Xinyi Zigu knelt on the golden brick floor of the imperial study, his hair soaked with sweat. "Your Majesty, I have no responsibility for the Crown Prince falling into the water!" He raised his hand and pointed to the corner. "It was Princess Jiaqing who kicked him."
"That's enough!" The Emperor grabbed the jade paperweight from the dragon table and hurled it at the Fourth Prince. "The Crown Prince has only been back in the palace for a month and hasn't even stepped out of it much. How could he possibly be conspiring with a woman in seclusion?"
The paperweight flew past Xinyi Zigu's ear and landed with a thud at Xinyi Dao's feet. The prince slowly picked up the paperweight, his fingertips stroking the coiled dragon pattern on it. "Father, please calm down. Fourth brother is also worried." As he spoke, he knocked the paperweight against a walnut, and the shell cracked.
The emperor's eyes twitched, and he turned to look at the old eunuch: "Ying Shuo, change a cup of ginseng tea for the prince."
"Father!" Xinyi Zigu knelt down and took two steps. "Your Majesty!" He stared at the prince's pale face. "The eighteen kinds of torture instruments in the imperial prison will definitely do it."
"Nonsense!" The emperor slammed the table and stood up. "How can a county lady be imprisoned?" He pointed at the tip of the Fourth Prince's nose with a trembling hand. "Do you think Jiang Dinglian is a vegetarian?"
Xin Yidao held the ginseng tea in his hand and coughed softly, "Fourth brother is also worried about the health of our father." His porcelain-white fingertips reflected the green jade cup. "But this behavior reminds me of the witchcraft case of the previous dynasty."
The Emperor's pupils shrank sharply at these words. He remembered the Empress clutching his hand before her death, saying she feared the children would quarrel with each other. Now, the Crown Prince had just returned to the palace and was suffering this misfortune. Could it be that...
"Father!" Xinyi Zigu's voice changed in an anxious tone. "I swear on my life!"
"How much is your life worth?" the emperor suddenly shouted, "If anything happens to the prince..." The second half of the sentence got stuck in his throat and turned into a long sigh.
Xin Yidao coughed at the right moment, his frail body trembling with each breath. "Father, the feng shui of Jindu is ultimately incompatible with this son." He supported himself on the back of his chair and stood up. "Let this son return to Taibai Mountain."
"No!" The Emperor stepped forward quickly to support the Crown Prince. "I have ordered the Imperial Observatory to rebuild the Eastern Palace, and we will move in tomorrow!" He turned and glared at the Fourth Prince. "As for you, you will be confined to your room for three months to reflect on your actions!"
Xinyi Zigu clenched his fists, digging his nails into his palms. "Father, would you rather trust this sickly person than me?" He pointed at the prince fiercely. "He's faking illness! He's completely..."
"Shut up!" The emperor picked up the inkstone and was about to smash it, but was stopped by Ying Shuo.
Xinyi Daoyi suddenly coughed violently, staining his handkerchief with scarlet. "Father, please calm down. Ahem. My fourth brother is young and impetuous." He leaned weakly on the emperor's shoulder. "In this state, I shouldn't have come back."
These words pierced the emperor's heart. He remembered that when the late queen was dying, she leaned on his arms and said, "I should not have entered the palace." Now their child was also...
"Impermanent decree!" The Emperor helped the Crown Prince sit down. "The Fourth Prince, Xinyi Zigu, is under house arrest for reflection and is not allowed to leave the palace without an imperial decree!"
Xinyi Zigu stumbled to his feet, his eyes bloodshot. "Father! Just leave this sickly child alone."
"Get out!" The emperor grabbed the teacup and threw it to the ground. "If you dare to slander the prince again, I will depose you!"
As the vermilion palace gates slammed shut behind him, Xinyi Zigu heard the Crown Prince cough softly. The sound was like a fine needle, pricking his temples and making them throb. He gazed at the jackdaws circling above the palace walls, and suddenly remembered the time the Crown Prince had shot down a white fox he had set his sights on during the autumn hunt the previous year—the same gentle smile he had used, saying, "Don't blame me, Fourth Brother."
…
The smoke rising from the incense burner was dispersed by the strong wind, and the red mark on Xinyi Zigu's forehead was particularly eye-catching in the candlelight. He stared at the walnut that had rolled off the dragon-patterned brick, and the taste of rust rose in his throat - this dried fruit, like a hidden weapon, was clearly something the prince had brought from the Yongding Marquis's mansion.
"Your Majesty, I see!" Xinyi Zigu kowtowed heavily. "This is what the Crown Prince said."
"I heard that your Majesty likes to carve walnuts." Xinyi Daoyi tossed up another walnut, his pale fingertips gleaming with a jade-like luster in the candlelight. "Does the pattern on this resemble the wolf head totem of Mobei?"
When the emperor took the walnut, his eyes and brows softened unusually: "Daoyi is thoughtful." His thumb stroked the uneven texture of the walnut, and he vaguely remembered the prince's childhood appearance of clutching the wooden carved pony and calling "Father".
Xinyi Zigu dug his nails deep into his palm. Ten years ago, he presented a finely carved jade qilin, only to receive a rebuke: "Playthings ruin your ambition." Now, the wild walnuts that this sickly child had casually picked up had become a treasure on the imperial table.
"There's no need to mention the matter of the Jiang family girl." The emperor's face suddenly darkened. "Yongding Hou knelt for two hours yesterday, begging me to withdraw the imperial decree granting the marriage." The Longquan paperweight slammed heavily in front of Xinyi Zigu's eyes. "Do you think my prison is a wedding hall?"
Xinyi Zigu was frozen cold. That day, he deliberately brought Jiang Songyi to the imperial prison, intending to scare the wild girl, but unexpectedly...
"Go to the Buddhist temple and copy the sutras!" The emperor flicked his sleeve and knocked the memorial down. "Pray for your royal brother for three months. You are not allowed to leave the palace for even a day!"
As dusk shone upon the red walls, the glazed tiles of the Yikun Palace shone with a bloody glow. Xinyi Zigu pounded the white marble railing with his fist, the sharp pain from his knuckles far less painful than the humiliation he felt. At the end of the palace corridor, a young eunuch, lantern in hand, trotted after them, "The Imperial Concubine has been waiting for you for a long time."
Yang Guifei leaned against the golden nanmu couch, her dainty fingertips caressing the faded phoenix-patterned pillow. Ever since the Fifth Princess' scandal was exposed, the incense in the Yikun Palace had never been replaced.
"Mother!" Xinyi Zigu lifted his robe and sat down, his teacup making a crisp sound. "Xinyi Daoyi is clearly pretending to be sick! I saw him with my own eyes."
"Silence!" Yang Guifei suddenly threw her jade prayer beads. They clattered against the gilded screen, startling the swallows nestling in the beams. "The Second Prince will arrive in the capital soon, bearing news of victory over the thirteen cities of Mobei."
Xinyi Zigu's pupils suddenly constricted. In his memory, his second brother was always clad in silver armor, the head of an enemy general hanging beside his saddle. That autumn, during the hunt, this man had shot a white deer right before his eyes, its blood splattering across the prince's pale face.
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