TBR CH146

Chapter 146: Cup Contents – “Of course, I’m truly looking forward to it… Chancellor Chu…”

In the turbulent political landscape, situations always shift quickly.

It was like a soaking wet rain, with rumors clinging to people’s skin, spreading unrest throughout the city through street and alley discussions. Prince Duan, who had claimed illness a few days ago, was now fully recovered and conspicuously sent gifts to the Chancellor’s residence for his recuperation. Meanwhile, the Eastern Palace now reflected the atmosphere of Prince Duan’s residence from a few days prior, appearing utterly lifeless.

Everyone believed that the truth of the case was about to come to light.

Ji Ying stepped into the Chancellor’s residence at sunset.

He was even more discreet than the Seventh Prince, using an ordinary sedan chair. The slanted afterglow of the setting sun cast heavy shadows along the edges of the buildings. He straightened his collar in the shadows, feeling his throat dry, almost daring not to raise his eyes. It was the Chancellor’s residence doorman who familiarly came to lead the way for him:

“Lord Ji, you have been waiting long. Chancellor Chu said he is waiting for you at the long pavilion by the peach orchard of the Chancellor’s residence.”

“Good,” he nodded, “I’ll go by myself.”

A hint of difficulty flashed across the butler’s face. Ji Ying quickly realized that even though he had walked the path of the Chancellor’s residence many times, his request might cause concern about prying into secrets. He was about to go back on his word, but the butler quickly made up his mind, bowed to him, and then retreated as instructed. Chancellor Chu had trained his household staff very well; while they were orderly, they also genuinely worked wholeheartedly for him.

It was a kind of ability that commanded loyalty without whips or honeyed words.

The old man in the palace with one half-blind eye had long been deeply wary of this. Ji Ying’s eyes flickered. He walked alone into the depths of the Chancellor’s residence, following the rules and not prying into any area.

Chu Huaicun soon saw Ji Ying.

In fact, this meeting was the result of a long delay. Ji Ying had been incredibly busy these days, rushing around everywhere. He had accomplished something good for His Majesty: the blade he had unsheathed against Chu Huaicun finally struck heavily at the Eastern Palace, which relied on Chancellor Chu. The evidence was conclusive, even though Chancellor Chu remained secluded and did not express his stance. But there was no doubt that Chu Huaicun and the Crown Prince had become estranged.

For some people, there was no better news than this.

Chu Huaicun raised his eyes, watching the deep purple figure approach little by little. Ji Ying’s condition had been good recently, suggesting he was taking the medicine Mr. Fang left on time.

The snake-like embroidery on his official robe became more vivid with the rustling of his clothes, and his aura was even more gloomy and fierce than usual. Just as Chu Huaicun first assessed him, he could be called a fawning and treacherous villain.

Having not seen each other properly for a long time, both felt a bit of the trepidation of returning home after a long absence.

But Ji Ying first smelled a familiar scent, the fishy and sweet dragon’s saliva incense from the palace, carrying the rotten stench of desire. He couldn’t help but purse his lips, his voice hoarse: “Before me, someone else already visited Chancellor Chu?”

Before he finished speaking, half of his words had already turned sour.

Chu Huaicun chuckled: “What are you saying? The person who came to see me just now, Lord Ji must have already investigated his background. Rather, if it weren’t for your deliberate intention, he might not have even come to see me.”

“As expected of Chancellor Chu, you’ve even figured that out,”

Ji Ying said softly, like a sigh, his eyes unfathomable, “But just now someone was sitting opposite you here and drank half a cup of tea. I know this isn’t right, but I haven’t seen you for so many days, longing to see you but unable to find you. Yet he was with Chancellor Chu before me. There’s nothing more unfair than that. Chancellor Chu, tell me, shouldn’t you compensate me a little?”

He spoke in a chilling tone, but with an added hint of deliberation.

Chu Huaicun keenly noticed his fingers hidden behind his back, trembling slightly, betraying their owner’s nervousness. Ji Ying hadn’t spoken such nonsensical words in front of him for a long time. Now, speaking them so closely and intimately, it suddenly felt like returning to the very beginning, when the two slowly grew closer. He wanted to pretend to be at ease, but he gave himself away.

“You missed me?” Chu Huaicun accurately grasped the loophole in his words, curved his lips, and extended his hand towards him.

The person before him, as he expected, struggled briefly in place, then abandoned the fluctuating, false mask he had worn on his face for some time, quickly stepping forward to claim a hug.

