Chapter 15.1 (1/2)

Chapter Fifteen (Part 1)

Yan Shi Ning waved her fan anxiously.

Pei Jin pulled Yan Shi Ning onto his lap and he whispered in her ear. ‘Wife, you don’t need to worry. My spies have secretly investigated everyone in the manor. Now that Su Yue is gone, you’re free to climb walls or roll on the ground.’

‘Who’s worried?’ Yan Shi Ning asked. Pei Jin reminded her of embarrassing childhood memories and she jumped off his lap. ‘What climb walls? It was you who provoked me to climb walls. What roll on the ground? It was you who forced me to roll on the ground.’

Pei Jin smiled happily at the sight of an angry Yan Shi Ning.

Yan Shi Ning ran to sit on the chair opposite Pei Jin. She worried pointlessly, Pei Jin had a dangerous stomach and anyone that dared to wrong him was unlucky.

‘Huang Guo’s messenger sent Su Yue the poison,’ Pei Jin said. ‘I asked Bei Dou to check her chamber long ago. In the past I didn’t hesitate to eliminate spies sent to the manor. But she was Huang Guo’s spy… out of consideration Consort Chen was my adoptive mother, I acted like I didn’t know about Su Yue spying on me. I had her followed and I slowly thought of ways to return her without offending Huang Guo… that was two years ago. After I came back from Southern Jiang I could only avoid her and I waited for the right opportunity to chase her back to Huang Guo’s manor.’

‘Big brother, how are you going to deal with Huang Guo?’ Yan Shi Ning asked.

‘As long as my wife is happy I’ll use all my abilities,’ Pei Jin said.

Yan Shi Ning didn’t know how Pei Jin could talk nonsense while looking serious.

‘Wife, you can see that Huang Guo doesn’t want to only spy on me anymore,’ Pei Jin said. ‘If I didn’t deal with Su Yue then I don’t know what would have happened to us.’

Yan Shi Ning remembered the bottle of poison and her heart shivered fearfully. ‘Big Brother, the poison… is Huang Guo’s scheme?’

Pei Jin nodded and Yan Shi Ning took a deep breath. ‘But in the morning didn’t big brother said Huang Guo… if big brother can’t have children then what’s the purpose of you climbing high?’

In the morning Pei Jin whispered in Yan Shi Ning’s ear, ‘Huang Guo always wanted me to climb high, but I don’t want to.’

Each time Yan Shi Ning remembered Pei Jin’s words, her heart pounded continuously. She thought the battle for the throne was only between seventh prince and crown prince. She didn’t know there were court officials who secretly supported Pei Jin. Although Huang Guo resigned, Huang Guo’s influence in the imperial court wasn’t insignificant.

Yan Shi Ning didn’t know why if Huang Guo was secretly supporting Pei Jin then why Huang Guo sent Su Yue to poison Pei Jin.

‘Shi Ning, you should know in this world there’s something called puppet,’ Pei Jin said.

Yan Shi Ning stayed quiet for a while and thought about the meaning of Pei Jin’s words.

Pei Jin smiled at the sight of Yan Shi Ning’s revelation expression. He leaned back on his chair and he thought about Consort Chen. When Consort Chen was alive, Huang Guo’s desire was for him to become emperor. But Consort Chen didn’t want him to be caught in the deep web of battles. Consort Chen only wanted him to grow into a healthy and carefree man. After Consort Chen died, Huang Guo resigned and to other people it appeared like Huang Guo didn’t have any influence left in the imperial court.

When Pei Jin was eighteen years old, Huang Guo asked him, ‘who do you think suits being emperor?’

‘I don’t know,’ Pei Jin said.

‘What if you are emperor?’ Huang Guo asked.

‘I don’t suit,’ Pei Jin said.

‘I think you suit more than them,’ Huang Guo said.