After finishing breakfast, Ye Yunting discussed with Ji Lian the idea of thoroughly searching the prince's mansion once more. They might be able to find some overlooked valuable items that could be exchanged for silver. This would not only allow them to buy rice and provisions but also to bribe the maids and guards for information.
The master and servant split up to search, one taking the front courtyards and the other the rear.
Ye Yunting headed for the rear courtyards. He went through the rooms one by one, only to realize that this vast prince's mansion was truly empty, containing nothing of value.
It wasn't that it had been cleaned out thoroughly, but judging by the furnishings, it seemed there had never been many items to begin with.
Take the Duke of Qi's mansion, for example. Not to mention the courtyards where the proper masters lived, even the courtyards of the concubines were exquisitely decorated. Carved beams and painted rafters, rare flowers and exotic plants were too numerous to count. While not excessively extravagant, it was certainly far from ordinary.
He had originally thought that given Prince Yong'an's power and status, his mansion should at least be more luxurious than the Duke of Qi's.
It seemed he had thought too much.
In this vast rear courtyard, apart from the main courtyard which showed some signs of life, the rest were completely empty and uninhabited.
He had heard that the Old Prince and the Old Princess had been deeply devoted to each other, and the Old Prince had never taken a concubine throughout his life. Even though the Old Princess had difficulty bearing children and ultimately only had one son, the Old Prince did not bring any new women into the mansion.
While it was understandable that the rear courtyard was empty during the Old Prince's time, Ye Yunting hadn't expected that even after Li Fengqi took over the mansion for these years, the rear courtyard had remained empty and unused.
He sighed with emotion a couple of times and searched the last two rooms.
The result was still nothing.
Empty, uninhabited courtyards naturally wouldn't contain any valuable items.
Ye Yunting, empty-handed, strolled to the front courtyards to meet up with Ji Lian, hoping he might have had some luck. Fortunately, Ji Lian had found something. He came over, cradling a pile of paper, ink, brushes, and inkstones like treasures. Seeing Ye Yunting, he then pulled an inkstone from his robe, seeking praise: "Young master, take a look at this. I remember the Second Young Master has an inkstone like this too. It should be worth some silver, right?"
The inkstone was about the size of a palm, with rounded corners. It was carved with a few swaying lotus flowers and leaves, on the verge of blooming. The central grinding area resembled a pool of water, faintly shimmering with a light golden glow. The lotus swayed upon it, perfectly embodying the phrase, "Emerging unstained from the mud, cleansed and unadorned by the clear waters."
"This is a Lotus Throne Inkstone," Ye Yunting recognized its origin at a glance.
Usually bored in the mansion, he found pleasure in reading and practicing calligraphy, and had considerable knowledge of paper, ink, brushes, and inkstones. The Lotus Throne Inkstone was carved by the most sought-after master craftsman in the capital. Only two were made. One was kept in the Duke of Qi's mansion, and later, when Ye Wang went to the Imperial College, Ye Zhili took it out and gave it to him.
The whereabouts of the other one were unknown. He hadn't expected it to be here in the prince's mansion.
His fingers gently stroked the inkstone. The surface felt smooth under his fingertips. He caressed it a few times, fascinated, his eyes revealing reluctance. "Such a fine inkstone..."
Ji Lian, seeing this, immediately chimed in: "Such a fine inkstone must be worth a fortune!"
"..." Ye Yunting was momentarily speechless. After a silent pause, he said, "Forget it. No matter how fine the inkstone, one must be alive to use it." With that, he stuffed the inkstone back into Ji Lian's arms and walked ahead first, lest he see it again and become reluctant to part with it. "Let's first try to see if we can leave the mansion."
He turned his head, surveying their surroundings, feeling that things had been going a bit too smoothly these past two days.
Given the current situation in the prince's mansion, would the emperor truly allow them to come and go and act freely?
Ye Yunting's confusion soon found an answer.
As the two reached the side gate of the mansion and just pushed it open, two men blocked the entrance, looking at them with cold eyes. "No passage is allowed here. Please return, Princess Consort."
Both Ye Yunting and Ji Lian were startled by the sudden appearance of the men. Ye Yunting quickly glanced at the waist tokens of the two, said nothing more, and pulled Ji Lian back inside.
After walking some distance away, Ji Lian whispered, "I didn't see anyone guarding the side gate yesterday."
He had even pushed the door open and looked out then. The alley outside was very quiet; apart from two beggars, there was no one else.
