Chapter 73 Crown Prince Yun’s Private Trip

Seeing Old King Yun’s lonesome look, Master Meng knew that he had mentioned something that made him sad. He said immediately, “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t mention these to make you sad. Don’t be upset. She is dead, but our life is still going on. One day, you will get rid of the old Prime Minister. I will always support you.” “Yeah, you have taken care of so many things for me all these years. You have managed the finance of the Kingdom of Yun and some hidden forces. Otherwise, I’m afraid my throne would be taken away and given to that little bastard long ago.” Whenever he talked about Crown Prince Yun succeeding to the throne, Old King Yun would show a look of hatred. Master Meng felt so curious, and he couldn’t help asking. “I think you are nice to other kids. Why are you so cruel only to that child?” “He is a bastard who is not even my son.” “What?” “The damn bitch has had a relationship with the Prime Minister. They treat me as an idiot.” Master Meng still couldn’t believe what old King Yun said. After all, it’s about the bloodline of the royal family! He really couldn’t believe it. “It’s impossible. It was about the bloodline of the royal family. They shouldn’t be so blatant. It’s just some gossip!” “Well... yeah! It’s really unbelievable. I didn’t believe it at first, but I saw it with my own eyes. The two people made out in the Noble Consort’s palace. They hugged each other, and I almost caught them in bed,” King Yun said as he clenched his fists in anger. He punched hard on the table, “If I had enough power, I would have killed the two shameless people long ago. I don’t want to play the role of a righteous king who loves his Noble Consort. I feel disgusting every time I see that woman.” Master Meng looked at King Yun when he heard those unbelievable words. At this moment, Master Meng finally understood why King Yun wanted to dethrone Crown Prince so much. Because he couldn’t give his kingdom to a person who was not even his blood. “Then what do you want to do next?” asked Master Meng. “I can’t kill that kid when the Noble Consort is around.” “Do you still want to kill him?” “Yes. Of course, I want to kill that bastard. His existence is an insult to me.” “Xier likes that kid. I’m afraid Xier will get hurt.” Master Meng would always support Old King Yun, but he didn’t want his daughter to suffer. “I know. Xier is your baby girl. I don’t want to hurt her either.” “I appreciate it.” “Meng! We have been close friends for so many years. You don’t need to mention it.” “Alright.” “The palace is not peaceful these days. You must keep an eye on Xier. Don’t let that girl do foolish things, and don’t let them meet again.” “Okay, I will.” “The New Year is coming. Let’s do it after New Year’s Day! At that time, I will release a royal edict to send Crown Prince on a private trip. He will be sent out of Huaiyang City for observing the public feeling.” “Well, it’s not bad to stop them from seeing each other like this. After a long period of time, maybe Xier can forget that kid.” “I don’t mind sparing his life when everything is stable, and that kid was not Crown Prince coveting the throne. I can do you a favor and let him be the son-in-law of the Mengs.” “Well. In this case, everyone will be happy. Then let’s just do it this way!” “However, don’t blame me for being ruthless if that kid is ignorant of the current situation and returns to Huaiyang City before everything is settled. In short, he can never return to the royal palace.” “Okay, I got it.” Master Meng also knew that old King Yun was being thoughtful as his friend and had arranged it deliberately for the sake of Meng Xi. “Then what do you want to do next?” “Recently, the Prime Minister’s men are about to take action. I may have to act first.” “Do you need my support?” “Of course.” “Okay, tell me what you need.” “I want to...” Old King Yun walked closer to Master Meng and whispered in his ear. It was something critical about his following action, and he only trusted Master Meng. “Okay, I see. When do you want to start?” “After Crown Prince Yun leaves Huaiyang City.” ... Old King Yun and Master Meng were discussing their plan in the Royal Study Room when a court eunuch stood outside the door and eavesdropped on their conversation secretly. Old King Yun had already been very careful, so the court eunuch couldn’t hear any key information. However, even some unimportant messages the court eunuch told the Noble Consort would make everything more complicated. At that time, Old King Yun was pitiful, and his life was pretty much a failure. He was the king, but there were few loyal people around him. He was not a fatuous and self-indulgent ruler, but he was the most helpless one. He had no chance to determine his own life. When he was a child, he was the prince abandoned by his kingdom. He was held hostage in the Kingdom of Wu. It was the Prime Minister who helped him return to his kingdom and become a king. The Prime Minister also married his sister to him, who was now the Noble Consort. Old King Yun initially thought it was a favor. However, the Prime Minister took control and made him become a figurehead. Fortunately, he met Master Meng. They had become confidants and sworn brothers. Master Meng helped him in secret. However, the only woman he ever loved in his life—the princess of the Kingdom of Kong—was killed. His favorite child, Yun Hai, had to be raised by the Noble Consort. He could only be tolerant and make the Noble Consort’s son the Crown Prince. Now, he didn’t want to be so coward anymore. He was ready to fight against them. This was also the first time that Old King Yun took a desperate try. Unfortunately, he failed. They had a very weird celebration