The elegantly dressed young man was the son of the Grand Commandant of the current dynasty, named Liu Yiheng.
The gaunt old man leaned closer and lowered his voice: "Young master, that ghost is, after all, a member of the Prince of Zhenbei's mansion. If we touch it, I'm afraid..."
"What's there to be afraid of?" Liu Yiheng sneered. "Father has already received confirmation that the day of His Majesty's birthday banquet will be the day to make his move!"
"Although His Majesty relies heavily on Prince Shu Qing of Zhenbei, he may not be happy to see his military power become too great and his prestige grow daily. The clan leader is deeply favored by His Majesty and has already laid a trap. When the court is shaken and the situation is in chaos, who will care about a ghost who has died twice?"
Perhaps, this could even be used to pin a heinous crime on the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion: "colluding with evil spirits and deliberately disrupting the palace!"
He paused, his tone becoming even more certain: "This ghost can suppress extreme yang, so its soul must be a rare material of the purest and most yin nature! The sect leader's 'Mysterious Yin Secret Technique' requires such an excellent catalyst!"
"If we can successfully extract its essence, we will not only remove the Prince of Zhenbei, a pillar of the royalist party, from His Highness's ranks and severely damage the Crown Prince's supporters, but you and I will also deserve the greatest credit!"
"At that time, the merit of following the dragon will be easily obtained!"
Upon hearing this, the gaunt old man's eyes gleamed with greed: "Young master, your insight is brilliant! If we can seize this opportunity to bring down the Prince of Zhenbei, the Third Prince will have no rivals in the court! At that time, hehe..."
He seemed to have already envisioned a meteoric rise to success.
The "Sect Leader" mentioned by Liu Yiheng is none other than Jing Hong, the third prince of the current dynasty.
The emperor was getting old and had doubts about the transfer of power.
Although the Crown Prince held the position of heir apparent and handled state affairs relatively well, the Emperor both employed him and guarded against him, fearing that the Crown Prince's power would grow too strong. Therefore, the Emperor intended to support the Third Prince, Jinghong, to create a check and balance.
Because his mother was favored and he was good at understanding the emperor's intentions, Jinghong was indeed quite popular with the emperor on the surface.
This favor and the indulgence under the emperor's cunning allowed Jinghong to develop the ambition to rival the crown prince, or even replace him, and he became increasingly reckless in his actions.
Prince Shu Qing of Zhenbei was a true pillar of the nation, wielding considerable military power and achieving remarkable feats.
He was a staunch royalist, loyal to the current emperor and the court's legal system, and not simply attached to the crown prince.
Because of his superior position, military power, and crucial attitude, he became the number one target that the Third Prince Jinghong was eager to eliminate, or at least had to force him to remain neutral.
As one of the representatives of the civil official group, Grand Commandant Liu had a long-standing feud with the Prince of Zhenbei's military background and had already secretly sided with the Third Prince, becoming the core of his faction.
Now, the sudden ghost marriage arranged by the Prince of Zhenbei's mansion, and the extraordinary qualities displayed by that mysterious ghost princess, are seen by the Third Prince's faction not only as an excellent breakthrough to strike at the Prince of Zhenbei, but also as a rare find delivered to their doorstep.
The risks are great, but the temptations are even greater, enough to make them take the risk.
…
On the emperor's birthday, the palace banquet was held in the Jiying Hall.
The hall was resplendent with gold and jade, filled with the sounds of clinking glasses and the continuous music of string and wind instruments.
Civil and military officials, imperial relatives, and envoys from various countries sat in order, and delicacies were served in a continuous stream, presenting a magnificent scene of a prosperous era.
The Prince of Zhenbei's family was positioned at the front, making them quite conspicuous.
Shu Bai, dressed in a bamboo-green casual outfit, sat below his parents, while Li Yuheng floated beside him in a ghostly form.
"If you ask me, this spectacle," Li Yuheng looked around and clicked his tongue, "isn't even as grand as our Underworld's year-end summary meeting."
“…Oh my, your year-end bonus must be very generous.” Shu Bai asked, following his words.
Upon hearing this, Li Yuheng raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself that Shu Bai was cooperating today, which would be a good opportunity for him to show off.
