Masquerade in Bridal Attire and Marry the Prince

201. A Conspiracy

Translator: Bryan

Du Chuxuan’s face became grave. “There is sure as hell someone behind this, but you guys don’t have to worry about it. I think it is very likely the mastermind is Manlou.” The intelligence about various Jianghu sects that they had gathered recently suggested that Manlou was the only one capable of obtaining this kind of powder and having it delivered into the imperial court.

Yuxing Tianrui pondered for a while and agreed with Du Chuxuan. “Take this powder back and do some research. Since they dared to use it here, they might use it somewhere else in the future. We need to take some precautions.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Luo Qing said before walking out, leaving Yuxing Tianrui and Du Chuxuan in the room. It was when all the servants were gone that Du Chuxuan slowly said, “I saw Desheng come here to report this morning. Something’s come up?”

It had been after the court meeting that Yuxing Tianrui was called back, but at the entrance of East Palace, Eunuch Desheng had collared him. Seeing as how the eunuch had drawn Yuxing Tianrui to the side, he surely had told Yuxing Tianrui about the emperor’s command. Du Chuxuan had waited until now to ask because there had been too many people present just now.

“He wants me to lead the troops to war,” Yuxing Tianrui sighed. Turk had not yet made any moves, but the longer we delay our departure, the more we would be disadvantaged. Firstly, we would have trouble finding a righteous cause to dispatch troops; secondly, we would be underprepared and the enemy would have a stranglehold on us. A pre-emptive strike was always advisable on the battlefield.

“He wants to seize the initiative, but he refuses to give you a reason to do so!” Du Chuxuan sounded rather disgruntled. All the officials in the court had come to know about the emperor’s misgivings. Also, he had summoned many top-ranking courtiers to the Imperial Study to discuss it before giving the order for Yuxing Wei to look into that matter and decide on it.

However, Yuxing Wei was now bedridden with severe illness. If Yuxing Tianrui claimed that he wanted to avenge the third prince, it would naturally be a good cause. However, they both knew that the attempted assassination of Yuxing Wei was actually his own arrangement, and the emperor had no room in his mind for anything but his own interests, his reputation, and his throne. He didn’t care what might happen to Yuxing Tianrui at all.

The battle would last at least half a year. They had already come to find out the emperor’s hidden agenda, and if Yuxing Tianrui was away from the city for such a long time, many of his resources would definitely be taken away by his rivals covertly. On top of that, if the emperor turned against Yuxing Tianrui after the battle, all the blame would be pinned on Yuxing Tianrui eventually.

Yuxing Tianrui kept silent for a moment and then turned to glance at Du Chuxuan whose eyes were smoldering with anger. A thin smile touched his lips as he said, “Don’t worry.” It was just Turk. Given some time, he was sure to win the battle and return triumphant.

“Don’t worry? You want me not to worry? How can I do that?” Du Chuxuan pulled Yuxing Tianrui into his embrace and stared fixedly at his eyes. “The two of us almost died during the last battle. Who knows what might happen this time? Do you wanna risk life and limb to let that guy get all the credit?”

Yuxing Tianrui opened his mouth. It was a long moment before he managed to make a reply. “I’m afraid I can’t let you go with me this time.”

The entire room fell silent at his words. Du Chuxuan narrowed his eyes, gazing into Yuxing Tianrui’s eyes, trying to divine what he was thinking.

“What nonsense is this? The last time there’s a war, you forced me into going with you against my will, but you don’t want me to go with you this time? Is it because you have some concubines now and I’m no longer that important?”

“What are you talking about!” Yuxing Tianrui was somewhat annoyed to see that Du Chuxuan had no scruples about saying hurtful things when angry, but he was also a little resigned. The emperor did not trust him completely, which was why he wanted Yuxing Tianrui’s womenfolk stay in the city to serve as a deterrent to him.

“Impossible! Listen to me very carefully, Yuxing Tianrui. You’re mine, and nothing can change that. No matter whether you sit on the throne or become a penniless wretch, you’ll still be mine. Don’t you dare leave me behind!”

Du Chuxuan’s eyes reddened with anger. He pushed Yuxing Tianrui away and walked into the inner room. He was experiencing some abrupt mood swings right now and was worried that he might hurt Yuxing Tianrui if he lingered there. But at this moment, his mind was in such a whirl that he didn’t know whether he was angry with Yuxing Tianrui or the emperor who didn’t care about Yuxing Tianrui’s safety.

Or maybe he was angry because Yuxing Tianrui actually wanted to leave him behind and go to the battleground where he could get killed at any moment. Or maybe he was angry about both, and there was no telling which one of them angered him more.

Yuxing Tianrui looked at his empty hands, and for an instant he felt a sense of loss. He slowly sat on the bed. After Desheng told him about it earlier this morning, Yuxing Tianrui had come to know that something like this would happen, but it had never crossed his mind that Du Chuxuan would overract.

According to the emperor, a battle was inevitable. Yuxing Tianrui didn’t know who had incited the emperor to make that decision. In short, the emperor didn’t care whether the culprit was Manlou or Turk. He just wanted to start a war. After thinking about it for a moment, Yuxing Tianrui summoned Ada. “I need you to sort out all the intelligence reports as quick as possible. I want to see it later.”

In the room, Du Chuxuan who had managed to compose himself summoned Luo Yi. “I remember you once told me the emperor’s probably unaware that Yuxing Wei was his son.”

Luo Yi did not expect Du Chuxuan to suddenly bring this up. “Yes. His Highness doesn’t know much about this either. I was worried the knowledge of that matter would panic His Highness, so I didn’t tell His Highness about it.”

Du Chuxuan nodded but did not blame Luo Yi for that. “It must not happen again. You must tell me everything about him, or he wouldn’t even have anybody on his side who can help him make a plan.”

Luo Yi was momentarily surprised, but Du Chuxuan’s words struck him as heart-warming. As a commander, not having told Yuxing Tianrui about such an important matter was severe dereliction of duty. He had not bargained on Du Chuxuan empathizing with him.

“There’s, in addition, another thing. I need a list of names of all the emperor’s heirs. It’d be best if you can provide me information about the capabilities of every one of them,” Du Chuxuan said quickly after taking a deep breath. Previously, he had thought that he had a lot of time and could settle those things slowly, but now it seemed that he had to speed up.

Luo Yi accepted the order and immediately set out to handle it. They had made some preparations a long time ago so they didn’t need much manpower to gather the information.

Looking at the markings on his hands, Du Chuxuan found his thoughts becoming increasingly clearer. He had been ignoring Yuxing Wei’s parentage all this time, and this incident had actually, in a sense, enlightened him.