“Wei Wanlin?” Qi Ming let out a cold sneer. “How would I know where Wei Wanlin is?”
“You received his last letter on the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month before the new year,” Wang Dian said. “After he left the northern frontier, he was still in contact with you, so how could you not know?”
Qi Ming stared at him, and after a while, suddenly smiled. “Wang Dian, you don’t need to play games with me here. Did Cui Qi find something in the Capital? Your tactic of advancing by retreating is quite clever.”
“Even if I hadn’t retreated, Bian Cang probably couldn’t have held back anymore,” Wang Dian sat at the table, calmly drinking tea. “First letting Liang Ye and the Tan family work together to bring down Cui Yuxian and the Cui and Jian families behind her, then instigating Wei Wanlin to commit treason and kill a hundred thousand northern troops, forcing Liang Ye to personally lead the army. After I returned to the Capital, he incited the Tan family to rebel. Apart from the Tan family, all the noble families in the Capital were living in fear. Finally, he deliberately released that madman Bian Feng to kill Liang Ye, with Tan Yishuang being just a smoke screen to confuse Liang Ye… Le Hong, am I right?”
“How do you know Bian Feng was deliberately released by him?” Qi Ming asked.
“If Bian Feng had really been by his side for over ten years, how could he not know this was a fool?” Wang Dian said. “Think carefully and you’ll understand – if he dared to release Bian Feng, he wasn’t afraid of his ambitions being discovered.”
In fact, because Bian Feng was a fool, he had severely damaged Liang Ye.
Qi Ming frowned.
“But there’s one thing I find strange,” Wang Dian stood up and walked in front of him. “What exactly does he want to do? Even if Liang Ye’s troops are scattered across various regions, if it really came to fighting, he has many more soldiers than Bian Cang’s twenty thousand men. What’s going on – is he certain that Liang Ye loves his people like children and won’t dare to go to war again?”
Liang Ye loving his people like children – Qi Ming seemed to hear some enormous joke and said with contempt. “This madman Liang Ye is not worth fearing at all.”
“So Bian Cang doesn’t kill him because he’s not worth fearing?” Wang Dian showed some surprise.
“What?” Qi Ming was stunned by his words.
Wang Dian tugged at the corner of his mouth. “On our journey from Chuansong to Anhan, we encountered no less than ten assassination attempts, but interestingly, none of them involved Bian’s people. Even among the assassins pursuing Liang Huan, the Bian family didn’t seem that enthusiastic. This makes Bian Cang’s motives quite intriguing, doesn’t it?”
Although Bian Cang now controlled the political power, the reports from spies indicated that before Wang Dian left the Capital, all government affairs were being carried out in an orderly manner. Even the educational reforms he had previously established were continuing. Yet Bian Cang had indeed arrested a group of Wang Dian and Liang Ye’s people, but there had been no news of him wanting to establish a new emperor or ascend to the throne himself.
Qi Ming stared coldly at Wang Dian. “Kill me or flay me as you wish, why waste words with me?”
“No, Liang Ye has been obsessing about flaying people lately. Getting covered in blood would just frighten the child again.” Wang Dian tucked in his sleeves and smiled slightly. “Le Hong, you have to say something so I can plead for you to keep your body intact.”
“…………” Qi Ming was so angry his eyes were blazing.
“You really don’t know what Bian Cang wants to do?” Wang Dian sighed. “If Liang Ye were interrogating you, it wouldn’t be this gentle.”
“I’ve died once before, there’s nothing to fear,” Qi Ming declared firmly.
Wang Dian shook his head somewhat regretfully and turned to leave the room.
Liang Ye raised his eyebrows at him. “How did it go?”
“He definitely knows something,” Wang Dian said with lowered eyes. “You go ahead.”
Although interrogation wasn’t something an emperor like Liang Ye should personally do, firstly, Li Mu’s secret guards were still inexperienced, and secondly, Liang Ye had somewhat of a passion for torture interrogation. When he was interrogating Bian Feng, he was interrupted by Wang Dian and complained about it for several days, even eagerly wanting to flay him for fun, which earned him a scolding from Wang Dian.
