CH 38

Zongzheng Temple had always been in charge of the Imperial family’s affairs, and if Emperor Jinghe suspected that Ye Zi was involved in this matter, the Prince Rui manor wouldn’t dare to have any objections when he was sent to Zongzheng Temple for trial. But Ye Zi didn’t expect that the man was so afraid of Gu Yan that he actually tricked him into this place under the pretext of calling him into the palace.

Ye Zi was helpless as he obediently followed the temple minister, who came out to get him, into Zongzheng Temple.

Ye Zi was taken to prison and temporarily detained.

The cell was complete with tables and chairs and a small couch, which was quite comfortable. The door of the prison was chained and the distance between the bars was neither wide nor narrow. Ye Zi checked visually, if it was half an inch wider, he would be able to pass through without returning to his original form.

Not to mention the few guards and guards outside, none of whom could fight.

Ye Zi sighed at the fact that this dynasty’s prisons were useless. He sat down at the table and yelled at the jailer outside to pour him a glass of water without a care.

According to the current situation, he probably won’t be able to see Emperor Jinghe for the time being. Now that he had entered Zongzheng Temple, the burden of interrogating him would definitely fall on the Zongzheng Secretary.

Ye Zi took a sip of water, tilted his head, and thought for a while.

The current secretary of Zongzheng Temple should be the Third Imperial Prince, Gu Xuan.

After waiting for less than an hour, someone came to summon him. Ye Zi followed the person out of the prison door and came to the main hall where suspects would be interrogated. When he looked up, he saw Gu Xuan sitting on a high seat.

Ye Zi was about to salute when Gu Xuan took the lead, “Princess Consort Rui, no need to salute.”

Ye Zi took up his offer and stood quietly in place, waiting for the other party to speak.

Gu Xuan tilted his head and instructed the minister beside him, who answered and held up some letters and came to Ye Zi: “Please read them, Princess Consort Rui.”

Ye Zi didn’t take them or turn them over, but casually scanned them and asked: “What is this?”

“Last night, there were some letters recovered from the posthouse of Honglu Temple. Some of them are still with my father.” Gu Xuan explained, “These are all letters colluding with the Northern Barbarians, which involve a lot of military secrets. Has Princess Consort Rui Ever seen these things?”

Ye Zi truthfully responded: “No.”

Gu Xuan gestured to the minister to collect the letters and then said: “I heard that yesterday you went to a theater with Prince of Jia Xiedan to see a play. What else did you do?”

Ye Zi thought about it and said what he had done yesterday without missing any detail: “……After we watched the play, Prince Jia Xiedan said he wasn’t feeling well and wanted to go back to the posthouse to rest. We didn’t have our evening meal together and after I sent him back to the posthouse, I headed back to the manor. If you don’t believe me, you can go ask Prince Rui.”

Gu Xuan paused: “Speaking of Prince Rui, I heard that you were seen coming out of Smoky Cloud Pavilion earlier and Prince Jia Xiedan was also present, is this true?”

Ye Zi was stunned for a moment and immediately figured out why he had been brought here.

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Emperor Jinghe didn’t suspect that he had any collusion with the Northern Barbarians, the person he suspected was Gu Yan. Now it seemed that every move they made was under Emperor Jinghe’s surveillance.

Ye Zi closed his eyes and said in a low voice: “Yes.”

Gu Xuan’s eyes moved slightly: “What were you doing there?”

Ye Zi snorted and raised his eyes: “To catch adultery.”

Gu Xuan’s face changed and Ye Zi explained: “There is a young man in Smoky Cloud Pavilion who doesn’t know his place and is constantly seducing His Majesty. I asked Prince Jia Xiedan to help me teach that adulterous couple a lesson, that’s all.”

“……Third Imperial Majesty, if you don’t believe me, you can go to the Smoky Cloud Pavilion to ask around. That night, I was afraid of losing His Majesty’s face so I didn’t make a big deal out of it. But the workers and boss all know a little about it.” 

