The Villain Runs Wild

Ch 63 - Ruthless Crown Prince x Foolish Prince: Observing In Secret


The candle flames were dim, and the feet stepping on his chest were soft. Yan Qin thought he would find it difficult to fall asleep, but the atmosphere was so calm it made him sleepy, so he glanced at the young man’s silhouette reflected in the lights, and slowly closed his eyes.

His chest rose and fell rhythmically as he breathed. Lin Sui put the book down and stared at Yan Qin’s vague, young facial features in the darkness for a good while.

He actually found it a little difficult to tell whether he was really stupid or just pretending. Lin Sui raised his eyebrows, put a bit of a smile on his lips, and continued reading his book.

The next day, the Emperor’s order of house-arrest arrived once again.

The Emperor heard about the matter of the Crown Prince sending slop to people as provocation yesterday, so he cursed him for being unbearably stubborn and obstinate, and ordered for him to be grounded and deprived of salary once again.

Lin Sui simply didn’t take this matter to heart. He may have been grounded, but the people in his palace could come and go as before.

Lin Sui once again showed Fu Xi favour and rewarded him with a pile of good things.

Liu Zhonghai was still an unremarkable cleaning eunuch in the Eastern Palace, acting in secret.

Sometimes, being placed openly in the light of glory was not necessarily due to sincere favour, and sometimes being placed in the darkness of obscurity was not necessarily due to indifference.

The senior eunuch Fu Xi returned to favour, letting everyone see the Crown Prince’s fickle temperament for themselves.

Outside the study, Fu Shu quietly reported: “Your Highness, Bao Su of the Zhongyu Palace is requesting a visit.”

Lin Sui knew her purpose in coming, Bao Su was the senior maid of the late Noble Consort Wan[1], Yan Qin’s mother, and she was also the person who took care of Yan Qin growing up. Since Yan Qin had already been staying here for over half a month, she was worried about Yan Qin being in this “lion’s den” with him.

“No need for a visit, let her take that fool back with her.”

The youth’s indifferent voice came through from inside the room. Fu Shi replied, turned around, and left.

Lin Sui wasn’t intending on keeping Yan Qin by his side, even though watching the little fool every day was quite fun, Yan Qin couldn’t stay in front of him all the time, they both needed some space to scheme.

In any case, Yan Qin was still young, everything was still far away.

Bao Su was overjoyed after receiving that answer, so she hurried off to search for the Fifth Prince.

When she found him, the Fifth Prince was eating pastries.

Bao Su was about to use a handkerchief to help her master wipe off some crumbs from the side of his lips, but saw her master directly wiping his mouth by himself with an unsatiated expression.

“Have you not had your evening meal yet, Your Highness? Why are you eating so eagerly?”

Bao Su saw her master was almost about to choke and quickly handed him a cup of tea.

“He hasn’t had a meal yet? His Fifth Highness eats more than His Highness the Crown Prince.”

To the side, an attending eunuch snorted quietly and placed a new plate of snacks and pastries on the table.

He looked on helplessly as His Fifth Highness completely finished all of the Crown Prince’s leftovers, not only that, but even had the small kitchen make more soup and pastries. The amount of food he ate was triple that of what His Highness the Crown Prince did.

Bao Su couldn’t help but look Yan Qin up and down for a moment, discovering that her master seemed more robust, and even like he’d grown a little.

“Big brother Crown Prince told me I was too thin, so I will eat more. Bao Su, you eat too.”

Yan Qin put a piece of cake on Bao Su’s hand, and went back to eating his things.

He actually didn’t care what the palace people said about him so, with the Crown Prince’s words from that day, he openly went to the small kitchen to look for food when he wanted to eat.

He rarely had the chance to eat his fill during these past few years, and the Easter Palace’s food was exquisite, so it would be his loss if he didn’t eat it.

Bao Su spoke softly: “Thank you for the reward, master. His Highness the Crown Prince said this slave could bring You back, so let us return to the Zhongyu Palace.”

A flash of light quickly streaked past Yan Qin’s eyes, he pretended to be reluctant to leave and grabbed a box of food, then left with Bao Su.

When he stepped out of the Eastern Palace, Yan Qin turned his head and fixed his gaze on the Eastern Palace’s mounted name plaque.

When Lin Sui went back to his room that night, the bedding next to his bed had already been tidied away. He held his chin and thought about what he was going to do tomorrow in a daze for a while, then collected the schemes on his face and closed his eyes.

When his house-arrest ended, Lin Sui stepped through the doors of the Ministry of Rites.

The Governor of the Ministry of Rites was an old man with white hair and beard, his surname was Zhuang, he was extremely thin with prominent cheekbones, and he looked somewhat frail.

He saluted Lin Sui and led him in front of a table in the room, then simply told him what he had to do, his attitude respectful and distant.

He didn’t have the heart to order Lin Sui around, nor was he planning on educating that temperamental and disagreeable Crown Prince on etiquette, so he just saluted again and left.

Lin Sui naturally knew this extremely punctilious and scholarly old Governor looked down on him, but he wasn’t planning on causing trouble for the old man either, after all, his target wasn’t him.

