Category: Didn’t Love You Enough

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Chapter 89 – A Thrill, Part 2 

After they finished the meal, Lin Jia Bao went to the kitchen to boil hot water so that the empress may wash her hands and face.

After that, Lin Jia Bao and the empress snuggled together on the bed. Originally, Lin Jia Bao insisted on sleeping in the adjoining side room, btu the empress did not agree.

The empress looked at Lin Jia Bao and said: “You foolish child. Sleep beside bengong today. We can also look after one another…”

Lin Jia Bao lay down on the bed obediently, and the empress touched Lin Jia Bao’s cold face.

“Why is your face so cold…?”

There was no brazier in the room, so the room was really cold. The blanket on the bed was also very thin. The empress covered Lin Jia Bao with most of the blanket.

Lin Jia Bao said, “I’m not cold, Your Majesty. Please cover yourself up.”

When Lin Jia Bao carried the empress around, he had sweated a lot. His back was soaked. When the cold wind blew, it felt extremely cold.

Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.

The empress felt Lin Jia Bao trembling. “You’re so cold that you’re shivering.” The empress hugged Lin Jia Bao and wrapped the blanket tightly around the two of them.

Lin Jiabao felt the warm embrace of the empress, as if he had returned to the embrace of his mother when he was a child…

“Were you scared today…?” The empress asked Lin Jia Bao softly.

The empress thought of how Lin Jia Bao was only fourteen years old. To be able to perform the way that he did today was indeed extraordinary. She planned to reward Lin-xiaoshi well after this matter subsided.

“En.” Lin Jia Bao nodded honestly.

“Such is the palace. Fighting for the throne and bloodshed are inevitable.” The empress sighed.

Lin Jia Bao has calmed down now and was a little worried for Yuan Qing and the others. He didn’t know what had happened to them.

The empress realized that what she had said was a little heavy, so she changed the subject, “I heard Cheng Er call you Jia Bao. Is that your real name?”

“Responding to Your Majesty, that is correct. An Zhu’s original name is Lin Jia Bao,” the boy answered.

“It’s a good name. Your parents at home must love you very much.” The empress knew that the name Lin Jia Bao meant that he was definitely favored at home.

“My parents have always loved me the most, and my elder brothers and sisters also love me very much.” When Lin Jia Bao spoke about his family, his face was full of happiness.

“Then I* will call you Jia Bao in the future… Jia Bao, how did you end up in the palace?” The empress was a little curious. The Lin family wouldn’t let their most treasured child into the palace.

[*T/N: The empress uses the neutral “I” instead of “bengong” in this sentence.]

In a small voice, Lin Jia Bao told the empress everything that happened with his uncle Lin Da Li’s family and the reason for why he entered the palace.

After hearing this, the empress said, “Such bad relatives. But if that didn’t happen, you would not have come to the palace, and you would not have the fortune that you do now…”

The sky darkened, but they did not dare to light any candles. They spoke in hushed voices in the dark room.

Lin Jia Bao whispered about some trivial things about his hometown, and the empress listened with relish. The empress grew up in the capital and never left the capital. She found it very novel to listen to Lin Jia Bao talk about interesting things that happened in the mountains.

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Lin Jia Bao was talking about going up the mountain with his brothers and sisters to pick fruits when he was a child. The wild fruits were sour and crunchy…

Just as he was talking, he heard a sound from the next room. Lin Jia Bao went silent. The empress and he did not dare to breath too loudly. They listened to the movements in the next room. Lin Jia Bao quietly placed the big blade in front of them both.

A man’s voice came from next door, “Damn, this palace is too big. I’m getting a headache from walking around.”

Another voice sounded, “Dage*, take a rest first. There is no one here. I’ll say, this palace is way too big. How is the emperor not tired from walking every day…?”

[*T/N: 大哥 da ge – big brother, not necessarily blood-related]

“Haha, you’re so stupid, but you still don’t admit it. Why would the emperor need to walk by himself? People carry him everywhere…”

“Oh, hehe, Dage is right. Look at this [stupid] brain of mine.”

“Tsk… Take it easy, you…”

“Dage, bear with it. I’ll help you bandage up. Those guards of the Imperial Army are really good at fighting. Fortunately, Dage is here, otherwise my little life would be lost here today. Alas! It’s a shame we don’t know if the other comrades are dead or alive…”

“Life and death are ruled by fate. To eke out a living by the sword means you will have to face death one day…”

“Dage, what should we do next? Should we catch the empress? That’s ten thousand taels of gold!”

“So what if it’s ten thousand taels of gold? The empress is the mother of the country. If we catch her that will be death to all your relatives for nine generations. Nine generations, do you understand? Besides, we are just asking for money, we don’t have to work as hard as Prince Li’s sishi…”

“It’s as Dage says… just let the sishi go catch the empress.”

“Haha, most of those sishi were also killed or injured. Who knows how many escaped? Whatever, forget about them. Anyways, we managed to make a profit entering the palace this time, look… I took these while the palace was in chaos. They should be worth quite a bit.”

“Hee hee, Dage, look, I also swiped some things…”

“This kid, you’re at least clever in this regard, haha…”

“It’s because Dage taught me well, ah…”

“Okay, let’s rest for a while. When it’s late at night, we will try to escape from the palace. This should be enough for us to live free and unfettered for most of our lives…”

Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.

After waiting for about two hours, Lin Jia Bao and the empress finally heard the thieves next door leave. They each breathed a sigh of relief. It was very late at night, and neither of them dared to sleep, for fear that the thieves would return again, and there were also Prince Li’s sishi to worry about.

After the fourth watch*, the empress couldn’t hold on anymore and fell asleep. Lin Jia Bao saw that the empress was asleep, but he didn’t dare to sleep. He pinched himself hard, forcing himself to stay awake.

[*T/N: The fourth watch is from 1:00 am to 3:00 am]

Xuan Yuan Han Cheng rushed to the palace, and Ling Zheng Feng, the commander of the Imperial Army, reported to him what happened in the palace yesterday.

Ling Zheng Feng said that he received the phoenix token from the empress and rushed to Yong Shou Palace with the Imperial Army. At that time, the empress was nowhere to be seen, and they fought with the people brought by Xue Song. In the end, many thieves were killed and captured, but some thieves still managed to escape.

