The guard from the Commandery Prince Residence immediately lowered his voice as he reported, “Commandery Prince, the Empress Dowager’s horse carriage is blocking the way.”
There was no movement from the horse carriage until Pei Yaran’s voice could be heard from behind the curtains. “Commandery Prince Xie, you’ve been holed up in your residence for so long without a care in the world. Could it be that you want to abandon court affairs and retreat into the mountains to leave a life of seclusion?”
The reply came in a slow and measured tone, lacking any hint of urgency. “Isn’t this exactly what the Pei Family wants? Shouldn’t you be delighted instead, Empress Dowager?”
“How could you know whether this Empress Dowager is happy or not if you haven’t visited the imperial palace? This Empress Dowager thinks that you should immediately return to the court and start minding court affairs, Commandery Prince Xie.” Pei Yaran chuckled before turning her attention back to the imperial guard driving her carriage. “Return to the palace.”
“This subordinate obeys the order.”
Immediately after Pei Yaran left, Commandery Prince Xie’s horse carriage began to continue towards the Commandery Prince Residence. Inside the carriage, Xie Yun’s bright eyes sparkled with amusement as he played with a jade pearl.
Pei Yaran is already anxiously waiting for me to involve myself in court affairs so that I can suppress Pei Qianhao. However, the Pei Residence will be in trouble even if I sit back and do nothing; the saying, ‘trouble breaks out at home’ fits this situation of the Pei Residence perfectly. And to think that this is all somehow happening because of a single woman.
Xie Yun’s gaze was calm as his fingers let the jade pearl pause in his hands. Su Xi-er. I really want to know what kind of woman she is when she returns to Beimin with Pei Qianhao.
The atmosphere of Beimin was currently extremely similar to Nanzhao, where the news had caused an uproar. Everybody was extremely curious about the woman who had caught the attention of Prince Hao and Prince Yun. Prince Hao will definitely bring the mysterious woman back. We have to somehow catch a look, even if we have to jostle with others to do so!
~~~
While this was all happening, Yun Ruofeng had isolated himself in his room. None of his guards dared to interrupt him, and all the officials who still supported him were left dazed and confused. How will Prince Yun respond to His Majesty continuously taking his power away? Some court officials, including the Minister of Rites, Minister of Works, and Minister of Revenue, have all started to side with His Majesty. Those still on the fence include the Minister of War; if he decides to side with His Majesty, the rest of us will need to start thinking about our future as well. Should we still follow Prince Yun?
Yun Ruofeng stayed in the study for a full eight hours. When he finally came out, the light of the setting sun was already shining upon everyone’s faces.
At this moment, the Minister of War arrived at the Prince Yun Residence in secret and asked to see Prince Yun. The imperial guard immediately went to report, but came back to say that Prince Yun wasn’t taking any visitors.
The Minister of War was very anxious. Could it be that Prince Yun is really doubting me? I could only side with the others in the Imperial Study because I was thinking about the bigger picture.
“Go and ask Prince Yun again. This lowly official is here to discuss important matters with Prince Yun.”
The imperial guard couldn’t do anything else. “Prince Yun doesn’t want to see you. Please go back to your residence and think things over. Even if you don’t follow him, he won’t blame you for it.”
The sentence was a stab to the Minister of War’s heart. Prince Yun is very serious when dealing with important things. The consequences for offending him are unthinkable; you only need to look at what happened to the elite soldiers who followed the previous Eldest Imperial Princess to see this. They were all either killed or went missing. An even more recent example is the case of Grand Tutor Liu who died a tragic death. The Minister of War was scared that the only thing waiting for him would be death if he betrayed Prince Yun.
“I really won’t be able to see Prince Yun?”
