Edited by Larkspur

Chapter 34: The Crown Prince Awakens (Part 2)

Xiao Lin-zi laughed in agreement. When the Crown Prince was just injured, the few of them did their best to hide it for about a month. The Army Commander-in-Chief of Great Tong gradually became suspicious. He wondered if the eunuchs were up to some tricks and insisted on seeing the Crown Prince in person. When he finally saw him in person, the dark clouds in the General’s heart became heavier.

It was over. The Crown Prince was on his territory, led troops to attack the Tartars and was seriously injured and unconscious. 

No matter how one looked at this, it was a crime that deserved the extermination of the clan and possessions confiscated! Not to mention how angry the Emperor would be, one feared that the few cabinet ministers would be the first to not let him, the Army Commander-in-Chief of Great Tong, off!

The current monarch was absurd and confused, pampering the Younger Qi Empress, making a mess of the court and Inner Palace. The entire court of civil and military ministers could see clearly and were worried about the Emperor’s lack of Imperial dignity. The cabinet ministers had persuaded, officials were beaten to death, but the Emperor liked to be like this. So what could they do as officials? In the end, the cabinet ministers and prime ministers gave up. Let the current monarch be confused. Fortunately, they still had the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince was smart and eager to learn. This was the hope of everything under Heavens!

Therefore, the few patriarchs looked at the Crown Prince like their lifeline, and one feared that even their own grandsons paled in comparison. It was said that the Crown Prince was the foundation of a nation but in their dynasty, this was truly not an exaggeration at all. The hope of the entire nation was placed on the Crown Prince. The entire court of officials tacitly knew that when the Emperor passed on and the Crown Prince ascended to the throne, all the dark miasma they were currently facing would be resolved.

And then the Crown Prince was injured and fell into a coma. If this matter spread out, it would be suspicious if the Commander could retain his life.

The Army Commander-in-Chief of Great Tong left with a bitter face, and afterwards cooperated with the Eastern Palace’s people, blocking the news and secretly sought medical treatment. Just like that, they managed to hide for another month. But as more and more people were becoming suspicious and the Eastern Palace could no longer withstand it, the Crown Prince woke up.

Xiao Lin-zi picked the most important matters during this period of time and conveyed them to Qin Yi in detail. Qin Yi had no appetite when he looked at the entire table full of dishes. He randomly picked a few things with his chopsticks as he listened to Xiao Lin-zi’s report and when he finished, Qin Yi placed his chopsticks down, “Has the Commander arrived?”

“The Army Commander-in-Chief of Great Tong is already waiting outside.”

The Commander was considered half an insider. He had heard that the servants of the Eastern Palace suddenly became busy and afterwards a meal was called, thus the Commander guessed this was one of the possibilities and was so overjoyed that he could not sit still. He immediately changed into court robes and went to Qin Yi’s without stopping his horse to wait.

Qin Yi Nodded his head and waved for the palace servants to remove the dishes before standing up, “Call him in.”

“Yes. One will obey.”

When the Commander-in-Chief saw the moving Qin Yi with his own eyes, he almost burst into tears on the spot. He stood in the study and spoke to Qin Yi for a long time. When the Commander walked out of the temporary Imperial Residence, one could see that his expression was filled with happiness that could last till the rest of his life. 

It was not early when Qin Yi woke up and after a long discussion with the Commander, the skies had turned completely dark. Xiao Lin-zi brought a lamp over and lit the wick before carefully reminding, “Crown Prince, it’s getting late, do you want to rest?”

Qin Yi had already nodded his head in agreement as his soul just returned to the rightful place and after speaking so long with the Commander, he felt a little dizzy. Qin Yi took two steps into the inner room when he suddenly stopped and spoke in an icy cold tone, “Where is Tang Xin Yi?”

Xiao Lin-zi’s heart groaned, “Lord, didn’t Tang GongGong receive your order to look for something?”

Could it be that Tang GongGong did not receive an order from the Crown Prince? Could someone be impersonating His Highness?

“Oh. He still knows how to take my order.” Qin Yi laughed coldly, “Call him back immediately! He is simply presumptuous and entirely lawless.”

The news that Tang GongGong, who was always by the Crown Prince’s side, had arrived in TaiYuan was quickly and silently spread in officialdom. In a short moment of time, all the high and low ranked officials in the city became so nervous that they did not dare to sleep deeply at night.

Marquis Chang Xing had submitted an invitation twice and was turned away at the door by Tang Xin Yi. It was not until the third time when a letter was sent out from the courtyard that Tang Xin Yi was temporarily residing in, indicating, “The Marquis is sincere. GongGong mentioned that he is available tomorrow. If the Marquis is interested to come, it is ideal to come over tomorrow at noon.”

Marquis Chang Xing was overjoyed. The next day, he dressed in new clothes and brought Second Young Master to pay him a visit seriously.

