Xiao Ying walked forward without a word and picked up You Weixuan. Everyone watched silently as she left, and You Yun had no intention of stopping her—after all, he knew this person was certainly a master.
This master of unknown identity also seemed disheartened. She looked at no one, carrying You Weixuan step by step toward the exit. Her expression wasn’t pleasant, but there wasn’t much grief either. No one knew what relationship this suddenly appearing master had with You Weixuan—perhaps she was a secret retainer the Yannan Royal Palace had always supported, perhaps a master You Weixuan had met while traveling abroad, or perhaps just a friend met in the wilderness where they cast aside their identities, maintaining an ambiguous relationship that was neither close nor distant. When it ended, it ended.
Just as Xiao Ying was about to step over the threshold carrying You Weixuan, with Tie Ci already signaling the guards outside to make way, Xiao Ying suddenly twisted her body. At the same time, Murong Yi yanked Tie Ci hard.
The two retreated several steps, their backs pressed against the wall. A streak of purple light grazed past their clothing, hit the opposite wall with a ricochet, scattering dust before vanishing in a flash.
No one expected that such a great master would launch a sneak attack, especially when she had been holding You Weixuan’s corpse with both hands—the strike came from a tricky angle concealed beneath You Weixuan’s body.
By the time Tie Ci and Murong Yi steadied themselves to give chase, Xiao Ying was nowhere to be seen, let alone the guards at the door who hadn’t reacted at all.
Tie Ci sighed and let it go. One had to let people vent their anger, even if that anger made no sense.
But Murong Yi was furious. Without waiting for Tie Ci to stop him, he leaped out—not to chase, but to jump onto the roof and shout into the air: “Old monster, stop just combing your hair all day! If someone kills Tie Ci, you’ll never see your old flame again!”
Before his words finished, wind rose from the ground and knocked him down with a somersault.
But immediately after, an angry curse came from the distance, sounding like Xiao Ying’s voice.
Clearly, the elusive Duanmu had been threatened by Murong Yi into taking action.
When it came to revenge, Murong Yi couldn’t wait until nightfall.
Standing on the ground, Murong Yi looked around. Some of the Chang family and You Yun’s people had been controlled, others had hidden. Those officials with their guards were hiding far away.
Remembering the scene he had seen from the rooftop earlier, his eyes flickered slightly as he jumped back onto the roof.
After a moment, he came down and went straight inside. Tie Ci had already knocked out You Weixing and had Wan Ji take him to rest.
The You father and son stood in the hall, both covering their noses identically and speaking in nasal tones to Tie Ci: “Your Highness, though we worked together to set up this trap, regarding the negotiations, we’ve actually reached an agreement. Since that’s the case, we father and son are now your loyal officials. Shall we go somewhere else to discuss details?”
This suggestion was reasonable. Tie Ci turned to look at Murong Yi, who put his hand on her shoulder and smiled: “Good.”
The You father and son led the way through the crowd. The Chang family had been tied up on one side, and the You father and son didn’t even glance at them.
When the commotion started earlier, the subordinates of the You father and son and the Chang family, thinking these two had met with disaster, lost their fighting spirit and many fled. Tie Ci’s guards stationed not far from the manor rushed over upon hearing the news and controlled the manor. Now seeing the You father and son emerge, these captured people stirred restlessly. Seeing this, Tie Ci smiled: “Since we’ve reached peace with Regional Military Commissioner, shall I release these people?”
You Yun suddenly had a realization: “So that’s what was wrong!”
Tie Ci: “?”
“When this person was impersonating you, aside from being more ruthless, I always felt something was off.” You Yun slapped his thigh. “Of course! Young Master Murong, you always used ‘I’ when speaking, never once said ‘We’!”
Murong Yi made a surprised sound, clearly not having noticed this oversight himself. He laughed self-deprecatingly: “Indeed, I’m not used to being His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“You can be the Imperial Father-in-law for longer.”
You Yun’s words clearly delighted Murong Yi greatly—he actually smiled slightly at You Yun.
Only then did You Yun answer Tie Ci’s question: “As for these people, whether to release them or not is Your Highness’s decision. Anyway, this humble official is already Your Highness’s person now. One family won’t speak with two voices.”
Tie Ci smiled.
You Yun truly had high emotional intelligence—adaptable and flexible, able to bend and stretch, with a natural attitude and carefree manner.
He was indeed worthy of being the chief steward who had managed the royal palace’s internal affairs for years.
Passing through several corridors, they entered a relatively quiet courtyard where the study had been cleaned and fragrant tea prepared, waiting quietly for guests.
You Yun humbly invited Tie Ci and Murong Yi to take the seats of honor while he and his son sat in the lower positions. Just after sitting down, he stood up again and slapped his forehead: “Look at my memory! Since I’m to hand over this Yannan Royal Palace to Your Highness, I should have people bring the palace’s official appointments, personnel lists, daily accounts, and financial ledgers for Your Highness to review. Your Highness should also have people from the Ministry of Revenue with you, right? Let those veteran Ministry clerks who made Qian Prefecture tremble with fear also examine our Kun Prefecture accounts?”
He added: “Does Your Highness also want to convene a meeting of subordinate officials? This minister will arrange it for you right away?”
