When the Deposed Crown Prince Was Reborn as Troublemaker - Chapter 82

You Yusui looked at the unconscious County Magistrate Li and couldn’t help turning to Cui Yan beside him. “Am I really that frightening?” 

After saying this, You Yusui couldn’t help raising his hand to touch his own face.

His Highness the Crown Prince was naturally impossible to look fierce or menacing — on the contrary, his face was as radiant as morning glow reflected on snow, his bearing as graceful as that of a divine being.

Cui Yan glanced at County Magistrate Li, who was being held up by a servant and had barely avoided collapsing to the ground, then said, “I imagine it must be that the weather is too hot, and County Magistrate Li has been standing here for too long — he’s probably suffered heatstroke.”

When his words fell, You Yusui looked toward the servant supporting County Magistrate Li and said, “Why haven’t you taken him somewhere shaded to cool down?”

“Yes, yes, yes.” The servant broke out in a cold sweat from fright, not daring to raise his head as he kept affirming.

You Yusui gave a nod and led the group of people following behind him toward the Buddhist hall.

After You Yusui and his party had walked some distance away, County Magistrate Li opened one eyelid, then said to the servant beside him, “What I said to you just now — did you hear it?”

“I heard it,” the servant replied.

County Magistrate Li let out a breath of relief and sent the servant hurrying down the mountain with the badge, while he himself returned to his own meditation chamber to pack his belongings, ready to flee at any moment.

County Magistrate Li rummaged through every box and cabinet in the chamber, and could only curse himself at that moment for not having brought enough with him — if he wanted to take his whole family overseas, this money would likely not be sufficient.

After packing for a long while, County Magistrate Li could only resent that he hadn’t brought his entire fortune with him. He did want to go back down the mountain to collect his things, but everywhere outside the temple was no longer safe — there was every chance he’d be seized on the road back. He was better off staying in Jinyun Temple. If someone came to arrest him, he could still use the Crown Prince as leverage.

“Xie Tan could refuse even the merit of aiding a ruler’s rise to power, but surely he wouldn’t abandon even his own cousin,” County Magistrate Li said slowly as he sat before the table and took a sip of tea. “The Crown Prince is, after all, still the Crown Prince.”

Whether out of a subject’s duty or the bond between cousins, Xie Tan should not choose to harm the Crown Prince.

Meanwhile, on the other side, You Yusui had already led everyone in paying respects to the Buddha.

It was an exceedingly dull affair, but You Yusui had no choice, for early that very morning the various powerful magnates had brought their daughters before him, all manner of flattery and fawning mixed with all manner of veiled barbs and insinuations.

In such an atmosphere, You Yusui had no desire to listen to recitations, no desire to eat fruit — he simply brought everyone straight to pay respects to the Buddha and made them hold their tongues.

And so the situation became this: You Yusui sat on a meditation cushion silently reciting sutras in his mind, while everyone else stood to one side silently reciting sutras — and only after they had stood for a full morning did You Yusui rise and announce that it was time to go eat the noon meal the temple had prepared.

Those magnates who had never endured such suffering felt as if they had been granted a pardon. Did they know how they had gotten through that morning? They hadn’t dared to move, hadn’t dared to leave freely, had had to hold in even the urge to relieve themselves, terrified that a single breach of decorum before the Crown Prince would undo all their efforts.

At that moment, everyone let out relaxed smiles — and then they heard His Highness the Crown Prince say, “You have all worked hard. Do come and keep this prince company in paying respects to the Buddha tomorrow as well.”

In an instant, the smiles froze on everyone’s faces. What could they say? Only that it had been no trouble at all.

You Yusui revealed a satisfied smile, then said, “Everyone may go and eat.”

When his words fell, You Yusui was the first to walk out of the Buddhist hall. The moment he stepped outside, he was helped by Cui Yan onto a palanquin, appearing as though the morning’s Buddhist devotions had drained much of his energy.

Others thought His Highness the Crown Prince was physically delicate, but only Cui Yan, who had helped You Yusui onto the palanquin, knew — His Highness was simply unbearably lazy.

