After breakfast, Ye Yunting discussed with Ji Lian and rummaged through the palace again. Maybe they could find some missing valuable items that they could exchange for money. Not only could they buy food, some of it could also go to the maidservants or guards in exchange for information.
The master and the servant split up, one searching in the front courtyard and the other searching in the back courtyard.
In the back courtyard, Ye Yunting looked from room to room, only to find nothing: this huge palace really was empty.
That wasn’t to say that it was looted clean. Instead, judging from the furnishings, there probably weren’t many items in the first place.
Take as an example the Duke of Qi’s mansion: He didn’t even have to talk about the proper master’s house since even the courtyard where several aunts live was already very exquisite. There were countless carved beams and painted buildings, as well as rare and exotic plants. Although it was not extravagant, it was not plain either.
He originally thought that with Prince Yong’an’s powerful position, this palace would be at least more luxurious than the Duke of Qi’s palace.
Surprisingly, it turned out that he had expected too much.
This large backyard, except for the somewhat popular areas in the main courtyard, was completely empty and uninhabited.
He had heard that the old Wangye and the old Wangfei were deeply in love and never took any concubines in their entire lives. Even though the old Princess had a difficulties conceiving children and only bore one son in the end, the old Prince did not admit any new people into the house.
Having an empty backyard when the old Prince was there only made sense. But he didn’t expect that, in the years since Li Fengqi took over the palace, the backyard would continue to be empty and unoccupied.
He sighed twice and searched the last two rooms.
There was still nothing.
Of course, there wouldn’t be anything valuable in an empty courtyard with no residents.
Ye Yunting walked empty-handed to the front yard to meet Ji Lian, ready to see if the other one lucked out. Fortunately, Ji Lian still had some success. He came over, holding onto some papers, ink, pens and inkstones as though they were treasures. When he saw Ye Yunting, he took out an inkstone from his arms and said, “Master, look at this. I think the second young master also had such an inkstone. It should be worth some money, right?”
This inkstone was the size of a palm, with rounded corners. It was carved with several swaying lotus flowers and lotus leaves that were about to bloom. The center area for grinding ink resembled a pool of water, with swaying lotus flowers and a faint golden shimmer. It brought to mind the saying: “When you come out of the mud, you will not be stained; when you wash the lotus, you will not be evil.”1
“This is the lotus inkstone.” Ye Yunting recognized the origin of the inkstone at a glance.
He was usually bored in the mansion, so he enjoyed reading and practicing calligraphy, and as a result became quite knowledgeable about papers, inks, pens and inkstones. This lotus inkstone was carved by the most popular master in the capital. There were only two such items in total. One of them was kept in the Duke’s Mansion of Qi. Later, when Ye Wan went to the Imperial Academy, Ye Zhili took it and gave it to him.
The other one was nowhere to be found; Ye Yunting didn’t expect to be in this royal palace.
His fingers gently stroked the inkstone. Its underside felt smooth to the touch. He rubbed it a few times in fascination, his eyes widening: “Such a good inkstone…”
When Ji Lian saw this, he immediately interjected: “Such a good inkstone must be extremely valuable!”
“…” Ye Yunting suddenly choked up and said quietly: “That’s all it is. However fine an inkstone may be, it should still be useful.” After saying that, he shoved the inkstone back into Ji Lian’s arms and walked ahead, so as not to see the inkstone again and feel bad about letting it go. “Let’s try to see first if we can leave the house.”
He turned his head and surveyed the surroundings, feeling that their past two days had gone very smoothly.
With the current situation in the palace, would the Emperor really allow them to come and go as they pleased?
Ye Yunting’s doubts were soon answered.
The two walked to the side door of the palace. As soon as they opened the door, two people blocked the doorway and looked at them with cold eyes, saying: “You are not allowed to go in or out here. Wangfei, please go back.”
Both Ye Yunting and Ji Lian were startled by their sudden appearance. Ye Yunting quickly glanced at their belt tokens and pulled Ji Lian back without saying anything.
Once they were far away, Ji Lian whispered: “I didn’t find anyone guarding the side door yesterday.”
At that time, when he opened the door to, he found the alley outside to be very quiet, without anyone else except for two beggars.
“Those two guards are from the Shence Army.” Ye Yunting recalled the belt tokens hanging from their waists. He also remembered the two beggars in the corner when he glanced at them, and asked: “Did you see those two beggars yesterday?”
Ji Lian nodded. “Yes, they were there yesterday.”
Ye Yunting pondered and said, “Those two beggars don’t look right.”