Seeing him enter the torture chamber with delight, Wang Dian, who had no interest in watching people being tortured, took the freshly awakened Liang Huan to play in the courtyard.
Having had a good sleep, Liang Huan was in high spirits. With only Uncle in the courtyard, he ran around freely for a while. After looking up at the tall, dense trees for a moment, he began climbing using both hands and feet. He struggled for quite a while but only managed to get three or four inches off the ground, making the dozen or so hidden secret guards in the courtyard very anxious.
Use your hands, put strength in your feet!
Oh no, he fell down again!
Jie Gui, who was crouching in the tree, wanted nothing more than to lower a rope to tie him up.
Wang Dian sat on the wooden steps watching the child climb trees. After watching with great interest for a while, he narrowed his eyes to bask in the sun.
“Your Highness,” Baili Cheng’an’s voice suddenly sounded from behind.
Wang Dian turned to look at her and smiled. “Is Baili Daren also here to sunbathe?”
Baili Cheng’an looked toward the second floor, where faint screams could be heard from the room. “Is His Majesty interrogating Qi Ming?”
“Qi Ming knows he won’t survive, ordinary methods won’t make him talk,” Wang Dian patted the steps beside him. “Sit?”
Baili Cheng’an hesitated for a moment before sitting beside him.
“Cui Qi’s letter was very short. Was it written in a hurry?” Wang Dian asked casually.
“Not hurry, but probably afraid that if I were caught, too much information would be revealed,” Baili Cheng’an said. “Cui Daren has always been cautious.”
“Wei Wanlin committed treason and betrayed the country, he should have run as far away as possible, so why did he return to the Capital?” Wang Dian picked up a smooth small stone from the ground and tossed it. “What does Baili Daren think Bian Cang wants to do?”
“Bian Cang has always shared political views with Teacher and appeared to have no desire for power. This sudden move forward, I can’t understand it either,” Baili Cheng’an shook her head.
What Baili Cheng’an said was indeed correct. If Bian Cang really wanted to seize power and rebel, continuing to hide or striking a fatal blow would have been the best choice. Moreover, the fact that Bian Cang could hide for so long without anyone suspecting him proved he was no fool. His current neither-here-nor-there standoff with Liang Ye was even more puzzling.
“But there must be some trick to it,” Baili Cheng’an said. “This minister thinks we shouldn’t act rashly.”
Wang Dian fingered the small stone in his hand and sighed. “If the Great Liang goes to war again, it will surely fall apart. Unless absolutely necessary, His Majesty is merciful and probably won’t mobilize troops again.”
Before he finished speaking, a scream suddenly came from upstairs, frightening Liang Huan who had just climbed up a few inches. He fell straight down, tearing his little dress.
The secret guards who had been secretly cheering him on immediately began beating their chests in dismay.
“……” Wang Dian’s mouth twitched.
Baili Cheng’an silently looked up at the sky.
Liang Huan patted his little dress, blew on his slightly scraped little hands himself, and began climbing up again with effort.
Baili Cheng’an wisely chose to change the subject. “When we came, we saw the tragic situation of refugees in Anhan Prefecture. The Crown Prince felt compassion and could even think of solutions like granting land and reducing taxes himself, showing his kindness and intelligence.”
Wang Dian smiled. “Ah Huan is indeed clever, but what Anhan Prefecture lacks now is grain. Getting those noble families to open their granaries is harder than skinning them.”
“I heard Xu Daren has replaced Feng Lan?” Baili Cheng’an asked.
“Although Xu Daren is occasionally too diplomatic, he truly cares for the common people,” Wang Dian said. “But there’s probably still more to work out. The Capital’s grain is already almost gone. I think your method in Guangyuan County wasn’t bad, we could let Xu Xiude learn from it.”
Baili Cheng’an felt deeply moved after hearing this. “Does Your Highness know who first used this method?”
Wang Dian looked at her puzzled.
“It was Bian Cang,” Baili Cheng’an said. “He once discussed this method with Teacher, who then taught it to us.”
“His educational reforms weren’t bad either,” Wang Dian sighed. “Yet later he could mastermind the imperial examination cheating incident.”