With the Crown Prince’s departure, seeing that none of the others had managed to gain any advantage through their daughters either, everyone gave a ‘hmph’ and turned to leave, preparing to try again when the Crown Prince paid his respects to the Buddha the next day.

Madam Li went back to her quarters seething with a bellyful of frustration. She was clearly the first one to bring her daughter to find His Highness the Crown Prince, yet that pack of vixens had come crowding in as well — utterly revolting.

The moment she opened the door to her room, Madam Li saw it in complete disarray, while County Magistrate Li sat before the table with a deep frown, having not cleaned up a single thing.

Madam Li immediately started scolding him. “You wretched old fool — His Highness called you to pay respects to the Buddha, and you fainted. You couldn’t even speak up for this mother and daughter in front of the Crown Prince. Instead you let those vixens snatch away so many opportunities. Do you still want to be the Emperor’s father-in-law or not?”

After saying this, Madam Li gave County Magistrate Li a kick, then continued, “And you’ve made the room such a mess — what did I do wrong to end up married to a wretched old fool like you?”

County Magistrate Li looked at Madam Li crying and making a scene beside him and felt his head about to split. He said, “You cry, go ahead and cry — do you even know that catastrophe is about to fall on our heads!”

“What catastrophe?” Madam Li’s heart gave a start. She was not entirely unaware of what County Magistrate Li had been doing — could it be that the court had sent people to investigate them?

If that were the case, was her life of wealth and luxury about to come to an end?

“Old Three Li, today you explain this to me clearly — what is going on?” Madam Li demanded.

County Magistrate Li lowered his voice. “The ledger I hid under the brick beneath the chamber pot the day before yesterday has gone missing, and today a servant came up the mountain to tell me that Xie Tan, whom I had captured, has been rescued by someone.”

“Xie Tan?” Madam Li frowned. Who was that?

“The Junior Minister of Dali Temple, the official who investigated the illicit salt case in Jiangnan back then, the future head of the Xie clan of Chen Commandery — he has already obtained the ledger. Do you think there is still a way out for you and me?” County Magistrate Li said.

Madam Li was so frightened she collapsed into a chair, her face full of panic. “What do we do now? Run?”

County Magistrate Li gave a cold laugh. “Run? Run where?”

“The entirety of Jinyun Temple is surrounded by the guards the Crown Prince brought — five hundred men is not many, but if you and I disappear, the Crown Prince will notice immediately.”

“Didn’t you say that Imperial Physician Cui at the Crown Prince’s side had already become your ally?” Madam Li asked. “The Crown Prince shouldn’t make things difficult for us.”

County Magistrate Li steadied himself on the table and stood up. “I should have known — there are no such coincidences.”

The very night the ledger was stolen, the Crown Prince suddenly suffered a nightmare, had people beat drums and gongs to drive away evil spirits, and then insisted on coming to Jinyun Temple to offer incense. What sort of coincidence could that be?

County Magistrate Li looked at his wife. “The Crown Prince won’t make things difficult for us?”

“The Crown Prince might be the very first one who wants us dead.”

When County Magistrate Li finished speaking, all color drained from Madam Li’s face. “What do we do? What do we do?”

“I’ve already sent a servant down the mountain on the pretext of going home to fetch things to mobilize the troops,” County Magistrate Li said. “When the time comes, they’ll surround the entirety of Jinyun Temple. With the Crown Prince in our hands, they won’t dare to move against us now.”

“And afterward?” Madam Li asked. Even if they didn’t die now, they would die later — they couldn’t possibly make an enemy of the court, for that would be rebellion.

“I anticipated this day long ago and prepared household registers for you, me, and Ling’er early on. When the chaos breaks out, we’ll seize the opportunity to flee to Bohai Commandery and then set out to sea,” County Magistrate Li said.

“Good, good, good,” Madam Li murmured. Then she looked at her husband. “So do I still need to accompany His Highness the Crown Prince in paying respects to the Buddha tomorrow?”

“Go,” County Magistrate Li said, looking at his wife. “Not only go, but ingratiate yourself even more fervently — do you understand?”

Madam Li nodded nervously. “Understood.”

Seeing this, County Magistrate Li sat back down. “Let’s eat. The dishes are nearly cold.”

For that meal, Madam Li could barely swallow a single bite.