Although they wore shabby clothes and looked dirty, their bodies were very tall and strong. Despite their best attempts at concealment, their bulging muscles were still noticeable. Moreover, with Ye Yunting’s sharp eyes, he noticed that although they were on their hands and knees, their fingernails were clean, without any hint of dirt.
Where could there possibly be such strong and clean beggars?
Ye Yunting figured that these were probably Shence Army members in disguise. There was just something he couldn’t figure out, though: The palace was already in such a state of decline, so what was the need for secret guards to disguise themselves in plain sight?
While thinking this, Ye Yunting pulled Ji Lian back to the main courtyard.
He carried a pile of pens, ink, paper and inkstones back to the inner room and placed them on the table. He then carefully took out the square lotus inkstone from his arms and put it aside by itself. Then, he told Li Fengqi about what they discovered regarding the side door.
Li Fengqi’s ears were listening to his words, but his eyes were fixed on the square inkstone, his brows slightly raised. “You went to the front yard today?”
Ye Yunting followed his gaze to the square lotus inkstone. He blinked slowly and suddenly realized that the owner of these things was lying in front of him.
His cheeks heated up slightly. Trying to maintain his composure, he said, “Well, I wanted to go with Ji Lian to find some items to exchange for some money to buy rice. I didn’t expect to be stopped at the side door.”
Li Fengqi glanced at him, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly: “Do you like that inkstone?”
Ye Yunting heard the teasing in his words and couldn’t help but blush even more. He nodded in embarrassment, wishing to find a hole in the ground to bury himself in. With his fair complexion, every trace of blushing was immediately obvious and impossibly to hide. Even his neck was red now, and he didn’t dare to raise his eyes to look at Li Fengqi.
It was also because he didn’t consider Li Fengqi as an outsider, and made his own decision without consulting with him. Even if Prince Yong’an was now out of commission, Ye Yunting’s actions were still rather excessive.
Ye Yunting didn’t know how to explain himself. His watery eyes darted around, unable to look directly at Li Fengqi.
“If you like it, keep it for yourself. Why sell it. There are only two sets of lotus inkstones in total. If you sell that, I’m afraid you won’t be able to buy it back evern if you have money in the future.” Li Fengqi was in a good mood when he saw his blushing face and overwhelmed expression, and finally let him go with great mercy: “As for the money, there will always be money. Besides, it is not needed right now, so there’s no need to rush.”
Hearing this, Ye Yunting finally dared to look at him, and saw the smile on his lips that had not been restrained in time. He was stunned for a moment, and then realized that he had fallen for a trap and was being led along by him.
The blush on his face hadn’t faded yet, but the confusion and panic in his eyes had calmed down. He cleared his throat and said: “Then Yunting thanks Wangye in advance for his favor.”
Li Fengqi shook his head with a smile, gestured with his chin towards the edge of the bed, and motioned for him to sit down and talk. “Come here. I will tell you a few important things.”
Ye Yunting had just been teased by him. Hearing this, he immediately looked at him warily, fearing that he would tease him again. After looking at him suspiciously for a few moments, and seeing that he seemed to really have something important to say, he sat down.
Li Fengqi waited for him to sit down before speaking unhurriedly: “Now that you have entered the palace, you will be linked to me in life and death from now on.”
Ye Yunting locked eyes with him and nodded slightly.
This was a fact that he had known for a long time.
“In that case, I will now answer the question you asked me yesterday.” Li Fengqi looked straight at him and slowly said: “I have money and manpower, but they are all known faces. Once they show up in the capital, I’m afraid that Li Zong will secretly kill them. So I still need someone to pass messages on my behalf.”
Ye Yunting didn’t expect him to suddenly show his cards, and looked rather surprised. “The person that Wangye refers to is… me?”
Yesterday, he tested Li Fengqi and asked him if he knew where else were there valuables hidden in the house. On the surface, he was asking about the objects, but in reality, he was determining whether or not he had any backup plans.
But Li Fengqi had told him "no".
Ye Yunting knew then that Li Fengqi didn’t trust him. Although he wanted to get onboard Prince Yong’an's boat, he also knew that he couldn’t eat hot tofu in a hurry. He thought that after spending some time with him and showing his sincerity, Li Fengqi would come to believe in him some day.
But he didn’t expect that day to come so quickly.
Li Fengqi saw the surprise in his eyes and did not hesitate to explain the reason to him: “I don’t have many people I can use. You’re very smart, and you’re a good person to work with.”
If there was no Ye Yunting, he’d naturally still have a way to get out of this situation.
