When Chao Yan arrived at the Meng residence, many people had already gathered.
They had all come to visit Chancellor Meng, but most could not enter the Meng residence and were instead handing gifts to the gatekeeper.
Upon Chao Yan’s arrival, everyone recognised him. Someone whispered that the Crown Prince had arrived, and the two brothers, Meng Zhao and Meng Ji, came out to receive him.
Meng Zhao was the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, while his elder brother, Meng Ji, was the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.
As the eldest and youngest sons of Chancellor Meng, an uninformed observer might at first glance mistake Meng Ji for Meng Zhao’s father.
Between them were two other brothers: one had died young, and the other was incompetent and unpresentable. The Meng family also had many collateral branches, which need not be mentioned in detail. In short, this generation was currently led by Meng Zhao and Meng Ji.
Chao Yan allowed himself to be led by the two brothers to the main courtyard of the Meng residence.
Chancellor Meng was currently in a warm pavilion, where charcoal burned a vivid red. At the entrance of the pavilion, lifting the fabric curtain revealed a surge of warm air from within. Chao Yan stopped at the doorway and looked towards Chancellor Meng from a distance.
The man lay upon the bed, his complexion pale and his lips slightly cracked. His wife was also of advanced years and could not endure late nights, so his concubine was currently attending to him.
As Chao Yan looked inside, the concubine was dipping a handkerchief in water and gently moistening Chancellor Meng’s lips.
After a few moments of looking in, so as not to disturb Chancellor Meng’s rest, he and Meng Zhao made their way towards the main hall, while Commander Liu, who followed behind, continued peering inside.
Meng Ji coughed lightly and placed a hand on Commander Liu’s shoulder, saying, “Commander Liu, if the curtain is lifted for too long, all the heat will escape.”
Commander Liu naturally understood this principle; he had been born into a poor family, and in winter, if the curtain was not properly secured, the room would become as cold as an ice cellar. Mentioning this made him somewhat displeased, as though a wound had been exposed in public.
He cast Meng Ji a sidelong glance, snorted coldly, and said, “The Vice Minister is ultimately not as capable as Junior Minister Meng.” With that, he withdrew his gaze, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked towards the main hall.
“You eunuch,” Meng Ji thought coldly. “Reeking of urine, yet you truly think yourself remarkable. A new ruler means a new court; let us see how long you can remain so arrogant.”
With that thought, Meng Ji abruptly let the curtain fall.
On the way to the main hall, Chao Yan and Meng Zhao walked at the front. Meng Zhao lowered his voice and asked, “Your Highness, has the matter been settled?”
He was referring to the construction of the Ascension Tower. Until today, he, like others, had believed that Chao Yan’s acceptance of the supervisory role was intended to obstruct its construction.
Chao Yan gave a slight nod.
Meng Zhao frowned. Then, recalling Chancellor Meng’s words, his brow slowly relaxed again. “May I ask Your Highness the reason?”
Chao Yan said, “Third Brother, you will understand my intentions once you have seen Chancellor Meng today.”
After hearing the Crown Prince’s earlier remarks, Meng Zhao no longer fully trusted his answer. His relationship with his father, and Your Highness’s relationship with His Majesty, were entirely different. How could a sensible man be filial to the point of losing all judgement?
Commander Liu, trailing behind them, noticed Meng Zhao and Chao Yan speaking in low voices and tried to lean in to listen, but Meng Ji, who had come up behind him, stopped him.
Meng Ji asked after his recent affairs, but Commander Liu grew impatient and signalled to the two young eunuchs he had brought with him.
The two eunuchs understood and stepped forward.
Ning Fu, who had been silently following them, raised a hand and, grabbing one in each arm, held them under his armpits like chicks. “Has no one told you not to wander about in the Chancellor’s residence? The Master is ill, and security is tight from top to bottom.”
Ning Fu spoke with great seriousness, as though genuinely concerned for them.
Upon hearing this, Commander Liu laughed in extreme anger, repeatedly saying “Good, good, good!” He then ordered the two eunuchs to express their gratitude to Ning Fu. With a sinister tone, he said, “Ning Qianhu is so kind. How dare you not thank him properly?”
The two eunuchs trembled.
Ning Fu waved his large, fan-like hands dismissively. “There is no need for such courtesy. I simply cannot bear to see misfortune.”
Commander Liu said, “Ning Qianhu, I think you truly do not know who I am. I am the Commander of the Eastern Palace Inner Attendants, personally appointed by His Majesty! In terms of rank, I am above you!”
Ning Fu’s lips curled into a mocking expression. He thought he had concealed it well, but Commander Liu, with his sharp eyesight, caught it immediately.
Ahead, Meng Zhao hesitated for a few moments, about to speak, when Chao Yan said, “Minister Hu has gone too far this time.”
