Where is Yuan Suiyun?

Yuan Suiyun was standing outside the window of the South Study, with his hands behind his back, looking at the bright moon setting in the sky. Through the open window, he could see that the South Study was in a grim state – many imperial guards were guarding the study tightly, and the person leading them was Wei Ziyun, who had just anxiously called for help to put out the fire.

In the southern study, a young man sat tall and solemn, looking like a twin of the emperor. When the emperor entered the room, he was surprised and walked around him several times before saying to Mr. Yangming beside him, “Wow, I thought I had a new brother!”

Mr. Yangming stroked his beard and said calmly, “The Prince of Nan is a descendant of Emperor Gaozu and the bloodline of the royal family. He is also your Majesty’s brother.”

The emperor tilted his head and thought for a while, then suddenly sneered, “That’s right. Anyway, what our family is best at is blood feuds and brothers killing each other. There’s nothing strange about that. Cousin, before you go down, do you have anything else to say to me?”

Hearing this, the prince of the Southern Kingdom, who was wearing a dragon robe, suddenly raised his head and looked at him. His eyes reflected the blazing fire in the Southern Study, and suddenly they seemed to be on fire as well.

“Why didn’t you die? When did you realize something was wrong?” he demanded. “Even if I have to die, I want to die knowingly!”

“Hmm? What’s wrong?” The emperor spread his hands and said nonchalantly. “You should ask Mr. Yangming about this. I just want to join in the fun and watch a duel.”

Yes, for the emperor, today was just an ordinary day. Although two people insisted on running to his roof to fight recently, it was no big deal – even if two birds landed on the eaves, wouldn’t they fight for a pool of rain on the tiles, not to mention that these were two birds with very bright feathers. He could take this opportunity to watch the fun and kill time outside of his busy government affairs, so he agreed very readily.

Wei Ziyun and his men were troubled by this matter. He knew it, but he didn’t care, because he was the emperor and naturally had the power to do whatever he wanted. Mr. Yangming was also very angry about it at first, and looked like he wanted to resign immediately, but in the end, he still accompanied him to the Taiji Hall.

Although it now seems that the plan of the Southern Prince failed and his rebellion failed… The emperor thought back to what happened and suddenly understood: “Ah, it turns out that Ye Gucheng is your man!”

Therefore, he changed the duel location to the top of the Forbidden City, because from the beginning, the big event tonight was not a duel! The Prince of the Southern King looked exactly like him. As long as he died, he could wear this body and become the current emperor. All he needed was to keep this secret from others and to have a big event that could attract the attention of the Imperial Guards… It turned out that the world-famous Heavenly Fairy was not a killer prepared for Ximen Chuxue, but a pusher to send himself to the underworld!
“Alas.” Thinking of this, he suddenly sighed sincerely. “Ye Gucheng, oh Ye Gucheng, you are such a beautiful woman, why do you follow a thief!”

“Hmph, although I know you are always absurd, I didn’t expect you to be so absurd that you would go to watch a duel with those inferior people!” The prince of the Southern King said angrily. Although the emperor was eccentric, he had just ascended the throne and was very diligent. He didn’t even linger in the harem. After reading the memorials, he mostly rested in the Southern Study. So he originally planned to let Ye Gucheng come to the Southern Study to kill the emperor and then replace him… Who knew that today he had arranged everything, everyone came in, and the emperor was not in the room!

“Why didn’t Ye Gucheng kill you!” he asked. “As long as he kills you in the Taiji Hall, you will be dead. A dead person is a dead person. A dead person… is nothing! Why didn’t he do it? He clearly promised!”

The emperor was still thinking, so he didn’t answer. At this time, a gentle voice sounded from outside the window: “Because he can kill the emperor in secret, but he can’t be the murderer in front of everyone. If he does that, can you still expect you to let him go and not push him to be the scapegoat?”

Wei Ziyun’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly shouted, “Shut up! This is in front of the emperor, you have no right to speak!”

“Hey.” Tianzi raised his hand, signaling him not to be nervous. “Young Master Yuan… should I call you that? I’ve been wanting to ask you since a while ago, why are you standing outside the window?”

He heard a sweet and melodious laugh like a spring: “Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I am a humble man from the mountains and cannot see the emperor. This is all right.”

——In fact, it was because when the emperor entered the room just now, except for the Prince of Nan who was already a traitor, everyone had to kneel down and pay their respects. Yuan Suiyun was not willing to kneel down for this, so he avoided it early.

The emperor naturally understood the reason immediately, but Yuan Suiyun’s attitude was neither humble nor arrogant, which he felt was helpful. He couldn’t help but said with a smile: “Yesterday on the street, you saved me once. Today in this palace, you can come here with Wei Aiqing, so you must have contributed too – Aiqing, what did he do?”

Wei Ziyun cupped his hands and said, “Thanks to Suiyun’s reminder to me that something was wrong in the Southern Study, we were able to subdue the Prince of the Southern King!”

