Chapter 397: Fury

“Hey, big idiot. Don’t you think this prince has something wrong with his taste? Fine, tea and fruit for guests, whatever—but why put a huge platter of cornmeal cakes right in the middle?”

The tea was excellent and the fruit spread generous. The enormous pile of corn cakes simply looked strangely out of place.

Fan Li did not care. He kept picking them up and stuffing them into his mouth. His appetite was enormous and he became hungry quickly. Tiny fruit plates were too troublesome to eat, so cornmeal cakes suited him much better.

Hearing the Sword Maid’s question, Fan Li answered:

“Years ago, when the Sixth Prince was so poor he could barely keep living, Master had us send him an entire wagonload of cornmeal. That was what helped him survive the crisis.”

“Oh. So these corn cakes are a symbol of the friendship between Master and the Sixth Prince?”

Fan Li hesitated for a moment.

Then nodded solemnly.

At that moment, a woman emerged from the inner room. Her lower abdomen had begun to swell faintly. She wore cloth shoes and had her hair pinned up. There was a mature, charming beauty about her, but also a streak of free and easy boldness.

Fan Li remained seated on the floor, chewing corn cakes. The Sword Maid rose first. She had already guessed the woman’s identity.

This had to be the He family daughter whom the Sixth Prince was about to marry.

“You are people sent by Count Pingye?” He Si asked with a smile.

“Yes.” The Sword Maid nodded.

“My husband often tells me that he and Count Pingye have shared life-and-death friendship. When a servant came to report that someone from Count Pingye had arrived, I couldn’t resist coming over to have a look.”

As she spoke, He Si took hold of the Sword Maid’s slender wrist and gently rubbed it, praising her:

“You’re still so young and already this lovely. Give it another two or three years and won’t you be killing men wherever you go? Heaven knows what talented young gentleman will end up benefiting in the end.”

He Si came from common stock. She spoke warmly and casually, like a woman pulling another sister aside for neighborhood gossip.

“Wow. How old is the baby?”

The Sword Maid was much more interested in He Si’s stomach.

He Si rubbed it gently.

“Still early. They say pregnancy lasts ten months.”

“Mm.”

“Are Zheng Fan’s people inside?”

Ji Chengjue’s voice arrived before he did.

Fan Li silently picked up another cornmeal cake and put it into his mouth.

“You’re Fan Li?” Ji Chengjue asked when he entered.

“That’s me.”

“You certainly are imposing. You have the bearing of a fierce general.”

Ji Chengjue then looked toward the Sword Maid. His first reaction was to wonder whether Zheng Fan had sent the girl as a gift.

Such customs were perfectly normal in this age, and most gifts of this sort tended to be sent young.

But after noticing the short sword tied at the Sword Maid’s waist and the ornaments she wore, Ji Chengjue realized he had been thinking too much.

Besides how could that bastard surnamed Zheng lower himself enough to curry favor through something so tasteless?

“What’s your name?” Ji Chengjue asked.

“Sword Maid,” Fan Li answered for her.

“Mm. An unusual name.”

“Our Count named her,” Fan Li added.

“Sounds like his style.”

Fan Li clapped the crumbs from his hands and wiped the cornmeal from the corner of his mouth.

“Your Highness, the Count heard you were getting married and sent us to offer congratulations. The wedding gift is in the courtyard.”

“Oh, that. I saw it.”

Ji Chengjue turned to Eunuch Zhang.

“See that they’re properly settled.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Fan Li and the Sword Maid were led away to rest.

Ji Chengjue rose and walked to He Si. Taking her hand, he said:

“I told you to rest at home. You didn’t need to come out and receive guests.”

“Yes.”

He Si did not argue, nor did she complain that staying inside had been stifling.

“Oh, right. Guess what that bastard Zheng sent me for a wedding gift?” Ji Chengjue asked.

“What did Count Zheng send?”

“Three pigs. Each with a red ribbon around its neck.”

“Pfft. Why pigs again?”

“Heh. Do you know what makes it even funnier?”

“What?”

“Those three pigs were bought by Zheng Fan’s subordinate from your father’s pork shop. He bought them from my father-in-law, had my elder brother-in-law drive them over, and delivered them straight to my residence.”

