Li Xiao finally moved away. The servant girl next to him opened the curtains and the empress scampered away in a hurry. After leaving Taiye palace, she immediately rubbed over her trembling heart. Her momo hastily supported her: “Your majesty…”
The empress didn’t say anything.
She became clearly aware of one thing. Li Xiao wanted to kill her. When he approached her, his entire person seemed to be condescing into a sharp icicle, ready to stab into her heart at any given moment.
While Li Xiao was very scary during his episodes, during that time, he can’t think and had no intelligence. However, the times he’s with it, that’s when he was truly terrifying. Because you can’t guess what he’s thinking of doing.
As the empress slowly steadied herself and walked forward, she suddenly encountered the crown prince. She immediately walked over quickly and called out to him: “Where are you going?”
“Greetings to mother.” Li Yang bowed politely and answered: “I heard grandma got a cold these days so I’m going to visit her.”
“Right now your big brother is in there.”
Li Yang’s face turned happy: “Brother-in-law is also there?”
The empress’s expression was complicated: “You want to see him?”
“I heard about what’s been going on these days. I’m a bit curious.” Li Yang said: “Just now I went to the prime minister’s estate. Grandfather was still sleeping so I didn’t bother him.”
The empress frowned. Li Yang couldn’t understand what she was thinking, so said: “Then I will take my leave first.”
Under his mother’s wordless acceptance, he headed towards Taiye palace. The empress turned to the side to watch him. The crown prince wasn’t as tall or as big as Li Xiao. His stature was somewhat skinny. The empress watched until his figure disappeared before saying: “Look, he completely doesn’t know how much his mother has done for him secretly.”
“When he becomes the ruler, he will naturally understand.”
“No…” The empress said: “If he is to become the ruler, then he needs a good reputation. This is his majesty’s wish. I pushed him into the position with my own hands, so I must not be the one to ruin him.”
“Your majesty…”
The empress walked forward step by step and said: “As long as the crown prince is alive, then I must be the perfect mother of the nation. Even if I did something wrong, the emperor still won’t disclose it publically. He can’t touch me.”
Li Yang walked into Taiye palace. When he entered, he saw Li Xiao so greeted him with a smile: “Big brother, brother-in-law.”
Song Song returned the greeting, but Li Xiao only faintly nodded, holding the pastry Song Song just handed him for examination, as if trying to decide where to take the first bite on this sweet dessert.
Apparently long used to being ignored, Li Yang quickly sat next to the empress dowager who had waved him over.
The empress dowager did not mention anything negative about the empress in front of Li Yang, instead she happily chatted about daily life with him. It looked like she rather liked this grandson of hers.
Song Song secretly examined the other. The crown prince was still the same as he was before, gentle like jade. However, in front of his grandmother, he revealed a hint of childishness. It was clear that the two’s relationship normally was pretty good.
As he pondered, he suddenly saw Li Yang was also secretly looking at him. Song Song immediately grinned widely at him. Li Yang also smiled slightly, his gaze darting quickly at Song Song’s stomach. For some reason, his cheeks suddenly gained a blush.
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.
“Did you go see your grandfather?”
Ol Tjcu jcrkfgfv: “Tfr. Lf’r riffqlcu.”
Ktf fwqgfrr vbkjufg rjlv klat j ijeut: “Qlat tbk cblrs atlr atlcu yfmjwf, tfgf P atbeuta atf qglwf wlclrafg kbeivc’a yf jyif ab riffq.”
“Xgjcvwj, dela pbxlcu. Vlcmf ugjcvojatfg vjgfv ab qijmf j yfa, atfc cjaegjiis tf mjc joobgv ab ibrf.”
Mjmf oeii bo glutafbercfrr, tf ibbxfv ilxf tf mbwqifafis vlv cba mjgf jybea atlr yfa yfakffc atf qglwf wlclrafg jcv atf lwqfglji aeabg. Vbcu Vbcu yilcxfv, tlr wbeat kjr revvfcis raeoofv ys j qlfmf bo mjxf. Ol Wljb rjlv: “Pa vbfrc’a ajraf ubbv.”
This was the piece that he just gave to Li Xiao. The man took a bite, but seemed to think it didn’t fit his taste, so actually returned it back.
