The Emperor was thoroughly entertained.
It was evidently the first time he had ever seen Chao Yan dressed in such flamboyant fashion.
Eunuch Huang was laughing as well, the wrinkles on his face bunching together like a range of little hills.
Gu Yun had no idea what they found so amusing. Lowering his gaze, he thought it over before looking towards Chao Yan. The latter clearly knew exactly why.
Displaying a smile bright enough to be called dazzling, Chao Yan said, “The year’s end is approaching. I thought I should dress a little more festively and hope everything concludes smoothly.”
The Emperor coughed lightly, suppressing his laughter. “Very good.”
The three sat down.
Heating channels had been laid beneath the floor of the hall, making every corner comfortably warm.
Gu Yun was grateful he had changed into somewhat lighter clothing before coming to see the Emperor. Otherwise he would be feeling far too warm by now.
To match the outfit, he had also changed his hairstyle into something more elegant and dignified, adorned with appropriately chosen ornaments.
The Emperor studied him for several moments before smiling. “It is rather remarkable that a woman such as yourself understands matters of river engineering.”
Gu Yun rose and bowed. “Your Majesty, I saw it in a dream.”
The Emperor’s interest immediately sharpened. “Oh?”
Following the script Chao Yan had prepared for him, Gu Yun proceeded to tell a story about a celestial maiden moved by His Majesty’s hardships. Wishing to help him overcome disasters and hasten the day she could welcome him to the heavens for treatment, she had appeared in his dreams and bestowed guidance upon him.
He had expected the Emperor to question the story’s authenticity. Indeed, based on Chao Yan’s prior instructions, he had even prepared responses in advance. Yet the Emperor did not question it at all.
Instead, he nodded cheerfully. “I knew the celestial maiden would help me.”
Gu Yun: “…”
Maintaining a polite smile, Gu Yun offered a few flattering remarks.
Before he had managed more than two sentences, however, someone else eagerly seized the opportunity and launched into a torrent of praise so extravagant it was genuinely astonishing.
The culprit was none other than Eunuch Huang.
No wonder he was one of the Emperor’s favourites. Just look at those skills. Other people could spend their lives flattering and never come close. Gu Yun grumbled inwardly.
Before long, evening arrived.
After dining in the Western Garden, he left alongside Chao Yan. Prior to their departure, the Emperor bestowed many valuable rewards upon him.
Chao Yan received rewards as well, though nowhere near as many. In an instant, Gu Yun became wealthy.
Unfortunately, most of the items granted by the Emperor could not be sold, and some could not even be gifted away. Still, those were merely the visible rewards.
Behind the scenes, the Emperor’s favour had elevated his standing considerably.
Gu Yun was quite satisfied with the outcome.
That evening, he specifically went to the flower conservatory and carried a pot of red plum blossoms back to his room. At that moment, Chao Yan was seated inside drinking tea.
The vibrant red plum blossoms abruptly entered his field of vision. Lifting his eyes slightly, he saw behind them a face so beautiful it bordered on ostentatious.
His gaze was far too intense and direct. Even though Gu Yun’s attention was wholly fixed on the plum blossoms, he could still feel it.
His grip on the flowerpot tightened, the pads of his fingers whitening.
Quickening his pace, he crossed the room in a few strides and placed the red plum blossom, its twisted branches full of ink-painting elegance, beside the window. He stood there for a moment before turning around.
To his surprise, Chao Yan was still staring at him.
Not a single part of Gu Yun felt comfortable. The look was so intense it seemed as though the man intended to strip him bare with his eyes.
He no longer wished to remain there.
Turning on his heel, he started to leave. Then Chao Yan spoke.
At the same time came the soft sound of a teacup being set down. “In a few days, I’ll take you to watch a play.”
Gu Yun stopped and turned back. “What play?”
Chao Yan rose and walked over.
Gu Yun felt something lightly brush the back of his hand. Lowering his eyes, he saw Chao Yan’s hand remained some distance away. It seemed as though they had merely bumped into each other by accident.
Curling his fingers, he raised his gaze again.
Chao Yan walked out of the side hall. “A good play.”
His voice drifted away into the cold air.
Resting his chin on his hand, Gu Yun pondered slowly.