“Hehehe...”

He Si laughed so hard she bent over, one hand protecting her belly.

Ji Chengjue could only sigh between laughter and helplessness.

“I’ve told you before. That bastard Zheng is an interesting man. I simply never expected the people beneath him to be just as interesting.”

“It’s a pity Count Zheng guards the frontier. He’s difficult to meet. I’d like to see this famous Count Pingye myself.”

“He has his matters to handle. I have mine. Sisi, your father and brother won’t be able to attend this wedding. Will you blame me?”

“I’m only a common woman. To marry an imperial prince is already marrying far above my station. How could I dare ask for more? Husband, if you’re asking me over something like this, then instead I feel you’ve lost some of your usual breadth.”

“Hahahaha. It’s not about breadth. It’s simply that this is my wedding. I can hardly let it become shabby and improvised.”

Ji Chengjue reached out and rested one hand over He Si’s belly.

“I am no longer alone now. Sisi, forgive my selfishness, but the road I am walking has no retreat.

“We—our child—and even your father and brother have no retreat anymore.

“Either our entire family goes neatly together to the execution ground at the vegetable market... or the child inside your belly will one day sit on that throne.”

For many men, the great dividing line in life came with the birth of a child.

Instinctively, you wanted to win more for the child. Seize more. Gather the finest things in the world and place all of them in the child’s hands.

And that throne was the finest gift Ji Chengjue could imagine.

He Si was not frightened by the cold, murderous words. Instead, she covered her mouth and laughed.

“What are you laughing at?” Ji Chengjue asked.

“I’m laughing because only a year ago I was still the daughter of a butcher, following my father and brother around and helping with the shop. Now the child in my stomach actually has a chance to sit in the supreme seat beneath Heaven.”

“Afraid?”

“What do I have to fear? A person only lives once. Since the opportunity exists, what’s wrong with gambling everything on it?”

This was, after all, the He family daughter who had once pressed a hairpin to her own throat and insisted on personally delivering meat at night.

At this moment she revealed a boldness exceeding that of ordinary people.

Dragons and phoenixes were not incapable of rising from weeds and grass.

Ji Chengjue looked at his wife.

Truthfully, if everything had begun with that careless glance when he saw the butcher’s beauty standing behind Old He and simply thought she was pleasing to the eye, then what happened later—when she came to him herself that night and gave him her untouched body—had created an attachment Ji Little Sixth found difficult to explain.

His woman.

The mother of Ji Little Sixth’s child.

She could be an ordinary commoner, a butcher’s daughter, a fisherman’s daughter—anything.

But her nature had to burn like fire.

Otherwise life would become unbearably dull.

“We’ve reached this point already. Eldest Brother is outside leading troops and helping me clean up the trade routes. Yet none of my other brothers has even sent word to say they’ll lend a hand on my wedding day.

“They’re all waiting to see me make a fool of myself. They all think I’m a gourd ladle—sink me and I float back up, never holding any fixed shape.

“This time—

“I’ll truly open their eyes.

“I’ll make them understand one thing clearly.

“As long as Father Emperor does not personally move against me—those brothers of mine... do not even possess the qualifications to stand before me!”

...

The Lake Pavilion.

This was a place of utter isolation. Armored soldiers patrolled the perimeter, while the inside itself stood empty. There was not even a single ordinary servant.

Every day, two deaf-mute attendants delivered meals and necessities. Whatever the man inside required had to be written down on a sheet of paper. The two attendants carried the request out and brought the prepared items back the following day.

People said life inside the Lake Pavilion was austere.

But compared with the loneliness of being cut off from the entire world, such material hardship was almost nothing.

*Clang.*

The lock on the iron gate opened.

Carrying a food box, Ji Chengjue walked into the Lake Pavilion while the two deaf-mute attendants watched from behind.

Inside sat a man dressed in white. His clothing was reasonably clean, but his hair had grown absurdly long.

He was not composing poetry.

He was not playing the qin.

He was squatting on the bluestone floor watching ants move their nest.

Only when Ji Chengjue approached did he notice someone nearby. He raised his head blankly and stared for quite a while before surprise and delight appeared.

