Chapter 88

Du Luoling’s sudden change in attitude caught Yun Yaoyao somewhat by surprise.

Still, it was a good thing.

After pondering for a moment, Yun Yaoyao said, “There is indeed something I need you to do.”

“Please, Your Majesty!” Du Luoling said eagerly.

“Consort Miao is currently unconscious and needs a little external stimulation. You should go and provoke her from time to time.”

Du Luoling: Huh?

After giving her the details, Yun Yaoyao left Fuling Palace.

Not long afterward, she disguised herself, altered her appearance, and secretly left the palace with the Dragonshadow Guards.

At a teahouse on the main street of the imperial city, an old man played a tune while a young girl sang an opera aria. The sorrowful melody, recounting the love and heartbreak between a man and a woman, echoed throughout the teahouse.

Everyone present was moved. Among them, a brother and sister were even shedding tears, their eyes filled with sorrow.

“Why is it so difficult for lovers in this world to be together? Is it really wrong to want nothing more than to spend a lifetime with one person?” asked a delicate young noblewoman in lavish clothes as she wiped away her tears and caressed her lower abdomen.

Beside her sat a young man. His fingers rubbed a jade pendant, upon which the engraved character “Ze” had nearly been worn away.

“There is nothing wrong with loving someone, nor with wishing to spend your life with them. The fault lies with this world.”

With that, the two of them sighed in unison.

Yan Yuyou glanced at the maid sitting nearby and waved for her to move farther away. Then she leaned toward her brother’s ear and said worriedly, “We’ve been confined at home for five days. Father only agreed to let us out today so we could get some fresh air. Have you heard anything about the prince? I miss him terribly.”

Yan Fengming shook his head. “We’ll find a chance to ask around later. I still haven’t repaid the prince for his kindness. Now that we’ve finally been allowed out, I’m determined to repay him properly.”

Yan Yuyou had no doubts about her brother’s words. In fact, she admired his determination to repay the prince.

“Brother, you really are such a grateful person. The prince and I are so fortunate to have someone like you by our side~”

Yan Fengming forced a smile and suppressed the feelings he should not have had, thinking bitterly:

Little sister, my feelings for the prince are far more than gratitude. But I am a man, and I am destined never to be able to stand at his side openly. All I can do is protect him in silence.

But don’t worry. I’m here to join this family, not tear it apart.

The siblings continued sighing over their tragic circumstances. Listening to the mournful, moving song and recalling their own experiences, they couldn’t help but clasp hands and gaze at each other through tear-filled eyes.

“The prince you’re talking about—is he Prince Ze?” a voice suddenly rang out beside them, startling the siblings.

“That’s right! Do you have news of Prince Ze?” Yan Fengming asked excitedly.

The speaker was none other than Yun Yaoyao, disguised and disguised once again. She deliberately feigned surprise. “Your information is terribly outdated. Prince Ze was thrown into the imperial prison four days ago for attempting to assassinate Concubine Sha. I hear he’ll be executed soon!”

The siblings’ faces went deathly pale. They stared at her in disbelief.

“Surely you’re joking, sir...” Yan Yuyou’s lips turned white.

“Everyone in the capital knows about it. Four days ago, during the opening ceremony of the Library, Concubine Sha was attacked on the watchtower. She personally claimed that Prince Ze was behind it, and the emperor arrested him on the spot. Half the people in the capital witnessed it with their own eyes. How could it be false?” Yun Yaoyao waved her folding fan.

“Prince Ze has always been so kindhearted and noble. How could he have done such a thing? He must have been framed by someone behind the scenes. But the emperor has already spoken, so Prince Ze will probably never escape death this time. What a pity, what a pity...”

The siblings could barely remain standing.

Seeing this, Yun Yaoyao stopped paying them any attention. Instead, she hugged a jade box to her chest and listened to the opera with a sorrowful expression.

“Miao’er, you loved coming to the teahouse to watch performances when you were alive... Heaven is blind, to separate us, a pair of lovers, in life and death... Sob, sob...”

The Yan siblings were frantic.

“No wonder Father was so adamant about confining us this time. It turns out the prince has been taken in!” Yan Fengming’s eyes were bloodshot.

Yan Yuyou sobbed. “Brother, what should we do? We have to save Prince Ze!”

After discussing the matter for quite some time, the siblings finally turned their attention to Yun Yaoyao—a rich and powerful-looking fool who seemed to have more money than sense.

After a round of pleading, they eventually persuaded Yun Yaoyao to help them avoid the guards stationed outside the teahouse and escape.

Just ​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​‍then, the maid who had accompanied the siblings into the teahouse approached them with a pained expression.

“Miss, Young Master, my stomach suddenly hurts. I need to...”

Yan Yuyou brightened. “Go on, then. Hurry!”

The maid gave Yun Yaoyao an unreadable glance before hurriedly leaving the teahouse.

Yun Yaoyao led the siblings to a private room, found some coarse cloth garments, and had them disguise themselves as servants. Then they slipped out through the back door.

The two had always been pampered and treated like royalty, and neither had ever worn such rough hemp clothing. But when they thought of Prince Ze, they gritted their teeth and endured it.

The carriage raced through the streets before finally stopping in front of a residence.

The three of them climbed down. The siblings cupped their hands toward Yun Yaoyao in thanks, tossed out the words, “A great kindness need not be repaid in words. We’ll repay you another day,” and hurried away.

Yun Yaoyao merely smiled without saying anything. She leisurely returned to the residence, ate a meal, watered the flowers, and worked through a set of exercises to stretch her limbs.

Then hurried knocking sounded from outside the residence once more.

Yun Yaoyao picked up the jade box nearby and put on a sorrowful, mournful expression before going to open the door.