A good play? What sort of play qualified as a good one? What exactly was Chao Yan planning?
His thoughts drifted towards the Emperor.
Was Chao Yan planning to get rid of him?
The moment the idea appeared, Gu Yun laughed. Knowing Chao Yan’s temperament, he would never act rashly without complete confidence.
To be honest, after seeing the Emperor wholeheartedly believe the story about the celestial maiden today, Gu Yun’s first thought had been to introduce the old fellow to a few Daoist priests and Buddhist monks, throw in a selection of “immortality elixirs” for good measure, and guarantee that within a few years he would be enjoying the services of the underworld.
…
Although it was already dark, it was still relatively early.
Chao Yan returned to the Ministry of Justice and continued working. Busy with affairs, he completely lost track of time.
By the time dawn broke and the sky turned pale, he simply decided not to return to the Eastern Palace and instead rested in the Ministry’s duty quarters.
The next day, just after finishing his shift, he was intercepted by Chao Yao. Chao Yan was not the least bit surprised by his visit.
Stopping in place, he looked at him with a smile. “What can I do for you, Eighth Brother?”
Chao Yao replied, “I’ve gone to the Eastern Palace looking for you several times these past few days and never once seen you. I assumed you were overwhelmed with work. Yet last night I heard you spent the entire afternoon accompanying Consort Gu to see His Majesty.”
Chao Yan gave a quiet hum. “I was busy before. Yesterday was more manageable.”
He smiled faintly. “Eighth Brother seems very concerned about me. Surely you know about yesterday’s success in breaking the ice on the Wutong River? The matter of monitoring and managing the canal ice is essentially resolved now. At present, only two major matters remain. That is why I could spare the time to accompany A-Yun to see His Majesty.”
He paused. “Eighth Brother, sometimes timing is everything.”
Chao Yao looked at him coldly. “I sought you out because I was afraid you would be too busy and make mistakes amidst the chaos. It would have been one thing if you were ungrateful, but you are actually trying to brush me off with your clever words!”
Chao Yan said, “Eighth Brother has misunderstood me.”
Chao Yao said, “You are rather impressive now, aren’t you?”
Chao Yan smiled and said, “Eighth Brother, there are too many people around here, and your period of confinement will end in two days. You should hurry back. If someone happens to see you and informs Father, that would not be good.”
The Emperor had punished Chao Yao with three months of confinement. It was only the end of January, and the punishment had not yet ended, but Chao Yao was too impatient. Seeing that the Emperor was not paying him much attention, he had grown bolder.
From what Chao Yan knew, the other party had initially only sought out Prince Yan. Later, he not only began wandering outside, frequently visiting the homes of officials on his side, but after discovering that there was no harm in Chao Yan helping the Emperor with matters, he secretly created trouble for him, intending to use this to make the Emperor withdraw his decree.
But after realising that this would not work, he changed tactics. He deliberately caused disturbances, then immediately stepped in to help, hoping to use this opportunity to have Chao Yan hand over the winter relief matters to him. The incident at the soup kitchen was not the first time. It was already the third.
Chao Yan was not angered by this. The truth was that this Eighth Brother posed little threat to him. Several of his brothers who had remained silent from beginning to end were far more threatening than him. However, considering that this person had caused such a commotion at the Eastern Palace, he thought: no matter how little of a threat he was, he still needed to be completely suppressed.
At first, Chao Yan had only intended to use this Eighth Brother and Meng Zhao to eliminate Prince Yan.
This uncle, although he had relinquished his position as Protector-General of the State many years ago, was still unmatched in military ability throughout all of Great Xuan. His inability to have children was caused by injuries he suffered on the battlefield.
The current Emperor’s ascension to the throne had depended greatly on his assistance. If his birth had been better and he had possessed more supporters, the throne should have belonged to him.
The Emperor knew that he was unwilling to accept this, so after ascending the throne for several years, he forced him to relinquish the position of Protector-General of the State and made him a leisurely prince instead. At the time, the Emperor had wanted to kill Prince Yan, but he could not bring himself to commit such an obvious act of discarding someone after using them. He could only do this.
