"What?"
Hearing Yun Zheng's words, the faces of all the women in the room shifted. Madam Shen, in particular, felt her body go limp, and she slumped blankly into her chair.
Yun Zheng was going to Shuobei to throw his life away?
Did that not mean that Shen Luoyan was destined to be a widow before she had even married? Emperor Wen had clearly dispatched this cowardly, incompetent prince to die for the sake of boosting military morale, yet he had still bestowed a marriage upon him and Shen Luoyan?
Was the Emperor trying to turn the entire Shen family into a household of widows? Did he want all the women of the Shen family to be left alone?
Suddenly, Madam Shen slammed her palm down onto the table.
*CRASH!*
The sturdy wooden table instantly split into pieces.
Seeing this, Yun Zheng was shocked. *Holy hell!* Was this cheap mother-in-law of his actually a martial arts expert?
Before Yun Zheng could react, Madam Shen surged to her feet, her face filled with grief and indignation as she shouted at her daughter: "Bring your father and brother’s spirit tablets! Follow me to the palace to see the Emperor!"
"Yes, we must see the Emperor!" added her second sister-in-law, Ye Zi, her voice ringing out in a sharp, angry command.
When she had first married Shen Luoyan’s second brother, he had departed for the Shuobei battlefield before their wedding night had even passed. He had left a living man, but returned as a corpse. She knew all too well how bitter it was to be a widow at such a young age. She was determined not to let Shen Luoyan follow in her footsteps. They had to make the Emperor rescind his order, no matter what it took!
"It’s no use." Wei Shuang shook her head gently, her face full of bitterness. "Don't you see? The Emperor is clearly trying to leave a legacy for his son through Luoyan..."
"I would rather dash my brains out against a wall than bear his heir!" Shen Luoyan looked at Yun Zheng with unrestrained rage.
"Dashing your brains out? Forget it," Yun Zheng said, shaking his head and looking at her with a deadpan expression. "Since you want to die, just come with me to Shuobei to meet your end. We can keep each other company in the afterlife!"
"..."
Shen Luoyan’s pretty face twitched uncontrollably. She shouted with utter disgust, "Who wants to keep you company? Even if I die, I won't die with you!"
*Is it really that serious?* This silly girl! She took a bit of teasing to heart? Her intelligence didn't seem to be very high, did it?
Yun Zheng laughed inwardly and continued to provoke her: "The Imperial Father has already bestowed the marriage. If we both die, I expect he’ll have us buried together!"
Listening to Yun Zheng, Shen Luoyan’s face twitched even more. Could she not even escape this good-for-nothing in death?
"Alright," Yun Zheng said, slowly standing up and offering a sincere piece of advice. "The Imperial Father has made his decision, and our dynasty is currently in a time of turmoil. You had best not go looking for trouble."
With that, Yun Zheng departed on his own. He had warned them, at any rate. If they refused to listen and insisted on rushing to see the Emperor, they shouldn't blame him if they ended up in misfortune!
...
Leaving the Shen Residence, Yun Zheng made his way quickly back to Bibo Courtyard. When he reached the entrance, he noticed that the guards had been changed. What was going on?
"Greetings, Sixth Highness!"
While Yun Zheng was momentarily stunned, the two guards saluted him.
Yun Zheng looked at them blankly. "You are..."
Zhou Mi bowed. "Replying to Sixth Highness, we were originally members of the Imperial Guard. Starting from today, we are your personal guards."
*Imperial Guards?*
Yun Zheng’s heart skipped a beat. Were these spies planted by Emperor Wen? Or was the Emperor concerned that Yun Li and Imperial Noble Consort Shu might harm him, and thus had specifically arranged for the Imperial Guard to replace his original sentries? Or perhaps, it was a bit of both?
"Oh." Yun Zheng quickly composed his expression. "What are your names?"
"Zhou Mi."
"Gao He!"
"Then I shall have to trouble you both." Yun Zheng nodded slightly.
"You are too kind, Highness," the two replied in unison, shaking their heads quickly.
As Yun Zheng entered, the few palace maids in the courtyard glanced at each other in terror, then scrambled over to curry favor.
"Get lost!" Yun Zheng glared at the maids, his face cold as ice. "All of you, kneel and slap your own faces! You are not to stop until I say so!"
He wasn't afraid of them noticing that he was acting differently. Even a clay figurine had three parts of temper; how could a prince not have any? If he didn't deal with these turncoats, that would be the real cause for suspicion. Even the most magnanimous person couldn't be magnanimous to this degree.
However, he could punish them, but he couldn't show too much ruthless decisiveness, or he would invite further scrutiny.
Hearing Yun Zheng's command, the maids grew even more terrified. They immediately dropped to their knees with a series of heavy *thuds*.
"Have mercy, Highness! This servant had no choice!"
"Please, spare us, Highness!"
