143 Stealing Eggs to Please a Beauty

In the middle of the fifth lunar month, summer had arrived. Early in the morning, just as the sky was beginning to grow light, early risers could already tell that the day would be scorching hot, prompting everyone to change into thin summer garments.

However, the civil and military officials of the Yaotian Kingdom, who were due to attend the grand imperial tomb-relocation ceremony today, had for various reasons not changed at all.

In fact, Grand Chancellor Yan Yide felt a chill in his heart even if he were to put on winter cotton robes right now.

The old steward wiped away his tears as he helped him change. "Master, why didn't you notify the young masters about the passing of the eldest grandson? Although they are not stationed in the capital, if you were to send word, they could still gallop back from the outer provinces at top speed."

"Gallop back for what? To send themselves to their deaths?" Yan Yide scolded him. "I forbid you to send any message on your own. Do you hear me?"

"...Understood."

"Keep a close eye on the children in the estate as well. No one is allowed to go out today, and no news is permitted to be sent outside!"

"...Understood."

Seeing the hesitation in the old steward's eyes, Yan Yide carefully explained to ensure foolproof safety, "Do you remember the Ji family rebellion from all those years ago? How massive the uproar was back then, and how many people were implicated and suffered the extermination of their entire households! Now that the imperial throne has changed hands, the mastermind is surprisingly still Ji Pingshi from those days. To be able to conceal his identity for over a decade shows a depth of scheming that cannot be underestimated. Facing him, I have no choice but to leave a fallback plan."

"?" The old steward's eyes asked the question.

Yan Yide took out a letter he had already written and handed it to him. "If I return before nightfall, you will simply return this letter to me. If I do not return, you must immediately spur your horse out of the city at breakneck speed and deliver it with your own hands to my eldest son, who serves as the regional commander. He will naturally know how to exact blood vengeance for our Yan family in the future."

"Master—" The old steward's eyes welled up with tears once again.

Yan Yide patted his hand, turned around, and left.

Grand General Wei Ruofeng did not change into summer clothes either. Not only did he not change, but he also neatly donned the battle armor once bestowed upon him by the late emperor.

The General's wife personally helped him dress, expressing her anxiety, "Old man, won't you really communicate with the children and have them bring their troops here to help you hold the ground? If, if by any chance..."

The old lady could not bring herself to continue.

Wei Ruofeng patted his companion's hand. "How could we possibly disturb the children guarding the various border passes and strategic strongholds at a time like this? The moment they move, wouldn't the surrounding neighboring states immediately sense that there is internal chaos within Yaotian? By then, before the battle for the imperial throne has even ended, we might welcome an invasion by foreign enemies! Absolutely not, absolutely not!"

"But relying solely on you old fellows, entering the imperial palace where the enemy has already laid an ambush without bringing any troops of your own—won't that simply..."

"Rest assured, given the current consensus that no one wants to attract the attention of foreign enemies, just looking at the troop distribution within the imperial palace, the enemy and ourselves are basically on equal terms."

"Basically on equal terms? That means there is only a fifty percent chance of winning? No, I still don't feel at ease! I'm coming with you too. Someone, go and fetch my official robes as a lady of the first rank..."

Wei Ruofeng hurriedly held her back. "Alright, at your age, do you really want to handle things yourself?"

The old lady glared and straightened her waist. "What? Unconvinced? Back in the day, this old lady also went onto the battlefield!"

"Convinced, convinced!" Wei Ruofeng pressed her back down to a seat and said earnestly, "Wife, both of us are already this old, so I won't keep anything hidden from you. In the succession of the imperial throne, life and death have always coexisted. Since I never planned to remain neutral and dodge this calamity, I cannot escape this outcome of either life or death. If I survive, once the second prince ascends the throne, I will resign from my post and come back to spend time with you. If I should unfortunately die in battle, at least you are still here for the Wei family, and the children need you to keep the estate stable. I can die, but the Wei family cannot perish, my wife."

The old lady wanted to say something more, but Wei Ruofeng raised a hand to stop her. "Alright, let's leave it at that. I must hurry to attend the morning court, or I'll be late."

