The Villain Runs Wild

Ch 66 – Ruthless Crown Prince x Foolish Prince: Ready

The horsewhip was relatively thick, so it quickly left particularly terrifying red marks as it was wrapped tightly around the slender neck.

Yan Qin felt Lin Sui’s anger, looking pained at the feeling of being slightly suffocated.

Within this threat of death, the low voice of the young man choking him produced in him a strange shudder.

It was a feeling that made one shiver unconsciously, an uncontrollable surge from the bottom of the heart.

Terrifyingly dangerous, but also disorientating, even a little exciting.

“Big brother Crown Prince… hurts… can’t breathe…”

Yan Qin’s act was mixed with some real emotions out of a desire for survival, and he grabbed Lin Sui’s wrist with one hand and pulled at the whip with the other.

He was still small, so he couldn’t fully wrap his fingers around Lin Sui’s wrist.

Those eyes were slightly moist from the pain, like a young dog about to die.

Lin Sui wrinkled his brows and let go of his hand, wiping it on Yan Qin’s body seemingly in disgust.

His Highness the young and proud Crown Prince was conceited, he would feel dirtied even if he was touched by his younger imperial brother.

Yan Qin loosened the whip wrapped around his neck, then covered his throat and coughed.

The bruises on his neck were shocking, which felt unbearable when coupled with his aggrieved expression from being bullied.

But the face of the culprit who made these bruises remained unmoved and particularly unfeeling.

Fu Shu led Bao Su into the main hall, and Bao Su’s heart felt even more hurt upon seeing Yan Qin’s appearance.
His Highness had been humiliated in every way, and he also had to endure the Crown Prince’s bullying to seek His Highness the Crown Prince’s help.

Her Master pretended to be stupid and endured this, he must feel very unwilling.

“Send them back to Zhongyu Palace.”

Lin Sui waved his hand, picked up the teacup and took a small sip, looking away as if to put them out of mind.

Fu Shu accepted the order, and Bao Su, whose face was still red and swollen, hurriedly helped Yan Qin up.

Yan Qin actually wanted to stay a while longer, but he didn’t have a good excuse and Bao Su also needed some medicine quickly, so he intended on honestly going back with a dejected look on his face.

Fu Xi trotted in from outside and spoke to Lin Sui: “Your Highness, His Majesty is coming over, and Madame Concubine Xian seems to be following behind.”

This approach was very clear, they were coming to denounce him.

Perhaps Concubine Xian had heard about what happened in the Imperial Flower Garden, and was indignant from having heard her own precious son was threatened to be thrown onto a horse, moreover, given the instigating words Lin Sui left behind, it was normal for get to go cry about it to the Emperor.

Lin Sui nodded, turned to look at Yan Qin, and drew a smile out as he spoke: “Fine, you two, don’t leave yet.”

The Emperor got a headache from hearing his Concubine’s incessant wailing complaints, seeing the Governor of State Affairs at court every day already made him unhappy enough, and the Crown Prince still stirred up trouble every day.

He was even more angry after hearing Concubine Xian say that the Crown Prince was plotting to murder the Eighth Prince by throwing him onto a horse so he would fall off.

Was it not enough for the Lin family to help the Crown Prince ascend the throne to control politics in the court, so they also wanted to murder the Emperor’s successors?

The Emperor had just stepped into the Eastern Palace, but before the eunuch could announce it, he heard a voice coming from inside the hall.

“You don’t have to worry, Fifth brother, this One protected you just now, and even if Father Emperor comes to lay blame, this One will still protect you!”

“You’re both sons of the phoenix and descendants of the dragon, and you are older than Eighth brother, so why should you endure his bullying? This One fears you can’t rely on your late birth mother against the bullying.
These people have always been like this, when this One’s Mother Empress passed away, every single one of them wanted to drag this One down to take the position of heir for themselves, yet still deliberately pretended on the surface.”

“His mother is only a Concubine, if Noble Consort Shu were still here, she wouldn’t dare be so arrogant.
Making you, the majestic Fifth Prince, act like a horse and bark like a dog, this One is afraid all his learning of propriety and honour have gone to waste.
Since he is still young, yet disrespectful, arrogant, and vicious towards his older brother, then this One, as both his elder brother and heir to the throne, will teach him manners.
Say nothing of Father Emperor objecting, even if we brought this to the court’s ministers and had them make a judgement, not even they would be able to say that Eighth brother was justified.”

