Xiao Jingchuan: Hehehe, I have two…
Emperor Yunqi was already too weary to punish the Sixth Prince further. With a wave of his hand, the imperial procession moved on.
The little eunuch staggered to his feet, intending to continue escorting the Sixth Prince back to his residence. But when he looked up, the Sixth Prince, who had been standing there grinning foolishly just moments before, had vanished without a trace.
“Your Highness, the Sixth Prince? Your Highness, the Sixth Prince—!”
The little eunuch was on the verge of tears. Heaven knew this was his first time dealing with someone of such high status—usually, he was relegated to scrubbing chamber pots in some forgotten corner!
No wonder this task had been assigned to him! It was clearly no easy job!
In a secluded corner of the palace wall nearby—a blind spot from which one could observe the patrolling guards and passing palace maids and eunuchs on the palace path, yet remain largely unnoticed—Xiao Jingchuan leaned against the vermilion wall with his arms crossed. His white robes stood in stark contrast to the vivid red of the wall.
The Bone-Reflecting Mirror, adorned with the Silver Canine Pattern, hovered silently beside him. Man and mirror watched the passersby on the palace path quietly, lost in thought.
The vast Qin palaces spanning eight hundred li, the Han courts with their three thousand halls—who could witness such grandeur today?
How fleeting it all seemed. A hundred years had passed just like that.
“Qin Jian, little mirror, dear Bone-Reflecting Mirror, please bring up a map of the surrounding area and highlight Xiao Quan’s location.”
Suppressing a momentary sense of melancholy, Xiao Jingchuan resumed his playful demeanor, urging his trusted companion into action.
The Bone-Reflecting Mirror bobbed up and down as if nodding in agreement. It quickly completed its search and obligingly displayed a real-time map of the surroundings on its surface. Extending outward from the palace path were the residences of the princes and princesses who had yet to receive their fiefdoms, commonly known as the Eastern and Western Five Compounds. Unfortunately, Emperor Yunqi had few offspring, and even fewer had survived to adulthood. Now, the entire Eastern Five Compounds served as Xiao Jingchuan’s personal palace.
Stretching from the Eastern and Western Five Compounds toward the direction Emperor Yunqi had taken earlier was the Imperial Academy. In principle, this was where the princes and princesses pursued their studies, but it had since become the battleground for the Third Prince and the First Prince to clash after court sessions.
A glowing red dot symbolizing Emperor Yunqi was located on the path closest to the Imperial Academy.
【At this moment, the Third Prince and the First Prince are “debating” at the Imperial Academy.】
The Bone-Reflecting Mirror’s tone carried a hint of schadenfreude.
Though called a debate, it was essentially a heated argument. During the morning court session, the two had once again locked horns, each refuting the other’s points one by one. Their respective factions of ministers had nearly resorted to wielding their Hu Tablets to stage a brawl right there in Yunxing Hall.
The ministers of both factions might as well have thought: With pen and paper in hand, I cannot strike you; without them, I cannot impeach you. Thankfully, the Hu Tablet allows me to do both at once!
Xiao Jingchuan stroked his chin, a tinge of regret in his expression. “Ah, if only I had been there! Even if they didn’t come to blows, I’m sure I could have stirred things up and made it entertaining—”
Then, as if struck by a thought, he asked, “Little mirror, did you just say the Third Prince and the Crown Prince are also at the Imperial Academy right now?”
The Bone-Reflecting Mirror bobbed again in confirmation, though for some reason, it felt an ominous premonition.
Xiao Jingchuan clapped his hands together, promptly confirming the mirror’s unease. “Well, isn’t this a happy coincidence? I… I finally get to enjoy some excitement again—”
With a chuckle, he headed straight for the Imperial Academy location marked by the Bone-Reflecting Mirror.
[“But, but Your Majesty the Host, you’ve just returned to the palace, and the original host has never attended the Imperial Academy before. Is this really appropriate?”]
The Bone-Reflecting Mirror trembled as it offered its advice.
Xiao Jingchuan, however, looked completely unconcerned. He blinked and said, “But that cheap old man didn’t forbid me from attending classes, did he? If it’s not forbidden, then it’s allowed.”
He always had this kind of unreasonable logic.
So the Bone-Reflecting Mirror fell silent.
In the Imperial Academy hall, the Crown Prince and the Third Prince sat facing each other.
There were no instructors in the hall, only the two of them, glaring at each other with mutual disdain, yet forced to confront one another here.
Because the matter of Lin’an remained unresolved—whether through compromise, debate, or even brawling—they had to present a result to Emperor Yunqi.
With the Jun He Case erupting, the Jun Clan was uprooted entirely, and even the main branch of the Jun Clan in Qilu had no time to react.
Jun He’s fate was so tragic, and his notorious disciple, Jiangnan Inspector Xu Lang, was already dead beyond any doubt—beheaded publicly, with hundreds implicated and executed.
But while the dead were gone, the living still had to clean up the mess. Xu Lang had embezzled an enormous sum of money, leaving almost nothing for the southern coastal defense front against pirates. This coastal defense front, established more for padding payrolls than actual effectiveness, was more boastful than practical. If things continued this way, it would eventually become a real coastal defense front.
