After the Crybaby Married the Disabled Villain - Chapter 20

Since that night tour of the market, An Yu had not seen the siblings Xi Chen and Xi Qing again. Although their time together that day had been very pleasant, he hadn’t noticed any sign of Xi Qing harboring romantic feelings for Xi Chen as mentioned in the original rumors.

“Tomorrow is the final deadline proposed by the Seventh Princess.”

“So, are we all going?”

“Father Emperor has not yet given a true explanation; he likely intends to settle everything in the Great Hall tomorrow.”

Lu Shiyan watched the youth lying there with no apparent reaction and continued: “King Xiao has also been invited to attend.”

An Yu was lying comfortably on the soft couch, watching the clouds in the sky through the window as if he might fall asleep at any second. However, hearing this, he finally showed some reaction.

“Does His Majesty intend to punish him for his crimes?”

After the four of them had parted ways with the Xiliang pair at the market and returned to the manor, they had learned from Mo Han that Shen Heng and the Fourth Prince had searched King Xiao’s guest house. They had actually found a weak, frail man covered in pustules in a thatched hut in the back garden.

After being examined by Physician Yang, it was indeed confirmed to be the plague.

The expressions of everyone present had darkened instantly. They ordered the man to be quarantined and handled, and the thatched hut was burned to the ground.

From King Xiao’s initial obstruction at the entrance of the guest house to his final denial after the man was found, everything had been witnessed by those present.

Even as Shen Heng’s group led the patient away, King Xiao was still arguing:

“This King naturally has no idea why this servant contracted the plague after coming to Great Shang, nor has it been allowed to spread. His Majesty will naturally make a determination.”

Lu Shiyan handed the youth a bowl of shaved ice. As expected, the latter’s interest was piqued; he sat up, took the bowl, and waited for his answer.

“There is suspicion, but Father Emperor may not have been ignorant of Beiming’s ambitions all these years. Perhaps Xiao Yu can inform Father Emperor of Beiming’s uselessness tomorrow.”

An Yu nodded while eating. “How does Your Highness think I should put it?”

“How do you want to say it?”

The youth’s eyes blinked, a flash of craftiness passing through them:

“His Majesty places great importance on whether he can continue to rule this land. It would be best to tell him he cannot. The reason being that His Majesty originally followed the will of Heaven and could have received the favor of the immortals, but because he has consumed too many ‘mortal items’ full of impurities, it has naturally had an impact.”

“It is well said.”

“However, even I feel these words are nonsense. Why would His Majesty believe them so readily?”

Lu Shiyan lowered his head, feigning to straighten his robes to hide the unmistakable contempt in his eyes. “Since he obtained this empire so easily, he naturally does not want to hand it over to anyone else, so the idea of immortality arose. Over the past two years, as his physical condition has worsened, he has become even more obsessed.”

Lu Shiyan’s words were not false. During the final years of the late Emperor’s reign, several princes had fought for the throne, framing and slaughtering one another. Many had won victories in battle, and Emperor Hongchang had not been the most outstanding among them.

Yet, the two princes most likely to ascend the throne—deceived by Emperor Hongchang’s display of brotherly devotion—had actually both drunk his poisoned wine. The late Emperor was so heart-stricken by the loss of his two sons that his anger attacked his heart, and he followed them to the grave shortly after.

Thus, the throne had fallen to Emperor Hongchang. By comparison, it had indeed been exceptionally easy.

The Next Day.

They were back in that lavish Great Hall, but without the crowd of officials and their families, it felt much emptier.

The Seventh Princess, Xi Qing, sat in the seat beside Xi Chen. Her expression was cold and stern; though she was a woman, her aura was formidable.

“I wonder what kind of answer Great Shang intends to give us today?”

Xi Chen, just like that other night, was carelessly toying with his wine cup, his gaze occasionally drifting toward the crowd with a smile.

Emperor Hongchang had mostly recovered, and the regency powers of Lu Youqi had been rescinded. The latter sat beside Lu Shiyan, silently observing everything in the hall. Upon hearing the question, he adjusted his expression to one of kindness, appearing full of humility and warmth:

“Allowing Prince Xi Chen to suffer such an undeserved grievance was a mistake on the part of our dynasty. The situation was urgent that day, and it was a choice made out of necessity.”

