44

Zhou Chuyu anxiously waited for the arrival of Zhou Chuqi in his room because they had agreed that regardless of success or failure, Zhou Chuqi would come to tell him the result. However, today Yuhong Xun had official business and wouldn't come to bother him. He paced back and forth in the room, occasionally walking to the door to check. Just when he was feeling restless, an eunuch came to inform him that the Second Prince wanted to see him in the hall. He couldn't help but feel nervous. Could it be failure? If yes, how could he protect his elder brother and little mom? He was thinking rapidly but before he could come up with a solution, he found himself outside the hall. Upon entering, he saw Yuhong Xun sitting with a gloomy expression and his little mom kneeling on the ground. Zhou Chuqi was nowhere to be seen. He felt more nervousness and slowly approached little mom, calling:

"Little mom!"

She looked up at him and from that look, he seemed to feel a bit of affirmation, leaving him in as state of confusion. Suddenly he heard Yuhong Xun saying:

"It seems you know something. Zhou Chuyu, what do you get from the look in your little mom's eyes?" 

Zhou Chuyu quickly knelt down without saying a word, adjusting his emotions silently. At this moment, Zhou Xiang also entered the room. Seeing this scene, she couldn't help but kneel beside little mom. Zhou Chuyu patted her delicate shoulder slightly. Yuhong Xun asked:

"Which one of you wants to speak first?"

"Your Highness, I have already told you that Chuqi did indeed visit me in my room. He took my pulse and we talked for a while and then he left. I don't know anything about how he disappeared suddenly."

"What do you want to say, Zhou Chuyu?"

Zhou Chuyu remained silent, just lowering his head to look at the ground meekly. His interaction with little mom and Zhou Xiang earlier was visibly different. Anger flared up again in Yuhong Xun. He walked forward, dragging little mom to the side and was about to strike her with a whip. Zhou Chuyu quickly pounced on her, taking the brunt of the whip on himself. Yuhong Xun forcefully pulled Zhou Chuyu away, gripping his harshly and asked: 

"Speak up, or I kill your little mom or your elder sister."

Zhou Chuyu stared at Yuhong Xun with lifeless eyes and said coldly:

"What do you think I could know? As you know, I'm writing my sutra every day in my room. What could my little mom, being a woman, know? Perhaps it is one of your enemies trying to kidnap your person and they might have caught the wrong person."

Looking at Zhou Chuyu's slightly pale lips, Yuhong Xun suddenly kissed him and forced his tongue inside. Zhou Chuyu fiercely bit down, but being held the chin by Yuhong Xun, the bite wasn't as harsh as he had hoped. Nevertheless, it drew blood. Yuhong Xun slapped Zhou Chuyu across the face and Zhou Chuyu spat out a mouthful of blood. He looked up at Yuhong Xun, smirked with blood in his mouth and said:

"Finally, someone in my family has escaped your clutches. I'm truly happy even if you're the prince who holds power over the entire country." 

Yuhong Xun erased the blood on his lips and said:

"Don't be too proud. Don't forget that not only your little mom but also your elder sister is here. As for your parents, do you know where they are? No, but I know. With a word from me, you'll see their lifeless bodies within two hours."

After speaking, he lashed out with a whip at little mom. Zhou Chuyu was too late to intervene. He hurriedly went over to support her, calling out:

"Little mom, little mom!"

Just then, he heard a cry from Zhou Xiang and the whip fell on her again. Zhou Xiang cried out:

"Your Highness, please, don't beat me. Please! I…I'm pregnant."

Little mom said to Zhou Chuyu weakly:

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine. Go and protect Xiang. Hurry up!"

Yuhong Xun shouted fiercely:

"Protect! Let you protect! Let me see whom you can protect."

He continued to swing the whip and lash out at them. Zhou Chuyu embraced both women, using his own back to endure the lashes, one after another. Suddenly he felt little mom's body sinking downward, continuously spitting out blood. He shouted: 

"Little mom! Little mom!"

No response. It was then that he noticed, although he used his back to protect them, being relatively small in stature, part of little mom's back was still exposed. She tightly protected his back with that exposed part. Zhou Xiang also noticed what happened to little mom. Both of them cried out together:

"Little mom, wake up! Please, little mom, wake up!"