“Sixth!”

The isolation of the Lake Pavilion had long since worn away most things inside him.

Including hatred.

Truthfully, aside from Zheng Fan having risen in his early career through Ji Chengjue’s support, there had never been much direct hatred between the Third Prince and Ji Chengjue.

“Third Brother.”

Ji Chengjue sat directly on the floor and opened the food box.

He took out one jar of wine, one plate of stir-fried loofah, one plate of chrysanthemum greens, and one dish of red-braised pork.

The Third Prince sat down as well. Smiling, he asked:

“Did Father Emperor tell you to come see me?”

Ji Chengjue shook his head.

“Brother, you know the situation yourself. As long as the Marquis of Jingnan remains alive, don’t dream of leaving this Lake Pavilion.”

The Third Prince froze.

Then gave a bitter laugh.

“Since when did you start speaking so directly?”

Outsiders believed the Third Prince had simply committed an offense and been punished by the Emperor.

But at the root of it, he had blundered directly beneath the Marquis of Jingnan’s blade. On the very night after the Third Prince was crippled, the Marquis of Jingnan slaughtered his own entire household.

In essence, the Emperor of Yan had turned one son into a place where the Marquis could vent a little of his fury.

To the Emperor, what was one son compared with Tian Wujing?

So as long as the Marquis of Jingnan lived, the Third Prince could never leave the Lake Pavilion.

Ji Chengjue sighed.

“Because I don’t feel like pretending anymore.”

“Oh?”

The Third Prince made a faint sound of surprise, then picked up his chopsticks and placed one piece of red-braised pork into his mouth.

While chewing, he said:

“Very good. Fat without being greasy.”

“Your sister-in-law made it herself. Eat more.”

“Good.”

The Third Prince began eating seriously.

Ji Chengjue quietly drank wine.

The brothers had never been especially close before.

Even now, there was still little warmth between them.

At last, after most of the food had entered his stomach, the Third Prince released a long, satisfied breath.

“It’s been a long time since I ate this much. My stomach will probably hurt again tonight.”

His body had already been injured. The Lake Pavilion was hardly a good place to recuperate, so the damage had left chronic problems.

He now looked much older than his true age.

“Are you confident?” the Third Prince asked.

“How can anyone talk about confidence in a matter like this? Father Emperor is Heaven. No matter how fiercely the brothers fight among ourselves, we’re still only crickets inside a bamboo cage sitting before him.”

“I can’t help you with anything,” the Third Prince said.

This prince, once praised as a successor to Great Yan’s literary tradition, had essentially been ruined after being imprisoned in the Lake Pavilion. Not only his body, but the influence and forces he once held had all collapsed.

“Brother, even if you weren’t trapped here and were still outside, you wouldn’t be able to help much in my eyes.”

“That hurts.”

“Sorry.”

“I can still read some court bulletins inside the Lake Pavilion, so I roughly know what has happened outside these past few years.”

“For example—our Great Yan’s Count Pingye?”

“You’re deliberately stabbing me?”

“I just wanted to see your reaction. You know how we brothers are. Since childhood we were never accustomed to pretending we loved one another. Only Second Brother became Crown Prince, so now he goes out of his way to perform it.”

“I know Count Pingye is your man.”

“Aiya. Aiya, Brother. I truly don’t have the face to say that. He’s Count Pingye now, Chief Commander of Snow Sea Pass, and the Marquis of Jingnan’s foremost favored man.

“He is hardly some hound beneath my gate.”

The Third Prince stared at Ji Chengjue in silence for a long time, apparently thinking through something.

Finally, he smiled freely.

“I originally wasn’t going to say this. I was afraid you might think I was trying to sow discord. But I’ll say it anyway. You know perfectly well that I have no need to sow discord anymore.

“In my current circumstances, I no longer even dream of leaving this place. If someone simply granted me a clean death, that might actually count as release.

“I still remember Zheng Fan’s eyes on the day he attacked me.”

“Go on.”

“I saw no reverence in those eyes.

“He possessed no reverence whatsoever for the imperial blood running through us.”

No reverence for imperial blood.

Meaning no reverence for imperial authority.

