Chapter 41: Rumors in the capital

He Ting looked at the face so close to his own.

It was handsome and sharp, but also cold and merciless.

Those long phoenix eyes were slightly narrowed, dark and unfathomable. Though his words sounded tender, the light in his eyes was obscure and unreadable.

He struggled a little but couldn’t break free. His cheeks grew warm, and he lowered his eyes slightly.

“It’s… not that fun.”

Shen Yuan smiled softly, a hint of malice in his expression.

“Oh? Have you played too much and gotten tired of it?”

He Ting felt utterly wronged.

Tonight at Jiangxue Pavilion, he honestly couldn’t tell whether he had been playing with others or others had been playing with him.

If anything, the latter seemed far more likely.

But he couldn’t figure out what Shen Yuan was thinking.

Shen Yuan was unpredictable, moody, and impossible to read.

So He Ting simply pressed his lips together and remained silent.

The fingers beneath his chin tightened again.

Shen Yuan refused to let him off.

“Well? Are you going to teach me or not?”

He Ting was on the verge of breaking down.

In desperation, he blurted out,

“Then… next time I’ll take you there?”

Shen Yuan released him and looked at him with an amused smile.

“Deal. When the time comes, you can perform a live spring palace scene for me. I’ll watch carefully and learn.”

A cold sweat instantly broke out across He Ting’s back.

What was this absurd situation?

The problem was…

He didn’t really know how either.

Speechless, he rubbed his forehead.

At this point, there was only one solution left.

Feign illness.

Holding his head, he said pitifully,

“My head hurts.”

Shen Yuan looked at him coldly, clearly unconvinced.

He Ting hurriedly added,

“Your Highness, I’m sick. I won’t be able to leave the residence for a month. You… should probably find someone else to give you a live demonstration.”

Shen Yuan snorted.

A trace of amusement flickered through his eyes.

“Remember what you just said. If I find out you’ve stepped outside within the next month, neither of your legs will remain attached to your body.”

He Ting burst into dramatic tears.

Seeing him look as though the sky had collapsed, Shen Yuan’s mood unexpectedly improved.

He leisurely poured himself a cup of tea and drank it.

Then he asked,

“How have you been feeling lately? Is your health any better?”

He Ting answered resentfully,

“Wasn’t I just sick?”

Resting his chin on one hand, Shen Yuan looked every bit the spirited young prince.

“Are you upset?”

He Ting shook his head.

In truth, he had no desire to go out.

Everything in this world was exhausting for him to deal with.

Shen Yuan smiled.

With unusual patience, he reminded him,

“It’s probably for the best that you stay inside for a while. The capital hasn’t been peaceful lately. Imperial Consort Tang lost an imperial gold goblet, and they’re searching the entire city. Tell your people to keep their heads down and stay out of trouble.”

Imperial Consort Tang was Prince Shen Run’s mother.

He Ting immediately distanced himself.

“What people do I have? I’ve been trapped here for so many years. Even a tiger would become a house cat. Who would still listen to me?”

Shen Yuan looked at him and smiled.

“One day I’ll turn you back into a tiger. Do you believe me?”

He Ting froze.

He couldn’t tell whether Shen Yuan was sincere or testing him.

So he chose to play dumb.

Everyone in this place was frighteningly clever.

The less he said, the safer he was.

Still, curiosity got the better of him.

“Did Imperial Consort Tang really lose something?”

Shen Yuan let out a cold laugh.

“It’s just an excuse to eliminate political opponents. If someone wants to stir up trouble, they’ll always find a reason.”

When Tang had first entered the palace, she had been nothing more than an insignificant low-ranking consort.

Neither she nor the Seventh Prince had received much favor.

But in recent years, the Tang family had risen dramatically.

Especially Tang Jun, her nephew, whose military achievements were unmatched.

Now, if the Tang family claimed second place in influence, no one dared claim first.

Even the once-arrogant Empress Wang had to give them face.

That was Shen Run’s greatest advantage in the struggle for the throne.

He Ting listened quietly.

Night had deepened.

A single candle flickered in the darkness.

“Your Highness,” he asked softly, “aren’t you going back?”

The day had been emotionally exhausting.

He was very tired.

He wanted nothing more than to sleep.

Shen Yuan looked at him.

Half his face was hidden in shadow.

“Wen Ruofeng. Have you been spending a lot of time with my seventh brother lately?”

He Ting thought about it.

Objectively speaking, yes.

He searched for a reasonable explanation.

“He likes taking me out. I can’t exactly throw him out. Someone in my position…”

He continued,

“When you come to see me, I spend time with you too. You’re all the same.”

The quieter his voice became, the darker Shen Yuan’s expression grew.

Especially when He Ting said, “You’re all the same.”

His face turned so dark it seemed water could be wrung from it.

He Ting lowered his head and fell silent.

Shen Yuan seized his chin again and forced him to look up.

“Go on. Why did you stop?”

His gaze was cold as a blade.

He Ting was genuinely afraid.

He shrank back slightly, bit his lip, and looked at him with eyes that were both aggrieved and stubborn.

Shen Yuan stared at him for a long moment.

Then his thumb brushed across He Ting’s lips, gently easing them free from between his teeth.

His soft lips were marked with pale indentations from his bite.

He Ting suddenly remembered.

This was how he and Shen Yuan had first met.

Back then, he had only just arrived in Fu.

He knew no one and lived in constant fear.

That day, Emperor Shunzhang had hosted a grand banquet for the officials.

Some ministers had brought their children.

Watching other families together had made him unbearably homesick.

In the middle of the banquet, he had quietly slipped away.

He found a secluded corner and cried.

When he finally tried to return, he became hopelessly lost in the imperial garden.

