Chapter 57 Could he really be going hysterical? ...
"Why are you suddenly asking this kind of question?" Li's mother was taken aback. "Has something happened at the border again?"
"Not at the moment," Li Pan said. "But who knows what will happen in the future, so I'm asking you first."
Li's mother frowned, lost in thought.
Li Pan: "I was just asking casually. You can take your time to think about it. There's no rush."
Li's mother tentatively asked, "Don't you want to stay in the capital anymore?"
She knew her son; his serious expression just now didn't seem like he was asking casually.
Li Pan: "I just feel that the capital is somewhat dangerous."
Li's mother: "Is it because of what happened yesterday?"
Li Pan neither confirmed nor denied the claim.
Li's mother sighed: "Everyone says it's good to be an emperor, but I think it's not an easy thing. Serving the emperor is even more difficult."
Li Pan: "Yes, besides, I still don't have a position in the capital. The longer this drags on, the more trouble there will be. So I'm thinking, why don't I just give up this position?"
Li's mother asked in surprise, "You really don't want to stay in the capital? But what about Susu? Would she really want to go back to the Northwest with you?"
Li Pan thought to himself that she couldn't wait to leave tomorrow, but it would be difficult to explain this to his mother, let alone tell her that he had likely become a thorn in the emperor's side. Even if he stayed in the capital, he probably wouldn't have a good future.
Li Pan: "You don't need to worry about Susu, I'm asking you now."
Mother Li scratched her face and whispered, "But what will happen to the Marquis's mansion if we really leave... It was just renovated, and we haven't even lived here for long..."
Li Pan: "..."
Li Pan: "Can we put aside these material possessions for now?"
"Since you've said that, it means you already have a plan in mind," Li's mother muttered. "Then why are you asking me? I can't make the decision myself; I still have to listen to you and Susu. If neither of you are in the capital, then I'll be bored all by myself."
Li Pan: "Didn't you quite like Beijing? It's comfortable to live in Beijing, and there are much more delicious food and fun things to do than in the Northwest."
Li's mother: "But someone has to accompany you. If you and Susu both go back to the Northwest, then I will definitely go back too. But if Susu doesn't want to go back, and only you go back, then I..."
Li Pan raised an eyebrow: "And how are you?"
"Then I really need to think about it carefully," Li's mother said seriously. "A couple living apart for a long time will cause big problems! I have to mediate between you two!"
"Alright, stop overthinking it," Li Pan said. "I just have this idea for now, and it's not certain that it will actually come to fruition."
Li's mother rolled her eyes: "Next time, can you wait until you have definite information before telling me? Don't you know that overthinking is bad for the health of an elderly person?"
Li Pan chuckled and left.
Stepping out of the courtyard, I saw Lou Xueying standing there alone, head down, seemingly lost in thought.
"Where is Miss Yao? Did she go back?"
Lou Xueying looked up and saw that it was Li Pan, so she gently hummed in agreement: "Her father is safe. Come and tell me."
Li Pan put his arm around Lou Xueying's shoulder and led her back into the house, whispering, "I just found out what Mother meant. She said that if we both go back to the Northwest, she will come back with us."
Lou Xueying was taken aback and whispered, "You're willing to go back to the Northwest?"
Li Pan: "I just feel that there are too many troubles in the capital. It's easy to get involved if you're not careful. Although the Northwest is also dangerous, at least you know the source of the danger, so you won't get into trouble like this, out of nowhere."
"That's great!" Lou Xueying's face showed a rare joy. As soon as she entered the house, she couldn't wait to ask, "So when do you plan to go back?"
"I haven't decided yet," Li Pan said honestly. "First, I just returned from the Northwest and it's clear there's no war there, so there's no reason to go back immediately. Second, if I were to go back, I don't know if His Majesty would agree to let you go with him. In the past, many generals' families were left in the capital as hostages. If His Majesty uses the same tactic, it will be hard for me to refuse. Third, even if we go to the Northwest, we won't be able to rest easy. As I said before, going back to the Northwest is just an escape and won't solve the problem. I need to come up with a way to make His Majesty not dare to attack you or me."
Lou Xueying bit her lip and said hesitantly, "Putting everything else aside, let's just talk about the first point. Actually... I think autumn is coming soon, and winter isn't far away. There might really be some action at the border. As long as the border still needs you, His Majesty can't do anything to you... He wouldn't lose his country for a woman... So as long as you petition to return to the border to guard it, he should agree."
Li Pan: "How do you know that trouble is likely to break out on the border in winter?"
Lou Xueying: "I'm not stupid. Everyone knows that those tribes are prone to food shortages in winter!"
Li Pan smiled and patted her head: "I've thought about what you said, but we'll have to wait. Right now, everyone's talking about the relationship between His Majesty and the Crown Prince. If I suddenly submit a memorial to leave the capital, it will seem like I'm up to something."