Ji Chengjue smiled.

“I knew that long ago.”

“Mm.”

“But Brother, what exactly is so special about the blood in our veins? Do you know why you brought disaster upon yourself back then? Those Confucian scholars spent every day whispering in your ear about orthodoxy, righteousness, and the principle that the ruler guides the subject—and you actually believed them.”

The Third Prince’s lips moved slightly.

Ji Chengjue lifted his cup and drank by himself.

“To put it plainly, if the man sitting on the dragon throne right now weren’t Father Emperor, then tell me—who could suppress the Marquis of Zhenbei and the Marquis of Jingnan?

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.

“Perhaps their soldiers and horses would have marched straight into Yanjing long ago and changed the dynasty.

“What bullshit imperial bloodline?

“People are always prone to the same disease. Once life becomes a little more comfortable and the chair beneath them sits a little higher, they start believing they’re somehow fundamentally different—born one level above everyone else.

“Great Yan’s century-old great clans have already been washed away by wind and rain.

“Do people care about our imperial blood? Pretending to care is one thing. Others can tell you they care. But you yourself cannot genuinely believe they do.

“That’s why the wife I found is a common woman. My father-in-law slaughters pigs. My elder brother-in-law slaughters pigs too.

“And when they slaughter pigs—they’re damned efficient.”

“Heh... hehehe...”

The Third Prince began laughing.

As he laughed, tears seemed to fall as well.

“Sixth Brother, I was younger than Eldest Brother and Second Brother, so my earliest memories came a few years later. But I vaguely remember an old minister once saying that when you were little, Father Emperor loved you very much.

“I never believed it.

“In my eyes, you were simply an idle prince, drifting through life, eating and waiting to die.

“Looking back now—my vision truly was shallow.”

“Don’t. Even Second Brother, who remembers things earlier, still doesn’t look at me properly now. Much less you, Third Brother.”

“So now you intend to change how you live?”

Ji Chengjue nodded.

“Change how I live.

“Gamble my wealth, my life, my wife and child.

“And formally announce to the world that I—Ji Chengjue—intend to fight for the succession.

“I intend to compete with Second Brother for the Eastern Palace.”

“Since your wedding is approaching, Second Brother’s marriage should probably resume as well, shouldn’t it?”

“Hehehe...”

Ji Chengjue threw his head back and kept laughing until he finally began coughing.

“What’s wrong?” the Third Prince asked.

From the Third Prince’s perspective, the reason he had no hope of leaving the Lake Pavilion—not even hope of receiving a quick and merciful death—was precisely because his case involved the Marquis of Jingnan.

If the Crown Prince married the Commandery Princess of the Marquis of Zhenbei Residence, then that would place yet another layer of protection around him.

Ji Chengjue raised one finger to his lips.

“I don’t dare say it.”

“Why don’t you dare?”

“Or perhaps—

“I simply don’t want to.”

Ji Chengjue rose.

He did not clean up the dishes.

He prepared to leave.

From beginning to end, the Third Prince never asked why Ji Chengjue had come to the Lake Pavilion to see him.

Ji Chengjue never intended to explain either.

As Ji Chengjue turned and walked away, the Third Prince called after him:

“When your child is old enough to practice calligraphy, come ask me for copybooks. I’ll start preparing them today.”

Ji Chengjue did not stop.

Did not turn.

Did not even look back.

He merely raised one hand and waved.

“Thanks, Brother.”

...

Two mornings later, Assistant Director Chen Ziyou of the Ministry of Rites—the man who had spent years warming a cold bench—arrived outside the princes’ residence wearing his official robes.

In his left hand he carried a basket of red eggs.

In his right arm he carried a stack of new clothing.

He seemed to have no intention of entering. Instead, he set the basket of red eggs on the ground and leaned against one of the stone lions with the folded clothing in his arms.

Roughly ten minutes later, Ji Chengjue walked out.

Eunuch Zhang followed behind him.

The Sixth Prince wore formal court robes today with a large red wedding flower tied across his chest. Eunuch Zhang had changed into a new eunuch uniform and even carried a brand-new horsetail whisk.

Chen Ziyou had already fallen asleep leaning against the stone lion.

