Chapter 17 Chapter 17 Playing Chess with the Princess
Princess Chaoyang may have sensed that something was amiss, and at that moment another attendant whispered something in her ear. Her eyes trembled slightly, and she told Prince Consort Sun to entertain the guests in the inner hall, while she hurried away.
Yin Jinglong raised the corners of his lips and whispered to his attendant, Manager Xu, "It seems that my chess piece has entered the game. Let's go! We have to watch a good show."
He was just about to stand up and walk in the direction of Princess Chaoyang when he was stopped by Prince Xian: "If you don't explain yourself clearly, your father will not allow you to leave."
"Manager Xu, please help me get rid of this noisy fly," Yin Jinglong raised his eyes slightly, with an unhappy expression on his face.
Steward Xu bowed to Prince Xian and said, "Old Prince, if you truly want the best for General Heng, please don't ask any more questions."
After Yin Jinglong left, Steward Xu whispered to him, "The prince may appear ruthless but be soft-hearted. He has been grudged for years and blames you. Please be considerate of him. I have seen how difficult it has been for him. He and General Heng are twins. Even if you two disagree on politics, you are father and son outside the court. I hope that while you care about General Heng, you will also care about our prince!"
"Manager Xu, what are you still hesitating about?"
Yin Jinglong's urging voice came from not far away: "There's no need to say more to this kind of person."
"Although our prince's words may be unpleasant to the ear, he still respects you in his heart. Please forgive me, my old servant will leave first."
Manager Xu didn't dare to say more and quickly followed. He was the person who had followed Prince Yin the longest besides Li Yu. Now the prince's most trusted confidants were spies for others. He felt sorry for the prince because no one was around to share his worries, but he couldn't bear to see him being misunderstood by others, so he made an exception and said these words.
Yin Jinglong knew what he had said without asking. Unlike his usual sternness, he did not rebuke him for being too talkative this time. He simply nagged, "If you continue to talk to him, it will only increase his dissatisfaction with me. Don't meddle in other people's business in the future!"
"I just think that you and the old prince have some similarities in character. You are both hard-mouthed but soft-hearted. Some things need to be said by others, perhaps to resolve the misunderstanding between you."
"Misunderstanding? Do you think I have wronged him?"
Yin Jinglong stopped and took out the heart-shaped gold locket from his chest: "I remember clearly how he abused my mother to death, and even this scar on my hand!"
As he spoke, he lifted up his right sleeve. The ugly old scar, as ugly as a centipede, reminded him not to forget the hatred of the past.
"If it weren't for his connivance, how could I have lost a hand? Now I'm just returning the grievances and hurt I've suffered for years, but you think I'm too cruel. Who helped me when I was little back then?"
Manager Xu realized that he had said the wrong thing, and although he was old, he hunched his back and quickly admitted his mistake.
"Don't advise others to be good unless you have experienced their suffering. That's it. Don't mention these things again in the future."
Yin Jinglong straightened his clothes and looked in the direction of Princess Chaoyang. He saw that the attendant beside her brought a man in gray. He recognized that the man was the rebel general Li Yu.
He raised his eyes and said, "The chess pieces have been put into play. I can't wait to play a game with the princess."
Princess Chaoyang saw Li Yu entering the palace at this time and angrily scolded him, "Why did you come only when all the civil and military officials were present at the Prince Consort's birthday banquet, instead of earlier or later? Were you sent by Prince Yin?"
Li Yu's hands were tied behind his back. He was covered in scars, his hair crown stood crookedly on his head, and a few strands of hair hung down in a messy manner.
Unable to defend himself against the princess's rebuke, he sank to his knees before her and complained bitterly, "I have been under orders from Her Highness the Princess to remain hidden in the palace for over ten years. My family's lives are in Her Highness's hands. I would never dare betray you! Prince Yin has never once doubted me in all these years. Even when I gave the order to massacre the tomb-guarding clansmen without her knowledge, he initially remained unconvinced. If it weren't for that Snow Mountain Girl who suddenly appeared and sowed discord between me and the prince, the prince would never have discovered my identity."
"Who is the Snow Mountain Girl?"
"That day when I went into the mountains with Prince Yin to seize the statue, I happened to meet a woman from the Tomb Guarding Tribe. She claimed to be General Heng's wife and offered to take us into the temple in exchange for General Heng."
Princess Chaoyang's curiosity was piqued by this news, and she pressed on, "When did General Heng, who has been missing for so many years, get married? Does that mean his disappearance is also related to that Snow Mountain Woman? This matter is becoming increasingly mysterious, and it seems to be more than just a simple case of brothers turning against each other, or father and son becoming enemies."
At this time, Yin Jinglong outside the door said loudly: "There are many mysterious stories in this that Auntie doesn't know!"
Princess Chaoyang waved her hand and signaled the attendant to invite him in. She asked him what happened in the snowy mountains and why the missing Yin Jingheng married a strange woman from the snowy mountains.
"Aunt, are you willing to talk to your nephew now? Didn't you just help that person accuse me?"
Yin Jinglong strode into the room with a haughty air. He glanced at Li Yu, who was kneeling beside him, and thought to himself, "This kid is really good at acting! I only imprisoned him, but I didn't torture him. This trick of self-torture is really clever! At least I have fooled the suspicious Princess Chaoyang."
"Long'er, why should you be so distant with Auntie? You and I have been on the same boat ever since the incident with the statue. Auntie was just putting on an act for your father. Ultimately, we are true allies."