Lou Xueying: "I understand."
She gently hugged Li Pan, buried her face in his chest, and said in a muffled voice, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault for dragging you into this. You didn't have to worry about so many things at all."
Li Pan asked, "Susus, if all of this can be resolved, would you still want to return to the capital?"
Lou Xueying paused for a moment, then whispered, "That depends on whether His Majesty is still on the throne and who succeeds him..."
Li Pan paused, then narrowed his eyes: "You think His Majesty will be in trouble?"
Lou Xueying: "I...I was just guessing...You said His Majesty is going to kill the Crown Prince, would the Crown Prince really believe in some kind of evil spirit possession?"
The crown prince was able to usurp the throne in his past life because a woman was stolen from him, but in this life he is in danger of losing his own life. Who knows if he will do it again?
Today, she also asked Yao Biyue if the Crown Prince minded when they met at the Shuishi Bridge that day, and how she had been flustered and hadn't bowed to him. Yao Biyue said the Crown Prince didn't mind. She then tentatively asked the Crown Prince what his impression of her was. Yao Biyue said the Crown Prince looked at her for a while, asked who she was, and after learning that she was the Lady of Wu'an Marquis, he didn't say anything more.
Lou Xueying felt uneasy upon hearing this.
Based on her understanding of the Crown Prince, she felt that his reaction suggested he had taken a liking to her. However, the Crown Prince hadn't come to see her yet, and she wondered if his status as the Marquis of Wu'an's wife had deterred him from pursuing her.
Regardless, Lou Xueying still felt it was best to stay away from the Crown Prince.
This fight between father and son, no matter who wins, doesn't sound like a good thing for her.
She wouldn't feel safe in the capital until some other lucky prince managed to seize the throne.
Li Pan: "I don't believe in evil spirits, but I've never heard of a father personally chasing after his son with a sword. If he's going to kill him, can't he use a more respectable reason? What kind of shock did he suffer? Could he have really gone mad?"
Lou Xueying suddenly had a thought and mustered her courage to say, "Do you think it's possible... that there really is an evil spirit? I mean, perhaps His Majesty has long harbored resentment towards the Crown Prince and wanted to get rid of him, but rationally refrained from doing so. However, because of the evil spirit's interference, he has temporarily lost his mind..."
Li Pan looked at her in surprise: "You still believe in this?"
"No, I was just thinking..." Lou Xueying stammered, "Could there really be a power in this world that ordinary people can't understand, like bewitching people's minds... or... making people know things that others don't know... or maybe it has some other function... In short, have you ever thought that there might be a power in this world similar to ghosts and gods, capable of doing things that humans can't do?"
Li Pan laughed and said, "If there really is the power of ghosts and gods, then I think everyone doesn't need to do anything else. Just sincerely pray to ghosts and gods every day and let them do things for you. Why bother to work hard yourself?"
Lou Xueying lowered her eyes: "Hmm...you're right."
Li Pan ruffled her hair: "But you reminded me. I just thought of a way that might get His Majesty to agree to let me take you back to the Northwest."
Lou Xueying immediately looked up, expectantly asking, "What?"
Li Pan: "My father passed away in the autumn. Counting the days, it will be time to visit his grave soon. Since His Majesty can be possessed by evil spirits, it is only natural that my father appeared to me in a dream. I said that my father scolded me for being unworthy of being a son without a wife or children. It is almost the anniversary of his death and I have not seen him yet. So I must bring my new bride back to him to see her, so that he will not scold me for being unfilial again."
"Huh?" Lou Xueying asked, stunned. "Is it appropriate for you to make such a fuss about your father?"
“What’s inappropriate about it? I burn so much paper money for him every year, and I haven’t asked him for any help. He should just bear with it this time.” Li Pan shrugged. “Besides, His Majesty and the Crown Prince’s relationship is currently sensitive. If His Majesty doesn’t let me take my new bride back to fulfill my filial duties, then he’s making his subjects unfilial, and the Crown Prince is also unfilial. We can’t blame anyone else.”
Lou Xueying: "..."
-
After the three-day ritual was completed, the Imperial Ancestral Temple also resumed its auspicious offering ceremony, and the morning court sessions in the palace returned to normal.
Emperor Jinghui sat high on the dragon throne, his expression as serene as ever, as if none of the strange events had occurred. The Crown Prince, standing at the forefront of the court, remained as elegant and refined as ever. The father and son occasionally exchanged words, but these were merely normal discussions of state affairs, without the slightest hint of discord.
However, after the court session, Emperor Jinghui reviewed several memorials, but became increasingly displeased. He asked Eunuch Zheng, "Why do these people write memorials but not discuss the important matters, only telling me to pay attention to my health and see the imperial physicians more often?"
