My brother and I
Yu Lanjiang did not stay in the capital for long. Perhaps because the old case was being brought up again, she and the old emperor maintained a strange harmony, not disturbing each other, but each harboring their own secrets.
Xiao Diting has been busy with the case of General Longcheng these days, searching both openly and secretly, and found that all the clues related to it have been completely cut off.
In addition, she had secretly obtained the commander-in-chief's permission and had his personal seal, which made things a little easier for her.
The most important thing right now is to find evidence that can convict the culprits. Xiao Diting sat among a pile of files for a long time, pondering, when suddenly a flash of inspiration came to him, and he thought of a possibility.
Whether Longcheng had betrayed the regime was still unknown, but in the capital, his entire family was detained and beheaded in the street without explanation. Although the person in charge of the case back then had resigned, if I remember correctly, that person should have been a member of the princeling faction.
If the emperor were to authorize this, entrusting it to the crown prince would be the most appropriate course of action.
Thinking of this, Xiao Diting made a decisive move, summoned Chunyan who was guarding outside, straightened his clothes, and said in an extremely serious tone: "Chunyan, prepare gifts, I want to pay a visit to the Eastern Palace."
Chunyan lifted her skirt and walked in with small steps, shaking her head as if she hadn't heard His Highness's instructions. She curtsied and asked, "Is Your Highness going to the East Palace?"
“Yes, it’s the Eastern Palace…” Xiao Diting lifted his eyelids to look at her, “Is there something wrong with it?”
Everyone knows that the Crown Prince and the Princess are at odds. Although they are siblings born of the same mother, their relationship has always been very tense. The Princess's sudden announcement that she wants to visit her brother is probably not a good thing.
Chunyan's eyelids kept twitching, but she still did as she was told.
The vermilion gates of the East Palace slowly opened, and a chill, carrying with it the lingering snow in the courtyard, rushed in.
Xiao Diting adjusted the hem of his plain palace dress, stepped onto the thin ice on the bluestone path, and followed the eunuch leading the way inside.
The winding corridors were dazzling, and the palace lanterns hanging under the corridors swayed from side to side in the cold wind. In the dim light, the shadows of the upturned eaves were cast on the ground, like menacing ghosts.
Xiao Diting looked around, secretly mocking his cheap older brother's terrible taste.
The eunuch leading the way hurried along, his expression revealing a hint of impatience. He stopped at the end of the corridor and bowed, saying, "Your Highness, the Crown Prince is waiting in the pavilion ahead. This servant will stop here."
Xiao Diting looked up and saw Xiao Yiyu, dressed in a black brocade robe, standing alone in the lakeside pavilion not far away, leaning against the railing, holding a plate and a string of Buddhist beads in his hand, gazing forlornly at the high wall in the distance.
This was the first time she had ever seen the Crown Prince act like this. He was a man of sharp tongue and meanness, who annoyed people to no end, both in reality and in dreams.
She stepped onto the stone bridge leading to the pavilion. The bridge surface was covered with a thin layer of frost, making it particularly slippery to walk on.
“Royal brother.” She stopped outside the pavilion, her tone calm and even.
Xiao Yiyu slowly turned around, his narrow eyes full of sarcasm, and a half-smile curled at the corner of his mouth: "A rare guest indeed. Why is the Imperial Sister not recuperating in your palace, but running to the East Palace? Could it be that you feel that the suffering you endured in the Hall of Supreme Harmony a few days ago was not enough, and you want to ask for more?"
His words were so sharp they hurt you to the bone.
Xiao Di was annoyed when she heard his familiar tone, but she remained unmoved and walked straight to his side, leaning against the railing beside him, her gaze fixed on the frozen lake: "Brother, you jest. I came today to ask you something."
"Oh?" Xiao Yiyu glanced at her sideways, his tone becoming increasingly sarcastic. "You, a busy person, still have something to ask me? I'd like to hear what it is that's worth you condescending to make a trip to my Eastern Palace."
