Yan Li looked up upon hearing the voice, and saw Yan Lin sitting inside the carriage.
He was surrounded by his illustrious carriage and a countless number of servants and guards. He used to be like this as well, but now, only a small eunuch, who had served him since childhood, still remained by his side.
The contrast was bleak.
Yan Li gazed at Yan Lin with a gloomy expression, "Second Brother, didn’t you plead for me?"
Yan Lin sighed, "Big Brother, while you were under house arrest by the Imperial Guard, father fell sick twice. At that time, I couldn’t even see him. Also, my mother was demoted and therefore, I couldn’t say anything in father’s presence."
After speaking, Yan Lin said to Yan Li, "This is not the place to talk, Big Brother, get in the carriage!"
Having nowhere else to go, Yan Li felt no resentment towards Yan Lin, who had come to pick him up. Thus, he unhesitatingly climbed into Yan Lin’s carriage.
Once seated, Yan Li said, "I have already asked Zhang Wan to get my sister-in-law."
Suddenly Yan Li exclaimed angrily, "Don’t get her."
Yan Lin looked at him, "Big Brother, why?"
Yan Li retorted venomously, "It must have been her who disclosed all I’ve done. How else could the Rui’an King found out? There are some things that only she would know."
With a sigh Yan Lin said, "Big Brother, precisely because of this, we must bring her back."
Yan Li’s face filled with loathing, "I’ll kill her once she comes back."
Helplessly, Yan Lin uttered, "Big Brother, calm down. Don’t forget, Although she’s no longer your wife, and her name has been removed from the jade register, and she is now reduced to being a commoner, she’s still Marquis Nanping’s daughter, the young mistress of the Marquis Nanping Residence."
"So what?" Yan Li growled, "She betrayed me - what a nice daughter Marquis Nanping has raised."
"Big Brother, are you really content with being a commoner?" Yan Lin looked at him, "We can’t cut ties to the Marquis Nanping Residence. Don’t forget, she is carrying your child."
Yan Li naturally wasn’t content; he said in agony, "Even the Emperor disacknowledged his own grandchild before he was even born, by issuing an edict to reduce him to the status of a commoner."
His eyes grew red with anger, "The Emperor completely disregarded paternal affection."
"Big Brother, we can only rely on ourselves now. The Emperor is now completely influenced by the Crown Prince. He is not the father we used to know." Yan Lin said, "Nowadays, seven or eight out of ten people in the court are leaning towards the Crown Prince. Yan Huisheng is becoming powerful, and with our loss of power, those sycophants have already switched allegiance to Yan Huisheng."
Yan Li clenched his fists, "Yan Huisheng!"
"Big Brother, you must help me. If you help me, we still stand a chance." Yan Lin calmly explained his plan, "You have to pull Nanping’s marquis to my camp. If I get to the position I am aiming for, and restore your status, at the very least, you can still be a prince."
Yan Li looked at Yan Lin. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
Yan Lin nodded in affirmation, "That’s why, Big Brother, you must appease Ning Yao. Who doesn’t know that Marquis Nanping prizes his daughter and son, born to his wife? As long as we keep those two in our control, the Marquis will undoubtedly be reticent."
Yan Li said, "What about Ning Chi, the eldest son of Nanping?"
"Ning Chi is no threat, I already sent people to Nanping to stir up trouble among the eighteen tribes, I will take the opportunity to kill Ning Chi beforehand. If the Marquis only has one son left, he won’t risk harm befalling Ning Ze, unless he wants to risk his family line dying out." Yan Lin said.
"Why not kill Ning Ze?" Yan Li said, "It should be easier to kill Ning Ze, shouldn’t it?"
Yan Lin shook his head, "Big Brother, you know better than me how much Ning Yao guards over her brother. It’s well-known how the wife spoils her son and daughter. And it is clear that Marquis Nanping prefers his wife. What’s more, controlling the cowardly Ning Ze would be much easier than controlling Ning Chi."
