Chapter 28#
A Stroll: The Little King: “I can’t understand, boohoo…”#
Behind the courtyard gate, Yuan Fang silently pressed himself against the wall, returning his dagger to his boot sheath, and listened intently for sounds outside.
With a firm grip from Youzong, the man’s face twisted in pain, and he released Pei Xiting.
The moment he was free, Pei Xiting staggered to hide behind Youzong, dizzy and muttering, “Your Excellency.”
Youzong kicked the man into the wall. The man clutched his chest, knelt on the ground, and coughed up a mouthful of blood.
“Coming here to cause trouble—you’ve got some nerve,” Youzong said. “Who are you?”
The force of Youzong’s kick went without saying; the man’s organs felt as if they had shifted out of place, and he couldn’t answer.
Pei Xiting looked the man over and said, “I’ve seen this person before—he’s Wang Yelai’s attendant.”
Youzong raised an eyebrow slightly, clearly recalling the incident at Pxia Mountain as well.
“I have no grudge against that Wang guy—haven’t even exchanged two words with him. Last time at Pxia Mountain, he tried to kill me, and now he wants to kidnap me. It’s utterly ridiculous, pushing it too far.” With that, Pei Xiting let go of Youzong’s sleeve, turned around, dashed into the courtyard to grab the broom behind the door, and locked eyes with Yuan Fang, who had been silently eavesdropping.
Under the other’s admiring gaze, Pei Xiting’s eyes instantly reddened. When he stepped back out, he looked thoroughly wronged and furious. “I’ll beat him to a pulp today!”
Youzong had seen this kind of reckless energy in those young nobles before, but he hadn’t expected Pei Xiting to have such a side… No, people are never just one-dimensional.
Youzong reached out and grabbed the majestic broom handle from Pei Xiting. Pei Xiting couldn’t move and turned to look at him, his eyes holding a mix of anger and the daring not to show it. “Your Excellency is stopping me?”
Youzong looked at Pei Xiting, and in his mind’s eye, the small, fierce figure flashed again. He paused for a moment, suppressed the melancholy in his heart, and softened his tone. “No need to go out of your way. I’ll summon Wang Yelai to the Crane Cage Bureau for questioning.”
The Crane Cage Bureau was no ordinary place, and Youzong was no ordinary man. To personally handle this matter was clearly making a mountain out of a molehill. Pei Xiting was taken aback, slightly puzzled. Though his aunt had spoken well of him to the palace matron before Lord You, the man didn’t need to go this far for him.
But since Youzong had said so, he was naturally willing and obediently let go of the broom.
The afternoon sun made people feel languid and soft. The Eastern Palace was utterly quiet, but the Little King was full of energy, pestering Bai Tang to climb the roof and overturn tiles together.
Yu Shaoyun came out from under the eaves and nearly got hit in the head by a wooden ball. He dodged swiftly, then looked up to catch the pair on the roof—one human, one beast—and said, “Three days without a beating, and you’re already tearing up the tiles, aren’t you? You scared my soul out of me—pay up!”
As Yu Shaoyun’s little darling, the Little King naturally held his head high and ignored him. Bai Tang, determined to trample Yu Shaoyun underfoot, returned a haughty glare and sneered, “You slacking off to listen to music at the pleasure houses—His Highness already knows. You’re in for it!”
“If I didn’t have something to report, I’d make sure you knew who’d really be in for it!” Yu Shaoyun looked Bai Tang up and down and said disdainfully, “You savage!”
Bai Tang sneered back, “You fake gentility!”
“I can’t be bothered with you!” Yu Shaoyun scoffed, lifted his head, and strode off.
Bai Tang rolled his eyes at the retreating figure. The Little King patted his calf, as if to say, “Don’t bother with that guy—let me take you to have some fun.”
Bai Tang’s lips twitched upward slightly. He rubbed the little tiger’s back and went back to romping with it.
The Crown Prince held a small brush, carefully tracing the calligraphy on the note that Lu Mang had sent earlier. He remained indifferent to the commotion outside, clearly used to it and unwilling to discipline them.
His Eastern Palace was eerily quiet; the palace servants moved like well-trained puppets, afraid to make the slightest sound. Only those three outside—two of them always talkative, one occasionally rowdy—managed to stir up a shard of liveliness.
Yu Shaoyun walked softly inside, went to the desk, and glanced at the note the Crown Prince was copying. He thought to himself: Is His Highness secretly studying someone else’s painting?
He clicked his tongue inwardly, moved by how diligent His Highness was, and said softly, “Wang Yelai, son of a Criminal Ministry director, sent someone to Lan Yin Street to try to drug and kidnap Secretary Pei. Lord You stopped them, and now Wang Yelai is being ‘invited’ to the Crane Cage Bureau.”