"Those two guards are from the Divine Strategy Army," Ye Yunting recalled the waist tokens hanging at their belts. He also remembered the two beggars he glimpsed at the corner of the wall and asked, "Did you see those two beggars yesterday then?"
Ji Lian nodded. "Yes, they were there yesterday too."
Ye Yunting thought for a moment and said, "Those two beggars don't seem quite right."
Although dressed in tattered and dirty clothes, their builds were exceptionally burly and robust. Even though they tried their best to curl up and hide it, their bulging muscles were hard to conceal. Moreover, Ye Yunting, sharp-eyed, noticed at a glance that the fingernails of the hands resting on their knees were clean, without a speck of dirt.
Where could one find such robust and clean beggars?
Ye Yunting guessed these were also likely Divine Strategy Army soldiers in disguise. But he couldn't understand: with the prince's mansion already fallen into such a state, what was the point of disguising themselves and guarding it so meticulously, both openly and covertly?
As his thoughts churned, Ye Yunting had already pulled Ji Lian back to the main courtyard.
He carried the pile of writing materials back to the inner room and placed them on the table. Then, he carefully took out the Lotus Throne Inkstone from his robe and placed it separately to one side. Only then did he tell Li Fengqi about their discovery at the side gate.
Li Fengqi's ears were listening to him, but his eyes were fixed on the inkstone, his eyebrows slightly raised. "You went to the front courtyards today?"
Ye Yunting followed his gaze and saw the Lotus Throne Inkstone. He blinked slowly, suddenly realizing belatedly that the owner of these items was lying right in front of him.
His cheeks warmed slightly. He tried hard to maintain his composure. "Yes. I originally wanted to go with Ji Lian to find some items to exchange for silver to buy rice and provisions. I didn't expect to be stopped at the side gate."
Li Fengqi glanced at him, the corner of his mouth lifting almost imperceptibly. "Do you like that inkstone?"
Ye Yunting detected the teasing in his tone and couldn't help but blush even more, nodding in embarrassment, wishing he could find a hole to crawl into. His skin was fair, so any hint of color was especially obvious, impossible to hide. Right now, even his neck was flushed red, and he didn't dare raise his eyes to look at Li Fengqi.
It was also because he hadn't treated Li Fengqi as enough of an outsider, making decisions on his own without even consulting him. Even if Prince Yong'an was now down on his luck and out of power, his actions were somewhat overstepping.
Ye Yunting stammered, not knowing how to explain. His eyes, as if filled with water, darted around, just not daring to meet Li Fengqi's gaze.
"If you like it, then keep it for yourself to use. Why sell it? There are only two of these Lotus Throne Inkstones in total. If you sell it, you probably won't be able to buy another even if you have money later," Li Fengqi said, feeling quite pleased watching his flustered and at a loss for words appearance. He finally took pity on him and let him off the hook. "As for silver, we'll have some eventually. Besides, we don't have an immediate need for it right now. There's no need to rush."
Hearing this, Ye Yunting finally dared to look at him, just in time to catch the smile that hadn't yet faded from his lips. He was momentarily stunned, then immediately realized he had fallen into a trap, being led along by him.
The blush had not yet faded from his face, but the flustered panic in his eyes had already been reined in. He cleared his throat and said with a serious expression, "Then Ye Yunting will first thank Your Highness for your generosity."
Li Fengqi shook his head with a faint smile, gesturing with his chin towards the side of the bed for him to sit. "Come over, I need to discuss some important matters with you."
Having just been teased by him, Ye Yunting immediately regarded him with caution, afraid he would play tricks again. After giving him a few suspicious glances and seeing that he seemed to genuinely have serious matters to discuss, he finally went over and sat down.
Li Fengqi waited for him to settle before speaking unhurriedly, "Since you have entered the prince's manor, from now on, your fate is tied to mine, for life or death."
Ye Yunting met his gaze and gave a slight nod.
This was a fact he had long been aware of.
"Since that's the case, I will answer the question you asked me yesterday once more today." Li Fengqi looked directly at him, speaking slowly, "I have funds, and I also have people. But they are all familiar faces; once they show themselves in the capital, they would likely be secretly executed by Li Zong. So, I still lack someone to relay messages for me in between."
Ye Yunting hadn't expected him to lay his cards on the table so suddenly and looked slightly surprised. "The person Your Highness speaks of... is me?"
Yesterday, he had probed Li Fengqi, asking if he knew of any other places in the manor where valuable items might be hidden. On the surface, he was asking about objects, but in reality, he was testing whether Li Fengqi had any backup plans.
But Li Fengqi had told him there were none.