Zhou Chuyu leaned in and found that little mom had stopped breathing. Zhou Xiang burst into tears while Zhou Chuyu held his mother tightly, kissed her cheek and let tears fall onto her face. Then he took little mom's handkerchief and gently covered her face. He said to Zhou Xiang:

"Elder sister, don't cry anymore. We should be happy for her. She is free now. I wish it were me to die."

"Chuyu."

"I'm sorry. It's all my my fault, causing trouble for both of little mom and you, no, the whole family has been involved. Sorry! I have no ability to protect everyone. Now my mom died and you're pregnant. I have a nephew now. Let this baby bring the happiness to you. Please take care of him and educate him well. Just let him be happy and healthy. Don't pursue wealth and prosperity. This is my wish to you and your baby."

Then he fell silent, not uttering another word, not shedding tears, just sitting there, holding his little mom, his biological mother. 

Yuhong Xun didn't expect the outcome to be like this. He didn't intend to take anyone's life, just to vent his own frustrated emotions. He stared blankly at the scene. The sense of defeat not only didn't dissipate but intensified. He slumped in the chair, unable to utter a word. The hall was filled only with the sound of Zhou Xiang's cries. 

Next morning, Yuhong Xun arrived at Zhou Chuyu's room. He saw Zhou Chuyu dressed in plain, kneeling on the ground and burning the ghost money. A copy of <Diamond Sutra> lay beside him, with the first page written: Dedicated to my mom, Ms Zhu Your son Chuyu

Yuhong Xun sat on a chair and said:

"I have bought a high-quality coffin for you mother. I can make sure your little mom receives a proper funeral." He then took out a memorial tablet, continued, "I had them make this tablet. I know you should want one."

He handed it to Zhou Chuyu. Zhou Chuyu took the memorial tablet without even looking at it, throwing it into the brazier. Then he tossed <Diamond Sutra> one piece of paper after one into the the flames as well. Yuhong Xun shouted:

"You…., what's your meaning? I made this tablet with good intentions and you don't appreciative it at all." Sighing, he continued, "I didn't intend to kill your little mom. I was so angry yesterday. I just wanted to provoke your emotions so as to lose my control. I didn't expect her to be so frail."

He wanted to ask for Zhou Chuyu's forgiveness but this was not a matter that could be resolved with a simple pardon. Unsure of what to say, he took some papers of <Diamond Sutra>, intending to help burn it together. However, Zhou Chuyu swiftly snatched these papers from his hand, tossing the remaining copies into the brazier. Standing up, he grabbed the papers Yuhong Xun had taken, walked to the table and started to write them rapidly. After finishing each copy, he threw it into the brazier, repeating the process until all of Yuhong Xun's copies were done. Then he tore them into pieces. Yuhong Xun, infuriated, slapped him across the face and angrily left Zhou Chuyu's room. 

One night a person quietly slipped out of the palace. However, they were caught by people outside after just a few steps. The person was dragged back into the palace. Lord Dun, Yuhong Yang, who was standing in the shadows, muttered to himself:

"It seems that Xu Xing really has a way to handle the things like this. Well, there are always persons who can't hold themselves. Let me go back the palace and see who this bold person is, daring to poison our emperor."

Returning to Zhengyang Palace, Yuhong Yang saw the Emperor, Yuhong Guang was playing weiqi (a kind of Chinese tradition chess) with Xu Xing. Now the Zhengyang Palace was essentially the domain of these three individuals. Concubine De had moved to her youngest daughter's palace. Seeing Lord Dun enter, Yuhong Guang said:

"Are you back to find out who it is?"

"Yeah, why don't you have started ask him yet?"

Xu Xing replied:

"Relax! It won't be just one person and we have caught some, who have faced punishment from His Majesty. These who are not involved should continue their duties as usual, but those implicated will likely try their best to escape from the palace. This isn't the only one we've caught. Can't you be patient?"

Then he leisurely took some weiqi pieces from Yuhong Guang's side. Yuhong Guang said hurriedly:

"What a person you are! You are planting the pieces secretly while I'm not paying attention. No, put them back. I didn't see them. Put them back!"

