spoiled brat

Chapter 164, Section 163: Useless (Part 3)

Li Qingwen suddenly sprang up, tackled the foul-mouthed man to the ground, snatched the stick, and swung it down heavily.

He waded through sewage, his body filthy, his eyes bloodshot, looking as ferocious as a demon: "Even if I lose my official position, I am not someone you can despise!"

As he spoke, he swung the stick with all his might, the force clearly intended to kill someone.

The man who was beaten howled in pain and whimpered, begging his companions for help.

Another servant came to his senses, swung his arm in a wide arc, and swung a stick, which whistled through the air and smashed towards Li Qingwen's head!

With a dull thud, Li Qingwen froze, his eyes, which had been brimming with killing intent, suddenly dimmed, and he seemed to have lost all his strength.

Li Qingwen felt a heat on his cheek and tremblingly raised his hand to touch it. There was a dark red stain on his palm, so thick that even a downpour couldn't wash it away.

Instinctively, he tried to cover his wound with his other hand, forgetting that he was still holding the stick.

The servant, who was watching, thought he was going to be even more violent, so he mustered up his courage and struck him again with the stick.

thump.

Li Qingwen collapsed to the ground with a thud, as if a torrential downpour was washing over his sinful body, and the dirty water on the ground washed over his pale face.

The two men stared at the pool of blood beneath him, still shaken. After a moment of stunned silence, one of them swallowed hard and said, "...He was just being restless. His death has nothing to do with us."

Another person said, "It would be better if he were dead... Given all the filth he's done, killing him would be doing a service to the people."

After discussing it, the two of them put a sack over Li Qingwen's head and, taking advantage of the empty streets due to the rain, dumped him in a place far away from the Jiang residence.

-

As the downpour subsided, six horse-drawn carriages rolled over the puddled cobblestone road, leaving two fleeting watermarks on their wheels, which were adorned with python patterns.

The small curtain was slightly lifted, and a slender, fair hand reached out, lazily playing with the wind that passed through its fingers.

A small flower drifted in from an unknown wind and landed in Yixing's palm. He withdrew his hand, crushed the flower into a paste with two fingers, and lightly tossed it into the incense burner.

After closing the stove lid, Yixing looked out the window again, seemingly in a good mood, and casually hummed a little tune.

"Your Highness," He Wang said, holding a stack of urgent reports in his left hand and gripping his sleeve with his right, "are you listening?"

Yi Xing didn't turn around, continuing to chant the tune as he looked at the trees by the roadside, washed clean by the rain. Their dense shade was like a canopy, and countless white flowers, like snowflakes, were interspersed among the emerald green leaves. The flower that had just fallen into his palm came from this place.

He spread his hands, hoping the wind would reward him with another flower, but the wheels rolled on and easily passed by.

There was nothing to be disappointed about. Yi Xing lowered the small curtain, her bright and beautiful face blending into the shadows. She closed her eyes listlessly, looking bored and somewhat weary.

Normally, He Wang would never disturb him, but this urgent report came from the border, so he had no choice but to speak:
"Minister Wu has reported that the soldiers of Prince Ning's mansion are arrogant and unruly, and requests Your Highness to issue an edict to reprimand them."

The carriage remained silent for a long time; Yi Xing seemed to have fallen asleep.

He was the same way when he was in the Cold Palace; no matter what troubles he encountered, he remained nonchalant.

He Wang and he had been half master and half servant, half friend for over a decade. Even though he knew He Wang had a way to break the deadlock, he still called out with disapproval, "...Your Highness!"

Yi Xing raised his eyes, his gaze unfathomable: "I understand."

He Wang breathed a sigh of relief: "What was Minister Wu's response?"

"No return."

"He is, after all, your maternal grandfather..."

What maternal grandfather? It's just a mutually beneficial transaction.

"He's old and frail, and on the front lines he's been outshone by Prince Ning, not even as good as a dog. Yet he tries to use my power to intimidate others. Why bother with him?"

"...Minister Wu also said that you should make plans early so as not to miss the opportunity."

"A golden opportunity?"

Yi Xing's eyes were clear and deep, making it impossible to see the bottom of his mind or touch his heart.

"That old geezer is senile and foolish, and you're also dull-witted? My uncle is loyal and skilled in battle, how can we break a good bow before the birds have flown away?"

He rarely showed any emotion, so He Wang dared not say anything more and threw the urgent report into the incense burner, where it instantly turned to ashes.

He Wang stared at Yu Jin and said, seemingly casually, "The things I sent to the Princess's residence a few days ago were rejected."

"Wasn't it sent under the guise of an imperial gift?"

"...How could the Emperor possibly know her habits so well, and only bestow things that she likes?"

"So be it." Yi Xing closed his eyes again, his words tinged with self-mockery: "I was just too clumsy and ridiculous."

He Wang had heard similar words countless times. He had long given up hope that the prince would come to his senses and turn back, but he was inexplicably worried that the prince would extend his affection to the prince and be unable to take action against the Prince of Ning after the war subsided.

"Your Highness..."

He Wang was carefully considering his words when the carriage stopped. He asked the palace guards outside, "What's going on?"

The person outside stammered, "...There's something ahead."

He Wang frowned. Ordinary people would keep their distance from six-horse carriages, fearing a collision. What kind of ignorant thing dared to block the Crown Prince's carriage?

