Chapter 5: The Beauty Body Pillow
The Ninth Prince has gone mad!
This was the news that spread after the Eighth Pearl Prince, the Second Prince, arrived at the Duke of Da Xu's residence to read the imperial edict.
In reality, however, the Second Prince’s guards and attendants all knew the truth: the one who had truly lost his mind was the Second Prince himself!
The secret decree that the Second Prince had finally declared to the Ninth Prince was something he had already flaunted before them.
The breach of the Taizhou dike was real.
The chaos engulfing the court was real as well.
The Second Prince’s plan to seize the crown prince’s position amidst the turmoil was nothing but the truth.
Most genuine of all was that the Second Prince had long dug a deep pit, ready to bury someone with it.
The first target to be buried was the Ninth Prince, who shared the same tutor as the Eldest Prince.
The Eldest Prince, brave but foolish, was already completely subdued.
The Ninth Prince, notoriously a blockhead, was even easier to deal with.
Thus, the Second Prince pretended to act on the emperor’s orders, forcing a choice between two tasks.
He was certain the Ninth Prince would never choose the first option, and at most pick the second.
The first task was to go to the site of the dike breach in Taizhou to oversee the repairs and try to close the dike.
No one with any sense would choose this.
The dispatch delivered by the swift eight-hundred-li horse reported: the people were in chaos, like locusts, gathering in growing numbers.
The common folk, struck by such a calamity, had their homes swept away, no food, no way to survive—they could only resort to pillaging.
Any living being going there at such a time would be treated as food, let alone to attempt repairing the dike.
The Ninth Prince was a fool but not a complete idiot; he could not have been unaware of this.
Therefore, at most, he would pick the second option: to gather funds and ration expenses.
Even if he chose this, he certainly would fail.
Disaster relief required at least a million taels of silver.
The Ninth Prince was a pauper; he couldn’t even gather a thousandth of that.
Cutting expenses was even less possible.
Since ancient times, talk of cutting expenses was just empty words, mere posturing.
Once the crisis passed, spending would continue as usual, often even worsening.
Thus, the newly appointed Lord of Da Xu would at best donate the thousand taels personally awarded by the emperor—and that would be it.
What made it worse was that the Ninth Prince truly did not understand how perilous the first task was or how difficult the second one was.
He actually took on both!
Moreover, of the thousand taels awarded by the emperor, and the three hundred taels gifted by his elder brother, the Eighth Pearl Prince, he had not spent a single tael.
The most infuriating part was that the two enchanting maidservants promised as “pillows,” priced at a hundred taels each, were instead replaced with two genuine “four-in-one” pillows.
Damn it!
To accept two hundred taels for such pillows—were they stuffed with gold?
The Second Prince immediately lost his temper!
He ordered his escort, “Seize those two beauties—what were their names? Ah yes, He Yun and Lan Zhi—bring them here from that Ninth Prince! Let’s see where he dares to hide them!”
“Your Highness!”
The attendant Huang Zhongyong hurriedly intervened, “Absolutely not!”
“Why not?”
The Second Prince’s eyes bulged like a buffalo’s, his nostrils flaring with the rage of a fire-breathing beast.
“Don’t forget, Huang Zhongyong, you’re in the Xu Prince’s mansion; the one funding this is the Wu Prince’s residence!”
“Besides, Father trusts me. The one who decides your fate is me, not that blockhead!”
Huang Zhongyong knelt down, “Your Highness, my loyalty remains! But the Ninth Prince—he’s different now!”
“Different? How so?”
“I don’t know, I just feel it! Before, I was like a man in Cao’s camp but with my heart in Han’s; he couldn’t see through me. But today, when I hesitated to pass a message, he told me to get lost. When you mentioned having beauties on either side of you, he immediately branded me a traitor and wanted to behead me!”
“Just because of that?”
“Even if you go now, you won’t be able to deal with him!”
“That blockhead dares to renege?”
“He’s insisted from the start that if you want pillows, they’re a hundred taels each! You said such beauty was worth it! Now, the pillows themselves are embroidered with the Four Great Beauties, aren’t they?”
The Second Prince was stunned, finally realizing the truth.
“So this brat did it on purpose, planning from the start to cheat me out of my money?”
Huang Zhongyong raised his head.
“Now you understand why I say he’s different from before?”
The Second Prince’s eyes flashed wildly with a murderous rage that seemed ready to tear someone apart.
But thinking of this “blockhead” taking on two impossible tasks cheered him up again.
“Different or not, it doesn’t matter! He’s about to become the biggest joke of Great Qi—or be devoured by a pack of savage rebels until not a bone remains!”
Huang Zhongyong guessed this was part of the secret decree and asked the attendant nearby, then quickly gave a thumbs-up.
“Your Highness, this dilemma is brilliant! The Ninth Prince, unaware of his fate, chose both paths. Seems like he was so eager to have beauties on either side that he walked right into two dead ends!”
The Second Prince grinned proudly.
“You think this plan is good too?”
“Indeed!” Huang Zhongyong cupped his hands, “Your Highness, if I were you, I would leave Da Xu at once and return to the capital!”
The Second Prince was startled.
“Why?”
Huang Zhongyong lowered his voice.
“The Ninth Prince may be stronger than before, but he still can’t see through things. However, someone in the Da Xu Prince’s city can…”
The Second Prince guessed immediately.
“You mean Tutor Su Zhongjing?”
“Yes!” Huang Zhongyong replied, “Today is the inauguration, and the Ninth Prince respects Su Zhongjing. Su drank quite a bit and is sound asleep. You came here but didn’t wake him. If he wakes early tomorrow, he’ll advise the Ninth Prince not to take these two tasks and find excuses to shirk them…”
The Second Prince suddenly understood.
“So I really must leave quickly, or even travel through the night!”
Huang Zhongyong stepped forward.
“Your Highness, when you leave, you must take me with you. Otherwise, I won’t survive till tomorrow!”
“Very well! We’ll go together!”
The Second Prince waved his sleeve, glaring at the two embroidered pillows of the Four Great Beauties, his anger bubbling over.
“You lot, tear these two worthless things apart to ease my rage!”
Just as his men moved forward, the Second Prince suddenly thought better of it and called out to stop them.
“Forget it! Keep them, pack them up! Send them to the emperor as a return gift from his precious Ninth Son! If he’s pleased, maybe he’ll reward us some more silver and we can recover that two hundred taels!”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
His subordinates approached, all admiring the Eighth Pearl Prince’s cunning and ruthless heart.
The Second Prince placed his hands on his hips.
“Everyone, pack up and return to the capital overnight! If you want to complain, blame the Ninth Prince for being mad!”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
As his entourage responded, their minds were filled with curses.
This Second Prince, accusing the Ninth Prince of madness—he himself was the craziest of all!
Not even allowing anyone a peaceful sleep!
Finally, everything was packed and ready. The Second Prince was about to board the carriage when a loud announcement rang out.
“The Ninth Prince and the Lord of Da Xu have arrived!”
“Heavens above!”
“Bang! Clang!”
The Second Prince was caught off guard, his foot slipping almost causing him to fall flat on his face.
That big blockhead—didn’t he go back to sleep?
Why was he here again?
Could it be that Su Zhongjing had woken up and persuaded him not to take those two tasks, so he rushed here overnight to see me?
If that was the case, I must leave immediately, giving him no chance to speak!
The Second Prince was about to whip his horse when two lines of lanterns rapidly approached, and the Ninth Prince’s group arrived smiling before him.
“Brother Chaihuo, are you trying to leave so soon?”