DLWAV CH32

Just as the first maritime trade fleet was assembled and about to set sail, Ao Ruize and Xia Jingyao received an imperial decree from Emperor Yuanxi, ordering them to return to the capital before the Lunar New Year.

Upon seeing the edict, a flash of realization appeared in Xia Jingyao’s eyes.

He finally remembered that this was Haizhou.

He was Xia Jingyao, the Duke of Wei.

Ao Ruize was Prince An, the Eighth Prince of Great Yang.

The reason they were here together was that they had received orders from Emperor Yuanxi to build new types of sea vessels and establish a maritime trade fleet to search for high-yield grain seeds overseas in the future.

The reason he had thrown all this to the back of his mind was mainly because Ao Ruize’s performance during this period had been simply too good.

Ao Ruize was an extremely self-disciplined person. No matter when he went to sleep at night, he would wake up punctually at Mao hour (5-7 AM) every morning, earlier than him.

But when he got up, he was always quiet and gentle. Even if he accidentally woke Xia Jingyao up because they were sleeping in each other’s arms, he would give him a gentle kiss and coax him back to sleep before leaving.

No matter how busy he was, he would personally prepare breakfast for Xia Jingyao every morning. Even if he was far away, he would rush back at night to sleep with him—except for last night.

Whenever he saw something novel while he was out, he would specifically bring one back for Xia Jingyao.

Thinking of this, Xia Jingyao couldn’t help but touch a small whistle carved from some unknown wood hanging at his waist.

At this point, whether Ao Ruize’s size and muscles were as hard as they appeared wasn’t important anymore… alright, it was still very important.

All of this almost made him believe that he and Ao Ruize were a real couple.

He admitted that Ao Ruize satisfied him even more than he had imagined.

It was just a pity.

They were destined to have no future.

And perhaps Ao Ruize was just putting on an act with him.

After all, before this, Prince An had detested him deeply. Yet, in the blink of an eye, he had become deeply affectionate—

Who would believe that?

Thinking of this, Xia Jingyao couldn’t help but scoff. He took the small wooden whistle from his waist and casually tossed it into the suitcase in front of him, and the complex emotions in his heart vanished along with it.

Just then, a servant came to report that Prince An had come over again.

As if thinking of something, Xia Jingyao turned to look at the steward beside him: “Have you investigated everything I asked you to investigate?”

The steward immediately took out a piece of paper: “It has been investigated.”

“What has been investigated?”

Ao Ruize happened to walk in.

He was still wearing yesterday’s clothes, the wrinkles at the knees clearly visible, looking travel-worn.

Xia Jingyao took the paper from the steward and handed it directly to him: “I had people check the people around you and found that many of them are indeed spies sent by the First Prince and others.”

He thought, since Ao Ruize had served him so diligently, he couldn’t let Ao Ruize suffer a loss, could he?

All things considered, Ao Ruize even profited.

Ao Ruize took the paper and looked at it.

There were quite a few names listed on it.

For example, his predecessor’s personal eunuch, Qu Ji, was the First Prince’s man.

Of the four head maids around him, one belonged to Consort Shu, one to Consort Xian…

And two young eunuchs belonged to the Fourth Prince.

Of course, the First Prince and Consort Xian probably hadn’t sent people to his side to monitor him in the past, but who could say about the future?

“I know.”

Ao Ruize put away the paper and then handed over a large box he was holding.

Only then did Xia Jingyao notice the large box in his hand: “What is this?”

He took it and opened it, only to find two night-luminescent pearls the size of an adult’s fist inside. Even in the daytime, they emitted a soft glow.

Xia Jingyao was stunned: “This is—”

Ao Ruize simply said, “Didn’t I not come back last night? I went to get these two little things.”

He had dug them out from the seabed with his own claws.

He said, the smile and tenderness in his eyes almost tangible: “Don’t you have trouble sleeping at night without a candle lit?”

“But the smell of candles is strong. It’s fine in the summer, but now that it’s winter, and when we return to the capital where the weather is damp and cold, it won’t be easy to open the windows to air out the smell at night. So I thought of this.”

Hearing this, not only Xia Jingyao but even the steward and others beside him were stunned.

What Ao Ruize thought of, these old servants who had followed Xia Jingyao for years naturally thought of too.

But treasures like night-luminescent pearls were rare in the world, let alone ones of such high quality as the two Ao Ruize brought.

They had sent people to search for them in the past, but even after spending over a hundred thousand taels of silver, the pearls they bought couldn’t even light up the bedside, making them useless to Xia Jingyao.

One could only say that if Ao Ruize really just wanted to buy Xia Jingyao over, his generosity was truly immense.

But an ordinary person wouldn’t go to such lengths just to recruit a subordinate, nor would they put in so much thought. So…

Xia Jingyao’s hand toying with the two night-luminescent pearls paused.

He thought, this account seemed a bit difficult to calculate again.

So he fell silent for a moment, gave Ao Ruize a deep look, and said, “Prince An is thoughtful.”

