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| Rebirth: Back to Zero Author: 祎庭沫瞳 (Yi Ting Mo Tong) |
Chapter 17 Abnormality (Part 1/3)
Regardless
of the victims' acceptance, the Fourth Prince’s Mansion's haunting ended in the
concubine's death. While the public may be unconvinced, the rumours slowly diluted
with time. After all, Ye Empire’s freedom of speech prohibited gossip about the
royal family with penalties and even death.
Soon
after, good news arrived from the northern border. The Sixth Prince had
gathered enough food for the army to wage war for half a year. Hearing this,
Emperor Yanxi was very satisfied and burst into a hearty guffaw, exclaiming "good!"
thrice in a row. The good news came in a pair as news of the army's victory at the
border landed at the Capital. They had won their early battles and recovered
the Hanguan city.
The
next day, Emperor Yanxi called Jun Lixuan to Imperial Study. He passed the
reports sent by Jun Liche to him, and said, "I heard that this supplies
loan was your idea?"
Since
this matter fell to Jun Liche, borrowing supplies from the Second Prince was a
natural choice. Jun Lixuan did not hide his involvement, "Yes. Although
Second Brother is lord of a fief, he is still Emperor Father's son. It is
natural for him to help our empire in times of need. Furthermore, filial piety
is expected of a son, and loyalty is expected as a lord. He was given the fief
early and did not have time to display the filial piety to you. But, now that there
is a chance, I believed Second Brother would help us."
Emperor
Yanxi nodded when he heard the words, "Chengjing's Mother Concubine was
not of high status. As a Prince, he was well- educated. But I never considered
him as a crown Prince candidate as his heart was too soft. So, I made him the
lord of a fief early. I know he is extremely filial, and always prepares a
hand-made gift for me whenever he returns. Now that he can be of help to me, I
am also deeply relieved. I really should reward his thoughtfulness
someday."
"Yes,
Emperor Father." Jun Lixuan said respectfully.
"I
am also pleased to see you brothers collaborating." Emperor Yanxi held up
the brush and wrote a decree. He said to Jun Lixuan, "You can leave now.
Yesterday, some good tea arrived at your Empress Mother's palace. Go and get
some for your wife."
"Yes,
thank you, Emperor Father ." Jun Lixuan saluted and stepped back and left.
Jun
Lixuan's most recent hobby was to ask for some of the "goodies" that
the Emperor and Empress had as long as it did not overstep the rules. All of
these would be brought home for Ling Qiyang's use. Over time, the Emperor and
Empress also discovered the new habits of their son. He laughed and teased him,
somewhat approving of his behaviour.
The
next day, Emperor Yanxi ordered the Sixth Prince to return to the Capital and
gave the Second Prince, Jun Chengjing, a promotion to the First Class Lord of
the North to recognize his contributions to securing the war supplies.
Three
days later, before Jun Liche came back, his personal shadow guard appeared in
Jun Lixuan’s household. It was not clear what this shadow guard's real name but
Jun Liche called him Xiaoying. He was the only shadow guard of that Jun Liche
had. Jun Liyuan speculated by that the reason Wen Mo, Jun Liche’s Omega attendant,
remained nothing more than a servant for so many years had to do with this
shadow guard.
As for
the specifics, Jun Liyuan was also not clear. He only knew that Xiaoying stayed
the night in Jun Liche's room nightly. If he was on a break, Jun Liche did not
allow others to enter the bedroom.
"Get
up. Why didn't you follow Sixth Brother ?" Jun Lixuan asked. Since his
Sixth Brother did not require Xiaoying to kneel, Jun Lixuan had no reason to
have him kneel.
"Master
asked me to return overnight." Xiaoying got up and said with his head
lowered. Jun Lixuan was no stranger to him. In fact, Jun Lixuan trained the
shadow guards. After passing the assessment, Xiaoying was sent directly to Jun
Liche, so Jun Liche was Xiaoying's first Master, and the remained only one.
Jun
Lixuan frowned slightly, "What happened to Sixth Brother?" Logically
speaking, Xiaoying would not leave Jun Liche's side.
"Master
is okay, Your Highness does not need to worry. Master sent me to tell you that abnormalities
seem to be happening in Your Royal Highness Yi's army. For the past ten days,
every few days, one or two soldiers will sleepwalk in the night. He would
massacre the soldiers who slept in the same tent. No one noticed the first time,
and it led to all twenty people in the tent killed. In the last two times, some
people noticed and thankfully most of them were just injured." Xiaoying
reported.
Jun
Lixuan frowned. This happened in the Third Brother's army, not a general's. He
had no right to intervene. Since Jun Liyuan did not inform him, this was
probably treated as a mere accident.
Xiaoying
was about to continue talking when Ming Li, who was waiting outside the door,
said, "Prince Consort, Your Highness is talking inside." Generally,
Jun Lixuan did not allow others to disturb him when he met with the shadow
guards, or if he was amid his own affairs.
"Got
it. Pass this to him later." Ling QIyang got Luo Su to pass the small
basket in his hand to Ming Li. There were oranges neatly stacked inside. Before
lunch, Jun Lixuan mentioned that he was craving for oranges but there were not
any prepared in the manor. The housekeeper hurriedly sent someone to buy it, explicitly
picking the sweetest ones.
As a
martial arts practitioner, Jun Lixuan had good ears. He knew that Ling Qiyang
was here since he entered the yard. He shouted, "Ming Li, why haven't you
invited the Prince Consort in?" If this was someone else, he would
probably have punished the attendant. However, Ming Li had followed him through
life and death situations in past life. He could not bear to be too harsh with
him.
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Translator's Notes:
The first chapter for the week! Some cool problems are stirring! Details for bonus chapters and early access to chapters will be released in the last part!
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