Chapter 137: The Wind Has Shifted
The sky darkened unnoticed amid waves of silence.
The palaces outside the window turned into silent giant beasts under the dim twilight.
The cold wind was still blowing, lights had been lit in all four corners of the room, and the hall that had been gloomy all day thus became bright instead, illuminating both their faces very clearly.
Mu Chang stood up, intending to take his leave.
But at this moment the Emperor spoke: “I know Uncle is wholeheartedly devoted to me, but the Imperial City Department matter is not suitable to pursue for now.”
Mu Chang frowned: “Why?”
“Since Father Emperor and Mother Empress treated her like their own back then, I should also protect her equally. How could I instead make her resent me?” The Emperor was very calm. “I know Uncle has grievances against Elder Cousin, but please act calmly, Uncle.”
Mu Chang walked back: “Your Majesty…”
The Emperor also stood up stroking the table. “The Imperial Seal is still in Empress Dowager’s hands, and I myself am constrained everywhere. Striking at Prince Duan’s Mansion at this time wouldn’t that be making trouble for myself?
“Even if Prince Duan’s Mansion isn’t important, and Elder Cousin isn’t important, Prince Jingyang’s Mansion is surely important.
“Unless Uncle has a way to make Empress Dowager hand over the Imperial Seal ahead of time, this matter will be very difficult to accomplish.”
Mu Chang straightened his body, looking in surprise at the youth before him.
His face still held the usual mild expression, and even his voice carried the same hint of entreaty as before.
But the him before his eyes clearly felt very unfamiliar.
Empress Dowager Shen was precisely relying on the Imperial Seal in her hands to stand in opposition to the Emperor.
Not to mention they were surely racking their brains at this moment to delay returning the Imperial Seal, even if they couldn’t manage it, how could they possibly agree to hand it over ahead of time?
If it had to be done this way, wouldn’t that require extreme measures?
So was he hinting for him to go rob the Imperial Seal from the Shen Family?
A trace of annoyance laced his words: “We’ve been secretly contending with the Shen Family for three years, and still haven’t obtained a sufficiently major flaw from them. This matter is absolutely impossible to accomplish.”
“Then let’s not mention the Imperial City Department matter for now.” The Emperor said, “Uncle taught me forbearance before, saying that only when the Imperial Seal returns to my hands can I truly be considered an Emperor.
“And only when I become a true Emperor will I and the Mu Family be safe.
“It should be the same now, shouldn’t it?”
He paused, then continued: “Moreover, Cousin Sister’s death was also caused by Empress Dowager’s relentless pressure.
“Even if you don’t act, the Shen Family has already taken the Mu Family as enemies.
“Aside from the
“Elder Cousin is the only one he helps.
“If we propose to take back the Imperial City Department at this time, it will only provoke a pincer attack from Prince Jingyang and the Empress Dowager.
“No matter how much resentment Uncle has in his heart, with the overall situation at hand, he still has to set aside personal grudges and unite against the outside.”
“Are you right?”
Mu Chang drew in a sharp breath and pressed his lips together.
……
After a scene of utter silence in the hall, the Emperor rose and returned to the inner hall.
The palace maid who had just finished laying out the bed mats came forward to greet them.
“This servant will first go deliver the meal to the Emperor.”
The Emperor said, “No need.”
The palace maid stopped upon hearing this, turned around, and handed the hand warmer to his hand, then silently gazed at him.
“The Emperor has been raised under the Mu Family’s teachings since childhood. Every time the Grand Tutor enters the Palace, the Emperor is like having just fought a major battle. This time must have been extremely taxing as well.”
The youth’s face was gloomy as he leaned against the tea table. He caught a slender hand reaching over and used her fingertip to gently stroke his brow: “You’re right, it’s about going to war. But this is my fate—I can’t escape it or change it. I can only charge forward.”
The palace maid sighed softly.
The Emperor sat down, his whole body nestling into the back of the chair. “He is still formidable. He grasped my weakness tightly. I was just a little bit away from being convinced by him. But I also know that he is almost unable to hold steady anymore.
“I haven’t seen him this panicked in a long time!”
He smiled, like the cold moon in heaven. “His intention to kill Yue Tang was too obvious.
“He feared becoming the next Du Minghuan and Chu Ying.”
“A Yan, can fear drive a person mad?”
The palace maid drew closer and said softly, “Perhaps it is ambition and desire. Wanting too much turns into obsession, and one becomes possessed.”