This matter hardly warranted Lord You’s personal intervention, yet he was making a big deal of it—that was somewhat surprising.
“How does my tracing look?” the Crown Prince asked.
Yu Shaoyun looked at the two notes, compared them carefully, and honestly said, “The form seems identical, but the charm is worlds apart.”
The Crown Prince’s expression remained flat. He simply tossed his traced copy into the waste bin. Seeing this, Yu Shaoyun was about to think of a flattering remark to make up for it, but the Crown Prince had already stood up and walked away, so he swallowed his words and followed.
Stepping down the white jade steps, the Crown Prince paused, turned to look at the pomegranate tree, and beckoned.
The Little King, who had been playing hide-and-seek unilaterally with his master, immediately came out from behind the tree, bounded over happily, and puffed out his chest as he followed his master out the door.
Bai Tang didn’t follow; he climbed up a tree, lay down in the shade, and went to sleep.
The road from the Eastern Palace to the Crane Cage Bureau was clear of commoners. The Little King sat brazenly on the left coachman’s seat, occasionally swatting at Yu Shaoyun’s hand as he rubbed his head, letting out discontented grunts.
After playing with the Little King for a while, Yu Shaoyun finally couldn’t help asking, “Your Highness, what are we doing at the Crane Cage Bureau?”
The Crown Prince sat upright in the carriage, a book on the table, and said, “Taking a stroll.”
Hearing this, Yu Shaoyun didn’t overthink it—this road was indeed perfect for a stroll: quiet and wide, and he could also check on official business at the Crane Cage Bureau.
The carriage glided smoothly into Lan Yin Street and stopped outside the bureau’s main gate.
The four crane cage guards on duty bowed, then two stepped forward to stable the horses, two opened the main gate, and closed them again after the Crown Prince entered.
The Crown Prince knew the Crane Cage Bureau well and needed no guide. He walked leisurely toward the front hall, but before he turned the corner, he heard a cool voice from inside: “Bullshit.”
It was Pei Xiting.
The Crown Prince stopped. The Little King took a few steps forward, turned around, and seeing that his master wasn’t moving, he immediately went back and lay down beside his master’s leg, confused.
“This man is clearly your attendant from the day of the Qixia Banquet. When the game tally was taken that day, I saw him right by your side. You say he’s not your man? Fine,” Pei Xiting looked at Wang Yelai, a slight raise in his brow, “But then you’d better quickly explain why you brought an unknown person up the mountain that day.”
Wang Yelai’s fall at Pxia Mountain hadn’t been severe, but his back had gotten several bloody bruises from the stones, now wrapped in medicated cloth—itchy and painful in the stuffy heat. He stood a bit crooked. His heart jumped at the words, but he raised his head as if to show his confidence, and angrily said, “Why should I explain anything?”
Wang Yelai glared at Pei Xiting and said rudely, “Saying this man knows me is just your one-sided story. I could just as easily say you’re deliberately framing me, picking a fight with me!”
“Who said it was one-sided?” Pei Xiting turned to Youzong on the dais and cupped his hands. “Your Excellency, my elder brother saw this man that day too.”
Wang Yelai said, “Pei Jintang is your second brother—he’ll naturally side with you!”
Pei Xiting said flatly, “I can draw a portrait of this man. Your Excellency may send someone to have my brother identify it. I came all the way here with this criminal under your escort—I didn’t speak to anyone on the way, so naturally, I didn’t collude with my brother beforehand. When you send someone, just have him identify the person in the drawing, no need to explain further.”
“That’s one method,” Youzong nodded in agreement. “Draw it on the desk.”
Pei Xiting bowed, turned, and walked to a clerk’s desk, quickly sketching a portrait. He showed it to Youzong and Wang Yelai once each to confirm it was indeed the man kneeling on the ground, then handed the drawing to a crane cage guard summoned by Youzong, saying, “Trouble you.”
Wang Yelai hadn’t expected Pei Xiting to be able to draw so vividly. Panic fluttered in his chest, but before he could hesitate, the guard turned and left quickly.
On the other side, Pei Jintang had been locked in his room to study, drowsy and wanting nothing more than to faint away. When he heard that a crane cage guard had come to see him, the dark clouds above his head scattered at once. He vaulted from his chair and dashed outside, sprinting all the way to the front gate.
What a fearsome demon or knock of death—it was clearly a heavenly blessing!
Two indigo-robed, sword-bearing crane cage guards stood at the bottom of the steps outside the Pei mansion’s main gate. As Pei Jintang ran out, one unfolded the portrait and cut straight to the point: “Second Young Master Pei, do you recognize this man?”
