Chapter 75 (1/2)

Chapter Seventy-Five

News of the emperor’s collapse spread across the imperial city.

At Pei Jin’s manor Pei Xiao Niao was crying for his mother but his mother was napping.

Pei Jin picked up Pei Xiao Niao from the cot and played with him on a chair.

It was a sunny day and the chubby Pei Xiao Niao wore thin pink clothes.

Pei Jin happily held the chubby Pei Xiao Niao in one arm and teased Pei Xiao Niao with a small soft colourful cuju ball with his free hand.

Pei Xiao Niao’s round eyes brightened and followed the cuju ball’s movements. His raised his short arms in the air but his father didn’t give him the cuju ball.

Pei Jin moved the cuju ball close to his son. Each time his son was about to grab the cuju ball, he moved the cuju ball away. He smiled while he teased his son but his son’s lips pouted and his son cried loudly.

Pei Jin coaxed his son who loved to cry because he didn’t want to disturb Yan Shi Ning’s nap.

‘Ninth prince, Huang Guo is here to see you,’ a servant said.

‘I understand,’ Pei Jin said.

Pei Jin looked at his son who stopped crying. His son had grabbed the cuju ball while he was distracted. He smiled at his son who was happily playing with the cuju ball.

Pei Jin saw his son was about to eat the cuju ball and gently pulled the cuju ball away from his son’s mouth.

‘Son, why are you a glutton like your mother?’ Pei Jin asked.

Pei Xiao Niao was about to cry because his father stole his food but his father stood and hugged him tightly. He looked over his father’s shoulder and saw a stranger.

‘Ninth prince, your son is handsome,’ Huang Guo praised.

‘Elder is too kind,’ Pei Jin said. ‘My son isn’t handsome.’

Pei Jin thought his son was ugly when his son was a wrinkled one month boy. But after raising his son for two months, his son was growing more handsome by the day.

‘Indeed he has a majestic aura,’ Huang Guo praised.

Pei Jin smiled and gestured for Huang Guo to sit.

Pei Jin sat down on a chair. He hugged his son and bounced his son on his knees.

Pei Xiao Niao happily sucked the soft round bun his father gave him and he looked at the stranger in front of him.

‘I came to discuss something with ninth prince,’ Huang Guo said.

‘Elder’s face looks serious,’ Pei Jin said. ‘It must be important.’

‘Something serious happened,’ Huang Guo said.

‘What?’ Pei Jin asked.

‘The emperor wrote an edict,’ Huang Guo said. ‘Congratulations ninth prince, the emperor chose you to be the crown prince.’

Pei Jin didn’t expect his father would choose him to be the crown prince.

Pei Jin and Yan Shi Ning’s happy reunion was interrupted by the news of his father’s collapse. He heard the rumor about his father only had a few days to left so he sent his guards to the palace to investigate but didn’t find anything unusual. He and Yan Shi Ning could only patiently wait at home.

Huang Guo’s news made Pei Jin’s heart jump chaotically but he maintained his calm appearance.

‘We should seize this opportunity,’ Huang Guo said.

Pei Jin narrowed his eyes.

‘The emperor wrote the edict but he hasn’t announced it,’ Huang Guo said. ‘It means he’s still indecisive. We should act and the throne is yours.’

Pei Jin hugged his son tighter and realised he did care about who his father wanted to give the throne to.

Huang Guo thought finally his years of scheming didn’t become smoke.

‘Everything is prepared,’ Huang Guo said.

Huang Guo’s army only needed his command and his army would march into the palace.

Pei Jin’s son’s cry broke his deep thoughts. His son had urinated on his knees.

Luckily Pei Jin’s son cried otherwise he would have lost sight at what was most important. He had always been cautious and understood his status. His father’s decision and Huang Guo’s persuasion had disrupted his plan… he was truly grateful for his son.

Pei Jin stood, carried his son in his arms and smiled. If he didn’t have his son then in that moment he would have made an irreversible mistake. He had his wife and son, he couldn’t be selfish and risk their lives to make a dangerous chess move. Besides, Wang Fu Mu’s silence was the biggest warning. Wang Fu Mu’s silence meant if he made a reckless move then he and his family would die.

Pei Jin’s chaotic heart calmed. ‘I truly only want to be a carefree prince.’

Huang Guo wanted to vomit blood.

A servant escorted Huang Guo to the horse carriage.

Pei Jin kissed his son’s cheeks and happily ran to the chamber to change his son’s clothes.

‘Son, be good,’ Pei Jin coaxed. ‘You’re my good son. Don’t cry.’

Pei Xiao Niao didn’t know his father was grateful he urinated on his father’s knees and restored his father’s common sense, he continued to cry because his pants were wet.

Pei Xiao Niao’s loud cry woke up Yan Shi Ning.

Pei Xiao Niao saw his mother, stretched his arms toward his mother and cried louder.

‘You’re not allowed to cry!’ Yan Shi Ning said.

Pei Xiao Niao was startled his mother raised her voice. He pouted his lips, buried his head in his father’s chest and didn’t dare to cry.

Yan Shi Ning noticed her son’s pants were wet. She picked up her son from Pei Jin’s arms and changed her son’s clothes.

‘Earlier did Huang Guo visit you?’ Yan Shi Ning asked.

‘Um’ Pei Jin said.

‘What’s happening in the palace?’ Yan Shi Ning asked.

‘I heard imperial father wrote an edict to make seventh brother the crown prince,’ Pei Jin lied.

‘What should we do?’ Yan Shi Ning asked.

‘Wait and see what happens,’ Pei Jin said. ‘I think there’s something suspicious about the news. Huang Guo wants to lend his army to me for me to steal the throne. But I don’t dare. Wan Fu Mu hasn’t send news to me so I don’t want to do anything reckless.’

‘What if the news is true?’ Yan Shi Ning asked. ‘Do we watch Pei Zhang sit on the throne?’

‘If it’s true then we’ll escape to Southern Jiang,’ Pei Jin said. ‘He can’t kill us if we’re not in the imperial city. Besides, I don’t have enough people in our home to defeat Huang Guo’s army.’

‘But it’s not fair,’ Yan Shi Ning said.