Wei Ruofeng straightened his armor, turned, and walked out. When he reached the doorway, the old lady's voice came from behind him, "Old man, I've set up my formation and I'm waiting for you to come back and break it."

"Alright," Wei Ruofeng acknowledged, walking away without looking back.

Minister of War Cheng Boliang also had his armor on, and Da Qiuqi brought him his horse and helped him into the stirrups.

"Master, you must definitely bring the little miss back. She died such a miserable death yesterday... Sob, if Da Qiuqi hadn't run quickly in the chaos, you would now mistakenly believe that false crown prince's message—that the little miss entered the palace to accompany the eldest miss for a few days—was true. That false crown prince is truly abominable. Master, you must cut off his head to avenge the little miss!"

Hearing this, Cheng Boliang tightened his grip on the reins and kicked his horse's belly. "Hyah!"

Shengjing Magistrate Yin Ruting wore thin protective armor underneath his official robes, and Yin Chunzhi mocked him, "Father, are you being this overly cautious? Once today's grand tomb-relocation ceremony is over and the crown prince ascends the throne in a few days, you'll be able to be promoted by two ranks immediately. Why must you..."

"What do you know!" Yin Ruting roared angrily at him, "The official world is like a battlefield every single day, let alone today!"

"What's wrong with today? Isn't today just a grand tomb-relocation ceremony?"

"You—" Yin Ruting wanted to say something, but after opening his mouth, he ultimately said nothing. "Alright, take some time to read through the official experience I wrote for you multiple times. Once this matter is over, whether I get promoted or not is a trivial matter; for you, a good-for-nothing who is nothing at all, to suddenly jump into the position of magistrate—that would be the major event that might cost you your life! These next few days, spend less time chasing women and memorize those official experiences first."

"Father, the reason I came to find you early this morning is precisely because of this. Can I not be this so-called magistrate? Every day it's just reading case files and more case files, and to find a woman I first have to fear someone discovering it and submitting an imperial petition to impeach me. This isn't fun! I won't do it! Hey, Father, don't walk away. Listen to me finish..."

While the civil and military officials prepared to enter the palace for the grand tomb-relocation ceremony, the Sixth Princess in the palace had also woken up early and begun her preparations.

"Shi'an, did you say last night that the crown prince embraced the crown princess and entered the Zhongkun Palace to rest through the night?"

"Yes."

"Yesterday, Lifang Studio was destroyed, and it was entirely reasonable for the crown princess to have nowhere to rest and go elsewhere. But among so many vacant residences in the palace, why did it have to be the Zhongkun Palace, which represents the seat of the empress? Was Fang Rulai rescued? Did Crown Prince Brother fly into a rage and find the crown princess to vent his anger? Yet previously, he clearly didn't have the slightest favorable impression of the crown princess?" The Sixth Princess felt something was amiss. "Shi'an, what about now? Has the crown prince come out of Zhongkun Palace yet?"

"There is still no news of His Highness the Crown Prince coming out."

"Then have we received any news about the postponement of today's grand tomb-relocation ceremony?"

"No."

The Sixth Princess felt even more suspicious. "The grand tomb-relocation ceremony was originally intended to bestow upon Fang Rulai—representing the identity of 'Guan Shiyin'—the title of princess in front of all under heaven, thereby laying the groundwork for her future enfeeblement as Empress. Now that Fang Rulai has been rescued, the grand tomb-relocation ceremony is not postponed, and Crown Prince Brother spent the night at Zhongkun Palace with the crown princess. Could it be that Crown Prince Brother has changed his mind and intends to make the crown princess his empress?"

Shi'an instructed the palace maids to bring in breakfast. "Your Highness, please partake in your meal first."

The Sixth Princess didn't hear him. "If the crown princess becomes empress, what will Crown Prince Brother use to lure Fang Rulai? If Fang Rulai wasn't imprisoned in the imperial palace by Crown Prince Brother, how can I get my hands on Guan Shiyin? No, I cannot let Crown Prince Brother make the crown princess empress. At today's grand tomb-relocation ceremony, I must find a way to ruin the crown princess..."