“Five years ago, there was the case of General Longcheng.” Xiao Diting turned to look at him, chatting casually as if they were ordinary siblings, her tone unchanged. “Back then, he was stationed at Juyan Mountain, and his food supplies ran out for three months. He was then accused of treason and defecting to the barbarians. His family members were beheaded in the streets of the capital. Does Your Majesty still remember this matter?”
Xiao Yiyu paused in his hand, which was playing with the beads, but then quickly realized what was happening and continued to fiddle with them, maintaining an attitude of indifference. He casually replied, "I remember, this matter has long been settled... How come the task has fallen to you?"
"Thanks to everyone's blessings, this matter has been fraught with difficulties, but it will soon be handed over to me." Seeing that Xiao Yiyu couldn't say anything good, Xiao Diting's patience finally ran out. "I just suspect that you and my father might be behind this case..."
Before she finished speaking, the sarcasm on Xiao Yiyu's face vanished instantly, replaced by a barely perceptible seriousness.
He quickly glanced around to make sure no one else was near the pavilion before lowering his voice and sternly shouting, "This is outrageous! Do you know what you're saying?!"
“I know! Your Majesty knows perfectly well.” Xiao Diting noticed his panic and became even more certain. He reached out and grabbed his arm. “The official in charge of this case back then was a henchman of the Crown Prince. Without Your Majesty’s authorization, would he have dared to execute the family member of a meritorious official so hastily? Your Majesty, what are you afraid of?”
Her fingers were cold, but her grip was surprisingly strong, making Xiao Yiyu's wrist ache. There was a physiological difference after all. Xiao Yiyu frowned, forcefully pulling his hand away, taking a half-step back to create distance, his expression dark and unreadable: "This matter has nothing to do with me. It's the court's judgment, the Emperor's decree. Don't you dare make false accusations here."
"Father's decree?" Xiao Diting sneered, his eyes full of disdain. "If it really is Father's decree, why doesn't my elder brother dare to admit it openly? General Longcheng has made great contributions in battle. If someone hadn't interfered and cut off his escape route, how could he have gone to the point of defecting to the barbarians?"
"Enough!" Xiao Yiyu shouted, his eyes carrying a hint of warning. "This matter has already been settled. General Longcheng is a traitor, that's an indisputable fact! If you dare to spout any more nonsense, don't blame me for being impolite!"
"How can I be impolite?" Xiao Diting took a step forward, his imposing manner in no way inferior. "How can Your Majesty be impolite? Like you did with Yun Miao, find a scapegoat and hastily end things? Or like in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, accuse me of being possessed by a demon and give me another beating?"
Her words struck a nerve with Xiao Yiyu. His face flushed red, then turned pale and then red again. Suddenly, as if he had figured something out, he was stunned for a moment before quickly calming down: "You rushed here today to try and provoke me with baseless rumors. Are you really crazy?"
Hearing the familiar tone, Xiao Diting secretly thought to himself, "As expected of the Crown Prince, he can quickly figure out my intentions after a brief loss of composure."
Today she was being arrogant, making wild guesses without any evidence in front of the Crown Prince, trying to make him think she had solid evidence in hand, and trying to test his reaction to confirm that her speculation was correct.
She got what she wanted, so naturally she should stop there.
Xiao Diting's eyes darted around a few times, his gaze so intense that it made Xiao Yiyu feel extremely uncomfortable.
He turned around abruptly, his back to her, his voice a little strained: "Things are different now that you've grown wings... Do as you please, investigate if you want, but I'm warning you, some murky waters, once you wade in, you might not be able to get out."
As Xiao Diting watched his stiff back, a sudden thought flashed through his mind. The Crown Prince's repeated reminders were completely different from the ruthless methods he had used to kill him before.
This is very intriguing.
"Thank you for the reminder, Your Majesty." She slowly turned around and stepped out of the pavilion. "However, I've always enjoyed getting involved in troubled matters. Didn't Your Majesty witness my methods regarding the Huaizhou grain draft?"
The cold wind carried her words, drifting into the empty courtyard.
"Let's not talk about that. I only have one question for you: when did you become so familiar with Pei Wenjin? Father asked me about it the other day..."
