Chapter 83: Chapter 77: The Fourth Prince is Born, Who is the Night Lord?

Appointing a Crown Prince!

An earth-shattering event!

But... what the hell did it have to do with him, Zheng Xiu?

’It doesn’t seem to have any relationship at all!’

"Appointing a Crown Prince is a good thing. Doing it sooner rather than later will secure the nation and calm the hearts of the people. But what does it have to do with me?"

Zheng Xiu said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

On the surface, who became Crown Prince had nothing to do with him.

Zheng Xiu’s matter-of-fact reply sent the emotionally charged Second Prince into a fit of exasperation.

"Yes! It has nothing to do with you!" The Second Prince’s expression was grim. "But do you really think you can stay out of it?"

"Are you about to ask me if I know how the character for ’death’ is written?"

Zheng Xiu immediately perked up, craning his neck to ask.

The sudden interruption made the Second Prince’s emotions plummet, and he froze on the spot.

He had indeed been thinking it, but he hadn’t dared to say it out loud.

"Marquis Zheng, let’s not beat around the bush—" Just as the Second Prince was about to say more, Zheng Xiu waved his hand, cutting him off. "Don’t! Your Highness is being too serious. I’m just an ordinary, wealthy merchant. Your Highness is high and mighty. You and I... we can’t be considered people who speak plainly to each other. In fact, I’d much prefer if you spoke to me now in cryptic words that I can’t possibly understand."

The Second Prince froze.

Zheng Xiu smiled again. "The only reason you came all the way to Heaven-Gazing Prison, knowing full well this visit would put you in the spotlight, is to make your other two brothers think I, Zheng Xiu, can be persuaded to take your side in the matter of appointing the Crown Prince. But since you know your own two brothers so well, how could you not know their nature? Would they really believe that I could be so easily swayed by you?"

"Your trip here was for nothing. Who would believe it?"

"How could I possibly have that much influence!"

"You’re overestimating me!"

"Our humble Zheng Family keeps to ourselves and obeys the law. We voluntarily pay extra taxes every year and perform charitable acts to help the people every month."

"Who doesn’t see me and praise me in their hearts as ’Good man Zheng’? Why should I wade into these muddy waters?"

The Second Prince was speechless.

Zheng Xiu continued, "Besides, the Emperor’s heart is hard to fathom. How can you be so sure that the Holy Emperor’s decision to appoint a Crown Prince has anything to do with me? A Crown Prince must be appointed. What difference does it make if it’s sooner or later? This is just how it is for those born into the Imperial Family!"

Hearing this, the Second Prince fell silent. He suddenly remembered something, and his brow twitched. "That’s right. Ten days ago, an Imperial Consort in the palace gave birth to a son."

"When Father Emperor first learned it was a Prince, he went to see him, overjoyed. But in the end... he returned sullen and dejected."

"Why is that?"

Zheng Xiu froze at his words. The Second Prince’s dramatic, rhythmic tone piqued his curiosity.

But Zheng Xiu knew there was no benefit in knowing too much about the Imperial Family’s affairs. He immediately waved his hand dismissively. "This prison is gloomy and filled with bad luck. With your noble air, Your Highness, it’s not suitable for you to stay too long. You should leave at once!"

The unspoken meaning was that they had nothing more to say to each other, and he was showing his guest the door.

The Second Prince calmed down. He knew Zheng Xiu’s mind was made up and he wouldn’t be swayed. Saying any more would do neither of them any good.

So he cupped his hands in a salute toward Zheng Xiu and stepped out of the cell door.

But before leaving, without turning back, the Second Prince said in a low voice, "This prince believes that the matter of Princess Yu Run’s murder is related to Ye Weiyang. If it wasn’t you, then it could only be Ye Weiyang."

Zheng Xiu scoffed.

"Whether you believe it or not, Marquis." The Second Prince sneered. "Marquis, this prince refuses to believe you hold no grudge against Ye Weiyang! After all, you know perfectly well that the ’Night Lord’ who now leads Ye Weiyang is the current National Preceptor—the very same military strategist who abandoned General Zheng and fled back to the Imperial City alone twenty years ago!"

What!

Zheng Xiu stared in astonishment at the Second Prince’s retreating back.

The Second Prince flicked his sleeves and departed.

He had no idea that his last sentence, which seemed like just a parting shot to vent his frustration, had brought Zheng Xiu the greatest shock and doubt of the night.

The matter of appointing a Crown Prince was clearly a mountain of pressure on the Second Prince.

There were just over three months left until the third day of the third month.

In these three months, the three brothers would surely be locked in a struggle of dragons and tigers for the position of Crown Prince!

It was a life-or-death struggle!

This was the tragedy of being born into the Imperial Family!

But right now, he didn’t have many chess pieces in hand. If he couldn’t win over the Zheng Clan, the Second Prince would be at a disadvantage in this contest for the throne.

Having failed to win him over, a baleful aura rose in the Second Prince’s eyes. Accompanied by his subordinates, he walked out of the Heaven-Gazing Platform Prison Camp.

Around the Prison Camp, there were many street vendors, wandering laborers, and vagrants. They seemed to be milling about aimlessly, but they were all quietly watching the Second Prince’s back as he returned to the Imperial Palace.

’Looks like the master’s in a bit of trouble.’

Not far away, Qing Shisan, disguised as a coachman, wore a bamboo hat that hid his face. He smoked a dry pipe, his face full of worry.

Just as a few smoke rings drifted out, a Raven glanced warily in his direction, scaring Qing Pi into quickly swatting the smoke rings away.

As soon as Second Lady woke up, he had hurried out to look for fares.