But it would ultimately waste a lot of time. After listening to Wu Geng’s report yesterday, he guessed that Li Zong probably wanted to take action against the Xuanjia Army, so he asked Wu Geng to send the message out as soon as possible to prevent Zhu Wen and others from being implicated. But the current situation was difficult, and he didn’t know when Wu Geng would be able to send out the message. And since Li Zong had already made up his mind, it wouldn’t be long before he took action.
If he wanted to ruin Li Zong’s plan, his best recourse was to get his poisoning cured as soon as possible and show up in public, killing Li Zong by surprise. Li Zong’s unabashed arrogance was all because he was sure that Li Fengqi would die if his tendons and meridians were severed. Once he was cured, Li Zong knew that he would not die for a while, and Li Zong could not kill him overtly. His plan would be completely disrupted. While Li Zong was occupied, he would naturally not be able to pay much attention to the Xuanjia Army in Northern Xinjiang. .
His only dilemma now was how to get the medicine.
Li Zong did not ask the medical officer to treat him this month. Whenever the medical officer came, he would only check his pulse to confirm his physical condition and ensure that he would die when he needed to die. He ignored everything else.
But Li Fengqi, who had always been in the army, had also studied medicine.
Although the poison he suffered from could not be cured for a while, he had thought of a way to fight poison with poison. There was a half-chance that he could temporarily suppress the poison in his body.
However, it currently wasn’t easy to prepare all the medicinal ingredients. Li Zong was looking forward to his death and would never let him get away with it. If Li Zong’s people knew that he was preparing an antidote, it would probably provoke Li Zong into jumping over the wall2.
From what Ye Yunting said about the side door situation, Cui Xi must have noticed when Wu Geng visited the palace yesterday, which meant that there must be a dragnet set up. It would likely be difficult to get away with Wu Geng visiting again.
Therefore, We Geng shouldn’t come again.
He could only look for someone else to get the medicine. This person must be trustworthy and not cause suspicion.
Ye Yunting was the best person he could find at the moment.
Ye Yunting’s heart fluctuated, and his dark eyes were like lit candles. “I will never let Wangye down.”
“I have already asked someone to go to Rongyang to deliver a letter to the elder Wangfei. After she receives the letter, she should rush back to the capital. We will all be able to take a breath at that time. But–” Li Fengqi paused, looked at Ye Yunting and said: ” …Having the elder Wangfei come forward is only a temporary solution.” His brows were sunken and solemn, and his tone was grave. “So, I must get better as soon as possible.”
Ye Yunting froze. “But your poisoning…”
“I have already thought of a way to suppress it. All that’s missing now are the medical ingredients.” Li Fengqi said.
Ye Yunting locked gazes with him for a moment and understood what he meant. “Wangye wants me to get the medicine?” He hesitated. “But I can’t even get out of the palace gate.”
“So, I need you to cooperate in putting on a show.”
Li Fengqi looked at him intently and slowly revealed the plan.
Ye Yunting, however, became more and more alarmed the more he listened. Every step of Li Fengqi’s plan was a gamble.
He took a deep breath, but still couldn’t calm his violent heartbeat.
“If you don’t dare to, I won’t force you. I will find another way.” Li Fengqi said.
“I’ll go.” Ye Yunting let out a deep breath and looked directly at him. “After the matter is completed, I just hope that Wangye will not forget about this day.”
He had always known that since he had entered a dead end, he’d always have to pay some price if he wanted to break out of this situation and survive.
Ye Yunting made a decision in his heart. His expression changed immediately, he flipped the table and angrily said: “Wangye, you’re paralyzed in bed right now. I respect you as a hero of Beizhao. I have just tried my best to take care of you. Don’t be such a bully!”
He got into the scene too quickly, using 100% of his strength to flip the table, his cheeks and eyes stained red with anger.
“I don’t need your pity!” Li Fengqi shot back without delay. He sneered and spat out the words “get out” through gritted teeth.
He appeared extremely angry. He pushed the soft pillow off the bed onto the ground with all his strength, and roared again: “Get out of here!”
There was so much noise inside that Ji Lian, who had been outside, was startled. He hurried in to check, but he was met by Ye Yunting who was furiously walking out. As he walked, he scolded Li Fengqi angrily, as if venting two days’ worth of anger out on him.
Ji Lian followed him, wanting to coax him but not knowing where to start. “What’s going on?” Wasn’t he fine just now? What’s with the sudden change?
Moreover, he had never seen the young master lose his temper this much.
