Chapter 129

The Second Prince's words froze the entire building. The eunuchs and maids all knelt down in a panic, and Shouquan was so frightened that he almost tripped and fell into the pond.

Xue Jin'an saw a remarkable quality in the Second Prince for the first time: bravery.

Their fearless courage is truly admirable.

Xue Jin'an decided to turn around and leave, and return after the Second Prince had been executed. After all, although he didn't mind watching the spectacle, he didn't want to get blood splattered on him. The Eldest Princess's personality wouldn't allow anyone to watch the spectacle for nothing.

However, someone had already discovered his whereabouts. Irina leaned against the window, raised the glass wine cup in her hand, and invited with a smile, "It's great to see you again, Seventh Prince. I heard that the best place to appreciate the view of this lake is the third floor. Would you like to come with me?"

Xue Jin'an did not refuse. He told Fu Luhou to stay where he was and stepped into the small building in the middle of the lake.

The second prince kept a straight face and tried to remain calm, but his uneasy eyes betrayed his true feelings. When he looked at Xue Jin'an, his expression was complicated and difficult to understand. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but Xue Jin'an ignored him.

The princess's expression wasn't particularly bad; her smile was a little fainter than usual, but she still looked gentle. She exchanged a glance with Xue Jin'an, nodded slightly, and said softly, "Go."

"Seventh Prince, let them have this place. Let's go to the third floor." Irina lifted her skirt, her figure as graceful as a swan, and disappeared elegantly down the stairs.

Xue Jin'an nodded to the princess as a greeting, then went upstairs without looking to the side.

Xue Jin'an consciously paid attention to the movements downstairs, but it remained quiet until they reached the third floor. This quietness was not a good thing; the Second Prince was about to be in big trouble.

Xue Jin'an's thoughts were interrupted by Irina's words. She leaned against the railing, gazing at the pond of lotus buds about to bloom. Her voice was not very aggressive, and her question was quite natural, "That second prince, I heard he'll be fifteen soon, right? His name is Xue... Peilan, courtesy name Wuxia, is that right?"

“Xie Tinglanyu, a name filled with heavy hope,” Irina said.

Many people like to use plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemums as metaphors when praising others, and jade pendants have almost become a standard accessory for scholars. The Second Prince's name does indeed have a good meaning, but Xue Jin'an did not expect that Irina would first think of the phrase Xie Ting Lan Yu. Xie Ting Lan Yu refers to descendants who will bring glory to the family. The heavy vision makes this name have an indescribable color.

Irina paused, looked at Xue Jin'an and said, "It's just a pity that while the jade is flawless, the person is flawed. His reputation is not commensurate with his actual abilities."

"Sincere devotion turns to mud and blood to soil, stubborn stone to pillars and jade to bones. When the stone breaks and the jade shatters, the golden platform will be used to raise fat rats." Irina recited a poem that the Second Prince had read to her earlier. It was a seven-character quatrain. The first three lines would make it seem like a song of praise, but the last line completely reversed the meaning of the poem, turning it into a satirical poem.

This poem is not very formal; it's more like a doggerel. It tells the story of how, at the beginning of the emperor's reign, he discovered various serious problems such as embezzlement, misappropriation, and ghost employees in the military payroll. The official sent out to investigate the accounts was even killed in a waterborne attack by mountain bandits. When the news reached the capital, the emperor was furious, which led to his reform of the conscription system despite opposition.

The Second Prince became famous overnight with this satirical doggerel. The poem may have been too simple in its wording and not entirely in accordance with the rules of meter, but its strength lay in its sharpness. As a result, the Second Prince became recognized as the most talented prince and received praise from many sides.

Xue Jin'an remembered that the Second Prince made the elementary mistake of "Iron horse is you, icy river is you" precisely because of this poem.

After Irina finished reading, she laughed. Although she didn't say anything, her sarcasm was palpable.

Clearly, Princess Irina, a foreign princess with a deep understanding of Central Plains culture, also noticed the Second Prince's elementary mistake.