Eunuch Zhang walked over and gently patted him awake.

“Lord Chen? Lord Chen?”

“Oh. Ah—ah!”

Chen Ziyou wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth. He looked first at Eunuch Zhang, then at Ji Chengjue.

He hurriedly lifted the basket of eggs and came forward.

“Your Highness, my wife and daughter colored every one of these eggs red with me last night. These new clothes were sewn personally by my wife and daughter. They are offered to Your Highness with wishes for a joyous wedding and an early noble son!”

Ji Chengjue looked at Chen Ziyou and nodded.

“Lord Chen has gone to great trouble.”

Eunuch Zhang immediately stepped forward and accepted the gifts.

Chen Ziyou bowed again.

“Your Highness, please have Lady He come out.”

Ji Chengjue replied:

“My wife has not been here since last night.”

“This...”

Chen Ziyou stared in shock.

According to the ceremonial procedure, the palace should have dispatched a unit of Imperial Guards to join yamen runners from Yanjing Prefecture. Together, they would escort the bridal sedan and the Sixth Prince along Baihua Street before entering the palace to pay respects before the Emperor.

The ceremony was simple—almost plain.

But this was already the most Chen Ziyou had managed to fight for.

He was only an Assistant Director left to warm a cold bench. How much influence could he possibly have?

And all the true senior officials of the various ministries had tacitly chosen not to involve themselves. Even His Majesty had issued no decree establishing a formal ceremonial standard for the wedding.

“What is this supposed to mean?” Ji Chengjue asked. “Who gets married by bringing his own wife out of his own residence, circling the city once, and then returning her to the same place?

“Lord Chen, was that how your own wedding worked?”

“Your Highness, but... but Lady He is a commoner woman.”

“What is wrong with being a commoner woman? Since she is my wife, I will not let her suffer that humiliation.

“By Great Yan custom, when a bride marries far from home, one of the groom’s local relatives or family friends may stand in as her natal household. She stays there first, and the groom then goes there to receive her properly.

“When Eldest Brother married, didn’t my sister-in-law recognize Chief Minister Zhao Jiulang’s wife as her foster mother? Didn’t Eldest Brother receive his bride from Chief Minister Zhao’s residence?”

“But—but—” Chen Ziyou drew in a breath and forced himself to finish. “Your Highness, the Chief Minister accepting the First Princess Consort as a foster daughter was done by His Majesty’s decree. You have no such decree here.

“If Your Highness wished for that arrangement, you should have petitioned His Majesty several days ago and asked him to grant it. Today is already the wedding day. Your Highness should follow the rules.”

“The rules?”

“The procedures this subordinate delivered to your residence several days ago.”

“Oh. I didn’t read them.”

“...”

Chen Ziyou.

“Rules or no rules, it doesn’t matter much. Also, I sent word to the Imperial Guards last night telling them to rest today and not come.

“Second Brother’s last wedding mobilized ten detachments of Imperial Guards. Mine gets one.

“There’s no harm until you compare things. Once the comparison is made, mine looks a little too shabby.

“I also notified the Yanjing Prefecture yamen runners. They don’t need to come either.”

“Your Highness, then what are we supposed to do? The auspicious hour is almost here! This subordinate will immediately send word and have them—”

“No need. Lord Chen, you are the master of ceremonies Father Emperor personally assigned to my wedding. Having you is enough.

“Come.

“Accompany me to receive the bride.”

Only then did Chen Ziyou remember Ji Chengjue saying Lady He had already been sent away the night before.

He immediately asked:

“Your Highness, may I ask where Lady He is now?”

“At Lady Fengxin’s residence.”

“Lady Fengxin?”

Lady Fengxin was the present Emperor’s wet nurse. He had grown up on her milk. After ascending the throne, the Emperor granted her an honorific title and a residence of her own.

Her son—the Emperor’s milk-brother—had long served within the Secret Intelligence Department. His surname was Lu.

His name was Lu Bing.

Among the noble households of the capital, if one ranked them by pure prestige untouched by political faction, Lady Fengxin’s residence could arguably stand first.