After that, the two spurred their horses and finally rushed back to the capital on the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month in the twenty-third year of Yuanxi.

Emperor Yuanxi deliberately kept all the civil and military officials until the afternoon just to see Ao Ruize and Xia Jingyao immediately.

Ao Ruize reported: “…Replying to Imperial Father, regarding the Fuzhou gold mine, recruiting miners, purchasing metallurgical equipment, and establishing the Mine Protection Battalion cost approximately two hundred and thirty thousand taels of silver. For the Zhaoxian Salt Field, recruiting salt households, building seawater transport pipelines and purification facilities, and purchasing salt-boiling equipment cost approximately two hundred and ten thousand taels of silver. For the Haizhou Shipyard… approximately nine hundred and thirty thousand taels of silver. These three items totaled one million three hundred and seventy thousand taels of silver.”

“These expenses were all covered by the confiscated property of the rebel Liu Chaoying and the spoils seized from the Japanese pirates by the Left Army of the Five Barracks, without using a single cent from the national treasury.”

“Good, good, good.”

Hearing this, Emperor Yuanxi couldn’t help but clap his hands and laugh loudly again.

“You truly did not disappoint my expectations.”

Emperor Yuanxi immediately walked down the imperial steps, personally helped Ao Ruize up, and then with a wave of his hand, had a plaque brought up.

On the plaque were written four large characters: ‘Qilin of My Family’.

Emperor Yuanxi said, “I have thought about it, and now only these four characters can express my feelings.”

“The Records of the Three Kingdoms says, ‘To have a son, one should be like Sun Zhongmou.’ I originally thought so too, but now, I feel that having a Qilin son like you is already a blessing cultivated in this life.”

Hearing this, the civil and military officials present were all shocked.

Shocked by Emperor Yuanxi’s high evaluation of Prince An.

Most importantly, Wang Sheng, the arch-nemesis of the founding emperor, was originally the person most likely to end the chaos of the late Yuan Dynasty in the eyes of the people. Unfortunately, he was unlucky and died from falling off a horse shortly after ascending the throne.

Emperor Yuanxi had praised Wang Sheng more than once in front of the court officials, calling him unparalleled in wisdom and bravery, having broken the Yuan capital three times, with achievements unprecedented in history.

And when Wang Sheng ascended the throne, the etiquette he established included embroidering a Qilin on the Crown Prince’s court attire.

So it was hard for them not to think too much.

And if Emperor Yuanxi really favored Prince An, then the First Prince and the Fourth Prince…

Thinking of this, they coincidentally looked at the First Prince and the Fourth Prince.

Needless to say, the Fourth Prince’s face was twisted.

The First Prince kept his head down, so his expression couldn’t be seen.

As a result, they didn’t pay much attention to how many more praises Emperor Yuanxi gave Prince An or how many things he awarded him later.

Their minds were filled with the thought that the court situation was about to become even more chaotic.

But the Milk Dumpling remembered it clearly.

Because Emperor Yuanxi said: “Besides Prince An, the greatest credit for this matter belongs to Mr. Lai Tuanzi from the previous dynasty. Where is the Left Vice Minister of Works? Order your ministry to choose a site and build a temple and altar for Mr. Lai Tuanzi as soon as possible to highlight his merits.”

After that, the Milk Dumpling’s silly laughter never stopped.

“Building a temple and setting up an altar, building a temple and setting up an altar. I didn’t expect that a system like me would have a day of being put on an offering table and having my praises sung.”

“Earned it, earned it.”

Then, as if thinking of something, it said excitedly: “By the way, if a temple is being built, shouldn’t a full-body statue be made for me?”

The next second, a color image appeared in Ao Ruize’s mind.

The image depicted a young man about 1.9 meters tall, with handsome eyebrows, sharp black eyes, a slender figure, and eight-pack abs.

It said: “Quick, quick, help me give this picture to that Left Vice Minister of Works and let them sculpt me according to this picture.”

Ao Ruize: “…”

Ao Ruize glanced at the Milk Dumpling’s round body, which didn’t even have a chin let alone abs: “You mean this is you?”

Yet it didn’t feel guilty at all, and even straightened its back, although it wasn’t very visible: “This is me, what’s wrong?”

Ao Ruize: “…”

And to think it dared to despise the ancient emperor for being vain—because of the incident where Emperor Yuanxi rewarded him with brass disguised as gold.

But considering it had helped him snatch his wife again, could he expose it?

Ao Ruize: “Fine!”

On the other side, in the First Prince’s mansion.

Unlike what the other officials thought, the First Prince showed no anger at being backstabbed by his own brother; instead, he was extremely excited.

Seeing his advisors enter, the First Prince immediately greeted them: “Come and see the coral Old Eight brought back from Haizhou for me.”

The advisors stepped forward and saw that the coral was as tall as half a person and blood-red throughout, with almost no flaws visible.

On the market, the price of such a coral would be at least five thousand taels of silver.

Compared to Prince An’s annual salary of only one thousand taels, this was indeed a generous gesture.