Irina looked at Xue Jin'an and asked him with a smile, "What do you think?"

Xue Jin'an sincerely praised, "Your Chinese is really good."

Irina was not satisfied with this answer. She didn't beat around the bush and chuckled, saying in an ambiguous tone, "Hasn't the Seventh Prince suspected anything that Young Master Wuxia's level has suddenly dropped so much?"

Xue Jin'an said bluntly, "It's not important."

Whether the Second Prince is truly talented or not, it has no impact on Xue Jin'an's position. He had already witnessed the Second Prince's abilities at the New Year's banquet. If he had to describe them, they would be neither the best nor the worst. At least he couldn't compare to the First Prince and the Fifth Prince.

Take the matter of the Third Prince's crippled leg, for example. Not to mention how many people were secretly pushing things along, the First Prince and the Second Prince were the ones who came forward on the surface. However, as things stand, the First Prince's presence has gradually faded, while the Second Prince is still a thorn in the Third Prince's side.

No matter how good the family background or reputation the Second Prince has, he will find it difficult to succeed if he is incompetent. This also explains why, in the original novel "I Want to Be Emperor", the one who competes with the First Prince is the Fifth Prince, and the older Second Prince has to rise to prominence only after the First Prince falls from power.

Xue Jin'an had never taken the Second Prince seriously, so he didn't care whether the Second Prince was truly talented or just pretending.

Irina was not satisfied with this answer. She pouted and said, "Xue Mu and him are really not from the same mother."

Xue Jin'an glanced at her out of the corner of her eye and said, "You deliberately tried to sow discord between the two of them and anger your elder sister."

“How could that be? I was just helping her make a choice. I was doing it for her own good.” Irina laughed heartily, swirling the glass in her hand, watching the slightly yellow liquid swirl on the sides. She switched back to her native language, her tone almost cloyingly sweet, like she was talking to a lover. “It’s such a pity that someone like that is burdened by family ties. The sooner she cuts off these unnecessary ties and sees through their despicable hearts, the sooner she will break free from her shackles and achieve true freedom.”

She spoke as if reciting poetry, her tone dramatically rising and falling.

Xue Jin'an immediately figured it out: Irina had put herself in that role.

As mentioned before, the court struggles in the Russian Empire are quite intense. Irina is the only child of the Empress and the previous King, and her succession should be a sure thing. However, the previous King was a good man who squandered his potential and was a good-for-nothing who was not only good at playing his cards but also a fool. He had a very bad relationship with the current Empress. If it weren't for the need to secure her position, the Empress would have killed him long ago.

The Queen had many lovers, including counts, viscounts, ministers of the guard, and members of other royal families... In short, the Queen was incredibly energetic, her legs were practically split into spider legs, and she had conceived several children. However, the Queen's eye for choosing lovers was far better than her eye for choosing husbands, and the families behind these children were not to be underestimated. As a result, Irina's position became quite awkward.

The Empress was a very capable ruler and was deeply loved by her subjects. Except for not changing the name of the country, the Russian Empire was completely in the shape of the Empress. In other words, if the Empress wanted to appoint someone to succeed her, even if there were die-hard elements who resisted, it would not be a big problem.

The princess's earlier retort that the court drama of the Russian Empire was very exciting was not just idle talk; just looking at the messy identities of those involved tells you just how exciting it was.

Irina generally believed that the eldest princess was like her, and that their situations were similar, or even worse. After all, the ruling environment of the Great Qi Dynasty was very hostile to women, and no matter how capable the eldest princess was, she was always behind the scenes advising her younger brother.

It's true that Irina harbored ill intentions and deliberately sowed discord, and it's also true that she wanted to sever the princess's romantic ties.

Xue Jin'an remained unmoved, bluntly denying Irina's wishful thinking: "She is different from you; you are not the same kind of people."

"Oh?" Irina raised her eyes and looked over leisurely, as if to say, "I want to see how you talk nonsense."

