Chapter 26: Taking the blame

The weather was too cold to burn charcoal yet, but Concubine Xi burned a pot of charcoal outside. Chu Ran almost had an idea of ​​what she wanted to do.

Sure enough, after the eunuch put the charcoal basin on the ground, he put the charcoal tongs in. It was not until the tongs turned from rusty to red that Concubine Xi lightly tapped her chin and signaled Chu Ran, "You should know what to do."

Chu Ran looked at the red-hot fire tongs, and the veins on his forehead throbbed uncontrollably.

Concubine Xi stared at Chu Ran for a long time. Seeing that he was reluctant to take action, she spoke gloomily, "If you are unwilling to do it yourself, then I will find someone to do it for you."

After hearing what Concubine Xi said, Chu Ran walked towards the charcoal brazier without saying a word. He raised the fire tongs in his right hand and spread out his left palm. The moment the fire tongs fell, he smelled the smell of burnt meat at the tip of his nose.

Chu Ran's face twisted for a moment, and with a clang, Chu Ran threw the fire tongs into the charcoal brazier.

Chu Ran controlled the twisting of his facial muscles, put his hands behind his back, and said to Concubine Xi: "If there is nothing else, then I will withdraw first."

Concubine Xi lowered her head and played with her fingernails. Upon hearing this, she simply said "hmm".

Chu Ran turned and walked out of the gate of Zixia Palace.

After walking out of the door, Chu Ran slowly pulled his hands back from behind his back.

The palm of his hand had been burnt, revealing bright red flesh. Chu Ran closed his eyes and tried to hold back the pain for a while, but failed. Tears were about to burst out, but Chu Ran felt that it would be too unmanly if he cried at this moment, so he held back his tears.

Chu Ran found a well with a wooden barrel full of water beside it. Chu Ran picked up the gourd ladle, poured some water into the basin, and then put his hand into the cold water.

After a long time, until the wound seemed less painful than at the beginning, Chu Ran took his hand out of the basin.

After returning to the house, Chu Ran simply treated the wound, wrapped it with a dry cloth, and then went out again.

Chu Ran arrived at Qiluan Palace, spent some money, and asked the eunuch of Qiluan Palace to help him pass a message to Li Dingning.

Fortunately, Li Dingning was still willing to see him.

When he saw Chu Ran, he thought Chu Ran had changed his mind, so he snorted coldly and said, "What's wrong, do you regret it?"

Chu Ran smiled awkwardly, "Fifth Prince, I want to ask you, do you know what happened to the Fourth Prince?"

Li Dingning glanced at Chu Ran, "Why are you asking him?"

Chu Ran said hesitantly, "I'm not doing anything, it's just... I used to see him all the time, but I haven't seen him in the past few days, so I asked out of curiosity."

"Oh, he was beaten by the emperor and put into prison as punishment."

"Being beaten?" Chu Ran couldn't help but raise his voice a little, but he quickly lowered it again, "Why?"

Li Dingning frowned, "How should I know? It's not like I was punished by my father."

Even though Li Dingning didn't know the specific situation, he had already guessed it when Chu Ran met Concubine Xi.

After thinking for a while, Chu Ran asked, "Was the Fourth Prince punished after the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet?"

Li Dingning nodded, "Yes." He then said, "You already know this, but you're still asking me."

"Do you know where the Fourth Prince is imprisoned?"

Li Dingning: “I don’t know about that.”

"Oh." Chu Ran responded, looking a little lost, but he quickly said: "Thank you, Fifth Prince, I have nothing else to do, so I will leave first."

Li Dingning looked at Chu Ran's departing back, hesitated for a moment, and shouted, "Hey, do you regret it? If you do, this prince can give you another chance to regret it!"

After Li Dingning finished shouting, he didn't see Chu Ran stop, so he couldn't help but raise his hand and touch the back of his head.

I don't understand what he means. Does he regret it or not?

On the way back, Chu Ran kept thinking about what happened on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

He should have expected this long ago. How could Li Gaoyou, such a vengeful person, allow himself to suffer such a huge loss?

However, it was clearly him who pushed Li Gaoyou down that night, causing Li Gaoyou to be injured. To be honest, it was his fault, so how could he blame Li Fu?

Did Li Fu take the blame for him?

No wonder Li Fu dragged him along so hard that night. He must have anticipated what would happen next.

I don’t know how Li Fu is doing now.

Li Dingning said that Li Fu was beaten by the emperor. Was the beating severe? He also said that he was put in solitary confinement. Where was he put in solitary confinement?

Chu Ran originally didn't have much feeling towards Emperor Chengwen, but now, he really disliked this emperor. If he didn't like Li Fu, he shouldn't have given birth to a child. If he did, he should have raised the child well. But now, he only cared about giving birth but not raising the child, and even let other sons bully him. Chu Ran had never seen a father like this before.

Not only was he not a good father, he was also a blind emperor.

It was clearly Li Gaoyou who started the fight first, so why should Li Fu be punished?

He cannot distinguish right from wrong, black from white. This does not seem like the behavior of a wise ruler. He is definitely a tyrant!

In his heart, he silently cursed Emperor Chengwen as a tyrant and a bastard, but he still couldn't help but worry about Li Fu. Will he be okay?

Chu Ran lowered his head and returned to the yard silently. As soon as he entered and looked up, he saw a familiar figure.