Ling Zheng Feng said that the empress and Lin-xiaoshi were escorted by imperial guards and fled together. According to the imperial guards who protected the empress and Lin-xiaoshi, they were heading towards Qian Qing Palace to escape. But he later sent people to Qian Qing Palace and did not find the empress and Lin-xiaoshi, so he guessed that they must have been hiding in some other palace. It’s just that the imperial guards got separated from the empress and Lin-xiaoshi, and their current location was unknown…

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Chapter 88 – A Thrill, Part 2 (28.1)

Lin Jia Bao was really exhausted. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he felt that his bones were about to fall apart, and his hands and legs were sore.

Lin Jia Bao and the empress just sat and rested quietly. Lin Jia Bao felt hungry and thirsty. He hadn’t had lunch today. It was already afternoon and they didn’t know how long they had to hide… they need to get some food first…

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“Your Majesty, you must be hungry, right? I’ll go to the Xi Li Palace Hall’s kitchen and see what there is to eat, okay?” Lin Jia Bao stood up and said to the empress.

The empress also felt hungry in her belly, “An Zhu, be careful, go fast and come back quickly…”

Before Lin Jia Bao left, he placed the big blade that he was holding beside the empress. “This blade, keep it for self defense, Your Majesty. I’ll be back soon.”

Lin Jia Bao gently opened the door and slipped out like a cat. He carefully closed the door and quickly ran to the kitchen of Xi Li Palace Hall.

The empress looked at the huge blade lost in thought…

Xi Li Palace Hall’s kitchen has been vacant for a long time, and there was dust on the stove. Lin Jia Bao searched for a long time but couldn’t find anything to eat. He eventually found a bag of white rice and a small bag of flour in the cellar of the kitchen storage, as well as some sugar, salt, and a small jar of vegetable oil. Lin Jia Bao thought for a while and prepared to use these to make two simple dishes.

Lin Jia Bao returned to the kitchen. First, he cleaned out the small stove. Then he washed the pot and tableware. Lin Jia Bao was very careful when doing these actions, trying not to make any noise.

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When he lit the fire, his heart rose to his throat, fearing that the movements in the kitchen would attract the intruders. His palms were sweaty with nerves. He quickly boiled the white rice into congee and added some sugar to it. After that, the flour was added with water and kneaded into a dough, pressed into a cake, fried in vegetable oil and sprinkled with salt. The smell of vegetable oil filled the kitchen instantly.

Lin Jia Bao’s stomach gurgled. He swallowed his saliva. He only taste tested the food a little. Then he found a large food box and packed everything.

Carrying a large food box and a pot of sweet congee, Lin Jia Bao managed to return to where the empress was staying by the time the sun dipped in the horizon.

The empress waited anxiously in the room, her heart was full of worry, as time went by… The empress recited “na mo e mi tuo fu” in her heart… and prayed to Buddha to protect this good and honest child…

[T/N: 南无哦弥陀佛 na mo e mi tuo fu – Buddhist salutation or expression of faith]

The empress knew that Lin-xiaoshi was also very afraid, but still left her the only weapon for self-defense. He went out to face the dangers alone, if he happened to meet a thief… the empress didn’t dare to think about it, she was very worried…

When she saw Lin An Zhu coming back, the empress breathed a sigh of relief.

“An Zhu, you’ve returned. You didn’t encounter any danger, did you?”

“I’m fine, Your Majesty. I didn’t meet anyone. It seems that Xi Li Palace Hall is still very safe.” Lin Jia Bao brought the congee to the table, and took out the bowls and chopsticks from the food box.

The empress was relieved.

“Your Majesty, I only found these in the kitchen, so I made congee and flat breads. It’s a bit crude, please forgive me.”

Lin Jia Bao filled a bowl with congee and placed it in front of the empress. Then he took out the fried flat breads from the bottom tier of the food box and placed it on a small plate, ready to serve the empress for dinner.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

The empress picked up the bowl of congee and ate a mouthful. After a thrilling day, there was nothing better than taking a sip of hot congee in a cold room in winter. The congee was cooked to a moderate degree of softness and hardness, and it was sweet and delicious. Eating it, the empress felt sweet and warm in her heart.

The empress looked at Lin An Zhu who was standing beside her.

“An Zhu, you should quickly sit down and eat too. It’s a special situation right now. Don’t worry about [the rules]. Eat quickly. It won’t taste good when it is cold.”

“Please eat first, Your Majesty. I will wait for you to finish eating before I eat…” Lin Jia Bao refused to sit down.

The empress pulled him down onto the chair and then handed him a flat bread. “Hurry up and eat, you have worked hard today…”

After the empress’s repeated persuasion, Lin Jia Bao finally ate with her. He gobbled the flat bread down in three bites.

“An Zhu, your cooking is delicious. This is the best congee I’ve ever had.”

The empress ate the flat bread and drank the congee, thinking that it’s been really hard for this child…

Lin Jia Bao was embarrassed to be praised.

“It’s not as good as Your Majesty says…”

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As chosen by patreon vote, today’s bonus update goes to DLYE. ^-^

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Chapter 87 – A Thrill 

Right before the thief was about to catch the empress and Lin Jia Bao, the guards joined forced and hacked him to death. But there were more reckless thieves behind the first. They rushed at the empress and Lin Jia Bao like an unending stream.

All the imperial guards around them were entangled with thieves and unable to keep escorting them to retreat. Even Yuan Qing joined the fray. He grabbed onto a thief with all his strength to prevent the thief from advancing towards them.

“Your Majesty, Lin-xiaozhu, hurry up and go…”

“Yuan Qing…” Lin Jia Bao, with tears in his eyes, picked up a fallen broadsword and supported the empress to run away.

They didn’t run far when the empress tripped and fell to the floor.

“Your Majesty, are you okay?” Lin Jia Bao stepped forward to help the empress.

The empress hissed in pain. “My ankle is sprained…” As the empress, she normally did not have to run around and was not used to the sudden explosion of physical activity.

Lin Jia Bao did not even hesitate. He picked up the empress, carried her on his back, and kept advancing forward. As a middle-aged woman, the empress’s body weight was not light. Lin Jia Bao could feel his body sinking beneath the weight, but he gritted his teeth and kept going.

Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.

Lin Jia Bao used all his strength and ran desperately forward with the empress on his back.

Lin Jia Bao ran for a long time. In his panic, he did not have time to think about where he was going, but he took the bypaths in the palace whenever possible and running back and forth for some time, he finally managed to shake off the thieves.

The empress looked at Lin Jia Bao. His face and neck were both drenched in sweat. His body was so petite, but he ran around with her on his back for so long… she was very moved…

Seeing that no one was around, the empress said, “Put bengong down, ba. You must be exhausted… bengong can walk by myself…”

Lin Jia Bao wiped his sweat with his hands, “I’m not tired, Your Majesty. I’ll carry you* and run some more. I can’t let the bad guys catch you.”