On the rooftop, hiding behind a upturned corner of the eaves, Guan Shiyin could not suppress his smug expression.

"Wife, look! How popular your husband is! Even the dignified Sixth Princess is scheming so hard for my sake! After today's events are over, you must hurry and marry me into your household—oh no, marry me into the Guan household! Otherwise, there's no telling how many people will want to take your place!"

"If it's taking my place, can she immediately replace that bowl of braised pork on her table?" Fang Rulai rubbed her hungry stomach, her mind filled with the braised pork that had just been brought into the princess's room.

Even though matters had largely quieted down in the latter half of the night, she hadn't had time to rest. Running around here and there with Guan Shiyin, communicating messages and arranging mechanisms—aside from the time the second prince had shoved two steamed buns into her hands halfway through, she hadn't eaten anything else.

Then, when she went to the latrine in the early morning, she was pleasantly surprised to find that her period had ended.

Following that, she felt depressed. Could it have been starved away? True, even her bodily waste had decreased, so where would there be excess blood for her to bleed?

With a face as pale as a corpse, Fang Rulai thought that if she wasn't fed soon, she wouldn't even live to see the end of the matter and enjoy wealth and glory; she would die of physical exhaustion prematurely before the affair concluded.

The anticipation in Guan Shiyin's heart—fantasizing that Fang Rulai would be jealous—instantly vanished without a trace. Speechless, he glanced at Fang Rulai, who equated him with a bowl of braised pork, and reached into his robe to pull out a cloth bundle, handing it over.

Fang Rulai's eyes lit up. "Braised pork?"

Guan Shiyin couldn't help uttering a harsh truth, "Keep dreaming! Right now, the place in the palace with the densest guards is the Imperial Kitchen. Ji Pingshi has long since laid an inescapable net there, just waiting for you and me to sneak in for food out of extreme hunger so he can wipe us out in one fell swoop. Still thinking of meat? You really have been starved stupid."

"Then this is..." Fang Rulai took the cloth bundle and opened it. Her face, which had just fallen in disappointment upon hearing Guan Shiyin's words, suddenly lit up with joy again. "Tea eggs! And there are two!"

"Where'd you get these?" Fang Rulai smiled as sweetly as could be.

Only then did Guan Shiyin feel his mood improve somewhat. "Just now when you went to the latrine and I stood guard for you, I swiped them from the breakfast deliveries sent by the palace maids to the various quarters."

"Too awesome! I have never felt that you, with your martial arts, were more amazing than at this exact moment!" Fang Rulai leaned forward and planted a kiss on Guan Shiyin's cheek.

Guan Shiyin closed his eyes, putting on an expression of "this lord is about to enjoy himself," while pursing his lips. "Here too!"

He waited with his eyes closed, but after a long while, there was no movement.

When he opened his eyes, that little bald-headed girl over there was sitting cross-legged with the cloth bundle on her knees, meticulously peeling the shell of a tea egg with a look of extreme care. Seeing him look over, she flashed a wide, toothy grin. "Aiya, what should I do? I'm really so nervous! Such hard-earned tea eggs—in how many bites should I eat them so as not to辜负 (do injustice to) your true feelings of using supreme martial arts to steal eggs and offer them to me? Should I eat the egg white first or the egg yolk first? Should we share them bite for bite in mutual dependence? Or, adhering to the highest principle of oral hygiene, is it better for you one and me one to enjoy them separately? Heavens, I used to always eat braised pork, and for a moment I actually forgot the procedure for eating tea eggs! What to do, what to do, my hands are shaking, do you see?"

---Author's Note---

Received Haha's flowers, thank you~ Um, when one day my writing becomes successful, I will definitely save up to buy a tea egg and gift it to you to return the genuine affection of receiving those flowers!

Also: I originally wanted to use the braised pork meme, but as fate and timing would have it, the tea egg meme suddenly emerged and faintly threatened to surpass the sliced cake meme. I thought to myself, at this time and place, using the tea egg meme is entirely appropriate!

Also also: The second chapter will be updated at two in the afternoon.