“To protect him, why wouldn’t I dare?”
The voice that came out of Lin Xiao’s lips were soft but it was loud enough for Qin Yijun to hear it. His heart swells with warmth and at the same time, he’s full of anticipation. ‘Has his memories returned?’
At this moment, Qin Yijun wished nothing more than to call out his name, the name that Lin Xiao was born with. But he also knew that with his previous reputation, it would only endanger his life. So, as much as he wished to, Qin Yijun could only hold back.
Qin Yijun carefully eyed Lin Xiao, then at his uncle’s panicked face. He could clearly see the killing intent within Lin Xiao’s eyes. And he knew that if he did not intervene, Lin Xiao would truly kill Qin Luozhuo.
Though by killing him, it would mean there would be one less danger, Qin Yijun still hasn’t found concrete evidence against his uncle. Therefore, if he were to allow Lin Xiao to kill him, it would only be a disadvantage to both him and Lin Xiao. Because Lin Xiao would become a criminal and though Qin Yijun would not allow anything to happen to Lin Xiao, by moving his hand to protect him, it would only be detrimental for his own reputation.
There were several instances where an Emperor was overthrown because the citizens had deemed that the Emperor has lost the Mandate of Heaven. And most of these begins when the citizens thought that their Emperor had become blind with infatuation. From such infatuation, the Emperor would no longer pay any attention to the matter of the country and instead, does his all to spoil and satisfy the object of his desires.
When an Emperor has stopped managing the country, then it is only natural for the empire to decline. With declines, there would be a disaster and thus, it would be judged that the Emperor has lost the Mandate of Heaven.
Although Qin Yijun did not fear what the public would think, he had promised Li Fangming that he would be a great Emperor for the people. In addition, if he really did protect Lin Xiao despite him murdering his only blood relative, people might also think that he has been bewitched. If that happened, then Lin Xiao’s life would be in even more danger.
So in the end, he could only try to alleviate the situation. “Lin Xiao…” he called out in a tone that is neither gentle nor does it contain a hint of anger. If one were to guess, one would assume that the Emperor was unfeeling. Fortunately, people cannot read the heart because if they could, they would know that the Emperor is currently restless.
After all, Lin Xiao did not respond to his call at all. Not even a hint of acknowledgement. When he looked into Lin Xiao’s eyes, he noticed that the other’s eyes appeared unfocused. It was as if his mind was absent. This made Qin Yijun frown. His eyes made a quick glance towards An Yi who only shook his head indicating that he too doesn’t know what is wrong with Lin Xiao. Turning his attention back to Lin Xiao, he tried to call out again. But before he could even open his mouth, Qin Luozhuo suddenly spoke up.
“Yijun! It’s only a waste of time to try and reason with this madman. Hurry and— hiss…” Qin Luozhuo were unable to finish his sentence because he felt the blade of Lin Xiao’s small Tang Dao is digging deeper into his flesh. Unlike before though, the blade didn’t seem to be stopping this time.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Qin Yijun could also see it. He could sense that Lin Xiao truly wished to run the blade across Qin Luozhuo’s neck with the intention of killing him. Knowing that he could not let this happen, he could only call out to Lin Xiao again but this time, his voice sounded very stern. “LIN XIAO!”
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Seeing that life had returned to Lin Xiao’s eyes, the Emperor felt relieved. “Lin Xiao,” he called out again. This time, in a more gentle tone. “Lin Xiao, drop the weapon and Zhen promises that nothing will happen to you,” he said to Lin Xiao who now appears to be more confused.
“What… weapon?”
It wasn’t until he registered that he was holding onto someone did his eyes widened in realization. He released the man on his hold and took a few steps back. Seeing this, Qin Luozhuo’s personal guards who were the closest, and the ones who had been ready to save their master, moved in an attempt to detain Lin Xiao. But they didn’t even get to stand up before they were stopped by the Emperor’s voice.
“Any of you dare touch him, you will answer to Zhen’s wrath!”
This single sentence was enough to curb the guards’ intention.
Lin Xiao on the other hand, felt a wave of dizziness struck him. ‘Damn it… I shouldn’t have moved so quickly after falling unconscious…’ he thought to himself but then, he realized that something was wrong. ‘Hold on, I was sure that I had lost my consciousness then… how was it that I was holding onto Kuanshe Wang and even aimed a weapon at him?’
The more Lin Xiao tried to think about what happened, the worse his headache became. It was to the point that he had to raise his free hand to clutch his head in an attempt to soothe the pain. Spots of blacks started to appear in his vision and he shook his head, trying to fight away the blackness that was slowly surrounding his vision. Unfortunately, it was a fight that Lin Xiao was bound to lose. As he felt himself slowly being swallowed by darkness, he could feel the strength leaving him. The weapon dropped to the floor with a loud sound.
His body swayed and there was a sensation of his body falling forward. Lin Xiao thought that he would be met with the hard ground but instead, he was wrapped inside a familiar warmth. There was also a familiar scent that helped make his headache more bearable. With the last of his strength, he forced himself to look up only to see the Emperor looking at him with a worried expression.
Somehow, he seemed to see another silhouette instead. A man, who seems to be a few years younger. He felt his own lips move but because he was at the end of his consciousness, he couldn’t even hear what he had said. Regardless, the warmth around him made him feel safe. Soon, his body turned lax against the Emperor as unconsciousness finally claimed him.
