Chapter 199: Caught a Wall-Climbing Rabbit

On the fifth day of the Emperor’s coma, the court was in turmoil. Several factions stepped forward, using the pretext that "a nation cannot be without a ruler for a single day" to push for the selection of a Regent King.

"The Nanqi King is the eldest brother. Given the current crisis, it is his inescapable duty."

"Why should it be the Nanqi King? Prince Yanping is in no way his inferior."

"The Nanqi King is the eldest."

"Being the Regent King isn’t about age."

The supporters of the Nanqi King and Prince Yanping each held their ground, refusing to yield. At that moment, unaligned officials like Wang Changwen and Imperial Tutor Feng stepped forward.

"The Emperor is unable to awaken for the time being, so we do indeed require an acting ruler. However, compared to the Nanqi King and Prince Yanping, we believe the Eldest Prince is more suitable."

Someone immediately retorted, "The Eldest Prince is just a child! How can he handle the affairs of the court?"

Wang Changwen replied, "He would not be handling court affairs. He would attend court in the Emperor’s stead, while state matters would be deliberated jointly by the five Assistant Ministers and the two Princes."

The Empress Dowager entered, holding the Eldest Prince’s hand. "I approve of this matter!"

Round one: the Eldest Prince was victorious.

Prince Yanping gazed at the still-oblivious Eldest Prince, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes.

---

The palace was a powder keg of simmering tensions and surging undercurrents, held in check only by the Emperor’s last breath. The moment he exhaled for the last time, the situation would instantly descend into chaos.

Meanwhile, Xiao Li, who was seeking refuge from the chaos in the Princess Mansion, had caught herself a wall-climbing rabbit.

She stared at Feng Yin—clad only in a thin robe that was torn to shreds, his face smudged with dirt, and his arm wounded by a guard’s sword—and almost didn’t recognize him.

"How did you get into this state?"

He had even climbed the walls of her Princess Mansion. If one of the guards hadn’t recognized him, he would have been killed on the spot.

Feng Yin paid no mind to his own condition, nor did he hear what she was saying. His eyes were fixed only on her—smiling faintly, completely unharmed.

He strode forward and pulled her into his arms. Beneath his composed exterior, his heart was pounding violently.

"Princess..."

He held her tightly, as if he had finally recovered his own heartbeat, lost and now found again.

"Princess, you’re all right... You’re all right..."

The complex storm of his emotions—the tension, the worry, the lingering fear, and the profound relief—washed over Xiao Li. Understanding why he had come, she slowly raised her arms and gently wrapped them around his waist.

"It’s okay. I’m all right."

After a long moment, Feng Yin’s emotions finally settled. He released Xiao Li from his embrace but immediately clasped her hand tightly, his gaze devouring her greedily.

"My grandfather knows I have feelings for you, Princess. He doesn’t approve. After my capping ceremony, he had people watch me closely. He forbade me from going to the horse race that day, and when he learned you were in danger, he had me locked up."

As he spoke, his eyes began to mist over. Just as tears threatened to fall, he quickly wiped them away, looking at Xiao Li with a pitiful gaze.

"I’m not saying all this to make excuses. I just... I really, really wanted to see you, Princess. I didn’t dare to resist him openly, or Grandfather would have never let me go. I could only pretend to be obedient and look for a way to escape."

"I was so scared... so scared I would never see you again, Princess..."

Xiao Li looked at his face, which only grew smudgier the more he tried to wipe it, and she felt a mixture of being touched and wanting to laugh.

"So how did you get out?"

Feng Yin paused, his gaze shifting away evasively, but he still answered honestly, "I waited until they were all fast asleep, then I crawled out through the dog hole in the garden wall."

’Fast asleep?’

It was currently afternoon.

"You got out last night?"

Feng Yin replied, "In the early morning. The Princess Mansion is too far from the Feng Family estate. The roads were full of patrolling soldiers, and I was afraid of being found by my grandfather’s men, so it took some time."