The Yan siblings standing outside looked nothing like their earlier, dignified selves. All that remained was dishevelment and misery.

Yun Yaoyao feigned surprise. “What happened to the two of you?”

Yan Fengming looked dejected and furious. “I wanted to spend some money hiring a group of vagrants to help me, but they robbed me of everything I had and then beat me after throwing a sack over my head!”

Yan Yuyou was crying so hard that she looked like a rain-struck pear blossom. “I went to Prince Ze’s residence, but the servants guarding the gate refused to listen to me. They called me a fraudulent beggar and beat me out! Sob, sob...”

Yun Yaoyao secretly laughed.

Once a pampered flower lost its protection, it was bound to suffer a harsh encounter with society.

The siblings had escaped from home, so they naturally didn’t dare return to ask their family for help. According to the intelligence she had received, none of the noble young men or women in the capital were willing to associate with them. If they wanted to rescue Prince Ze, they could only rely on themselves.

These two sheltered, naïve young master and young lady had left the protection of the Yan family and, without the slightest understanding of the world, tried to save Prince Ze. Their current predicament had been entirely predictable.

All Yun Yaoyao had to do was pretend to be a powerful, wealthy, and somewhat foolish lover who held a favorable opinion of Prince Ze. The Yan siblings would then take the bait on their own.

Yun Yaoyao welcomed the two inside and treated them to a generous meal.

After a little conversation, they revealed everything about themselves.

“What? You want to save Prince Ze?” Yun Yaoyao cried out in shock. “You even want to break him out of prison?!”

Yan Fengming clasped his hands and said solemnly, “Brother, we are determined to save Prince Ze. Even if it costs us our lives, we will not hesitate! If you are willing to help us, our siblings will offer you a thousand taels of gold afterward!”

Yun Yaoyao flew into a rage. “How dare you insult me with money? Do you know that gold and silver are the most useless things in this world? No matter how much of it I possess, it still cannot bring my Miao’er back!”

The Yan siblings: “...”

The two had no choice but to keep trying to persuade her. As they went on, they even began resorting to moral coercion.

Yan Fengming pleaded earnestly, “Brother, you’re a deeply devoted man. You’ve experienced the pain of being unable to spend your life with the person you love. Can you really bear to watch us suffer the same fate? Can you bear to see my sister’s child be born without a father?!”

With tears in her eyes, Yan Yuyou nodded. “The dead cannot be brought back. By my reckoning, Your Highness’s wife has already been reincarnated for several months. The age of her reincarnation just happens to be about the same as my unborn child’s. It’s entirely possible that his former wife has reincarnated inside my belly!”

“Your Highness, can you really bear to let your former wife go through this life without a complete family? Sob, sob…”

Even though Yun Yaoyao knew that these siblings’ way of thinking was far from ordinary, she was still so shocked by their outrageous words that her brain nearly short-circuited.

For a moment, she was rendered speechless.

The siblings took her silence as a sign that there was hope. Each grabbed one of Yun Yaoyao’s hands and began bombarding her with persuasion from both sides.

At last, Yun Yaoyao took a deep breath and suppressed the torrent of curses in her heart before saying, “Very well. I’ll help you this once.”

“But breaking him out of prison is completely out of the question.”

Yan Yuyou grew anxious. “My father is…”

Yun Yaoyao shot her a glare. “Even if your father is the Minister of Justice, it still won’t work!”

“First of all, Prince Ze is being held in the Imperial Prison, which is located inside the imperial palace. It’s guarded by layers upon layers of imperial troops—so tightly that not even a mouse could get in.”

“Secondly, even if you did manage to rescue him, wanted posters would be plastered all over Yan Chi, and you’d still have nowhere to run.”

“And breaking into a prison is a capital offense punishable by the extermination of your entire clan. Are you really willing to sacrifice your families?”

That left the two of them stunned for a moment—but only for a moment. Soon, their expressions hardened with resolve.

“One who acts must take responsibility for their own actions. This is something the two of us are doing, and it has nothing to do with our families! If the prince dies, we won’t go on living either!”

“Brother, do you have any better ideas?”

A sharp glint flashed through Yun Yaoyao’s eyes. She spoke each word slowly and clearly.

“There is only one way to save Prince Ze: assassinate the emperor!”

“Assassinate the emperor?!”

The siblings were stunned. Wasn’t assassinating the emperor even more serious than breaking someone out of prison?!

Yun Yaoyao explained, “The fundamental reason Prince Ze was thrown into the Imperial Prison is that the emperor wants to deal with him. The matter concerning Consort Miao is merely an excuse.”

“This all stems from the struggle between Prince Ze’s faction and the imperial faction…”

At this point, afraid that these two idiots wouldn’t understand, Yun Yaoyao thoughtfully simplified her explanation.

“Once the emperor is dead, the entire court will fall into chaos. The imperial faction will be leaderless, and since the emperor has no children, the only person who can succeed him is Prince Ze.”

“As long as you successfully assassinate the emperor, not only will Prince Ze be out of danger, he’ll also become the most exalted man in all the land.”

“And you two will be the great heroes who made it possible. One of you will become empress, while the other will receive an official position and rank. You’ll both enjoy boundless glory and honor.”

Their faces filled with longing.

Yan Yuyou hesitated. “But wouldn’t assassinating the emperor also result in the extermination of our entire clan?”

“What if you succeed?”

“You’re only risking the extermination of your entire clan, while the man you love, Prince Ze, is about to be beheaded!” Yun Yaoyao delivered the melodramatic line with a guilty conscience.

As expected, the two idiots immediately straightened up and agreed.

“If we fail, we’ll sever our ties with the Yan family. We’ll take responsibility for our own actions and absolutely will not implicate our family!”

“Brother, please tell us your detailed plan!”