"And how did my elder brother answer for me?" Xiao Diting chuckled and threw the question back at me.
Xiao Yiyu was choked by her words and became furious. He impatiently waved his sleeve and said, "Get lost, you bring me bad luck."
Xiao Diting seemed not to have heard his harsh words, bowed respectfully to him, and then hurriedly rolled away.
Xiao Yiyu stood in the pavilion, watching her receding figure, his fists clenched tightly, staring blankly as her figure disappeared around the street corner.
"Have you seen it before...? I've seen it long ago."
Xiao Yiyu was jolted awake by the cold wind, as if waking from a dream. Suddenly, he burst into uncontrollable laughter, leaning on the railing until he was breathless from laughing.
The palace servants not far away all turned to look, seeing him laughing so hard his eyes were almost bloodshot, and they dared not approach, fearing that they would lose their lives for no reason at any moment.
But at that very moment, she was still lucky enough to run forward and, in a high-pitched voice, pulled the suddenly crazed Crown Prince back to reality: "Your Highness, His Majesty summons you."
Xiao Yiyu was out of breath. He turned to look and saw that the person who came was none other than Eunuch Shouxi, as expected. He straightened up to catch his breath, brushed aside the hair that was covering his face, and tidied himself up to look presentable.
"Please go ahead, sir. It's not important. I just had some bad luck on me. I'll clean up and come back later."
Unexpectedly, Eunuch Shouxi was not as relaxed as usual. He urged in a hurried tone, "His Majesty is waiting for you. Your Highness, please hurry up."
Xiao Yiyu frowned. Shouxi looked anxious but didn't explain what was wrong. He kept a watchful eye on things and beckoned to his subordinate nearby, handing him the Buddhist prayer beads. He said in a deep voice, "Put them away carefully for me. Don't break them."
The subordinate gripped his prayer beads tightly, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Your subordinate will certainly live up to your expectations."
Xiao Yiyu followed Eunuch Shouxi all the way out. Just as they reached the palace gate, he saw Xiao Diting, who was supposed to be leaving.
Xiao Diting also turned around with a grim expression, giving him a questioning look. Xiao Yiyu lowered his eyelashes, signaling her to hold back, while he turned to Eunuch Shouxi and asked, "Eunuch, is this also His Majesty's intention?"
With a sinister smile, Suki curtsied and said, "Your Highnesses are unaware of the situation outside. His Majesty has ordered me to stay here and look after you both."
"You don't need to play along with me. What exactly happened?"
Upon hearing this, Shouxi glanced back and forth between Xiao Diting and Xiao Yiyu before formally announcing in a high-pitched voice, "Commander Pei Wenjin of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is plotting a rebellion, and internal strife has broken out in the palace. His Majesty has sent me to confirm your safety."
"How dare you!"
The one who spoke was not Xiao Diting, but Xiao Yiyu, who looked astonished. He quickly stepped forward, grabbed Shouxi by the collar, and said in disbelief, "Say it again."
Xiao Diting was also overwhelmed by the information. She quickly rushed over, pried open her brother's hand that was restraining Shouxi, and stepped between the two.
Putting aside why the Crown Prince's reaction was even stronger than hers, Shouxi's words alone were enough to make her forget everything else.
"Your Excellency, this is all hearsay; you've wronged someone." She forced a smile. "Young Master Pei is a commander personally promoted by His Majesty; he is an upright man..."
After breaking free, Suki smoothed out his wrinkled clothes and interrupted her rudely, looking down at the two princes with contempt in his eyes that slanted at the bottom.
"Your Highnesses, just wait and you will soon see that what I said is true."
Xiao Diting looked at the wide-open gate of the East Palace behind him and at the group of armored soldiers, knowing that he could not leave the East Palace without orders.
She let out a long sigh, turned around to look at the Crown Prince behind her. After all, this was his palace, and everything still depended on his decision.
Xiao Yiyu's face stiffened. Finally, he waved his hand in frustration and beckoned Xiao Diting to come closer: "As His Majesty wishes, let's go to the inner palace and wait for arrangements."
Xiao Diting nodded and followed the Crown Prince.
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