Lin Sui sat in front of the desk and felt that everyone in the room seemed to be looking at him, but when he swept a glance over, everyone buried their heads back into their work, as if that had been an illusion just now.

Everyone knew that the Crown Prince wasn’t here to seriously study etiquette and history, they just hoped the Crown Prince wouldn’t turn the place upside down, so it was inevitable that they would pay a bit more attention, and shrink back again under the Crown Prince’s gaze.

All else aside, the Crown Prince already had the power of the Emperor’s family at such a young age, which was rather terrifying.

At that moment, a young man struggling to carry a pile of books staggered in through the doors. The people inside stood by and watched, no one lent a hand to support him.

Holding his breath, he put the books down one by one on a colleague’s desk and, when he saw Lin Sui, bowed reverently.

He was a minor official in the Ministry of Rites, located at the lowest rung in the entire Ministry, and nobody seemed to like him much.

He was exactly the person Lin Sui was looking for. His surname was Zhong, his given name Zhuo, and his courtesy name Yuran.

This person was fond of studying and worked hard every day, and in the future he would be the famously crafty Court Councillor most favoured by the incompetent old Emperor.

He was extremely familiar with historical etiquette, and was an expert at using overblown speech to fabricate reasons and excuses for all kinds of the Emperor’s actions.

To use a modern expression, this person was used to hoisting banners and hushing up the Emperor’s scandals.

When the Emperor wanted to build a temporary palace for amusement, he said there was precedent for this since ancient times, and he was acting in accordance to ancient Heavenly law.

He said the emperor should listen to the public opinion more, and share the joy with the people. As a result, he called for a group of prostitutes to dress up and come cheer the Emperor up, then advised the Emperor that this was a show of love and respect from the common people, which had nothing to do with the pleasures of life at all, but on the contrary meant that the Holy One was wise and capable, and loved the people as his own children.

Zhong Zhuo may have had a beautiful name[2], but he was a completely vile person.

He had begun currying favour with Governor Zhuang when he entered the Ministry of Rites, but Governor Zhuang hated this type of behaviour most. Many of the old pedants in the Ministry of Rites disdained him beneath contempt, so he was not well-liked in the Ministry at all.

In the original book, he had been recommended to the Emperor by the father of a Concubine, and that Concubine successfully became favoured with his help.

However, Zhong Zhuo’s glory days didn’t last too long, and he dug his own grave under Yan Qin’s design.

Lin Sui wanted to disrupt the muddy waters a little faster, so naturally this “favoured minister” had to get onto the stage a bit sooner.

But Lin Sui couldn’t just straightforwardly recruit him, he actually first looked unfavourably towards Zhong Zhuo, letting everyone first think that the Crown Prince had a problem with him, then privately got in touch with him.

Zhong Zhuo was naturally extremely happy with the Crown Prince’s appreciation, his flattery was several ranks higher than that of Fu Xi.

Lin Sui borrowed the Governor of State Affair’s connections to recommend Zhong Zhuo to a seemingly neutral official, and due to him stepping in and pulling some strings, publicly cleared the relationship between Zhong Zhuo and the Crown Prince’s party.

With Zhong Zhuo’s promising rise, he became even more active in his dealings with others.

Lin Sui ordered someone to invite Zhong Zhuo for a drink, and, when he was drunk, tricked Zhong Zhuo into signing a document.

If Zhong Zhuo had been sober at that moment, he would have turned pale with fright. That document was filled with disgracefully unfilial and rebellious words, and it was written in his exact same handwriting.

If he had taken a closer look, he would even have discovered his personal seal next to the words.

If this letter got out, forget about a bright future, Zhong Zhuo would not only lose his head, nine generations of his family would even be implicated.

The System couldn’t help but say: [You’re really vicious.]

Lin Sui objected: [I’m making preparations just in case.]

This move was just to defend against vile characters, not to defend against noble men.

Lin Sui moved extremely quickly because there would always be someone who would be unable to hold back and want to take the next step, so he had to rush and try to be the first.

Lush green trees cast their shade in the long summer days, and the image of a tower was reflected in the pond[3].

Fu Xing said there were some beautiful flowers blooming beside the palace which looked like jade luan birds[4].

The jade luan flowers were the late Empress’ favourite flower, but the Emperor had ordered for all the jade luans to be pulled out from the palace grounds after the death of the Empress, so it had already been a long time since the original owner had been able to see one of these flowers.

“Oh? Let’s go take a look.”

Lin Sui assumed an air of interest and left with Fu Xi.

Comfortable in the knowledge he had from the plot, Lin Sui knew this was actually a trap.

The original owner went through the exact same thing, after he headed towards that unknown place in the palace, he was drugged, and in addition there was a delirious First Class Attendant inside the palace, so the intentions of the people behind the scenes were abundantly clear.

After the original owner was startled awake in the trap, he strangled that palace concubine to death and hid her in a cupboard. When the Emperor was led there, he lied and said he’d been day-drinking, so he was only charged with the crime of behaving discourteously in front of the Emperor, but since he was usually unruly and dissolute, the Emperor didn’t notice anything.

