Chapter 84: You Owe Me a Favor
“Lord…” Qian Xi sounded as if she was about to cry. She had never thought that things would end up like this.
“Aiy, it’s simply the Will of Heaven. Help the miss onto the carriage!” Yu Qing looked at his daughter. His heart ached for her, but he remained firm. Their current situation required for them to flee for their lives. If they waited any longer and His Majesty notices what happened, it’d be too late for them!
Qian Xi had no choice but to help Yu Funing onto the carriage.
“No! Qian Xi, I’m begging you, please let me stay! I have to wait for him!” Yu Funing wanted to struggle free from Qian Xi’s grasp, but there was no strength in her body at all.
“Miss, if Lord’s words are true, then the Esteemed Prince won’t be coming. We’ve already escaped from the imperial palace and the lord has already made his decision, so there’s no way that we can return to the imperial palace. If you and the prince are fated, you’ll meet again in time,” consoled Qian Xi.
“Why? Why would it be like this!? I had just decided to live for myself one time, yet in the end, this was the result? Why can’t I have a chance? I only wanted one chance!” Yu Funing wept heartbrokenly. Qian Xi was silent. There were no more words that she could say.
“Who exactly is it? Who is controlling all of this? Even if I have to search to the ends of the earth, I swear to the Heavens that I won’t let this matter lie!” Yu Funing left the imperial city of great Chu with great bitterness and resentment. This resentment had been accumulating for many years and had eventually formed a malignant tumor. At that time, she almost wanted kill Yao Mowan’s life…
Yu Qing and Yu Funing’s disappearance hit Ye Hongyi quite hard. He questioned himself for a long time. He felt that he had treated Yu Qing well, yet Yu Qing had left just like this, and taken everything in the state treasury with him! A huge rip appeared in his trust in his ministers. He suddenly felt that, regardless of whether it was in the imperial court or the inner palace, the only one he could trust was Yao Mowan.
In Soul Sand Garden, Yao Mowan weeped with regret as she looked at the Soul Sand Tree that had suddenly withered. This was the tree that represented Megrez of the Vermillion Bird constellation.
“Your Majesty, it’s Wan er‘s fault for not protecting them well. I’m sorry…” Yao Mowan sobbed as she stood in front of Ye Hongyi like a child that had done something wrong. Her tears continued to flood out even though she kept wiping them away.
“It’s not Wan er‘s fault, don’t cry. You’re making our heart break! It was an inferior stalk from the start so it’s not strange that it withered. We‘ll order someone to remove it right away so that Wan er doesn’t need to be sad over it anymore. Let’s go, we‘ll see you back to Guan Osprey Palace.” Ye Hongyi hugged Yao Mowan and left Soul Sand Garden with her. He had already ordered for the arrest posters of Yu Qing and Yu Funing to be put up in all of great Chu with the greatest speed. No matter what methods he had to use, he was going to catch them!
When they got to the imperial garden, Yao Mowan saw a little eunuch run to An Bingshan. Then An Bingshan whispered something in Ye Hongyi’s ear and Ye Hongyi told Ting Yue to help her back to Guan Osprey Palace before rushing towards the imperial study.
“Ying Xue!” Yao Mowan only called out Yin Xue after Ye Hongyi completely disappeared from her sight.
“This subordinate is here.” As a hidden guard, if Yin Xue claimed to be the second best at concealment, no one would dare to claim the position of being the best. This is what Yao Mowan thought.
“Did you get news from Ben Lei?” The first thing she thought of was Yu Qing when she saw Ye Hongyi leave in such haste.
“Don’t worry, niang niang, Ben Lei has already sent news. The people he sent out has already met up with Yu Qing and the others. Everything is going according to plan!” reported Yin Xue.
“Good, you can withdraw!” Yao Mowan exhaled softly, then her lips hooked in a smile. Regardless of whether it was Huan Heng or Yu Qing, they were all generous gifts that she was preparing for Ye Junqing.
“As expected, you were the mastermind behind this incident. This prince can’t understand. Why did you make Yu Qing betray the court? And why would he listen to you?” Once Yin Xue left, Ye Junqing walked to Yao Mowan with an angry expression. Questions filled his eyes. He already knew that Yao Mowan’s actions tended to be strange and unreasonable, but he couldn’t think of any reason why she would target Yu Qing. From what he knew, Yu Qing has always been loyal to the court and didn’t have any conflicts with Yao Zhenting either. He was one of the few good people in the court.