When he said this, he made a heartbroken expression, and chided earnestly: “Please don’t think that I am cruel, this kind of thing is the same for men and women. There are always some people who like to eat from the bowl whilst they look at the pot[1] and always want to try something new. He must be taught a lesson. Third Imperial Majesty, you might not understand these things now, but when you get married in the future, you will naturally understand.”

“……To live together, dignity still has to be established. Otherwise, when the other party climbs over your head, it will be too late.”

Gu Xuan: “……”

No one expected that such private matters about Prince Rui would be heard in the trial regarding betrayal and collusion. The chancellors and ministers of Zongzheng Temple, who were present, all looked at each other in blank dismay. Each of them had their heads down, wishing they hadn’t heard this passage today.

Gu Xuan wasn’t faring too well as he clenched his right fist against his lips and coughed softly: “Take Princess Consort Rui down first.”

The people were eager to do so and they invited Ye Zi back to the prison.

Ye Zi lay on the small couch as his thoughts flew around.

Since Gu Yan dared to meet with Jia Xiedan at Smoky Cloud Pavilion, naturally he was well prepared. This reason was discussed by them earlier in the morning. Although it wasn’t very pleasant to spread, it was guaranteed to be foolproof. But just this alone still wasn’t enough to clear Gu Yan of his suspicion.

According to their original plan, after Jia Xiedan found conclusive evidence, he would find a good opportunity to bring this matter to Emperor Jinghe, allowing him to effectively cut off the connection between the Northern Barbarians and the Central Plains.

So when he heard that Emperor Jinghe had searched the Honglu Temple posthouse overnight and put Jia Xiedan under house arrest, Ye Zi originally thought that Jia Xiedan had gotten the evidence.

But now it seemed that the man clearly wasn’t able to find anything.

So how exactly was he discovered by Emperor Jinghe?

Without the most important evidence at hand, even if Emperor Jinghe knew that someone was colluding behind his back, he didn’t know who it was, causing his health to deteriorate even more. The last straw that caused him to be sent to the doctors was that Gu Yan had met with Jia Xiedan in private as he quickly imprisoned Ye Zi in Zongzheng Temple.

Ye Zi was totally an outsider in this matter. Emperor Jinghe found out that the collusion had lasted for several years, but at that time Ye Zi had never entered the palace, let alone learned any military secrets.

However, Gu Yan wasn’t so clean.

Although he didn’t do anything to warrant treason, he and Jia Xiedan had colluded with each other. He even intervened in the garrison stationed at the northern borders.

If someone found out, he wouldn’t be able to defend himself.

The more Ye Zi thought about it, the more irritable he became. He even wished he could go to the Honglu Temple posthouse right now and take apart that Northern Barbarian’s head to see how much water was inside. 

To think he still wanted to be the Northern Barbarian King when he couldn’t even do such a simple task? 

Ye Zi was thinking wildly when the prison door was reopened and Gu Xuan stepped in.

Ye Zi didn’t even have to get up. He leaned on the small couch and nodded toward him.

Gu Xuan said in a warm voice: “Cousin doesn’t know about this at the moment, but I don’t think we can hide it from him for long. But before the matter is cleared up, I’m afraid Cousin-in-law will have to stay here.”

This wasn’t what Ye Zi expected but he didn’t take it personally: “No worries.”

Ye Zi paused and asked: “How is the little sparrow’s injury?”

When he mentioned the little gray sparrow, Gu Xuan’s expression softened: “It’s already healed. That little bird is very spiritual. It was as if it knew that you were locked up here and insisted on following me here. I had no choice but to lock it up in the palace for the time being.”

“That silly bird……” Ye Zi smiled and added, “Please tell it that I’m fine and will be out soon, and tell it not to wander around.”

A trace of doubt flashed in Gu Xuan’s eyes, but he still nodded: “Okay.”

After dealing with the trial case, Gu Xuan returned to his bedroom. As soon as he entered the room, he heard the chirps of a bird.

A light gray thing flew towards him, Gu Xuan reached out and grabbed the small gray bird that was ready to escape from the bedchamber into his hand.