Song Song held out a hand to catch the crumbs and ate his leftovers with small bites, grumbling: “Why are you so picky?”
Li Xiao raised his eyebrow, lips moving closer to Song Song’s ear: “Not picky when I’m eating you. I can eat you anywhere.”
That voice pressed lowly next to Song Song’s ear, tickling him. He flinched away a little and turned his head to glare at him, feeling like this man was getting increasingly improper.
Li Xiao chuckled in response and said: “Grandma, if there’s nothing else, then we will return first.”
“Ai… You’re not going to stay to talk with Ah-Yang? You can even eat dinner here.”
“When there’s time, us brothers can meet at Fuxiang restaurant. Let it be for today. The sky is already dark.”
Li Yang stood up to send them away with his gaze, then slowly sat back down again: “Who would have thought brother-in-law actually can carry a child. What good news. Now you and father won’t have to worry that he won’t have anyone to look after him when he gets old.”
“If you have nothing to do, you should go visit the king’s estate some more. Build a good relationship with your big brother. Then later if you ascend the throne, he can assist you willingly.”
Li Yang looked down, peeling the chestnut in his hand: “Big brother doesn’t really like me.”
“You two brothers had the best relationship before. In the future it should also be good.”
Li Yang fed the empress dowager the peeled chestnut and consoled her: “Don’t worry about us. Just eat well, drink well, and take good care of yourself.”
Song Song put on his cloak in the outer room. Li Xiao and he mutually helped each other tie up the other’s straps. When they exited the door, the sky was already pitch black. They followed the wide stone pavement road of the palace and started walking slowly outside. Song Song couldn’t resist asking: “Just what kind of person is the crown prince?”
“The same as what you see.”
Song Song said: “He doesn’t seem quite like the empress.”
“When we were younger, father taught us how to respect each other. What he worried the most was internal strife between brothers. Therefore, we weren’t raised by our own mothers’ sides much. When we were younger, half of every month we would spend living with grandma to foster our relationships. Later when we were older, father assigned us our own palace. Us brothers studied together during the day, and slept together at night. Since we were all in the palace, it was also easy to visit our mothers.”
Song Song’s face was full of envy: “Then when you guys were younger, it must have been very lively.”
“Our relationships were pretty good in our youths.” Li Xiao pulled on Song Song’s soft thin fingers. Perhaps caught up in his memories, he didn’t say anymore.
Song Song looked up at him, then quietly withdrew his gaze. Their relationship was good during their youth, but later it changed? Starting from when he was poisoned?
Suddenly, he really wanted to know all about Li Xiao’s past. When he was happy, when he was disappointed, when he was angry, or any other various moods he’d experienced. However, if Li Xiao didn’t want to say, then he didn’t dare to ask too much, in case he said something that would make the other unhappy.
The two got on the carriage. Out of habit, Li Xiao cradled him in his arms like a pet. Song Song quietly let himself be held until Li Xiao opened his mouth: “You have something to ask?”
“No…”
Li Xiao kissed his cheek briefly and said: “If you want to ask, then ask. Between you and I, there’s nothing we can’t talk about.”
Song Song blinked and said: “Today you pressured the empress hard, was it on purpose?”
“Scared?”
Song Song shook his head. After a while, he nodded also: “I feel like the expression she used to look at me was very strange, almost like… she has a killing intent now.”
Li Xiao soothingly held him tighter and said: “Do you know why the crown prince knows absolutely nothing about what the empress has done?”
“I originally thought the crown prince was the most calculated and manipulative person here, but after interacting with him, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
“Because the empress is afraid to let him know what she’s done. She knows that although father loves me, he also loves the crown prince the same. If the crown prince was dragged into her muddy waters, then he would no longer be loved by father.”
Song Song quickly followed up: “As soon as the crown prince loses the emperor’s love, then he would no longer be the crown prince. If that happens, the emperor would no longer protect the empress if she really did something wrong.”
The reason why Li Xiao pressured the empress hard was to force her to act.
