Chapter 110

I Truly Am Not a Wise King!

"It wasn't me!"

The Sixth Prince hurried forward and knelt beside the First Prince. "Father, believe me, I absolutely did not do it!"

"The... the grass wreaths were all prepared in advance. I was only responsible for hanging them up. How could I have tampered with them?"

The Fifth Prince suddenly stepped forward. "Yes, Father. I've been with Sixth Brother since early this morning. He was terribly sleepy. After waking, he went directly to the hunting grounds and used the ready-made wreaths."

The Sixth Prince looked at the Fifth Prince, his eyes filled with gratitude.

"Ready-made wreaths..." Emperor Chongzhao said, "I recall the duty of placing the wreaths and small flags on the horses was a favor Lan Guifei requested for you. The wreaths were also prepared by her palace staff."

His cold, heavy gaze swept toward Lan Guifei.

Lan Guifei felt her hands and feet turn icy cold, tears welling in her eyes. "I did have the wreaths prepared, but they were woven by the palace servants. I know nothing about this."

She forced herself to calm down. "If I truly wanted to harm the Third Prince, I certainly would not have taken the duty of handling the wreaths upon myself. What difference would that be from openly declaring I did it?"

Consort Wen said, "So are you suggesting it was a servant's carelessness? Or that someone else is framing you?"

Lan Guifei stated decisively, "Regardless of which it is, this matter absolutely has nothing to do with me or the Sixth Prince. If I am lying, may I be struck by lightning and die without a proper burial!"

Consort Wen's gaze shifted from the First Prince to the Sixth Prince, and she finally said, "Your Majesty, I beg you to seek justice for the Third Prince!"

For a moment, the several people kneeling in the center were a picture of grief, tension, and bewilderment.

Just then, the imperial physician emerged. "Your Majesty, the Third Prince has regained consciousness!"

Emperor Chongzhao immediately stood up and walked toward the tent's interior.

Consort Wen staggered in after him, followed by the First Prince and others.

Qu Dubian, enduring the smell of blood, followed behind the Fourth Prince, lifted the tent flap, and entered as well, standing in a corner.

The Third Prince looked weak, his eyes somewhat vacant as he stared at the top of the tent.

Emperor Chongzhao glanced at his empty right sleeve and, after a long pause, sat by the bedside. "Third Son."

Tears instantly fell from the Third Prince's eyes. "Father."

Losing an arm meant his path to contend for the throne was completely severed. Years of planning, scheming, and maneuvering had evaporated overnight.

Emperor Chongzhao said, "You will recover. Do you remember what happened? Your eldest brother brought you back."

The Third Prince looked at the First Prince.

The First Prince couldn't help but feel nervous. Even without evidence, if Third Brother insisted on dragging him down, he wouldn't escape unscathed.

He was just about to offer a defense when he met the Emperor's gaze and suddenly felt a chill—

He had never seen such obvious coldness in his father's eyes before.

As if...

As if looking at a stranger.

His father suspected him, suspected him more than Little Sixth, even though the current evidence pointed to Little Sixth and Lan Guifei.

The First Prince felt as if his throat were being gripped, that chill slowly seeping into his heart.

The Third Prince looked deeply at the First Prince for a moment.

He ultimately remembered the hands that had pulled him from the deep pit and said hoarsely, "Eldest Brother had already left. He only came back to rescue me after hearing the guards' voices."

"Thank you, Eldest Brother."

There was a touch of sincerity in his words.

The First Prince said awkwardly, "I would have rescued anyone."

The Second Prince slightly raised his eyes, watched the two of them for a few seconds, then looked away.

Emperor Chongzhao was silent for a while. "Eldest, you did well."

The First Prince bowed with clasped hands and retreated to the side.

Only now was he truly free from any connection to the matter.

The Third Prince used his left hand to grasp Emperor Chongzhao's hand. "Father, I'm sorry. My incident has ruined your mood. I am an unfilial son."

He did not express complaint, resentment, or furious anger. Instinctively, he used his current wretched state to garner more sympathy and pity.