[*T/N: He’s using the polite form of “you” in Chinese.]

Fortunately, Lin Jia Bao grew up in a village, so his leg strength was pretty good.

After that brief conversation, Lin Jia Bao gritted his teeth and ran some more.

“Your Majesty, I wasn’t paying attention to the road when I was running. This doesn’t seem to be in the direction of Qian Qing Palace…”

“It doesn’t matter, let’s find a place to hide first. There are numerous imperial guards in the palace. They can definitely handle a hundred or so thieves. We just need to find a hidden place to hide first, so as not to be caught by the thieves. The emperor and His Royal Highness are also coming back soon…”

The empress knew that if Lin Jia Bao had not carried her on his back and ran like his life depended on it, then she would’ve been captured by the intruders. It would be bad if she were to be used as a hostage against the emperor and the princes. Fortunately, Lin An Zhu was here…

Lin Jia Bao tried his best to carry the empress for a while longer. The empress could see how tired he was, so she said, “Let bengong down quickly, ba…”

Lin Jia Bao put the empress down. His back was soaked through with sweat. Using the broadsword that he had been carrying all this time as a cane, he kept walking while supporting the empress.

This big sword was very heavy for Lin Jia Bao, but he did not dare to let go. If there was an emergency, he could also use this sword to protect the empress.

“An Zhu, do you recognize the paths here?” the empress asked Lin Jia Bao.

As the empress, whenever she went out, she would seldom travel by foot. Instead, she rode around in a sedan chair.

The empress looked at the remote palace road and thought that it should be safer here…

Lin Jia Bao looked around and said, “Replying to Your Majesty, when An Zhu first entered the palace, the momo had us remember the routes in the palace, and this is a place that I have been to before. A little bit beyond here is the Xi Li Palace Hall. When An Zhu entered the palace, that was the place where I stayed for the first month.”

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After thinking about it, Lin Jia Bao said to the empress, “Your Majesty, why don’t we go to Xi Li Palace Hall? An Zhu is more familiar with that place. Moreover, there are no new people coming into the palace right now. There is no one there, and it should be more concealed.”

After thinking about it, the empress agreed and said, “Let’s go to Xi Li Palace Hall.”

After speaking, the two of them walked quickly to Xi Li Palace Hall without any delay.

Upon arriving at Xi Li Palace Hall, they found that it was as Lin Jia Bao had said and there was no one there. Lin Jia Bao brought the empress to the room where the head momo used to sleep in. It was the best room in the Xi Li Palace Hall.

After a long period of vacancy, there was a layer of dust accumulated in the room.

“Your Majesty, please wait for me to tidy up a bit.” Lin Jia Bao found a piece of cloth and started wiping away dust.

The empress didn’t just stand there watching him. She also stepped forward to help out. Not long after, they more or less managed to tidy up the place.

“Your Majesty, is your foot a bit better?” Lin Jia Bao assisted the empress to sit down beside the bed.

After witnessing all that Lin-xiaoshi had done today, the empress was exceptionally moved and said gratefully to Lin Jia Bao, “It’s much better. You sit down too. You’ve worked hard today.”

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Chapter 86 – A Thrill 

The empress asked Lin Jia Bao: “When you come to greet me, have you ever seen Song-shi or Yu-shi?”

Lin Jia Bao thought about it for a while and replied, “No, I haven’t…”

Now that he was thinking about it, he realized that he had indeed never seen Song-shi or Yu-shi in Yong Shou Palace, and he found that strange. Why didn’t they come to pay respects to the empress?

“It’s like that. It stands to reason that the crown prince’s concubines are not qualified to greet bengong*. That’s why you never see them coming to greet me in the mornings. Just look, there are only ten concubines who come to greet me every day, but the emperor’s harem is composed of more than just ten people… Only those at the level of imperial concubine and above can come pay respects to bengong…”

[*T/N: She’s using 本宫 bengong to refer to herself. It translates to “this palace,” which sounds a bit strange in English, so I left it as is.]

The empress looked at Lin Jia Bao’s face full of disappointment. This was really a child who wore his heart on his sleeve.

The empress unconsciously softened her voice and said: “You’re good, but there are rules in the palace, and class is strict in the palace. It’s not good to do things that are beyond your status. If this goes on, it will not be good for the crown prince or for you. The imperial censors will also used this as a pretext for gossip.”

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“Your Majesty, An Zhu understands. An Zhu will definitely abide by the palace rules scrupulously and not cause trouble for His Royal Highness…”

Lin Jia Bao nodded with great solemnity.

At this time, Zhou-momo led the chief imperial guard of Yong Shou Palace in.

“Your Majesty, there’s trouble. Xue Song brought a large number of thieves into the harem. They’re heading here to Yong Shou Palace. I think those thieves were the one who caused the fire at Li An Hall. Their purpose must be to lure the imperial guards away…”

“That goddamn Xue family. They want to rebel?” The empress was furious. She asked, “How many imperial guards are there in Yong Shou Palace right now?”

The chief imperial guard responded: “Right now there are twenty something imperial guards left in Yong Shou Palace, enough to hold them off for a while, but there are nearly a hundred of those thieves and they’re coming straight for Yong Shou Palace. Please make arrangements quickly, Your Majesty.”

The empress gradually calmed down. “Take my phoenix token. Go to the commander of the imperial guards and have him dispatch imperial guards here as soon as possible.”

The empress handed her phoenix token to the chief imperial guard, “Go quickly…”

“Understood.” The chief imperial guard took the phoenix token with both hands and quickly retreated.

“Go and get me a set of palace maid clothes…” The empress ordered Zhou-momo. She had to prepare a backup plan. If the imperial guards didn’t arrive in time, she couldn’t stay there like a sitting duck either. Since they’re coming for Yong Shou Palace that meant that they were coming for her.

“Your Majesty, please change quickly. The imperial guards outside won’t last long,” Zhou-momo said anxiously.

The empress wore the palace maid clothes on top of her current outfit.

“Call in all the imperial guards that are stationed outside. Let’s go to Qian Qing Palace. There are more imperial guards there, so it’s safer to go there.”

Several guards retreated inside. They all carried wounds. Yuan Qing also came in to protect Lin Jia Bao.

The empress looked at Lin-xiaoshi, who was trying his hardest to hold back his fear. She comforted him: “Don’t be afraid. The imperial guards will be here soon. Let’s go to Qian Qing Palace to take shelter.”

Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.

