Untouchable Lovers-Chapter 133 - 123 The Four Kings Meet

Chapter 133: Chapter 123 The Four Kings Meet

The extra one was Prince Yiyang, Liu Chang.

Prince Yiyang Liu Chang was also Liu Ziyue’s uncle. When Chu Yu first saw this name, she thought his name was Liu Yongri, but she later realized that “Yongri” was supposed to be read together, not as “Yongri” but as “Chang”.

Liu Chang, who held military power, was a regional commander. Even before Liu Ziyue succeeded to the throne, Liu Chang was quite disliked by his own elder brother, the Emperor, and was constantly suspected of planning rebellion. He lived in trepidation until Liu Jun died and Liu Ziyue ascended the throne, whereupon he remained the number one suspect of intending to rebel.

Emperors are innately very suspicious creatures, not to mention that this suspicion is somewhat hereditary.

Being so tormented could drive a man to insanity, especially given that Liu Chang’s expression also showed a certain fragility. At times, in the dead of night, Liu Chang almost convinced himself that he truly intended to rebel or had already done so.

Before he heard that seditious rhyme, the person Liu Ziyue was most suspicious of was none other than Liu Chang, causing the Prince Yiyang to live in extreme agony, being extremely cautious in his every word and action for fear of giving others leverage against him.

...

Like a frightened bird, Liu Chang finally couldn’t stand the incessant suspicion and made a decision to give up his military post and return to the capital to stay by the Emperor’s side, in an attempt to dispel Liu Ziyue’s suspicions.

However, he didn’t dare to appear directly before Liu Ziyue. The one who met with Liu Ziyue along with the three princes was an envoy from his subordinates.

When Chu Yu saw the three princes and the envoy, she was appreciating the lotus flowers with Liu Ziyue by the lake in the Imperial Garden. Although it was already autumn, the lotus flowers hadn’t withered yet, and the tranquil surface of the lake with its elegant blossoms had a unique charm.

After the quartet of visitors had paid their respects, Chu Yu scrutinized their appearances. Among them, Liu Yu was rather plump, a bit overweight, yet his pale, round face had elegant features, and his neatly trimmed beard gave him a dignified and graceful air. Liu Xiu Ren was the thinnest, looking like a bamboo pole, with a smile on his face that didn’t quite seem like one, giving the impression he was just exercising his facial muscles. The appearances of the three princes were all above average, but compared to the envoy of Liu Yongri standing behind them, they seemed quite plain.

The envoy appeared to be in his early thirties, resembling a white knight – tall and handsome. The court attire he wore accentuated his dashing and suave demeanor. Once he stood there, it seemed like he stood out from the crowd, making it seem as if he was the real prince and the other three were merely his attendants. After the envoy handed over Liu Chang’s petition to return to the capital, Liu Ziyue, disregarding everyone else, first asked the envoy, “I hear that your prince is planning to rebel?”

The envoy’s thought process was clearly still within the realms of a normal person. He hadn’t expected Liu Ziyue to start off so impolitely and directly slander him. Stunned for a good while, he hastily tried to rectify the situation, “Not at all, Prince Yiyang is extremely loyal to Your Majesty. Please do not heed such rumors.”

Liu Ziyue didn’t care, continuing to press the issue, “If he’s plotting to rebel, as his subordinate, how could you not stop him?”

The two conversed for well over twenty minutes, and the envoy desperately realized that no matter what he said, Liu Ziyue was adamant that their prince wanted to rebel. Although everyone spoke Mandarin and every word was clear, when it came to the coherence of the sentences, something seemed very wrong. Not only did the envoy feel this way, but Chu Yu also shared the same sentiment.

Liu Ziyue wasn’t being reasonable; he didn’t have reason. He just kept insisting on accusing them of rebellion—even if they hadn’t rebelled, he would harshly declare that they had. Could this perhaps be a deliberate act to incite a rebellion?

Chu Yu sat beside Liu Ziyue, her hand stealthily slipping under his sleeve to tightly grasp his hand, signaling him not to be too harsh. Sensing Chu Yu’s displeasure, Liu Ziyue slightly restrained himself, and said to the envoy, “You stay here for now. I will send someone to investigate Xuzhou. It’s also possible that it is indeed just a rumor.” With that, he finally let the other party off the hook.

Accommodations were arranged for the three princes and the envoy. Once everyone had left, Chu Yu released Liu Ziyue’s hand and asked coldly, “The promise you made to me, you won’t renege on it, will you?”