Yan Li nodded, "Once the task is accomplished, I’ll kill her."
With a hearty promise, Yan Lin said, "Perfect."
The two brothers sat in the carriage, discussing strategies on their way to the Second Prince’s Residence. By the time the carriage arrived at the Second Prince’s Residence, Yan Li had calmed down. Princes, who grew up in the palace, where open and secret fights were commonplace, are mostly smart. Even the most incompetent ones are not entirely foolish. All it takes is a little push, and they bounce back quickly.
However, what neither of them expected was that Zhang Wan, the wife of the second prince, had gone to fetch the Ning siblings alone and had returned alone, without them.
Immediately Yan Lin asked, "What happened? Why are you alone? Where are the Ning siblings?"
Zhang Wan shook her head, "They wouldn’t come with me."
She explained that Ning Yao had willingly left with Fen Ling, disregarding Ning Ze’s struggles, and did not come with her to the Second Prince’s Residence.
The expression on Yan Lin’s face immediately turned ugly.
Yan Li’s face was even darker, he cursed angrily, "This wretched woman!"
Yan Lin furrowed his brow, "She didn’t dare to come."
"Your Highness, what should be done now?" Zhang Wan asked, "With Fen Ling present at that time, and as you know, Fen Ling was the one who held the sword to the neck of the disgraced imperial concubine. He’s highly skilled in martial arts, I couldn’t just have someone fight him to take the siblings. Besides, forcibly kidnapping them would have caused a commotion and that would have created a negative impression."
"Did you say that Fen Ling took away the siblings because Su Rong wanted to send them back to Nanping?" Yan Lin asked.
"Yes."
Yan Lin decided, "We have to kidnap the siblings on their way back to Nanping. If we can’t kidnap them, we kill them. We cannot let them fall into Su Rong’s hands, nor let Su Rong threaten Marquis Nanping. Su Rong leans toward Yan Huisheng. I’m afraid he’s planning the same thing as I did, to pull Marquis Nanping over to the Crown Prince’s camp."
Zhang Wan looked at Yan Li and reminded him, "Your sister-in-law is carrying your heirs, if she is killed..."
"We don’t lack one heir." Yan Li resented, full of anger, "She deserves to die."
Hearing this, Zhang Wan looked at Yan Lin.
Yan Lin gestured to her, "Prepare a feast for my brother and arrange a good courtyard for him. Also, select several young and beautiful women, and tell them that whoever gets pregnant with his child first, will be the first woman by my brother’s side."
Zhang Wan nodded, "Okay, I will arrange that."
Meanwhile within the Eastern Palace, Yan Huisheng heard that Yan Lin had taken Yan Li to the Second Prince’s Residence, and that Zhang Wan went to Rui’an King’s Residence to get the Ning siblings, but had returned empty-handed.
Yan Huisheng gave a light-hearted comment, "Second brother does seem to have a bond of brotherhood."
He stood with hands behind his back, gazing out the window, "Second Brother definitely won’t let the Ning siblings go. On their way back to Nanping, he will certainly take action. Second brother has always been very cautious over the years. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is timid. He keeps a low profile everywhere. Even when Big Brother’s men met with losses, Second Brother’s men suffered no losses. But now, seeing Big Brother’s downfall, he is scared and can no longer keep his cool. Since he is set on the Ning siblings, I certainly won’t let go. I have been worrying about finding the right opportunity to cut down his manpower. If he takes the initiative to step forward, nothing could be better."
He turned around and ordered Yun Ze, "Send someone to pass the message to the precious imperial concubine and ask if she wants revenge. Does she not realize that these events have been caused by Zhang Ping? And Duan Xiao who ruined her life and gained wealth and glory by betraying her, with many wives and concubines around him, does she not want to take revenge by herself? Is she willing to die in the Imperial Mausoleum?"
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