The empress had experienced the fierce struggle for the throne in her early years. Whether it was forcing the emperor to abdicate or other things, she has seen them all. But Lin-xiaoshi was still young and has never experienced such things before.

“I’m not afraid anymore, Your Majesty…” Lin Jia Bao said, clenching his fists.

The empress was quite satisfied with the way Lin Jia Bao was handling the situation. It was a good thing that he wasn’t weeping endlessly.

With the imperial guards escorting them, the empress and Lin Jia Bao hurried towards the backyard.

The imperial guards in the front courtyard were gradually losing ground and they couldn’t hold back all the intruders. Some of the intruders have already charged into Yong Shou Palace.

Xue Song, who was in the lead, had good eyes and he quickly spotted the empress. He shouted: “The empress is there. Prince Li said whoever can catch the empress will be rewarded with ten thousand taels of silver.”

As soon as he said this, the thieves rushed towards the empress. The imperial guards stepped forward to fend them off.

The rest of the imperial guards continued to escort the empress and Lin Jia Bao. There were more and more thieves rushing towards them, and the sound of fighting sounded in Lin Jia Bao’s ears.

The imperial guards escorting them were gradually getting picked off, making it difficult to move forward. The two shadow guards by Lin Jia Bao’s side also joined the fight. With their inclusion, the situation took a slight turn for the better, however, due to the large number of opponents, the two shadow guards were also struggling to cope. In the end, the thieves took advantage of a gap and attacked the empress and Lin Jia Bao.

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Chapter 85 – A Thrill (27.1)

Speaking of Lin Jia Bao’s side of the story, we would have to go back to the day before.

As usual, Lin Jia Bao went to greet the empress early in the morning.

Lin Jia Bao arrived very early. He was always the first to arrive. After his arrival, the other concubines in the harem would arrive one after the one. Gradually, Lin Jia Bao became acquainted with them.

When the empress came in, Lin Jia Bao and the other concubines of the harem would greet the empress and pay their respects.

Then, the empress would talk about some of the harem’s official business. After that, the empress would also bring up matters concerning the harem itself. When the empress mentioned the heaven worshipping ceremony, the mothers of the three princes who had gone to attend the ceremony were all puffed up with pride. Lin Jia Bao sat in the very last seat and listened quietly.

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Lin Jia Bao was very happy to hear that His Royal Highness and the others would be back in one day.

When Lin Jia Bao watched the back of His Royal Highness as he left the palace, he couldn’t help but start to miss him already… Without His Royal Highness to hug him at night, Lin Jia Bao would toss about in bed, unable to sleep.

Husband, please come back soon… Lin Jia Bao thought.

Everyone only talked for a little bit before the empress dismissed them early.

She said to the concubines: “Let’s stop here today, everyone go back a bit earlier, ba…”

“Understood.” The concubines stood up one after another and asked to be excused, as was customary.

Lin Jia Bao also stood up and asked to be excused. Then he got ready to leave.

“An Zhu, you stay behind…” the empress called to Lin Jia Bao.

The other concubines all seemed to be rejoicing in his misfortune. On New Year’s Eve, the crown prince brought Lin-xiaoshi along to attend the banquet and had him sit in the seat of the crown princess. Everyone saw this. Unexpectedly, the emperor and the empress acted like they didn’t notice at that time, and didn’t reprimand them at all. But it looked like the empress was going to beat Lin-xiaoshi today.

Lin Jia Bao obeyed the empress’s command and stayed behind. He saw the other concubines looking at him, but he couldn’t decipher what their gazes meant. He also didn’t know why the empress wanted him to stay behind…

“An Zhu, come to me…” the empress said to Lin Jia Bao.

“Understood.” Lin Jia Bao stepped forward and came in front of the empress. “Your Majesty, what is your command?”

The empress looked at Lin Jia Bao standing in front of her. This Lin-xiaoshi was indeed a lovable child.

She looked at Lin Jia Bao’s pure and clear eyes. How could anyone dislike him? It was no wonder that the crown prince was a little addicted to him.

And the most precious thing about Lin-xiaoshi was that he could maintain his nature even when the crown prince doted on him so much. He did not become arrogant and hot-tempered. He did not get carried away [with his new status] and forget himself. It was truly a rare and precious thing.

The empress sighed in her heart. It was a pity that he was a ger… sons were better than females, what a pity…

[T/N: If I’m not remembering wrong, in this world, gers are more likely to give birth to gers (or daughters?) and gers are grouped with the females in the sense that they can’t inherit the family name and can’t continue the family bloodline, but they can give birth.]

The empress thought about it and said to Lin Jia Bao in a gentle manner: “An Zhu, ah. In the future, except for when the crown prince brings you to Yong Shou Palace, you do not normally have to come to Yong Shou Palace to pay your respects to me…”

Lin Jia Bao was stunned for a moment after hearing this. “Your Majesty, did An Zhu do something wrong?”

At that moment, Zhou-momo hurriedly came in, “Reporting to Your Majesty, the Li An Palace Hall is on fire…”

“How did this happen? Is the fire big?”

The Li An Palace Hall was relatively close to Yong Shou Palace. The late emperor’s great imperial concubine used to live there. After the great imperial concubine passed away, it has been left empty ever since. So how could it catch fire? The empress had misgivings about this sudden fire.

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“Reporting to Your Majesty, we don’t know why the palace hall caught fire. Perhaps it is due to the dry weather. This old servant has already ordered the imperial guards to go put out the fire. I believe the fire will be extinguished soon and it will not spread to Yong Shou Palace.” Zhou-momo replied.

“Send more imperial guards over to investigate the cause of the fire. Be sure to put out the fire…” The empress instructed Zhou-momo.

“Understood.” Zhou-momo replied and then retreated.

The empress turned to look at Lin Jia Bao, “I was just saying, in the future you don’t have to come to Yong Shou Palace every day to greet me, do you understand?”

Lin Jia Bao felt that this command was a bit ineffable. He felt that it should be normal to greet His Royal Highness’s mother every day. He could also feel the empress’s kindness towards him, and he has always been very respectful to the empress.

Lin Jia Bao would always come very early to greet her, regardless of weather conditions, rain, hail, or shine. It has always been this way up until now…

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Chapter 84 – Prince Li

Xue Song obeyed Prince Li’s orders and made plans to infiltrate the harem. The main targets were the princes, empress, and the imperial concubines of the harem. He was to capture them and then meet up with Prince Li. This way, if Prince Li failed, they could use the hostages to threaten [the emperor and the crown prince], and thus safely return to Li City. If Prince Li succeeded, then those hostages would naturally be killed…

Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong did not expect the emperor to bring all the princes with him to worship the heavens this time. But it didn’t matter. It would be fine as long as they could capture the empress or a few of the imperial concubines.