“If Concubine Xian tries to justify it by saying Eighth brother is still young and was just playing around with you, then this One was also just playing around with him.
With so many eyes in the Imperial Flower Garden everyone was able to see that this One did not throw him onto the horse.
If things could come true just from speaking them, then this world would certainly be an interesting place.”

“If Father Emperor really comes, this One will raise that Concubine Xian cannot educate her child, so if the Imperial Noble Consort has her hands full, it would be better to have him raised by Consort Yue, so that the seedling does not grow up crooked.”

Inside the hall, the young mans voice spoke sentence after sentence, each one becoming more impudent than the last.

Anyone who heard this would find it strange, His Highness the Crown Prince, who was the most domineering and arrogant one, was actually calling another person a crooked seeding.

The Emperor’s face calmed down from his anger.
He frowned and looked at the palace doors, gave Concubine Xian a sideways glance, then stormed off in a huff.

It wasn’t that he believed the Crown Prince, or was biased towards him, but rather that he hadn’t known that it was the Eighth Prince who provoked the matter first.

When Concubine Xian had come to inform him, she’d only said that the Eighth Prince and the Ninth Princess were playing with the Fifth Prince, and made His Highness the Crown Prince appear particularly rude and unreasonable.

He also thought about the late Noble Consort Shu, that woman was once his most beloved Consort, if he didn’t like her, why would he have promoted her to Noble Consort? The child she had given birth to was also especially bright, and he had even wanted to give him the position of Crown Prince back then.

It was just a pity that the child had turned foolish from illness, and the beauty had been born under an unlucky star.
What the Crown Prince said was also not unreasonable.

But the thing that ultimately made him decide to leave had been the Crown Prince’s words about bringing the matter before the court.
This was a family matter, there was no need to elevate it into state affairs.
Moreover, with the Crown Prince’s unrelenting attitude, he probably wouldn’t be able to avoid getting in a tangle when going to apportion blame, and when that time came, the Governor of State Affairs would use the opportunity to take over and act, which was not a situation he wanted to see.

Concubine Xian’s face paled a bit, and she also left.

The servants outside the palace ran inside to report.
Lin Sui sat on the master seat stroking the teacup in his palms, lowered his head, and sneered.

This went as he had expected, the Emperor was not only afraid of the Governor of State Affairs, he also had another reason to keep his checks and balances.

Although the Emperor wanted to depose the Crown Prince, he still didn’t have a good candidate out of his remaining sons in mind to succeed the throne.
Aside from King Qing who was nineteen years old, all his other children were still young, so he still wanted to observe and examine.

Therefore, if he wanted to depose the Crown Prince, he had to do it at the right time.
He was also afraid that if he didn’t have anything to keep the Crown Prince in check, King Qing would miserably suppress the other children.

“Fu Shi, go invite the imperial physician over, this appearance is an eyesore.”

Lin Sui waved his hand, he actually wasn’t in a hurry to send them back to Zhongyu Palace.

Yan Qin followed Fu Shu out of the inner hall, and turned to look back as he stepped over the threshold.

It was almost time for dinner, the sky outside was still bright, but the servants hadn’t yet lit the candles in the dining room, so there was a hazy darkness.

The Crown Prince sat inside with his elegant clothes, his eyes shining like cold stars.

He was clearly young, yet he gave people the impression of evening mist and deep overcast clouds, desolate and lonesome.

Yan Qin heard a “buzz” in his head as if he’d been lightly struck by someone, and felt a little empty.
He couldn’t tell what kind of feeling this was, so he turned around and walked away step-by-step.

On a certain day a long time later, Yan Qin would remember this scene and feel like he should have turned around and gone to Lin Sui at that time, even if he had no reason to.

During dinner, Lin Sui still ate first, and Yan Qin ate the leftovers.

Yan Qin had long since gotten used to it, he could even guess which dishes Lin Sui favoured based on how much he ate today, and whether his appetite was good or not.

Off to the side, Bao Su rubbed medicine on her face.
Although her face was still swollen, she still diligently stood by Yan Qin’s side.