“You’re right.” The Emperor gripped her hand tightly. “But who doesn’t want power? Power can keep people alive.”
The palace maid stroked his brow with worry and sorrow: “But no matter what, no one can sway the Emperor’s determination.”
The Emperor slightly raised the corners of his lips: “A-Yan is right.”
“Yes,” the palace maid smiled under the lantern, “this servant absolutely will not misjudge.”
The Emperor restrained his smile and helped her tuck back the stray hairs by her ear. “However, ever since Elder Cousin returned, everything has indeed fallen into chaos.
“Everyone has become at a loss.
“Prince Duan’s Mansion is indeed a threat to me.
“Everyone is a threat to me.
“But I still have to wait until the day of my coming-of-age ceremony to get the Imperial Seal.
“A Yan, I’m really getting a bit impatient waiting.
“I’m scared too.”
……
Just as night fell, lanterns were hung under the doors of the houses along the street.
The sedan carried Mu Chang out from the Imperial Palace, and the guards knocked on the horse carriage stopped among a cluster of carriages by the roadside.
Yue Tang and Yan Bei in the carriage compartment both sat up at the same time and lifted the carriage curtain to look toward the sedan opposite.
However, the sedan was covered tightly, and apart from seeing that it was moving quite fast, nothing else could be discerned.
“Follow it!”
Yan Bei instructed the guard driving the carriage, then retracted his body: “It took nearly half a shichen.
“If it was just to complain about the imperial edict that was issued, it wouldn’t take this long. He’s probably whispering in the Emperor’s ear in the palace again.”
Yue Tang sighed faintly: “In the end, that old thief is deeply entangled with the Emperor, and he’s cunning—how could he not see the Emperor’s current intentions?
“Once the Emperor wins me over, it won’t be so easy for him to bring me down. So he will definitely stop it.
“But the Mu Family is so bold, committing violence in the palace—there’s already a rift between the Emperor and the Mu Family.
“What I’m puzzled about is, what reason did Mu Chang use this time to persuade him?”
Yan Bei heard this and looked at the sky outside the window that had already darkened, then turned back and said: “Follow and see.”
Yue Tang had the same intention, so she ordered the coachman at the front to follow.
……
Mu Chang stepped through the mansion gate, and Lu Zhao was already waiting inside the gate.
He accompanied Mu Chang toward the study while asking: “I wonder how the trip to the palace went for the Grand Tutor?”
“Master!”
Before Mu Chang could answer, Madam Mu also hurried out from the inner residence upon hearing the news.
Mu Chang waved his hand at them and proceeded all the way into the study.
Madam Mu, walking at the end, turned back and dismissed all the servants, then closed the room door.
Under the lamplight, Mu Chang’s complexion did not look good.
Madam Mu frowned: “What did you say when you entered the palace? What did the Emperor say? Could it be that he is determined to punish the Mu Family?”
Mu Chang took a breath: “More serious than that.”
“Then speak up!”
Mu Chang was distraught, opened his mouth, but didn’t know where to start.
After a pause, he removed the black gauze hat from his head, exhaled the breath he had taken in heavily, and then said: “He is no longer the Second Prince who blindly followed the Mu Family’s orders.
“Now his wings have hardened, and he will beat around the bush with me.
“Yun’er’s death was probably not accidental. On the contrary, it was very likely something that was bound to happen sooner or later.”
The two in the room were both stunned.
Madam Mu rushed forward first: “What do you mean by that?!”
Mu Chang shook his head and turned to look at Lu Zhao: “Mr. Lu, hurry and send a message to our eyes and ears we originally placed in the palace, tell them to stay put honestly and not act rashly.
“From now on, everyone inside and outside, give them all the orders—no more acting without rules like before.
“The wind has changed direction—everyone should take care of themselves!”
Lu Zhao acknowledged and immediately went out.
At this time, Yue Tang and Yan Bei’s horse carriage had just arrived outside the Grand Tutor’s Mansion.
Lu Zhao came out through the side gate in a horse carriage, and Yue Tang immediately spotted him, instructing Huo Yun to take people and tail him.
“It seems something big has happened. Could it be that Mu Chang’s visit to the palace didn’t go smoothly this time?”
As she spoke, she looked up at the high walls of the Grand Tutor’s Mansion and the lights on the watchtowers on all sides that were bright as day, then took a deep breath and looked at Yan Bei: “I can take you into Prince Duan’s Mansion, but do you have a way in here?”
Yan Bei looked toward the watchtower for a while, then pulled out a set of night clothes from the drawer under the kang table: “I’ll go try.”