If, more than twenty years ago, during the battle against the enemy state, the Emperor had brought Prince Yan along, he would not have suffered such a crushing defeat, nor would he have been captured.
Now, the Emperor’s fear of him had only increased. If he learned that Prince Yan and Chao Yao had deep private connections, that they intended to seize the throne, and that Chao Yan held evidence against Prince Yan, he would inevitably take action against him.
Chao Yan had observed his father for many years and had long since seen through his father’s true nature.
According to Chao Yan’s original plan, he wanted to eliminate Prince Yan, but he had not intended to do so so quickly. Great Xuan was corrupt from top to bottom, and there were very few people capable of actually doing things, especially when it came to warfare. Therefore, he had wanted Prince Yan to live until the younger generation had been trained and matured.
However, with firearms, his thoughts changed.
With powerful weapons, what did it matter if there were no outstanding generals? He could still win battles, and he could win them overwhelmingly.
Therefore, there was no need for Prince Yan to remain any longer.
Otherwise, when he imitated his “excellent” father in overturning the table sometime in the near future, and the other party suddenly appeared again, picking up something like firearms, it would give him a considerable headache.
Chao Yao did not know that Chao Yan, like himself, was also thinking about overturning the table in the near future. He stared fixedly at Chao Yan, his expression dark.
Then he turned around and left.
Chao Yan maintained his smile as he watched his departing figure.
…
Chao Yao went directly back to the Eastern Garden and found several of his brothers, putting on an appearance of being deeply concerned for their sake.
“The Crown Prince is currently riding the wave of success. Everything is going smoothly for him. Before long, he will likely become the second most powerful person in the world. If he decides that you are threats and wants to eliminate you, what will you do?”
Several of his brothers looked at him with smiling expressions and said nothing.
The Sixth Prince, Chao Song, who had always been at odds with him, cursed. “You cannot stand the Crown Prince, so why don’t you deal with him yourself?”
Chao Yao slammed his hand on the table and stood up. “You!”
Chao Song pinched his nose, let out an exaggerated “oh”, and said mockingly, “I knew you were not even worth one finger of the Crown Prince’s. Little rabbit.”
Chao Yao was furious and lunged at him. Seeing that the two were about to fight, the others hurried forward to separate them.
“Do you want Father to punish you with another three months of confinement?”
Chao Song straightened his clothes and turned to leave. Chao Yao’s expression was so dark it was almost dripping, and he left soon after as well.
When the Emperor heard about this, he said, “A bunch of useless troublemakers.”
Grand Eunuch Huang thought for a moment before saying, “Someone saw the Eighth Prince outside the Eastern Garden. At that time…”
The Emperor waved his hand. “I know he has not properly reflected on his actions. The other one probably has not either.”
The Emperor gave a cold laugh. The New Year was approaching, and he did not want to ruin his mood at this time. After the New Year, he would properly deal with them, using them as an example to frighten the others.
Thinking of this, the Emperor sighed. Why was only Chao Ziyu obedient?
Soon afterwards, he gained another obedient son.
The Sixth Prince, Chao Song, fell from his horse and died. Now that was truly obedient. Even lying in a coffin, he would not resist.
The Emperor: “……”
The Emperor was furious. “What happened?!”
Chao Song’s personal guard had a face as pale as death as he replied, “His Highness had nothing to do today, so he went to the training grounds and wanted to ride a horse for a few laps. However, once the horse began running, it went mad and could not be restrained. His Highness was thrown from the horse, his head struck the ground, and his neck was broken.”
The Emperor breathed heavily, striking the armrest of the dragon throne. “Investigate! I want to see who is plotting behind this!”
…
“Was it you?”
In the Eastern Palace, Gu Yun had also heard about the Sixth Prince Chao Song breaking his neck after falling from his horse. He hesitated for several moments, thought of the “good show” Chao Yan had mentioned before, and could not help asking.
Today, heavy snow was falling.
Chao Yan had just returned from outside. His body carried a damp, cold chill, and faintly, one could smell the scent of blood. Without waiting for the palace servants to attend to him, he rolled up his sleeves, opened his stiff, frozen hands, and placed them into a basin of warm water.
“It was not me,” Chao Yan replied. “The good show I invited you to see will still have to wait a few more days.”
