Chapter 63
The eaves filtered out most of the sunlight from the bluestone pavement, leaving only a few tiny spots of light that swayed gently with the corners of Li Yin's robe.
Weidao fell half a step behind, his eyes unconsciously following the straight back of the man in front of him, and the faint scent of pine smoke and ink lingered at the tip of his nose.
The moment he turned the corner of the corridor, Weidao stopped in his tracks.
A figure was leaning against the corner of the pavilion under the corridor, and his dark blue official robe was shining with a dark and elegant light in the shadow.
When Prime Minister Ji Ke heard the footsteps, he slowly raised his eyes, his gaze like deep water flowing quietly, falling on Li Yin. He nodded slightly, with a somewhat calm scrutiny.
Li Yin also stopped walking. He looked at Ji Ke, his eyebrows moving slightly.
This corner of the corridor connects the inner courtyard and the outer study. Few people come here on weekdays. He is waiting here, obviously on purpose.
"Prime Minister" Li Yin's voice was steady, without much emotion.
The prime minister stood up straight, and the Buddhist beads turned gently in his palm, making a tiny "clicking" sound.
"I have been waiting for Your Highness for a long time." His tone was gentle, but there was a sharpness in his eyes. "I just saw Your Highness enter the inner courtyard. I thought that after finishing his personal business, His Highness would always return to the study via this route, so I waited here for a while."
Li Yin seemed unaware of the undercurrent and simply said, "Prime Minister, is there something important?"
Ji Ke stepped forward and said meaningfully, "Do you think this is a sudden change?"
Li Yin frowned slightly, and looked at the Prime Minister with a hawk-like gaze. The aura around him instantly condensed. "Prime Minister, what exactly do you want to say?"
Ji Ke stepped forward and whispered, "Fear always seeps into the most vulnerable places!"
Li Yin chuckled and said slowly, "Is it because I'm acting as the judge that this country has become unstable?"
When the Prime Minister raised his eyes, he met Li Yin's cold gaze. His Adam's apple rolled, but his voice was as steady as a rock: "The idea of wanting to change is good, but in reality, Your Highness, it seems that you have only brought chaos."
Ji Ke continued, “The more difficult the times, the more you need the help of experienced and sophisticated ministers.”
Seeing that Li Yin remained silent, Ji Ke continued to tempt him, "So, why don't you just turn a blind eye and hide under the shade of my humble servant?"
Li Yin stared at Ji Ke with a cold gaze, raising his voice, "So, in order to hide under the shade of the tree, we have to ignore the mud under our feet? How can that be possible?"
“…”
Ever since His Majesty issued the order to search the inner courtyards of the royal palace, the entire court was in a state of panic. The palace, which usually seemed to be in perfect order, was now in chaos.
Several eunuchs huddled together in panic, their eyes filled with fear and helplessness. They could only watch silently as the imperial guards turned their quarters upside down like wolves and tigers. Clothes were carelessly thrown on the ground, boxes and crates were roughly opened, and precious little items were scattered everywhere, looking even more pitiful under the trampling of the imperial guards.
"What should we do?" one of the eunuchs cried softly, the trembling in his voice clearly audible. "We usually behave properly, how could we have suffered such an unprovoked disaster?"
Luo Sanrong saw an acquaintance and carefully approached him, asking softly, "Master Ma, what happened?"
"Shh!" Eunuch Ma quickly made a hushed gesture, looked around warily, and said in a low voice, "Don't mention it. Not only the Imperial Household Department, but also all the departments and halls, palace maids, female doctors, and even small houses that have been uninhabited for a long time will be searched."
"What on earth is spreading in the capital? Why is the palace so chaotic?" Xiao Gao, who was standing next to Luo Sanying, asked quietly.
"To overthrow the king and create a world where the people are the masters, that's roughly what it means." Eunuch Ma briefly described the contents on the yellow paper.
"What?" Xiaopang, who was standing next to Xiaogao, exclaimed in surprise.
"Keep your voice down!" Eunuch Ma warned him with his eyes.
"Isn't that treason?" Xiao Gao murmured.
Eunuch Ma bowed slightly and spoke slowly in a low voice, "When the turmoil broke out ten years ago, no one noticed that there were spies in the palace."