Too frightened to ask for directions, he carefully avoided crowded areas and searched for his way back alone.

As he passed behind a hidden rock formation, he heard struggling.

Peering around the corner, he saw someone pinning a child down and covering the child’s nose and mouth, trying to suffocate him alive.

The young Wen Ruofeng was terrified.

Without thinking, he lifted a large rock, crept silently behind the attacker, and brought it down.

It should never have been that easy.

But the attacker had been completely focused on the child beneath him.

The sounds of the child’s desperate struggle had masked Wen Ruofeng’s approach.

The rock struck true.

At that moment, driven by pure panic, Wen Ruofeng possessed strength far beyond his age.

White brain matter and blood splattered across his face.

The child was already turning blue and gasping desperately on the ground.

Wen Ruofeng was frozen in place, too frightened to move.

The memories afterward were chaotic.

He carried the younger child away and fled.

The little boy was soft and beautiful, reminding him of his younger brother back home.

He couldn’t help but feel deep tenderness toward him.

Only after they escaped danger did Wen Ruofeng discover that the child he had saved was the Crown Prince himself.

At the time, it had strangely comforted him.

Even children surrounded by family were not necessarily happy.

The young Shen Yuan had already possessed a trace of coldness and violence in his eyes.

But he had still been only eight years old.

Despite being the Crown Prince, he had not felt particularly threatening.

Wen Ruofeng had not been afraid of him.

Now, however, Shen Yuan had grown into a tall and imposing young man.

Simply standing before him was enough to inspire fear.

“Why did you stop talking?”

Shen Yuan asked again, refusing to let the matter go.

His rough palm continued to stroke He Ting’s chin.

Years of archery and martial training had left calluses on his hand.

The coarse texture made He Ting’s skin itch.

He didn’t know what to say.

So, in what he believed was a clever move, he asked,

“If everything I say makes you unhappy, then what do you want me to say? Tell me, and I’ll say it for you, okay?”

Shen Yuan’s gaze deepened.

Conflict flickered within his eyes.

They looked directly at each other.

Close enough to hear each other’s breathing.

The atmosphere grew tense and suffocating.

He Ting’s heartbeat became louder and louder.

Finally, Shen Yuan pressed his lips together and released him with obvious reluctance.

“What pleasant words could possibly come out of your mouth?”

“…”

After causing enough trouble, Shen Yuan finally left.

Before leaving, he had the entire cart of dried sweet potatoes Shen Run had sent taken away as well.

He claimed he was going to feed them to pigs.

When Uncle Feng came in to report this, He Ting waved his hand helplessly.

“Let him. They were raw anyway.”

Uncle Feng lingered after finishing his report, looking as though he wanted to say something.

He Ting looked at him curiously.

“If you’ve got something to say, just say it. I can handle it.”

Rubbing his hands together, Uncle Feng said,

“His Highness the Crown Prince may have a strange temper, but he treats you extremely well. He keeps sending food, entertainment, and medicine here. Why do you always make him angry?”

He Ting rubbed his forehead.

“Can you stop? How am I making him angry? He bullies me all the time. You just don’t see it.”

Uncle Feng gave him a look He Ting couldn’t quite understand, a meaningful, almost knowing look.

He Ting decided to ignore it.

Lowering his voice, he said,

“Everything he sends us, food, gifts, medicine, it’s all sugar-coated bullets. Sugar-coated bullets!”

At the same time, on the snowy road outside the city, Shen Yuan’s carriage moved slowly through the night.

His personal guard, Wang Jia, lifted the curtain and entered.

“Your Highness, if you like Young Lord Wen so much, why not tell him? You always make him cry, and afterward you’re unhappy yourself. Why put yourself through this?”

Shen Yuan looked up lazily.

“What do you know? What would happen if I told him? He’s always wanted to return to Wen. If I confessed, would he stop wanting to leave? Besides, no one knows what the future of the capital will be. Why should I drag him into it? Why should I make him die with me? If he wants to go home, then I’ll help him go home. If he doesn’t want to be a house cat and wants to be a tiger, then I’ll let him become a tiger.”

After a moment, he added quietly,

“There’s only one thing I’m afraid of. I’m afraid someone will use him. I’m afraid he’ll lose his way. That’s why I have to keep warning him.”

Wang Jia sighed.

He was a soldier.

He didn’t understand all these complicated emotions.

To him, if you liked someone, you should simply say so.

Imperial Consort Tang’s investigation was extensive.

But she never found the person she was truly searching for.

Soon afterward, the Tang family impeached the Crown Prince’s Iron Guard on charges of dereliction of duty and requested that the city defense forces be replaced.

The Crown Prince remained silent.

He seemed utterly indifferent to the Black Feather Army under the Tang family’s command.

Before long, rumors spread throughout the capital.

People claimed that the Black Feather Army had won countless victories for the empire, yet the heir to the throne did not even respect them.

Emperor Shunzhang became furious.

Under mounting pressure from every faction, he dismissed the Iron Guard and replaced them with the Black Feather Cavalry in order to appease the military.

The Crown Prince did not object.

When He Ting learned of this, he became deeply worried.

But there was nothing he could do.

With this single move, Imperial Consort Tang’s influence within the palace expanded dramatically.

She was now almost equal to the Empress herself.

Empress Wang hated her with every fiber of her being.

She secretly blamed the Crown Prince for his inaction.

As for her own son, the Ninth Prince, he was mentally impaired and possessed the intelligence of a young child.

Even if she wanted to use him politically, she simply couldn’t.

Gradually, rumors filled the capital.

Everyone said the Crown Prince was losing power.

And that Prince Shen Run would soon replace him.

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