Masquerade in Bridal Attire and Marry the Prince

218. An Advance Masquerading as Retreat

Translator: Bryan

Du Chuxuan had been in a coma for three full days when he came around. The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Dongxiang looking as if his father had died. Du Chuxuan nearly fainted again. “Why are you having that sad look on your face? Go and get me some water.”

Dongxiang reacted very quickly and brought Du Chuxuan a cup of water almost immediately. The cup was made of top-notch jade, and Du Chuxuan could tell at a glance that it had been well preserved. While drinking, Du Chuxuan glanced around appraisingly. The room struck him as satisfactory. “This place is pretty nice. Make me some tea. This water is too bland.”

“Your Highness, this is a message from the borders. As you expected, the emperor still hasn’t given the order for provisions and supplies to be delivered to the crown prince,” Luo Yi said, walking to the bedside soundlessly and putting a secret letter down on the bed beside in Du Chuxuan’s hand. Nobody knew when Luo Yi had entered the room. He also considerately opened the envelope for Du Chuxuan.

Du Chuxuan was still in misery, and he couldn’t be bothered to pick up the letter, so he just ran an eye over it as Luo Yi held it for him. “It seems I overestimated him. Now he can’t even be bothered to go through the motions.”

Du Chuxuan had been unconscious for three days, but it did not mean that the emperor had also been comatose for three days. During the past three days, the emperor had actually talked with all the courtiers who used to support Yuxing Tianrui. Of course, those that the emperor had talked with were all lowly officials. Even if the emperor transferred them all, it wouldn’t attract many people’s attention.

On the letter Luo Yi showed Du Chuxuan were names of the officials who had been swayed. It was not that they were double-dealers. Apart from anything else, in their eyes, the political situation in the court had always been stable, and Yuxing Tianrui was the only one that the emperor would abdicated in favor of.

Even the smartest one of the officials couldn’t have perceived that the emperor had never truly regarded Yuxing Tianrui as the heir to the throne. Du Chuxuan was uninterested in how the emperor had convinced those people, but since the emperor had made his move, Du Chuxuan no longer had any misgivings.

“How is the Du family now?” Du Chuxuan asked the question he wanted to ask the most, feeling a lot better after drinking some water. Luo Yi knew that Du Chuxuan was worried about the Du family, so Luo Yi gave Du Chuxuan a blow-by-blow account of what had happened to the Du family. “Master Du only donated the family funds.

“In the past few years, your uncles have naturally accumulated some private assets. Now that Master Du has an official position as a shield, the Du family is safe in the capital city. Members of Sect Luo have been secretly staking out those important places. If any of those people makes their move, Sect Luo will take action immediately.”

Du Chuxuan breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Luo Yi’s words. Having the Du family donate all money to the court had been part of Du Chuxuan’s plan, and he had done that to help the Du family make an advance masquerading as retreat. As long as their eventual victory in this round was certain, the process would be insignificant.

“Let’s arrange for the Du family to leave the city. It’s no longer safe for them to stay here,” Du Chuxuan said, shaking his head resignedly. “Everything else in the Du family should remain the same lest anybody get suspicious.”

Luo Yi, naturally, understood the importance of this issue. The Du family was what concerned Du Chuxuan the most. For that reason alone, they must keep the Du family safe.

All necessary arrangements made, Luo Yi backed out of the room. Lying in bed and gazing at the hangings, Du Chuxuan emptied his mind so that he wouldn’t feel the searing pain in his back.

“Your optimism is quite impressive. You’re not even a royal member now, but it doesn’t seem to bother you at all.” Jiu Dengdan walked inside and, at the sight of Du Chuxuan’s facial expression, couldn’t help but ridicule him.

“It’s just a fancy title. When did you ever care about that kind of stuff?”

“There are numerous versions of rumors circulating in this city. I’m afraid soon the emperor will also come to realize someone’s been secretly helping Yuxing Tianrui, and when he does, those people of Sect Luo will have trouble stay hidden,” Jiu Dengdan said, sitting down at the table casually. “Apart from anything else, the emperor is the one calling the shots in this city. You’ll never be rid of danger if you stay here.”

Du Chuxuan chuckled disdainfully, “Even if he’s as powerful as a god, what else could he possibly do? I grew up in this city as well.

“I might even be more familiar with this city than he is. What’s meant to happen will happen. There’s no escaping it,” Du Chuxuan said, clearly not inclined to talk about that topic anymore.

“When this is over, I’ll have to go to his encampment as quick as I can. Anything can happen on the battlefield. I need to be with him.”

Jiu Dengdan made no response. As the tension in the capital city built up, he felt that the karmic misfortune destined to befall Du Chuxuan was nearing. However, as it approached, it became increasingly difficult for Jiu Dengdan to divine anything about it. Was it really unavoidable? Was there really nothing he could do about it?

“What you have is just fond hope. Once the emperor finds out about the existence of Sect Luo, he’ll very likely resort to every means possible to destroy it, and when he does, Manlou and all the threats from neighboring countries will have nothing to do with him,” Jiu Dengdan said, his face etched with sarcasm, feeling that the emperor was downright ridiculous, that all the knowledge the emperor had learned was for nothing.

“When that day comes, he’ll have all his subjects know that Yuxing Tianrui is not the hero they think he is, and if that does happen, I’ll take you out of this city, no matter whether you want to leave or not.”

Du Chuxuan looked at the patterns on the hangings, his eyes a little sore. “Actually, I kind of look forward to seeing that happen. If it weren’t for the fact that I can’t afford to blow my cover, I would have told the emperor who I truly am. I’m really curious about how he’ll react when told that the leader of Sect Luo has been in his palace all along. Ha ha… That must be really interesting.”

“You…” Jiu Dengdan sighed with a shake of his head and said no more. “Just nurse yourself back to health. I’m afraid you won’t be able to lie in bed for long.”

After Jiu Dengdan left, Du Chuxuan lay quietly in bed until nightfall, his mind at ease, listening to the chirping of the birds outside, enjoying the tranquility of the palace.

“Your Highness, there’s a message from Luo Yi saying that Cheng Xuan’s article has been delivered to the chief examiner without trouble. The examiner thinks highly of it. I think he’ll have no problem passing the test,” Dong Xiang said, putting the dinner on the small table in front of Du Chuxuan. Dong Xiang was so considerate that Du Chuxuan didn’t even have to move an inch.

“You guys are being so nice to me. At this rate, I’m afraid I’ll be as fat as a pig by the time Yuxing Tianrui gets back,” Du Chuxuan said impatiently, having noticed that the dinner was pretty titillating. “Who cooked the pork braised in brown sauce? It looks exquisite.”

“Luo Yi heard you like pork braised in brown sauce so he specifically transferred a good cook from Sect Luo to this city. He cooked this dish.”