Meng Zhao lowered his gaze, hiding the gloom in his eyes. “Minister Hu is merely seizing an opportunity, but his actions are far too extreme. I was so angered last night that I could not even eat.”
Chao Yan said, “Third Brother, remain calm. These are troubled times. We do not yet know what Minister Hu said to Chancellor Meng. We must wait until he wakes to understand the cause.”
Meng Zhao replied, “Your Highness, I understand.”
At that moment, commotion broke out behind them.
The two turned around to see Commander Liu strike Ning Fu across the face. Before anyone could react, Ning Fu cursed and punched back, striking him squarely on the bridge of the nose.
The strength of a martial artist was evident. Commander Liu’s nose broke instantly, blood gushing forth like a pillar, spreading across the ground in a distorted red pattern.
Commander Liu let out a scream, clutching his nose, and roared at the two eunuchs, “What are you standing there for! Useless fools! Do you think I am to take this beating for nothing?!”
The two eunuchs had no choice but to obey. Shouting, they rushed at Ning Fu. Ning Fu dodged, and due to their momentum, the eunuchs could not stop themselves and charged straight forward.
Prince Yan and his party had arrived slightly earlier than Chao Yan and were sitting in the main hall discussing matters of their own. Hearing the commotion outside, they all came out.
The two eunuchs pushed through the sparse crowd and collided with the two leading figures who had just emerged from the main hall.
Unluckily, one was Chao Yan’s fourth uncle, Prince Yan, whose sharp, shrill voice was indistinguishable from a eunuch’s; the other was Chao Yan’s sixth brother, the Sixth Prince.
The former was a fair-skinned middle-aged man with a fake beard and a perfunctory smile. Any official who met him once would remember him.
As for the latter, the sons of dragons are all different. Chao Yan’s sixth brother, Chao Song, was gloomy, insecure, and ruthless. He often kept close company with Prince Yan, perhaps because both were incomplete men.
—Prince Yan had a necrotic condition, while Chao Song had a hare-lip.
When the Emperor first saw him, he had nearly struck him from the line of imperial sons.
Rumour had it that his mother, Consort Li, had eaten something improper, while others said it was retribution for her moral failings. The truth was unknown.
Neither Prince Yan nor Chao Song were easy to provoke. One struck from the shadows, the other in the open.
The latter was Chao Song. He was knocked back several steps by the eunuch, steadied himself with help, then strode forward. The frightened eunuch had collapsed to his knees, but Chao Song kicked him away and cursed:
“You dog of a servant, do you even know who I am?!”
The eunuch rolled across the ground and tripped Chao Yao, who had just entered the Meng residence intending to visit Chancellor Meng but had been drawn in by the commotion.
Chao Yao was Chao Yan’s eighth brother.
This eighth brother was different again. He had attempted to combine the strengths of all the imperial princes, but perhaps had overreached; his mind was no longer sound, and he had become impulsive, volatile, and prone to sudden outbursts.
He already did not get along with the Sixth Prince, and realising who had caused his predicament, immediately cursed Chao Song, calling him a “rabbit man”.
Chao Song, struck at a sore point, went red with fury and lunged at him, wrestling him to the ground. The attendants of both sides, along with the officials supporting them, rushed forward to separate them, but failed and were instead dragged into the chaos.
Commander Liu and Ning Fu were already terrified stiff. The Meng brothers cursed them while ordering people to pull the two princes apart.
This only enraged the princes further. One believed the Meng family was taking sides and looking down on him, while the other thought the Meng family was meddling where it did not belong. Not only did the Meng brothers fail to stop the fight, they were dragged into it themselves.
Also present were Chao Yan’s fourth brother and two younger brothers. They were relatively calm and stood to the side watching the scene unfold.
The Meng family was at the height of its power and had not aligned with any faction, making them a target for all sides. Everyone who could come had come.
Prince Yan ordered his men to detain the person who had collided with him. He stood still, his face dark, and after watching for a moment said to Chao Yan, “You, the Crown Prince, are just going to stand there and watch?”
Chao Yan replied helplessly, “Fourth Uncle, they never listen to me. You are the elder; you should intervene.”
Prince Yan laughed. “How could I possibly outrank you, the Crown Prince? Minister Meng and Minister Zhang refused even my appointment in order to meet you.”
Chao Yan said no more and summoned his three brothers to help break up the fight, or it would reflect badly on them.
The three brothers were unwilling, but both sides had lost all reason and were attacking indiscriminately, even striking those trying to intervene.
Having been struck for no reason, and burdened by long-standing grievances, those trying to intervene also became furious, rolling up their sleeves and joining in. Some even took off their boots and hurled them at people’s faces.
The situation did not calm down; instead, it became even more chaotic.
