Free Web NovelChapter 407: Chapter 409: Utterly Hateful
Li Ji said with a feigned smile,
"My, what a dutiful son the Fourth Prince is. Your Majesty is truly blessed to have a son as devoted as him."
He spoke in a cryptic, mocking tone. Not only did the Fourth Prince, Li Ying, find his words grating, but even the Emperor felt uncomfortable.
The Emperor cleared his throat. "I have already sent men to hunt down Prince Dongyang and his conspirators. As for my health, the Imperial Physicians will tend to it. You need not concern yourselves with these matters."
He looked at Li Ying and said,
"I’m not insisting you marry right this instant. Go back and think it over. In the meantime, I will have people search for a suitable match. I am certain we can find one."
After the Emperor had put it that way, any further refusal from Li Ying would have made him seem utterly ungrateful.
He could only swallow his resentment and indignation, lowering his head.
"I will obey Father’s wishes."
Seeing the Fourth Prince so obedient, the Emperor felt quite pleased. At the same time, he couldn’t help but sigh with regret internally.
’Such a good boy. Why did he have to have a mother of such lowly birth, and an unchaste one at that?’
’What a terrible shame.’
The Emperor then turned to Li Ji, a smile in his eyes and a gentle tone in his voice.
"You’ve performed a great service this time as well. What reward would you like?"
Li Ji was already a Prince; there was no higher rank for him to be promoted to.
This was one of the reasons the Emperor was reluctant to grant him further military authority.
If Li Ji continued to perform great deeds, the Emperor would run out of rewards to grant and titles to bestow.
Li Ji replied, "It is my honor to serve Your Majesty. How could I dare ask for a reward?"
Before the Emperor could speak, Li Ji changed his tune and quickly added,
"But since Your Majesty has already offered me a reward, it would be rude of me to refuse.
My Princess Consort is now pregnant, and we lack experienced nannies to attend to her.
If Your Majesty could select two nannies from the palace for me, I would be perfectly content."
The Emperor had been worried Li Ji would use this chance to make an exorbitant demand. ’It seems I was overthinking things,’ he thought. ’This boy, Li Ji, may seem reckless and willful, but he actually knows his limits.’
And because of this, the Emperor felt even more pity and affection for Li Ji.
"Just two servants? How can that be considered a reward? I’ll have two people selected and sent to you later. In addition, I will reward you with a thousand acres of fertile land and ten thousand taels of gold."
Li Ji bowed low. "I thank Your Majesty for your immense grace."
The Emperor wanted Li Ji to stay for a meal, but Li Ji declined.
"I must return home to be with my Princess Consort, so I shall not disturb Your Majesty’s meal."
The Emperor was thoroughly exasperated.
’In the entire world, Prince Zhao was the only one who dared to refuse him.’
’This boy! He gets a wife and forgets his own father!’
With a stony face, the Emperor shooed him away.
Zuo Ji personally escorted him out of the Imperial Study Room.
Li Ji remarked with feigned nonchalance,
"Everything was perfectly fine, so why did Prince Dongyang suddenly rebel? It all happened so abruptly, no one was prepared."
Zuo Ji sighed as well.
"Tell me about it.
The Saint had only gone away to escape the summer heat, yet who could have imagined so much chaos would erupt in the palace?
A perfectly fine Fifth Prince, gone in the blink of an eye."
Li Ji asked, as if uncertain, "Did Prince Dongyang really kill the Fifth Prince?"
Many people in the palace had witnessed it, so it was no secret. Zuo Ji did not hide the truth and answered honestly.
"Of course, it’s true!"
Li Ji continued, "The Saint must have been devastated when he learned of it, right?"
This was a matter concerning the Emperor and could not be discussed casually with others.
But Zuo Ji knew Prince Zhao was the Emperor’s illegitimate son. Intending to curry favor with the prince, he lowered his voice and said,
"Devastated doesn’t even begin to cover it.
The Saint was so enraged that his old ailment flared up, terrifying many.
And because the Saint fell ill, he couldn’t immediately return to the palace to see Prince Dongyang.
He had to send someone in his stead, intending to bring Prince Dongyang before him to give an account of his actions.
Unfortunately, Prince Dongyang remained obstinately unrepentant, compounding one error with another.
In the end, he even raised troops in rebellion, nearly causing a catastrophe. It’s truly detestable!"
Li Ji recalled what Manman had told him that morning before he left.
Manman said she had spoken face-to-face with Xianfei.
Xianfei had claimed that she and Prince Dongyang rebelled purely for self-preservation, that they were forced into it with no other choice.
In Xianfei’s view, the Emperor wanted to kill her son. As a mother, she couldn’t just sit by and watch; she had to do everything in her power to save his life.
To that end, she was willing to risk everything to orchestrate the palace coup.
But Li Ji felt that wasn’t the whole story.
’If the Emperor had been determined to kill Prince Dongyang to avenge the Fifth Prince,’ he thought, ’then the moment he heard the news of the Fifth Prince’s death, he would have immediately issued a Holy Decree. He would have publicly convicted Prince Dongyang, sent the decree back to Shangjing, and ordered the Ministry of Justice to take him into custody.’
’That would have been the only foolproof method.’
’In reality, however, the Emperor had only scrambled to send troops back to the capital to quell the rebellion after he learned that Prince Dongyang had already revolted.’
’Xianfei’s account didn’t align with the facts.’
’There had to be something more to this.’
So he had planned to use this visit to the palace to ask around.
Hearing Zuo Ji’s words now, all the pieces that Li Ji couldn’t understand suddenly clicked into place!
’Why would Xianfei think the Emperor wanted to kill her son?’
’Why would Prince Dongyang suddenly rebel?’
’Why was the Emperor so unprepared for Prince Dongyang’s rebellion?’
’It was because the Emperor never intended to kill Prince Dongyang in the first place.’
’He just wanted to have Prince Dongyang brought to him for questioning.’
’Unexpectedly, someone had meddled, deliberately creating a misunderstanding. This led Prince Dongyang to mistakenly believe his father wanted him dead, forcing him to make the last-minute decision to rebel in self-defense.’
’Thinking of it that way, it all made perfect logical sense!’
Li Ji pressed, "Who was the person the Saint sent to see Prince Dongyang?"
Just as Zuo Ji opened his mouth to speak, a familiar voice suddenly sounded from behind them.
"Eunuch Zuo, Prince Zhao, what are you two doing standing here?"
Li Ji and Zuo Ji turned toward the voice and saw Wu Wang walking toward them.
Wu Wang clasped his hands in greeting. "Your servant pays his respects to Prince Zhao."
The moment their eyes met, Li Ji suddenly heard the other man’s thoughts—
’Good thing I got here in time. Otherwise, the jig would’ve been up.’
Li Ji’s long, narrow eyes narrowed slightly. "Eunuch Wu, what brings you here so suddenly?"
Wu Wang said hurriedly, "Please, Your Highness, you can just call me by name."
Li Ji stared into his eyes and asked,
"Where were you just now? How did I not notice you?"
Wu Wang replied, "Your servant was just attending to another matter. I saw you and Eunuch Zuo as soon as I arrived."
In truth, he had been there for a while. But he had deliberately concealed his presence, hiding nearby, which was why no one had noticed him.
He had used the opportunity to overhear the conversation between Prince Zhao and Zuo Ji, and a sense of alarm rose in his heart.
’Why is Prince Zhao asking so many questions? Don’t tell me he suspects me?’