Upon seeing this scene, she felt even more sad, not only because her Master had to eat cold leftovers, but also because he looked so willing to do so.

However, Bao Su had gotten the wrong idea here.
Yan Qin was very pleased, after all, the food in the Eastern Palace was much better than the one at the Zhongyu Palace, plus Lin Sui was picky, so the food he ate was even more high quality.

At night, Fu Shu grabbed a lantern and showed Yan Qin the way.

“His Highness the Crown Prince didn’t instruct you where to stay, so this servant will arrange a side chamber for you.
Please follow this servant, Your Highness.”

“Sister Fu Shu, can’t I stay by big brother Crown Prince’s side?”

Yan Qin had already grown accustomed to it, even planning on carrying his quilt by himself and making his bed next to the Crown Prince’s bed.

Fu Shu had tried to correct the way Yan Qin addressed her, but since the childish Fifth Prince still called her that, she just went along with him.

“Help me spread my quilt out next to big brother Crown Prince, I’ll go in a bit.
If big brother Crown Prince refuses, I’ll just stay by myself.”

Yan Qin spoke half-childishly and half-demanding.
Fu Shu hesitated for a bit, remembering how her Master had defended the Fifth Prince, and didn’t refuse to go and see about it first.

Yan Qin tilted his head, and was met with Bao Su’s shocked expression.

Yan Qin spoke calmly: “The Crown Prince often reads at night, maybe there’ll be a few official approvals, so I’m going to investigate.”

Bao Su nodded repeatedly: “Master is working hard.”

Wasn’t this the lying in wait for revenge that the Noble Consort had spoken about before?

Her Master was indeed worthy!

Shengguang, the capital of Dayan, was a city that never slept.
When the people inside the palace were preparing to rest, a small sedan chair quietly left the palace.

Zhong Zhuo walked behind his “Lord”, bringing him to experience the lives of the people and enjoy time with them.

He was used to speaking beautiful words, so the original actions of seeking fun and pleasure turned into a majestic act of justice under his embellishment.
Even the Emperor himself felt that he had merely come out to see the common people live and work peacefully, and to be among the common people as he drank and talked with friends.

As for those women who had come up to surround him, they had simply been charmed by his scholarly air, and sent him embroidered handkerchiefs and amorous glances.

What did this poetic and passionate “Lord” have to do with the Emperor in the Palace?

But the Emperor didn’t seem to be in a hurry, and, after waving the others away, he gave this close minister an appreciative glance as he half-drunkenly spoke about today’s affairs, then waited for his answer.

Zhong Zhuo knew this was a test, so he answered timorously: “This minister does not dare assert who is right and who is wrong, this minister only knows the land under heaven is Your Majesty’s realm, and this minister may say something and lose his head.
Although the Crown Prince has no talent or virtue, Your Majesty need not be in a hurry.
Your Majesty is in the prime of Your life and will live for a hundred years.
Regardless of which Highness inherits the throne, it will be Your Majesty’s choice.”

These words landed in the centre of the Emperor’s heart.
He also felt that there was no need for him to rush to make a choice, and understood that these repeated actions of urging the deposing of his heir were really rather impatient.
He still had a few decades left to live, were those people that eager to climb into his place?

The Emperor smiled slightly and gave Zhong Zhuo and appreciative smile.

A slip of paper was secretly delivered to the Eastern Palace, Lin Sui read its contents, then touched it to the flame of a candle and watched it burn to ashes.

It seemed like Zhong Zhuo’s position could rise once again.
Someone as mediocre but wildly ambitious as the Emperor did not like having his position eyed covetously by others, even if those others were his own sons.

If the matter of the original owner’s bloodline hadn’t been exposed in the book, he would have been able to remain as Crown Prince for a while longer.

Fu Shu lightly came in, hesitating as she told Lin Sui of the Fifth Prince’s request.

Lin Sui was a little astonished, was he deliberately acting stupid to curry favour with him, or did he have some other goal?

“If he likes to act like an attending eunuch, let him come.”

After bathing, Yan Qin happily came into the bedroom.
He was just wearing a middle layer, his collar wasn’t buttoned up, and the already-purple strangling bruises on his neck looked especially frightening.

“Big brother Crown Prince, I’m ready.”

Yan Qin lay down on the floor, and patted his chest at Lin Sui.