After the Crybaby Married the Disabled Villain - Chapter 13

Xi Chen’s man?

That was the thought that flashed through everyone’s minds.

“This subordinate is Luo Sang, a personal guard of the Second Prince, Xi Chen. The Second Prince anticipated that this trip might go awry. He instructed me that should an accident occur, I was to seek the assistance of the Crown Prince.”

After Luo Sang finished speaking, he took a white jade token from his robes and offered it up with both hands.

Mo Han took it, confirmed its authenticity, and handed it to Lu Shiyan. “Your Highness.”

Even before taking the token, Lu Shiyan had recognized the object. It was not a traditional imperial token belonging to a prince of the Kingdom of Xiliang; rather, it was Xi Chen’s personal command token used for private intelligence gathering. To see the token was to see the man himself.

Two years ago, the war between the two armies finally neared its end. The commanders-in-chief signed an agreement, declaring a pact of non-aggression for the following three years.

It was also the first time the two commanders met. Lu Shiyan sat atop a fine steed with fur as black and smooth as silk, standing taller than any other horse. Its master had not yet removed his battle armor; the metallic luster felt even more heavy in the twilight.

A soldier whispered at his side: “General, the opposing commander is the Second Prince, Xi Chen.”

The man across from them had shed his armor, leaving his muscular arms exposed to the sight of both armies.

“Greetings to the Crown Prince of Great Shang. You are truly a hero of your generation. Though I have lost, I feel it an honor to have fought you.”

Xi Chen showed none of the despondency of a defeated man. Instead, he seemed bursts of excitement. Upon signing the agreement, he galloped across the battlefield as he departed, his warhorse neighing in the night air, the sharp edge of youth fully revealed.

At midnight that same night, Lu Shiyan sat alone drinking in the wilderness surrounding the camp. The black horse lay resting behind its master.

The sound of hoofbeats approached from a distance. Lu Shiyan looked over; it was that same Second Prince Xi Chen from earlier that evening.

“Why is Your Highness so calm? Do you not suspect that I might be acting out of spite to assassinate you in the dead of night?”

Lu Shiyan not only didn’t stand up, he actually leaned back and lay down, saying lazily: “The Second Prince comes here in the middle of the night—do you have urgent business?”

“I have business, but nothing urgent.”

Xi Chen leaped off his horse and sat down beside Lu Shiyan. “I felt an immediate bond with Your Highness and wish to make a friend of you.”

With that, he pulled a token directly from his waist. Unlike the Xiliang Imperial Family’s tokens, this one was pure white under the moonlight, with the character “Chen” written in the center with golden ink.

Lu Shiyan sat up and glanced at the token but did not take it. He gave a light laugh. “Is the Second Prince not afraid of being charged with colluding with the enemy?”

Xi Chen pushed the token forward again and asked in return: “Are we not allies now? Besides, this is my personal intelligence network. I am showing great sincerity.”

Lu Shiyan still bypassed the token. He reached out and took two bottles of wine hanging from Xi Chen’s left shoulder, saying loudly: “This shall be enough.”

Two years after their parting, he was seeing this token once again.

Except…

“Did Xi Chen leave any specific instructions?”

Seeing this, Mo Ying and Mo Han immediately vanished to hide their presence and dismissed all surrounding guards.

“The Second Prince instructed that there are two others in the capital who are aware of this matter. If Your Highness has need of them, they are at your disposal.”

“You shall continue to investigate within the capital using your previous disguise. I will certainly find a way to rescue Xi Chen.”

“I thank the Crown Prince.” Luo Sang performed another salute, though this time he used the etiquette of Great Shang.

Applying the human-skin mask once more, he reverted into the hunched-over farmer. He picked up his vegetable basket and retreated tremulously.

Lu Shiyan remained silent for a long time. An Yu did not disturb him, busying himself with mentally organizing the plot of the story.

Originally, the person imprisoned this time should have been Lu Shiyan, but now it was Xi Chen. This meant the subsequent plot would be vastly different. Rather than guessing, it was better to adapt to changes as they came.

An Yu toyed with his teacup, his voice as calm as water: “The armistice agreement has less than a year remaining. Is Lu Youqi trying to incite a war?”

