The Crown Prince returned to the Eastern Palace. The Crown Princess and Xie Yanfang came out to greet him. Before they could speak, the Crown Prince exclaimed and stopped in his tracks.

“I forgot,” he said. “Yu’er.”

The Crown Princess was delighted. “Yu’er has come back?”

“No,” the Crown Prince said with a smile, handing her his outer robe. “After finishing with Father Emperor, I was supposed to go see Yu’er, but I was too busy and forgot.”

The Crown Princess said, “Should we bring Yu’er back here? Yanfang is here too—he hasn’t met him yet.”

Before the Crown Prince could speak, Xie Yanfang said with a smile, “The young prince is studying with His Majesty. Because I skipped classes, I’ve become an embarrassment as an elder. I was even planning to guide his studies.”

The Crown Prince laughed heartily. “Then forget it. He’s already suffering enough learning from those seven or eight teachers. If he comes here and still has to listen to your instruction—it’s better to wait until I take him hunting with me. You’ll come too. When you meet, you can compete with Yu’er in archery first.”

The Crown Princess couldn’t help but ask, “Your Highness, really? You’re going to take Yu’er hunting?”

The Crown Prince often went hunting, but he had never taken his wife and child.

“Of course,” the Crown Prince said with a smile. “You come too. The whole family will go.”

Xie Yanfang explained to his sister, “Third Prince’s literary gathering is about to be held. Since His Highness the Crown Prince isn’t participating, it would be better to simply avoid it by going hunting.”

“Why be so polite? There are no outsiders here,” the Crown Prince said, clenching his hands in front of him, his robes bulging. “He has his literary gathering, I have my martial gathering—to add excitement to his event.”

The Crown Princess didn’t care about any of that. Confirming she could truly take Yu’er out, she said happily, “This is a major matter. Your Highness, why didn’t you say so earlier? I need to make preparations.”

With that, feeling somewhat at a loss, she called to the palace maids beside her.

“Summon everyone.”

Having said this, she left the Crown Prince behind and hurried off with the palace maids.

Xie Yanfang watched his sister leave with a smile, then said to the Crown Prince, “Elder Sister is so happy to go out with you, she doesn’t know what to do with herself. It shows how busy you are on ordinary days.”

The Crown Prince snorted. “Stop accusing me. How are you any better? You’re still not married. How many daughters in the capital are wasting their youth waiting for you?”

Xie Yanfang laughed heartily and bowed. “I was wrong.”

The Crown Prince sat down and stretched his arms. “Minister Liang’s matter—did you have to get involved? It wasn’t necessary, was it? What kind of major issue is this—” He smiled again. “Your family is marrying both girls. You and your brother can each take one. You could have swallowed up the Liang family. Why make such a fuss—”

He leaned forward and lowered his voice.

“Leaving it to National Uncle Yang, you won’t get a drop of the Liang family’s assets, and you’ll take all the blame for being the villain.”

Xie Yanfang said with a smile, “But this way, Minister Yang can conduct his business more smoothly. Everyone likes to focus on private affairs, making it easier to turn a blind eye to public matters.”

The Crown Prince raised an eyebrow. “You’re quite generous.”

“This small matter in exchange for Your Highness’s major affairs—I think I got the better deal,” Xie Yanfang said with a smile.

The Crown Prince spat. “This time I’ll let it pass, but next time, tell me in advance before doing something. Even if it’s a good deed, I need to be prepared.”

Xie Yanfang bowed and acknowledged this.

“Also, you don’t need to be so cautious. Since you’re in the capital, see Yu’er more often. Take him out to play. Why be so formal with a child?” the Crown Prince added. “When I was young, I practically grew up with my National Uncle.”

Xie Yanfang shook his head. “Back then, Your Highness, the Empress had died early, Xi Liang was a military threat, and His Majesty was busy with state affairs. But Yu’er has both parents, and moreover has His Majesty as his imperial grandfather to watch over him. What he needs to learn is to view the world, to understand the way of ruler and subject, not to play with subjects like me who come from aristocratic families. However, Your Highness, you should play more with Yu’er. Between father and son—”

The Crown Prince waved his hand to interrupt. “All right, all right, I know. Fortunately your sister isn’t like you—quiet and never long-winded.”