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Those concubines were related to officials in the imperial court. If Xuan Yuan Zhao Shen ignored their safety in order to kill Prince Li, then the emperor would not be able to justify himself before the court.

As long as Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong could capture these protective talismans, then he wouldn’t have to worry about Xuan Yuan Zhao Shen barging into Li City in the short term. He would be able to use that time to recuperate and expand his strength.

“Xuan Yuan Han Cheng, do you dare to disregard the safety of your mother? Ha ha, if you guys don’t let me go, then there will be a lot of people accompanying me to hell…”

Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong saw his pursuers pause. He laughed heartily and then departed with his remaining sishi on horseback.

“Imperial Brother, what do we do? Imperial Mother, she…” Xuan Yuan Han Qi asked his brother. He was not resigned to the situation. At the same time, he was also very concerned for their mother’s safety.

“I have already sent people to follow them. They are riding horses so they will leave traces along the way. We must find out their agreed upon meeting place. We have to investigate clearly without alerting them.” Xuan Yuan Han Cheng said to his brother. “Send a signal to Imperial Father to lead the main forces here. Once we find out where they are meeting up, we will encircle them.”

“Understood. We definitely can’t let them go. If anything happens to Imperial Mother, I will definitely make mincemeat out of him…” Xuan Yuan Han Qi was furious.

Xuan Yuan Han Cheng instructed a guard to climb to the top of a tree and look towards the capital.

The guard reported, “Your Royal Highness, there is thick black smoke rising above the imperial city…”

Xuan Yuan Han Cheng’s heart tightened upon hearing this. His darling…

Xuan Yuan Han Cheng made a prompt decision. “I will take half of the people back to the capital first. Prince Li’s words may not be true. There are many imperial guards in the palace. It’s not that easy even if they want to seize the place. I have to go back and see for myself…”

Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.

Xuan Yuan Han Cheng said to his younger brother, “Prince Li specified one hour. This means that the place that he will be stopping at is not far from here. You can search around the capital’s outskirts. I’m going back to the palace to take a look. If Imperial Mother and them are safe and sound then I will immediately send a signal to you.”

Then, Xuan Yuan Han Cheng instructed his younger brother not to act recklessly. After they find Prince Li’s hiding place, they must wait for the main forces to come before taking action.

Xuan Yuan Han Cheng led a small group of people back to the capital on horseback. His darling must be safe and sound… He really could not bear to lose his treasure all over again…

Prince Li, Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong, rushed to Ciyun Temple with a dozen or so people.

When his mother was alive, he often came here to burn incense. And the abbot of the temple had received his mother’s favor*. After the death of his mother, Ciyun Temple gradually sunk into obscurity and the number of worshippers going there decreased. This was his most secretive hiding spot in the capital. This time, when he came to the capital from Li City, he had also stayed at Ciyun Temple, bidding his time. It was the most safe and reliable place for him.

[*T/N: “favor” as in monetary donations]

The abbot saw that His Highness Prince Li was covered in blood.

“Your Highness Prince Li, Your Highness Prince Li… Are you all right…?”

“Where are Xue Song and the others…?” Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong grabbed the abbot and asked.

“This old one has been waiting here for a day and a night, but I have not seen Xue-daren and the others… I’m afraid it’s…” the abbot replied.

Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong’s blood bubbled up upon hearing this. He clutched his chest. He finally couldn’t hold back a mouthful of blood and vomited it out.

“How… how could… Xue Song, this rubbish [person]!”

“Your Highness Prince Li…” The abbot quickly supported Prince Li.

Prince Li was thinking of a way to escape. He didn’t want to die. He was not resigned…

At this time, a little monk came over to report: “It’s not good, it’s not good. The army has surrounded the monastery. There are as many as a thousand soldiers outside, and there are even more soldiers coming…”

Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong’s vision went black.

Did the heavens want him to die…?

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Didn’t Love You Enough

Chapter 92
Chapter 91
Chapter 90
Chapter 89
Chapter 88
Chapter 87
Chapter 86
Chapter 85

The Big Landlord

Chapter 140.1
Chapter 139.2
Chapter 139.1
Chapter 138.3
Chapter 138.2
Chapter 138.1
Chapter 137.3
Chapter 137.2
Chapter 137.1

Let Me Shoulder this Blame!

Chapter 151
Chapter 150
Chapter 149
Chapter 148
Chapter 147
Chapter 146
Chapter 145
Chapter 144
Chapter 143

This Alpha’s Pheromones Are Exploding

Chapter 115
Chapter 114
Chapter 113
Chapter 112
Chapter 111
Chapter 110
Chapter 109
Chapter 108
Chapter 107

Male Lead 2 and Male Lead 3 Happy Ending!

Chapter 98
Chapter 97
Chapter 96
Chapter 95
Chapter 94
Chapter 93
Chapter 92
Chapter 91
Chapter 90
Chapter 89

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Chapter 83 – Prince Li

Xuan Yuan Han Qi has been chasing after Prince Li for a long time, but something seemed off. He expressed the doubts in his heart. “There are not many people left by Prince Li’s side, but the direction of their escape is not towards Li City. Rather, it’s towards the capital…”

“Prince Li might still have more arrangements… We can’t allow him to go to the capital…” Xuan Yuan Han Cheng had a bad premonition…

“Keep pursuing…”

After a day and a night of chasing, both sides were exhausted.

Prince Li did not expect Xuan Yuan Han Cheng to be so ruthless, to keep chasing him without falter. As a result, he didn’t even have time to rest, and there were fewer and fewer sishi to protect him as time went on.

Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong and his party were hungry and thirsty, but he still persevered. There was always a belief in his heart that kept him going. He still had another trick up his sleeve. As long as he could make it to the capital and join up with another group of sishi, he was confident that he could make a comeback…

Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.

The guard by Prince Li’s side helped him to dismount, “Your Highness Prince Li, take a rest. It’s dark now and this place is somewhat more concealed. This subordinate will find you some food and water…”

Prince Li had the sishi beside him bandage his wound. Although the arrow wound on his back was not serious, his lost too much blood and Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong felt a little dizzy.

“Find me some water, and then we’re leaving immediately… We’ll discuss more after getting to Ciyun Temple as soon as possible.”

“Understood.”

Prince Li asked his confidant, “Do you think Xue Song’s side will succeed?” Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong was also faintly worried after today’s changes.

