Yan Maoqing felt a chill run down his spine. He looked at the Prince of Jing's strange eyes, and his legs went weak, unable to take a single step forward.
At this moment,
The Prince of Jing let out a strange cackle, a drop of blood still on his lips. With his disheveled hair and unkempt appearance, he was even more bizarre. Yan Maoqing, who had just begun to step forward, found himself retreating. He cursed inwardly a hundred times. Ever since he was tricked by Zhu Mo, his luck had been terrible. It had been almost two years, and the court had not granted him an official post. He had lost his position as the Supervisor of Salt Affairs, though his rank remained, leaving him idle for two years! Now, he was here to do this ridiculous job, dealing with a madman?
Hoo~
He took a long breath, calmed his nerves, and summoned his courage to stride forward, feigning composure.
"Zhu Xi! Stop pretending!"
As he spoke, he watched the Prince of Jing intently. He saw that the madman's expression was natural, as if he hadn't understood, or perhaps he was truly foolish?
He asked again, saying:
"Zhu Xi, the Junior Grand Secretary sent me. Your hard days are over... Stop pretending..."
As he spoke, his heart was still pounding.
The Prince of Jing wiped the blood from his lips, licked it, and giggled again, speaking in a strange voice:
"Mortal Yama, you are the Mortal Yama, hihaha..."
Yan Maoqing sighed, thinking he would ask one last time. If he didn't agree, he could report back to "Ghost's Bane." Impatiently, he said again:
"Zhu Xi! Stop playing coy with me! The Junior Grand Secretary said he would keep his promises to you! If you understand, speak. If not, I'm leaving! I'm busy and don't have time to deal with your feigned madness!"
He was truly contemplating leaving now and urged again:
"Zhu Xi, this is the last time I'm asking you!"
At this moment,
The Prince of Jing slyly glanced around and then stared out the door. Liao Bin was also in the distance. He snorted, and his expression suddenly changed. His eyes suddenly shone like stars, and he said coldly:
"Yan Shifan still remembers this... Humph, I thought that fellow Yan had gotten promoted and rich and had forgotten about me long ago..."
Yan Maoqing was astonished. He moved two steps closer and examined him carefully. He felt that although many years had passed, the man's appearance was largely the same. His physique and voice, however, had matured considerably.
He couldn't help but ask:
"You, are you really Zhu Xi?"
Hmph!
The Prince of Jing walked into the hall with his hands behind his back. He kicked aside some of the crooked, dusty furniture and found a Grand Tutor chair to sit down, saying leisurely:
"Lord Yan, please sit."
Yan Maoqing gasped. He looked around the hall again; it was in a mess, covered in dust and cobwebs, as if it hadn't been maintained for years.
He sighed:
"Zhu Xi, you truly have some skills. You've been here for seven or eight years, haven't you? Why haven't the servants managed this place? It's become a haunted house..."
As he spoke,
He suddenly recalled the bizarre scene from earlier and couldn't help but stare at the Prince of Jing for a while longer. Seeing his steady gaze and natural expression, he said again:
"I won't sit. It's so messy, how can anyone sit? I'm here to deliver a message for you. Listen carefully—"
He stared intently at the Prince of Jing. When the Prince of Jing nodded, he said in a deep voice:
"The Junior Grand Secretary said he hasn't forgotten his promise to you. Now that Prince Yu is acting as regent and going against righteousness, stirring up public resentment, the position of Crown Prince is likely unstable! As for you, you were always obedient to the Junior Grand Secretary in the past. The real Prince of Jing was unappreciative. It's a good thing you replaced him! You've suffered in Anlu all these years, so the Junior Grand Secretary explicitly said he can support your enthronement!"
Hiss!
Hiss!
The Prince of Jing's heart, like an abyss, seemed to be swept by a cold wind—
The person who looked so much like him back then, who suddenly appeared at the imperial residence and tried to strangle him, was indeed the third son of the Prince of Ning!
And,
He was indeed sent by Yan Shifan to replace him!
Back then,
He had gathered three or five civil and military officials, not to seize the throne, but because he saw that the Great Ming Dynasty had been controlled by the Yan family. He wanted to secretly find evidence and report it to his father the Emperor, to eradicate them all in one fell swoop.
