“Ziyou!

“Ziyou!”

As Princess Royal Anguo rushed down the?coiled dragon stone stairs, she accidentally twisted her ankle. The lady-in-waiting following her hurriedly came close to help hold her up. At this moment, Princess Royal Anguo didn’t have the time to bother with being proper anymore. She pushed the lady-in-waiting away and took huge steps toward the palace exit.

Meanwhile, Yu She took long strides as he walked out. Right now, he only wanted to see Zhong Wan.

If the events of today were due to ten points of effort, Zhong Wan alone had contributed nine of those ten points.

The way he had exposed the Beidi situation had been too perfect.

Yu She had always been responsible for this incident. Zhong Wan didn’t have any physical evidence or witnesses at his disposal. In all honesty, Yu She hadn’t been very hopeful for success.

This hadn’t been the original plan.

But at the time, Yu She had felt that this was probably the best opportunity.

If not for the fact that Emperor Chongan’s body truly couldn’t hold out any longer, he absolutely wouldn’t have placed trust in Yu She. He must’ve sensed, somehow, that he was near his limit. Upon realizing that Yu Mucheng’s situation was connected to Xuan Rui’s, he had no other option but to add Yu She to his list of trusted subordinates and entrust him with a task.

After all, in Emperor Chongan’s eyes, they were on the same side regarding this issue.

But it was extremely difficult to get ahold of that letter written in blood, perfectly destroy the parts related to Yu She, and find the right person to send the evidence to the emperor in such a short amount of time.

Yet, Zhong Wan had succeeded.

This was the first unforeseen incident.

The hatred of the past had retaliated too quickly, wholly breaking Emperor Chongan’s decaying skeleton into several pieces, as if he had been struck by falling boulders. He had actually gotten a stroke. This was the second unforeseen incident.

With the first unforeseen incident, Emperor Chongan had completely lost a son that could inherit the throne. With the second unforeseen incident, Emperor Chongan had lost his leverage against Yu She.

Thus, Yu She now had the confidence to toss Emperor Chongan off to the side.

These past few months, Yu She had had enough of pretending to be the filial son too. When he thought of the fact that Emperor Chongan had once kept him in the dark to try and bribe and threaten Zhong Wan, an indescribable feeling of disgust filled Yu She’s chest.

There were always people who didn’t treat others like human beings. They would carelessly fiddle with and throw around something someone else cared deeply about and find pleasure in doing so.

It was no matter that he was unwilling to grant Shi Jin and Zhong Wan’s only wish. Why did he need to purposefully dangle this in front of Zhong Wan as if he were toying with a dog?!

Mbg oec?

Snfc abvjs, atfs ralii vlvc’a nlfk tlw bg Itbcu Qjc jr tewjc yflcur.

Ktfc atfgf kjr cb cffv obg tlw ab kjla eqbc atf batfg flatfg. Ktlr kbeiv jirb jiibk Swqfgbg Jtbcujc ab offi atf mbiv klcv jcv ecvfgrajcv atja alwfr tjv mtjcufv. Glv tf gfjiis ralii tjnf rb wemt mbcolvfcmf?

Yu She exited the palace. Outside the palace doors, the coachman of the side courtyard of Prince Yu’s estate had already brought the horse carriage over. Yu She was just about to get into the carriage when Princess Royal Anguo, who had been chasing him this entire way, finally caught up.

Princess Royal Anguo instantly grabbed onto Yu She’s sleeve. Agitated, she yelled, “Listen to me!”

Yu She turned around and slowly tugged his sleeve back. He coldly gazed at Princess Royal Anguo and said, “You don’t need to place your hopes in me anymore. Go find Yu Mucheng now. There’s still time.”

“It hasn’t gotten to that point yet! Hear me out first!” Princess Royal Anguo looked around and impatiently gave her lady-in-waiting a meaningful look. The lady-in-waiting immediately told the surrounding servants and coachman to retreat.

As the first rays of sun illuminated the sky, this aunt-and-nephew pair stared at each other.

“Listen to me. I’ve already figured everything out.” Princess Royal Anguo was terrified that Yu She would leave again. She stood in front of Yu She’s horse carriage and rapidly said, “The purpose of the emperor’s imperial decree was to prevent you from doing anything about Zhong Wan’s background in the future, right? He already used this to threaten Zhong Wan before, but Zhong Wan didn’t agree, so he became impatient and refused to discuss with you guys further. He wants to completely make you give up on this plan, correct?”