“Your Highness Prince Li, don’t worry. You gave Xue Song a hundred sishi. Each of them could fight against ten men. You also gave Xue Song a lot of gold and silver to bribe the expert martial artists of jianghu. And you also employed the spy that the Empress Dowager left for you [before her death]. It will definitely be successful…” Now that things have reached this stage, the confidant was no longer certain, so he could only comfort Prince Li with these words.

It’s been some time, yet the guard who had went to fetch water still did not return. Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong felt a sense of danger, “Not good, we must leave quickly…”

Prince Li and his party rode on for a while, when they heard the sound of hooves coming from behind. It was Crown Prince Xuan Yuan Han Cheng and the others chasing after them again.

Xuan Yuan Han Cheng’s group did not stop to rest for a full day and night. There was only one thought in their heads, and that was to stop Prince Li and prevent him from setting a single foot in the capital.

After a day and a night of non-stop pursuit, the cavalry riding with Xuan Yuan Han Cheng were fatigued to the extreme, despite being the absolute cream of the crop.

During this long chase, they only stopped once. Xuan Yuan Han Cheng passed the order to kill a warhorse to have the men drink the blood of the horse to replenish their stamina.

Xuan Yuan Han Qi’s respect for his brother grew tenfold. There were several times when he had been unable to hold on, but he still gritted his teeth and persisted.

Xuan Yuan Han Cheng chased up to Prince Li’s party of men. He took the lead in fighting with the guards, “Imperial Uncle Li, you can’t escape…”

There were only thirty or so people left around Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong. They could not keep up with Xuan Yuan Han Cheng at all, and soon fell into a disadvantageous position.

Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong watched the sishi around him falling one by one, and suddenly burst out laughing.

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“Xuan Yuan Han Cheng, don’t be complacent. Do you think this prince has no way of escape? If my people don’t see me in another hour, then the empress can forget about living…”

“What are you saying? What did you do to my Imperial Mother?” Xuan Yuan Han Qi roared nervously.

“Ha ha, yesterday morning, Xue Song and the sishi should have sneaked into the harem. The empress and your father’s concubines, oh, he he… there might even be that new favorite of yours, crown prince. They’re all under my control. If I don’t show up on time at the agreed upon place, then after an hour, they will all die.” Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong said proudly.

Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong had already made preparations on both sides. And if he failed, he has also thought of a way out.

Before he executed this coup, he had specially gone to see Xue Song, and he told Xue Song all the secrets that were between him and the crown princess Xue Cai Yu. When Xue Song heard everything, he was frightened to death. He didn’t expect his eldest daughter to be so bold. At this point, he had no choice but to follow His Highness Prince Li. Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong promised him that if he accomplished his great plans, after he ascended the throne, he would make Xue Cai Yu’s biological younger sister a noble concubine, and also promote Xue Song to the nobility.

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Chapter 82 – Prince Li (26.1)

Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong watched in disbelief as the emperor Xuan Yuan Zhao Shen, the crown prince Xuan Yuan Han Cheng, the second prince Xuan Yuan Han Qi, and a large number of guards heading towards him.

“Impossible… impossible…” Prince Li looked at Xue Gui with murderous eyes, “It’s you… is it you who betrayed this prince…” If eyes could kill, Xue Gui would have turned to ashes long ago.

“No… I didn’t, Your Royal Highness. This subject clearly received a signal from his son.” Xue Gui also did not know why things turned out this way…

“You want to revolt based on this type of meager plotting, you’re really overestimating your capabilities,” Xuan Yuan Zhao Shen said without an iota of politeness. “You better give up quietly without a fight, if you delay the auspicious time for sacrificing to the heavens, you will be a first class criminal…”

Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.

Xuan Yuan Han Cheng clapped his hands, and a team of archers emerged from the guards behind him. They loaded their bows, facing Prince Li and his cohorts…

“There are five thousand more soldiers waiting for you outside, you can’t escape, Uncle Prince Li,” Xuan Yuan Han Cheng said as he looked at Prince Li.

“Hahaha, you want to take me down, it won’t be that easy.” Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong violently pulled Xue Gui, who was closest to him, towards him. He also seized Xie Changqing, who was standing in the front.

The moment Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong made a move the archers released their arrows. Xue Gui, who was blocking in front of Prince Li, was shot full of arrows.

“Haha, shoot your arrows again… and make Prime Minister Xie the first prime minister in the Xuan Yuan Dynasty to be shot until he becomes a hedgehog, hahaha…”

“Let go of the prime minster, and I will leave you an intact corpse.” Xuan Yuan Zhao Shen said in a deep voice.

For a while, no one dared to move, and the atmosphere was a little anxious.

Disregarding his own safety, Xie Changqing struggled to say, “Your Majesty, don’t worry about the safety of this old official…”

“All of you, get out of the way… if you don’t want this old thing to die, then obediently make way for me.” Prince Li pushed his blade up against Xie Changqing’s neck.

“Okay… We* will let you leave, don’t hurt the prime minister…” Xuan Yuan Zhao Shen was helpless to do anything else. He really did not want to let Prince Li run free, but he could not disregard Xie Changqing’s life and disappoint the courtiers by letting them think that he was coldhearted.

[*T/N: 朕 zhen – imperial we]

The people that Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong brought with him gathered around him, putting Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong and the prime minister in the center of their midst. They slowly started to make their escape. Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong dragged Xie Changqing onto a horse. Then he said arrogantly, “Xuan Yuan Zhao Shen, what can you do about me? Hahahaha…”

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Xuan Yuan Han Cheng was prepared to lead the cavalry to chase them. He said to his imperial father: “Imperial Father, quickly commence with the worshipping ceremony, ba. Erchen will go chase them…”

“I’ll go too…” The second prince, Xuan Yuan Han Qi, also got on a horse and headed in the direction where Prince Li had fled.

Their horses galloped for a long time, and finally they glimpsed the silhouettes of Prince Li and his people.

Upon seeing this, Prince Li tossed Xie Changqing aside. Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong didn’t really dare to kill Xie Changqing. Xie Changqing’s prestige in the imperial court was high. He was loved and respected by the civilian court officials. If he really killed Xie Changqing, then all the scholars under the sky would likely spit on and curse his name.

Xuan Yuan Han Cheng and the others had to slow down and go forward to rescue Prime Minister Xie first.

Xuan Yuan Han Qi was not resigned. He stared after Prince Li’s retreating back and drew his bow.

Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong heard the swish of a flying arrow, and then he was struck in the back by the arrow and almost fell off his horse. Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong did not expect that the second prince Xuan Yuan Han Qi’s archery skills would be so good. He was able to shoot Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong despite the distance… Fortunately for Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong, the second prince’s arrow did not hit one of his vital areas.