After the imperial guards finished their search, Eunuch Ma would lead them to another palace. He whispered, "Everyone, be careful. At times like this, regardless of whether you're guilty or not, you'll be accused of treason."
Looking at their frightened expressions, Eunuch Ma sighed silently. There was no other way. If he didn't say this, who knows what kind of trouble they would cause. At this time, His Highness could not withstand their torment.
He had noticed over the past few days that His Highness was indeed treating Luo Sanrong differently, so he specifically stepped forward and "instructed" him: "Whether it's you, me, or him, we will all be taken away and then branded with iron soup. We will all die."
Luo Sanrong didn't know whether he was scared or what, he lowered his head and didn't say anything.
Xiaopang asked silently: "Will he die?"
Eunuch Ma made a frightening expression and said, "Of course."
Their whispered conversation soon attracted the attention of the Imperial Guards. A burly Imperial Guards captain approached with an impatient expression, slamming his spear heavily onto the ground with a dull thud. Luo Sanrong and the others shuddered in fear.
"Behave yourself!" the captain said fiercely, his gaze sweeping over them like a knife. "If you dare to hide anything, you'll be in big trouble!"
After that, the captain directed his men to continue searching, leaving no corner untouched. Luo Sanrong and the others could only stand by helplessly, their eyes filled with helplessness and sorrow.
Late at night, Luo Sanrong went to the inner hall of the East Palace to help the Crown Prince wash and dress. Seeing Li Yin's tired face, Luo Sanrong hurried to meet him. It turned out that these matters were the responsibility of Eunuch Ma, but he had been busy all day, so these things fell on her head.
Li Yin returned to the inner hall, his expression relaxed, and he collapsed in Luo Sanrong's arms. Luo Sanrong asked distressedly, "You just came back?"
Li Yin nodded without saying anything.
Luo Sanrong: "Everyone in the palace is in a panic, you must be very sad!"
Li Yin straightened up, looked at Luo Sanrong's face, and suddenly broke into a big smile, "That's right, I haven't seen you all day!"
Luo Sanrong chuckled, helped Li Yin take off the crown prince's clothes, patted his chest lightly, and said with a smile: "You are so smooth-talking. You should take a rest now!"
Li Yin pulled her over, laid on her legs, and said, "Oh, it feels so good!"
Luo Sanrong looked at Li Yin distressedly and said, "You've been having trouble sleeping lately, haven't you?"
Li Yin closed his eyes and did not answer.
Luo Sanrong whispered, "Then I will stay here with you until Your Highness falls asleep."
At this moment, Luo Sanrong looked at the quiet scene and couldn't help but say, "Let me tell you a story!"
I thought I wouldn't get a response, but unexpectedly, Li Yin, who was lying on Luo San'er's legs, said, "Go ahead!"
"Last time, Your Highness said that falling in love with a prince is every woman's dream. The story I'm going to tell you today is also about a prince."
"Once upon a time, there was a prince who lost his way in the desert. At that time, a beautiful woman passed by..." Luo Sanrong's voice was soft.
"It's the same as me!" Li Yin said.
"That should be the case! After all, the beautiful woman fell in love with him at first sight." Luo Sanying responded with a smile.
Li Yin opened his eyes, looked at Luo Sanrong intently, and asked with a smile, "Just like you?"
Luo Sanrong patted him lightly, signaling him not to interrupt.
"The prince, forced to leave the woman he fell in love with, returned home and begged his father, the emperor, and his mother, the queen, to let him see him again. It turned out that this beautiful woman was actually a princess of a country..."
"After the princess's persistent pleading, the king and queen finally agreed to her request, but they could not reveal any information about their identities..."
"The princess met the prince again, but the prince didn't recognize her, and the princess couldn't explain herself... She couldn't even tell the prince who she was..."
Li Yin asked, "And then?"
“.....”
The inner hall of the East Palace was so peaceful and quiet that Weidao, who had been standing outside the hall, couldn't bear to expose this heartwarming scene.
Perhaps, the princess who could not reveal her true identity that Luo Sanrong was talking about was herself. Besides, he had been seeing Luo Sanrong's intentions towards His Highness these days.
Forget it, let’s keep it a secret for a few more days!
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