The first time Lu Youqi sent Lu Shiyan to the battlefield, it didn’t cost him his life, so he wanted to try again.

“It is a possibility.”

Lu Shiyan gave an ambiguous reply, then turned the question to An Yu: “Xiao Yu, you could be said to have saved me once again. But how were you so certain that if I had organized the banquet, I would have been framed by my Second Brother?”

An Yu stared blankly at the cup in his hand for quite a while.

He couldn’t exactly say he knew the plot and was here to save a pure little lotus like him, could he?

An Yu answered with a question: “Looking at how things turned out, was I not correct?”

“Naturally.”

“If I told Your Highness that a deity gave me the instructions in a dream, you certainly wouldn’t believe me. It is better if you simply trust me; I will never harm you.”

After An Yu spoke, not only did Lu Shiyan remain silent, but even Yun Liang, who had been maintaining a low profile couldn’t help but furrow his brows.

Yun Liang assumed the Crown Prince would interrogate him until the truth was revealed or simply ignore him, as he had in the past. To his surprise, he didn’t.

Lu Shiyan stared at An Yu for a long moment before saying frankly:

“Very well. I trust Xiao Yu.”

The conversation went unexpectedly smoothly. For a moment, An Yu wanted to tell Lu Shiyan everything he knew, but the plot had already deviated significantly from the original book.

The afternoon sun was exceptionally harsh, so An Yu didn’t move around. He stayed in Lu Shiyan’s room, sitting in the same spot where he had painted last time. He painted while catching the breeze, occasionally listening to the conversation between Lu Shiyan and the others.

“It is now certain that this was a frame-up by the Second Prince. We only need to find evidence to clear the Second Prince of Xiliang’s name.”

“It won’t be that easy; evidence will surely be hard to find. When His Majesty wakes tomorrow, I fear he will resort to torture.”

“Setting aside the fact that the Second Prince of Xiliang is an old acquaintance of His Highness, even if there were no connection, he must be released before the news reaches Xiliang. Otherwise, I fear war will break out again.”

As the three discussed the matter back and forth, Lu Shiyan remained silent throughout.

“Your Highness, General Yang requests an audience.”

An Yu raised an eyebrow. The traitor had arrived.

After a knock at the door, the old butler’s voice drifted in from outside.

Lu Shiyan said: “Bring him in.”

The expressions of the other three at the table were none too pleasant. Among military men, traitors were traditionally meant to be ground to dust.

“Greetings to the Crown Prince.”

Upon entering, Yang Yuan performed a deep salute. “I beg Your Highness’s forgiveness. This subordinate was struck by a sudden, severe illness and has been recuperating for nearly a month. I have come today to ask for Your Highness’s pardon.”

Everyone present knew exactly where this “severe illness” had come from. While Yang Yuan was still bowed, Mo Han hurried to suppress his uncontrollable look of rage.

“It is no matter. Rise.”

“I thank Your Highness.”

Yun Liang, never one to miss a chance to stir the pot, suddenly took on a look of concern: “How is General Yang’s health now? Quickly, let me examine the General so that His Highness may be at ease.”

The toxins had not yet been fully purged from his body, so Yang Yuan naturally did not dare let this miracle doctor examine him. He instinctively took a half-step back and repeatedly declined:

“How could I trouble Military Physician Yun? My condition has already improved. I shall keep some distance from everyone so as not to pass any lingering illness to His Highness.”

Yun Liang nodded and didn’t insist. The old butler was about to fetch another chair so he could join the council when he heard the Crown Princess speak:

“The General is right. His Highness is very precious; if you were to pass an illness to him, the General naturally wouldn’t be able to bear the responsibility. Butler, place the chair over there, far from His Highness, so the General can be at ease.”

As An Yu spoke, he pointed toward the side hall, indicating that the chair should be placed in that corner.

Everyone looked over. It was a corner of the room, a dark desk usually used for storing books, roughly twenty to thirty meters away from Lu Shiyan.

Mo Han nearly lost his composure and hurried to turn his head away.

Only then did Yang Yuan notice An Yu painting by the window. His body hadn’t fully recovered, and he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood in frustration.