“So much,” he murmured, “I wanted to see you so badly. Mr. Fang said the antidote for the ‘Half-Face Makeup’ has side effects, occasionally causing hallucinations. When I closed my eyes, I saw many things, and I almost felt that everything that happened was an unreliable hallucination. But when I saw you just now, I no longer wanted to doubt.”

He also carried a sweet, lingering scent of palace incense. His ink-black hair fell onto Chu Huaicun’s elegant white robes, yet it didn’t seem out of place. Chu Huaicun measured Ji Ying’s waist with his hand, eliciting a hoarse “It tickles” from him, but he didn’t let go.

“Chancellor Chu should be aware of being clung to by a venomous snake,”

he said, “or rather, being haunted by a malevolent spirit. Anyway, I’m not a good person, so naturally, I don’t talk about morals. Heaven knows how jealous I am—”

“The Seventh Prince came this morning,” Chu Huaicun said, still in that embrace, getting to the point. “As you expected, he couldn’t sit still. Now that the Crown Prince has fallen out of favor, and you are allied with Prince Duan, His Majesty’s mind is constantly wavering. If he wants to make a name for himself, he can’t just sit idly by. He came to me, and I promised him a chance.”

Ji Ying said, “You negotiated terms with him, that’s good. But don’t drink tea with him.”

“He won’t poison the tea twice.”

Chu Huaicun curved his lips. On the small table in front of him, there was only a white jade cup. “Leaving aside that the Chancellor’s residence is my territory, just consider that he believes his actions are foolproof, so he wouldn’t put himself in a morally compromising position under such circumstances. It’s just that our prince is probably very disappointed with the current situation, and His Majesty’s patience with him is also limited.”

The poisoned tea case caused a stir throughout the city, but the two central figures of the incident nonchalantly discussed a name that had never appeared in public.

The timid, low-key, and completely incapable Seventh Prince, whose current situation had dragged both the Crown Prince’s faction and Prince Duan’s faction into a chaotic mess that brought him no benefit whatsoever, forcing him to seek help from the very person he had poisoned. Such a situation would ordinarily be illogical, but combined with the probable original course of events, it became much clearer.

The poisoned tea case had two layers of evidence: superficial evidence all pointing to Prince Duan, while deeper evidence all pointed to the Crown Prince.

This would inevitably lead to a fierce struggle between the Crown Prince’s faction and Prince Duan’s faction.

The advantages and disadvantages of the parties involved were carefully weighed. The Crown Prince had the support of the most influential Chu Huaicun, while Prince Duan, though only having His Majesty’s backing, had conclusive evidence, adding a bit of an advantage. As long as Chancellor Chu wisely chose to protect the Eastern Palace, the result of the power struggle between the two factions should see the Eastern Palace slightly victorious, but both sides would suffer heavy losses.

Even children understood the principle of the ‘snipe and clam fighting, the fisherman benefits’. The Seventh Prince, without revealing his hand, executed this matter meticulously, his mind not to be underestimated, completely extricating himself. He had a good plan: let Prince Duan and the Crown Prince suffer heavy losses, then he would surface.

He wanted to achieve his great ambition with the smallest possible cost.

But things didn’t unfold that way.

At Ji Ying’s prompting, the Chancellor’s residence chose to observe coldly, and did not protect the Eastern Palace as he had wished. The previously balanced scales began to tilt. Everything he hoped for not only didn’t happen, but the situation grew worse. His imperial brother received Ji Ying’s assistance, like a tiger with wings, and His Majesty, who had originally favored him more and tacitly allowed everything to happen, now cast suspicious glances at him.

The Seventh Prince knew that without family support, he could only fight for himself.

Since the Crown Prince had fallen out of favor, he was willing to risk everything to gain Chancellor Chu’s support. Otherwise, he would have no chance to contend.

“However, this plan has one major problem,”

Ji Ying lowered his eyes and chuckled. “His ambition is great, and he has sufficient means, but he hasn’t had time to cultivate a group of people loyal only to him. He didn’t say it explicitly, knowing he couldn’t hide it from His Majesty, because he used His Majesty’s people. But he doesn’t know that these people aren’t clean either…”

Ji Ying hadn’t even set foot in the palace when he heard about this.

Inserting a person by the Seventh Prince’s side was much easier than by His Majesty’s. As early as when Ji Ying was ordered to escort the Seventh Prince back, he had already interfered. And the person who told him about the rumors of this matter was precisely the coachman he had planted in the palace.

“His Majesty is aware and tacitly approves,” Chu Huaicun continued, “for three reasons.”

