IDWBE – Chapter 8 Angered by His Failure to Strive

Born into an illustrious family, with a powerful father and elder brother as backing—her own son clearly had every condition necessary to compete for the supreme throne!

Why should it be yielded to someone else?

She refused to accept it!

When facing this biological mother of his, Lin Yi sometimes felt genuinely guilty.

Disappointing someone who loves you deeply is not an easy thing to bear.

After hearing this, Hong Ying gave an awkward smile and kept silent.

No matter how he answered, it would be wrong. However the prince spoke about Consort Yuan, they were mother and son—it was their family matter.

But if he, a mere eunuch attendant, dared to meddle, he would be squeezed into tight shoes for the rest of his life.

He understood his prince far too well.

Lin Yi kicked off the wooden clogs he wore as slippers and said irritably, “What are you standing there for? Find my boots, prepare the donkey cart—we’re entering the palace!”

In truth, he was unwilling in his heart, but he didn’t dare refuse.

He feared neither heaven nor earth—only his mother crying afterward.

That feeling suffocated him.

Who told him to value family ties so much?

Although his mother sometimes treated him coldly, it had to be said—she loved and protected him with all her heart.

It was just that sometimes her methods were not necessarily right.

Hong Ying hurriedly acknowledged the order.

Still, he let out a quiet sigh of relief. At least the prince had not forced him to state his attitude toward Consort Yuan.

The prince rarely used a carriage when going out. The sudden order threw the coachman into complete confusion.

Standing before Steward Hong’s frosty expression, sweat poured down the coachman’s face like rain.

“Sun Yi, if you can’t handle it, this household will replace you.”

“This servant knows his fault… This horse doesn’t know what frightened it today… I…”

Hearing the steward’s sinister tone, Sun Yi dropped to his knees, kowtowing repeatedly.

In terms of position, he was naturally subordinate to Steward Hong.

In terms of relationship, he was half a disciple of the steward.

From the day he entered the residence, Steward Hong had demanded that all attendants accompanying the prince ensure that no outsider could approach him easily.

Sun Yi was already twenty-one, having inherited his father’s whip less than two years ago. Illiterate, he only knew how to raise horses.

Yet Steward Hong forced him to practice martial techniques daily.

It was bitter and exhausting. He could hardly endure it. But one glance from Steward Hong robbed him of the courage to refuse.

After all, even the former commander of the prince’s guards—a third-rank martial expert once beyond his reach—had been crippled and driven out of the residence by the steward!

Someone like him was nothing more than an ant fit only to beg.

“If not for fear of delaying the prince today, I would have killed you with one palm!”

After saying this, Hong Ying clasped his hands behind his back and walked into the stable.

Sun Yi discovered that the fierce horse he couldn’t handle—even with all the knowledge he had learned from his father—became instantly quiet when Steward Hong approached. It lowered its head, only daring to paw lightly at the ground, not even moving its body.

Only then did he truly understand his father’s old words: beasts bully the weak and fear the strong. Use the whip to make them submit first—then cultivate affection.

Lin Yi leaned lazily against the main gate, even his yawns listless.

“My life is truly bitter…”

“Your Highness, you’ve worked hard,” Mingyue said, imitating the way Steward Hong usually spoke. That was always the safest choice.

Lin Yi shook his head, too lazy to respond. Mingyue had been more interesting when she was younger.

Once grown, she understood rules and hierarchy.

Every time he made a casual joke, they would be frightened into kneeling.

A harem full of concubines?

Nonexistent!

Using power to oppress others?

He couldn’t commit such beastly acts.

What would have been the point of all the higher education he received in his previous life?

He felt even lonelier.

The towering palace gates drew nearer; the sun burned ever fiercer.

As an imperial prince, the only privilege he enjoyed was that after his carriage stopped, he could ride in a sedan chair into the palace.

But he refused.

Under the scorching sun, being carried by eight fourteen- or fifteen-year-old eunuchs would only make him look more useless.

The worldview formed in his previous life could not be changed in this one.

He wanted to be treated as a person.

Consort Yuan had been officially granted the title Consort Ning, but she preferred to be called Consort Yuan. She bore the surname Yuan and took pride in her clan.

At this moment, reunited with her grandmother and mother after many years apart, she was filled with excitement.

Yet when she suddenly saw Lin Yi being led in by a maidservant, her relaxed brows immediately knit tightly together.

“Your son greets Mother Consort.”

Lin Yi knelt at once. As for the Old Madam—his mother’s grandmother—and his maternal grandmother, he deliberately ignored them.

Not out of disrespect—but because he dared not show it.

Confusing ruler and subject was a grave taboo.

Blood relations had to yield.

If he acted according to his true temperament, anyone might suspect ulterior motives behind such disregard for hierarchy.

“Greetings, Prince He.”

Madam Xue, mother of the Duke Pillar of State, and Madam Dong, the titled principal wife, rose with the female members of the Duke’s household to salute Lin Yi.

“Old Madam, you overwhelm this junior,” Lin Yi bowed in return. It was proper etiquette—no one could fault him for it.

“Grandmother, Mother, there’s no need for such courtesy,” Consort Yuan rose from the central seat and gestured for them to sit. “This wild boy—I truly can no longer discipline him. If my elder brother would guide him more, perhaps he might restrain himself in the future.”

Madam Dong lowered her head in silence. This was her biological daughter—yet how could she respond?

She cherished her daughter dearly. But matters involving the imperial family—one misstep could doom the entire clan!

She still had sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren. She could not endanger the Yuan family for the sake of one daughter.

“Your Highness worries too much,” the Old Madam said with a warm smile, rising again. “The Ninth Prince is intelligent and surely blessed with fortune. Today, thanks to His Majesty’s grace, we were allowed to behold the Son of Heaven. We are deeply grateful. We have overstayed. Your Highness should rest. This old woman will take her leave.”

She bowed slightly to Lin Yi as well.

“Old Madam, please take care,” Lin Yi replied, naturally hoping she would not linger.

As the Yuan family women’s figures faded into the distance, Consort Yuan’s tears flowed ever more freely.

Lin Ning—the Princess of Huaiyang—who had remained silent throughout, took a handkerchief from a maid and carefully handed it to her mother.

“Mother Consort…”

“What sin have I committed in this lifetime!” Consort Yuan wept bitterly, dismissing the attendants with a wave.

Soon the vast bedchamber was left with only mother and her two children.

Wiping her tears, Consort Yuan glanced at Lin Ning, then fixed her gaze on Lin Yi, speaking in despair.

“If you were even one-tenth like your sister, I could close my eyes in death without regret.”

Lin Ning was heaven-gifted. Her reputation as the foremost talented woman under heaven was no exaggeration—anyone who read her poetry praised it.

More importantly, she had inherited the Yuan family’s martial arts. At a young age, she was already a seventh-rank expert.

Most hateful of all was the son before her—once her greatest hope, the support of her later years—yet he had achieved nothing in literature or martial arts!

To this day, he only dared ride a donkey!

He had already become the capital’s greatest joke!

How could she, as his mother, hold her head high?

Lin Yi braced himself and said, “Then it is this son’s fault.”

His mother wept like pear blossoms in the rain. Though thirty-six, time had left little mark on her delicate face.

The emperor’s favor toward her was partly because of the Yuan family—but also because she was truly beautiful. In modern society, she would at least be a top-tier celebrity.