Lin Sui wasn’t planning on doing that. He didn’t care what the schemes of the people behind the scenes were, he had long since planned on getting someone else to do the dirty work.

Fu Xi suddenly covered his stomach when they approached the small path, looking at Lin Sui with an expression of suffering.

“My Lord… this slave needs to go… please forgive me, my Lord…”

Fu Xi’s stomach rumbled, and he looked like he couldn’t hold it back any more.

Of course, Lin Sui knew he wanted to take the chance to run away before the accident happened, so he waved his hand indifferently, pretending to be more interested in continuing forward.

The fragrance of the jade luan flowers was extremely strong, and a whisper suddenly came from the side chamber where these flowers where planted that strikingly resembled the late Empress’ voice.

Acting as the “brainless” Crown Prince, Lin Sui was naturally perturbed when faced with this situation, and walked inside without the slightest hesitation.

When he went in, Lin Sui became faintly aware that something was wrong with his body.

Lin Sui’s expression sank, this part had been a little beyond his expectations.

He had clearly been paying attention to the food today, so it shouldn’t have had the chance of being drugged.

The dense fragrance of the flowers bore into his nose, and Lin Sui pressed his temples. It had been his oversight, he’d only been paying attention to the food, but he’d neglected the sweet smell.

Lin Sui walked in front of the bed with quick steps, a beautiful woman was laying on top, it was First Class Attendant Yu, who had repeatedly been favoured by the flipping of the name tiles[5] in recent times. Her face was flushed, she was clearly also affected by the fragrance.

Who knew how wonderful the Emperor's expression would be if he saw his son and concubine rolling in bed together? This was exactly the kind of outcome the people behind the scenes wanted.

Lin Sui opened the window. An older woman came in carrying a person, and put the person on the bed.

“Leave quickly, Aunt Jin, don’t let anyone see you.”

“Be careful, Your Highness, this old slave will leave first.”

This woman was one of the late Empress’ senior maids back when she was pregnant. She had been thrown into the Lateral Courts of the palace by the Emperor many years ago, but she had been waiting for the opportunity to serve the Crown Prince.

The person laying on the bed was around thirty years old and had a pale, hairless face. He was the senior eunuch by the Emperor’s side, Zhong Xiang.

This person was lecherous and greedy, and had harmed the lives of many palace maids and innocent women. The Emperor was well-aware of this, but felt that Zhong Xiang hadn’t gone too far, so he permitted it.

Before leaving, Aunt Jin touched the acupuncture points on First Class Attendant Yu’s body, and Attendant Yu woke up slowly, startled at seeing the Crown Prince in front of her and the senior eunuch next to her.

“Surely you know you’ve also been plotted against. If you’re clever, you’ll know what to do. This One will also lend you a hand.”

“If you don’t have the stomach for it, just wait for the next time it happens.”

Looking at the young Crown Prince in front of her, Attendant Yu got up and kowtowed.

“Many thanks, Your Highness. This concubine didn’t see the Crown Prince today at all, so You can leave quickly. This concubine knows what to do.”

Attendant Yu had a trace of resentment in her eyes, she took a deep breath to control her emotions and spoke quickly when she heard the sound of steady footsteps coming from outside the palace.

Lin Sui quickly left through the window. The front entrance of the palace was noisy, so in all likelihood the Emperor had already seen the jade luan flowers that had been unknowingly planted by someone and angrily stormed inside. He quietly left the this palace, but didn’t have time to return to the Eastern Palace, so he stumbled into an abandoned pavilion.

Although he couldn’t smell the strong fragrance of the jade luans anymore, the reaction in his lower body still hadn’t dissipated, his consciousness began to feel hazy, and he felt especially confused.

Green wisteria clung to the pavilion's dark wooden pillars.

The System shrieked: [You can’t! The Son of Fortune is watching!]

Lin Sui was startled and angry, he gritted his teeth and scanned his surroundings, but didn’t see anyone.

 

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[1] Ok the author called Yan Qin’s mom Noble Consort “Shu” in the last chapter and also in this one, but since she was introduced as Noble Consort “Wan” in ch 60 and we also got a different Consort “Shu” (4th princess’ mother) I’m chalking it up as a mix-up and correcting to “Wan” on my end. If the name switcheroo persists I’ll just make another TN and go back to edit the chapters. ⤴

[2] 鍾琢 the surname Zhong could also mean ‘goblet’ or ‘to concentrate’ and Zhuo is to ‘carve/cut’ in reference to gems, especially jade. ⤴

[3] Excerpt from ‘山亭夏日 Summer Day At The Mountain Pavilion’ by Tang Dynasty poet Gao Pian. English tl adapted from here. ⤴

[4] A mythological bird similar to a phoenix. ⤴

[5] Flipping name tiles was a way for Emperors to determine which concubine to sleep with, tiles with the concubines names would be presented on a tray to the Emperor at night, and the one whose tile the Emperor flipped was the one he would spend the night with. ⤴

TN: Due to irl busyness I may not upload much this month (if at all), sorry in advance!