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Published at 3rd of May 2023 06:40:46 AM


Chapter 2.1

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02. Beautiful Lady (1)

The wheels of the carriage slowly pressed on the green stone road. It just rained last night, and the road was covered with puddles of various sizes. The carriage rolled over and made a creaking sound.

It was getting late now, and there were not many pedestrians on the street, but the crowd saw the governor’s caravan approaching from a distance, and they moved out of the way. Yu Wenjun walked unimpeded all the way to the governor’s mansion.

It is also because of the small number of people, no one wondered why Yu Wenjun, who is the renowned governor, would go back to his own residence by the side door. When Yu Wenjun saw the courtyard wall, his expression became serious and solemn. He stopped his horse in front of the side door. He looked secretly towards the way he came from. After the carriage in the middle of the team entered, he dismounted and walked slowly into the mansion.

Many people had relaxed expressions on their faces, seeing them arriving safely. Yu Wenjun was wearing a wide-sleeved loose coat, with his hands behind his back. He was dressed in style when he paced around, and his gestures and movements were full of scholarly demeanor. However, when he slowly walked to the side of the carriage, he lowered his voice and said to the person inside:

“This is it, I have wronged you, my lord.“

The carriage curtain remained unperturbed, almost making one suspect that there was no one inside. It was only after a while that a cold, faint voice came from inside:

“Governor Yu is very polite. I will bother you a lot later on, so don’t be so polite.”

This voice was so cold and unpleasant that it was impossible to distinguish between men and women. Yu Wenjun understood that the words of this person inside were polite, but in fact it was reminding him that he could no longer address him as ‘My lord’ anymore.

Thinking of this, Yu Wenjun sighed quietly.

Two reign titles were changed this year. At the beginning of the year, Emperor Mingwu died of illness. Prince Changshan took control of the government and became the new emperor, under the assistance of his party members. The year was then changed from Zhangwu to Guangxi.

(T/N: In ancient China, every time there was a reign change, the name of the year was also change, in accordance with it. That way historians can easily count the years of the emperor’s reign.)

The former Emperor Mingwu was the founding emperor. He used to be brilliant and powerful. He fought in the wars between the southern and the northern kingdoms.

However, after three years of his reign as an emperor, he inevitably contracted the common diseases of emperors before him. He became hedonistic, extravagant, and suspicious.

The former crown prince was privately commenting about Emperor Mingwu’s indiscriminate killing, and he was denounced, and brought before the emperor. Prince Changshan, the crown prince’s half-brother, took the opportunity to unite with his close ministers to falsely accuse the crown prince of having long been dissatisfied with the emperor, and he was having the intention to rebel.

Sure enough, an edict written by the crown prince himself was found and used as evidence.

The emperor was the only one who could write an edict. So the emperor abolished the crown prince’s position in the eastern palace, and ordered all the children of the crown prince to be cut down. The Eastern Palace, which was the symbol of the crown prince, was filled with blood in a just day.

Only the crown prince’s youngest son, Prince Langya, Murong Yan, who was only thirteen years old at that time, happened to be on a hunting trip outside the palace that day, was not affected by the massacre.

After the crown prince’s subordinates heard about this, they sent a letter to Prince Langya regardless of their life and death, and risked their lives to send Murong Yan out of the capital and hid him among the common people.

Prince Langya is beautiful, good at archery, quick-witted, and is the most beloved grandson of Emperor Mingwu.

When Murong Yan was ten years old, Emperor Mingwu even pointed in front of all his ministers and said:

“This child is the most similar to me.”

If they were ordinary citizens, this sentence can be considered as nothing more than a show of an elder’s love for his grandson, but in an imperial family, this sentence is very meaningful.

After Prince Langya disappeared, Prince Changshan once proposed to arrest him and bring him to justice, but Emperor Mingwu diverted it. So the matter of Murong Yan’s disappearance was shelved.

Everyone in the Night City knew that the youngest son of the abolished crown prince was still alive, and there were people who wanted to find him, but in the end, no one dared to put it on the table.

The Emperor’s health took a sharp turn for the worse last summer, and he soon fell ill. The Emperor has been indulging in sensuality and feasting for several years, and it’s no surprise that his body can’t survive.

Prince Changshan took the opportunity to control the government and arbitrarily installed his party members. Although Emperor Mingwu, who had always loved power like his life, knew about it, he was helpless.

Whether if it’s because he was dying, it was easier for him to recall the past and yearn for family affection. Emperor Mingwu missed his respectful and filial crown prince, and his amazingly talented grandson, and in the eight year of Zhangwu, Emperor Mingwu, fell seriously ill, and wasn’t able to recover. On his sickbed, He issued an edict to restore Murong Yan’s title as Prince Langya. Although his father is still a commoner, Murong Yan’s princely fiefdoms have all been restored to their original state.

When Prince Changshan saw this Edict, his jealousy and hatred grew stronger, and he set up a trap in the Night City, waiting for Murong Yan to come back.

Emperor Mingwu knew that his time was running out, so why did he take so much effort to announce and restore the title of Prince Langya?

Is it because he want to use this to convey the news, that he wanted to see Murong Yan again before he dies?

However, Murong Yan is worthy of being the seed of their Murong family, the whole world can see it.

However, Murong Yan was still as cold as iron. He didn’t come back, and there was no news about him at all.

Emperor Mingwu passed away in regret, then Prince Changshan took control of the inner and outer court. He then ascended the throne as the new emperor.

After he ascended the throne, the first thing he did was to change the current dynasty’s name, and then he ordered a nationwide search of Murong Yan.

A reward of a hundred gold was offered to anyone who can report about his news, and a title would be awarded to those who personally caught him.

The whole Qi Kingdom was boiling because of this.

Yu Wenjun sighed with emotion as if he was afraid. When they heard about the imperial edict last year, it wasn’t that they had never thought about it.

Some people claimed that since Prince Langya is the only living son left of the crown prince, it is not suitable to take risks.

However, more people felt that a parent’s heart was still merciful. Emperor Mingwu’s heart that used to be suspicious of his son was moved. Maybe Murong Yan should show up and take advantage of Emperor Mingwu’s guilt to overthrow Prince Changshan. After all, it was Prince Changshan who accused the crown prince of rebellion.

The two groups of people were arguing endlessly, but Murong Yan, the person involved, remained calm from the beginning to the end. He did not comment about this matter, and ignored it completely.




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