Now that Li Xiao’s power was quietly growing strong enough to be a threat, if the person who poisoned him was really the empress, then at this time, she’d definitely be anxious to death. Under the prerequisite that Li Xiao was completely sane, if everything was exposed, the emperor would immediately and without hesitation abandon the crown prince to support Li Xiao. Then, without the crown prince, this potential future ruler, for protection, the empress would have to pay the price for everything she’s done, bringing down the Qin family with her.
However, if Li Xiao were still suffering his illness, then everything would be different.
Even if she really did terrible things, the emperor would have to turn a blind eye because she was the crown prince’s birth mother. The emperor had to think for the sake of the future ruler’s reputation. Everything she had done would disappear when the crown prince ascended the throne, as if it never happened.
The empress no longer has any way out now. If she let Li Xiao go, then everything she did before might be ruined because of this one slip up. She might even suffer collateral and end up losing everything. She can only kill Li Xiao to prevent the title of crown prince from changing or let Li Xiao become completely useless in emperor Hong Ren’s eyes. Li Xiao was highly skilled in martial arts. Killing him was nearly impossible. If she wanted to scheme, she needed time.
However, as far as the empress was concerned, she no longer had much time. First, the incident at the Tower of Heaven caused Qin Ning to temporarily hand over military power. Then she lost a fortune during the gamble. Now Li Xiao was even bringing up something buried years ago. At the moment, there was a sharp blade hovering over her head, capable of falling any time.
The fastest and easiest method would be to kill Song Song and let Li Xiao continue to suffer madness.
Song Song suddenly had some post fears.
The empress had someone invite him over today, because she really wanted to do it.
Instantly, he rubbed his face against Li Xiao’s chest and said in a stuffy tone: “I don’t want to die.”
“I wouldn’t let you die.”
Song Song felt a little wronged. If Li Xiao wanted to make the empress screw up by using him as bait, even if it would be to their benefit… … He couldn’t avoid feeling upset for a second. The other repeatedly said he wouldn’t let him die, but what if by chance the empress really succeeded?
As if he could see his frustration, Li Xiao squeezed the tip of his nose briefly and said: “Don’t think randomly. I’ve never thought about placing you in the middle of danger.”
“Like I believe that.”
“If you died, then what’s the point of me living?” Li Xiao said: “To kill you is equivalent to killing me. I might as well suicide first to save myself the suffering.”
Because of his words, Song Song felt his heart bubbling in sweetness. However, he continued to ignore Li Xiao, and even said with strength: “Hn!”
Clenching tightly to Li Xiao’s clothes, he secretly smiled. Unavoidably, he thought. If it’s not to force the empress to try to kill himself, then why?
A thought sparked across his mind and Song Song suddenly understood.
Killing himself would only be a temporary measure. It couldn’t completely solve the empress’s issues.
Even though Qin Ning momentarily handed over his military power, the influence of the prime minister in the capital cannot be overlooked. If he were the empress, then before everything becomes completely revealed and before all of the prime minister’s influence weakens, it’d be better to… seize the throne by force.
Even though the chance of success was extremely low, it was better than waiting for death. The reward was completely worth the risks.
As long as there’s success, then there’s no need to worry about anything else.
This was what Li Xiao really wanted to see happening.
Song Song suddenly held his breath, feeling bewildered and uncertain.
The horse carriage drove them back to the estate. Song Song was carried off by Li Xiao. After landing on the ground, he secretly peeked at the other. Li Xiao raised an eyebrow. Song Song hastily withdrew his line of sight.
He marched steps towards the main house, quietly trying to increase the distance between them. However, Li Xiao reached out a hand and yanked him back over, conveniently swung an arm over his shoulder. Turning his head, he asked: “What is it?”
“…. nothing.”
Li Xiao narrowed his eyes: “Are you afraid of me?”
“En.” Song Song said in a small voice: “I feel like I should be a little afraid.”
The writer has something to say:
Song Song: A little afraid out of courtesy.
Thank You for the chapter (ʃƪ ˘ ³˘)❤
Hahaha is it disrespectful not to be a little afraid?
Ah, and the image of Li Xiao completely engrossed in the pastry Song Song gave him as a distraction is freaking hilarious 😂
Suddenly i feel sad abt the crown prince. Did he really innocent in this or he has two face? I have trust issue with “good nature” character🥲 but i hope he’s on li xiao sides