Xuan Yuan Han Cheng helped Xie Changqing to his feet.

“Prime Minister, are you all right?”

“Your Royal Highness, this old official is fine. All of you, go after Prince Li, ba…” Xie Changqing had received a bit of fright, but asides from a few scrapes on his body, he was all right.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

Xuan Yuan Han Cheng ordered several guards to escort the prime minister back. Then Xuan Yuan Han Cheng himself and his younger brother continued to chase after Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong with the cavalry.

By following the trail of blood on the ground, they were unlikely to lose track of Prince Li. The entire time they chased after Prince Li, they did not slow down or stop.

There were several times when they were about to catch up, but then Prince Li would send out his sishi to obstruct them.

[Reminder: 死士 sishi – a person who is willing to sacrifice his life for a cause]

Making use of his numerical advantage, Xuan Yuan Han Cheng and his cavalry quickly took care of the sishi, but it still gave Prince Li the time to escape.

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Chapter 81 – Worshipping the Heavens

Early in the morning of the following day, there was a faint smoke coming out from the camp where they were stationed.

The civil and military officials arrived bright and early at chenshi* to the site where the heaven worshipping ceremony was to take place. They waited for a long time, but the emperor still did not arrive. Not even His Royal Highness or the other princes showed up.

[*T/N: 辰时 chenshi refers to the time from 7 – 9 a.m.]

The officials were all feeling apprehensive at heart. It was going to past chenshi soon…

Xue Gui was secretly rejoicing. He had already received the signal from his son. The mission last night was foolproof. This time, he was gambling with his life on the line to take this action.

Xue Gui looked at the officials standing in front of him, and was secretly feeling proud of himself, thinking that he would stand at the forefront in the future…

Xue Gui’s position was in the middle, not as front as Xue Rong’s. Xue Gui looked at his elder brother Xue Rong, who was at the front of the line. He was envious and jealous of his elder brother Xue Rong, who was the leader of the Xue family. Whenever outsiders talked about Xue Gui, they would call him Lord Xue Rong’s younger brother, rather than by his name.

Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.

The reason that Xue Gui was cooperating with Prince Li was to one day surpass his older brother. In the future, when people mentioned the Xue family, he would the first one to come to mind and not his older brother. So this time, he wanted to accomplish something big…

“His Royal Highness Prince Li is here…”

Prince Li, Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong, walked over in an unhurried manner, surrounded by a crowd of imperial bodyguards.

“Your Royal Highness Prince Li…”

The courtiers looked at Prince Li in amazement. Prince Li should be in Li City. The vassal king was not allowed to enter the capital without an edict, but right now Prince Li was…

Some of the old officials sensed that something was wrong when they saw Prince Li coming but not the emperor or the crown prince.

“The emperor and the crown prince are ill. For the heaven worshipping ceremony this time, this prince will be presiding over matters.” Prince Li said loudly as he looked at the murmuring crowd of state officials.

Prime Minister Xie Chang Qing asked Prince Li, “The heaven worshipping ceremony is a major event. The emperor cannot be absent for no reason. Does Prince Li have the emperor’s written decree?”

Xie Chang Qing was the head of the civil service. At the age of sixty, he had gone through two dynasties, so he refused to believe what Prince Li said. After the prime minister finished speaking, the other ministers also expressed their agreement.

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“The emperor is so ill that he is delirious and cannot issue a written decree. The auspicious time to sacrifice to the heavens is about to arrive. We cannot miss the auspicious time.” Prince Li ignored Xie Chang Qing’s words and insisted on presiding over the heaven worshipping ceremony.

“In regards to the heaven worshipping ceremony, asides from the emperor only the heir apparent to the throne may preside over the ceremony. I’m afraid the esteemed Prince Li does not have this qualification.” Xie Chang Qing was unwilling to step down.

“This prince is also the di son of the late emperor. Why can I not make sacrifices to the heavens? Don’t talk nonsense. The heaven worshipping ceremony may begin.” Prince Li said arrogantly. He had already taken care of Emperor Xuan Yuan Zhao Shen and Crown Prince Xuan Yuan Han Cheng, so it’s only natural and justified for him to preside over the ceremony. He has waited so long for this day to come.

When the late emperor was still alive, he had taken Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong along with him to the heaven worshipping ceremony. Ever since then, Prince Li had sworn in his heart that he would one day stand in the position that his father stood in. And what qualifications did Xuan Yuan Zhao Shen have? He was only able to ascend to the throne through luck. Back then, the late emperor clearly wanted him [Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong] to inherit the throne.

The more Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong thought about it, the more unreconciled he became. Today, he must be the one to preside over the heaven worshipping ceremony and make sacrifices to the heavens. This was also the reason why he rushed to the altar instead of checking on the comatose emperor, crown prince, and other princes first.

When he finished offering sacrifices to the heavens, he would go and take care of those people. If it weren’t for the fact that poison would be easily discovered, then he really wanted to poison the lot of them and clean them out once and for all.

But there was no need to hurry. He still wanted to enjoy the fun of torturing them. After forcing Xuan Yuan Zhao Shen to issue the edict of abdication, he would justly ascend the throne. Then he had plenty of tricks to put those people to death.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong was familiar with Crown Prince Xuan Yuan Han Cheng’s personality. He and the crown princess had joined hands to kill the crown prince’s children. Once Xuan Yuan Han Cheng found out, Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong could already guess the kind of fate that awaited him. Thinking about how the crown prince annihilated the barbarians, Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong knew he had to strike first, but he did not expect to succeed so smoothly… The heavens were really helping him!

Prince Li arched his eyebrows when eh saw that the ministers were not cooperating with him. The imperial bodyguards stepped forward and surrounded the ministers.

“Prince Li, this is rebellion!” Xie Chang Qing shouted loudly.

Xue Rong watched all of this, frowned, and said nothing. Prince Li was too reckless this time…

At this time, Xue Gui ran forward, “I await Your Royal Highness Prince Li to preside over the heaven worshipping ceremony.” Xue Gui looked at Xue Rong who was standing silently on the side. “Big Brother, why don’t you support His Royal Highness Prince Li with me…”

Xue Rong looked at his excited younger brother and sighed in his heart. The matter has come to this point, there was no other alternative, their Xue family could only stick to this course until the very end.

Prince Li watched with satisfaction as the Xue family and the ministers that sided with the Xue family acknowledged their allegiance to him. They were just about to step onto the sacrificial altar when an angry shout came from the distance.