Ye Yunting then knew this was because Li Fengqi did not trust him. Although he wanted to board Prince Yong'an's ship, he also knew that haste makes waste. He thought to spend more time with him, demonstrate his sincerity, and then Li Fengqi would eventually come to trust him.
But he hadn't expected this day to come so quickly.
Li Fengqi saw the surprise in his eyes and did not hesitate to explain the reason. "I don't have many usable people at my disposal. You are clever and would be an excellent partner."
If not for Ye Yunting, he naturally had his own ways to escape this predicament.
But that would ultimately waste a great deal of time. After hearing Wugeng's report yesterday, he suspected that Li Zong likely intended to move against the Black Armor Army. That's why he ordered Wugeng to deliver the message as quickly as possible, to prevent Zhu Wen and others from anxiously walking into a trap. However, given the current difficult situation, it was still unknown when Wugeng could successfully deliver the message. And since Li Zong had already conceived the idea, the day of action certainly wouldn't be far off.
To thwart Li Zong's plans, the only way was for him to quickly neutralize the poison, show himself in public, and catch Li Zong off guard. Li Zong's current unbridled arrogance stemmed entirely from his certainty that Li Fengqi's meridians were severed and he was doomed to die. Once he neutralized the poison, and Li Zong knew he wouldn't die anytime soon, yet couldn't openly move to kill him, his plans would be completely disrupted. In his ensuing panic, he naturally wouldn't have the capacity to deal with the Black Armor Army in the Northern Frontier.
His only current dilemma was how to obtain the medicine.
For over a month, Li Zong had not allowed any physicians to treat him. Each time a physician came, they merely checked his pulse to confirm his physical condition, ensuring he would die at the appointed time, and did nothing else.
But Li Fengqi, having spent years in the army, had also studied medicine.
Although he couldn't completely cure the poison he was afflicted with anytime soon, he had thought of a method to combat poison with poison, which had a fifty percent chance of temporarily suppressing the toxicity within his body.
However, gathering all the necessary medicinal ingredients now was not so easy. Li Zong was eagerly awaiting his death and would absolutely not allow him any chance to turn things around. If Li Zong's people discovered he was preparing medicine to counteract the poison, it might provoke Li Zong into desperate measures.
And based on what Ye Yunting described about the situation at the side gate, after Wugeng's nocturnal visit to the prince's manor yesterday, Cui Xi had likely already noticed something. The manor was now certainly set with traps; if Wugeng were to come again, he would most likely find it difficult to escape.
Therefore, Wugeng absolutely must not come again.
He could only find another person to retrieve the medicine. This person must be trustworthy and not arouse suspicion.
Ye Yunting was currently the best candidate available.
Ye Yunting's emotions surged, his deep black eyes like lit candles. "I will certainly not disappoint Your Highness."
"I have already sent someone to Rongyang to deliver a message to the Dowager Princess. Upon receiving it, she should rush back to the capital. At that time, we will both be able to catch our breath. But—" Li Fengqi paused, looking at Ye Yunting, "...if only the Dowager Princess steps forward, it is not a long-term solution either." His expression turned grave, his tone solemn. "Therefore, I must recover as quickly as possible."
Ye Yunting was taken aback. "But your poison..."
"I have already thought of a way to suppress it. Now, I only lack the medicinal ingredients," Li Fengqi said.
Ye Yunting looked at him for a moment and understood his meaning. "Your Highness means for me to fetch the medicine?" He said hesitantly, "But I can't even leave the main gate of the prince's manor."
"Therefore, I need you to cooperate in putting on an act."
Li Fengqi's gaze fixed heavily on him as he slowly laid out the entire plan.
But the more Ye Yunting listened, the more alarmed he became. Every step of Li Fengqi's plan was a gamble.
He took a deep breath but still couldn't calm his fiercely beating heart.
"If you don't dare, I won't force you. I will find another way," Li Fengqi said.
"I'll go." Ye Yunting let out a long breath and looked directly at him. "After this succeeds, I only hope Your Highness does not forget today."
Since he had long known he had entered a dead-end situation, to break free and survive, one always had to pay some price.
Having made his decision, Ye Yunting immediately changed his expression, overturned the table, and said angrily, "Your Highness, you are now paralyzed in bed. I have been taking care of you diligently out of respect for you as a hero of Northern Zhao. Do not go too far!"
He got into character too quickly, using all his strength to overturn the table, his cheeks and eyes reddened with rage.
"This prince does not need your pity!" Li Fengqi was not to be outdone, letting out a cold laugh and spitting out the word "Get out" through gritted teeth.
