LI YU WAS RIGHT NEXT to Prince Jing. When he heard that the noble
consort was coming, he wanted to take a look at her. Having already seen
the emperor, who looked roughly the same as the description in the book, Li
Yu also wanted to see what the woman who dared provoke a tyrant looked
like. Except his current position was a little off to the side, and his view was
blocked…
Li Yu kept swimming back and forth, straining to peek, but to no
avail. Just when he was about to give up and resort to eavesdropping, Prince
Jing, who had been observing him for a while, moved the bowl so that it
faced the entrance to the palace perfectly.
Li Yu was startled. A coincidence? Did the prince somehow notice
him trying to look at the noble consort?
Prince Jing had demonstrated a considerable aptitude for pet fish care
so far. But there was no way he could be this attentive, right? Perhaps he
just felt like moving the bowl, no big deal. Li Yu quickly convinced himself
not to get caught up in pointless speculation. Since he had a clear view now,
he was going to look his fill.
Before long, a graceful woman draped in imperial robes walked into
view, surrounded by attendants and servants and leading a tall youth.
Noble Consort Qiu's hair was heavy with pearls and jade. Crab apple
blossoms in full bloom were embroidered around the hem
of her light purple robes. With skin brighter than snow, she was
beautiful beyond compare, and it was obvious the noble consort knew how
to take care of herself. If it wasn't for the tall second prince trailing behind
her, with eyes that looked rather like hers, it would have been very difficult
to discern that she was already at least thirty.
Li Yu sighed dreamily. It was no wonder such a beauty was the most
favored concubine in recent years.
According to the book, Noble Consort Qiu was at the peak of her life
at this point in the story. The emperor had already privately let her know
that he planned on making her son, the second prince Mu Tianzhao, the
crown prince.
The emperor, like many emperors of the past, wished for his di son6
to inherit the throne. Years ago, he had made his first son, Empress
Xiaohui's son, the crown prince, only for the boy to tragically pass away at
age seven. The emperor and empress grieved for years until Empress
Xiaohui gave birth to the fourth prince. The emperor once again had
thoughts of making him the crown prince, but unfortunately, the fourth
prince was not blessed. He suffered a cold at two years old and
unexpectedly passed away at an even younger age.
One after another, Empress Xiaohui suffered the loss of her sons.
Despite how fragile her health had become, she was determined to give
birth to the fifth prince, Prince Jing, regardless of how reckless it might be.
But the heavens decided to play a cruel joke on the emperor and empress,
and both of them received a great shock when they realized the youngest di
son was born mute.
After Empress Xiaohui passed away, the emperor felt his fate must
not be aligned with his di sons, so he never mentioned making anyone the
crown prince again. But now, after twenty years, there was finally some
movement from the emperor, and Noble Consort Qiu could not be more
ecstatic.
Although the emperor's favor toward her was as clear as day, he
never showed any hint of granting her the title of empress. But so what? As
long as her son, the second prince, was named crown prince and ascended
the throne, it made no difference if she was empress or not!
The noble consort thought her suffering had finally come to an end;
she even seemed to walk with a spring in her step!
Once Lady Qiu had greeted the emperor along with the second
prince, the emperor asked her to approach. As he intended to pronounce the
second prince as the crown prince, he had to afford her this respect.
The noble consort smiled daintily and sat down next to the emperor.
She glanced down at Prince Jing, her expression victorious. So what if he
was the son of the empress? So what if he was born more noble than her
son, the second prince? Prince Jing would still need to bow his head to the
crown prince, the future emperor.
She and the second prince shared a knowing smile, but Prince Jing
didn't make any indication that he noticed.
Prince Jing's gaze never strayed from the little carp. His finger was
still submerged in the water, playing with the fish's smooth back every now
and then. Li Yu was getting a little pissed off from all the touching. Hey,
you're being too rough! A fish can't take it!
Li Yu evaded his hand, glaring fiercely at Prince Jing. When Prince
Jing found his fingers fishless, his dark, unblinking stare lingered pointedly
on the little carp.
The temperature in the air around them suddenly plummeted.
Was the tyrant angry because Li Yu wouldn't let him squeeze him?
