Volume One, Chapter Six: Cunning and Calculated, Advancing Step by Step
“Imperial Physician Hong, I am willing to pay any price if you can cure the Ninth Prince!”
Faced with the earnest plea from the sage Fu Duling, the old physician shook his head anxiously and respectfully.
“Sage Fu, you should know better than I do—the Ninth Prince’s condition is beyond even the most skilled divine healers of the highest order. I am merely a fourth-rank celestial doctor. I am truly powerless. I must take my leave.”
With that, Hong the Imperial Physician bowed and hurriedly departed.
Fu Duling looked at Ye Chen with a sense of loss, noticing that the prince had awakened and managed a faint smile.
“Your Highness has awakened…”
“Master!”
Ye Chen weakly propped himself up to salute, but Fu Duling stopped him.
“There’s no need for formalities in your condition, Your Highness. Do not heed Hong’s words too heavily. Rest well; I will find another way.”
Then Fu Duling recounted all that had transpired before and after Ye Chen’s revival, ending with comforting words.
“So, it’s better for you to leave the capital, away from all this turmoil, to find peace…”
After speaking, Fu Duling left with a heavy heart. Ye Chen, watching his back, struggled to get out of bed.
The power of his Confucian first-rank cultivation had accumulated inside his body, causing him unbearable pain as if being slowly dismembered.
“This pain is killing me. I’d rather die! But… it’s better to live!”
Cursing, Ye Chen endured the agony and sat up, analyzing the current situation.
The fact that Emperor Qingli did not imprison him again but sent him back to the Prince Yan’s residence meant the matter had reached a temporary pause.
However, his title as Prince Yan had been stripped, and he was to be exiled thousands of miles away—this was certainly not a simple matter.
Emperor Qingli would surely continue to use him as a pawn, so he needed to prepare in advance.
Yet Ye Chen could not understand why Qingli would harm him if his aim was to use force to reduce the princes’ power.
Though he was the grandson of King Zhao Tai, he was still the emperor’s own son!
Such a self-destructive tactic was utterly foolish.
Wouldn’t it be more effective to eliminate Zhao Tai’s sons directly?
…
Meanwhile, after leaving the Prince Yan’s residence, Imperial Physician Hong did not return to the Imperial Medical Institute but went straight to the palace to see the emperor.
“Your Majesty, I am certain the Prince Yan will not live past a year!”
Hearing this, Emperor Qingli exhaled deeply.
“I understand. You may leave.”
“Your servant takes his leave!”
No sooner had Hong exited when the leader of the secret guards, called Falcon, descended from the beams of the main hall.
When he spoke, his voice was unexpectedly feminine.
“Your Majesty, the Dark Dragon Guards have expedited their mission eight hundred miles away. Zhao Chunshan and Zhao Chunjiang have been executed. Zhao Chunfeng fell off a cliff while fleeing and is missing.”
At this, Emperor Qingli smiled smugly and gestured for Falcon to stand.
It turned out the accusation of Ye Chen’s rebellion was merely a pretext to mobilize the Dark Dragon Army to eliminate Zhao Tai’s three sons who were commanding troops outside.
As long as Ye Chen was suspected of treason, the Dark Dragon Army could be deployed.
This army was established after the Great Yu Dynasty specifically to handle rebellion.
The only condition for mobilizing the Dark Dragon Guards was the presence of a rebellion.
Publicly interrogating Ye Chen at court and forcing a confession was just a show for the officials.
He had only not expected Ye Chen, now stripped of his cultivation, to be capable of causing such a disturbance.
But by then, the Dark Dragon Guards had already begun their orders, and stopping them was impossible.
---
As for Ye Chen’s attempt to prove his innocence, it backfired.
“That fool Ye Chen thinks proving himself innocent will save his life.”
“Now that Zhao Tai’s three sons are dead or missing, he will definitely rebel!”
“In Zhao Tai’s eyes, both I and this traitorous son are the culprits who caused the deaths of his daughter and sons…”
Emperor Qingli said with a triumphant smile.
Falcon broke out in a cold sweat.
The emperor’s strategy was meticulous; from the start, he had anticipated Ye Chen might clear his name.
So when the dragon robe was found at the Prince Yan’s residence, Qingli had already sent people to kill Zhao Tai’s three sons.
If Ye Chen proved innocent,
Zhao Tai would surely believe that Qingli and Ye Chen, father and son, had conspired to trap and kill his sons.