It wasn’t about earning money; he had to seize the time to practice his Path.

Watching the Second Prince leave, Qing Shisan looked up worriedly toward the ninety-foot-high platform.

SHWEE! SHWEE! SHWEE!

Throughout the city, the familiar, undulating whistles of the Zheng Clan’s Wandering coachmen could still be heard, ringing out loud and clear.

...

The Second Prince’s visit was somewhat unexpected for Zheng Xiu.

It seemed an invisible hand behind the scenes had pushed the Second Prince to come.

Everything was a little too coincidental, too deliberate.

Yet the Second Prince had willingly walked into the trap and come to persuade Master Zheng.

Of all the information, what surprised Zheng Xiu the most was learning the identity of the mysterious Night Lord from the Second Prince’s own mouth.

’He’s that military strategist who survived the Northern Barbarian Chaos?’

’Weren’t they saying he went mad and died?’

’He founded Ye Weiyang single-handedly?’

’And became the Night Lord?’

’Why?’

This was the one thing Zheng Xiu couldn’t figure out.

He had a thousand reasons to believe the Night Lord of Ye Weiyang was that illegitimate son, Wei Chen.

He never would have thought it was the mad strategist who had survived.

What exactly happened twenty years ago?

Zheng Xiu racked his brains but couldn’t understand.

’Did Dad really die on the battlefield?’

He had heard the legends of Zheng Haoran countless times.

He had also dug up the floors of the Zheng Family home many times.

In the last cycle, Old Wei had been gravely ill and had personally come to the Earth Cell to ask him three questions.

The second question among them had been about his father’s death.

As the saying goes, a dying man’s words are good. At the time, Zheng Xiu had truly believed Old Wei was telling the truth. Otherwise, there would have been no benefit or purpose for him to bring it up for no reason.

But now, after the butterfly effect had occurred, Zheng Xiu was somewhat less certain.

If what the Second Prince said was true, then his imprisonment, his being framed as the murderer of Princess Yu Run—all of it was connected to Ye Weiyang.

In that case, whose side was Feng Bei on?

This conclusion was a bit hard for Zheng Xiu to accept.

Besides this explosive piece of intelligence, Zheng Xiu sipped his hot tea, enjoying the cold wind on his face, and carefully went over everything the Second Prince had said.

There were three important pieces of information:

One, the Zheng Clan was, in the eyes of many, far more formidable than Zheng Xiu himself had imagined.

Two, on the third day of the third month next year, Old Wei would appoint the Crown Prince during the ancestral worship ceremony.

Three, ten days ago, an Imperial Consort gave birth to a Prince. Old Wei was very happy at first, but after "inspecting" the child, he returned sullen and dejected.

The first two points were obviously important.

The reason the third point stuck in Zheng Xiu’s mind was because even the Second Prince seemed to find it strange, mentioning it "casually."

It meant the situation was truly bizarre.

What was it about the newborn Prince that displeased Old Wei?

’A congenital deformity?’

’Was he ugly?’

’Or perhaps, he looked like a Prince on the surface, but was actually a Princess?’

’He’d expected to see a majestic mountain, but found a hilly gorge instead, so he returned dejected?’

Zheng Xiu felt there was something unnatural about it all.

’It just doesn’t add up.’

But without direct intelligence, Zheng Xiu couldn’t arrive at the truth through sheer speculation.

"Appointing a Crown Prince, appointing a Crown Prince! What’s it got to do with me! Hah!"

After a long moment, Zheng Xiu scoffed and closed his eyes in his warm Grandmaster’s Chair.

This matter really had nothing to do with him.

He didn’t care who the Crown Prince was.

Nor did he care why Old Wei, while still in robust health, had suddenly decided to appoint a successor.

With Old Wei’s mastery of imperial politics, how could he not know that announcing a successor on the third day of the third month would incite a deathmatch between the three princes?

Who wouldn’t want to be the future Emperor?

Even if this "Crown Prince" title was just a pie in the sky, a pie that could only be eaten once Old Wei was dead.

But no one could resist this pie, drawn so large and fragrant.

Each of the three princes wanted to be the one to walk through the Imperial Palace and be respectfully addressed as "Crown Prince."

As for the other two, if they managed to survive, they could at best hope to be mere "Princes" in the future.

However, Zheng Xiu speculated that no matter who became Crown Prince, the other two would have a low chance of survival. No, all three, including the newborn Prince.

Take the simplest example.

All of Old Wei’s brothers from his generation were dead, all from various "accidents."

The Imperial Family is the most cold-blooded of all.

The Grandmaster’s Chair rocked gently, making a CREAK... CREAK... sound.

He reached out and toyed with his beloved golden silk vine, its golden threads exuding an aura of ostentatious wealth.

’The Zheng Family of today seems to have surpassed my imagination.’

’But getting bigger isn’t necessarily a good thing.’

’With this matter of appointing a Crown Prince, it seems someone wants to drag the Zheng Family into it.’

No, no, no.

Zheng Xiu’s thoughts unraveled, thread by thread. Suddenly, he opened his eyes, which were filled with confusion.

He thought of Wei Chen again.

The child Wei Chen, whom Wang Cangyun had rescued from the Darkness with terrifying willpower, even at the cost of his own life.

If he wasn’t the "Night Lord," then where was Wei Chen now?

Vanished without a trace for a full twenty years?

And did Old Wei know that Wei Chen had survived the massacre at Baili Village twenty years ago?

At this final thought, Zheng Xiu couldn’t help but give a bitter smile.

After pondering it over and over, it seemed there was only one path to get the answer.

——Ask Feng Bei.