Chapter Forty (Part 1)
Pei Lam looked coldly at Yan s.h.i.+ Ting .
'Yan s.h.i.+ Ting, look at the evidence and see if you're not the liar,' Pei Lam said . He turned his head and looked at his father . 'Imperial father, she has been sending me threatening letters . If imperial father doesn't believe me, imperial father can summon the palace maids and eunuchs here . Imperial father, look at her, she's a shameless woman and deserves to die . '
'No!' Yan s.h.i.+ Ting said . 'Don't believe him . He's lying! I'm not shameless! It was my mother who told me to do this, I didn't know anything! Big brother crown prince, since you were a little boy you said you loved me! Why are you lying?'
The emperor heard Yan s.h.i.+ Ting's pitiful cries . He didn't understand why an auspicious day turned into a nightmare . He was too angry, his blood flowed chaotically . He stood and spoke heartlessly . 'Hurry and take her away!'
Yan s.h.i.+ Ting's loud cries slowly faded from the ceremonial hall .
The wedding guests were about the leave too but the crown prince suddenly broke the silence .
'Imperial father, I'm unfilial,' Pei Lam said . 'I let imperial father be deceived and shamed the imperial family . Imperial father, I request you take away my crown prince position . I'm willing to be banished from the palace and do good deeds in remote places to ask the ancestors to forgive me . '
The wedding guests were stunned and the empress was scared to death . But Consort Mu lowered her head and hid her joy .
'What did you say?' the emperor asked .
'Imperial father, I have shamed you,' Pei Lam said . 'Imperial father, take away my crown prince position . '
The emperor vomited blood .
'Your majesty!' the wedding guests cried out .
The crown prince and Yan s.h.i.+ Ting's wedding wasn't an auspicious day, it was a tragedy and all the wedding guests quickly retreated from the ceremonial hall .
In the horse carriage Yan s.h.i.+ Ning hugged Pei Jin . Her heart and hands were cold and trembling . She couldn't stop thinking about the image of Yan s.h.i.+ Ting being dragged outside the ceremonial hall and Yan s.h.i.+ Ting's pitiful cries . She was too scared to think about what was going to happen to Yan s.h.i.+ Ting .
Pei Jin hugged Yan s.h.i.+ Ning's cold body tighter and held her hands .
'Pei Jin, what do you think will happen to Yan s.h.i.+ Ting?' Yan s.h.i.+ Ning asked .
'She would have been executed,' Pei Jin said . 'But now she's trapped in an insane state for life . '
Yan s.h.i.+ Ning's heart felt remorse .
'Pei Jin, was I too cruel?' Yan s.h.i.+ Ning asked .
's.h.i.+ Ning, if it's done then you don't need to think about if it's right or wrong,' Pei Jin said . 'It's not your fault alone that she's insane . '
Yan s.h.i.+ Ning felt colder after she remembered the empress and the crown prince's heartlessness . 'Pei Jin, the palace is a dangerous place . '
's.h.i.+ Ning, the palace has always been a dangerous place,' Pei Jin said .
Pei Jin hugged Yan s.h.i.+ Ning and stared out the window . His heart was relieved his s.h.i.+ Ning wasn't heartless .
End of Chapter Forty (Part 1)
Chapter Forty (Part 2 of 2)
After escorting Yan s.h.i.+ Ting to the palace, Princess Kang Hua returned to the Yan Manor .
Yan Jing drank with the guests at the Yan Manor . Neither he nor Princess Kang Hua knew why Yan s.h.i.+ Ting returned to the Yan Manor, because she was supposed to be the bride at the wedding ceremony in the palace .
Yan Jing also didn't know why Yan s.h.i.+ Ting was dancing and singing like a fool .
'What happened?' Yan Jing asked .
'Prime Minister Yan, wait at home for the news,' the ceremonial minister said coldly and left .
Yan Jing and Princess Kang Hua sent servants to the palace to find out why Yan s.h.i.+ Ting was behaving like a fool and the servants returned with bad news .
Princess Kang Hua's life dream shattered, her daughter was insane and her older sister stabbed her heart .
Yan Jing slapped Princess Kang Hua . 'Sc.u.m! Look at your good deeds! You dare to let your daughter fake a pregnancy . Do you know what happens if you deceive the emperor? Death!'