Emperor Chongzhao dismissed everyone else from the tent.

Then he squeezed the Third Prince's hand. "Rest well."

After a moment, he asked slowly, "What if this truly was an accident?"

The Third Prince was quiet for two seconds. "Then I can only blame my own bad luck."

Emperor Chongzhao patted his hand, instructed the imperial physicians to take good care of the Third Prince, then ordered the arrest and interrogation of everyone who had come into contact with the grass wreaths the previous night.

Finally, one servant, unable to withstand the interrogation, confessed. He said the grass originally intended for the wreaths grew far away. He was too lazy to walk that distance, and since he also had to hurry back to attend to the Sixth Prince, he casually picked a few different blades of grass by the roadside.

He claimed he didn't know the grass he casually picked was horse-nettle.

The servant was one of the Sixth Prince's personal eunuchs. Although it was deemed accidental, Emperor Chongzhao was still furious. He had the servant executed, demoted Lan Guifei to Lan Pin, and ordered the Sixth Prince to receive thirty strokes of the cane.

The Fifth Prince pleaded for leniency for the Sixth Prince.

Emperor Chongzhao's anger flared even higher. He had the Fifth Prince beaten as well and declared that anyone else who pleaded would face even worse consequences.

-

Qu Dubian listened to the conclusion of this drama.

After leaving the Third Prince's tent, he remained very silent.

Scenes from the past flashed through his mind.

Ye Xiaoyuan asked worriedly, "Your Highness, are you unwell?"

Qu Dubian: "I'm alright."

He stood outside for a quarter of an hour, estimated that the Fifth Prince had finished his punishment, and said, "Banban, you stay here. I'm going to see Fifth Brother."

Ye Xiaoyuan: "Your Highness is going alone?"

Qu Dubian: "There's something I need to ask him."

He arrived at the Fifth Prince's tent. The Fifth Prince was lying face down on the bed, pale. The imperial physician was applying medicine to his lower back and buttocks. Thirty strokes were enough to draw blood.

Fortunately, there wasn't much blood, and the smell of medicine could mask some of it.

Qu Dubian's thick face covering remained on. "Fifth Brother."

The Fifth Prince was startled. "Little Seventh, what brings you here?"

"There's something. Fifth Brother, please tend to your wound first."

"...Alright."

The physician hurriedly finished the treatment and applied a layer of medicated gauze. "Please try not to turn over tonight, Your Highness."

The Fifth Prince nodded. "Thank you."

The physician left with his medicine chest. Only then did Qu Dubian drag a small stool over and sit down by the Fifth Prince's bedside.

Fifth Prince: "What did you want to tell me?"

Qu Dubian glanced at the servants attending in the tent. The Fifth Prince understood. "All of you, leave."

After the tent was cleared, Qu Dubian's voice came through his face covering. He looked at the Fifth Prince and asked, "Fifth Brother, you were the one who tampered with the wreaths, weren't you?"

"......"

The Fifth Prince looked up.

The gentle warmth in his eyes gradually dissipated, revealing a fog-like darkness.

He did not answer directly, only saying, "If it were someone else, would you voice your suspicions so bluntly?"

Qu Dubian shook his head. "No. Only because it's you, Fifth Brother. Of all my brothers, you and Fourth Brother are the only ones I truly trust."

"Silly younger brother," the Fifth Prince raised his hand and tapped Qu Dubian's forehead. "No matter how much you trust someone, you shouldn't ask so directly."

He hadn't answered, but not denying it was a form of affirmation.

Qu Dubian said softly, "Back then... the death of Noble Consort Rong must have been related to Lan Guifei, right?"

"Fifth Brother, you always knew. You just pretended not to."

From the moment the Fifth Prince stepped forward to plead for the Sixth Prince and directly turned the spearhead towards Consort Lan, he knew that everything was connected by a single thread.

The Fifth Prince and the Sixth Prince were close, almost inseparable every day. Therefore, through the people around the Sixth Prince, he had mixed the horse-weakening herb into the braided grass rings, arranging them in order.