Eunuch Zheng said, "Perhaps they are worried that the evil spirits have not yet dissipated and may affect His Majesty's health."
Emperor Jinghui sneered: "Tell the truth."
Eunuch Zheng knelt down with a thud and bowed his head, saying, "I dare not deceive Your Majesty. Recently, there have been rumors in the court that the talk of evil spirits that day was just a pretense, and that Your Majesty is actually suffering from hysteria, which is why you inexplicably wanted to kill His Highness the Crown Prince..."
"Who sent the message? The Crown Prince? Or the Empress?" Emperor Jinghui asked in a cold voice.
"This...this..." Eunuch Zheng hesitated, "It was indeed His Highness the Crown Prince who first uttered the words 'hysteria,' but so many people in the Eastern Palace heard it that day, it's hard to say who exactly spread it..."
Emperor Jinghui threw down his vermilion brush, leaving a bright red mark on the snow-white memorial.
"Do you also think I'm delirious, that I've gone mad?" Emperor Jinghui stared coldly at Eunuch Zheng. "I haven't even questioned you yet. That day I ordered you to issue a decree to kill the Crown Prince, why didn't you do it?!"
"This old servant, this old servant is thinking of His Majesty's best interests!" Eunuch Zheng kowtowed sharply. "Since Your Majesty is dissatisfied with the Crown Prince, why not make the Crown Prince's faults public? In this way, the ministers will understand Your Majesty's predicament and see the Crown Prince's true colors, and there will be no more objections in the court!"
The Crown Prince's fault? Emperor Jinghui gritted his teeth, his hatred growing stronger.
The Crown Prince's greatest mistake was murdering his father and seizing the throne in his past life. But if he were to say this out loud, it would only confirm his hysteria! Would he still be able to hold onto the throne then?
The Crown Prince's mistake... How can the Crown Prince be found guilty of a mistake?
This beast stubbornly refuses to acknowledge its rebirth, feigning ignorance while remaining constantly on guard; it seems ordinary methods are no longer sufficient to deal with it.
He even managed to gloss over something as serious as missing the auspicious offering ceremony...
Wait a minute!
Emperor Jinghui suddenly remembered a suspicious point that he had been ignoring.
In the past few days, I was so angry that he refused to admit his rebirth that I forgot one thing—if he really was reborn, he clearly had the means to avoid my trap, so why didn't he let the sacrificial ceremony end peacefully, and instead caused this "accidentally eating raw meat" incident?
Since the matter of the sacrificial meat was certainly not done by Emperor Jinghui, it could only have been done by the Crown Prince himself.
But what is he trying to achieve by doing this?
Thinking of the officials implicated in the sacrificial meat incident, Emperor Jinghui narrowed his eyes and said to Eunuch Zheng, "I'll give you a chance to redeem yourself. Investigate what happened at the home of Yao Shaoqing of the Ministry of Agriculture and the residence of the Marquis of Wu'an on the day of the sacrificial ceremony."
Eunuch Zheng: "...Yes."
Why is the Marquis of Wu'an's residence being dragged into this again? The Marquis of Wu'an has already returned, why hasn't His Majesty given up yet?
In the afternoon, Eunuch Zheng came to report on the itineraries of both families.
"Yao Biyue made two trips to the Marquis of Wu'an's residence..." Emperor Jinghui lowered his eyes in thought, then suddenly let out a short laugh.
Then came bursts of uncontrollable laughter.
He understood! He understood! So that's what the Crown Prince was planning!
Eunuch Zheng looked at Emperor Jinghui with a bewildered expression.
What is His Majesty laughing at? Could he really be having hysteria?
Emperor Jinghui: "Zheng Rui!"
Eunuch Zheng quickly lowered his eyes and replied, "This old servant is here."
When is the autumn hunt this year?
"The date for this year hasn't been set yet. Last year it was August 25th, and the year before it was August 23rd," said Eunuch Zheng. "Does Your Majesty have a preferred date?"
Emperor Jinghui said, "This year, the date will be changed to the sixteenth of August."
"August 16th?" Eunuch Zheng exclaimed in surprise, "So early?"
"If those who are handling the matter can do so in time, I would certainly prefer to do it sooner," Emperor Jinghui said coldly.
He really didn't want to wait a moment longer.
Eunuch Zheng hurriedly said, "Then this old servant will immediately issue a decree to have the hunting grounds prepare quickly."
"Wait a minute," Emperor Jinghui called out to him, "while you're at it, go and summon all the imperial physicians from the Imperial Hospital."
"all?"
Emperor Jinghui snorted coldly: "Have all the imperial physicians come and see me. I am perfectly fine! I have no illness whatsoever!"
Eunuch Zheng: "...Yes."
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