'You dare hit me?' Princess Kang Hua asked .
'I want to kill you!' Yan Jing said . 'You've pulled me into your mess!'
Princess Kang Hua laughed coldly . 'So what? You die and I die . We'll die together!'
Yan Jing left Princess Kang Hua's chamber and she fell into depression .
That evening an elderly lady secretly travelled by horse carriage to visit Princess Kang Hua at the Yan Manor .
Princess Kang Hua was coaxing the insane Yan s.h.i.+ Ting to sleep when she heard a knock on the door . She opened the door and was scared to see who visited her in the middle of the night .
'Kang Hua, no one wanted this outcome,' the elderly lady said . 'The emperor is ill so he's not pursuing this matter now . But after he recovers, I fear it'll be bad for everyone involved . I know you're not the only one responsible but to protect your family, you need to take all the responsibility . My daughter, I'm sorry it's been hard for you . '
The elderly lady stood, put a small bottle on a table and left the Yan Manor .
Princess Kang Hua picked up the bottle, sat on a chair and her usual cold arrogance died .
In the palace the emperor was recovering in his chamber . Two years ago the emperor was ill and ingested many medicine to regain his health . No one expected the emperor would fall ill again on his tenth son's wedding day .
Consort Mu and seventh prince were anxious about the emperor's health . They didn't want the emperor to die before announcing the new crown prince .
There were also people in the shadows that didn't care if the emperor died . If the emperor died then Pei Lam would sit on the throne and seventh prince's supporters would clash swords with Pei Lam's supporters . Even if seventh prince stole the throne, the citizens of Dian Kingdom would rebel because the seventh prince wasn't the true heir . Then both Pei Lam and seventh prince would be eliminated .
While the emperor's health was uncertain the Yan Manor's doors were locked . Princess Kang Hua took care of the insane Yan s.h.i.+ Ting who continuously laughed and cried . Yan Jing pretended to be ill and didn't attend imperial court meetings at the palace . He knew he would lose his prime minister position but he needed time to think about how to save his life .
At Pei Jin's manor, Yan s.h.i.+ Ning and Pei Jin speculated about the emperor's health in their courtyard .
'Pei Jin, do you think the emperor will recover?' Yan s.h.i.+ Ning asked .
'Yes,' Pei Jin said .
'When?' Yan s.h.i.+ Ning asked .
Yan s.h.i.+ Ning was anxious what the emperor would do to the people who deceived the emperor .
Pei Jin fed Yan s.h.i.+ Ning a mandarin segment .
'Soon,' Pei Jin said .
'Isn't the emperor seriously ill?' Yan s.h.i.+ Ning asked .
'Imperial father is someone who values image,' Pei Jin said . 'He'll want to kill everyone involved . Even if the empress and tenth brother cut off relations with Princess Kang Hua, imperial father isn't fooled by them . But imperial father can only pretend to cooperate with them because there were too many witnesses that day . He didn't want others to see that an emperor of a kingdom was deceived by his wife and son . He can't swallow his anger but he can feign an illness . It'll give him time to calm down and for everyone's attention to be diverted from the situation . Then he'll punish everyone involved . s.h.i.+ Ning, you should know imperial father loves to punish other people . '
'What will the emperor do?' Yan s.h.i.+ Ning asked .
'Imperial father chose to believe the empress and tenth brother in front of everyone,' Pei Jin said . 'It means he'll collect fake evidence to protect them and blame everything on Princess Kang Hua and Yan s.h.i.+ Ting . So the Yan Manor will be in trouble and the empress is safe for now . '
'A pity,' Yan s.h.i.+ Ning said .
'There's no hurry,' Pei Jin said . 'Didn't I say imperial father loves to punish other people? He'll wait for another opportunity to punish them for their deceit . s.h.i.+ Ning, soon tenth brother won't be the crown prince anymore . After that happens the empress will wither . '
'Pei Jin, do you think the crown prince truly doesn't want the throne?' Yan s.h.i.+ Ning asked .
Pei Jin shook his head . 'Honestly, in the palace tenth brother is someone I don't understand the most . '
End of Chapter Forty (Part 2 of 2)
