Ashes to Crown

Chapter 132: Chapter 88: To Be Determined

When the Crown Prince returned to the Eastern Palace, the Crown Princess Consort and Xie Yanfang came out to greet him. Before a word was spoken, the Crown Prince stopped short with an ”Ah.”

”I forgot,” he said. ”Yu’er.”

The Crown Princess Consort was overjoyed. ”Yu’er is back?”

”No,” the Crown Prince said with a smile, handing his outer robe to her. ”I was busy with the Emperor and meant to go see Yu’er afterward, but I got too busy and forgot.”

The Crown Princess Consort said, ”Why don’t we bring Yu’er back? Yanfang is here, and he hasn’t met him yet.”

Before the Crown Prince could speak, Xie Yanfang said with a laugh, ”The young prince is studying with His Majesty. Since I used to skip my own lessons, I can hardly serve as a proper elder. And here I was, planning to give him pointers on his studies.”

The Crown Prince laughed heartily. ”Then let’s forget it. He’s already suffering enough with those seven or eight tutors. If he came here, he’d have to listen to your lectures on top of it all. Let’s just wait until I take him hunting. You have to come too. The moment you see him, you can challenge Yu’er to an archery match.”

The Crown Princess Consort couldn’t resist asking, ”Your Highness, is it true? Are you really taking Yu’er hunting?”

The Crown Prince did hunt often, but he had never taken his wife and son.

”Of course,” the Crown Prince said with a smile. ”You’ll go too. The whole family will go.”

Xie Yanfang explained to his sister, ”The Third Prince’s literary gathering is about to happen. Since the Crown Prince isn’t attending, it’s better to simply get away and go hunting instead.”

”Why be so polite? It’s just family here,” the Crown Prince said, clenching his fists before him, causing his robes to swell. ”He can have his literary gathering. I’ll have a martial one. It’ll add to the excitement for him.”

The Crown Princess Consort paid no mind to these politics. Once she confirmed that she could really take Yu’er out, she said happily, ”This is a huge event! Your Highness, you should have told me earlier. I need to make preparations.”

With that, she seemed at a loss for a moment, then called to the palace maid at her side.

”Summon everyone.”

And with that, she left the Crown Prince behind and bustled off with her palace maid.

Xie Yanfang watched his sister leave with a smile, then turned to the Crown Prince. ”My sister is so happy about going out with you, she’s beside herself. It just goes to show how busy you usually are.”

The Crown Prince scoffed. ”Don’t you start pointing fingers at me. Are you any better? You’re still not married. How many young women in Dongyang are wasting their best years waiting for you?”

Xie Yanfang burst out laughing and bowed. ”My mistake.”

The Crown Prince sat down and stretched his arms. ”This business with Liang Siqing... do you really have to get involved? It’s not necessary, is it? It’s hardly a big deal—” He smiled again as he spoke. ”Your family has already married two of their daughters. One for you, one for your brother—you could have just swallowed the Liang Family whole. Why make such a scene—”

He leaned forward and lowered his voice.

”If you let Prince Yang handle it, you won’t get a single drop of the Liang Family’s fortune, and you’ll be the one stuck with the villain’s reputation.”

Xie Yanfang smiled. ”But this makes things much smoother for Mr. Yang. When people are busy gawking at a personal scandal, it’s easier for them to turn a blind eye to official matters.”

The Crown Prince raised an eyebrow. ”How generous of you.”

”If this small affair can be exchanged for success in the Crown Prince’s major endeavor, then I’d say I’m the one coming out ahead,” Xie Yanfang said with a smile.

The Crown Prince scoffed. ”I’ll let it slide this time. But next time, give me a heads-up beforehand. Even if it’s a good thing, I need to be prepared.”

Xie Yanfang bowed and agreed.

”Also, you don’t need to be so cautious,” the Crown Prince added. ”Now that you’re in the Capital City, you should see Yu’er more often. Take him out to have some fun. Why be so formal with a child? When I was young, I was practically raised by the Imperial Uncle.”

Xie Yanfang shook his head. ”Your Highness, that was a different time. The Empress had passed away young, the Western Liang soldiers were a menace, and His Majesty was preoccupied with state affairs. But Yu’er has both his parents, and he also has His Majesty, his grandfather, looking out for him. What he needs to learn is how to govern the realm and the proper way for a ruler and his subjects to interact, not to be playing with a relative from an aristocratic family like me. You, however, Your Highness, should play with Yu’er more often. A father and son—”

The Crown Prince waved a hand, cutting him off. ”Alright, alright, I get it. Thankfully, your sister is nothing like you. She’s quiet and never rambles on.”