"I beg of you, show mercy..."
The women were scared to death. They knew exactly what they had done. But they never expected that this good-for-nothing, who had kicked the Third Prince so viciously, would return unscathed.
Yun Zheng glanced at them coldly and shouted, "Gao He!"
"Here!" Gao He rushed in.
Yun Zheng looked at the maids with indifference and ordered, "Keep watch. If anyone dares not to strike their own face with force, do it for them!"
"Yes!" Gao He accepted the order.
Terrified, the maids dared not beg any longer and began to slap their own faces with all their might.
*Slap! Slap! Slap!*
In an instant, the sound of slaps filled Bibo Courtyard...
***
Chapter 6: Yun Zheng Must Die!
In the dead of night, deep within the palace.
"Has everything been investigated?" Emperor Wen asked, eyes lifting to look at the Shadow Guard who had hurried in.
"Reporting to the Emperor, it has been verified." The Shadow Guard bowed, carefully relaying the information extracted from the original guards of Bibo Courtyard.
"Dragged into the Celestial Prison?" Emperor Wen slammed his hand against his desk in a rage. "Such audacity! Without my permission, the Third Prince dared to throw the Sixth Prince into the Celestial Prison? No wonder the boy was so frightened he wanted to die!"
Emperor Wen was incandescent with rage, breathing heavily.
"Please, calm yourself, Your Majesty," Mu Shun, who was serving at his side, stepped forward to comfort him. "The Third Prince probably only intended to frighten the Sixth Prince. After all, the Crown Prince’s trusted aide had visited the Sixth Prince right before his death..."
Emperor Wen lifted his eyes slightly, his gaze sharp as he looked at Mu Shun. "Do you think the Sixth Prince is involved in the Crown Prince's case?"
"This..." Mu Shun felt his heart clench. He hurried to say, "This old servant does not know."
" 'Not knowing' is just another way of saying it's impossible, isn't it?" Emperor Wen scoffed. "If you were the Crown Prince, would you recruit this good-for-nothing to help you stage a coup? Can he provide a single soldier or offer a single strategy?"
Dragging the Sixth Prince into a rebellion would be nothing but a burden! Anyone with half a brain wouldn't do something so stupid!
Mu Shun stood in fearful silence, not daring to respond.
Emperor Wen took several deep breaths, then fixed his gaze on the Shadow Guard. "After the Sixth Prince returned, how did he deal with those base maids in his courtyard?"
"He ordered them to kneel and slap their own faces," the Shadow Guard replied.
"No other punishments?" Emperor Wen frowned, questioning him.
"None." The Shadow Guard shook his head slightly.
"Useless thing!" Emperor Wen looked disappointed, his voice rising in anger. "He was bitten by the dogs he raised! I even changed his guards and handed him the stick to beat those dogs, and he still doesn't dare to kill them! A waste, an utter waste! How did I end up with such a useless son..."
The more Emperor Wen thought about it, the angrier he became, and he couldn't help but curse loudly.
The Shadow Guard and Mu Shun listened but said nothing. When Emperor Wen scolded Yun Zheng, that was a father scolding a son—he could say whatever he pleased. But if they dared to call the Sixth Prince a waste to the Emperor's face, they would be slapping the Emperor's own face as a father.
After venting his rage, Emperor Wen instructed the Shadow Guard: "Take those base maids out of Bibo Courtyard and execute them with the rod!"
In this moment, Emperor Wen displayed the cold-blooded nature of an emperor.
"Yes!" The Shadow Guard bowed and retreated.
Once the guard had left, Emperor Wen let out a long sigh and asked in a low voice, "Are Madam Shen and the others still kneeling outside the palace?"
"Yes!" Mu Shun nodded slightly.
Emperor Wen was silent for a moment before asking, "Have I been too hard on the Shen family?"
Mu Shun smiled fawningly. "This is simply Your Majesty's grace toward the Shen family."
*Grace?* Madam Shen and her kin were likely cursing him in their hearts right now. Emperor Wen forced a bitter smile. After a moment of contemplation, he commanded, "Go and tell them that I am sending the Sixth to the frontier to earn merit and build a career, not to die! Though he may not be cut out for great tasks, he is still my son—even a tiger would not eat its own cub!"
"Yes!" Mu Shun bowed and added, "Your Majesty, since the marriage has already been bestowed, should we not prepare a residence for the Sixth Prince for his wedding?"
*A residence?* Did the Sixth still not have his own residence? Emperor Wen paused, then tapped his own head, mocking himself, "If not for your reminder, I truly would have forgotten this matter!"
In the Da Qian Dynasty, princes were granted residences outside the palace upon reaching adulthood, with the exception of the Crown Prince, whose residence was within the palace. That Yun Zheng still lived within the palace was purely an accident. Mostly, it was because Yun Zheng’s presence was so insignificant that if not for today's incident, Emperor Wen would have forgotten he even had such a son, let alone whether he had been granted a residence. The place where Yun Zheng currently lived was still his childhood dwelling.