As Chu Jin Yao mentioned, Tang Xin Yi’s face was deadly pale, unlike a breathing person. However, today, there was an unexpected irritation in his eyes, which made him appear to be a little more alive.

Marquis Chang Xing looked at Tang Xin Yi’s expression and was surprised to notice his unexpected impatience. He was an important person by the Crown Prince’s side, so what could he be upset about? Marquis Chang Xing did not understand. He brought his son to bow and Tang Xin Yi supported him as he said that he did not deserve the blessing before showing Marquis Chang Xin and the Second Young Master.

After Marquis Chang Xing was seated, he carefully picked a non-important topic to flatter him and when he could see almost the entire scenario, he then casually probed, “This official has not gone far to welcome your honoured presence, may GongGong forgive. One does not know if it has delayed GongGong’s matter?”

Tang Xin Yi replied, “Marquis need not be too polite. This miscellaneous self did not want to disturb the Marquis and Darens, moreover, an unforeseen event happened on the streets that day. One heard that the Marquis’ precious daughter was on the streets and this miscellaneous self had disturbed the precious Young Lady. May the Marquis not blame.”

These were courtesy words too. Marquis Chang Xing said ‘may GongGong forgive’ while Tang Xin Yi said lightly ‘may the Marquis not blame’, the difference between both was very intriguing. When Marquis Chang Xing heard it, he dared not accept it and instead smiled, “GongGong is too polite. This one’s little daughter was being naughty and has let GongGong see a joke.”

If it was someone else riding horses on the streets and even hurt his daughter, Marquis Chang Xing would definitely asked for an explanation from that person and no matter whose family’s gentleman he was, they would have to have their elders come over to their doors personally to apologise. However, this person was Tang GongGong… Marquis Chang Xing only hoped that Tang GongGong would quickly forget about the matter and never mention it again.

Tang Xin Yi looked at Marquis Chang Xing who was sitting on the left of the master chair, before looking behind Marquis Chang Xing, and at the weak and quiet Second Young Master. He could not help but sneered in his heart. Although Chu Jin was a military General, he was very discerning and was the best in protecting himself. His father’s generation had lost a lot of family wealth and Chu Jin had to take over a big mess from his father. Even though he was stronger than his father, he was not that much stronger than him. He was more than enough to hold fort, but it was not enough to expand as his spirits for achievement was not as good as that of the first generation Marquis Chang Xing. And now, as Tang Xin Yi looked at Chu Jin’s gentleman, he was not one that had determination to forge ahead. So, with their family situation, if they wanted the Emperor to allow them to continue their titleship, one feared that it would be difficult. The wealth and honor of the residence of Marquis Chang Xing only lasted two generations.

However, Tang Xin Yi had thought that as compared to Chu Jin and Chu Gentleman, Chu Jin’s young lady was a courageous one. A lady of the boudoir dared to look at him and even after knowing his identity, she was not timid at all. It was a pity that she was just a young lady. If she was a male, Tang Xin Yi would have felt that there was hope for the Chu family, but since she wasn’t then there was nothing to say.

Speaking of which, it was really a coincidence that Tang Xin Yi bumped into Chu Jin Yao.

Ever since the Crown Prince fell into a coma, Tang Xin Yi had been secretly looking for famous doctors and mysterious medicine till one night, he received a secret letter from the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince’s secret letter only contained a few words, saying that he had regained consciousness now but was unable to wake up so he instructed Tang Xin Yi to secretly look for a unique type of jade amid the commoners. Tang Xin Yi double checked and it was indeed the Crown Prince’s handwriting and all the secret codes in the letter were correct. Tang Xin Yi was slightly relieved, but he then became anxious again, the Crown Prince was clearly conscious but unable to wake up, for it to be so strange, could it be that it was a forbidden witchcraft?

Tang Xin Yi immediately thought of that Empress residing in the Palace. However, it was still not late. It was important to carry out the Crown Prince’s order first, so Tang Xin Yi carefully selected a few highly skilled confidants and left Great Tong to search for this unique jade. Tang Xin Yi heard that there was a wandering Taoist priest in a village, and it seemed that he had the thing that the Crown Prince had described. Tang Xin Yi immediately brought people to pursue and chased all the way to the city of TaiYuan and encountered Chu Jin Yao on the streets.

He initially did not intend to alarm these officials as it would be too troublesome to entertain them, but he had been hindered on the streets that day, and their identities were revealed, alarming the officials in the city. It so happened that they still had to look for that Taoist priest in the city of TaiYuan and had no way to disengage. If Tang Xin Yi was someone by the Emperor’s side, then he need not see anyone if he did not want to, but his master was still a Crown Prince and thus still required the support of the court officials. Tang Xin Yi could only open his doors and receive the visiting Marquis Chang Xing.