Chapter 28: A Widower’s Illusion?
Gao An looked at the handwriting on the scrap of paper.
It was just a few fragmented words expressing grief, and even the object of the eulogy could not be discerned.
But Yan Bei, who always had a clear mind, claimed based on these few words that A Li’s mother, who had never been mentioned before, had appeared!
Gao An had never seen A Li’s mother.
Not only had he never seen her, he had hardly ever even heard Yan Bei mention her.
As a eunuch in Prince Jingyang’s Mansion who had been following him since Yan Bei was still babbling as a baby, Gao An often even doubted whether such a person existed at all.
After the old Prince passed away, Yan Bei, as the heir to Prince Jingyang’s Mansion, naturally ascended the throne.
On the first night after ascending the throne, he killed his teacher who taught him poetry and books.
Soon after, the Former Emperor issued an imperial decree, summoning them back to the Capital City to serve as regent.
At that time, they all thought that Yan Bei’s act of killing his teacher was truly shocking, and the Former Emperor was probably punishing him for it, but Yan Bei did not think so.
At that time, the Crown Prince had not yet been decided, and it was unreasonable to first appoint a regent minister, not to mention that the imperial edict also contained the Former Emperor’s promise to appoint him as Minister of the Bureau of Military Affairs.
If it was to blame him, there was no way the Former Emperor would let Yan Bei return to take such an important position.
But if it was truly to make heavy use of him, why break precedent and let Prince Jingyang’s Mansion, which already controlled troops, also hold the authority to deploy troops?
With both military power and authority to deploy troops in one body, Prince Jingyang’s Mansion’s power would be unmatched.
As the Emperor, was he not afraid that Yan Bei, who was assisting the young master, would rebel?
Thus, Yan Bei quietly sneaked into the Capital City.
Three months later, he returned to the mansion. There was nothing shocking about the news from the Capital City, but his behavior began to become strange. He would often lose focus while looking at documents, either gnashing his teeth in resentment or caressing flowers and plants with a sorrowful expression.
The Imperial Concubine Dowager had originally arranged a marriage for him, but he ruthlessly rejected it.
Unknowingly, the time to obey the decree and enter the Capital City had arrived.
He, who had previously racked his brains to delay returning to the Capital City, now became impatient.
There was still almost a month before the scheduled departure date, but he took a group of people and left early.
The first time he saw Yan Bei in the Capital City, he was clumsily feeding milk cakes to skinny A Li, who was still injured and wrapped in swaddling clothes.
Where did the child come from?
Where did his mother go?
From what place?
Yan Bei said nothing about any of it.
In the second month after settling down, he petitioned the palace to confer A Li as heir apparent.
Although Prince Jingyang’s Mansion was the force left by the Former Emperor to the Emperor, the Shen Family obviously would not be so foolish as to offend them. The process of requesting to confer the heir apparent went very smoothly.
Upon hearing the news, the Imperial Concubine Dowager and the three County Princesses rushed overnight from the Northern Lands to the Capital City, and saw this little grandson who had fallen from the sky with both shock and fear, but none of them could get any words out of Yan Bei’s mouth.
In the three years since then, he had not let slip a single word.
If not for the fact that there had been no unjust, false, or wrongful cases in the court in recent years, Gao An would definitely have guessed that it was the orphan of some wronged loyal minister.
He never expected that just after he had given up the idea of investigating, Yan Bei would suddenly mention A Li’s mother personally at this juncture!
“Could it be a mistake?”
Having lived for more than forty years, Gao An’s mind could not turn around immediately. “This is a trap set by the Du Family to kill Zhang Shaode and He Hui. How could there possibly be any trace of the Madam in such a place?”
A Li’s mother had never been conferred as Princess Consort, so she could at most be called Madam.
Of course, that was not important.
What was important was that this person, who was the least likely to be mentioned by Yan Bei, had actually appeared in this trap set by the Du Family, where there was the least possibility of any connection!
The matter was too bizarre, and he almost looked at his master before him with suspicious eyes.
Yesterday, Cui Xun said that he had stared at the waist of a passing woman on the main road.
Today, he said he had found a eulogy written in his ex-wife’s own hand in the trap set by the Du Family—
Could it be that because he had been in widowerhood for too long, he was having hallucinations?
“The marriage certificate she gave me, and the divorce letter she gave me, have handwriting exactly like this!” Yan Bei turned around, the waves rising in his eyes as vast as the night sky. “Even if I couldn’t recognize my own handwriting, I would never fail to recognize hers!”
Gao An was speechless again.
Divorce… letter?
Compared to the terrifyingly powerful Prince Jingyang, what a fresh term this was!
So, their Prince had never mentioned A Li’s mother all these years because he had been abandoned by his wife?
“Prince, dare I ask what exactly is going on?”
He could not help but step forward two steps.
As the chief eunuch of the mansion, it was also very necessary for him to understand the background of the young master’s birth mother!
“What’s going on?” Yan Bei snorted coldly. “I also want to know what’s going on! If I see her again, I will definitely hang her up and demand back the humiliation of being divorced!”
Gao An hesitated, then gathered his courage to ask: “Then why didn’t the Prince go find the Madam later and ask for clarification?”
“I can’t ask anymore.”
“Why?”
“She died when she left me!”
“…”
Gao An did not know what to say.
Before he could figure out how to ask further, Yan Bei had already walked past him, past the horse carriage, and into the night curtain on his own.
…
Wei Zhang had returned once in advance and heard from Lan Qin that Yue Tang and the two of them had gone to Fei Yun Temple to kill Zhang Shaode, so he hurried there without stopping.
After he carried Yue Tang back to the residence, Lan Qin, who had been waiting at the door, almost had her legs give out. Without a word, she had him put the person on the bed. Meanwhile, Hua Lin, who had hurried back right after, was already prepared and took over to check Yue Tang’s pulse.
“Why did she suddenly faint again? It’s been a long time since this happened.”
Lan Qin clasped her hands, staring at Hua Lin’s every move as she asked.
Huo Yun had been holding her breath all the way back, and now she wiped her tears and knelt down: “It’s my fault. I deserve to die!”
Lan Qin sighed and pulled him up.
But Wei Zhang said: “Let him kneel! Until the person wakes up, he shouldn’t get up!”
Lan Qin complained: “At least ask for the full story before punishing. It’s not necessarily his fault.”
Wei Zhang only had a gloomy face, watching Hua Lin take the pulse and insert needles.
When Yue Tang woke up, the sky was already bright.
Xiao Huo was practicing horse stance alone in the courtyard, and from the side room on the other side came the voices of Lan Qin and the others.
Yue Tang walked over: “Has your master returned?”
Huo Yun nodded in surprise and called her once more.
Yue Tang took out a silk handkerchief to wipe his sweat: “What kung fu are you practicing in broad daylight?”
“This subordinate failed to protect the Princess well, so Master punished me to practice here for an hour early and late starting today.”
Yue Tang paused for a moment and sighed: “An hour early and late—your legs will be ruined.”
The few people inside were startled and came running out one after another.
Wei Zhang stood three steps away, his face ashen as he looked at Huo Yun: “He failed to serve his master well, so why does the master indulge him so much?”
“Indulge?” Yue Tang smiled. “I only know that if his mother were still alive, she would certainly feel sorry for him too.
“Wei Zhang, you know in your heart that my fainting was not his fault, and we did not act recklessly or take risks. Why be so harsh?
“In fact, Xiao Huo did very well. He was personally taught by you, and I think in the future he certainly won’t be inferior to you.”