Meanwhile, Huo Xiling, keeping watch outside Jinyun Temple, also learned that the force that had appeared so suddenly the night before was from the Li family.

“The Li family?” Huo Xiling fixed her gaze on the Dayang County garrison troops that had suddenly arrived at the foot of the mountain.

“Yes,” the Eastern Palace guard answered.

“Find a way to expose them to those garrison troops,” Huo Xiling said, gesturing at the garrison troops heading up the mountain.

Those garrison troops moved with unsteady steps and had not the slightest fighting spirit, but they had the advantage of numbers — several thousand men against the few hundred around the Third Prince would still give sufficient odds of victory.

“Yes.”

Since the general had given such instructions, they would naturally carry them out.

That same night, a subordinate came to report to County Magistrate Li, saying that Xie Tan had been captured.

County Magistrate Li was overjoyed, and immediately set off to see the Junior Minister who had walked right into his trap.

In a secluded meditation chamber, County Magistrate Li looked at the bound You Yushan and said, “It seems Junior Minister Xie has overestimated himself and has once again fallen into my hands.”

You Yushan had quite the urge to curse out loud — though he truly was not Xie Tan!

“Since Junior Minister Xie has no sincere intention of cooperating with me, there is nothing more I need to say,” County Magistrate Li said with a cold expression. “I have already guessed what you all intend to do.”

“You and the Crown Prince worked from within and without — one gathering evidence, the other luring us to this place — so as to sweep us all up in one fell swoop, is that not so?”

“But what you never anticipated is that the one with military command over Dayang County is me.”

“Now five thousand garrison troops surround Jinyun Temple. The Crown Prince and you cannot escape even with wings!”

“First thing tomorrow morning, I would very much like to see whether His Highness the Crown Prince has any affection for you, his cousin, and whether he will surrender himself to save you.”

“Keep a close watch on him,” County Magistrate Li said, then rose and departed.

Early the next morning, You Yusui got up, washed and groomed himself, and prepared to go to the Buddhist hall.

Cui Yan watched You Yusui wash up and said quietly, “Outside Jinyun Temple, a ring of garrison troops has surrounded it. It seems County Magistrate Li has already found out.”

You Yusui smiled upon hearing this. “No need to worry — we have Xiling.”

When his words fell, You Yusui stepped out through the door, and everyone who had long been waiting outside naturally followed his footsteps toward the Buddhist hall.

Fresh flowers newly picked that day had been placed on the altar shrine inside the Buddhist hall, and the melons and fruits had only recently been set out as well — amid the incense smoke, the fragrance of fresh flowers and fruits added a few notes that diminished some of the hall’s solemnity.

Before You Yusui had even properly begun the Buddhist devotions, County Magistrate Li kicked open the doors of the Buddhist hall.

The people inside the hall were given a great fright, loudly rebuking County Magistrate Li and demanding to know what he thought he was doing.

Only You Yusui, who still held incense sticks in his hand, turned around and asked with a smile, “County Magistrate Li, have you also come to keep this prince company in paying respects to the Buddha?”

County Magistrate Li gave a cold laugh. “Pay respects to what Buddha — I’m afraid His Highness the Crown Prince only wants to send us off to the Western Pure Land.”

Having said this, County Magistrate Li looked toward the group of magnates standing on the Crown Prince’s side and berated them. “Fools! The Crown Prince came here to investigate a case.”

You Yusui casually tossed aside the incense sticks, looked at County Magistrate Li, and said with a smile, “So you are not entirely foolish, it seems.”

“His Highness the Crown Prince, I advise you to surrender,” County Magistrate Li said. “Jinyun Temple has already been surrounded by me, and your cousin is in my hands.”

When his words fell, You Yushan was shoved forward.

You Yusui: ……

“Though this is not my cousin, he is indeed my younger brother by a different mother,” You Yusui said, looking at You Yushan.

Cui Yan couldn’t help laughing out loud. “Li Daren, that is Prince Wu. Xie Tan is still in Chang’an.”

And You Yusui looked at You Yushan with an expression of utter sincerity and said, “Third Imperial Brother, this prince believes Father Emperor will be very pleased to learn that you have sacrificed yourself for the nation.”