“Oh? Then how did Young Master Yuan know about it?” Yuan Suiyun said, “The fire in Taiji Hall was intended to kill Your Majesty. Now that we have come this far, we must ensure that everything is foolproof. However, there are not many people in the palace who are capable of rebelling. Because of the duel, Uncle Wei has also strengthened the security around Taiji Hall. It is really not the best place to start. I also had some guesses, so I asked Uncle Wei… If Your Majesty wants to reward, please reward Uncle Wei who is dedicated to protecting the master and decided to lead troops to surround the South Study just by listening to my words!”

He was asking for credit for himself in his words, and Wei Ziyun was of course happy, and remembered this favor in his heart. The emperor said: “Since everyone has made contributions, we should naturally reward them according to their merits. It is not that someone’s contribution is greater, so others should not be rewarded. If so, who would be willing to serve me in the future? Wei Aiqing is a court official, so the reward can wait for a while. I wonder what reward you want, Young Master Yuan?”

Hearing this, the people outside the window fell silent. After a long while, the emperor finally heard him say, “I have no other request, so please give me a full moon, Your Majesty—”

There was only a gust of wind, and when the emperor looked up again, Yuan Suiyun had disappeared.

He couldn’t help but laugh. He turned to Mr. Yangming and said, “He is really a smart man. He is not surprised by praise or criticism. He is worthy of being born in a famous martial arts family. It’s a pity that he doesn’t want to enter the government. But even if he doesn’t want it, how can I not reward him? Since he doesn’t want to follow the rules of the court, then let’s follow the rules of the martial arts world. Please go to my private storehouse to find a martial arts secret book, add some gold, silver and jewelry, and let Wei Aiqing send it to Wuzheng Villa.”

“Yes.” Mr. Yangming and Wei Ziyun bowed their heads and replied. The emperor asked again: “Who let my cousin into the South Study today?”

Wei Ziyun said: “It is Wang An. I have sent people to capture him. I wonder if Your Majesty…”

Wang An was not someone else, but a senior eunuch serving the emperor. He had served the late emperor diligently and loyally before, and was assigned by the late emperor to serve the current emperor, who was still the crown prince at the time. He had also been dedicated and devoted for decades, so the emperor was particularly fond of him. Seeing that he was old, he did not often ask him to serve in the palace, but allowed him to buy a house outside the palace, hired servants to serve him, and occasionally entered the palace to serve.

Unexpectedly, he was also bribed by the Southern King’s faction, which became a shortcut to open the palace gate!
After hearing this, the emperor was silent for a long while before he said, “Tomorrow, call the palace people to the Ministry of Punishment and teach them a lesson. Keep an eye on Wang An and don’t let him die. Tomorrow, we will tear his body into pieces with five horses!”

“Yes!”

At this time, Prince Nan suddenly looked up at him and said, “You don’t even ask me why Wang An betrayed you?”

The emperor asked in surprise, “Why do you ask? Should I forgive him just because he has a reason? Just like I should ask you why you want to kill me? My cousin, there is no reason for this matter. It’s just a matter of winners and losers… After all, we are brothers. Don’t lose so badly.”

After that, he smiled and said to Mr. Yangming: “It seems that you have won this bet again. I really have to admit defeat.”

——Earlier in the Taiji Hall, Mr. Yangming said that he already knew the result of this duel. At this time, the emperor also understood: Ye Gucheng would definitely lose! Because he was involved in the rebellion, he was doomed to die. Rather than being humiliated under the swords and guns of the imperial guards, it would be better to die in the hands of his opponent, which would also preserve his past reputation!

This has nothing to do with the level of martial arts skills. In fact, it is not the result of a fair competition, but more like a fatalistic inevitability – then again, how many things in the world can be truly fair?
When Mr. Yangming heard him start referring to himself as “I”, he knew that the emperor’s mood was completely different from before, and he could not help but answer cautiously: “I thought I could hide it from Your Majesty. I would like to thank Your Majesty for giving me the opportunity to show off.”

“Haha, it’s the affairs of the martial arts world. Let them go after they finish fighting. I hope they won’t make trouble in my Taiji Palace again in the future.” Ye Gucheng was just a sword in this incident. The emperor didn’t even see him take action, and he didn’t take it seriously in his heart. After he said this, he paused and said to Wei Ziyun: “Commander Wei, you should count the imperial guards now, go out of the palace to the Southern King’s Mansion, and clear out the rebels. Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy!”

“Yes!” Wei Ziyun took the order and left, and then the Prince of Nan was also suppressed. The emperor came to the desk and sat down, tapping the table lightly with his fingers. Mr. Yangming stood by and looked at the emperor’s expression – under the flickering firelight, the young emperor put aside his laughter, anger and strategizing just now, and stared at the moth flying around the candlestick expressionlessly.

The moth was lured by the flames and lingered around the candlestick, unaware that the beautiful flame could easily devour its life – perhaps it knew it in its heart, but still could not bear to part with this little bit of brightness and had to fly forward again and again. Who knows, the burning flame would never be shaken by a mere moth.

The emperor was silent for a long time, and finally spoke: “The prince of the Southern King has fallen into my hands. I believe that the Southern King of the fiefdom will soon raise troops to the north. Mr. Yangming, are you willing to lead the troops and kill the rebels?”

(End of this chapter)