IDWBE -Chapter 269 The Struggle for the Throne

How did she suddenly turn hostile?

No wonder people say a woman can change her face faster than flipping a book. Even one’s own mother is no exception.

Seeing Lin Yi like this only made Consort Yuan even angrier.

“You tell me—if you truly lacked the ability, that would be one thing. But such a perfect opportunity was right in front of you, and you just let it slip away? What’s the point of merely taking your mother out? Do you think it’s glorious for me to live with the face of an abandoned woman? Tell me, shouldn’t that make me angry?”

The string of questions made Lin Yi’s head ache.

He really wanted to ask: How exactly did you become an abandoned woman?

It was your son who racked his brains to bring you out!

And now I’m the one who doesn’t know gratitude?

This was a situation he had never calculated for.

Lin Ning hurriedly said, “Mother, this isn’t a good place to talk. Let’s discuss it after we leave.”

“Stay out of this. It’s none of your business,” Consort Yuan snapped at her daughter.

When she looked back at Lin Yi, tears were already welling in her eyes. Like pear blossoms bathed in rain, she said:

“My greatest wish in this life is for you to amount to something. All my hopes are placed on you. As long as you have ability, I would die content. But look at you now—what’s the use of bringing me out? I might as well have died in the palace. Following you back to Sanhe is nothing but humiliation.”

Lin Yi wasn’t surprised by her tears at all.

He had grown up witnessing them.

Bracing himself, he said, “My dear mother, can’t you have just a little faith in your son?”

Consort Yuan wiped her tears and retorted, “Faith? I have no faith in you at all! It’s precisely because I believed in you too much that I’m so disappointed now!”

Lin Yi sighed.

“North of the city are more than a hundred thousand troops from Jizhou and Qizhou. Inside the city are another hundred thousand from the Capital Camp, Ankang Army, and Imperial Guards.

And outside, Mei Jingzhi has another hundred thousand soldiers watching like tigers eyeing their prey. I only have this small force. Even if I could take the city, I’d suffer heavy losses. It wasn’t easy to build up what I have. I must cherish it.”

“Bah!” Consort Yuan spat.

“Don’t try to fool me. Do you think I don’t understand the saying ‘When narrow paths meet, the brave prevail’? At a moment like this, why not stake everything on a single throw?”

Lin Yi smiled.

“Because that would be unnecessary—hard work without benefit. Let me assure you, Mother, the throne is already mine. It’s only a matter of sooner or later.”

Even if his imperial father begged him to take it now, he wouldn’t want it.

It was a burning seat.

Internal strife, external threats, endless problems.

He needed to let the bullets fly a little longer.

Consort Yuan looked at him in surprise. “Why do you say that?”

“Because Father didn’t ask me to return the seven prefectures.”

As long as he held those seven prefectures, his capital remained intact. His foundation would only grow stronger.

“Why?” she asked.

“Because he knows that even if he asked, I wouldn’t give them back. So he spared himself the embarrassment.”

In that respect, Lin Yi considered it one of his father’s strengths.

Arrogant, yes—but capable of weighing pros and cons.

Not a truly muddleheaded emperor who acted recklessly without regard for consequences.

Consort Yuan snorted. “So what? How does that guarantee you’ll ascend the throne?”

“Because this time, they’ve felt the pain. From now on, when they see me, they’ll probably avoid me like the plague.”

He still didn’t know the full details of the battle outside Ankang City between the Sanhe troops and Yang Changchun’s forces.

But the most important fact was this—

He won.

And likely won beautifully.

Otherwise, his imperial father wouldn’t have looked so grim.

Lin Ning nodded rapidly like a pecking chick.

“Brother is right! He even defeated Uncle!”

“That’s because your uncle deliberately held back,” Consort Yuan replied coldly.

With that, she pulled down the carriage curtain and ignored both her son and daughter.

Lin Yi jumped off the carriage awkwardly and said to Hong Ying, “Drive steadily. Don’t let Her Highness or the Princess be jolted.”

Hong Ying smiled apologetically. “Rest assured, Your Highness.”

Lin Yi nodded and climbed into Guo Zhao’s carriage.

After Guo Zhao blew a whistle, the two horses of the spare carriage snorted and followed obediently behind.

Lin Yi chuckled. “Old Guo, you’re just a gardener, yet you handle horses better than that old fellow Sun Du.”

Guo Zhao cracked his whip and turned back with a grin.

“Your Highness, have you forgotten? I was originally a stable hand. It was only because no one tended the Prince’s garden that you assigned me there.”

He felt deeply wronged about it.

He had been a stable hand who simply liked growing flowers. He had planted some in the stable yard, and by good fortune they bloomed brilliantly.

The Prince had assumed he was skilled with plants—

And reassigned him as a gardener!

It was an injustice he had nowhere to air.

Later, when that old fellow Sun Du injured his leg, Guo Zhao thought he might finally resume driving the carriage.

But Sun Du immediately had his son Sun Yi take over instead!

He hadn’t even been given a chance to react.

Every time he thought of it, his teeth itched with resentment.

“Did that really happen?” Lin Yi couldn’t recall such a trivial matter.

Guo Zhao beamed. “To once again drive for Your Highness is my greatest blessing.”

Seeing the four palace maids trailing behind his mother’s carriage, drenched in sweat, Lin Yi said, “Let them ride in the spare carriage.”

Guo Zhao quickly agreed.

He jumped down, chased after them, and arranged for the four maids to sit inside—only asking them to hold the reins.

By the time they reached the southern gate, night had fallen.

Torches blazed atop and below the city walls, lighting everything brightly.

He Jin, riding behind Lin Yi with a squad of Imperial Guards, dismounted and approached the carriage, cupping his hands.

“Your Highness—”

“No need to say more. I know what to do,” Lin Yi interrupted.

He Jin smiled. “In that case, this old servant is grateful. Would Your Highness like to send someone ahead to inform them?”

Hong Ying replied, “Eunuch He is being overly cautious. You might as well take a look from the city wall.”

Before He Jin could understand, Han Long descended from the wall and whispered something in his ear. He nodded.

Han Long shouted, “Open the gates!”

Dozens of men worked together to push open the heavy gates.

Across the Ju Ma River, torches burned brightly as well.

In the center stood a carriage. Ye Qiu stood atop it, supporting a woman dressed in white.

He Jin narrowed his eyes to examine the scene, then said to Han Long, “Lower the drawbridge.”

With a rumbling crash—

The drawbridge dropped.

Ye Qiu’s carriage rolled across the wide bridge.

At the same time, Hong Ying guided his carriage forward, and the two passed each other slowly.