It showed Prince An’s respect and love for the First Prince.

—Of course, what they didn’t know was that this coral was just something Ao Ruize broke off casually while digging for night-luminescent pearls for Xia Jingyao on the seabed.

The advisors immediately showed satisfied smiles.

They immediately understood and flattered: “Congratulations, Your Highness. With Prince An as your right-hand man, there is no worry that the Emperor won’t pass the throne to Your Highness in the future.”

After all, Prince An was infertile. Even if he was capable, the Emperor wouldn’t pass the throne to him.

And the First Prince was Prince An’s full brother. Looking at this coral, it was clear that Prince An also supported the First Prince.

So the more the Emperor valued Prince An, the more he would lean towards the First Prince when choosing between the First Prince and the Fourth Prince in the future.

Hearing this, the First Prince laughed heartily.

Just then, Mr. Zhang said again: “However, we shouldn’t rejoice too early. After all, the Fourth Prince is the legitimate son, and there are not a few ministers who support him.”

Hearing this, the First Prince and others calmed down immediately.

Mr. Zhang added: “Your Highness, this subordinate has a plan that can make the Emperor thoroughly detest the Fourth Prince.”

First Prince: “How so?”

Seeing the First Prince’s eager expression, Mr. Zhang stroked his beard and smiled: “Judging from the Fourth Prince’s performance in court today, it is evident that he still doesn’t know the news that Prince An is already crippled.”

Perhaps because none of the servants Prince An took to Yunzhou were the Fourth Prince’s people. Afterward, considering that the old imperial physician would definitely report this matter to the Emperor, and since the Emperor already knew, for the sake of Prince An’s reputation, they didn’t publicize the news.

So naturally, this news hadn’t reached the Fourth Prince’s ears yet.

A gleam flashed in his eyes: “So why don’t we reveal the news of Prince An being crippled to the Fourth Prince?”

“What?”

The First Prince was stunned.

Others were already clapping and laughing: “Good.”

“The Fourth Prince is angry right now. If he finds out the news that Prince An is crippled, he will definitely spread this news immediately.”

“When this matter becomes known to everyone, Your Highness can take the opportunity to report this to the Emperor—”

“If the Emperor knows that the Fourth Prince, for the sake of fighting for the throne, has no brotherly affection for Prince An and is unwilling to preserve even Prince An’s last bit of dignity, he will definitely feel disgusted with the Fourth Prince. The Fourth Prince’s reputation in the court and among the people will also plummet.”

“There is only one point—”

That is, if they did this, wouldn’t they also be trampling Prince An’s face underfoot?

Saying this, everyone looked at the First Prince in unison.

The First Prince also hesitated.

But then he thought about how his and the Fourth Prince’s reputation among the people had taken a sharp turn for the worse recently, set off by Prince An—

If those pure-stream officials knew that Old Eight was crippled, they probably wouldn’t dare to attack him as vigorously as before.

Thinking of this, the First Prince took a deep breath: “Old Eight is my own brother. I believe he will understand me.”

“Mr. Zhang, I’ll leave this matter to you.”

Hearing this, Mr. Zhang smiled immediately.

“Yes.”

In the Fourth Prince’s mansion, upon hearing the news reported by his subordinate, the Fourth Prince, who had just smashed all the porcelain in the study, immediately stepped forward and grabbed his collar: “Is what you said true?”

The man looked excited: “Everything this subordinate said is true.”

Then, as if remembering something, he quickly took out a medical record from his bosom: “This was stolen by this subordinate from the home of the old imperial physician responsible for treating Prince An. It details Prince An’s pulse condition. This subordinate has already confirmed it with the mansion doctor, and he said Prince An is indeed infertile.”

The Fourth Prince snatched the medical record, flipped through it, and immediately burst into laughter: “Zhao Ruize, no matter how capable you are, even if Imperial Father praises you as a Qilin son, even if the important ministers in the court praise you, even if those nobles rush to marry their daughters to you, even if those scholars entering the capital for exams scramble to present their papers to you to curry favor, so what? That cannot cover up the fact that you are already crippled—”

Actually, he couldn’t understand these medical records at all.

He only knew that his opportunity had come.

In his opinion, it had been so long since Ao Ruize returned from Yunzhou, but the news that Ao Ruize’s foundation was destroyed hadn’t spread. Obviously, it was because Ao Ruize had bought off people in the Imperial Hospital to deliberately conceal this matter.

So as long as he leaked this matter unknowingly—

If Emperor Yuanxi and the important ministers in the court knew that he was crippled, how could they continue to favor him? Maybe Emperor Yuanxi would even hold a grudge against his full brother, the First Prince.

“Hahahaha, Zhao Ruize, I can make you gain a blessing in disguise, and I can also send you back into the abyss!”

After speaking, the Fourth Prince looked directly at the subordinate: “Next, I want you to spread the news that Prince An is crippled to every street and alley in the capital within three days, no, within tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

Thus, the next day, the news that Prince An’s foundation was destroyed spread throughout the entire capital.

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