Xie Yanfang chuckled. ”That’s only because Your Highness is her husband. ’A married woman follows her husband’s lead,’ after all. She’s certainly not like that with me. Believe it or not, Your Highness, the moment I walk out that door, my sister will stop me and give me a whole lecture.”

The Crown Prince laughed heartily and waved him away. ”Go on, then.”

Xie Yanfang bowed and took his leave.

The Crown Prince sat alone in the hall as two Mounted Archery Officers came over from a side chamber.

”Xie San is certainly cautious,” one of the Mounted Archery Officers said with a laugh. ”He’s afraid of overstepping his bounds in everything he does. The way I see it, he wishes he weren’t part of the Royal Family at all.”

This Mounted Archery Officer had a full, thick beard and looked quite rugged at first glance, but his complexion was fair and his features were refined, creating a strangely incongruous appearance.

This was hardly surprising. The Crown Prince had a passion for the martial arts, and many would affect a warrior-like appearance to curry favor with him.

The Crown Prince smiled. ”He’s not wrong. I am royalty, so the relationship between ruler and subject must take precedence. You don’t understand him. That man, Xie San, has grand ambitions. He has no desire to make a name for himself just by being a member of the Royal Family.”

’He doesn’t rely on his family ties or seek benefits from them. He only uses his own abilities to earn his rewards. Not like Prince Yang—’

’He demands to be repaid, tenfold, for the companionship he offered in my childhood, and he acts as if it’s his right.’

’He sees only family ties, and less and less the proper relationship between a ruler and his subject.’

’Why can’t he understand that his companionship back then was simply his duty as a subject!’

’I’ll tolerate this for now. But when I ascend the throne, I will make them understand what the relationship between a ruler and his subject truly means.’

The Crown Prince slammed his hand on the table, venting his frustration. ”Go! Send that bunch of scholars to do hard labor.”

The two Mounted Archery Officers quickly assented.

”And remember to march them past the entrance of Wangchun Garden,” the Crown Prince added.

The Mounted Archery Officers roared with laughter, loudly proclaiming, ”Rest assured, Your Highness!” ”We’ll make sure it’s a grand spectacle!” ”It’ll add a bit of flair to the Third Prince’s literary gathering!”

....

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Government soldiers paraded a group of shirtless scholars of varying ages through the bustling streets, proclaiming them to be bandits and rebels.

They loudly announced their unforgivable crimes while cracking their whips.

The streets were packed with onlookers, but compared to the spectacle of the Xie family parading their son to teach him a lesson, the atmosphere was tense and somber.

Chu Zhao and the other young women also stood at a tavern window, looking down on the scene below.

”Why did they suddenly arrest so many people?” Qi Leyun said.

”Because of the literary gathering, a lot of people have come to the Capital City. The government says it’s a motley crowd, and these are the criminals they’ve rooted out,” one of the young women whispered.

”But they really do look like scholars, how could they—” Qi Leyun said.

The other young women quickly silenced her.

”This is the government’s business.” ”Don’t speak out of turn.” ”It’s not like they were arrested randomly. It’s said they wrote treasonous things, involving the Emperor, involving the Crown Prince—”

At the mention of the Emperor and the Crown Prince, Qi Leyun said no more. This was a game being played between the imperial father and son.

”Then will the literary gathering still be held?” a young woman asked timidly.

Her unspoken question was: under circumstances like these, could they even still go?

The young women’s gazes immediately turned to Chu Zhao.

Chu Zhao snapped back to the present. ’Truthfully, I don’t know either. In my past life, the Crown Prince arrested many scholars too, but that was after the Wangchun Garden literary gathering. It was because those scholars wrote essays advocating for the succession to be based on virtue rather than seniority. That officially kicked off the struggle between the Third Prince and the Crown Prince for the title of heir apparent, throwing the Capital City into a frenzy.’

’But all of that was just a smokescreen. The Third Prince didn’t actually rely on those scholars for his propaganda—he made his move directly—’

’But in this life, the Crown Prince arrested them before the Wangchun Garden literary gathering even began, and it’s already causing a commotion. What will happen next?’

’Will fate change?’