for this New Year. The palace was as lively as usual, but it exuded an indescribable aura of depression. The Noble Consort was the one who suffered the most. In a few days during the New Year’s holidays, Old King Yun allowed her to go out of her palace to gather with others. But she was still locked inside for the rest of the time. Crown Prince Yun and Meng Xi were watched by their family. They couldn’t meet each other, and their lovesickness was even more painful. Not long after the New Year, people were still indulged in the festival atmosphere. On a breezy, sunny, and seemingly peaceful day, a royal edict was sent to the Crown Prince Palace. The royal edict asked the Crown Prince to observe the public feeling in secret on behalf of old King Yun, which was exactly what a Crown Prince should do. Therefore, Crown Prince was dispatched to leave Huaiyang City, the capital of the Kingdom of Yun. In the morning, the gate tower of Huaiyang City was crowded. Old King Yun was standing in front, and the young Crown Princess was next to him. She was holding the Crown Prince’s eldest son in her arms—Yun Su, who was only one year old. Crown Prince Yun had already been outside the gate of Huaiyang City downstairs. Everyone looked at him and didn’t want him to leave. If he left, he couldn’t be back in the near future. Crown Prince Yun had to visit so many cities that it would take at least three months for him to come back. The Crown Princess really didn’t want him to leave. In contrast, old King Yun was just acting as his father. Noble Consort was not here. She was still grounded. Maybe Old King Yun didn’t allow her to see her son off deliberately. Old King Yun really didn’t want to let her out so early. This time, Crown Prince Yun was going on a private trip. He wore a nice outfit like a young master and was accompanied by a few men in clothes as informal as his. There were no more than ten people in his team. It’s not bad to leave Huaiyang City. However, he was getting further and further away from the girl he cared about the most. Crown Prince Yun stared at the tower for a long time, hoping to see that familiar pink figure he missed so much. Since his mother hurt Meng Xi last time, he had never had the chance to see the girl again. Invisible lovesickness tortured him and made him miss her even more. “Your Highness, it’s late.” “Your Highness, we should go now.” “I’m afraid we won’t be able to get into the next city if we stay longer.” “He’s right, Your Highness. If we can’t get into the next city, we can only camp in the suburbs tonight.” “Okay, let’s go.” After a long time, Crown Prince Yun was still staring at the gate tower, looking forward to seeing the beautiful girl again. But he had to stop doing so because some of his men kept urging him. Crown Prince Yun felt so uncomfortable about his leaving this time. He didn’t know when he could meet Meng Xi again. Because of Crown Prince Yun’s bad mood, they moved very slowly along the way. Crown Prince Yun often turned around to looked in the direction of the gate tower of Huaiyang City. This group of people was so slow that they couldn’t arrive at the next city on time. Fortunately, they found a place to rest in a small village before it was totally dark. This small village was not in a good position, so it suffered from floods every year. Originally, they were hospitable to outsiders. However, when Crown Prince Yun and his team arrived, it happened to be the day before the sacrifice day in the village. The people in the village were not hospitable at all now. They didn’t even want to talk with them. Because Crown Prince Yun gave them a lot of money, the village chief agreed to take them in overnight. However, they had to leave early tomorrow morning. They were also forbidden to know or even participate in the sacrificial activities in the village tomorrow. Crown Prince Yun and his men spent the night in this strange little village. The villagers only prepared a room for so many people. This room didn’t even look like a bedroom, more like a utility room. Now Crown Prince Yun and his men were traveling, so they couldn’t care too much about these details. No matter how strange and uncomfortable they felt, they still wanted to avoid unnecessary troubles. They didn’t choose to dig into it and slept early. They wanted to leave this unfriendly village in the early morning tomorrow. The first ray of sunlight in the morning filled this dilapidated room. This place was originally full of sundries, but now it looked kind of clean because it was cleaned up. Crown Prince Yun and others were always taken good care of in the royal palace. Therefore, they did not sleep well all night. They all changed their clothes quickly and got ready to leave after dawn. Crown Prince Yun had always been polite. Before leaving the village, he wanted to say goodbye to the village chief. Because of this, he met an unexpected person. If the word “creepy” was used to describe nights, that would be normal. However, the small village early in the morning today also looked very creepy. Compared with last night, now it made people have an indescribable weird feeling even more. The Crown Prince and his men walked through the whole village, but they didn’t see anyone. Everyone seemed to have disappeared out of thin air. It seemed like this village had always been unpopulated. “Your Highness, there is no one here.” “Yeah, we’ve searched everywhere.” “Did we see some ghosts last night?” “No way, ghosts don’t exist...” “Don’t talk nonsense.” “Why do we encounter such a thing?” “I remember it very clear that the village chief was breathing like a normal person last night.” “Yes, he also had shadows.” “So did the villagers.” “They must be alive.” “But where are they?”