“Prince was eavesdropping on Mowan?” Yao Mowan turned around to look at Ye Junqing. Underneath the sunlight, that azure garment glowed slightly. Ye Junqing currently looked like an immortal that caused everyone to instinctively admire him. Yao Mowan had always known about Ye Junqing’s charisma. Regardless of whether he was leading an army on the battlefield or when he was leading political discussions, his aura was much stronger than Ye Hongyi’s. He was the one that should have ruled this country.
“I guess! You haven’t answered my question! Yao Mowan, did you know that Yu Qing had taken all of the money from the state treasury when he left!? The amount was considerable! The things you’ve done have already destabilized the foundation of great Chu! Why exactly are you doing this!?” Ye Junqing’s voice was very cold and his eyes were filled with anger.
“Prince probably already knows what all this indicates, is there a need for Mowan to explain?” Every time Yao Mowan heard Ye Junqing speak up to protect the imperial court, to protect Ye Hongyi, she would feel like her sins were unforgivable. Everything she had once done would emerge vividly in her mind. She owed this man too much.
“You’d better not tell this prince that you had done everything for this prince’s sake!” Ye Junqing lifted his brows. He’d like to see how Yao Mowan could possibly pin this on him this time.
“Prince, take a look at this letter first.” Yao Mowan handed the letter in her sleeve to Ye Junqing with a serious expression. Ye Junqing took the letter with a confused expression. After glancing at it, his expression changed to shock.
“Did Yu Funing really write this?” Ye Junqing asked. The doubt in his voice was clear.
“If not, who else? This letter is enough of a reason for His Majesty to destroy the Yu Residence. At the same time, the fact that Prince has a love affair with Consort Xian would be exposed to the world. It couldn’t be that Prince doesn’t know why His Majesty is keeping you in the imperial palace, right? With this, even if the military leaders in court wanted to continue protecting you, it’d be extremely difficult. Mowan knows that Prince is already no longer concerned about life, but is Prince really alright with being executed for the crime of adultery? And even if Prince isn’t concerned, what about Consort Xian? What about Yu Qing? What about the entire Yu Residence? They’re completely innocent! Prince doesn’t care about any of this?” Yao Mowan’s words skillfully trapped Ye Junqing.
“This prince… this prince didn’t know that Consort Xian would write such a letter.” Ye Junqing really wanted to explain himself, but he found that his words always seemed weak and flimsy in front of Yao Mowan.
“Just because you don’t know doesn’t mean that it hasn’t happened! Prince owes Mowan a favor for this. If Prince doesn’t have anything else to say, Mowan will be leaving now!” said Yao Mowan coldly. Then she left with Ting Yue. Even after Yao Mowan had walked far away, Ye Junqing remained standing in the same spot. He was completely confused. He had come to criticize her, so how did he end up actually owing her a favor?
It occurred to him that perhaps Yao Mowan lived just to oppress him! It seemed that he really needed to get his hand on Yao Mowan’s eight birthdate characters and investigate for a way to break free from this fate.
Ting Yue followed after her master while looking at her with a gaze overflowing with respect. She had never known that her master was this skilled at speech. Regardless of whether it was the Esteemed Prince that had weathered countless battlefields or Yan Nansheng who was well known for his impressive martial arts, they could never gain an advantage over her master.
Right when they reached Guan Osprey Palace, Liu Xing ran over.
“Liu Xing kowtows in salate to niang niang!”
“Let’s talk inside.” Yao Mowan nodded slightly, then turned and stepped into the main hall.
“Reporting, niang niang. Ever since Dou Lishi rose that ruckus, the lord ordered Steward Yao to thoroughly investigate about Yao Yu. When he found out that Yao Yu really wasn’t his son, he fell severely ill. However, these past few days, the lord had ordered Steward Yao to find matchmakers. Based on the news that has come from the Prime Minister Residence, it seems the lord plans to take a fourth wife,” reported Liu Xing.
“Ha. He’s probably gone crazy from his desire for a son. Has there been any movements from Yao Suluan’s side?” Yao Mowan’s eyes turned colder. It would still be alright if the fourth wife gave birth to a son, but if it was a daughter, something unimaginably tragic would probably happen. Perhaps she should think of a way to deal with this problem in one stroke.
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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira
[Chiyomira’s Corner]Enjoy~
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