“Firstly, he wants to see what means this illegitimate son, whom he brought to the capital and cultivated, truly possesses. Secondly, the former rift between him and Prince Duan has not been mended; father and son have, after all, become estranged…”

“Thirdly,” Ji Ying’s voice carried a hint of self-mockery, “His Majesty had long suspected me. This matter served as a perfect test of my reaction. If not for Chancellor Chu’s timely assistance, I might already be a skeleton.”

“If not for you,” Chu Huaicun said calmly, “I might already be dead.”

What he said wasn’t quite accurate, after all, His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince had specifically used a lethal poison to frame the Eastern Palace, but the dosage and timing were precisely not fatal. However, Chu Huaicun’s gaze, sharp as icy snow, fell upon him, preventing Ji Ying from retorting. He stared at Ji Ying for a long moment, then suddenly sighed softly:

“Do you truly understand what you want to do?” he asked Ji Ying. “How much can you tell me, and how much do you need to conceal? Although I don’t care if I have a good outcome, since I am enamored with you, I still want to take some responsibility for you. If things proceed as you planned, I am wondering what you consider a good ending.”

He gently placed his hand on Ji Ying’s shoulder, gazing into the other’s eyes.

“I…”

“If I call your name, do you have the courage to answer?”

Chu Huaicun whispered. His eyelashes trembled slowly, casting a shadow like the haze on a snow-capped mountain. His colorless lips were almost about to utter a name. Ji Ying suddenly felt an inexplicable palpitation. He raised his hand, subconsciously covering the breath flowing between Chancellor Chu’s lips.

He almost immediately felt danger brush lightly against the back of his neck, like a blind person trying to block a beast’s sharp fangs with a body of flesh and blood.

He released his hand.

His heart pounded, but Chu Huaicun did not speak again.

The agile and powerful hunter stared at him with a deep gaze. Ji Ying pulled the corners of his lips into a smile:

“Why does Chancellor Chu care so much? I’m just living one day at a time. After finally finding mutual affection, I want to seize the day with Chancellor Chu. What do you like about me? Are you interested in my body? I still remember your attitude changed after that time. If Chancellor Chu wishes, no matter what kind of tricks, I can play along—”

He hated his frivolous words, his frivolous actions, and his insincerity.

But the moment he thought of his current self, covered in mud, about to defile that name, he felt an indescribable dread. He was not the radiant self of the past. Thinking about this only made him feel disgusted.

And everything that name carried, he couldn’t bring himself to say it, even he himself couldn’t speak to himself like that.

“The last time, under the influence of medicine, I don’t remember anything,”

his voice was low. “Chancellor Chu can do whatever he wants with me. You can tie me up like last time, or you can make me take medicine. If you’re interested, I’ll obey your every word and won’t resist at all. Some people flattered me, thinking I was a debauched person, and sent me many stimulating novelties. If you like them, I can even adorn myself with them…”

His voice grew softer and softer, his smile wider and wider.

“I have always lived a clean life,”

he curved his eyes, but spoke of himself as a commodity waiting to be priced. “Chancellor Chu, rest assured, you definitely won’t lose out.”

“Then, does Lord Ji plan to stay tonight?”

This sentence almost made Ji Ying suspect he had misheard, but Chu Huaicun really said it. He rarely stumbled, those self-deprecating words half-spoken, then turned into a slowly unfolding smile:

“Of course, I’m truly looking forward to it… Chancellor Chu’s methods.”

The environment of the Imperial Prison was indeed not very good, but it was acceptable.

Mr. Fang sat calmly on a damp futon in the prison, sniffing the surrounding bloody air. He was blindfolded and led into the winding depths of the prison, but finding his way in the dark was not difficult for him at all. He remembered every corner he had turned; the structure of the Imperial Prison seemed to unfurl like a map before his eyes.

Only when the last large door closed was Mr. Fang allowed to remove the blindfold.

He was, after all, Chu Huaicun’s person and had already been branded as a member of Chancellor Chu’s faction. Like Qin Sangzhi, the jailers dared not openly torture him, but they could mercilessly throw him into the damp and cold cell. He touched his old bones, which felt like they were about to fall apart, and lamented that the world was truly in decline.

The person in the cell to his left, upon hearing the sound of the cell door opening, seemed to grasp at a lifeline, speaking quickly and urgently beside him. He seemed to have just cried, desperately trying to prove something. Mr. Fang vaguely heard words like “Chancellor Chu,” “release from prison,” and “innocence” flash by quickly.

As the cell door closed, the person slumped back to the ground in despair, mumbling something.

Although he hadn’t yet adapted to the prison’s dim light, Mr. Fang knew that this was probably the former foremost scholar of the current dynasty, Qin Sangzhi. In fact, the imperial examination fraud case that had landed him here wasn’t difficult to judge. The reason it hadn’t been concluded to this day was simply the power struggle between Chancellor Chu and Ji Ying.