Xue Jin'an was very confident: "My elder sister will not be held back by kinship. She knows what she wants."

The eldest princess's willingness to compromise was all based on her own benefit. She seemed gentle and unassuming, but in reality, she always had an ulterior motive when she spoke to people. Until the very last moment, you had no idea what cards she was holding.

Even towards Consort Min, the Eldest Princess only showed superficial respect while harboring suspicion. Otherwise, if she wanted to know any news from the palace, she could simply use the people from Yongchun Palace. Consort Min wouldn't be so incapable of finding a reliable confidante; why would she need to catch Xi Yun on the road and bribe her?

"How do you know?" Irina didn't think her judgment was wrong. She said, "She loves her daughter very much, is completely devoted to the Second Prince, and is extremely respectful to her mother... She has given up a lot for them, hasn't she?"

Irina had a very comprehensive understanding of the princess; she even knew the details of Taylor's abduction.

Xue Jin'an remained noncommittal, only saying, "The abduction of the princess is a major event that will shake the entire capital."

However, the case was ultimately solved by Chu Wenjing, who was then the second-in-command of the Jingzhao Prefecture. In the end, the Jingzhao Prefecture was replaced, the Minister of Justice was dismissed, and Chu Wenjing was struck by a huge windfall, becoming the new Minister of Justice.

The probability that Xiao Tai Le's abduction was a coincidence is 50/50, while the probability that the Eldest Princess took advantage of the situation to promote Chu Wenjing to the throne is over 70%. There must have been a transaction between them that was already settled.

The princess may feel guilty towards little Tale, but that doesn't mean she regrets doing so.

Irina seemed lost in thought.

Seemingly agreeing with Xue Jin'an's words, she turned to look at the scenery outside the building and said with a rather wistful tone, "That makes it even more of a pity."

"Why was Jin born if Mu was born? What a pity." Irina tilted her head back and drank the wine in her glass in one gulp.

Just then, the eldest princess and the second prince appeared in sight one after the other. The second prince looked unpleasant and was in a hurry, while the eldest princess was quite calm. The two deliberately lowered their voices to speak, and Xue Jin'an could vaguely hear some of the sounds. With the help of his high-definition camera to read lips, he quickly got a pretty good idea of ​​the situation.

The gist of the story is that the eldest princess punished the second prince by making him copy books for speaking rudely. The second prince stubbornly refused to accept it, and the two parted on bad terms. When the second prince wanted to leave, the eldest princess called him back. The eldest princess had her back to them, so it was hard to read her lips, but she must have said something quite impolite. The second prince was obviously stunned for a moment, and then became angry and embarrassed.

Xue Jin'an read a lot of the Second Prince's lips, but most of what he said was unpleasant, mainly revolving around the phrase "a hen crowing at dawn," implying that women in power are a scourge and a reversal of the natural order of yin and yang.

Then... the second prince fell into the water with a "plop".

Xue Jin'an shifted his gaze and looked closely at the palace maid beside the eldest princess. He wasn't seeing things; he had just seen it. While the second prince was talking non-stop, the palace maid had unexpectedly reached out her hand.

The second prince was thrashing and struggling in the water; without needing to read lips, one could tell how furious he was.

The eldest princess stood there for a while, seemingly startled by the sudden situation. But in the blink of an eye, she moved. She dismissed all the eunuchs who were preparing to go into the water to rescue her and slowly walked to the edge of the pond. The second prince was also actively trying to save himself and managed to wrestle to the shore.

The eldest princess reached out her hand, and the second prince instinctively reached out to place his hand on hers. However, the hand suddenly flipped over and landed on his head, and with a sudden force, pushed his head into the water.

After a moment of silence, the area downstairs erupted in chaos.

Xue Jin'an saw that Shou Quan was also stunned by the sudden situation, standing there blankly, staring at the princess with a vacant look in his eyes.

"Humph." He heard Irina let out a sound that sounded like laughter.

Humans really know how to have fun; I've learned something. Xue Jin'an thought.