When the Deposed Crown Prince Was Reborn as Troublemaker - Chapter 91

You Yusui watched You Fengyun, who only loved sweet zongzi, forcibly swallow that mouthful of meat zongzi, and could not help but smile. He then assumed an innocent expression and asked, “Father Emperor, are the meat zongzi this son made good?”

You Fengyun silently placed the remaining zongzi on the plate before him, then drank a mouthful of hot tea to wash away all the taste of the meat zongzi in his mouth, and only then spoke to You Yusui. “They are good.”

The Crown Prince had wrapped them with his own hands — even if they were not good, he would have to insincerely praise them as such.

“Then why is Father Emperor not eating more?” You Yusui asked in confusion, looking at the unfinished meat zongzi You Fengyun had set aside.

You Fengyun’s expression turned unpleasant, and he said, “Zhen ate a great many zongzi just now and cannot eat any more at the moment. Have the people below reheat it at dinner time.”

Upon hearing this, You Yusui inwardly sneered, then said aloud, “How about this — this son will accompany Father Emperor for the evening meal.”

Upon hearing this, You Fengyun was of course completely filled with refusal. If the Crown Prince came to dine with him for the evening meal, and saw that he had not eaten the meat zongzi the Crown Prince had wrapped with his own hands, would that not wound the Crown Prince’s heart?

And so You Fengyun said, “Zhen must attend to state affairs and will dine late in the evening. The Crown Prince’s health is not good — you must eat your meals on time, lest you harm your body.”

This reasoning was well-founded and difficult to refute.

But who was You Yusui? He spoke directly, “Father Emperor must also take care of his health and not dine so late in the evening. From today onwards, please eat your meals on time — this son will keep you company.”

Hehe. You are going to finish all five of those meat-filled zongzi whether you like it or not.

Just as You Yusui had expected, You Fengyun’s expression turned even more unpleasant. After a moment, he spoke, “Since you wish for Zhen to eat meals on time, why not help Zhen review these memorials?”

You Yusui: …Farewell!

The next moment, You Yusui politely took his leave and instantly slipped away with Huo Xiling.

After You Yusui had gone, Eunuch An Hai walked to You Fengyun’s side and said, “Your Majesty, these meat zongzi…”

An Hai had meant to ask what should be done with the meat zongzi, but You Fengyun instead said, “Does the Crown Prince like eating meat zongzi?”

“In reply to Your Majesty — he should,” An Hai answered.

You Fengyun thought to himself: No wonder. No wonder the Crown Prince had looked so unhappy staring at the sweet zongzi before him at the midday banquet today.

“Have the Imperial Kitchen prepare some meat zongzi and send them to the Crown Prince,” You Fengyun said. “From now on, all zongzi sent to the Crown Prince’s Eastern Palace must be meat zongzi.”

“Yes,” said An Hai. The Crown Prince has gained His Majesty’s special regard.

“One more thing.” You Fengyun called An Hai back. “The Crown Prince personally wrapped zongzi to present to Zhen — such filial devotion is most commendable and deserves reward.”

And so You Fengyun once again opened his private treasury, took out several fine items, and had An Hai deliver them to the Crown Prince’s Eastern Palace.

You Yusui had never in his wildest dreams expected that going to disgust You Fengyun with meat zongzi would somehow end up bringing him so many fine things in return.

You Yusui, who had never had any intention of personally wrapping zongzi for You Fengyun: …

“His Highness the Crown Prince is truly devoted and filial — the other imperial princes cannot possibly measure up to this,” An Hai said, flattering him enthusiastically as he delivered the items into You Yusui’s hands.

You Yusui: …Do you believe that You Fengyun’s desk will be covered in all manner of zongzi in no time at all?

And just as You Yusui had anticipated, after he had been praised for his filial devotion for presenting the zongzi he had wrapped with his own hands, his brothers all rushed to present You Fengyun with every variety of zongzi imaginable.

Sweet ones, savory ones, spicy ones, sour ones, plain ones — there was every kind to choose from.

You Fengyun, who had already had the misfortune of tasting the meat zongzi, let out a long sigh. He truly had no desire to sample so many outlandish varieties of zongzi.

“The filial devotion of all the imperial princes is evident,” You Fengyun said. “Let each of them receive a piece of Zhen’s calligraphy.”

An Hai instantly understood his master’s double standard — the Crown Prince got fine things from the private treasury, while the other imperial princes got a single piece of calligraphy. You really are stingy to the bone.

As for how the other imperial princes felt upon receiving You Fengyun’s calligraphy, that was their own business.

After all the imperial princes had expressed their filial devotion, the Duanwu Banquet was drawing to a close, and all the officials and their wives who had attended needed to leave the palace before the palace gates were locked.

After the Duanwu festivities ended, Cui Yan sought out Xie Tan and said, “Young Master Xie, might I trouble you to give me a ride in your carriage today?”

Xie Tan turned and looked quietly at Cui Yan, then said, “Aunt Cui is also at the banquet.”

The meaning of these words was to ask Cui Yan why he was not leaving together with his mother in her carriage, and was instead squeezing into his.

“You know perfectly well — the moment she sees me, she will pull me aside and go on about which family’s daughter is virtuous and well-mannered,” Cui Yan said with a smile. “Young Master Xie, I am begging you this time.”

Xie Tan sighed upon hearing this and said, “Get in.”

“Many thanks, Young Master Xie.”

With those words, the graceful Young Master Cui leapt up into the carriage, carrying an air of easy elegance and heartfelt gratitude that was impossible to put into words.

“Let’s go,” said Cui Yan once he had settled himself inside the carriage.

The driver sitting outside heard this and immediately called out, flicking the reins at the horse pulling the carriage, then set off in the direction of the Cui residence.