Xu Xing threw the weiqi pieces away in frustration and said:

"I don't play with you anymore. It is always like this every time. Every time you can't win, you resort to being a cheating loser."

Yuhong Guang petulantly said:

"You've always done this like a child. You're older than me so you should let me play a little more. It was the same before and it's still the same now."

Yuhong Yang shook his head and said:

"When we were kids, I used to enjoy watching the few of you argue over trivial matters. It was particularly amusing when Xu Xing and Wang Qing played tricks on you."

Yuhong Guang chuckled and said:

"Well, they were really bad guys, relying on their intelligence. They've caused me a lot of trouble. By the way, tell Xuan to wait until his wife gives birth of the child. After all, it's his first time for him to become a father."

"Yeah, Your Majesty! As for Xuan, I received an information from his staff today. It mentioned that Xie Guansan's demotion was due to someone wanting to kill him. However, the specific details are not very clear."

Yuhong Guang asked:

"How does he know that someone wanted to kill Xie Guansan?"

Yuhong Yang replied:

"The staff didn't tell me but he just wanted to confirm with me whether Xie Guansan was killed or not. He's being cautious and didn't dare approach others directly so they came to me. Xie Guansan is fine but I want to investigate it."

Yuhong Guan continued to ask:

"Is there the reliable person to do this?"

"I'll send my trusted staff."

Xu Xing remarked:

"It isn't a trivial thing if someone does want to kill him."

"But why? He just returned to work after his mother died. Within a couple of days, he was demoted and left Jingdu for his son's misconduct."

Xu Xing asked:

"What did his son do?"

"He fought with a favorite boy of the Second Prince's."

Xu Xing said:

"So coincidentally, right after Xie Guansan had just finished his mourning period and began to work, his son got into a fight with a boy of the Second Prince's so that he was demoted. Now we heard the reason was that someone wanted to kill him. This means that boy saved Xie Guansan."

Yuhong Guang pondered for a while and said:

"Are you suggesting that that boy knew why Xie Guansan was targeted for assassination, caused trouble for that reason and led to Xie Guansan's demotion? And that boy is from Xun's mansion, which means the information came from there and is related to Xun. Xie Guansan worked in the Ministry Of Revenue. So not only Xun but also the Ministry of Revenue are involved."

Xu Xing said:

"Your Majesty, you see it clearly."

Yuhong Guang said:

"Yang, you go and ask Xie Guansan. Be cautious! I'll give you a secret order to make it official. Otherwise, Xie Guansan might not dare to speak the truth."

Xu Xing added:

"One more thing, the Eldest Prince and his staff probably know that boy and they are protecting him."

Yuhong Yang asked:

"How do you know?" Xu Xing gave him a disdainful look. Yuhong Yang smiled and continued, "Okay, I know I'm not wiser than you."

"Think about it! Someone wanted to kill Xie Guansan. Undoubtedly it was a secret matter. I guess this person would find a plausible reason to openly kill him. That boy accidentally found out, caused a disturbance and let Xie Guansan escape. This incident happened two months ago but no one had mentioned it. So I think that boy was very cautious but didn't trust anyone so that he couldn't confirm whether Xie Guansan was safe or not. But when the Eldest Prince returned Jingdu, his staff came to you for confirmation. Doesn't this indicate that that boy knows the Eldest Prince and trusts him a lot? Similarly, the Eldest Prince didn't tell you who that boy is or let you ask him directly. I think the Eldest Prince also doesn't want to make any trouble to that boy. Isn't he protecting that boy? How many boys does the Second Prince have?" 

"There are a few boys and he changes them very often. But why did not that boy tell the eldest prince's wife?"

"That is why I said he was very cautious. He didn't trust anyone at that time but has absolute trust in the Eldest Prince."

Yuhong Guang asked:

"Xuan's spy?"

Xu Xing quickly defended the Eldest Prince:

"I have never heard the Eldest Prince has spies in Jingdu or at least he doesn't know about this. Maybe the spy from his staffs." Then he changed the topic and asked Yuhong Yang:

"Do you know that boy?"

Yuhong Yang replied:

"How should I know him?"

Xu Xing pondered for a moment and didn't say anything further.