Then, whether Ye Chen was exiled or remained a prince in the capital, Zhao Tai would never forgive him.
Poor Ye Chen!
Thinking this, Falcon reported again.
“Additionally, the secret guards report that Grand Tutor Du has gone to the Observatory, likely seeking the chief astronomer Ge Hong.”
The emperor’s expression darkened with anger.
“Hmph, that old immortal, can’t he ever rest?”
“The chief astronomer Ge Hong is a second-rank Taoist master, his medical skills rival those of a divine healer. If he treats the Ninth Prince…”
Hearing Falcon’s concern, Qingli sneered dismissively.
“Hmph, no need to worry. Ge Hong can’t save him. You are to monitor Prince Chen at the Yan residence closely and report immediately if anything happens.”
“Yes!”
Falcon agreed and vanished, reappearing at the Yan residence.
Disguised as a maid, Falcon met Ye Chen in the garden.
At that moment, Ye Chen was performing strange movements.
Using hands and feet, he sometimes moved like a fierce tiger descending a mountain, sometimes like a deer in the forest…
Unbeknownst to him, Ye Chen was practicing the Five Animal Frolics, an ancient exercise invented by the renowned Chinese physician Hua Tuo.
By mimicking the movements of tiger, deer, bear, ape, and bird, the practice aims to unblock meridians, regulate qi and blood, and strengthen the body.
He had resolved that if the Five Animal Frolics failed, he would try Baduanjin and Vajra exercises.
Suddenly, a surge of reverse blood burst forth, splattering the ground.
Dizzy and weak, Ye Chen collapsed, coughing up blood.
Falcon rushed over and helped him up.
“Thank you. What is your name?”
As a modern man from Blue Star, Ye Chen instinctively expressed gratitude.
Seeing the unfamiliar maid, he asked again.
In his original memories, he knew all the servants of the residence; this one was new.
Falcon was surprised to hear a master thank a servant and shyly replied, “I am Mingyue, your humble servant.”
Though puzzled, Ye Chen paid it no mind—he was about to be exiled, and the servants would not follow.
More importantly, after practicing the Five Animal Frolics and coughing up blood, much of the pain in his body had lessened.
This meant the practice was effective.
---
With that thought, Ye Chen looked toward the artificial rockery in the garden.
“Since you’re here, why not show yourself!”
“Rumor has it that a crippled prince in the capital with a damaged meridian has reached first-rank cultivation. Seems it’s true!”
Suddenly, a masked man in combat attire appeared atop the rockery.
“You worthless prince! To reach first-rank through sudden insight means you must possess great fortune!”
With that, the masked man charged, wielding a blade.
“If I kill you, that immense fortune will be mine!”
Startled, Ye Chen immediately unleashed the power of “Words Become Deeds” and shouted fiercely,
“You’re not worthy to kill me. Commit seppuku!”
The attacker halted mid-leap, the blade slowly moving toward his own throat.
Ye Chen clearly felt vast amounts of lifespan being drained by the power of “Words Become Deeds.”
The masked man struggled desperately to regain control of his body.
“You lunatic! The power consumes immense lifespan; you can’t use it recklessly! Stop now!”
But it was useless; the blade soon pressed against his neck.
Ye Chen said coldly, “I’m not mad. I don’t need ‘Words Become Deeds.’ I’m already a corpse.”
Upon hearing this, the masked man immediately cowered.
“Ninth Prince, I was wrong. Spare me. I just wanted to… joke with you…”
Swoosh!
The blade sliced across his neck, blood spraying forth. The assassin collapsed, dying in despair.
“Pft!”
Ye Chen spat blood, a streak of white hair appearing among his black locks.
At this moment, he had no strength left, his legs weak.
Falcon supported him anxiously.
“Your Highness, are you alright?”
Ye Chen looked coldly at the corpse and muttered,
“Is that so? This joke is not a funny one!”
Then he glanced toward the garden, where the Moonwatch Pavilion stood just beyond the residence’s wall.
Atop the pavilion, a group of nobles dressed in elegant garments watched the garden with smiling faces.
Ye Chen shouted toward the pavilion,
“You test me with such lowly scoundrels? Do you underestimate me too much!”
From the pavilion came a distant female voice.
“Ninth Prince, a mere martial artist of fifth rank, and you use ‘Words Become Deeds’ against himI'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.