Ye Yunting let out a cold laugh and grabbed him, saying, “Let’s go back to the Duke’s Mansion. If he wants to die, he shouldn’t drag us with him.”
After saying that, he pulled Ji Lian and stormed towards the gate.
Ji Lian was unaware of the situation and could only follow him with a worried expression.
On the other hand, the two maids guarding the yard looked at each other. Once Ye Yunting and his companion were far away, one of them quietly left the yard.
There, Ye Yunting pulled Ji Lian to the gate and recklessly left the palace to go back to the Duke’s palace.
The guards outside naturally couldn’t let him out, but he seemed to have suffered some great humiliation. He heedlessly started making trouble at the door, shouting: “Let me go back! Prince Yong’an told me to get lost, why don’t you let me go? If he dies, then he dies–I don’t want to be buried with him!”
He looked crazy, yelling at the top of his lungs.
Seeing this, the two guards quickly held him down and dragged him back into the house, and then closed the door tightly to keep the commotion inside.
Ye Yunting was still making a scene, regardless. “Let go of me, I want to go back to the Duke’s Mansion.” He finally broke down and cried as if he couldn’t bear it anymore: “I am the eldest son of the Duke’s Mansion, and I’ll ask to be crowned heir in the future. I don’t want to die. Please let me go back! Let me go back!”
Ji Lian, next to him, was already frightened. When he tried to pick up Ye Yunting, who couldn’t support himself and slid down to the ground, he couldn’t help but cry along with him. “Master, master, calm down, we won’t die…”
The two guards frowned as they watched the master and the servant hug each other and cry bitterly. One was crying hysterically and the other was crying helplessly. They looked at each other for a long time, and finally retreated to the door, ignoring the master and servant pair.
*
The news that Ye Yunting suddenly went unhinged and caused trouble in the palace naturally spread to the palace immediately.
Emperor Li Zong leaned back on the chair covered with soft fox fur, supporting his forehead, shaking a glass of wine with one hand. “Do you mean, Ye Yunting suddenly went mad?”
The Shence Army lieutenant who came to report the news bowed and said: “Yes. Everything was fine this morning. He went to the side door to leave but was stopped. Then, after returning to the main courtyard, he suddenly quarreled with Prince Yong’an, and then he went crazy and started making a raucous to go back to the Duke’s mansion.”
Li Zong took a sip of wine, and the young man kneeling next to him immediately refilled the glass for him. He lifted the young man’s chin and looked at him for a moment, then pushed him away and asked lazily: “What does Cui Aiqing3 think about this. Has he really gone insane, or is he… just pretending to be mad?”
Cui Xi lowered his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes: “I have heard about Young Master Ye. From his temperament and his reactions in the past two days, he does not seem to be someone who would suddenly go mad.”
Li Zong shook his glass again, not nodding or shaking his head. Instead, he looked at the man sitting quietly across from him.
“What does teacher think?”
Sitting opposite him was a man dressed in plain white. He looked to be in his thirties, with a fair face, sparse eyebrows and thin lips, wearing white clothes and a white crown. He looked like an immortal with neither desires nor emotions. Upon hearing Li Zong’s words, he opened his slightly closed eyes, and his narrow eyes revealed coldness: “He is just an abandoned son. Whether this is true or not, it will not hinder His Majesty’s important affairs. He can’t make any difference.”
“The teacher is right.” Li Zong drained his glass in one swallow, kicked away the young man who was trying to get closer, and said to Cui Xi, who was waiting on the side: “There is no movement on your side? There were a few fish that slipped through the net. It’s time to catch them. You’ve been running around all day and upsetting me.”
“We discovered the whereabouts of a person last night, but he escaped after we found out.” Cui Xi bowed and replied.
“Rubbish!” Li Zong’s eyes turned cold when he heard this, and he looked at Cui Xi: “I appointed you to be the Shence general, not to raise a group of garbage to annoy me.”
Cui Xi immediately knelt down at his words and hit the ground with his head: “I am incompetent!”
Seeing him like this, Li Zong curled his lips in boredom and waved his hands. “Enough. I also know that the people under Prince Yong’an are difficult to deal with. Tell your people to be more alert. Don’t let me down again.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty, for your forgiveness.” Cui Xi got up, a flattering smile on his beautiful and delicate face: “I will not let Your Majesty down.”
Li Zong said “Hmm” casually, waved to the young man who had just been kicked away, and went to the inner room.
Only two people were left in the pavilion.