Qin Luozhuo saw that the threat had been subdued. The wound on his neck, though wasn’t too deep, was still flowing with fresh blood. Pressing his hand against it and feeling the warm liquid, he was furious. When he saw that the guards were still idle, he became even more irritated.
“What are you guards waiting for?! Hurry and take that criminal away from His Majesty!” he barked at the guards, making them show a stupefied look.
They had heard what the Emperor had said just a moment ago, and if they were to follow Qin Luozhuo’s order now, wouldn’t that mean that they are sending their head to the chopping block? None of the guards, including Qin Luozhuo’s personal guards, is that stupid.
Qin Yijun on the other hand was angered even more when he heard Qin Luozhuo referring to Lin Xiao as a criminal. His mind could not help remembering that time when his uncle accused Li Fangming. At that time, Qin Luozhuo had also called Li Fangming a criminal.
When Qin Luozhuo saw that he couldn’t move the guards, he turned his attention back to his nephew. “Yijun! Hurry and let go of the criminal. He’s dangero—”
“Silence!” Qin Yijun roared out. The fury could be heard from his voice alone which made the guards and servants around him shiver in fright.
“Tonight, Qing Wang Lin Xiao and Kuanshe Wang Qin Luozhuo accompanied Zhen for a private dinner banquet and simply had too much to drink leading to him passing out. Zhen’s own Royal Uncle, Kuanshe Wang, had his fill and returned to his Wangfu in the capital feeling satisfied. This matter, Zhen hopes that Zhen’s beloved servants understand.”
Neither the guards nor the servants dared to say they didn’t understand. They knew that their Emperor wished for this event to be buried under the ground, not to see the light of day. And if anyone were to speak of it in the future, that person may not even see their own corpse intact by the time they had turned into a spirit.
“Yijun! Have you gone mad?!” There was only one person who seemed to be dissatisfied with the outcome. “Are you going to let him off after he tried to murder your Royal Uncle?” Qin Luozhuo asked in disbelief.
Qin Yijun narrowed his eyes, his gaze turned dangerously cold before he opened his mouth to speak. “Does Kuanshe Wangye need to be reminded who Zhen is to you?”
Seeing his nephew’s cold and indifferent expression, Qin Luozhuo could feel the palm of his hands begin to sweat. He finally came to terms that his nephew was indeed serious in wanting to bury the matter that had just transpired. Gritting his teeth in dissatisfaction, he went down to his knees and gave the Emperor a full kowtow. His head hit the ground with a resounding thud. “Your Imperial Majesty is the Son of Heaven, born to rule all of those under Heaven. Nucai begs that His Imperial Majesty can be benevolent!”
For a while, Qin Yijun did not say anything. Looking at his uncle kneeling on the ground, he did not feel even the slightest sympathy. If it were not for Lin Xiao’s sake, he would have let the older male continue kneeling for a long time. But in the end, he is most worried about Lin Xiao’s condition. ‘It’s better to ask Old Pan to look at him…’ he thought to himself. His eyes went to find An Yi and silently ordered him to find the Royal Physician.
As a shadow guard who was trained from a young age, An Yi naturally understands what the Emperor is telling him to do just by the gaze alone. He quickly bowed his head and turned to leave to find Old Pan.
Seeing the shadow guard leave, Qin Yijun feels slightly reassured. Finally, he turned his attention back to the matter at hand.
“Kuanshe Wang, Qin Luozhuo, had eaten too much fruit during dinner and had fallen sick. In order to let him recover, Zhen is allowing him to rest in his Wangfu for three months. In order to not let his condition decline more, he is not allowed to leave his Wangfu in these three months,” Qin Yijun suddenly said out loud before he glanced at the still kneeling Qin Luozhuo.
“For the sake of Royal Uncle’s health and safety, Zhen will let several Crimson Guards escort you back and make sure that Royal Uncle can rest without any worries for the duration of three months.”
Everyone around knew that this was Qin Luozhuo’s punishment. Qin Luozhuo had already overstepped his authority by referring to the Emperor by his given name. This is something that should have been punishable by death. But since the Emperor had not given him the death penalty, it shows that the Emperor is benevolent and had given Qin Luozhuo a way out.
Even so, punishment is still a punishment. Though outwardly it was said that Qin Luozhuo had gotten sick and had to rest for three months in his own Wangfu, those officials with brains could figure out that it was nothing but confinement. With this order, Qin Luozhuo’s credibility will dwindle and his influence will also be reduced. But compared to losing his own life, Qin Luozhuo could only accept it with a bleeding heart.
“Nucai thanks His Majesty.”
A/N: If there are any words that you don’t know and wished for me to put the translation on, or if I miss something, please tell me in the comment! I’ll edit them in as soon as I can XD
Oh on does our baby have a another personality like his old self……… Aaah i really love this novel very much thank u sooo much author
Thanks for the chapter ♥️♥️
I think that what Ling Xiao did wasn’t like another personality, but it was more like the resentment that Li Fangming feels toward Luozhuo. If you see the man that literally screw up your life taunting you, of course somehow you would blow up!
Was that bis old self trying to protect QY? Quite mysterious!