down on a nearby stone chair.

Right.

Zheng Fan and the personal guards had all been watching to see whether their Marquis would kneel.

Now they understood.

“Clatter.”

Everyone immediately lowered their weapons and knelt.

Two lives lived and this was Zheng Fan’s first time kneeling to receive an imperial decree.

“By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:

“The Third Prince, Chengyue, has shown no filial piety toward Us above and no fraternal affection toward his brothers below. His virtue is deficient.

“From this day forward, he is demoted to commoner status, expelled from the Princes’ Residence, and permanently confined upon Lakeheart Island.”

“This son, Ji Chengyue, receives the edict.

“Long live Father Emperor! Long live! Long, long live!”

After kowtowing three times, the Third Prince raised both hands to accept the decree.

The meaning was simple.

The Third Prince had been unfilial to his father.

He had failed in brotherly conduct.

Therefore he was stripped to commoner status.

And the final punishment was permanent confinement on Lakeheart Island.

Zheng Fan did not know where Lakeheart Island was.

But instinctively, it sounded rather like “permanent exile to Ningguta” from a Qing palace drama.

So was it over just like this?

Zheng Fan curiously raised his head a little and looked at the Third Prince.

Third Highness really was handsome.

Fine brows.

Clear eyes.

He carried that unmistakable cultured aura of a scholar.

But once this decree came down, the Third Prince was finished.

There was essentially no possibility of rising again.

At that moment, Wei Zhen suddenly stood.

A peaceful smile appeared on his face.

Zheng Fan and the guards around him immediately seized their sabers and rose to alert.

Wei Zhen first looked at Wei Zhonghe.

Wei Zhonghe avoided his gaze.

The corner of his eye twitched faintly.

Then, Wei Zhen looked toward the Third Prince.

The Third Prince looked back at him.

“Your Highness.

“This servant offended the Marquis just now.

“This servant knows he committed the grave sin of disrespecting his superior.

“It is only unfortunate that this servant will no longer be able to brew tea for Your Highness.”

Then, he turned and spoke again.

“Godfather.

“Forgive your unfilial son.

“I will not be able to care for you in old age.”

With that Wei Zhen extended both arms.

Silver-serpent-like light seemed to dance within his palms.

Then he violently slammed both palms against his own chest.

“Puh! Puh!”

Blood sprayed from Wei Zhen’s mouth.

Two bursts of bloody mist also erupted from his back.

In the next instant his body swayed.

Then collapsed.

Zheng Fan did not know what grade of qi refiner Wei Zhen had been.

Naturally, that question no longer mattered.

He was dead.

He had killed himself.

The moment he had dared kneel in front of the Marquis of Jingnan and block his path, he had already staked his life.

He understood that whether the Marquis personally killed him was one matter.

But there was absolutely no possibility the Marquis would allow him to walk away alive after that offense.

He was merely a castrated servant.

The hierarchy between high and low could not be discarded.

If he did not kill himself, his own godfather Wei Zhonghe would eventually have to personally clean the household and kill him.

Wei Zhen did not want Wei Zhonghe forced to do that.

That would only make his godfather suffer more.

The instant Wei Zhen fell, Wei Zhonghe’s mouth opened.

His eyes reddened faintly.

Then, the Third Prince’s tutor Tan Guang stood.

He picked up the tea cup beside him and said, “It was we who failed to think far enough.

“We harmed Your Highness.”

With that he drank the entire cup of tea in one swallow.

Still kneeling with both hands raised to receive the imperial decree, the Third Prince spoke, “It was Chengyue who lacked ability and disappointed the expectations of my teachers.”

“No.

“Third Highness carries the literary spirit of Great Yan.

“You could have opened an age of peace and prosperity for this realm.

“We followed Your Highness willingly!

“Your Highness must never abandon yourself.

“Remember:

When Heaven is about to place a great responsibility upon a man, it first exhausts his muscles and bones and torments his heart and will.

“Lakeheart Island is quiet.

“Please, Your Highness— read more books there.”

“Chengyue thanks Teacher for his instruction.

“Lakeheart Island is indeed quiet.

“It is suitable for reading.”

“Then this subject will go first.

“Your Highness— take care.”

As he finished speaking a thread of blood already leaked from the corner of Tan Guang’s mouth.

He pressed one hand against his chest and staggered backward several steps.

“Take… care…”

“Thud!”

Tan Guang collapsed.

Third Highness remained kneeling with his hands raised in the posture of receiving the decree.

He closed his eyes.

Then softly said, “Teacher.

“Take care.”

Wei Zhonghe drew in a deep breath.

He no longer looked at Wei Zhen’s corpse lying nearby.

Instead, he placed the imperial decree into the Third Prince’s raised hands.

“Commoner Ji Chengyue.

“The Secret Intelligence Department’s prison wagon is already waiting outside the Princes’ Residence.

“Come with Us.”

“Yes, Eunuch Wei.”

Ji Chengyue slowly stood.

Wei Zhonghe glanced once more toward the Marquis of Jingnan sitting there.

He forced another ingratiating smile.

“Marquis, you have traveled far returning to the capital.

“His Majesty said that today is also the day Her Majesty the Empress returns to her natal home.

“It is a day for family reunion and the enjoyment of familial happiness.

“So today, His Majesty will not summon the Marquis into the palace for audience.”

After saying this, Wei Zhonghe bent slightly toward the Marquis.

Then he turned and urged, “Commoner Ji Chengyue.

“Why are you not following Us?”

Wei Zhonghe walked ahead.

The former Third Prince Ji Chengyue followed behind.

From this day onward, one name would be removed from Great Yan’s seven Princes.

Whether Ji Chengyue would ever leave Lakeheart Island again in his lifetime remained impossible to say.

Even once this generation’s Yan Emperor died and one of Ji Chengyue’s brothers inherited the throne, it was hard to imagine any of them issuing an edict to release him.

Zheng Fan sighed inwardly.

He and the Blind Man often joked that whenever he had faced Xu Wenzu, the Sixth Prince, and later the Marquis of Jingnan, he had felt like a gambler seated at a card table constantly being forced into situations where he had to go all-in.

Now it seemed that even a Prince was ultimately no different from another gambler seated around the table.

One wrong step and the entire board collapsed.

Yet at that moment—

“Wait.”

The speaker was the Marquis of Jingnan.

In the next instant more than a hundred personal guards, Zheng Fan included, immediately shifted sideways and blocked Wei Zhonghe and the Third Prince behind him.

A burst of anger surged inside Wei Zhonghe.

He was the Eunuch Holding the Seal of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

Inside the palace, even Princes and imperial consorts carefully addressed him as “Duke Wei.”

When had he ever been treated like this?

But Wei Zhonghe also understood these frontier soldiers.

They recognized only the military commands of their own general.

They did not care about imperial edicts.

Suppressing his temper, he continued with extreme patience.

Wei Zhonghe turned toward the Marquis of Jingnan, who was still seated.

“Marquis.

“Do you have further instructions?”

The Marquis did not look at Wei Zhonghe.

Instead, he placed the riding crop he had been holding onto the stone table.

Then slowly said, “This decree— this Marquis does not accept it.”

(End of Chapter)