Quick Transmigration: Crazy About the Villain, Begging for Love - Chapter 7

In the original plot, the Prince of Li would seize the throne in a year’s time. Before he left, Li Qing decided to leave a letter for Feng Yanzhou to warn him, perhaps offering some advice on how to deal with the male lead. It would be better to leave a good emperor for the people.

“Officialdom is corrupt; does Your Majesty have a plan to resolve this?”

Feng Yanzhou picked up a bun identical to Li Qing’s and ate it slowly. “Qingqing need not worry. A few days ago, I sent the Heir of the Prince of Jing and the Ning Kingdom’s greatest imperial merchant secretly to Liangzhou. With my imperial decree in hand, they are to execute corrupt officials and provide disaster relief to the people; anyone who dares to obstruct them may be executed before reporting to me! In my view, corruption does not require racking one’s brain to solve; those who prey upon the people one kill for each one found is enough. There are so many people in the Ning Kingdom, and plenty of them are learned and talented; who is to say there isn’t someone else to take their place?”

After speaking, he sighed and looked at Li Qing with a pitiful expression. “Speaking of which, once those detestable officials are dead, I must find people to replace them. After the snow disaster is handled, I will have to open an imperial examination to promote aspiring talents. I fear I will be very busy for quite a while; Qingqing, I will not be able to come and have dinner with you every day from now on.”

Li Qing’s gaze flickered; it was just as well he wouldn’t come. “State affairs take precedence. Your Majesty should prioritize the big picture.”

“Very well, I will listen to Qingqing!”

From that day on, Feng Yanzhou was indeed much busier, and his appearances for meals were no longer as punctual as before. Only late at night would he have time to come to Li Qing’s room and stare blankly at his sleeping face.

At 1:45 AM, Li Qing opened his eyes and gazed at the departing back of Feng Yanzhou. This was the tenth time Feng Yanzhou had come by at night… He would often drag his exhausted body to sit by the bedside, occasionally falling asleep from sheer exhaustion, only to wake up with a start, tuck the quilt around Li Qing, and leave.

Moonlight spilled into the room, cold and indifferent, unable to soothe Li Qing’s unsettled heartbeat. Li Qing stroked the bangle on his right wrist; he hated this feeling of being out of control. It was as if something was about to break through the soil eager and suppressed and he felt a strong urge to avoid it, to flee. Perhaps, leaving would be enough…

Rising to sit on the edge of the bed, Li Qing clutched the corner of the quilt and whispered, “Shadow One, Shadow Two!”

Almost immediately, two black figures dropped into the room and said respectfully, “Master.”

Li Qing stared blankly at the bed curtains. “The two of you follow my orders; are you truly certain you will not betray me? Will you… obey all my arrangements?”

The two said in unison, “If Master has instructions, just give them. If we have any ulterior motives, let us be diced into a thousand pieces!”

Li Qing turned to look at them and said solemnly, “Good. In that case, help me do a few things. Shadow One, go to the mass grave outside the city and find two corpses with builds similar to myself and Banting. Also, steal some colorless and odorless sleeping powder from Dr. Qin. Shadow Two, buy a carriage. Five days from now, in the evening, take Banting out of the palace first and have him wait in the woods outside the city. Then return to perform another task. At that time, I will find an opportunity to drug him into unconsciousness. You must act swiftly; if he were conscious, he would likely be extinguished before the fire in Huiyu Palace even ignited…”

Shadow One and Shadow Two exchanged a look of shock before lowering their heads. “We obey your orders!”

After making the arrangements, Li Qing could not sleep. He put on an outer robe, walked out into the courtyard, and sat by the stone table to admire the moon. Banting, who had been sleeping in the side room, saw him when he got up in the night and hurried over with a cloak, carefully wrapping it around him. “Your Highness, why have you come out? It is so cold outside.”

Li Qing drew his clothes closer; it was indeed cold. “Banting, are you homesick?”