After the Emperor trampled the great clans flat, there were almost no people left in Great Yan—certainly not in Yanjing—before whom the Emperor would willingly lower himself and acknowledge a junior status.

But when he saw Lady Fengxin, he still respectfully called her **Wet Nurse**.

The Lu household had always remained extremely low-key. Lady Fengxin spent most of her days chanting scripture at home and rarely involved herself in outside affairs. Lu Bing held a fairly high post within the Secret Intelligence Department, yet was famously modest in his dealings with others.

What astonished Chen Ziyou was that, with His Majesty never having spoken, the senior officials of the court had essentially reached a tacit agreement to handle the Sixth Prince’s wedding coldly.

Partly because recent events at the Ministry of Revenue had left many ministers disgusted by the Sixth Prince’s aggressive methods.

Partly because even the Crown Prince had not truly stepped forward to arrange things personally. If the Crown Prince did not involve himself, why would anyone else rush to join the celebration?

“Madam Wang of the Lu Household has already accepted Lady He as her foster daughter,” Ji Chengjue said. “Today, the Lu household is my wife’s natal family.”

Madam Wang of the Lu Household was Lu Bing’s wife. By accepting He Si as a foster daughter, she gave the bride a legitimate stand-in maternal household.

Chen Ziyou opened and closed his mouth.

In the end, all he could ask was:

“Your Highness, what about the bridal sedan and the red ceremonial procession?”

Before the Crown Prince’s wedding, both the state treasury and imperial household treasury had allocated funds. Everything had been redone in meticulous detail, from every ornament worn by the Crown Prince and the “Crown Princess” to the arrangement of the Eastern Palace itself.

Ji Chengjue’s wedding was different.

He was supposed to borrow a bridal sedan from the Court of Imperial Clan.

When ordinary imperial clansmen married, they often borrowed wedding sedans from the Court of Imperial Clan. After all, a bridal sedan was much like a wedding dress in later generations. Most people used it once in a lifetime, so very few bought one outright. Renting or borrowing was normal.

Of course, for an imperial prince to borrow his wedding sedan from the Court of Imperial Clan was genuinely shabby.

But His Majesty had said nothing.

Ji Chengjue himself had neither complained nor made any demands.

So everyone above and below had naturally decided to be as “frugal” as possible.

Originally, when the single Imperial Guard detachment came from the palace, it was supposed to bring the bridal sedan as well. Those guards would also change into red ceremonial dress and serve as the honor procession.

But since the Sixth Prince had sent word the previous night telling the Imperial Guards not to come naturally, the sedan was gone too.

Ji Chengjue planted both hands on his hips.

“My Princess Consort is not going to make do with scraps.”

Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, the sound of gongs and drums rose from the street outside the princes’ residence.

The soldiers guarding the area immediately became alert.

Soon, a procession of men and women dressed in festive red appeared.

At the front walked a white-haired old man whose body still looked strong and upright. He led a white horse decorated with bright colored trim.

Behind him came an enormous bridal sedan carried by thirty-two men.

Pearls were set into the corners along the sedan’s roof. Waterfall-like red silk cascaded down its sides, edged in gold. Certain details had been deliberately restrained so as not to exceed ceremonial rank, but within the limits allowed, the sedan still radiated astonishing luxury.

The white-haired elder reached the steps and immediately knelt before Ji Chengjue.

“Ning Derong, head of the Ning’an Escort Agency, pays respects to the Young Master!”

The Ning’an Escort Agency’s headquarters stood in Tuman City.

It was called an escort agency, but in truth it functioned more like a great merchant caravan. Its people operated across the desert and along the roads leading westward. Without sufficient strength, courage, and backing, there was no possible way to survive in that trade.

Years ago, after the Min Clan was destroyed, the Ning’an Escort Agency came under heavy pressure from the Beifeng Liu Clan, one of Beifeng Commandery’s great clans. Even so, it stubbornly held onto half of its market.

Then the Emperor’s cavalry trampled the great clans.

The Beifeng Liu Clan was crushed directly beneath Zhenbei Army hooves.

The escort agency instantly reclaimed the market share it had lost and expanded once again.