Xie Yanfang said with a smile, “That’s because Your Highness is Elder Sister’s husband. A wife follows her husband. She doesn’t treat me that way. Your Highness, believe it or not—when I leave in a moment, Elder Sister will stop me and go on and on.”

The Crown Prince laughed heartily and waved him away. “Go on then.”

Xie Yanfang bowed and withdrew.

The Crown Prince sat alone in the hall. Two mounted guards came from the side hall.

“Third Young Master is truly cautious,” one mounted guard said with a smile. “In everything, everywhere, he fears overstepping bounds. In my view, he’d rather not even be a relative.”

This mounted guard had a full beard covering his face. At first glance he looked very rough, but his skin was fair and his features delicate, creating a particularly discordant appearance.

This wasn’t strange—the Crown Prince favored martial pursuits, so many people could put on the appearance of martial prowess to seek opportunities.

The Crown Prince smiled slightly. “He’s not wrong. I am of the imperial family—the way of ruler and subject must be observed. You don’t understand him. This Third Master Xie has grand ambitions. He doesn’t want to be famous throughout the realm relying only on his title as an imperial relative.”

Not considering kinship, not seeking benefits from relatives—he would only use his own abilities to exchange for benefits. Unlike National Uncle Yang—

The childhood companionship had to be repaid many times over, and he demanded it as if it were his due.

His eyes held only kinship, with less and less understanding of the way of ruler and subject.

How could he not realize that the companionship from back then was simply a subject’s duty!

For now, things could remain as they were, but after ascending the throne in the future, he would make them understand what the way of ruler and subject truly meant.

The Crown Prince slammed the table, venting his anger. “Go! Send all those scholars to hard labor.”

The two mounted guards hastily acknowledged.

“Also, make sure they pass by the gate of Wangchun Garden.”

The Crown Prince added this instruction.

The mounted guards laughed heartily and loudly acknowledged. “Your Highness, rest assured.” “We’ll make it very lively.” “We’ll add glory and splendor to Third Prince’s literary gathering.”

……

……

Officials escorted bare-chested men of varying ages—proclaimed to be bandits and rebels who were actually scholars—in a noisy procession through the streets.

They loudly announced heinous crimes and cracked whips.

The streets were packed with onlookers, though compared to the excitement when the Xie family’s son was paraded through the streets last time, the atmosphere was somewhat tense and somber.

Chu Zhao and the other young ladies also stood by the window on the upper floor of the wine house, looking down.

“Why were so many people suddenly arrested?” Qi Leyun said.

“Because of the literary gathering, many people came to the capital. The authorities said it was a mixed crowd and these were the evildoers they discovered,” a girl said in a low voice.

“But they really do look like scholars. How could they—” Qi Leyun said.

The other girls hastily stopped her.

“This is official business.” “Don’t say too much.” “They weren’t arrested randomly. Supposedly they wrote treasonous things involving the Emperor, involving the Crown Prince—”

Involving the Emperor and Crown Prince, Qi Leyun fell silent. This was a power struggle between the imperial father and son.

“Will the literary gathering still be held?” a girl asked timidly.

Unspoken was another question: in this situation, could they still attend?

The girls’ gazes immediately turned to Chu Zhao.

Chu Zhao came back to herself. Actually, she didn’t know either. In that previous lifetime, the Crown Prince had also arrested many scholars, but it was after the Wangchun Garden literary gathering ended. Because these scholars had written articles advocating establishing the heir based on virtue rather than birth order, the struggle between Third Prince and the Crown Prince for the position of heir apparent was formally unveiled, and the capital was thrown into turmoil.

In truth, all of that was just a cover, because Third Prince didn’t truly rely on these scholars’ advocacy—he took direct action instead—

But in this lifetime, before the Wangchun Garden literary gathering even began, the Crown Prince had already arrested people. It was already in turmoil. What would happen next?

Could fate be changed?