"Year-end bonus? Xiao Shubai, you've got it backwards. I'm the one who gives out year-end bonuses."
As he spoke, Li Yuheng couldn't help but recall the frustrated look on Hei Wuchang's face last year when he had 30% of his bonus deducted because Hei Wuchang wrote the wrong document, and the smile on his lips deepened.
He then looked disdainfully at the performance in the center of the dance floor, "What is this dance? It's so weak, not even as powerful as the courtship dance I did for you on the roof last time."
"...Please forget that part."
"I'll never forget it; it was one of my highlight moments."
The two were arguing in secret when a slight commotion came from the palace gate.
The Crown Prince has arrived.
Li Yuheng and Shu Bai looked up and saw Crown Prince Jingchen walking slowly in, surrounded by a group of palace servants.
He was dressed in a bright yellow prince's everyday robe, with an upright posture, but his face had a pair of signature dead fish eyes that remained completely expressionless.
Li Yuheng squinted at that familiar face, feeling uneasy.
"...Wait, didn't the Underworld implement a 9-to-5 work system a long time ago? Why is Dongfeng still acting like it's been owed wages for eight hundred years?"
"Your Highness, you've got it wrong. His name is Xifeng." The weak electronic voice of 0090 sounded.
It would have been fine if 0090 hadn't made a sound, but as soon as it did, Li Yuheng immediately changed his tune.
"Oh—? Who do we have here? It's our busy S-class 0090 System." Li Yuheng glanced sourly at Xifeng. "Look at Dongfeng, he's now the esteemed Crown Prince, the future emperor. Unlike me, I'm still just a wandering ghost..."
0090 attempts to explain: "Your Highness, what is he doing—"
"I won't listen, I won't listen, you're just talking nonsense." Li Yuheng interrupted stubbornly.
[...]
Just then, as if sensing something, the west wind slowly turned its eyes, sweeping across the hall without any focus.
My gaze paused for a moment as it passed over the seats in the Prince of Zhenbei's residence.
Li Yuheng was resting his chin on his hand, staring at him with a subtle look in his eyes.
Shu Bai's face was expressionless, but the slight downward curve of the corners of his mouth betrayed his equally subtle feelings.
It's clear that neither of them is very happy.
Xifeng's eyelids seemed to twitch slightly.
He raised his hand, gesturing to his entourage behind him.
A eunuch immediately bowed and presented a brocade box, then quickly walked to the front of the Zhenbei Prince's residence.
The eunuch stopped in front of the table at the Prince of Zhenbei's residence, respectfully presented the brocade box, and spoke in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for the people around to hear clearly: "His Highness the Crown Prince was greatly pleased to hear that the Heir Apparent's health is gradually improving. He has specially bestowed a pair of warm jade pillows from the East Sea to help the Heir Apparent sleep peacefully."
The Prince of Zhenbei and his wife quickly rose to express their gratitude.
Shu Bai also bowed, but his gaze, like Li Yuheng's, was filled with amusement as it fell on the dead-eyed prince in the distance.
Li Yuheng stroked his chin and transmitted his voice: "Tsk, Dongfeng kid... he's really putting on airs now."
Shu Bai nodded slightly and replied telepathically, "Your acting skills are better than before; at least you didn't yawn on the spot."
Just then, Xifeng, who had been expressionless, seemed to sense something and glanced again in the direction of Li Yuheng and Shubai.
His gaze lingered on Li Yuheng's ethereal ghostly figure and Shu Bai's calm face for a full three seconds.
Then, everyone saw the Crown Prince, who was always known for his composure, twitch his lips violently, then quickly raise his wide sleeve to cover his lips and let out a suppressed sound:
"cough."
Li Yuheng: "...Was he just mocking us?"
Shu Bai: "...I think so too."
"He's definitely laughing at us."
"Um."
"Can we tolerate this?"
"cannot."
"Should we ambush him after the party ends?"
Shu Bai immediately responded to the group buy: "Okay."
"Tie him up and take him to the artificial hill in the Imperial Garden?"
"Too obvious."
"Then... how about adding some Meng Po soup to his tea?"
"They'll lose their memory. They're still going through the performance review process for becoming permanent employees."
"Make him change his dragon robe into women's clothing?"
"That works."
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