Back when Ji Chengjue and Zheng Fan first met outside the Marquis of Zhenbei Residence, Siniang had already detected that Ji Chengjue possessed a hidden force planted inside Beifeng Commandery.

That force had come from the Ning’an Escort Agency.

“Uncle Ning, please rise.”

Ji Chengjue personally stepped forward and helped Ning Derong to his feet.

Looking at Ji Chengjue, Ning Derong smiled.

“Today the Young Master is getting married. If the Old Master and Young Mistress possess spirits in the Yellow Springs, they must be overjoyed.

“Young Master, this bridal sedan was made in imitation of the one Young Mistress rode when she married into the prince’s residence years ago.”

Consort Min had once ridden an identical sedan when she married into the residence of the man who would later become Emperor.

At that time, he had still been only a prince.

Ji Chengjue turned toward Chen Ziyou.

“I’ll trouble Lord Chen to oversee the ceremony and accompany me to receive the bride.”

With that, Ji Chengjue mounted the white horse.

Chen Ziyou still felt as though his mind were floating somewhere outside his body. Even so, he walked to the front of the procession and began leading the way.

The bridal sedan rose.

Gongs and drums thundered from front to back.

Ji Chengjue’s gaze drifted involuntarily toward the direction of the imperial palace.

He was curious.

Very curious.

What would Father Emperor think if he saw this scene?

If he saw this bridal sedan?

...

“The Ning’an Escort Agency,” the Emperor of Yan said.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Wei Zhonghe answered.

“Heh. Liangting once sent me a letter asking whether I wanted the Ning’an Escort Agency cut away together with the Beifeng Liu Clan.”

“Your Majesty was merciful.”

“No. Liangting would not ask a pointless question. The fact that he asked meant he did not want it cut away.

“You should know something.

“When the old head of the Min Clan established this escort agency, he gave forty percent of the silent ownership directly to the Marquis of Zhenbei Residence—to Liangting’s father.”

Wei Zhonghe was shocked.

The Secret Intelligence Department had never known about this.

Of course, that could not entirely be blamed on the department. The Marquis of Zhenbei Residence had always been forbidden territory for its spies. Without an explicit decree from the Emperor, Secret Intelligence operatives could never truly investigate the residence itself.

But who could have imagined that the old Min patriarch had actually gone into business together with the Marquis of Zhenbei Residence?

“What about that milk-brother of mine?” the Emperor asked. “He didn’t report for duty today?”

“Replying to Your Majesty, Lu Bing requested leave.”

Looking at the situation now, that leave had clearly been taken so he could return home and help arrange the wedding.

Even if the Lu household merely stood in temporarily for the bride’s maternal family, there was still a great deal to prepare. Lu Bing and his wife would also formally serve as He Si’s elders and receive tea from the Sixth Prince.

“You don’t understand why my wet nurse would step forward to support Chengjue either, do you?” the Emperor asked.

“Your Majesty, this slave truly does not.”

“Because Chengjue knows how to make people like him.

“If he genuinely decides to win someone over, it is difficult for that person not to like him.

“At the beginning of this year, when I visited Wet Nurse, she told me that all these years, whenever Chengjue was in the capital during New Year or the major festivals, he always visited her personally.

“If he was away from Yanjing, the gifts never failed to arrive even once.

“Among my seven sons—only Chengjue did that.”

“Your Majesty...”

Wei Zhonghe had no idea how to respond.

Say the Sixth Prince was purely filial?

That would be lying with his eyes open.

But could he say the Sixth Prince was deeply calculating?

Before Wei Zhonghe could settle on an answer, the Emperor’s next sentence frightened him so badly that he dropped directly to his knees.

The Emperor said:

“It is just like the many senior eunuchs inside this palace. Usually, other people are the ones sending silver to flatter them.

“Yet one after another, they willingly send Chengjue silver and food of their own accord—and feel happy doing it.

“Wei Zhonghe.

“What about you?

“Do you like Chengjue?”

“Your Majesty, this slave is absolutely loyal to Your Majesty and harbors no second heart!”

“Get up. I only asked casually.

“You—

“I still trust.”

“This slave thanks Your Majesty.”

Wei Zhonghe slowly rose.

Cold sweat had already soaked his back.