Yes, he truly looked down on his third brother, Prince Yu. That person was too effeminate, too pedantic, too cowardly. He would surely not be a match for the Yan father and son... But he truly had no intention of seizing the throne. That was a complete frame-up!
Once upon a time, he, Zhu Zaizhen, was intelligent and studious, had studied under many famous teachers, and had learned martial arts and military strategy from many renowned generals, all for the sake of governing the country and bringing peace. At most, he would assist his brothers like the Prince of Yan. But he never thought of seizing the throne from his third brother... The most he shouldn't have done was to get to know the daughter of a convicted official found by Yan Shifan! He only found out later that she was from the Jiaofang Division, which was taboo. Furthermore, Yan Shifan bribed a guard officer in the residence, who fabricated testimony, saying he was trying to seize the throne? And that damned Taoist priest father actually believed it?!
After being confined, that damned Taoist priest father did not intervene, and the guards and servants were replaced many times! Many pairs of eyes watched him. He had to be careful even when eating and drinking, and he always carried silver needles on him... For those two years, he saw no one all day, living in constant fear. He always thought it was over, but he never expected that one day, somehow, a young man would suddenly appear again...
That person really looked like him, too much like him.
That night,
He woke up from a nightmare, and that person was standing by his bed!
"Return my country..."
"Return my country..."
The man's sinister smile had been a nightmare for many years!
Then, the man came to strangle him. He thought it was a ghost, until he was almost suffocated, when he remembered the silver needle under his pillow... He poked the man's eye with it. The screams were horrifying! But strangely, despite such loud screams, none of the guards came!
Fortunately, heaven had eyes. He had learned martial arts. After subduing the man in three moves, he tortured him with cruel methods. He poked silver needles through the man's fingernails and toenails. Only then did the man reveal the truth.
But what the man said was too incredible, how could anyone believe it? Under the bleak and eerie moonlight that night, he felt he was dreaming for a long time...
But no matter what, that person could not live!
He had an intuition that only one of them could survive between him and this person! So, he hardened his heart and used his long sword to hack the man into pieces. Then, early the next morning, he smeared black blood on his face and called the guard Tian Bin, imitating the man's voice, to reply to Yan Shifan—
"The Prince of Jing is dead. You cannot go back on your word..."
Immediately after,
He feigned madness.
Because a madman was the safest; moreover, after that night, he had truly gone mad, if the definition of madness was complete nothingness...
At this moment,
His thoughts raced like lightning. The Prince of Jing looked at Yan Maoqing's inexplicably arrogant expression and suddenly smiled, saying calmly:
"The throne, it's not so easy to inherit... Lord Yan, I am a madman now... how can I suddenly be cured?"
Ah?
Yan Maoqing was suddenly startled. The person in front of him was disheveled, yet he uttered such profound words. This was even more terrifying than when he was mad...
"Uh, I'm here mainly to convey this message to you. You should first wait with peace of mind and don't show any abnormality... You should also know that the Emperor will also send people to see you... Although Chengtian Prefecture and Zhongxiang County are fine, who can stop the people from the palace? In short, you must be extra careful starting today..."
He then thought that this madman in front of him was truly their savior... Prince Yu was clearly finished. Even if he wasn't, old Yan Song would definitely make sure he was finished...
As for the Emperor, besides this madman, he had no other living sons. When the time came, if the Emperor heard that this madman had suddenly recovered, he would likely consider passing the throne to him. As long as the father and son carefully planned, they had a good chance of success. When this madman ascended the throne, everything would be secure!
No matter how powerful the Emperor was, he would never have imagined that this madman was no longer the Prince of Jing, but Zhu Xi, the third son of the Prince of Ning! And Zhu Xi's identity was originally a capital offense. Wouldn't he be completely controlled by the father and son then? They would never be able to escape their grasp...
Yan Maoqing thought of this and suddenly felt that the hideous, mad man in front of him had become lovable. He patted him on the shoulder and said gently:
"Zhu Xi, be patient. Endure a little longer, and after this hurdle, your suffering will turn into joy... Alas, your late father, the Prince of Ning, was also a hero. When you become Emperor, all your losses will be repaid... I must report back now. Do you have anything else to say?"