IDWBE -Chapter 546 Sincerity

It would have been one thing if the matter had only reached Lord He Jixiang. But why drag it all the way to Prince He?

What could Prince He even do—kill Chen Xinluo or something?

In the end, the result would be the same either way.

Prince He would not side with anyone.

Still too young… too impulsive.

Just as he was hesitating about whether to keep standing at the door and listen, he saw Zixia coming from the corridor. Without another thought, he turned and left.

Things that shouldn’t be heard are better left unheard.

Inside the main hall.

Lin Yi sat there, looking at the mother and son kneeling on the ground. After a long while, he said, “Get up and speak.”

“Thank you, Your Highness!”

Wei Yishan spoke and helped his mother to her feet.

Lin Yi looked her over again from head to toe. His heart remained unsettled for a long time.

Before Wei Yishan could speak, Lin Yi said, “You’re not young anymore. As the garrison commander of the capital camp, you should be more composed. Rushing here in such panic—anyone who didn’t know better would think the sky had fallen.”

“This subordinate knows his fault!”

Wei Yishan immediately knelt again.

Madam Wei also hurriedly knelt down with him.

Lin Yi sighed. “You child, why won’t you listen? You’ve even dragged your mother into this. Sister-in-law, you don’t need to kneel. Please stand.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

But Madam Wei remained kneeling obediently and did not rise.

Lin Yi said calmly, “Wei Yishan, your mother worked very hard to raise you. Do you really have the heart to let her kneel with you?”

“Yes.”

Wei Yishan stood again and helped his mother up.

But when he thought carefully about Prince He’s words, they seemed to carry a deeper meaning.

Lin Yi continued, “If there are issues between mother and son, discuss them privately behind closed doors. Once outsiders find out, they won’t sympathize with you—they’ll only laugh at you. That’s just how the world is. Don’t you think?”

Did he support Chen Xinluo marrying Madam Wei?

Of course not!

A fine cabbage being eaten by a pig!

But since the two had already slept together, support or not, it had to be supported now.

“Your Highness…”

Wei Yishan’s heart instantly sank.

“You may leave,” Lin Yi said, pretending to know nothing. “A mother and son quarreling—asking me to judge won’t help. Even an upright official finds it hard to judge family affairs, let alone someone like me, who isn’t even an upright official. Just try to understand your mother more.”

Since he couldn’t have her anyway, he might as well stay out of it.

Wei Yishan wanted to speak again, but suddenly felt a chill run through his body.

He gathered his courage and looked up, only to see Chief Steward Hong standing behind the prince holding a horsetail whisk.

Wei Yishan shuddered immediately and dared not say another word.

“Yes.”

With that, he could only leave with his mother in frustration.

When Madam Wei turned to go, her eyes flowed with emotion. Lin Yi found himself momentarily entranced.

He really wanted to be like Cao Cao.

“Your Highness is wise,” Hong Ying said after the mother and son left, bowing slightly. “That boy Wei Yishan is becoming more and more troublesome.”

Lin Yi laughed. “Although he matured early, he grew up in a single-parent family. His psychology is still different from children raised in normal families.”

For example, people like him—who had grown up in an orphanage with no parents.

Inferiority and sensitivity followed them through two lifetimes.

Becoming a prince in this life didn’t magically cure psychological scars.

His current thriftiness and stinginess were all because he had once been poor and afraid.

People like them always saw money as more important than life.

Because when you go to the hospital, you must pay first before they save your life.

No money meant no life.

Jiang Chou watched Wei Yishan leave the side gate of the residence and said to Sun Cheng, who stood nearby looking bored, “Looks like the prince didn’t help him either.”

Sun Cheng scoffed. “There’s an old saying: family shame should not be spread outside. Yet he made sure the whole world knows about it. Who knows what he was thinking?”

Jiang Chou said calmly, “Who didn’t do foolish things when they were young? Prince He was right—if a youth isn’t a little reckless, it’s a wasted youth.”

Sun Cheng looked curious. “What foolish things did you do when you were young?”

“Hmph.”

Jiang Chou squatted on the steps by the gate, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan.

“If I’d been a little smarter when I was young, would I have such a big scar on my face?”

Sun Cheng said, “The martial world is all about grudges and revenge. It’s inevitable. I actually envy you. Unlike me—so young, yet I spend every day guarding this gate. Boring.”

