Chapter 179: Save Me! Save Me

Li Wei returned from ransacking the Lu Family just as Mu Yunlian was heading out. As they passed each other, Mu Yunlian gave a slight nod in greeting before departing with a light step.

Li Wei, however, stopped in his tracks, his feet as heavy as if they were filled with lead.

Yesterday morning, he had gone to see Your Majesty very early and had personally witnessed Mu Yunlian emerging from Your Majesty’s chambers.

’Your Majesty and Mu Yunlian... and what about the Regent King before him?’

He had already tried to suppress his wild thoughts, but Your Majesty made it impossible for his mind not to run wild.

’The Emperor once issued a sacred decree to make him a consort. Could he assume now that it wasn’t just a jest?’

’All women in the world must abide by traditional female virtues, but such virtues could never bind an Emperor.’

’Your Majesty is an Emperor first, and a woman second. If she was willing... if she was willing...’

At this thought, Li Wei lowered his head and looked at his own chest and abdomen.

"Your Majesty, the Lu Family has been completely ransacked."

Li Wei presented a memorial with the final tallies. Lu Huaixi had embezzled a fair amount, but this was the border. By the time the funds reached his hands, there was a limit to what he could skim. Furthermore, Fengxue Pass had to defend against Beimeng, and the defending General reported directly to the Ministry of War. If Lu Huaixi wanted to be greedy, he’d have to contend with the General’s fists first.

Therefore, his corruption was mostly limited to exploiting the common people. The sum was not small, but it wasn’t enormous either.

They did, however, confiscate quite a few of his businesses: brothels, restaurants, gold shops, and textile stores. He had dabbled in many things.

Mu Yunlian is investigating the assassins, but there’s no news yet. It’s highly likely, however, that it has nothing to do with Lu Huaixi.

But even if he was just implicated in the assassination, the evidence of his other crimes was more than enough to have the Lu Family’s assets seized and the family exiled.

Xiao Yang studied the memorial intently while Li Wei stood to the side, waiting. From the corner of his eye, he greedily drank in the sight of the Emperor’s face.

’It has been a full month since the Emperor was abducted. She hasn’t lost any weight; in fact, she looks like she’s gained a little.’

’The rigors of the journey left no trace on her face. Instead, her skin was so supple it looked like you could squeeze water from it, and so fair it seemed to glow.’

’When Your Majesty was a man, he had despised this appearance.’

’How could a man look so much like a porcelain doll, with not a hint of masculinity?’

’But now that he knew she was a woman... how could someone be so exquisitely perfect in every way?’

"Li Wei? Li Wei?"

Xiao Yang called his name twice before Li Wei finally snapped out of it, realizing with some embarrassment that he had been staring.

"Your Majesty... forgive me."

Xiao Yang watched him for a long moment. Li Wei’s reaction made her want to tease him a little, but thinking of the romantic entanglements she was already caught in, she decided to restrain herself.

"The new officials will arrive in Luoyan City within ten days. In the meantime, promote two people of your choosing to maintain order for now."

"Keep a close eye on Wumu City and Zhao Cheng’an. They might make a move at the same time."

Li Wei: "This subject obeys."

「On the seventh day of Xiao Yang’s stay in Luoyan City,」 a travel-worn figure, laden with bags large and small, appeared before her.

Xiao Yang almost didn’t recognize him.

"Um... Uncle?"

Xiao Yang looked at this man—caked in mud, hair like a bird’s nest, face so grimy his features were unrecognizable—and was tempted to strike him.

But then she saw the vaguely familiar guards behind him, and the little rookie Xiao Hong, who was so exhausted he fell right off his horse.

Only then did she manage to make a difficult identification: this appeared to be her uncle, Prince Jing.

"Your Majesty! WAAAAH!"

The moment Prince Jing saw Xiao Yang, he let out a great howl and burst into tears.

"My dear Majesty! You’re alright! This is wonderful! WAH WAH WAH..."

Xiao Yang was certain Prince Jing was genuinely crying. Tears and snot streamed down his face without any regard for his image. He just wailed as if he had suffered the greatest injustice in the world.

"Uncle... it must have been a difficult journey."