Watching him bustling about, attending to every detail, Tie Ci thought that decades of being a steward hadn’t been in vain—it was carved into his very bones. No matter what he did, he maintained the demeanor of a chief steward.
This time she noticed You Yun had changed how he addressed himself. Both being intelligent people, their eyes met and they understood each other.
She smiled: “No need to rush. Minister You, just select some important documents for Us to review.”
You Yun pointed at You Weinan: “Stay here and serve His Highness and Young Master Murong well.”
You Weinan was sitting and fanning himself when suddenly called upon. He quickly stood and bowed casually.
You Yun apologized again before turning and hurrying away.
Only You Weinan was left staring at them wide-eyed.
The atmosphere was silent and awkward.
After a long moment, You Weinan pushed the tea cup forward and coughed dryly: “Would you two please have some tea?”
Both looked at him with smiles, and Murong Yi said something.
Then his eyes widened.
…
You Yun left the courtyard, turned through several long corridors, and finally reached a nine-turn gallery where vines climbed and greenery was deep. Once someone walked in, they almost disappeared from sight.
The corridor was long with several exits. Once someone entered that section, it would be quite difficult to find them quickly.
The vines were dense, blocking sunlight, making the entrance like a black hole. As You Yun entered that black hole, his back straightened, his stride lengthened, and all his previous humble demeanor was swept away.
He walked in darkness, with spots of sunlight filtering through the vines flickering rapidly across his face. Though clearly a corridor, somehow it seemed to descend as he walked. His boots hit stone steps, making hollow sounds beneath his feet.
When he reached the bottom of the steps, the door behind him closed while someone came forward to meet him. You Yun gently patted that person’s shoulder: “Is everything ready?”
“Rest assured.”
“How is your injury?”
“It’s fine.”
You Yun nodded to another person in greeting, then pulled the first person forward. In the darkness, people continuously emerged quietly, gathering behind You Yun. You Yun acted as if he didn’t see them, casually discussing recent events with the person beside him.
“You Weixuan is dead. She was deeply scheming, but still couldn’t compete with us and the Crown Princess.”
“What negotiations and cooperation? In the end, it was all just going with the flow to set a trap. I helped them deal with You Weixuan, and they helped me solve the female heir. I gained their trust through this matter. Now they’re drinking tea in the study at Wentan Courtyard.”
“Weinan is staying there—naturally they won’t think much of it. Using one’s own son as a hostage, after all.”
“You Weixing inheriting the throne? What a joke! Would we hand over Yannan, which we’ve painstakingly operated for decades, to that fool? Go to Qian Prefecture as Provincial Administration Commissioner? I dare say she really dared agree, but I wouldn’t dare believe it. How could the court agree to let me abandon Yannan and take Qian Prefecture? What’s the difference between the left hand giving to the right hand? Qian Prefecture is even richer than Yannan.”
“The Crown Princess is cunning, having Murong Yi disguise himself to negotiate with me, making it convenient for her to renege later. I guess she’ll go back on her word, but won’t go so far as to turn hostile and kill us—just that there must be a discount. Provincial Administration Commissioner is impossible, even the poorest prefecture is impossible. Most likely, a third or fourth-rank minor official position in the capital, keeping us father and son under tight surveillance right under her nose in the imperial city until we die.”
“That won’t do.”
The person beside him said a few words quietly, and You Yun laughed heartily, shaking his head.
“As I said, what I care about isn’t actually the inheritance rights, not the throne, not this Yannan Royal Palace, not this power held in my palm. None of it.”
He never did say what he actually cared about. He stopped in front, where a large group of people surrounded a large area of objects covered with cloth. Seeing him approach, they all came to pay respects.
You Yun pointed upward: “Right location?”
“Rest assured.”
“Proper amount? Don’t collapse the entire tunnel and bury us all.”
“We’ve calculated many times. Please take shelter shortly—there’s a stone room over there.”
You Yun nodded and led those behind him down another tunnel. At the corner was a room built entirely of stone, with an expensive piece of glass embedded in the front wall through which everything outside could be seen.
Preserved fruits and snacks were already on the table. You Yun sat down comfortably, picked up preserved fruit, crossed his legs, and through the glass watched those people drag long fuses from under the cloth covers, extending them far into another tunnel.
He turned to the person beside him and smiled: “This idea came from watching ‘Compassionate Heart’—Li Yao’s methods in the Ziyang County yamen dungeon…”
Shaking his leg, he said melodiously: “Officials of Yan and Zhao are anxious in defeat, urgent dispatches busy in Jianghuai, mountains collapse and clouds are grim…”
When he reached the words “mountain collapse,” there was a thunderous roar.
A cloud of black smoke exploded ahead, instantly filling the entire tunnel. The ground above the blast point crumbled and slid down like thin soup. Vaguely visible among the falling bricks, stones, earth, and sand were a red rosewood grand chair with broken legs, a jade-carved brocade screen broken into several pieces, and shattered blue and white porcelain vessels that had held books and scrolls…
All furnishings from the study that had entertained Tie Ci.
The earth-shattering power made everyone’s scalp tingle and hair stand on end. Only You Yun, separated by glass, eating preserved fruit amidst the deafening noise, continued humming leisurely: “…the river bursts and water is vast, the wandering guest grieves helplessly, the mountain elder grows more mad with age…”