A tremor went through Xiao Li’s heart. Even if she had a heart of stone, she couldn’t help but be moved by his reckless journey to her side.

She reached out and pinched his cheek. "Go get washed up and change your clothes."

Only then did it dawn on Feng Yin how filthy he was, and that he had actually hugged the Princess in such a state.

"I... I’ll impose on you, then..."

Hong Yue stepped forward. "Mr. Feng, please come with me."

Feng Yin kept looking back with every step he took, as if afraid that if he left for even a moment, Xiao Li would disappear.

Lan Yue cleared her throat. "Ahem... Mr. Song."

Xiao Li looked up to see a tall, slender figure standing in the doorway. She had no idea how long he had been there.

He was standing against the light, so Xiao Li couldn’t make out his expression. The next moment, Song Junzhan stepped inside, his demeanor perfectly natural.

"I’ve received some news," he said. "The Emperor is not of the late Emperor’s bloodline."

Xiao Li asked, "Where did that rumor come from?"

Song Junzhan showed a hint of surprise. "You don’t seem shocked by this, Princess?"

Xiao Li laughed. "Why would I be surprised by something I’ve known for a long time?"

Song Junzhan said, "It came from Prince Yanping’s camp. Their original plan was to use this secret against the Emperor, but the assassination attempt occurred before they had the chance. Now that the Emperor is in a coma, the secret has lost most of its bite, even if it were to spread. For now, it’s only circulating within their inner circle, but it will likely get out before long."

It might not be a fatal blow, but it could certainly be used to destabilize the situation.

Xiao Li picked up a cherry, tossed it into her mouth, and only after finishing it did she begin to speak, her tone unhurried. "Back then, when the Empress Dowager was pregnant, Consort Qin and Princess Consort Hui had already given birth to Princes one after another. The Empress Dowager was desperate to have a son of her own to secure her position in the Central Palace. She conceived that child only after taking countless medications and trying every method imaginable. Because everyone knew she wanted a son, they all said she was carrying a Prince. Over time, she herself became convinced it had to be a boy."

"But fate has a funny way of working—the more you want something, the less likely you are to get it. The Empress Dowager gave birth to a daughter. She was utterly devastated, but she insisted to her dying breath that she had borne a son. Through threats and coercion, she forced her trusted circle to help her conceal the truth. The Princess became a Prince."

"Although she now had a ’Prince,’ the Empress Dowager had taken too many random concoctions to conceive, and their effects were passed on to the child. As a result, the baby was plagued with all sorts of illnesses from birth. The Empress Dowager, terrified that an Imperial Physician would discover the truth, would only use physicians loyal to her. The two of them were not unskilled, but congenital ailments are incredibly difficult to treat."

"The child was tormented by illness day after day, and the Empress Dowager was heartbroken. More importantly, she had to live in constant fear that the child’s true sex would be discovered. During that time, the stress nearly drove her mad."

"One day, unable to bear the torment any longer, she got up in the middle of the night to clear her head in the gardens. Somehow, she wandered into a remote corner of the palace and saw a palace maid holding and cooing to a baby. The palace maid never expected to be seen by the Empress and was scared out of her wits. Under interrogation, she confessed everything."

"The child in her arms wasn’t hers. It was the child of an older palace attendant who’d had an affair. For fear of being discovered, they were secretly raising the baby in that remote place, with two trusted palace maids taking turns caring for it. The baby’s birthday was half a month after the Empress Dowager’s own child’s. And most importantly... it was a boy."

Xiao Li narrowed her eyes. "You can guess the rest, even if I don’t say it. The Empress Dowager was struck by a wicked idea. She stole the baby boy and killed the palace maids. As for her own daughter... to ensure the secret never got out, she had a trusted old matron kill the infant and bury her in the Imperial Garden, right beneath her favorite Wutong tree."