Liu Ziyue looked at her guiltily, quietly defending himself, “I only said I wouldn’t kill those three, but I never said anything about not killing Prince Yiyang. Sister, why do you care so much about the lives of these people? Are these outsiders really worth your concern?”

Outsider? He’s your uncle, alright?!

Chu Yu glared at him, and after a good while, her tense expression relaxed, and she reached out to hug Liu Ziyue, “Would you listen to Sister? Sister fears that if you kill too many people, their ghosts will… Well, let alone the ghosts, if you kill too many people, who will help you govern the country in the future? Just now, you clearly forced Liu Chang into a rebellion, so you’d have a justified reason to kill him, do you think I wouldn’t know?” Now, she burned incense in her room daily. The incense was made according to a recipe provided by Rong Zhi, and she had increased the quantity used when scenting her clothes, to make the effect of the fragrance more pronounced.

Snuggling obediently in Chu Yu’s arms, Liu Ziyue inhaled the elegant fragrance wafting from her body. He lazily shut his eyes as the murderous intent in his heart slowly dissipated, feeling an infinite peace and contentment, “Alright Sister, I’ll listen to you this time. I won’t kill Liu Chang just yet; I’ll keep him and those three under watch in Jiankang.”

“Hmm… All together?” Chu Yu responded casually, then suddenly realized something was amiss. Liu Chang hadn’t come to the capital, had he? So, how could he be kept here? Could it be that Liu Ziyue was going to issue another decree to summon him?

Liu Ziyue squinted his eyes and with an indifferent twist of his lips said, “It seems that Sister, you don’t know. That envoy from just now was Liu Chang in disguise. Hmph, he always stayed away before, barely ever returning home, does he really think I wouldn’t recognize him?” That brat was up to no good. Since he showed up himself, why didn’t he have the courage to meet me with his true identity, and instead pretended to be an envoy?

He had thought to expose him and punish him for a crime soon after, but with Chu Yu right beside him, who didn’t like him killing people, he had to suppress the matter for the time being; after all, even if Liu Chang went back and raised an army, the forces at his command would not be enough to contend against him.

Chu Yu had an epiphany, No wonder she had felt that the envoy appeared even more noble than the three princes; he too was a Prince. Although Liu Chang had used a little trick, the other three princes were innocent. Unfortunately, Chu Yu couldn’t distinguish which one among the four men was the one who would eventually usurp the throne.

According to the songs, it should be Liu Yu, but maybe it was the identity-concealing Liu Chang as well.

A thought suddenly emerged in Chu Yu’s mind, If she killed all four of these men, then no one would be able to rebel, right? No, that’s not right either. Liu Ziyue had other uncles and brothers; killing these ones would leave others, and after killing the four princes, she might give others the pretext to say that the Emperor was tyrannical and ruthless, handing them a slogan for rebellion.

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She couldn’t possibly allow Liu Ziyue to kill all of the Liu surnamed individuals who could usurp the throne. Not to mention that the Liu Family had too many people to kill all at once, even if she resorted to such an act, how would her behavior be any different from Liu Ziyue and those other tyrants?

As she pondered, Chu Yu suddenly realized that the method Liu Ziyue had just used to force someone into rebellion was quite good. By first coercing the opponent into uprising, it gave him the moral high ground… However, the price of such a method was the sacrifice of hundreds, thousands of… soldiers’ lives.

Lost in her chaotic thoughts for who knows how long, Chu Yu realized that Liu Ziyue in her arms had fallen asleep. She carefully moved away, helping him to lie down on the soft grass, and gestured to the eunuchs in the distance to come and attend to him. Then, Chu Yu quietly left.

She hadn’t left the boundary of the Imperial Palace when a purple figure approached. As they neared, both stopped in their tracks.

With a slight smile, Chu Yu greeted him, “I haven’t seen you for quite a few days, how have you been?”

Upon seeing Chu Yu’s smiling face, Tian Rujing felt a bit flustered. After she spoke, he seemed to snap out of a dream and responded, “Fine, and you?”

Chu Yu looked at him in surprise, “What’s with you, Tian Rujing? You seem a bit odd today.”

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This chapter isn’t an extra release for monthly tickets, but a compensation for accidentally deleting a post yesterday… I’ve been feeling pretty low today, thinking I’m such a fool…