“The General is just recovering from a major illness; it’s best to sit down quickly.” After An Yu finished, he seemed to remember something and turned to the butler: “The weather has been getting cooler lately. Don’t forget to serve the General a pot of hot tea. He’ll surely be thirsty during our discussion later.”

Seeing that the Crown Prince did not intervene, the old butler hurried to comply: “Rest assured, Crown Princess. General, please sit.”

As he did so, he wondered: Just how did this General offend the Crown Princess?

The weather in mid-July was scorching hot where on earth was it “getting cooler”?

Once Yang Yuan sat down at the remote, dark desk, the butler hurried out to prepare the hot tea requested by the Crown Princess.

From Yang Yuan’s perspective, he couldn’t see the faces of Mo Han and Yun Liang. Naturally, he didn’t know that both men had already lost control of their expressions from suppressed laughter, and were using a great deal of effort just to make their backs look normal.

Soon, the butler brought a pot of hot tea and placed it on Yang Yuan’s table. Before leaving, he added concernedly: “General, if you have any needs, please do not hesitate to command.”

An Yu saw the steam rising from the mouth of the teacup and turned back to his painting with satisfaction. Feeling a bit thirsty himself, he picked up a glass of lemon water and drained it. As he set it down, the sound of ice cubes clinking against the glass rang out clearly.

Yang Yuan stared at the hot tea as if he wanted to set it on fire. After calming himself, he remembered his purpose for coming and said:

“Your Highness, the arrest of the Second Prince of Xiliang was surely planned by someone attempting to destroy the peace between our two nations. Now that less than a year remains of the agreement, should this subordinate begin drilling the soldiers now to prepare for war with Xiliang?”

Lu Shiyan took a sip of tea. “Why ‘planned by someone’? Was it not Xi Chen who first attempted to assassinate the Emperor?”

Yang Yuan sighed. “Your Highness might not know this, but before coming to see you, I went to see the arrow that struck His Majesty. Although it bears the Xiliang mark, it is a forgery. Having spent so much time in the Western Regions, I saw Xiliang arrows every day and am most familiar with them.”

Mo Ying frowned. “How was General Yang able to see that object? The Second Prince has already ordered it to be sealed. No one is permitted to touch it.”

“This…”

Yang Yuan was momentarily speechless but reacted quickly: “I used Your Highness’s name to negotiate with the Second Prince. The Second Prince is aware that we are familiar with Xiliang weaponry, so he granted permission.”

“Then since Second Brother already knows the object was not made by Xiliang, why hasn’t he released Xi Chen? Is this not playing right into the hands of the mastermind?”

“That, this subordinate does not know,” Yang Yuan continued. “Your Highness, should we make preparations early?”

“There is no need. If Xiliang were to find out, would it not seem as if our army is fabricating an assassination out of thin air? That would be inciting war by other means.”

“Your Highness speaks the truth.”

Just as Yang Yuan was about to say more, Lu Shiyan said: “Since you have recovered, go and join the soldiers in their drills. What does it look like, wandering about all day? As a soldier of Great Shang, it is enough to follow orders. Do not fill your head with useless thoughts.”

This rebuke, which was typical of how things were in the army, actually put Yang Yuan’s mind at ease. He nodded quickly in agreement.

“Yes. I thank Your Highness for the guidance. This subordinate takes his leave.”

After bowing, Yang Yuan retreated. It wasn’t until he had almost walked out of the General’s Manor that he realized he still had things left unsaid.

He could only kick the stone steps viciously before leaving in a huff.

Yun Liang thought it over but couldn’t reach a conclusion. “Did Yang Yuan come here this time just to test Your Highness’s intentions?”

Mo Ying smiled slightly. “Of course not.”

He then added: “Before he left, there was a sentence he didn’t get to say. He was rebuked by Your Highness and lost the chance to speak again.”

“Then do you know what he wanted to say?” Yun Liang asked curiously.

“If I guest correctly, he wanted to say: ‘This subordinate believes Your Highness should secretly rescue Xi Chen. This way, Xiliang will not have a pretext to start a war, and we can also find out who the real mastermind behind the Emperor’s attempted murder is.'”

Hearing this, An Yu suddenly stopped his brush. Was Lu Youqi still refusing to give up on framing His Highness with the charge of colluding with the enemy and treason?