Xi Qing let out a cold snort:

“Our Second Prince of Xiliang traveled thousands of miles to celebrate your Emperor’s birthday and brought gifts from our nation. Yet he suffered the grievance of being imprisoned in the celestial dungeon for days, and when he emerged, his body was covered in wounds. Does your noble country intend to settle this with a mere mention of ‘misunderstanding’?”

Before Lu Youqi could speak, Xi Qing continued:

“I imagine the Prince of your noble country also misheard my question. I want an answer, not a reason. Everyone present knows the reason.”

An Yu was the only person in the Great Hall eating. He was picking up Shine Muscat grapes one by one, thinking to himself that the palace fruit was indeed large and sweet. Hearing Xi Qing’s words, he shouted ‘Bravo!’ in his heart—she was truly a force to be reckoned with.

Emperor Hongchang raised a hand to signal Lu Youqi to stop speaking. “Seventh Princess, I summoned everyone here today naturally to give you an answer.”

He gave a look to Meng Hai at his side. The head eunuch immediately understood and announced loudly: “Summon the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies!”

Shen Heng led a group of bailiffs into the hall. The bailiffs were carrying the sharp arrows that had been searched from King Xiao’s guest house that day.

He knelt in salute: “This official greets Your Majesty.”

Emperor Hongchang said: “Shen Heng, speak.”

“Yes.”

Shen Heng did not look left or right, and his voice was clear enough for the entire hall to hear:

“Early on the second morning of the birthday banquet, this official received a secret letter claiming there were sharp arrows in King Xiao’s manor identical to the murder weapon. I led men to search and indeed found dozens of sharp arrows with the Xiliang seal in King Xiao’s room, as well as an additional Xiliang seal. All were found within King Xiao’s quarters.”

Shen Heng signaled the bailiffs to display the arrows and the seal to everyone present one by one.

“Subsequently, King Xiao was brought to the palace to see Your Majesty, but because the evidence could not be confirmed as belonging to King Xiao, he was released. Over the following days, under Your Majesty’s decree, I have been investigating this matter in secret.

I have not failed Your Majesty’s heavy trust. Yesterday, this official found the assassin who fired the arrow at Your Majesty during the banquet. This person is indeed King Xiao’s personal guard.”

“That is impossible!”

King Xiao had been listening to Shen Heng’s narrative quite calmly, but at this point, he suddenly let out a sharp cry.

Shen Heng gave him no response whatsoever: “Bring the man up.”

The doors of the Great Hall opened again. Two guards entered escorting a man in black robes. The man was bound with ropes and his mouth was gagged; it was obvious he wanted to speak but could only emit meaningless sounds.

“Let him speak,” Emperor Hongchang commanded. The guards hurried to pull the cloth from the man’s mouth.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty, spare my life! This lowly one was merely acting under orders!” As soon as the man spoke, he did so in Chinese with a heavy Beiming accent.

“Tell me everything you know.”

The man lay trembling on the floor, his voice full of tremors: “This lowly one is King Xiao’s personal guard. A few days before the birthday banquet, King Xiao had the sharp arrows forged and ordered me to imprint them with the Xiliang seal. He commanded me to fire at Your Majesty just as the banquet was nearing its end.”

King Xiao stood up and pointed at the man on the floor:

“Pure nonsense!”

Emperor Hongchang’s eyes were full of coldness. His gaze shifted from King Xiao to the man: “Is there any evidence to prove what you say?”

The man said hurriedly: “There is! There is!”

“This lowly one has the character ‘Xiao’ branded on the back of my neck! Every guard and maidservant under King Xiao is branded with this mark. Furthermore, that Xiliang seal was forged by me under his orders. Because time was pressing, I didn’t have time to make it too detailed, so the character ‘Liang’ on that seal is shallower than the other characters.”

Shen Heng signaled the guards to verify the man’s words. When the clothing on the back of the man’s neck was pulled back, it was exactly as he had said.