Xiao Yang subtly dodged Prince Jing’s attempt to get closer, frantically signaling to Xiao Lan with her eyes. ’Save me! Save me!’

Even Xiao Lan’s eternally calm face showed a ripple of disturbance, mainly because Prince Jing was just so incredibly filthy at the moment.

But for Your Majesty’s sake, he stepped forward. "Your Highness, this junior will escort you to wash up first."

Prince Jing reached out a hand. "Your Majesty! WAH WAH WAH... SOB SOB SOB..."

Xiao Lan grabbed his arm and forcefully dragged him away.

Having escaped Prince Jing, Xiao Yang had just breathed a sigh of relief when she turned and was immediately hugged by Xiao Hong.

Xiao Yang’s expression cracked. "Second Brother, you haven’t bathed!!!"

Xiao Hong, seeing he was being scorned, tightened his grip and gave her another firm hug.

Then he let go, saw Xiao Yang’s darkened expression, and grinned a very punchable grin. "Your Majesty, it’s good to see you’re well."

Xiao Yang: "..."

’This is weird,’ she thought. ’My aloof Second Brother seems to have changed.’

Xiao Hong sat down, had a cup of tea, and slowly began to tell Xiao Yang what had happened in the Capital City over the past month.

He started with her disappearance. Xiao Lv was the first to realize she was gone, and soon after, the Regent King and Prince Jing also found out.

Everyone’s first reaction was to lock down the news. They announced to the public that Your Majesty had caught a chill and that the Regent King and Prince Jing would temporarily manage the affairs of the court.

They handled court affairs while searching everywhere for Your Majesty.

But even though they shared a common goal, they were not united.

The Regent King, Prince Jing, Li Wei, the Prime Minister, and the Xu Family—with the Emperor present, they were all Your Majesty’s subjects. Without the Emperor, they were just rival factions.

Meng Xuechen even used a body double, so not even the Regent King knew that he was the one who had taken you. Instead, everyone suspected everyone else—they suspected their own people, the four rebel kings, and even the envoys from other nations.

On the surface, everything was calm, but in reality, dark undercurrents were surging.

And although their movements were already very discreet, it was impossible for so many factions moving at once to go unnoticed.

Thanks to that newspaper the Emperor started, everyone in the Capital City is now a seasoned conspiracy theorist. They can sniff out the slightest clue and analyze it into a million different possibilities.

Someone sensed that something had happened to the Emperor.

No one thought the Emperor had been kidnapped—after all, it was a bit absurd and completely unprecedented. But an assassination attempt? Poisoning? A terminal illness? Those were all possibilities. In any case, they were certain something was wrong.

Those people started getting restless again, inciting Prince Jing. And as a result, Prince Jing became the biggest victim.

He wanted to find Your Majesty too, but on one side, people were goading him, trying to push him into rebelling. On the other side, the Regent King was watching him like a hawk, sword in hand, just waiting. If he dared to stick his neck out, the Regent King would have cut him down without a second thought.

The Regent King and Li Wei don’t get along, but on the matter of Prince Jing, they had a tacit understanding. Both were waiting with swords drawn to cut him down.

The Xu Family also has a little deviant. He couldn’t find the Emperor, but when it came to finding "evidence" of Prince Jing’s supposed rebellion, he was unerringly accurate.

Even though Prince Jing had no such intentions, a whole group of people was fabricating evidence against him, as if they were afraid he wouldn’t die.

Prince Jing was miserable. Xiao Lv and Xiao Hong had to search for the Emperor while frantically trying to protect their dad.

In one month, they lived as if three years had passed.

The very day news of the Emperor reached the capital, Prince Jing tearfully packed his bags to come find you. No one could stop his determination to file an imperial complaint.

And the reason he’s so dirty is that he traveled day and night without stopping, and even fell into a mud pit. That’s how he ended up looking like this.

In short, the Emperor was missing for a total of one month and four days, and the Prince Jing Mansion became the biggest victim.

A wronged Prince Jing, and his two broken sons.

Even a cool and detached young man like Xiao Hong has become mature and world-weary. He’s seen through the charade of life and isn’t far from going mad himself.