Pei Jintang, panting with hands on his hips, leaned in for a closer look and said, “I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere, but I can’t quite remember…”
The other guard prompted, “The Qixia Banquet.”
“Oh!” Pei Jintang clapped his hands and suddenly understood, pointing at the portrait. “Wang Yelai’s servant!”
The one holding the drawing asked, “Please elaborate, young master.”
“I remember that day when the Ning Wang Manor was tallying the game, my younger brother and I, along with Fourth Young Master Zhao, were standing off to the side, waiting for the authorities to come and ask about Fourth Young Master Zhao’s matter. I happened to glance over and saw Wang Yelai not far away. I wanted to settle a score with him then, but my brother stopped me. Still, I couldn’t help glaring at Wang Yelai for a good while, and naturally I noticed the man by his side.” Pei Jintang pointed at the portrait. “This man was dressed as a servant that day and stuck to Wang Yelai’s side the whole time.”
The guard asked, “Are you certain, young master?”
“Completely certain—it hasn’t been that long, how could I mistake him? If you don’t believe me, you can ask Fourth Young Master Zhao of the Wenguo Gong Manor. He was right there listening to me curse Wang Yelai, so he probably remembers him too,” Pei Jintang said, then asked curiously, “Did Wang Yelai get into some trouble?”
His eyes gleamed with hope that Wang Yelai was indeed in trouble.
The crane cage guard put away the drawing and said, “Official matters—not at liberty to disclose, Second Young Master Pei. Please forgive us.”
“Alright.” Pei Jintang sighed in disappointment and then asked, “By the way, how is my younger brother doing at the Crane Cage Bureau? Is he handling his duties well?”
The guard next to him said, “Secretary Pei is doing very well.”
Everyone in the bureau understood that this matter didn’t require Lord You’s personal involvement. He was clearly doing it to boost Secretary Pei’s standing, which also showed that Lord You had a good impression of the new secretary.
“That’s good to hear. My brother is gentle and reserved, soft-spoken and quiet. He used to love staying in his courtyard, and it’s only recently that he’s become a bit livelier. This is his first time working at a government office, so he’s bound to be fresh and clumsy. If he isn’t thorough in anything, I hope you colleagues and superiors will guide him. He’s young, but not arrogant—he’ll learn with sincerity.” As he spoke, Pei Jintang took out the last of his savings from his sleeve—a hundred-tael silver note—and tried to slip it to the two guards. “Gentlemen, you’ve had a long trip—take this to buy yourselves some drinks.”
“There’s no need for that, Second Young Master Pei.” The guard who wasn’t holding the drawing blocked Pei Jintang’s hand sideways. “If we take this money, we’ll lose our rank and have our nameplates removed. It’s only natural to worry about one’s brother—we all understand. Secretary Pei is doing well, and Chief Lu of the Document Office is not the kind of harsh supervisor who finds fault without reason. You can rest assured.”
Upon hearing this, Pei Jintang didn’t dare force the silver note on them and risk their careers. He quickly put it away and said with a smile, “Alright, then. You two are busy—I won’t see you off.”
The two guards said their goodbyes, mounted their horses, and left.
The butler, who had been peeking from behind the gate, hurried out and asked nervously, “Second Young Master, what happened?”
Pei Jintang’s eyes darted. He put on a serious expression and said, “There’s a lead on the Pxia Mountain incident. I need to help the Crane Cage Bureau with something. If Mother asks, just tell her the truth.”
The butler dared not show any dissatisfaction with the Crane Cage Bureau for commandeering free labor, so he could only say, “Please be careful, young master, and come back soon.”
Pei Jintang patted the butler on the shoulder, left his line of sight as quickly as possible, and then ran off wildly.
The crane cage guards returned to the bureau at top speed.
Wang Yelai stood stiff as a post in the hall, his face numb, suspecting that Youzong was deliberately keeping him standing. At least give him a stool to sit on!
The kidnapper, on the other hand, had long since been unable to kneel. He curled up, lying sideways on the ground, looking utterly defeated.
Compared to the two of them, Pei Xiting was dozing comfortably with his head on the desk, as if he were in his own backyard.
Youzong sat upright in the hall, handling official business, treating the people below as if they were air.
Apart from Youzong, no one in the room noticed that there was also a man and a tiger sitting in the side corridor.
The Crown Prince leaned back in the reclining chair, a pot of tea beside him and a book in his hand. He occasionally rubbed the tiger head resting against his leg. The Little King pawed at the Crown Prince’s robe, not understanding why his master had stopped his stroll to sit here and read.
Yu Shaoyun lay in a tree in the courtyard, yawning in the warm afternoon sun. He too was a bit puzzled by His Highness’s “stroll”: If you’re out for a walk, at least take a few steps before sitting down to eavesdrop!