Cui Xi put away the exaggerated smile on his face and glanced sideways at Han Chan: “Why didn’t Taifu-Daren tell the truth to your majesty just now?” Ye Yunting had been at peace for two days; him suddenly going crazy was suspicious. He didn’t believe that this old fox didn’t know anything about the palace’s events these past two days.
Han Chan stood up slowly, glanced at him, and said calmly, “I am telling the truth.”
Without waiting for Cui Xi to respond, he turned to leave.
His white clothes swayed in the bleak autumn wind, inexplicably giving a sense of solemnity.
Cui Xi looked at his back with a scoff and left in the opposite direction, his hands behind his back . When he left, he glanced sideways in the direction the emperor’s departure, the interest in his eyes becoming more intense.
This game of chess was becoming more and more interesting.
*
Ye Yunting made a fuss in the palace like a madman for a shichen before finally passing out from exhaustion.
Ji Lian panicked, carried him back to the house and placed him on the luohan bed, so anxious that he didn’t know what to do. He waked around the room twice before finally remembering that he had to find a doctor, so he hurriedly ran to the gate of the palace, but was once again stopped by the guard at the door. He begged for a long time, asking the guard to help find a doctor, but the other party turned a deaf ear, pushed him back roughly and closed the door shut.
Ji Lian had no choice but to turn back. Just as he arrived at the gate of the yard, he saw a tired-looking Ye Yunting stagger out of the house.
He quickly rushed forward to help him up, saying anxiously: “Master, where are you going?”
“I don’t want to be here.” Ye Yunting’s voice was already rough from shouting, but he still said in a hoarse voice, “I want to go back to the Duke’s Mansion.”
Red-eyed, Ji Lian could only coax him first: “Okay, we’ll go back when you’ve rested. I’ll help you back to rest first, okay?”
After hearing him say that he would go back after resting, Ye Yunting finally settled down. His eyes were dull and he kept muttering “Let’s go back, go back to the Duke’s Mansion”, and was half-dragged and half-carried by Ji Lian back to the house.
Once inside, Ye Yunting squeezed Ji Lian’s palm hard and gestured to him: “I’m fine.”
Ji Lian’s expression froze and his red eyes widened. Ye Yunting pinched him again, and he came back to his senses, saying: “Young Master, please have a good sleep. We’ll go back to the Duke’s Mansion after you wake up.”
After saying this, he gestured with his lips and asked, “What’s going on?”
Ye Yunting couldn’t explain too much to him, so he just said silently: “Pretend that I’m sick and call a doctor.”
The two grew up together since childhood and had a perfect understanding of each other. Although he didn’t know what he was trying to do by pretending to be sick and calling the doctor, Ji Lian immediately understood what he meant, nodded slightly, and went out with a worried look on his face.
The guards at the gate didn’t work, so he went to look for the guards at the side door.
He seemed to be so anxious that he took out all his money and gave them to the guards, begging them to find a doctor to examine his young master, or at least to send a letter to the Duke’s Mansion.
But the guards remained unmoved. In the end, he could put away the money in disappointment and return to the main courtyard full of worry and frustration.
In the room, Ye Yunting was lying on the bed and recalling the plan. After confirming that nothing went wrong, he breathed a sigh of relief.
The first step had already begun.
There were many secret guards in the palace, and the news of his madness would definitely reach the palace. With his status, no one would care if he really went mad or not. As long as no one in the palace suspected him, this hurdle would be passed.
Next, he would have to pretend to be severely ill, preferably so ill as to be nearly dying. Then he would have the opportunity to have Ji Lian request the doctor for medicine. That would give him the opportunity to contact Li Fengqi’s people who could give him the needed medicinal herbs.
As long as the medical ingredients that Li Fengqi needed arrived, half of the plan would already successful.
The rest would depend on heaven’s will.
===Author's Notes===
#Actors please take your places#
Tingting (pleased): My acting wasn't bad, was it?
77: Thank you, there was a shock.
===Translator’s Notes===
Wow, someone’s gunning for a “best actor” award lol.
Ye Yinting and Li Fengqi just playing along with each other seamlessly. Poor Ji Lian, though, haha.
- From the 爱莲说 “The Love of Lotus” by Zhou Dunyi, a poet from the Song Dynasty. The statement itself is generally used to refer to people of good character and are not affected by dark forces ↩︎
- 狗急跳墙: According to here, it’s an idiomatic expression about how a desperate person would take risks regardless of consequences if cornered, in the same way that a dog would jump walls if chased. ↩︎
- 爱卿: In ancient times, a title used by monarchs for their ministers ↩︎
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That Han Chan seems sus.
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