Fine, whatever. Good fish didn't fight with humans, especially not their
owners. He knew Prince Jing was probably upset at the sight of Noble
Consort Qiu sitting next to the emperor. What child would be happy seeing
another woman take his mother's place? Lady Qiu was full of smiles, but
her smile held an edge of provocation; she was clearly showing off.
Prince Jing was obviously in a bad mood, Li Yu decided. He had a
good reason for using him as a stress ball. He leaned back in, nuzzling
against Prince Jing's finger, hoping to make him feel better.
I'll let you squish me, but don't be so rough, okay?
Prince Jing pursed his lips at the way his fish was clearly trying to
please him and continued to squeeze the fish's back.
Li Yu endured it in silence. If he felt that Prince Jing was truly being
too rough and he couldn't take it anymore, he would dart to the side with a
swing of his tail. But, a little while later, he would always swim back,
allowing Prince Jing to use him as an outlet for his anger.
The little carp didn't seem to hate his touch, Prince Jing noted, but
why did it keep shying away and then coming back?
…Was he handling the fish too harshly, he wondered…?
The prince's touch became gentler.
Li Yu instantly felt better. Who knew having his back squeezed like
this could feel this nice? It was even a little ticklish. Li Yu curled his tail
around the prince's finger to show that he liked it.
Prince Jing realized this little carp wasn't that hard to understand
after all.
Fish and human were absorbed in their own little world. They didn't
care how they might look to anyone else.
Having already seen Prince Jing like this, the emperor watched the
prince with the little carp with rapt attention. He never knew his coldhearted
and distant son could play with a fish.
Meanwhile, Noble Consort Qiu's smile was frozen on her face.
Prince Jing had managed to humiliate her without saying a single word.
"What's the matter with Prince Jing?" she asked, trying to get the emperor
to notice the prince's rudeness.
There was a smile warming the emperor's face as he said, "Noble
Consort, Prince Jing has started caring for a fish recently. What do you
think?"
Of course, Lady Qiu didn't think it was any good at all. She had
come here with a goal, and she wasn't going to sit back and watch a drab,
gray fish disrupt her plans. If the emperor was acting like this, he must have
forgotten what she'd told him earlier and was feeling soft toward Prince
Jing.
But the noble consort had come prepared. She tossed a glance to one
of her trusted servants waiting on the side. The servant immediately left,
then quickly returned with a snowy white ball in her arms.
Lady Qiu delightedly hugged the snowy white ball to her chest and
smoothed its fur. She said gently, "Has the emperor forgotten about my
Piaoxue after seeing Prince Jing's fish?"
By now, the emperor had also remembered why he had summoned
Prince Jing. He chuckled, rubbing his nose.
The snowy white cat slowly raised its head and let out a meow. It was
clearly conspiring with its owner. Li Yu, who had been playing with Prince
Jing, heard the meow and was so alarmed that all his fins stood on end. Did
Qianqing Palace also have a cat?
Carefully, Li Yu swam to the surface of the water to see what was
going on—and there it was, nestled in the noble consort's arms. The snow-
white cat's sapphire eyes homed in on him immediately.
That shape, that sound…w-w-wasn't that his greatest enemy?!
With a shudder, Li Yu immediately dove down to the bottom of the
water. But it was too late. As soon as the large white cat laid eyes on him, it
let out an excited yowl, scrambled out of the noble consort's arms, and shot
toward him like an arrow.
Ahh, save me! The cat wants to eat fish!!
He had thought that if he ever came face-to-face with his archnemesis
again, he'd be able to find some escape route—or if worse came to worst,
he'd slap the cat in the face with his tail. It wasn't until he was in front of
the cat for real that he realized its teeth had left a serious mark on his
instincts. Just the memory of that bite was enough to make him tremble.
Trapped in the bowl, Li Yu had nowhere to escape to, leaving him
with no choice but to curl into a ball beneath Prince Jing's hand. He prayed
the large white cat wouldn't see him, but he knew he was fooling himself.
The cat wasted no time in pouncing, and it showed no fear of water
as it opened its mouth to snap up the fish. Just as it seemed as though Li Yu
was going to end up in the cat's mouth, Prince Jing held the curled-up little
carp in his hand closer to him. The cat bit down on empty water.