“Don’t force it—if you really can’t get in, don’t alert the enemy.”
After saying that, she thought for a moment and added: “Forget it, let’s go together!”
Yan Bei nodded, took another set for her, then quickly put on the clothes, using the shadow of the horse carriage to sneak along the base of the wall.
Yue Tang looked around, also put on the clothes and got out of the carriage.
Inside the study, Madam Mu had already closed the door again and quickly walked up to Mu Chang: “What exactly happened?”
Mu Chang let out a long breath: “I can no longer fathom his thoughts.”
He recounted the entire process of this trip to the Imperial Palace in detail: “I merely made a hypothesis, mentioning that if it were a princess, the Former Emperor might also have Yue Tang marry into the wife’s family, and later he pursued the question.”
Madam Mu’s face stiffened for a good while before she responded: “He just had to pursue that? Could someone have leaked the news to him?”
“Absolutely impossible.” Mu Chang looked at her. “That matter back then, I didn’t even tell you all. After so many years, you only know a few facts, and he was still young at the time, even less likely to know.”
Madam Mu’s expression relaxed a bit.
“What worries me is him.” Mu Chang furrowed his brows. “These past few days, reflecting on these years, he seems to depend on us for everything, asking me about all matters great and small in court politics. No one thinks he is anything but a weak ruler. This Imperial Court is entirely held up by us people.
“And indeed it is so.
“But upon careful thought, has he truly done nothing?
“He who seems to have done nothing has suffered no losses at all.”
Madam Mu’s brows furrowed even tighter: “What do you mean by that?”
Yue Tang sneaked under the eaves and clung to a roof beam.
Mu Chang’s voice came from inside the room:
“He indulges the Mu Family, never discussing rules with us in private, making us wholeheartedly scheme for him.
“In the past, we always thought he was the prey, but in reality, we are his prey.
“We have all been deceived. He knows we want to control the Imperial Court, knows our aims, and is perfectly using our Mu Family as a sharp blade!”
“He has such ability?” Madam Mu was doubtful.
“That’s not important.” Mu Chang shook his head. “What’s important is that now he isn’t even hiding it anymore.”
Yue Tang held her breath and pricked up her ears.
Madam Mu was stunned: “What did he say?”
“Just now, I asked him to withdraw from the Imperial City Department, but he refused, saying unless I first take the Imperial Seal back from the Shen Family.”
Madam Mu snorted: “So he does have ideas now, even able to block us from doing things in return.”
After speaking, she clenched her hands, but her expression was no longer as willful as before.
“He wants the Imperial City Department, but he wants the Imperial Seal even more. Yet now he wants to directly send me against the Shen Family.” Mu Chang’s gaze deepened. “If I agree, then one of the Mu or Shen Families will be harmed. Even if it’s me left, what reason would he have to continue supporting and respecting me as before?”
“He dares?!”
Madam Mu glared angrily.
“What’s there he doesn’t dare?” Mu Chang said. “Before Chu Ying died, the Emperor suddenly asked me in the Imperial Palace about the drowning incident back then. He asked if the First Prince was truly dead?”
Madam Mu paused and asked: “Why did he ask?”
Mu Chang shook his head.
Madam Mu furrowed her brows: “Suddenly concerned about these things—could he really know?”
At this point, she seemed to steel herself: “If he dares to be disloyal to the Mu Family, then I think those matters from back then can be told to him! We should let him know, let him understand clearly that he was able to smoothly ascend to the throne entirely thanks to our Mu Family!”
Mu Chang gave a light sneer: “If told, he would only hate us more. Fear the Mu Family more. He absolutely won’t want there to be anyone in this world who knows those secrets.”
“But the Imperial Seal will sooner or later return to his hands; we can’t keep holding it ourselves! Since he already has second thoughts about the Mu Family, what do we do? Now that Yun’er is gone, the Imperial Court won’t agree to another Miss from the Mu Family entering the palace as empress. We can’t just let things continue like this, can we?”
“Of course not.” Mu Chang gazed at the candlelight, the flickering flame reflected in his eyes. “Since the Mu Family could put him on the throne, it can naturally pull him down from it.
“Why hurry?
“If it really comes to that, I have my moves…”
The voices inside the room faded away, and moments later the lights also went out.
The two opened the door and came out, leaving the courtyard with the maidservant holding a lantern.
Yue Tang gazed silently at the night sky, and only after a long while did she greet Yan Bei on another roof beam, withdrawing along the original path.