Banting stood behind him and scratched the back of his head with a silly smile. “I am, but Lord He said that as long as I take good care of the Sixth Prince, he will give my family a large sum of money. My younger brothers and sisters are still young, and my parents are in poor health, guarding our two mu of barren land in the village. I sold myself into the Prime Minister’s residence back then just to let them live a little better.”

Li Qing sighed softly and said, “You will be able to go back soon. When that time comes, I will return your contract of servitude to you.”

The wind was too strong, and Banting did not hear clearly. “What did Your Highness just say?”

“Nothing. Go back and rest; I will sit for a while longer.”

Banting felt that the Prince was unhappy tonight and wanted to stay with him, but he could not defy orders, so he shuffled back to his room, looking back every few steps. He quietly opened the window and sat by it, watching. If the Prince so much as coughed once, he would immediately rush to help him back inside.

Meanwhile, a dramatic scene of master and servant was unfolding in the Imperial Study. Gao Yuan looked at the Emperor, who had fallen asleep over his desk, and draped a cloak over him out of pity.

Feng Yanzhou immediately woke up, his eyes filled with killing intent. Seeing it was Gao Yuan, he slowly put the dagger at his waist away. “What is it?”

“Your Majesty, the night is deep; please go to your sleeping quarters to rest. A study is no place to sleep.”

“It is of no matter. Eunuch Gao, you are getting on in years; go and sleep for a while. You do not need to keep watch over me constantly.”

While the two were talking, Shadow Three flew into the room. After saluting, he began to report the news brought back by the other shadow guards: “Reporting to Your Majesty, the Heir of the Prince of Jing arrived in Liangzhou ten days ago and, after some setbacks, has successfully taken over the post-disaster reconstruction work. The Prince of Jing has used the excuse of reuniting with his brother to stay at the Prince of Li’s residence in advance, following behind the Prince of Li all day to keep a close watch; the Prince of Li has not made any moves for the time being. If no one hinders him, he can completely handle this northern snow disaster in about a month!”

Feng Yanzhou’s slender fingers tapped on the desk as he pondered for a moment. “Notify Shadow Four and Shadow Five to keep a close watch on Feng Yu. The Prince of Li may be quiet, but that does not mean he is; a wolf cub, how could he let such a good opportunity go to waste? If he truly acts against the Heir of the Prince of Jing, you must kill him at any cost if necessary!”

Shadow Three acknowledged the order and departed. Feng Yanzhou continued to review the memorials, going another night without sleep. In the morning, he went straight from the study to the morning court, his mood extremely irritable.

He was already annoyed, and yet someone insisted on running into the line of fire.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, your subject has a memorial to present. Your subject wishes to impeach the Heir of the Prince of Jing, Feng Ming: for disregarding ritual and law, being cruel and murderous, and arbitrarily executing dozens of officials in the northern territory, while seizing millions in silver for his own private use. Your subject humbly requests Your Majesty to issue a decree to have the Heir of the Prince of Jing apprehended and brought to justice, so as not to chill the hearts of all the officials!”

As soon as these words were spoken, the assembled officials were shocked. Some had just heard of it, while others well, their information channels were quite efficient, and they were also good actors, pretending they had just found out.

Seven officials walked to the center of the hall and knelt down in unison: “We, your subjects, second this!”

Feng Yanzhou took a deep breath, suppressing his rage. If not for the sake of accumulating merit for Li Qing, he would have loved to personally behead these seven men and hang their corpses on the city wall for three days! Chilled, are you? I will make you go cold from head to toe!

Slamming his hand against the desk, Feng Yanzhou stood up and roared at the kneeling men:

“The imperial envoy was killed, the Governor of Liangzhou is missing why don’t you ask who did that?! What Feng Ming has done was done under my own secret decree to deal with those traitorous villains! Since you are all pleading for those dead men today, it seems you have quite close dealings with them! I’m sure you’ve received quite a few benefits! The Minister of the Supreme Court is ordered to throw them into the Celestial Prison for a strict investigation!”

When the Emperor was angered, no one dared to plead further.