When the Sixth Prince distributed them, the rings containing the herb naturally ended up on the Third Prince's horse.

"She is not a Consort anymore, she is now a Concubine Lan," the Fifth Prince said, pursing his lips slightly. "If this is truly an act of revenge, Little Qi, would you stop me?"

Qu Dubian: "Fifth Brother, I have no standing, nor any right to stop you," he fell silent for a moment. "Second Brother is the one behind the scenes, isn't he?"

The Fifth Prince's heart jolted.

He knew Little Qi was quick-witted, but he hadn't expected him to be so sharp as to see through to the Second Prince's layer.

Qu Dubian: "This scheme almost achieves two goals with one stone. The eldest and third brothers fought, the third brother was crippled. Father Emperor would inevitably suspect the eldest brother. If not for the third brother waking up and clearing the eldest brother's name, he wouldn't have gotten off so cleanly.

You tampered with the grass rings. No one suspects you now, but it's certain the Sixth Brother and Concubine Lan were dragged into this, and they have indeed been punished."

The only one who could profit from the shadows was the Second Prince.

The future court situation was predictable: the Third Prince's faction would collapse, and the Second Prince's faction would gradually rise to prominence.

On the surface, Fifth Brother is attached to the Sixth Prince and Concubine Lan. This time, he even willingly took an injury to plead for the Sixth Prince. From now on, Concubine Lan and the Sixth Prince will surely trust him even more.

And others will be completely convinced he is part of the Sixth Prince's faction.

No one knows that he and the Second Prince are the true alliance.

Except for him.

Qu Dubian: "I'm sorry, Fifth Brother."

The Fifth Prince gave a wry smile. "What are you apologizing for?"

"If I had realized earlier, you could have had someone to confide in. That's always better than bottling it up alone."

"It's precisely because I didn't want to involve you that I didn't tell you."

What could he say? That it wasn't just Concubine Lan, but also their father, who knew yet turned a blind eye? Even if he said it, it would only burden another person with the same troubles.

Qu Dubian asked one final question: "To what extent must this go before you can stop?"

The Fifth Prince smiled, still treating him as usual, reaching out to pat his head gently.

"Go back now. Your brother is injured; the smell might bother you."

-

Qu Dubian left the Fifth Prince's tent.

A cool, comfortable evening breeze blew, but he no longer had the light-hearted mood from his arrival the previous night.

Ye Xiaoyuan was waiting for him outside his own tent.

Qu Dubian quickened his pace, threw his arms around him, rested his chin on his shoulder, and said in a muffled voice, "Banban."

Ye Xiaoyuan paused, sensing his low spirits, and patted his back soothingly. "Hmm, I'm here."

He didn't ask what Qu Dubian had encountered, letting his young master hold him just like when they were children.

After a moment, Qu Dubian shifted his posture, leaning on Ye Xiaoyuan's shoulder somewhat playfully, making Ye Xiaoyuan half-drag him inside.

Ye Xiaoyuan indulged him, dragged him into the tent, poured some sweetened water, and fetched a few kinds of fresh, sweet fruits.

Qu Dubian lay sprawled on the table, sipping the drink absentmindedly, his gaze clearly far away.

Ye Xiaoyuan wasn't in a hurry. He would listen attentively when his young master was ready to talk. If he never wanted to speak of it, Ye Xiaoyuan would simply pretend to forget the matter.

Yi Shier lifted the tent flap and entered.

Qu Dubian said lazily, "You're back. Thanks for keeping an eye on Mother Xuan and Elder Sister for me, Six-six."

But Yi Shier walked straight up to him, his lips pressed tightly together.

Qu Dubian's heart skipped a beat. "Did something happen to them?"

Yi Shier shook his head. "They are perfectly safe."

Qu Dubian sighed in relief. "Then why so serious?"

Yi Shier said slowly, "On my way back, I passed by Concubine Lan's tent and overheard some things concerning you."

"Your Highness, do you want to hear it?"