Thinking of Yun Zheng, Emperor Wen cursed the good-for-nothing in his heart again. *If I forgot, why didn't he dare to bring it up himself? Useless thing!*
After a moment of silence, Emperor Wen ordered Mu Shun: "Have someone clean up the residence of the disgraced official Yu Min overnight. Tomorrow morning, go to Bibo Courtyard to deliver an imperial decree bestowing it upon Yun Zheng! As for the servants in the residence, arrange them according to protocol!"
...
At the Third Prince’s Mansion.
Yun Li still felt waves of sharp pain radiating from his lower body. Xu Shifu and Imperial Noble Consort Shu had both come to visit him. Seeing the state Yun Li was in, both the brother and sister were filled with a mix of heartache and fury.
That Yun Li had been injured by that good-for-nothing Yun Zheng? This was the biggest joke under heaven!
Angry as he was, Xu Shifu couldn't help but lecture Yun Li: "You were foolish! If you wanted to frame that waste, you could have picked any charge, but you had to choose 'complicit in the Crown Prince’s rebellion'! Do you think the officials in the court believe that? Do you even believe it yourself?"
Yun Zheng rebelling with the Crown Prince? Even the dogs in the palace wouldn't believe that! That good-for-nothing trembled at the sight of blood! Rebellious? Anyone who claimed such a person participated in a rebellion must have had water in their brain!
Yun Li felt both depressed and furious. He gritted his teeth and said, "I just wanted to frighten the waste! I never expected that he would dare to strike back!"
"If he didn't strike back to make a scene, would he just sit there and wait to die?" Xu Shifu glared at him, then admonished, "You stay here and recover for the next few days. Do not go looking for trouble with Yun Zheng!"
"Why should I?" Yun Li growled with hatred. "If I let that waste off, how am I supposed to swallow this insult?"
"Foolish!" Xu Shifu raised his voice sharply. "The Emperor must already know the reason behind this. The fact that he hasn't come to visit you yet is an intentional reprimand! If you go after Yun Zheng again now, you are just asking for trouble!"
Unlike the still-immature Yun Li, Xu Shifu was a cunning old fox. The Emperor had already reprimanded Imperial Noble Consort Shu in the great hall today. Not only was it impossible for that waste Yun Zheng to be a remnant of the Crown Prince’s faction, but even if he were, Yun Li had no authority to send him to the Celestial Prison without the Emperor's permission. His move to intimidate Yun Zheng had been a terrible tactical error!
"Listen to your uncle," Imperial Noble Consort Shu comforted him. "These are extraordinary times. If you cannot bear small grievances, you will ruin the greater plan!"
"But I can't swallow this!" Yun Li cried out in frustration.
"Don't be impatient!" Xu Shifu waved his hand, his expression turning sinister. "In a few more days, the Beihuan diplomatic mission will arrive at the Imperial City. We will devise a plan to provoke them using that waste!"
"With our internal strife currently unsettled, the Emperor does not wish to go to war with Beihuan!"
"As long as that waste offends the Beihuan mission, the Emperor will surely punish him severely to appease their anger!"
Hearing this, Yun Li’s eyes lit up. *Using a borrowed knife to kill!* That was a brilliant plan!
After contemplating for a moment, Yun Li gritted his teeth again: "Punishment alone is not enough! This waste must die! We cannot give him the chance to go to Shuobei!"
Xu Shifu and the Imperial Noble Consort thought for a moment and nodded. Indeed, they could not let Yun Zheng leave for Shuobei alive; they had already lost all face!
Yun Zheng must die!
It seemed that before the arrival of the Beihuan mission, they would have to plan carefully. They had to strike a lethal blow! They would not give Yun Zheng any chance to survive—just like they had dealt with the former Crown Prince!
***
Chapter 7: Preparing to be the Sixth
The next morning, Mu Shun arrived to deliver the decree.
Hearing the contents of the decree, Yun Zheng felt both happy and worried. He was happy because he would be leaving the palace, allowing him to conduct his affairs in secret. But he also worried that Emperor Wen might suddenly feel guilty and, in a fit of sentimentality, decide not to send him to Shuobei after the wedding. If that happened, he would be doomed!
However, worrying now was useless; he could only accept the decree with gratitude.
Although Yun Zheng had lived in Bibo Courtyard for years, he didn't possess many belongings. After a simple cleanup, he set off with his two guards.
Upon arriving at the Yu residence, he found that the original plaque had already been taken down, replaced by one reading "Sixth Prince's Mansion." The new plaque looked like it had been rushed out overnight—the craftsmanship was poor, and the paint wasn't even fully dry.