He seemed utterly enraged, pushing the soft pillow from the bed onto the floor with all his might, then roared again, "Get out of here!"
The commotion inside was too great. Ji Lian in the outer room was startled and hurried in to check, only to run into Ye Yunting storming out angrily. As he walked, he cursed Li Fengqi, as if venting all the grievances he had suffered over the past two days.
Ji Lian followed behind him, wanting to advise but not knowing where to start. "What happened?" Weren't they fine just a moment ago? How could they turn on each other so quickly?
Moreover, he had never seen the young master lose his temper so fiercely.
Ye Yunting gave a cold laugh, pulling him along. "Let's return to the Duke's manor. If he wants to die, he shouldn't drag us down with him."
Having said that, he pulled Ji Lian and stormed towards the main gate.
Ji Lian, unclear about the situation, could only follow him with a worried expression.
As for the two maidservants guarding the courtyard, they looked at each other. After Ye Yunting and the other had gone some distance, one of them quietly left the courtyard.
Meanwhile, Ye Yunting, pulling Ji Lian along, reached the main gate and insisted on leaving the prince's manor to return to the Duke's manor regardless of the consequences.
The guards outside naturally would not let him leave. But he acted as if he had suffered a tremendous humiliation, making a scene at the gate without regard for appearances, shouting, "Let me go back! Prince Yong'an himself told me to get out! What right do you have to stop me? If he dies, so be it. I refuse to be buried with him!"
His demeanor was frenzied, his shouts hoarse and desperate.
The two guards, seeing this, quickly restrained him and dragged him back inside the mansion, then tightly shut the main gate, cutting off the commotion from within.
Ye Yunting continued to struggle and make a scene regardless: "Let me go, I want to go back to the Duke's mansion." He finally seemed to break down under the strain, wailing hysterically: "I am the eldest son of the Duke's mansion, destined to inherit the title. I don't want to die, let me go back! Let me go back!"
Ji Lian beside him was terrified, holding up Ye Yunting who kept sliding to the ground, unable to stand, and also couldn't help but cry along: "Young master, young master, calm down, we won't die..."
The two guards frowned, watching the master and servant cling to each other, weeping bitterly—one raving and screaming, the other weeping helplessly. They exchanged glances for a moment, then finally retreated outside the door, leaving the pair to themselves.
The news that Ye Yunting had suddenly gone mad and caused a scene in the Prince's mansion naturally reached the palace immediately.
Emperor Li Zong reclined lazily in a chair draped with soft fox fur, propping his head on one hand, gently swirling a wine cup with the other: "You're saying Ye Yunting suddenly went mad?"
The reporting Commander of the Divine Strategy Army bowed: "Yes. He was fine this morning. He went to the side gate wanting to leave the mansion but was turned back. After returning to the main courtyard, he suddenly argued with Prince Yong'an, then started acting insane, clamoring to return to the Duke's mansion."
Li Zong took a small sip of wine. A youth kneeling beside him immediately refilled his cup. He lifted the youth's chin, scrutinized him for a moment, then pushed him away and asked languidly: "What does Minister Cui think? Is this genuine madness, or... feigned madness?"
Cui Xi kept his eyes downcast: "I have heard of the First Young Master Ye's temperament. Judging by his character and his reactions these past two days, he does not seem like someone who would suddenly go mad."
Li Zong swirled his wine cup again, neither nodding nor shaking his head. Instead, he looked at the person sitting quietly opposite him.
"What does my teacher think?"
Sitting opposite him was a man dressed entirely in plain white. He appeared to be in his thirties, with a clean, fair complexion, sparse and faint eyebrows, thin lips, and white robes and headpiece, resembling an ascetic immortal almost devoid of any emotion. Hearing Li Zong's words, he opened his slightly closed eyes; his narrow eyes exuded a coldness: "A discarded pawn, that's all. Whether it's real or fake doesn't hinder Your Majesty's grand plans. He can't make waves."
"Teacher is right." Li Zong drained his cup in one gulp, kicked away the youth who tried to lean in again, and said to Cui Xi, who was attending nearby: "No movement on your end yet? A few slipped through the net back then. It's time to round them up. Their constant jumping about outside irritates me."
"We did discover traces of one person last night, but he noticed and escaped," Cui Xi answered with a bow.
"Useless!" Hearing this, Li Zong's eyes turned cold as he glanced at Cui Xi: "I made you the Grand General of the Divine Strategy Army, not so you could raise a bunch of incompetents to annoy me."
