Volume 3 Chapter 45
Chapter 45: Dragon Trapped in the Shallows
"What person? Suluan doesn't understand what Princess is saying?" Yao Suluan deliberately took a few steps back and bore with the pain to voice her questions.
"That beast called Di Feng! You have no idea how he treated this princess!" Even now, Xia Furong could still feel faint pain from a certain region of her body.
"The humble prince? How did you end up provoking him? Last night… Last night you were with him?" Yao Suluan was stunned and her eyes widened.
"You weren't the one that found that man?" asked Xia Furong sternly.
"Princess thinks that Suluan had gone to Guan Osprey Palace to ask for humiliation and allowed herself to be disfigured just for the goal of harming you? If Suluan's guess isn't off, this is definitely Yao Mowan's doing! Who would've thought that Yao Mowan's connections were extensive to this degree?" Yao Suluan became even more certain that she couldn't stay in this palace any longer.
"It's Yao Mowan again! That wretch! Then what should this princess do now? As of now, this princess is no longer pure, so how will this princess be able to become Junqing's wife?" Whenever this issue occurred to Xia Furong, she couldn't help but ground her teeth angrily.
"With the written imperial order present, what does Princess have to fear? Could it be that Ye Junqing can defy the imperial order? The only way would be if he's had enough of living!" Yao Suluan reassured Xia Furong, but inwardly she was very uneasy. Since Yao Mowan had gotten involved in this matter, she definitely had some trick up her sleeve!
Just as Yao Suluan had predicted, a day before the date of departure set by the Ministry of Rites, Ye Hongyi actually got a request from Bactria to have the imperial order changed so that the other party became Di Feng instead of Ye Junqing.
Originally Ye Hongyi didn't want to agree to it, but Bactria was willing to use the three counties near Chu as dowry in exchange for Di Feng. They even explicitly expressed that even if great Chu didn't agree, Bactria wouldn't be accepting Ye Junqing. After weighing the options, Ye Hongyi finally agreed to it. Although he hadn't been able to get rid of Ye Junqing, at the very least he had managed to send away Di Feng. This was how Ye Hongyi consoled himself.
The east wing of Guan Osprey Palace.
When Ye Junqing pushed open the door and entered, Di Feng was currently roasting meat over the stove in the room while holding a wine pot in his other hand. The aroma of the wine was strong and fragrant. It was obvious that it was from the imperial kitchen's collection.
"Aren't you a little too bold? Don't you know the situation you're in? You actually dared to go to the imperial kitchen to steal wine?" That day, Di Feng seriously couldn't come up with any way to leave the palace, so he just snuck into Guan Osprey Palace. He and Ye Junqing had been to the battlefield together in the past, so they naturally had comradeship.
"Tomorrow, this daddy will be heading off to Bactria, that crappy place where even not even birds shit. Who knows when I'll have another chance to drink fine wine like this again? So just let me have my fill!" Di Feng didn't look at Ye Junqing and just brought the meat to his mouth to chew it with relish.
"You already know?" Ye Junqing was slightly taken aback, then he walked to Di Feng's side and sat down. Although he didn't know why Bactria would suddenly change their mind, but he still felt a little guilty like he had pushed Di Feng into a pit of fire.
"This news is spreading through the entire imperial palace. Do you think I'm deaf?" Di Feng couldn't bear to let Ye Junqing drink the wine, so he just passed him a piece of roasted beef.
"Sorry…" said Ye Junqing softly. He had very mixed feelings.
"What kind of joke is that? If it's apologies, it should be Ye Hongyi who says them. When did it become your turn? But you should be thanking me." Di Feng looked towards Ye Junqing as he said this in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Many thanks!" Ye Junqing didn't dive deep into this topic and just straightforwardly expressed his thanks.
"In reality, you really did choose the right person. There's no one else in the imperial city that dares to play with women in the imperial palace aside from me!" Di Feng didn't find it disgraceful and actually seemed proud as he poured wine into his mouth.
"Play with women? Who did you play with?" Ye Junqing looked towards Di Feng in confusion and astonishment.
"Ahem… Weren't you the one that grabbed this daddy from the pleasure quarters to Harmony Palace? It wasn't you?" Di Feng choked and ended up coughing. Once he recovered, he looked over at Ye Junqing with puzzlement.
"Xia Furong? You… So that means that you and the honored princess have already consummated. Then it's quite natural for you to marry her." Ye Junqing quickly changed the topic even as Yao Mowan's bright smile appeared in his mind.