"Aunt, do you really regard me as your own? What about him? How do you want to explain it?" Yin Jinglong pointed out Li Yu's identity and asked the princess for an explanation.
Princess Chaoyang looked embarrassed, and she explained: "Everyone in the court knows that the secret guards trained by me are spread throughout the Great Yin Dynasty. This was approved by the late emperor. I do this for the court and for Your Majesty to secretly monitor the civil and military officials and eradicate treacherous people from within. Not to mention Prince Yin's Mansion, even your father, Prince Xian's Mansion, has people from me. If Prince Yin has any objections to this, you can report to Your Majesty. As long as Your Majesty agrees, I will immediately withdraw all the secret guards stationed in the palace." "Oh? Is that so? Then I have no right to hold you responsible. Since the person has been found out by me, please deal with him on your own! As for whether there are other secret guards in the palace, I will also find out one by one. I hope that before I take action, you can take the initiative to withdraw these people, otherwise it will not look good if the matter is really brought to Your Majesty, and I can't let the officials laugh at the discord in our royal family. Do you agree, aunt?"
Yin Jinglong looked at her with a smile on his face. The late emperor had allowed her to set up secret guards to monitor the officials, which was a good intention. However, she had abused her power for personal gain over the years and secretly developed these secret guards into her own secret force. Now he had no evidence that the princess abused her power for personal gain, so he had to stay with her for the time being.
"It's true that this man is from my secret guard, but he's incompetent and even falsely passed on my orders. He deserves death! Come, take the criminal away first!"
Li Yu kowtowed and begged for mercy: "I plead guilty to the crime of privately ordering the massacre of the tomb-guarding clan. Your Highness, please spare my life for the sake of my service for over ten years and for bringing back the statue for you!"
"What did you say? Did you issue the order to slaughter the tribe privately?"
Yin Jinglong stared at Li Yu in disbelief. In his previous life, he climbed the snow mountain just to seize the statue, and never personally ordered the massacre of the tomb-guarding clan. But in the end, all of Hanyu's clansmen died at his hands, and Hanyu hated him to death for this.
If he and Hanyu hadn't arrived in time to prevent the massacre, this life would have been a dead end, just like the previous one. This time, after discovering Li Yu's identity, he briefly suspected Princess Chaoyang of the order to massacre the tribe. But now, he's accusing Li Yu of having given the order privately? What's his real motivation? Is it truly his own doing? Or is he taking the blame for the princess's actions?
Li Yu repented and said, "Your Highness, that woman took you into the temple and you didn't return. I thought you were murdered by her, so I ordered the massacre. Moreover, if we didn't kill them, they wouldn't let us go easily. How could we have brought back the statue?"
Yin Jinglong didn't believe his explanation, but things had come to this point, and even if he wanted to hold someone accountable, it wasn't now. He let Li Yu go for the time being and continued to point the finger at Princess Chao Yang.
"I have successfully brought back the statue that Auntie wanted. I wonder if Auntie can fulfill her promise to me?"
"Long'er, what you want is revenge for your mother. Your aunt promised you to present evidence of your mother's abuse in Prince Xian's mansion, but Prince Xian is your father after all, and also my brother. Although I understand that you want justice for your mother, I cannot serve as your witness."
"Alright, since you're unwilling to be my witness, I won't force you. Please tell me the truth about what happened back then."
"This..." Princess Chaoyang was a little embarrassed and stammered, "I don't know much. What do you want me to say?"
Yin Jinglong naturally didn't believe that she didn't know. Even if she didn't know, how could the secret guards she had arranged in Prince Xian's mansion not know about it?
"Aunt, you now have the statue, but it's not so easy to use its power. I brought back a woman from the Tomb Guardian Clan. She knows the secret of the statue and what happened to Yin Jingheng over the years. Don't you want to know?"
"you!"
It was the first time that Princess Chaoyang was cornered by someone and had nothing to say. She had no choice but to continue making a deal with him. She told him the old secret that happened in Prince Xian's mansion.
"Your mother's death was indeed related to Princess Xian. Back then..."
Princess Chunyu of Prince Xian married Prince Yin Ji when they were young. Before their ancestor emperor ascended the throne, he was the Minister of Chancellery of the previous dynasty. Because the previous emperor was tyrannical and had lost the support of the people for a long time, he left behind only a three-year-old prince after his death. So all the court officials wrote a petition together, forcing the prince who had not yet ascended the throne to give way to the ancestor emperor Yin Xian, who was both virtuous and talented.
When the ancestor emperor first came to power, in order to consolidate his regime, he wanted to marry Chunyu, the only daughter of the former prime minister, to his eldest son Yin Hong, the ancestor emperor. However, Chunyu was of ordinary appearance and had difficulty in bearing children, so the ancestor emperor refused to obey. So the ancestor emperor had to arrange a marriage between Chunyu and his second son Yin Ji, who was not yet an adult at the time.
Yin Ji married Chunyu, who was five years older than him, after he came of age. After marriage, they treated each other with respect. However, Chunyu had not given birth to a child for many years. However, Prince Xian had a very good relationship with her and never took the initiative to mention taking a concubine.
However, Prince Xian, who had no children, was criticized among the Yin clan. Chunyu couldn't bear to see her husband being humiliated, so she took the initiative to help him take a concubine. Seven years after their marriage, Yin Jinglong's biological mother, Bai, was taken into the prince's palace.
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