Inside the carriage, Cui Yan opened his food box, which was filled entirely with zongzi that had had their fillings scooped out.

“What is this?” Lord Xie frowned.

“Come, come — consider this a masterpiece from your younger cousin. The honeyed dates were given away to others to enjoy all that sweetness, leaving nothing but glutinous rice for me. You ought to share in this ‘other people’s sweetness’ along with me.”

Having said that, Cui Yan brought a hollowed-out zongzi toward Xie Tan’s mouth.

“Stop fooling around!” Xie Tan said in a low, reproving voice.

In the end, Xie Tan was compelled to pin Cui Yan down.

“Let go of me quickly,” said Cui Yan, pinned against the wall of the carriage and unable to move.

“Ah Tan, let me go — I know you’re strong, alright?” Cui Yan struggled.

Shortly after, Xie Tan released Cui Yan, then bent down and picked up a sachet that had fallen to the floor.

“What is this?” Xie Tan could see it plainly — the thing had fallen from Cui Yan’s body.

The sachet was a soft pink color, embroidered with orchids, and carried an exceptionally strong fragrance. One look was enough to tell it was a woman’s item and had no business being on Cui Yan’s person.

Upon seeing this, Cui Yan quickly took the sachet back, then said, “This was given to me by Princess Yan.”

Having said so, Cui Yan raised the sachet to his nose and sniffed it.

Xie Tan, upon seeing this, was just about to reprimand him for keeping too close a company with another man’s wife, when he noticed that Cui Yan’s expression had changed.

The next moment, Cui Yan’s face turned serious. He opened the sachet, and from inside he drew out a silk handkerchief that had been soaked in some medicinal substance and then dried, along with a small slip of paper.

Cui Yan had not yet had a chance to read the slip of paper, but merely from catching a whiff of the handkerchief, his expression grew even graver.

“What is this?” Xie Tan’s expression also could not help but turn serious in turn.

“We are not going back to the Cui residence. Have your people take me to my private estate — I need to go to the medicine room and find out what substance is on this handkerchief.” Cui Yan said, pinching the handkerchief before him.

Xie Tan immediately had the driver outside change course and take Cui Yan back to his private estate in Chang’an.

At this moment, Princess Yan had also brought Prince Yan’s secondary consort back to the Prince Yan residence. The secondary consort had not yet regained consciousness and was lying in the carriage being attended to by her handmaid.

As for Prince Yan, who should have returned with them, he had been kept in the palace by the Imperial Noble Consort using her privilege, so that she and her son could have a private conversation.

Li Xiyue felt a measure of pity for Mo Shanshan. She had originally had the chance to remain in the palace and be spared the ordeal of being jostled about in travel, yet because of another person’s disfavor, she had been firmly sent back.

“My Lady, shall we inform the Mo family?” asked the maidservant at her side.

Li Xiyue said, “Do not make a fuss of this matter — we shall speak of it tomorrow.”

Mo Shanshan’s father was a restless sort. If he were told now, he would likely cause an uproar — she did not have the energy to deal with it, so it was better to wait until tomorrow, when You Yuyi returned, and speak of it then.

“Very well,” the young maidservant replied.

“Tell the servants in her courtyard to keep their mouths shut. If they speak carelessly and His Highness asks about it, they can go and face his anger themselves.” Li Xiyue said in a cold voice. “Go and keep watch over them.”

“Yes.” The young maidservant nodded.

It was not until the moon had risen high in the sky that Mo Shanshan finally came to from her unconscious state. She looked at the pitch-black darkness surrounding her and could not help but call out, “Is anyone there?”

The next moment, a young maidservant from the Consort’s side came in with a lit candle and said, “The Secondary Consort has awakened — would you like some water?”

“I do not want water!” said Mo Shanshan. “Do you know what has become of my child?”

The maidservant fell silent for a moment upon hearing this, then finally said, “It is gone.”

In an instant, the surroundings went quiet. After a long while, Mo Shanshan asked, “It was the Imperial Noble Consort’s people who pushed me in, was it not?”

She was not a fool. It was only after drinking the longan and red date soup the Imperial Noble Consort had given her that she had felt dizzy and suffered abdominal pain, and only then that she had been pushed into the water.

What she could not understand was why the Imperial Noble Consort would lay such a vicious hand on her own future grandchild.

The maidservant’s expression changed. She said, “Secondary Consort, please watch your words. Today, everything happened because you accidentally slipped and fell into the lake, were frightened, and suffered a miscarriage.”

Mo Shanshan let out a sound that was somewhere between laughter and weeping upon hearing this, and said, “I understand.”

The maidservant could not help but sigh softly at this, saying, “Living in this Prince Yan residence is not easy for anyone.”

The Consort had it hard. And she herself, a lowly servant — had it not been for the Consort saving her, she would likely have already been beaten to death at the side of the well long ago.

“Secondary Consort need only remember: from now on, be careful in your words and deeds, act as though this matter never happened at all, and do not go making a scene,” the maidservant said.

“Is that also what my husband wishes?” Mo Shanshan asked, touching her abdomen.

The maidservant asked, “Do you remember how the Consort addresses His Highness?”

Mo Shanshan could not help but think back to the first time she had met the Consort — she had heard the Consort call You Yuyi “Your Highness.”

Not “husband,” not “my lord,” but a cold, detached “Your Highness,” utterly devoid of feeling.

At this, Mo Shanshan seemed to understand at last why the Consort had said to her: You have climbed the wrong branch.

Climbing the wrong branch — not only had her child been killed by her own husband’s mother, but she could not even voice a single word of grievance.

“Secondary Consort, please take your medicine,” the maidservant said.