"We welcome the Sixth Highness!" the people in the mansion greeted him in unison.
*Good heavens*, there were quite a few of them—men and women combined, there were at least thirty. Most were maids and servants, with six guards among them. However, thinking that these were all people arranged by Emperor Wen, Yun Zheng felt incredibly awkward. Who knew how many of them were the Emperor’s eyes and ears?
"No need for formalities!" Yun Zheng waved his hand, but secretly resolved that he needed to secure some trusted subordinates of his own!
After a quick tour of the mansion, Yun Zheng took Gao He and Zhou Mi and headed out.
"Highness, perhaps you should take a carriage?" Gao He suggested. "You haven't ridden much in the past, and if an accident occurs, we cannot bear the responsibility."
"I’ll ride!" Yun Zheng sniffed. "I am going to the battlefield anyway. If I can't even ride a horse, wouldn't I be bringing shame upon the Imperial Father?"
With that, Yun Zheng scrambled onto the horse. Having never ridden before his transmigration, he was a bit clumsy. Watching his awkward posture, Zhou Mi and Gao He shook their heads inwardly. *Is this it?* If he couldn't even sit steady on a horse, how would he survive the battlefield? He really was just going there to die!
Though they disdained him, they didn't dare to neglect their duties, and they flanked him on either side, terrified he might fall off.
After riding for a while, Yun Zheng adapted slightly.
"Highness, where are we going?" Zhou Mi asked.
"To the Shen Residence," Yun Zheng replied. "I’ve moved, so I should at least let them know."
Zhou Mi smiled. "Such a small matter could be handled by the servants, Highness. There is no need for you to go yourself."
"I'll treat it as riding practice!" Yun Zheng laughed dismissively. After a moment of thought, he asked, "Since I’ve moved into a new residence, according to custom, shouldn't I be hosting a banquet for the court officials?"
"This..." Zhou Mi paused, then gave a dry laugh. "According to custom, that is true. However, if you were to host a banquet, I fear..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but Yun Zheng understood perfectly. He was afraid no one would come to offer congratulations. Yun Zheng actually hoped no one would come—as long as the gifts arrived! This was a perfect opportunity to amass wealth! As long as he had troops, money, and grain, he could eventually crush these bastards!
Yun Zheng hung his head, feigning a look of dejection. After a moment, he sighed. "Whether anyone comes or not, I must observe the proprieties. I cannot have people saying that a prince of the dynasty is ignorant of etiquette..."
*I'll write a stack of invitations and send them out. As for those high-ranking officials, I'll deliver the invitations personally! If I come to your door personally, you'll have to send a gift, won't you? Make a profit on moving house, make a profit on the wedding—the money will come in! How wonderful!*
Seeing Yun Zheng’s persistence, the two men felt they couldn't say anything more. When no one showed up to congratulate him, he would learn what it meant to lose face.
Soon, they arrived at the Shen Mansion.
Madam Shen and the others were entertaining guests. Seeing Yun Zheng walk in, everyone in the room immediately stood up to salute. Even the hot-tempered Shen Luoyan bowed along with them.
*Eh?* Yun Zheng was surprised. Had they had a change of heart? Had they failed to see the Emperor last night and were now accepting reality?
"We are all family, no need for these empty formalities!" Yun Zheng laughed casually, his gaze falling on a young man with a martial air. "And who are you?"
The young man flashed a look of contempt, bowing slightly. "Replying to Highness, I am Yuan Gui, Cavalry Commandant of the Left Garrison. My father is General Yuan Cong of the Left Garrison."
*Yuan Cong?* The Third Prince's faction?
Yun Zheng’s heart jumped. Yesterday in the great hall, Yuan Cong had been one of the most vocal opponents! Since he was part of the Third Prince's faction, he shouldn't blame him for being rude!
"So, it is Commandant Yuan." Yun Zheng chuckled, then suddenly asked, "And what brings Commandant Yuan here today?"
Yuan Gui raised an eyebrow and replied without hesitation, "I heard Miss Shen was in poor spirits, so I specifically..."
"Ahem!" Ye Zi coughed to interrupt Yuan Gui, immediately taking over. "Commandant Yuan is a relative of mine. He came to invite me to go horseback riding outside the city. Hearing that Luoyan was in low spirits, we were planning to take her out to clear her mind."
With that, Ye Zi gave Yuan Gui a sharp glare. This brave but brainless fool! Did he think he could just invite Shen Luoyan out for a ride? She was going to be the Princess Consort Sixth! Although Shen Luoyan had already refused him, who knew what the Sixth Prince would think if he heard about this? If it reached the Emperor’s ears, who knew what trouble it might cause!
Realizing his mistake under Ye Zi's glare, Yuan Gui broke into a cold sweat and hurriedly chimed in, "Yes, I wanted to invite Sister Zi out for a stroll..."
"Is that so!"