“Grudges and revenge? That’s just nonsense,” Jiang Chou said disdainfully. “My father ran a teahouse. My parents wanted me to inherit it, but when I was young I hated that kind of life where you could see the end at a glance. So relying on my little bit of martial skill, I secretly left home in Yuzhou to roam the martial world. I wanted fame and glory. Ignorant and fearless, I offended anyone and did anything. In the end, I was chased everywhere. That’s when I realized—life is happiest when you can see its end clearly. The most frightening thing is a life where you can’t.”

“Luckily I made it to Sanhe. Otherwise I’d probably have died without even leaving a corpse.”

He continued, “And you? Born into fortune yet unaware of it. Standing at this gate, everyone who enters gives you tips. What more do you want?”

He himself had once been a gatekeeper and knew the income well.

Because he served as a gatekeeper in Prince He’s residence, he had been able to buy a large house in Ankang City and bring his wife and children over.

Now he was a guard instead. He didn’t regret it.

A man should still strive to advance.

A gatekeeper can only ever remain a gatekeeper.

But as a guard, with effort, one could rise from third-rank guard to first-rank guard. There was plenty of room for promotion.

“I don’t want to live like this forever,” Sun Cheng sighed. “Kids on the street already call me ‘the gate guard.’”

“My brother won’t let me leave. He insists I stay here.”

Jiang Chou said, “Your elder brother is already the Court Minister of the Imperial Stud, a third-rank official. In a couple of years he may rise even higher. As long as you don’t cause trouble, your whole life will be smooth and worry-free.”

“A smooth life is boring. I want to ride the wind and break the waves.”

Sun Cheng spoke with youthful passion.

“You want to ride the wind and waves?” Jiang Chou sneered. “Your martial skill is only fifth rank, right? If you really want to accomplish something, improve your martial arts first.”

“I’m almost sixth rank!” Sun Cheng said, blushing. “Fang Pi is still fifth rank. If he can do those things, why can’t I?”

Jiang Chou chuckled. “Because he has Prince He’s favor.”

Sun Cheng fell silent.

The prince passed the gate every day without even glancing at him.

Jiang Chou said, “If you really want to become an official, keep pestering your brother. I refuse to believe his heart is made of stone.”

Sun Cheng sighed. “You say that because you don’t know my brother. He loves me, yes—but the more he loves me, the more he worries I’ll get into trouble outside. If I push too hard, he might send me to De’en to raise horses. Guarding the gate would still be better than that.”

“Then pretend I said nothing.”

Jiang Chou dusted off his clothes and walked back into the courtyard.

The sun blazed overhead.

At the empty gate of Prince He’s residence, only Sun Cheng remained.

He felt even more miserable.

Toward evening, a message came from the palace: Consort Yuan missed her grandchildren again.

Hu Miaoyi did not dare decide on her own and asked Lin Yi for instructions.

Lin Yi had nothing to do, so he took Hu Miaoyi, Mingyue, and the two children into the palace.

“My precious darlings,” Consort Yuan said, holding a child in each arm and refusing to let go. She glanced at Lin Yi and said, “If you have nothing to do, stop standing here and being an eyesore.”

Lin Yi was baffled.

Not knowing how he had offended her again, he could only leave Cian Palace.

He glanced at Xiao Xizi, who followed closely behind him.

“Anything unusual in the palace these days?”

Xiao Xizi hurriedly replied, “After Your Lady spoke with Consort Tang, Consort Tang cried bitterly and has shut herself in since.”

“Consort Tang cried?” Lin Yi asked in surprise. “Do you know what my mother said?”

Xiao Xizi shook his head. “Forgive me, Your Highness. I don’t know.”

Even if he knew, he wouldn’t say!

Showing loyalty was fine—but courting death was not.

After all, Consort Yuan was the prince’s own mother.

Without orders from the prince, how could he dare secretly spy or eavesdrop?

Did he still want his head?

His master once said: Follow heaven’s will in your actions, but live against your own nature.

In the past, heaven’s will meant Emperor Delong.

Now, naturally, it meant Prince He.

“You know nothing about anything. What use are you people?” Lin Yi glared.

“I truly don’t know,” Xiao Xizi said, looking aggrieved.

“And how’s my father?” Lin Yi asked.

Xiao Xizi replied, “Since the noon banquet auctions began, His Majesty has stayed in Qilin Palace and rarely goes out. He hasn’t even visited the imperial garden.”

“Sulking?” Lin Yi wondered.

Xiao Xizi hesitated. “His Majesty seems to be cultivating a martial technique.”

“A technique?”

Lin Yi frowned.

“I asked the court offering Liu Chaoyuan,” Xiao Xizi said. “He said it was just some health-strengthening exercises.”