"There are plenty of women that have consummated with this daddy. It's no joke. At this daddy's Humble Prince Residence, there'd be a woman every few days coming over with a child requesting for recognition." Di Feng lifted his hand to take another swig of wine, then reached out to tear a piece of meat.
Ye Junqing was silent. It was a very long while before he started to speak.
"In reality… Your political and military achievements are no less than this prince's. What need is there to degrade yourself…"
Di Feng didn't reply and just focused on drinking the wine. After a while, he finally looked towards Ye Junqing. This time though, his eyes no longer contained the amusement from before. Instead, a very deep light shone through.
"How else could this daddy have lived until now? This time, Bactria is past mountains and rivers. It will be beyond Ye Hongyi's influence." The deep voice contained frigidness. Faint anger appeared on Di Feng's handsome face and Ye Junqing's expression changed slightly in realization. He wanted to say something, but in the end, remained silent.
"Come! There is wine today, so let us be drunk! If there comes worries tomorrow, then let the worries wait until tomorrow!" In the next instant, Di Feng had gone back to his usual mischievous manner as he passed the wine pot to Ye Junqing.
Meanwhile, Xia Furong who was in Harmony Palace made a huge ruckus when she got the imperial order that came from Bactria. She smashed so many things in Harmony Palace that there wasn't a single place left untouched. When Yao Suluan came to find her, she completely cursed Yao Suluan out and even kicked her a couple times.
Yao Suluan was infuriated after leaving Harmony Palace, but she didn't have any place to vent her fury. As she was passing by Jade Lake, she casually picked up a couple stones to throw them angrily.
"Be more gentle. These all contain treasures that His Majesty has bestowed to the humble prince. They'll be leaving the palace with the honored princess tomorrow!" Just as Yao Suluan was besides herself with rage, she heard the voice of a eunuch come from the willow forest ahead. Yao Suluan's eyes flickered slightly, then she quickly passed through the willow forest to find that some eunuchs were currently carrying four large pear blossom wood chests towards Harmony Palace.
Yao Suluan carefully examined those chests. One of them was about the height of a person and was enough to contain her. When her thoughts reached this point, she immediately turned around and returned to Pure Flowers Palace. As of now, this imperial palace was no different from a prison to her. His Majesty had stopped targeting her on the surface, but he was definitely still trying to come up with a way to make sure she died. Then there was also Yao Mowan's occasional mocking and tricks. She's seriously had enough of it! There seemed to be no other path except to leave the palace.
The next day, Xia Furong was extremely unwilling, but she was forcefully invited onto the palanquin with eight carriers. Ah Zi and Ah Bi naturally followed on the left and on the right. Behind the palanquin, there were four carriages that each had a wooden chest fastened to them. The group grandiosely left Harmony Palace and head towards the imperial palace's east door where Di Feng was waiting in festive wedding attire. As for how Di Feng eventually wandered onto the position of King of Bactria once he arrived in Bactria, that was a story for a later time.
At this current moment, Yao Suluan was covering her mouth with both hands. Even though her body was being severely jolted about in the chest, she didn't dare to make any sound. As the carriage rolled forward, Yao Suluan felt like someone was squeezing her heart. It was extremely painful.
Back then, when she had first entered the palace, how grand had things been? She thought that after Yao Moxin died, she would naturally be the top choice for empress. She never imagined that she would actually fall to this point! She wasn't willing to leave just like this! But if she stayed, it was hard to even guarantee survival. With these conflicting feelings of frustration, Yao Suluan finally left the imperial palace.
The night that Yao Suluan left the palace, Ye Hongyi sensed that something was off. After several searches to no avail, he finally started suspecting the chests that Xia Furong had left with. However, by the time Qing Long caught up with the procession, Yao Suluan had already used the knife she brought to cut through the wooden chest and flee.
That night, Ye Hongyi used strong wine to numb himself. He drank until he was dead drunk. He was scared. He was scared that Yao Suluan would reveal what happened with Yao Moxin to the world. He was afraid of how the world would look at him. He was afraid that their eyes would become filled with ridicule and disdain again just like the way they were back when Yao Moxin was alive.
Early morning the next day, Ye Junqing walked into Guan Osprey Palace, his steps light and lively. He even felt an appetite as he looked at the breakfast on the table. However, when Yao Mowan passed a certificate of indebtedness to him, he couldn't really taste the food anymore.
"Five million taels of gold? When did this prince borrow that from you?" Ye Junqing's hands were trembling as he held the slip of paper. He had no way of remaining calm.
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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira
[Chiyomira's Corner]
Enjoy~