The little eunuch hurried out from the bedchamber with the golden bird cage: “Your Majesty, you are back. This little bird insists on going out and this servant wasn’t able to stop it at all. Look, the door of the bird cage is all battered up like this.”

There was a small gap in the door of the golden bird cage and a lot of light gray feathers fell to the bottom of the cage. Gu Xuan’s eyes darkened and he ordered: “You may leave.”

“Yes.”

The little eunuch went out of the bedchamber and Gu Xuan opened his palm. Once the little gray sparrow regained its freedom, it immediately pecked Gu Xuan’s hand with its beak.

Gu Xuan let out a hiss and a small red mark immediately appeared on his index finger. 

Gu Xuan said helplessly: “I wasn’t the one who ordered others to lock up Princess Consort Rui, what are you taking it out on me for?”

The little gray sparrow glared at him and turned its back on him. Its feathers twitched gently, as if it was furious.

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Gu Xuan sighed and reached out to touch its head: “You sure made a dent, does it hurt?” 

Just as he touched the little gray sparrow’s head, the little gray sparrow flinched and gasped in pain. Gu Xuan’s expression changed as he clamped the little gray sparrow’s body. After a serious examination, he found a small bulge on the back of the little bird’s head.

Gu Xun’s expression turned cold: “Do you want to die?”

“I don’t need you to care, you bad guy!” The little gray sparrow waved its wings and slapped Gu Xuan’s hand away. It flew to the beam and squatted with its back to Gu Xuan.

Gu Xuan stood where he was, but was stunned. After a long time, Gu Xuan muttered softly: “What did you just……say?”

What the little gray sparrow uttered just now was not the usual bird chirp, but a crisp, clear, and clean voice of a teenager.

Ye Zi was left at Zongzheng Temple.

There were no windows in the prison so Ye Zi couldn’t tell if it was day or night and he didn’t know how long he had actually been there.

The prisoners guarded by Zongzheng Temple were all Imperial family members and their treatment was a thousand times better than that of the Ministry of Justice’s prison. In addition, the Zongzheng Secretary had personally reminded them to treat him well, so Ye Zi had no worries about food and drink inside.

But the longer the time passed, the more uneasy he was in his heart.

A few hours would be enough for Gu Yan to know that he had been locked up here.

How would that person respond?

Did he come and try to rescue him or did he realize that Emperor Jinghe came after himself, and he was trying to get rid of the suspicion?

Ye Zi couldn’t stop thinking wildly in his mind; he would analyze the situation for a while and then think about how to deal with it for another. He even thought about how he would take the blame for Gu Yan if his collusion with Jia Xiedan was found out.

Anyway, he was a plant. Even if he were to face the worst result, there was still a way for him to get out.

As Ye Zi thought about it, he leaned against the wall and fell asleep. After sleeping for an unknown amount of time, the prison door lock jingled softly and the jailer outside the door called out to him: “Princess Consort Rui, you can go out now.”

Ye Zi’s consciousness wasn’t fully awake yet as he followed the jailer out of the cell in a daze. The sky outside had completely darkened, there were no stars and no moon, and dark clouds were overwhelming the city.

Gu Yan stood in the courtyard. The lights in the courtyard were dimmed, making his face even more gloomy. A young minister of Zongzheng Temple waited by his side tremblingly, not daring to even breathe.

Ye Zi walked towards him. Just as he was about to say something, he was pulled by Gu Yan.

The hand that touched Ye Zi was terribly cold. Ye Zi froze for a moment and then immediately came to his senses. He looked up towards Gu Yan, but the latter had already turned his head and dragged him out involuntarily.

The Prince Rui carriage was parked outside Zongzheng Temple.

Ye Zi followed Gu Yan into the carriage and the latter never let go of his hand. He clenched it tightly, as if trying to restrain himself.

Ye Zi was a little afraid of his appearance so he carefully pulled his sleeve and said in a soft voice: “Your Majesty, you’re hurting me.”

Gu Yan’s hand gently trembled.

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[1] Idiom: not content with what one already has; describing the insatiable desire of a person.