"Meow?" Confused, the white cat looked up and saw a face that it
would never forget. "Meow!!!" Suddenly, the cat felt like all hope was lost.
Prince Jing's face was as icy as frost. With a flick of his fingers, the
white cat was flung off, barreling into the legs of the servant who had
brought it.
The servant let out a scream of pain. The impact left the white cat
dizzy, but it managed to stand back up, shaking its head fiercely. It abandoned any thought of catching the fish and rushed straight back into
the noble consort's arms.
From his hiding place under Prince Jing's hand, Li Yu peeked out
from the gaps between the prince's fingers. Prince Jing was rolling with
laughter. As expected of his tyrant master! The white cat got what it had
coming again!
Noble Consort Qiu was secretly delighted at seeing Prince Jing raise
a hand right in front of the emperor. She bent down to pick up her white cat,
which was still howling pitifully and made a show of examining it. She
pretended to be distressed as she scolded, "Piaoxue, you terrible thing!
Haven't you learned from last time? Why did you have to provoke Prince
Jing? Do you not take me seriously?"
All of Li Yu's happiness evaporated at her words. He was so furious
that if he'd had a foot, he would have stamped it. While the noble consort
seemed to be reprimanding her cat, in reality, she was playing one of her
little games. She was reminding the emperor that this wasn't the first time
Prince Jing had taught her beloved pet a lesson and that he didn't treat her
with the respect she deserved, as the noble consort and as his shu mother.
After Lady Qiu spoke, of course the second prince, Mu Tianzhao,
piped up in support. "My brother, the fifth prince, is just being a little
mischievous. He didn't mean any harm. Royal Father, Mother, please don't
blame him."
Li Yu's eyes rolled back in his head. He blew out a huge bubble with
a "pop," and turned his tail disdainfully toward the second prince.
The second prince's voice was mild, but underneath that gentle
veneer was a ruthless countenance, even more so than the noble consort.
While the noble consort played her little games, the second prince was
practically accepting Prince Jing's guilt for him by saying he had no ill
intentions, as though afraid the emperor couldn't reach that conclusion on
his own.
This evil cannon fodder!
Despite knowing Prince Jing would eventually inherit the throne, and
Mu Tianzhao and the noble consort would both meet grisly ends, Li Yu
couldn't help but feel a little anxious. This mother-son duo was teaming up and taking advantage of the fact that Prince Jing couldn't speak, especially
since Prince Jing didn't even have Wang Xi-gonggong with him this time.
Prince Jing had saved him so many times now, Li Yu couldn't sit idly by
and watch them bully him.
But what could he, a fish stuck in a bowl, do to the noble consort and
her son, who were like the sun, shining brightly in the middle of the sky? Li
Yu was so indignant, his cheeks puffed up. He started to swim in frustrated
circles in his bowl.
The noble consort and her son's actions had the desired effect. The
emperor's expression darkened as he remembered the noble consort's
tearful complaint from earlier. "Prince Jing, I heard you threw her cat on her
birthday. Is this true?"
On the day of her birthday, the noble consort had gone crying to the
emperor that Prince Jing had hurled her precious pet, Piaoxue. Now that he
had witnessed Prince Jing's treatment of Piaoxue with his own two eyes, he
was starting to believe Noble Consort Qiu.
Not that the emperor had any affection for the cat; it was merely a
pet. Who cared if Prince Jing wanted to hit or kill it? Privately, the emperor
didn't think it was much of a concern. But this situation involved the noble
consort, who was, after all, Prince Jing's shu mother. Behind her was the
second prince, who was also the emperor's choice for crown prince. The
emperor didn't want there to be any bad blood between Prince Jing and the
future crown prince, which was why he had summoned Prince Jing in the
first place. He wanted to get to the bottom of the situation and give the
noble consort an explanation appropriate enough to appease her.
But Prince Jing gave the noble consort a fleeting, cold glance and
made no move to explain. He continued to play with his little carp, eyes
lowered.
For some reason, though, this little fish's cheeks were puffed out. It
was especially obvious when Noble Consort Qiu spoke, almost as if he was
angry. Prince Jing was rather amused; could this fish see through the noble
consort and her son's trickery too?