Princess Royal Anguo nodded in panic. “Yes, the emperor knows too. Only this last decree that has to be announced to all the officials can control you.. Yes, that must be the case.”

Yu She’s expression was cold. He distantly gazed at Princess Royal Anguo.

“Hear me out first. This situation is still up for negotiation. The emperor is already feeling regretful,” Princess Royal Anguo said. “The second imperial decree is in my breast pocket right now. As long as you desire it, this imperial decree will never be seen by a fourth person. I swear!”

Princess Royal Anguo was fearful that Yu She wouldn’t trust her. In agitation, she pulled out the imperial decree and handed it to Yu She so he could look over it. She added, “It’s real. I left the other imperial decree to the emperor. When day breaks, the officials will all enter the palace. They’ll only see that imperial decree. I swear that that imperial decree has no mention of Zhong Wan at all. That’s the decree that names you as crown prince!

“Child.” Princess Royal Anguo’s eyes were filled with tears. She cried out, “As soon as the sun rises, you’ll be crown prince!!!”

Yu She wasn’t affected at all. He apathetically looked at Princess Royal Anguo and held a hand out to her.

Princess Royal Anguo hurriedly made to hand the imperial decree in her hands over to Yu She. But right before doing so, she paused. In a daze, she asked, “Ziyou, you’re really going to tear it up?”

Yu She didn’t want to waste any more time speaking with Princess Royal Anguo. “If Emperor and Princess haven’t made up your minds yet, you can go find someone else.”

“Wait!” Princess Royal Anguo hurriedly said. “You don’t need to threaten me anymore. I believe you now. You’re really going all out. The emperor believes that too. But you’ve already waited so long for today. You won’t mind hearing me say a few extra words, right? Let me finish. Whether you want me to send this imperial decree back or tear it up on the spot, that’s all up to you!”

Yu She coldly gazed at Princess Royal Anguo. He couldn’t understand what else she could have to say. He also couldn’t understand why he would be crazy enough to send the imperial decree back.

“Ziyou, I’m not trying to argue on the emperor’s behalf. As of now, I can only rely on you. I’m trying to help you come up with a plan. Trust me.. This decree from Imperial Brother definitely isn’t only designed to exact revenge on Zhong Wan’s arrogance. This is a matter of life and death. He hasn’t gotten so foolish yet.” Princess Royal Anguo clutched onto Yu She’s wrist once more and lowered her voice to say, “The emperor previously went to the temporary imperial palace and put on an assassination act just to get rid of Prince Yu and also me. But at the end of the day, he was trying to clear the road for the new emperor! Including this imperial decree.

“Ziyou.” Princess Royal Anguo gazed deep into Yu She’s eyes. “Do you believe that if the other princes weren’t either dead or useless and if the emperor didn’t feel like he didn’t have the energy to do so, he would definitely kill Zhong Wan? He would never do something as simple as ending Zhong Wan’s political career.”

Yu She nodded. “I should thank him? For not being completely ruthless?”

Princess Royal Anguo was speechless. Then, she said, “I won’t talk about these things with you. I’m also not here to be the emperor’s sympathizer. I only want you to wake up a bit. Figure out if this imperial decree is trying to help you or not.

“You’re currently only one step away from that throne. After this one step, the entire world will be yours! By then, we won’t be able to control how you want to adore him. Gold, silver, estates, whatever you want to gift him. Even if you placed him in the imperial harem, no one would be able to say anything! Isn’t that enough for you? Why are you so adamant about him beginning a political career?

“Someone like him, as long as you allow him to take the imperial examination once more, given his talent and your affection, he will definitely become an extremely influential official in the future.” Princess Royal Anguo’s voice was low as she said, “Ziyou, tell me. Ten years down the line, multiple decades down the line, how are you going to balance out the relationship between him and the future emperor?

“On the day you two run out of fate, how are you going to guarantee that the person who helped you onto the throne, the one who knows all of your weaknesses, isn’t going to become the next Yu Mucheng?

“Can’t the emperor think of the things even I can think of?” Princess Royal Anguo lowered her voice even more. “Ziyou.. As of now, someone has already become the villain for you. Just go with the flow and agree, okay?