If Chu Huaicun exerted his influence, he could not only get him out but also clear him of the fraud.

If Chu Huaicun completely disregarded him, Qin Sangzhi’s guilt would be sealed, and he would have to endure eternal imprisonment.

However, the awkward state could not continue indefinitely. Mr. Fang coughed lightly in the darkness, remembering the last entrustment Chancellor Chu had mentioned before he came here, and then spoke:

“Well, Young Master Qin… how do you feel now? I am someone sent by Chancellor Chu, specifically transferred here to visit you. Chancellor Chu asked me to tell you that he trusts you and has been trying to prove your innocence, but that Ji Ying is truly hateful and won’t back down. He wants you to rest assured that he has decided to directly rescue you. In a few days, you’ll be able to leave.”

Qin Sangzhi had almost given up hope.

He had been alone in the Imperial Prison for ten days, and these ten days had almost worn away his arrogance. He had not been without false bravado, nor had he been without struggling and begging for mercy. All his hope was that Chu Huaicun would come to save him, but not long ago, news came from outside that Chancellor Chu had been poisoned and his fate was unknown.

The system also said that Chu Huaicun’s luck had indeed dimmed for a moment that night.

The system advised him to wait, but how could he endure such suffering? He had almost lost hope. Mr. Fang now appeared like a savior from the sky. Qin Sangzhi tried to peer through the iron bars in the darkness towards the direction of the voice.

His disappointment was almost written on his face.

Mr. Fang looked like nothing more than a skinny old man, with a faint beard on his face, sitting on the ground, indistinguishable from other prisoners, showing no sign of being someone who could rescue people from dire straits. The other prisoners around them were even more accustomed to such conversations, lifeless and silent.

Qin Sangzhi almost considered these people living corpses.

But Mr. Fang did not think so. He felt prying eyes on his skin. Every inch of darkness around him could conceal a dim eye, and everywhere lurked prisoners who had suffered for years in confinement, already tormented beyond human recognition. But their life force had not been extinguished.

“Don’t worry, Young Master Qin,” Mr. Fang said, “Chancellor Chu instructed me to cooperate with you on a few matters after meeting you. If things go smoothly, I will definitely take you out of the Imperial Prison.”

“How… how can I believe you?”

Qin Sangzhi almost bit his tongue. He had originally wanted to believe unconditionally, but the appearance of this savior was truly suspicious.

He heard a faint click from Mr. Fang’s direction. Qin Sangzhi listened with disbelief, having longed for this sound almost to the point of obsession. It was the sound of a key sliding into a lock, and a large door opening. The cell was completely dark at that moment, with only the sound of dripping water. That sound was like an illusion, fleeting.

Mr. Fang carefully removed the key and hid it in the roof of his mouth again.

He had just obtained this key, of course, avoiding the search outside the cell. The first step had gone smoothly, but this Qin Sangzhi was truly difficult to communicate with. He decided to take it one step at a time for the road ahead.

“If that’s the case, can Young Master Qin believe me then?”

Silver moonlight diffused into fragmented light through the tree shadows on the ground.

Ji Ying still sat in the pavilion, holding a wine cup in his hand, wondering if he was a little disappointed. Chu Huaicun kept him in the Chancellor’s residence but showed no intention of acting on his foolish words. He merely sent someone to prepare wine, intending to drink with him under the moonlight.

He could almost read Chu Huaicun’s thoughts.

But he was no longer his past self. The attendant brought up the fine wine, said to be intoxicating upon tasting. The rich aroma of the wine made one feel lightheaded. Ji Ying closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again. He concealed the faint bewilderment in his eyes.

The eldest son of the Lin family, who had once accompanied Chu Huaicun, was most susceptible to alcohol, almost collapsing at the slightest sip.

But the current Ji Ying, having been riddled with countless poisons, had long developed a tolerance for alcohol. Even if he drank continuously for a long time now, it would be difficult to get drunk. He raised his eyes and looked at Chu Huaicun opposite him. The other curved his lips, gesturing for him to drink first.

So be it.

Ji Ying thought, ultimately, it was a fleeting illusion, a grand dream, shattering his expectations.

He sipped the wine, but did not see the clear and ethereal Chu Huaicun in front of him slightly lower his eyes to look at the wine in his cup, a subtly victorious gleam flashing in his pupils. He calmly drank the wine in his cup, and both their cups were empty. Chancellor Chu gestured for the attendant to refill them—

He wasn’t trying to get Ji Ying drunk.

The person he was truly confident in getting drunk was, in fact, himself.