Under the gaze of the crowd, the character ‘Xiao’ was clearly visible on the back of the man’s neck.

Shen Heng repeatedly examined the seal in his hand. “Your Majesty, as he said, this ‘Liang’ character is indeed shallower.”

By now, King Xiao was covered in cold sweat, and his face had turned pale.

Emperor Hongchang looked at King Xiao: “King Xiao, must I find others to see if they also have the brand on their bodies?”

King Xiao looked up and met Emperor Hongchang’s gaze from his high position. His eyes were terrifyingly sinister. He didn’t answer the question, but asked instead: “Does Your Majesty no longer wish to extend your life?”

Emperor Hongchang gave a contemptuous smile, appearing completely indifferent: “I am ruled by the mandate of Heaven.”

The bailiffs behind Shen Heng retreated, and the Imperial Guard, having received their orders, took King Xiao into custody.

“Emperor of Great Shang! Mandate of Heaven? Do you truly believe you can live forever? Hahahaha!”

It was as if he had gone mad. Even as he was led away, his laughter could be heard from afar until, after a long time, it finally vanished.

Lu Youqi had remained silent since Shen Heng entered. He had repeatedly ignored the glances King Xiao cast his way and now looked entirely unconcerned, as if everything had nothing to do with him.

“Now that the matter has been thoroughly investigated, I must apologize to the Second Prince of your noble country for causing him such grievance. The punishment of this King Xiao shall be left to the two of you.”

Emperor Hongchang, after all, had not yet fully recovered. After saying this, he rose and said: “I am tired. Everyone, please suit yourselves.”

Naturally, no one else stayed behind. After Emperor Hongchang left, everyone began to depart one by one.

“Does Xiao Yu like Shine Muscat grapes?”

Lu Shiyan was being pushed by a young eunuch, while An Yu wandered along leisurely by his side, still holding a bunch of grapes he had swiped from the table.

“I do. Does Your Highness like them?”

As An Yu spoke, he handed two grapes to Lu Shiyan.

“Xiao Yu, you eat them. I rarely eat fruit.”

An Yu thought about it, and it was true. Although Lu Shiyan had a sweet tooth, he rarely ate fresh fruit.

Could it be that his slow recovery is also related to poor nutrition?

“Your Highness, you should eat more in the future. Now that your body is recovering, you naturally need balanced nutrition. There are many vitamins in fruit that the body needs.”

Lu Shiyan often heard words with unclear meanings from An Yu’s mouth:

“What is ‘vitamin’?”

An Yu thought for a moment: “Vitamins are a general term for many types of nutrients. The nutrients in each type of fruit are different.”

“Then I shall listen to Xiao Yu.”

An Yu nodded. Although they could be juiced or made into desserts, fresh fruit had the highest nutritional value after all.

“Your Highness.”

An Yu handed another grape over. Lu Shiyan was helpless and had to take it. But before he could bring it to his mouth, it was snatched away by a hand from the side.

“If you won’t eat it, I will.”

Xi Chen swallowed the grape which was as large as a lychee in one go. He chewed several times before swallowing.

“It is a variety from our Xiliang. If An Yu likes them, I will have some shipped to you once we return.”

“Really? Thank you, Prince Xi Chen.”

Lu Shiyan frowned as he looked at the pair of siblings who had suddenly appeared. He frowned and gripped the other grape in his palm.

“You go. I will do it.”

Xi Chen pushed away the young eunuch who was pushing the wheelchair and took over himself.

The little eunuch looked at Lu Shiyan in fear and trepidation: “Crown Prince…”

“Go.”

Having received permission, the little eunuch hurried away.

“Lu Shiyan, it was too late last night. Won’t you invite me to sit in your manor today?”

“Sit for what? To confirm the rumors of my collusion with the enemy and treason?”

Lu Shiyan asked in return, making Xi Qing beside them unable to suppress a laugh.

“Then the Crown Prince’s refusal might be a bit too late. Right now, several palace attendants have already seen my brother pushing the wheelchair for Your Highness.”