He poked his head out aggressively, but then paused for a moment.

In the flooded road after the torrential rain, a burlap sack was seen rolling and shifting on the ground with barely any force. The ground was covered in blood, and it was easy to tell that a person inside was on the verge of death.

He Wang remained unmoved and ordered his guards to throw the man far away.

Yi Xing raised his hand to stop him, saying with interest, "No rush, let's see how far he can climb." Having grown up in the cold palace, Yi Xing was only accompanied by his mad mother.

He was talking to a madman with the mind of a child, saying that the emperor would soon bestow gifts and that he would soon be neither cold nor hungry.
They said the Phoenix Spring Grace carriage was right outside the Cold Palace, so I should get a good night's sleep and be able to leave at dawn.
She also said that the emperor had never forgotten the time he had favored a young palace maid and had always wanted to see her, but Consort Wu refused.

Madmen have bad memories; they never remember what they've heard.

Yi Xing coaxed his mother like a child.

But his mother was like a mirror; if he looked at her face for too long, he felt like he was going crazy.

So, in his spare time, he made a new friend.

It was a very clever five-branched rat, pale yellow, round like a rabbit, and well-versed in the tunnels and crevices of the palace walls. After filling its belly, it would always squat by the window to watch the moon with Yixing.

Yi Xing said, "Little mouse, little mouse, why should I live in this world?"

The five-branched rat squeaked.

Yi Xing said, "Little mouse, little mouse, can you dig a tunnel big enough for a person to pass through so I can take my mother away? It's too cold here, and nobody likes us."

The five-branched rat squeaked, making one more squeak as a sign of agreement.

From then on, the Five-Branched Rat often visited the Cold Palace, but he no longer had time to accompany Yixing to watch the moon.

Yi Xing was not alone, because he always heard a gurgling sound under the bed.

Whenever his mother hid in his arms in fear, saying that Consort Wu had sent people to kill them, he would gently comfort her: Mother, don't be afraid, Mother, sleep well. My friend is working hard to dig a tunnel, and we will be able to get out soon.

You can't take a child's words seriously.

The five-branched rat ultimately failed to help them escape the palace.

This was not because its claws were not sharp enough or it was not loyal to its friends, but because it was caught by the palace servants while stealing food.

The palace servant chuckled, "What a fat rat!" He stomped on it until it was half flat, then grabbed its tail and swung it around, tossing it out like a ball.

Since Yi Xing was confined to the cold palace, he naturally had no idea that his friend had encountered a misfortune.

When the moon rose that night, he didn't hear any noise under the bed and assumed that the five-branched rat was too busy stealing food to come.

That's alright, he can just open the window and wait for it.

He waited for a long time but did not see the familiar figure. Instead, he vaguely heard a few faint chirps among the chirping of summer insects.

He looked out the window in horror.

It was a ball of fur stained red with blood, slowly moving under the cold blue moonlight, but it couldn't leave a trace of blood on the stone slab.

Its blood had long since dried up.

Five rats died in front of Yixing's window. He was stunned for a long time before he finally accepted the fact and vowed never to make any friends again, let alone put anything in his heart.

If you can't protect it or keep it, why add unnecessary trouble?
Yi Xing first brought the Cold Palace out of the palace to bury the Five-Branched Rat.

Actually, the Cold Palace could be used for burial, but the eunuchs all said that the feng shui of that place was bad. He wanted to find a good place so that Wuzhishu could be reborn into a better life and not be trampled into a pile of minced meat again.

Where is the best feng shui? Yi Xing couldn't delve into that question in detail.

He was clearly a prince, yet none of the many palaces in the palace would allow this bastard to enter.

Left with no other choice, he had to bypass the patrolling guards and sneak into the Imperial Garden.

Unfortunately, Yixing was unlucky.

That night, the moonlight was bright, and a group of boys and girls of similar age to him strolled around by candlelight, accompanied by countless palace maids and guards.

Fearing he would be caught, he had no choice but to hide under the eaves with the dead rat in his arms.

Laughter echoed in the distance as a group of people floated on boats and released lanterns. He closed his eyes tightly, commanding himself not to listen, not to look, and certainly not to feel any envy.

But how can a child control his mind? He eventually looked over.

That one glance was the greatest misfortune of his life.

Yi Xing saw his brothers, whom he would one by one, and also saw a back view that he could never reach.

While he was thinking, the sack was exhausted and could not be moved an inch.

Yi Xing sighed softly. He had originally planned to do a good deed and save the man's life if he could climb up to the carriage.

Unfortunately, this person was unworthy and failed to live up to his rare compassion.

"What a pity." Yi Xing said casually, "Give him a quick death and move on."

He Wang nodded and gave the instructions to the driver and guards as instructed.

Just as the guard was about to raise his whip, the sack on the ground made a dying sound: "Your Highness..."

Yi Xing paused in his action of lowering the curtain, his gaze fixed on the sack with a probing look, and said to He Wang, "Go and take a look."

"Yes."

He Wang got off the carriage, covered his nose, walked forward, and drew his knife to cut open the sack.

Startled upon recognizing the bloodless face, he turned to look at Yixing:

"Your Highness...this is Lord Li."

(Wuzhishu: Hamster)