Because today he had finally confirmed one thing.

Aside from the Secret Intelligence Department—

His Majesty possessed another intelligence organization, one so secret that even Wei Zhonghe knew nothing about it.

“This is only the beginning,” the Emperor continued. “There are still many households to come.

“Heh.

“One after another, they usually hide without showing mountain or water.

“They’ve buried themselves very deeply indeed.”

Wei Zhonghe sighed with emotion.

“Who could have imagined the Min Clan accumulated such immense strength back then?”

The Emperor of Yan gave a cold snort.

“The Min Clan has been gone for years since Wujing destroyed it.

“Even a centipede dies stiff, but after this many years, mere surviving fragments should not still possess power like this.

“Do you know which household gathered the most farmland and tenant households after I trampled the great clans?

“Do you know which household stockpiled grain in advance and then sold it to the court when I ordered Wujing and Liangting to invade Qian?

“Do you know which household followed behind Wujing again when he destroyed Jin?

“I work in front—and my son follows behind me making money!”

Every time the Emperor prepared to act, this son often saw through the direction in advance, made arrangements beforehand, and followed in time to harvest the profits.

Naturally, he had eaten until his mouth was full of oil.

The Emperor of Yan felt as though he himself had spent all these years working for his own son.

Back in Beifeng Commandery, while the great clans and noble households across Yan were still waiting for the court and the Marquis of Zhenbei Residence to break into open war, Little Sixth had already told Zheng Fan outright that the entire affair was a duet.

Wei Zhonghe’s body began trembling faintly.

Only now did he understand that the Sixth Prince—whose smile always looked so harmless—possessed an entirely different face beneath it.

Wei Zhonghe had always believed that because of his position within the Secret Intelligence Department, his understanding of the Sixth Prince must be deeper than most people’s.

Apparently, he had only reached the third layer.

His Sixth Highness had been standing on the fifth.

The Emperor continued:

“Why did two successive Ministers of Revenue collapse while I remained silent?

“Because the Ministry of Revenue is full of useless wine sacks and rice bags.

“I issued a decree ordering the ministry to strip away the businesses Chengjue held.

“Excellent.

“Those great lords of the Ministry of Revenue failed to discover a single one of Chengjue’s true holdings.

“Do you know what they actually seized for me?

“One roast-duck restaurant!”

A midday breeze drifted past, but Wei Zhonghe did not feel heat.

Instead, cold seemed to crawl through his bones.

The relationship between this imperial father and son genuinely frightened him.

For one terrible moment, Wei Zhonghe even worried that the Emperor’s next order would be for him to seize the He family and execute them on the wedding day itself.

He had served this Emperor for many years.

He knew perfectly well how cold His Majesty’s heart could become.

And today the wedding had only just begun.

But it was already obvious that the Sixth Prince’s sudden, uncharacteristic extravagance amounted to a face-to-face declaration to his father:

*All those years you suppressed me—*

*you never truly struck my foundation.*

This was a son challenging his father openly.

And yet a moment later the Emperor’s words suddenly changed.

Fury entered his voice.

Enormous fury.

A fury almost impossible to imagine.

But that fury was not directed toward the son who had chosen today to openly reveal himself.

“Wei Zhonghe, do you see it?

“Do you see it?!

“I said nothing.

“Yes, I said nothing!

“And yet the entire court—from the Chief Minister at the top to ordinary officials below—truly dared to do nothing!

“They truly dared to muddle through everything!

“If Chengjue himself had not possessed the ability to create this display today, they genuinely would have allowed the wedding of an imperial prince of the current dynasty to become cold and desolate—more pathetic than the marriage of some provincial country squire!

“They truly dared let the dignity of the imperial house fall into the dust!

“They truly dared turn the imperial house into a joke!

“Every day at court, they are the ones kneeling and shouting, ‘Long live my Emperor!’

“At the beginning of every memorial, they are the ones declaring their crimson loyalty!

“But the instant they catch the smallest opportunity—they are also the ones who want to climb onto the imperial house’s head!

“If some future emperor has a timid nature and allows authority to fall from his hands—will he have to live every day by watching their faces?”

————

[End of Chapter 397]