“Let’s go to Qilin Palace.”

After walking a few steps, Lin Yi was already sweating.

He even took off his undershirt.

Emperor Delong lay on a couch with half-closed eyes. Hearing footsteps, he opened them and saw Lin Yi bare-chested, wearing loose shorts and barefoot.

“Where is your decorum?” the emperor snapped.

Lin Yi sat down across from him carelessly. “Father, are you feeling unwell? I heard you haven’t gone to the imperial garden in a long time.”

The emperor snorted. “Mind your own business. The less you worry about me, the longer I might live.”

“You make it sound like I’m an unfilial son,” Lin Yi said unhappily. “I’ve been doing everything according to your wishes.”

The emperor glanced at him. “What do you want today?”

“Can’t I visit without a reason?” Lin Yi retorted.

“If there’s nothing, then leave. I’m tired.”

The emperor looked annoyed.

Lin Yi stepped forward, put an arm around his father’s shoulders, and said with a grin, “Fine words aren’t as good as honesty. Let’s speak from the heart. Tell me honestly—what other trump cards do you still have? You know your son isn’t always the brightest. Guessing all the time is exhausting.”

His father had almost used up all his patience.

If it were anyone else, he would have already had Han Deqing skin them alive.

But unfortunately, this man had provided his Y chromosome.

“Do not worry that others do not know you; worry that you do not know others,” the emperor said coldly. “I have nothing to say to you.”

“Gentlemen make friends through shared ideals; petty men through shared interests,” Lin Yi replied, quoting a line. “Since neither of us are particularly good people, we can at least be friends. There’s nothing we can’t say.”

The emperor’s lips twitched.

“Get out!”

“Your temper is a little bad…” Lin Yi kept rambling.

Before he could finish, a cup had already been thrown at him.

Crash!

Lin Yi patted his chest—fortunately he had dodged quickly.

“Calm down, Father. Your son will take his leave.”

He finally restrained himself, worried he might actually anger the emperor to death.

---

Night fell.

Lin Yi lay in the garden, occasionally slapping mosquitoes.

Hong Ying suddenly came over. “Your Highness, the Crown Prince has arrived.”

“Invite him in.”

Lin Yi didn’t know why the Crown Prince came so late, but it must be important.

Compared with their father, this elder brother was much easier to deal with.

“Your servant greets the Regent Prince.”

The Crown Prince bowed respectfully.

“We’re brothers, no need for such formality,” Lin Yi said, pulling him to a chair. “You must have come for something.”

The Crown Prince stood again and cupped his hands. “There is something I’m not sure whether I should say.”

Lin Yi personally poured tea and handed him a cup. “Speak freely.”

The Crown Prince looked into his eyes. “If my guess is correct, Father has begun cultivating the Yin-Yang Eight Desolations Technique.”

“That secret technique from Xing Chenhai?”

Lin Yi remembered it clearly.

“Your Highness is wise,” the Crown Prince said solemnly. “Please make preparations early.”

“Thank you, Brother. I’m very grateful.”

No matter how his father trained, it would be useless.

Unless Liu Chaoyuan practiced it and later transferred the power to Emperor Delong.

When the Crown Prince stood to leave, Lin Yi said, “Escort my brother home.”

After he left, Lin Yi looked at Hong Ying.

“What do you think?”

Hong Ying smiled. “The Yin-Yang Eight Desolations Technique is merely a power-transferring technique.”

“So basically useless?” Lin Yi said.

He understood.

In other words, the technique was only for passing one’s internal power to someone else.

Clearly impossible.

Emperor Delong feared death—did Liu Chaoyuan not fear death as well?

“Your Highness is wise,” Hong Ying replied cautiously.

“Just in case, you don’t need to stay at home these days. Move into the palace as well,” Lin Yi said calmly. “If anything unexpected happens, make decisions yourself. No need to report to me first.”

“Rest assured, Your Highness. I won’t disappoint you.”

Hong Ying departed like a drifting shadow.

On the third day after the natives from the Southern Seas arrived in Ankang City, they collectively knelt outside Prince He’s residence.

Hundreds of them.

“Did they come empty-handed?” Lin Yi asked Sun Cheng.

Sun Cheng replied, “Reporting to Your Highness, I didn’t see any gift list.”

“Savages indeed—no sense of etiquette,” Lin Yi said angrily. “If they enjoy kneeling, let them keep kneeling. I won’t see them.”

Coming to ask for help empty-handed—without even bringing gifts.

Not a bit of sincerity.