“Prince Li, you dare!”

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Chapter 80 – Worshipping the Heavens

The imperial guard obviously did not expect His Royal Highness to question him, and panicked for a while.

Seeing the guard’s delay in responding to His Royal Highness, Zhao Yong quickly replied to the crown prince: “Replying to Your Royal Highness, this is Wu Zhi Jie from the imperial bodyguard vanguard. He was assigned here to assist with the worshipping ceremony. Before, he has always been working at the Black Tortoise Gate.”

Zhao Yong naturally knew the ins and outs of all the imperial bodyguards around the emperor. This time, there were a lot of princes coming out for the heaven worshipping ceremony. In order to ensure all the princes’ safety, there were guards specially transferred here for that purpose.

“Wu Zhi Jie?! How old are you this year? You look very young.” Xuan Yuan Han Cheng dug through his memories for information on this person.

Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.

“Replying to Your Royal Highness, this servant is twenty-three this year.” Wu Zhi Jie did not dare to look His Royal Highness. He harbored a guilty conscience and at this moment he only wanted to leave as soon as possible.

Xuan Yuan Han Cheng finally remembered who Wu Zhi Jie was. Looking at Wu Zhi Jie’s shifty eyes, Xuan Yuan Han Cheng’s heart was full of alarm bells.

Xuan Yuan Han Cheng suddenly picked up the steaming soup on the table and handed it to Wu Zhi Jie. “Drink it.”

Seeing the soup in front of him, Wu Zhi Jie took a step back and knelt down. “This servant… this servant… doesn’t dare…”

Xuan Yuan Han Cheng knew from the look of him that there was something wrong with the soup, and looked at Wu Zhi Jie with a smiling yet not smiling expression, “I* bestow this on you, drink it now!”

[*T/N: XYHC used the word 孤 gu here to refer to himself. It means “lonely,” and it is how a monarch in ancient times might refer to himself. The other imperial pronoun that I often see in literature is 朕 zhen, which is the imperial We. Not sure if I’m reading too much into this, but it seems like a slip of the tongue for XYHC, since he is not yet the emperor at this point in time.]

Wu Zhi Jie knelt on the ground. His face was already covered with nervous sweat. “This servant… this servant… deserves to die…”

Xuan Yuan Zhao Shen knew that there was something wrong with the soup when the crown prince forced Wu Zhi Jie to drink it. He told Zhao Yong to find Imperial Physician Chen and send him over here. Imperial Physician Chen was the imperial physician who came along on this trip. He also ordered someone to stealthily look after Wu Zhi Jie.

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“How did you find out, Cheng Er?” From start to finish, Xuan Yuan Zhao Shen had not noticed that there was anything off about Wu Zhi Jie.

“Erchen found out by chance that this Wu Zhi Jie is born from Xue Gui’s extramarital affair. At first, I was just casually inquiring, but I did not expect him to be so panicked.”

[T/N: Reminder, 儿臣 erchen is a pronoun that means “your son and subordinate”]

This was information that Xuan Yuan Han Cheng had learned in his previous life. At that time, when the Xue family collapsed, Wu Zhi Jie was reported to be Xue Gui’s illegitimate son. Wu Zhi Jie had served in the imperial guard for many years. He had always depended on his own efforts and never participated in the affairs of the Xue family. Xuan Yuan Han Cheng did not kill him, only demoted him to the army. Unexpectedly, Wu Zhi Jie would do something like this in this life…

It turned out that with Xue Gui’s di son gone, he remembered that he had a comparatively outstanding illegitimate son.

Wu Zhi Jie’s mother worked in a brothel. When Xue Gui was young, he bought out her debt to the brothel, and then had her situated outside the Xue manor. Naturally, the Xue family could not accept the child of a prostitute, and Xue Gui’s eldest son was especially against it. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Xue Gui had kept it a secret all this time.

Wu Zhi Jie was also a determined hard worker. After his mother passed away, he joined the imperial guard by his own efforts. This time, for the sake of Prince Li, Xue Gui thought of Wu Zhi Jie, and figured that he was the best candidate for the job. To this end, he promised Wu Zhi Jie that he could return to the Xue manor as long as this job was accomplished. In addition, he would record him in the family register as the di son under Zhao-shi’s name. In this life, Wu Zhi Jie could not resist the allure of being a di son of the Xue family and agreed to do as Xue Gui commanded.

Imperial Physician Chen came in to examine the soup.

“Reporting to Your Majesty and Your Royal Highness, there is a colorless and odorless menghan drug* in this soup. If you drink this entire bowl of soup, I’m afraid you will fall into a coma for three days and three nights…”

[*T/N: 蒙汗药 menghan drug is a standard trope of Chinese literature, particularly in the historical, wuxia, and fantasy genres. The effects of the drug vary depending on the writer.]

Xuan Yuan Zhao Shen immediately instructed Zhao Yong: “Go and see if this midnight snack was delivered to anyone else. Go and stop it…”

“Understood.”

Zhao Yong ran out like the speed of light. His entire body was covered in cold sweat. He had checked the soup with a silver needle, but he did not find anything wrong with it. This Wu Zhi Jie was really hateful. No wonder he kept pestering Zhao Yong, saying that he wanted to show his face in front of the emperor. It turned out that he had bad intentions.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

Zhao Yong ran outside in a hurry. After a while, he came back panting for air.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, the midnight snack was delivered to the crown prince and the other four princes. Asides from the second prince, who was shadowboxing and did not drink it, the other three princes had already drank the soup and fell asleep.”

Xuan Yuan Zhao Shen asked Imperial Physician Chen seriously, “Is there an antidote to this menghan drug?”

Imperial Physician Chen replied: “Replying to Your Majesty, this menghan drug must have come from the pugilistic world*. Please allow this subject to go back and examine the medicinal ingredients used in this menghan drug, and then make the mixture.”

[*T/N: Veteran readers of Chinese wuxia literature should be familiar with the term 江湖 jianghu. It translates to “rivers and lakes” and refers to a martial arts society that operates independently of mainstream society, out of reach of the law. I have seen it translated as pugilistic world by other translators before, which sounded good to me.]

Xuan Yuan Zhao Shen nodded, “Time is of the essence…”

“Understood.” The imperial physician withdrew.

Now, only Xuan Yuan Zhao Shen and Xuan Yuan Han Cheng were left in the tent. The two of them looked at each other.

Xuan Yuan Han Cheng said, “Imperial Father, I’m afraid that this was a joint operation of Prince Li and the Xue family. Why don’t we beat them at their own game…”

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