“You want Zhong Wan. From now on, Zhong Wan will be yours. And you can have him completely under your control. In the future, no matter if you want an empress, numerous consorts, or even if you want other men.. he won’t be able to do anything to you! And he absolutely won’t be a threat to your offspring. What’s so harmful about this imperial decree?

“Just now, you were overtaken by a moment of passion..” Princess Royal Anguo looked at Yu She in anticipation. She ingratiatingly inquired, “Child, have you thought it through now?”

Yu She completely understood. He scoffed. “The game of kings..”

“The emperor is being a bit vengeful, I can tell,” said Princess Royal Anguo. “But I can also tell that he’s trying to lay out a longer path for you! Besides, for the emperor to be so fearful of Zhong Wan..”

Princess Royal Anguo asked, “Aren’t you also at fault?!

“From when you were in your teens, how many foolish things have you done for Zhong Wan?” Even now, Princess Royal Anguo still resented the fact that Zhong Wan had ruined Yu She’s marriage plans back then. Otherwise, if Yu She had gotten married and had children early on, these subsequent problems probably wouldn’t exist. There was no use in bringing up the past too much. She took a deep breath and continued, “This past half a year, how often have you also acted boldly and recklessly? You even dare to call him your ‘indoors-one’ to outsiders. What are you trying to do?! There are quite a few sons of aristocratic families who are like you, but who else have you seen cherishing a man like this?!”

Yu She’s eyes shifted. Suddenly, his heart twinged with pain.

He chuckled and repeated, “The son of an aristocratic family..”

Princess Royal Anguo furrowed her brows. “What are you laughing at?”

“I’m laughing at Princess Royal’s poor memory.” The corners of Yu She’s lips slightly curled up. He softly said, “Zhong Wan. He was originally the son of an aristocratic family too.”

Princess Royal Anguo stopped breathing.

“Speaking of which, aside from the imperial blood of unknown origins in my veins,” said Yu She, before lowering his head and scanning himself, then continuing to ask Princess Royal Anguo, “is there anything about me that’s better than him?

“He was born to a noble family with a noble bloodline. In his youth, he was raised by a prince of the first rank. After beginning his academic career, he was taught by the emperor’s teacher. Talent, reputation, a gentleman’s virtue.. I can’t be compared to him at all.” Yu She gazed at Princess Royal Anguo and inquired, “Did you forget? Who ruined him, hm?”

Yu She honestly couldn’t repress the hatred in his chest any longer. He gazed at Princess Royal Anguo. “Mother..”

Yu She’s lips slightly quivered. He choked out, “Guiyuan and I used to be a?perfect match.

“We were originally a match made in heaven.” Yu She tugged the lantern hanging from the horse carriage off in one motion. The horse whinnied. Yu She snatched the imperial decree out of Princess Royal Anguo’s hands and used the fire in the lantern to light it. The dancing flames in Yu She’s hands made his originally handsome face seem ghost-like. He stared straight at Princess Royal Anguo. “You tell me. Who ruined us? Huh?”

Princess Royal Anguo’s heart skipped a beat. She couldn’t help taking a step back.

“Shortly after Guiyuan left, I became crazy. But I occasionally was in the right state of mind too. Thinking back on the unspoken words he left for me, I also wanted to go find him..” Yu She’s voice was slightly hoarse. “But was I worthy to? You guys harmed him so much. Was I still worthy to go looking for him?!”

Yu She’s mental state was a bit off. He could faintly hear a voice saying to him in his head, “You are.”

“Just like this. I often hear these auditory hallucinations. I hallucinate that I never hurt him..” Yu She shook his head and muttered to himself, “But no. You guys caused me to become an unworthy match for him long ago..”

The voice in his head sounded out again, “No, you’re worthy.”

Yu She shook his head. “I’m not worthy.”

“You’re worthy.”

Yu She threw the almost extinguished flame in his hand onto the ground. “No..”

“Yes!”

Yu She had completely lost his wits. He smiled bitterly. “See? I heard it again.”

Rendered speechless, Princess Royal Anguo nervously checked their surroundings. Following that, she said, “I think I heard it too.”

Yu She froze.

In the horse carriage, Zhong Wan awkwardly drew back the curtain. “Ziyou, were you?singing mountain songs?with me just now?”

This time, it was Yu She who was rendered speechless.