Pei Qianhao immediately caught the crux of her sentence. “Half-faced man?”
“One face with two appearances; one half of his face is evil and sinister, while the other half is weak and harmless. This kind of person only appears in play scripts. They’re known to curse their parents, friends, and wives, bringing misfortune wherever they go.” Su Xi-er explained.
Pei Qianhao’s eyes deepened.
I seem to remember meeting a half-faced man when I was young.
“A-Jing, Situ Li values his Empress Mother the most. Even though she has died, she is still his kryptonite. Everything he has done so far has been for the sake of his Empress Mother’s revenge.”
Pei Qianhao slowly replied, “The Pei Residence caused Situ Li’s mother’s death, doing so to pave the way for Pei Yaran.”
“That’s why everyone from the Pei Family is Situ Li’s enemy; he will undoubtedly take revenge on them.” Su Xi-er continued.
There’s a reason for every hatred in this world. Situ Li misses his mother very much, and while we can’t say he’s correct, we can’t say that he’s entirely wrong either.
“Since we want to completely eliminate our problems at the root, this Prince won’t let Situ Li off, regardless of his reasons. We have to return peace to the Situ Imperial Family.”
~~~
Meanwhile, Situ Li’s subordinate who had been hiding in the capital quickly left on horseback. By the time he arrived at the city gate, the guards had already received orders to let him pass
After riding for a whole day, the subordinate arrived at the faraway rural county Situ Li was staying at.
The subordinate arrived at the study before bowing and beginning his report. “Third Imperial Prince, our men acted, but Prince Hao escaped almost unscathed. The power from Commandery Prince Xie has already been snatched by Prince Hao, and some of your followers are also conflicted.”
Situ Li set down the book in his hand, his cold eyes devoid of any emotion. Standing up, he gazed at the moon through the windows. “Kill the wives and children of those people and push the blame to Pei Qianhao.”
“Third Imperial Prince, did you say all the wives and children?”
“Yes, Pei Qianhao has always been vicious for the sake of obtaining power; if nobody investigates, the blame for their deaths would naturally fall to him.” Situ Li’s cold disposition was prominent.
“Third Imperial Prince, this move of yours is truly splendid! This subordinate execute it right away.” The subordinate bowed and turned to head outside.
However, he had only taken a few steps when Situ Li’s cold voice stopped him. “When did you leave the capital?”
Bewildered, the subordinate still turned back around and answered, “Between 9 – 11 pm.”
The capital gates should have already been closed by then, yet he was still able to openly leave.
Situ Li couldn’t help but be suspicious as he continued to ask, “Didn’t the guards at the gates block you?”
“Replying to the Third Imperial Prince, they didn’t.”
Situ Li nodded and waved his hand. “Quickly, leave.”
“This subordinate obeys the order.” The subordinate bowed and left the study.
Right after he walked out, Situ Li called another guard over. “Kill that man. Afterwards, slip into the capital and kill the wives and children of those turncoats.”
The guard bowed with a solemn expression. “This subordinate obeys the order.”
“How’s the situation with the Western Region?” Situ Li asked.
“Third Imperial Prince, this subordinate has already looked into it and found that the only known imperial princess in the Western Region is Du Rin[1]; someone who looks exactly like the Eldest Young Miss of the Tan Residence, Tan Ge.”
A slight reaction finally registered in Situ Li’s emotionless eyes, and the corners of his mouth curled up. “Interesting; to think that they look exactly the same. It seems like this Prince has to make a trip to the Western Region.”
“Third Imperial Prince, you don’t have to. In a few days, envoys from the Western Region will be coming to Beimin, and the imperial princess will be part of the entourage. It seems like there are plans for a marriage alliance?”
1. The name is actually ‘Du Ling’, but there is another character whose name sounds exactly the same, so I took the liberty to slightly alter the name to make it distinguishable in English.