Prince Yan pretended to send his guards to intervene while he himself stood at a distance, narrowing his eyes as he watched Chao Yan struggle to restore order while dodging attacks, feeling secretly satisfied.
At that moment, the crowd surged towards him. Someone kicked the back of his knee and he dropped involuntarily to his knees. Before he could rise, someone stepped on the back of his hand.
“Guards!” Prince Yan shouted.
…
“Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!” Eunuch Huang rushed into the hall.
The Emperor, attended by Consort Wang, was about to rest and planned to visit Cining Temple the next afternoon for fasting and chanting. Hearing this, he looked over in irritation.
“If you cannot give a proper explanation, I will have your tongue cut out!”
Eunuch Huang panted heavily and presented a newly received confidential report. “The Crown Prince, Prince Yan, and all the princes are fighting at the Meng residence.”
The Emperor opened the report and his expression darkened. He slammed it onto the table and roared:
“Issue the edict! Tomorrow’s court sessions, morning and evening, no one is to be absent! Unless they are dead, they will crawl if they have to! Anyone who dares not attend will lose their head! One by one, they are all so capable! I am still on the throne and they already dare to behave like this outside! If I fall ill one day, will they start a rebellion?! They are utterly disgracing the court and the imperial family!”
…
Eastern Palace.
Zhang Zhangshe and Zhao He stood outside the side hall of the Chunhe Hall and exchanged a glance before entering together.
Gu Yun had moved to another spot. He had removed his shoes and socks and was sitting cross-legged on the soft couch by the window, resting his chin in his hand, waiting for Chao Yan to return.
He had finally worked it out.
If he wanted to save Xu Jingzhou, he would have to confess to Chao Yan.
Even if Xu Jingzhou had not slipped anything, the clues already in the other party’s possession were enough for him to deduce quite a lot.
Against this backdrop, fabricating a convincing explanation would be extraordinarily difficult. Moreover, if his fabricated story were exposed, he would face an irretrievable situation, especially since the other party had already warned him.
Therefore, he had no choice but to confess.
However, he could choose how much to reveal… twenty per cent, or ten per cent. In any case, the less the better. He could not allow the other party to deduce that he and Xu Jingzhou were not from this era, otherwise they would certainly be classified as spirits or monsters.
Thinking of this, Gu Yun could not help but let out a derisive snort. His decision was essentially a gamble on whether the other party had feelings for him and would not deceive him.
If he were deceived, then both he and Xu Jingzhou would be in serious trouble.
At this moment, Zhang Zhangshe and Zhao He had already entered. They studied Gu Yun for a moment and said, “Miss Gu, are you feeling unwell? You do not look well.”
Gu Yun snapped back to reality, shook his head, and said, “Did I not say I wanted to be alone for a while?”
They replied, “Miss Gu, do not be upset. His Highness did not mean to reprimand you. From what we can tell, His Highness is very fond of you…”
They were unaware of the situation and assumed she was distressed over being reprimanded by the Crown Prince.
Gu Yun was about to explain that he was not upset at all and simply wanted some quiet time, when the voices of palace maids were heard outside.
“Your Highness.”
Chao Yan had returned.
Gu Yun rolled off the couch. Having been sitting cross-legged for some time, his legs were numb and he nearly fell. Fortunately, Zhang Zhangshe and Zhao He caught him in time.
He steadied himself before walking out again. Before he reached the door, Chao Yan entered.
Gu Yun noticed that his clothes were wrinkled, his hair slightly dishevelled, and there was a faint red abrasion on his hand. He froze and said, “Your Highness, did you go…?”
Chao Yan sat down and said, “I went to fight.”
Gu Yun: “?”
After speaking, Chao Yan instructed Zhao He to summon the imperial physician, then dismissed Zhang Zhangshe and closed the door. “Have you decided?” he asked Gu Yun. “Will you be honest with me?”
Gu Yun looked at him and said, “I have decided. I will be honest with you.” He was about to speak carefully when Chao Yan stopped him. “Let me have a look at your injury first. It is one thing if you have not regained your memories after a fight, but do not lose even more because of it.”
Gu Yun was not entirely convinced that the other man had not regained his memories. Hearing this, he looked at him slowly, thinking: is that true? Has he really not regained his memories?
No, but if he had not, how would he dare to call for the imperial physician? Calling for the physician would expose the fact that he had not regained his memories.
Chao Yan seemed to see through his thoughts and said, “This imperial physician is incompetent. I do not intend for him to examine me; I just need him here as a decoy. A mutually beneficial arrangement. Later, I will sneak out of the palace to see a proper doctor. Would you like to come with me?”
Gu Yun thought to himself: I am not going, but immediately agreed. He thought: I must see whether he has truly regained his memories. After he is examined, I will say I do not trust the physician and drag him to another at random.
That way, he would not be able to deceive him.