Someone had to deal with this mess, but no one wanted it to be themselves.
Thus, the once highly coveted position of Jiangnan Inspector had now become a hot potato. No one was willing to step forward and take on this mess, but this mess had become a festering sore that Nan Qian could no longer ignore, slowly expanding and eroding its coastline.
Both the Third Prince and the Crown Prince were deeply troubled.
Neither wanted to handle it, each hoping to dump this thankless task on the other. They even considered dragging it out indefinitely, but today during the court assembly, Emperor Yunqi suddenly regained his senses from his Madness Disorder and demanded they produce a result.
“Elder Brother has hesitated to speak several times. What is it that worries you?”
In the end, it was the Third Prince who forced a smile and broke the ice, though the excuse he offered was painfully weak.
The Crown Prince snorted coldly, “What worries me, Third Brother, you know perfectly well.”
Though he addressed him as “Third Brother,” it sounded as if he were speaking to a sworn enemy from ten lifetimes ago.
As usual, the Third Prince opened the conversation, but the Crown Prince seized the initiative. He set his teacup down on the table and said, “Third Brother, the Lingnan Administration Commissioner trained under your wing is quite the talent—he described a dike breach in his memorial as a ‘Heavenly River Inversion.’ With such literary flair, he ought to be sent to the coastal defense front to write books and establish theories.”
The Third Prince forced an elegant smile. “He pales in comparison to Elder Brother’s advisors—the three hundred thousand taels of construction silver found in Xu Lang’s possession, after passing through the hands of the Eastern Palace officials, somehow turned into three shiploads of pebbles. This ‘Gold-to-Stone Transmutation Art’ is precisely what should be sent to teach the pirates to switch careers and sell pebbles.”
“Third Brother truly has a way with things.”
“Elder Brother is the one excelling in both civil and military arts, with capable subordinates aplenty.”
“I recall that the Noble Consort is from Lin’an, isn’t she?”
The Crown Prince grew anxious: This is your mother’s hometown’s problem—you have to deal with it!
“Elder Brother jests. Lin’an is blessed by nature, producing outstanding talents. Aren’t Elder Brother’s subordinates all Jiangnan scholars as well?”
The Third Prince also grew anxious: Your people are all from Jiangnan! You have more people—you should be the one to handle it!
The two leaned in as they spoke, nearly bumping heads across the table. Just as the fury in their eyes seemed about to ignite and singe each other’s eyebrows, a white butterfly fluttered gracefully into the room.
Then a youth in a white round-collared robe crashed through the window and leaped inside.
“Hehe, little butterfly, come play with me…”
The Crown Prince’s eyes widened. “Sixth Prince?!”
He remembered this younger brother had been thrown into the Imperial Prison for offending Consort Gan. He had even used the incident as an excuse to submit several memorials against the Third Prince—though unfortunately, none were as effective as the one Third Prince had submitted against Jun He. How on earth did that bastard Xiao Huan write his memorials? Damn it, how could they be so well-written—
Third Prince, too, forgot about trading insults with the Crown Prince. He stared in disbelief at the youth who should not have been here, a flicker of fear deep in his eyes.
Why was Xiao Chuan here?
Shouldn’t he have been killed by his mother’s people? Why was he not only alive but also out of the Imperial Prison?
How was this any different from a dead man coming back to life?
Third Prince thought in horror.
Yet Sixth Prince remained completely unaware of his fear and saw nothing wrong with chasing a butterfly through the window, interrupting his two high-ranking elder brothers as they discussed important matters.
He wobbled after the butterfly for a while, running several laps around the Imperial Academy hall under the gazes of the Crown Prince and Third Prince, before regretfully watching the nimble, graceful butterfly flutter back out through the window he had crashed open.
The whole scene looked quite fraternal and harmonious, yet at the same time utterly bizarre.
Then something even stranger happened. Sixth Prince’s gaze swept over his two elder brothers, as if he had spotted something even more amusing than the butterfly, and he bounded over with gleeful laughter.
Then… he grabbed a corner of the Crown Prince’s luxurious robe with one hand.
“Big brother, big brother, come play in the mud with me!”
Sixth Prince looked up at him with sparkling eyes, making it impossible for the Crown Prince to maintain his usual façade of magnanimity and benevolence.
“Pfft.”
Third Prince couldn’t help but laugh out loud. The Crown Prince shot him a fierce glare, forcing Xiao Huan to turn his head aside, stifling his laughter as he said, “This humble brother merely… merely recalled something amusing.”
His amusement didn’t last long, for Sixth Prince had two hands.
Sixth Prince’s other hand soon tugged at his jade pendant. “Third brother, you come too! Playing in the mud is so much fun!”
Now it was the Crown Prince’s turn to laugh: Hahaha, serves you right!
Third Prince’s expression instantly darkened.
He had a cleanliness obsession.
Author’s note:
Third Prince: Let go of me, ahhhh! A dead man coming back to life is one thing, but this is so dirty, ahhhh!