Upon hearing this, Cui Xi immediately knelt down, kowtowing: "This subject is incompetent!"
Seeing his demeanor, Li Zong curled his lip in boredom, waved his hand: "Forget it. I know Prince Yong'an's men are difficult to deal with. Just tell your men to be more vigilant. Don't disappoint me again."
"Thank you for Your Majesty's leniency." Cui Xi then rose, his strikingly beautiful and exquisite face now piled with fawning smiles: "This subject will certainly not disappoint Your Majesty."
Li Zong gave an absent-minded "Hmm," beckoned to the youth he had kicked away earlier, and headed towards the inner chambers.
For a moment, only two people remained in the pavilion.
Cui Xi put away the exaggerated smile on his face and glanced sideways at Han Chan: "Grand Tutor, why didn't you tell His Majesty the truth earlier?" Ye Yunting had been quiet for two days; his sudden madness must be suspicious. He didn't believe this old fox was completely unaware of the happenings in the Prince's mansion these past two days.
Han Chan slowly stood up, gave him a steady look, his expression indifferent: "What I said was the truth."
Without waiting for Cui Xi's response, he turned and left.
His white robes fluttered in the bleak autumn wind, inexplicably carrying a hint of sternness.
Cui Xi stared at his retreating back with a sneer, tucked his hands into his sleeves, and left in the opposite direction. As he left, he glanced sideways in the direction the emperor had gone, the interest in his eyes growing stronger.
This game of chess was becoming more and more interesting.
Ye Yunting, pretending to be insane, caused a commotion in the Prince's mansion for an hour before finally collapsing from exhaustion.
Ji Lian, flustered and anxious, carried him back to the room on his back and laid him on the daybed, worried sick and at a loss. He paced around the room twice before finally remembering he needed to find a doctor. He then hurriedly ran towards the main gate of the Prince's mansion, only to be stopped again by the guards. He pleaded for a long time, begging the guards to help find a doctor to take a look, but they ignored him, roughly pushed him back inside, and tightly shut the gate again.
With no other choice, Ji Lian could only turn back. But just as he reached the courtyard entrance, he saw Ye Yunting, looking utterly exhausted, staggering out of the room.
He quickly went up to support him, anxiously asking: "Young master, where are you going?"
"I don't want to be here," Ye Yunting's voice was already hoarse from shouting, but he still rasped: "I want to go back to the Duke's mansion."
Ji Lian's eyes reddened, and he could only try to coax him: "Alright, once you've rested we'll go back. Let me help you back to rest first, okay?"
Hearing that they would go back after resting, Ye Yunting finally settled down. His eyes were vacant, and he kept muttering "go back, go back to the Duke's mansion" as Ji Lian half-dragged, half-carried him back into the room.
Once inside the room, Ye Yunting gave Ji Lian's palm a hard squeeze and mouthed to him: "I'm fine."
Ji Lian was stunned, his red eyes widening. Ye Yunting pinched him again before he snapped back to reality and continued: "Young master, you get some good sleep. When you wake up, we'll go back to the Duke's mansion."
Then he mouthed: "What's going on?"
Ye Yunting couldn't explain too much, so he just silently mouthed: "Feigning illness. Find a doctor."
Having grown up together, they had a deep understanding. Although Ji Lian didn't know why he was feigning illness to find a doctor, he immediately grasped the intention and nodded slightly, then went out wearing a worried expression.
The main gate guards were a dead end, so he went to try the side gate guards.
He seemed utterly desperate, pulling out all the money he had to try and bribe the guards, begging them to find a doctor to see his young master, or at the very least, to send a message to the Duke's mansion.
But the guards remained unmoved. In the end, he could only put his money away dejectedly and return to the main courtyard, his face full of despair and worry.
Inside the room, Ye Yunting lay on the bed, quickly reviewing the plan in his mind. Confirming there were no mistakes, he finally let out a slight sigh of relief.
The first step had begun.
With numerous hidden sentinels in the Prince's mansion, the news of his insane commotion would definitely reach the palace. Given his status, whether he was mad or not was of no concern to anyone. As long as the one in the palace didn't become suspicious of him, this hurdle would be passed.
Next, he needed to truly feign a serious illness, preferably one so severe he was on the brink of death. Then there would be a chance for Ji Lian to call for a doctor and fetch medicine. He could use that opportunity to contact Li Fengqi's people and have them bring back the medicinal ingredients he needed.
If he could just get the ingredients Li Fengqi needed, the plan would already be half successful.
The rest would depend on fate.
