Prince Yi’s Manor.

The palace messenger had just left moments ago. He held the imperial edict in his hands, smiling deeply without speaking.

His objective had been achieved.

Dou Quan stood beside him offering congratulations. “Congratulations, Your Highness. You are now one step closer to your great ambition.”

Jing Yi shot him a sideways glance, his lips curling slightly as he put on an extremely affectionate and infatuated expression, saying, “Don’t talk nonsense here. This prince sincerely and truly wishes to marry that Miss Ji.”

Hah.

There were no outsiders present—why the act?

Dou Quan bowed his head and said, “Yes, congratulations to Your Highness on marrying such a beautiful lady.”

These words were more acceptable.

Jing Yi instructed, “You must immediately take this prince’s generous gifts to the General’s Manor. The gifts must be valuable.”

“Yes.”

Dou Quan received his orders.

Jing Yi was just about to enter the room to plan his grand ambitions.

A series of footsteps approached from far to near, the sound forceful and carrying hostile energy.

Looking toward the sound, he saw Ji Li entering with a solemn expression on his face.

Jing Yi gave Dou Quan beside him a meaningful look.

Dou Quan nodded and withdrew.

“Why has Minister Ji come at this hour? The Emperor’s edict should have been delivered to your manor as well, shouldn’t it? Shouldn’t you be celebrating at home?”

Celebrate your sister!

Ji Li would already be considered quite restrained if he didn’t kill someone.

He strode forward rapidly, his gaze sharp and severe.

He spoke directly, “Your Highness, why don’t we speak plainly?”

Straight to the point!

“Oh? This prince doesn’t understand your meaning.”

Playing dumb!

Ji Li said, “The imperial marriage decree is the Emperor’s command, and we officials can only obey. But I’ve come today to clarify one matter with Your Highness.” His face was stern, revealing nothing of what emotions he currently felt.

Anger?

Unwillingness?

Jing Yi looked at him and laughed coldly. “I’m all ears.”

Ji Li spoke directly: “Since I’ve come here rashly, I naturally don’t fear offending Your Highness. I’ll speak plainly. Your Highness is marrying Muqing as your principal consort—on the surface, it appears to be a happy occasion, but what Your Highness truly thinks in your heart, those who understand naturally understand. You merely wish to win over us two brothers to work for you, to control the military authority in our hands. Although Your Highness is currently gaining power, and following the prevailing winds has always been the destiny of court changes, and we officials should do likewise, ever since the incident when the First Prince besieged the palace, we two brothers have stopped participating in factional struggles. As for who will sit in the Crown Prince’s position in the future? Who will ascend to the throne? I don’t care about any of it. If Your Highness believes that by marrying Muqing, you can use this to control us two brothers, I advise Your Highness to abandon this notion immediately.”

He had spoken far too plainly!

Since ancient times, no minister had dared speak such words to a prince.

But Minister Ji dared!

He served as Minister of War, controlling the entire Ministry of War and the security of the palace interior. With one stroke of his brush, tens of thousands of soldiers would obey his commands. Ji Huan was a general personally appointed by the Emperor, holding military authority.

At this time and day, given his and his brother’s positions, they had no need whatsoever to rely on marrying off a woman to secure their position and consolidate their power.

Jing Yi’s heart was also very clear—Ji Li was an extremely intelligent person.

He walked forward two steps and said to Ji Li, “What Minister Ji has said truly astonishes this prince. Let’s say everything you said is correct—this prince is marrying your sister with the objective of obtaining the power in your two brothers’ hands.”

“Your Highness’s current influence in the court is already unmatched. The only one who could compete with you, Prince Rong, has been demoted to the Imperial Manor. The position of heir apparent is already in your grasp. As I said, after the First Prince’s death, I no longer participate in factional struggles, so naturally I won’t obstruct Your Highness. Why must you go to such unnecessary lengths to win me over?”

“Just in case!” Jing Yi said. “As long as Prince Rong remains alive for even one day, and this prince has not yet ascended to the throne, everything could still change. Just in case—that’s right! You two brothers were once able to serve the First Prince effectively. Now, why not lend this prince a hand? Whatever the First Prince could give you, this prince can as well.”

“I’m afraid I’m unable to help.”

“That’s not up to you, Minister Ji.”

“What do you mean?”

“Has Minister Ji never wondered why Miss Ji fell ill and left the palace on the day of the Crown Prince selection? And why was she so urgently eager to marry this prince?”

Hmm?

Ji Li didn’t know.

He had asked, but Ji Muqing was completely unwilling to speak of it.

But when Jing Yi asked these questions, there must be some unspeakable secret hidden within.

He looked at Jing Yi’s deeply smiling face, narrowed his eyes, and waited for an answer.

Jing Yi’s brow furrowed as he said, “This prince wishes to be a good person, to help that Miss Ji, and also to help your entire Ji family.”

“…”

“Does Minister Ji know why the register with Miss Ji’s name for entering the palace wasn’t sent to your manor? That wasn’t an error by the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs, but rather the doing of Gao Bingze, the Young Minister Gao of the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs. Because he harbored feelings for Miss Ji, he didn’t want her to enter the palace to participate in the Crown Prince consort selection, so he deliberately removed her name from it. And what’s even more unexpected is that during those days of the selection, Young Minister Gao and Miss Ji actually in the imperial palace…”

Heh heh!

He didn’t say it directly.

But Ji Li understood.

Jing Yi continued, “If the Emperor were to learn of this matter, it wouldn’t be as simple as merely ordering Miss Ji’s execution. Your entire Ji family would be implicated, and who knows, it could result in the execution of your nine familial relations. This prince couldn’t bear it, so I suppressed this matter. Seeing that Miss Ji was also coerced by someone, I thought of a way to save her life by having her fall ill and leave the palace. But once a woman loses her chastity, it becomes a tremendous humiliation. That Miss Ji is so delicate and touching that when this prince saw her, I truly felt pity for her. I requested that my imperial mother petition Father Emperor for this marriage. Firstly, to protect Miss Ji, and secondly, to fulfill this prince’s feelings of admiration.”

Wow, how utterly shameless!

To dare place such a grand hat upon his own head.

However, Ji Li retorted, “Impossible!”

He didn’t believe it. Although his sister wasn’t some gentle and virtuous person, how could she possibly do such a thing?

No matter what, Ji Muqing had been raised from childhood to become the Crown Prince’s consort. She knew in her heart what she should and shouldn’t do.

Jing Yi said seriously, “Every word this prince speaks is true, without a single falsehood. If Minister Ji doesn’t believe it, you can go check whether the守宮砂 [守宮砂: fertility marking/virginity mark] on your sister’s wrist is still there.”

Ji Li’s face looked terrible.

His dry lips couldn’t speak a single word.

“Although Miss Ji is no longer pure, this prince truly likes her and doesn’t care about these things. For her sake, this prince didn’t hesitate to kill Young Minister Gao, so this matter would never be known by anyone else. If not for Minister Ji coming here today, this prince would have concealed this matter forever.”

Oh!

So that’s it—

“The death of Young Minister Gao at the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs back then… was because of this matter?” Ji Li suddenly understood.

“That’s correct.” Jing Yi said, “For Miss Ji’s sake, this prince had no choice but to kill. Only the dead can remain silent forever. This prince is marrying Miss Ji and making her my principal consort. In the future, if this prince ascends to the throne, she will be the Empress. Tell me, who benefits most from this arrangement?”

In that case, of course it benefits the Ji family most!