“Wasn’t it originally the Cui family–” Baili Cheng’an was somewhat surprised, then understood. “I vaguely heard that Bian Cang’s nephew was involved.”
“Back then, His Majesty and I were certain it was Cui Yuxian’s doing. Although it was later dropped, someone has been investigating all along,” Wang Dian sighed. “After the imperial examination cheating case, Bian Cang secretly placed many people among the new successful candidates. Most of those who were affected and unable to take the exam were not his students.”
Disgust flashed in Baili Cheng’an’s eyes. “Students study hard for decades, how can he arrange things at will?”
“Baili Daren is indeed upright and honest,” Wang Dian said with great admiration.
Baili Cheng’an paused. “Your Highness doesn’t mind my being a woman?”
“If His Majesty hasn’t said anything, how could it be my place to mind?” Wang Dian smiled slightly. “Besides, having worked with Baili Daren for so long, there’s no need to say more about your capabilities.”
Baili Cheng’an smiled, then saw Liang Huan fall from the tree again. When he saw her, his eyes lit up and he ran toward her on his short legs, “An An~”
However, he suddenly stopped halfway, opened his mouth and looked at Liang Ye who had appeared in the doorway.
Liang Ye happily crooked his finger at the child, gesturing him to come over.
Liang Huan swallowed and slowly walked to the steps, looking at the long white thing in his hand with a mixture of fear and curiosity.
Wang Dian and Baili Cheng’an followed his gaze and saw Liang Ye showing off a white bone in his hand, turning it around twice with a smile on his face, asking, “Isn’t this bone beautiful?”
Baili Cheng’an calmly looked away. “Your Majesty, Your Highness, this minister will take His Highness the Crown Prince out to play.”
With that, she took Liang Huan’s little hand and walked out.
“An An, what bone?” Liang Huan turned his head to look again.
Baili Cheng’an turned his little head back. “Your Highness, it’s just a pig bone. Didn’t you want to see butterflies earlier? Would you like this minister to take you to see them?”
“Yes~” Liang Huan sweetly agreed.
Wang Dian glanced at the white bone in Liang Ye’s hand. “You cleaned it and now want to play with it?”
“Of course it’s clean,” Liang Ye tossed the bone in his hand. “Would you like Zhen to make some bone arrows for you to play with?”
“……No need,” Wang Dian said with difficulty. “It’s quite disgusting.”
Liang Ye disappointedly threw the bone into the nearby grass, patted his hands and wanted to hold Wang Dian’s hand, but Wang Dian quickly dodged.
“You’re disgusted by Zhen?” Liang Ye raised an eyebrow with displeasure, turning the tables first. “You clearly begged Zhen to interrogate someone.”
“Wash your hands!” Wang Dian said somewhat irritably. “And don’t throw bones around randomly, people still need to stay at this inn!”
Finding a white bone in the grass would be quite frightening.
“Li Mu will handle it,” Liang Ye was always only interested in killing, not cleaning up.
Li Mu, hidden in the shadows, resignedly had people pick up the bone and clean the room.
Liang Ye insisted on touching Wang Dian’s face. After Wang Dian dodged several times unsuccessfully, he was finally maliciously touched on the face. “Zhen is all clean now, smelling fragrant. Don’t believe it? Smell for yourself.”
“Get lost! You smell of blood, and your hair isn’t even wet!” Wang Dian wanted nothing more than to dunk him in the pool seven or eight times. He entered the door with a black face, then suddenly turned back and stared at Liang Ye meaningfully.
Liang Ye snickered. “It’s too late to apologize now. You dare to be disgusted by Zhen, Zhen must teach you a lesson–What?”
“Stone,” Wang Dian pressed the smooth little stone into his palm, saying woodenly, “Picked it up casually, take it or leave it.”
With that, he went upstairs gracefully to take a bath.
Liang Ye curiously looked at the ordinary small stone in his palm, stared at Wang Dian’s retreating figure with increasingly hot and deep eyes, his smile gradually widening, suddenly excited enough to want to flay someone else for fun.
The secret guards watched in cold sweat as they saw their master toss the small stone in his hand and happily follow the Prince upstairs.
Is he going to…flay the Prince?
