Chapter 294 - Hidden Undercurrent

"You can leave."

Slowly, Prince Ji Shu made his way to the garden. When he saw his wife, a smile broke down from the corner of his lips. One would never be able to guess that he was known as the tyrant when they looked at his current expression. 

"Xiao Hua."

Wei Xiao Hua raised her head. She was tending to the plants and clearly didn't expect to see her husband coming. A smile was formed on her lips. "Shu, what are you doing here? I thought you're busy because His Majesty refused to meet with anyone."

After falling ill and staying on the death's door, the Emperor refused to meet with anyone including his favorite concubine. Prince Ji Shu's mother has been trying all kind of means to be able to enter the main palace, but she kept on getting rejected. Other women didn't have it any better, though, as they were busy trying to enter only to be kicked out of the gate.

The only message that they got out was the fact that he wanted his third son to send representative. Prince Ji Shu was hoping that he would order his third son to return back but it ended up only for a representative.

He would have to wait for another chance if he wished to kill Prince Ji Sheng.

"Yang Xian will come here in a day's time."

The message came late and the journey from Prince Ji Sheng's City to the capital city would take 3 days at the earliest. Prince Ji Shu estimated that it wouldn't take that long for Yang Xian to arrive since the messengers were told to bring him at the fastest speed possible.

Wei Xiao Hua nodded, not feeling surprised at all. "In that case, what do you plan to do?"

"I'll monitor his movement. The other officials seem to have the same opinion with me that he's a dangerous person."

"Even if he's dangerous, what can he do by himself?" Wei Xiao Hua asked in a low tone. In the original novel, the one who came here was indeed Yang Xian. However, there was nothing weird that Yang Xian did when he was staying in the capital city. At the very least, there was nothing that Prince Ji Shu managed to find.

However, in the end, Yang Xian managed to escape from the capital city. Not in one piece, but it meant that he had somehow managed to relay message to a helper that helped him to get out of the capital city.

How?

The stingy author never explained and Wei Xiao Hua felt like berating the author for that.

(A/N: …)

Well, it might be in future arc that Wei Xiao Hua hadn't read. After all, she only knew the plot until the war with Prince Ji Sheng was over and Prince Ji Shu emerged victorious with his sibling's death. With no one else to threaten his path to the throne, he became the sole successor.

"It'll be fine. Be careful, Ji Shu."

"I will."

"Hey, hands off! It's still early!"

"It's already dark enough for me."

"It's not…!"

…

Yang Xian looked at a distance as the sight of the capital city was getting clearer. If he had to be honest, he didn't want to come here in the slightest bit. It would have been for the best if he could just stay at the border and busy fighting with the tribes who were still scattering around the dry lands.

"Strategist Yang, we'll arrive in the capital city."

"Yes."

Riding the horse to the gate, Yang Xian kept his expression calm. Unlike the expressionless Ji Sheng, Yang Xian was more used to keep a neutral expression and looked relaxed. It was his face that made it easy for people to think of him as looking down on them because he could keep such a straight face even when he was facing difficult officials.

Entering the capital city, Yang Xian was led to the palace directly. The one who ordered him to come to the capital city was the Emperor, so they headed straight to the palace. Even though the Emperor was sick and lying on his death's bed, the eunuch still welcomed him in and reported to the Emperor and his physicians about Yang Xian's arrival.

He could only arrive a week after the incident, so the condition of the Emperor was already critical enough.

"Strategist Yang, you've arrived."

Yang Xian noticed that Prime Minister Xie and Prime Minister Wei were among the few people who were staying in the hall. He cupped his hand as greetings. "Prime Minister Xie, Prime Minister Wei, my apologies for my tardiness."

"His Majesty is already informed of your coming," Prime Minister Xie said with a smile. "I'm sure he'll understand your circumstance."

The distance from the capital city to Prince Ji Sheng's City was extremely far. It was already hard enough for him to come here at such short notice.

"Thank you for your kind words, Prime Minister Xie."

Some other officials also stepped forward and greeted Yang Xian. Prime Minister Wei didn't try to get close to Yang Xian. Since Prince Ji Shu didn't like this young man, he didn't try to get close too.

After all, he didn't want to incur Prince Ji Shu's wrath.

Yang Xian recognized some of the officials and greeted them accordingly. He had good memory, so naturally he would not forget them. Those who stayed in the hall were all rank 4 officials or above since those below didn't dare to come. Their ranks were too low for the Emperor to remember, so they didn't want to step on their bounds.

"Strategist Yang," the head eunuch came out from inside. He had placid expression as he looked at Yang Xian. "His Majesty wished for you to come."

"I understand." Yang Xian cupped his hands then looked at the officials. "Please excuse me, I have to go."

"It's fine, Strategist Yang."

"Don't make His Majesty wait."

They all exchanged some pleasantries as they watched Yang Xian entered the inner palace with the eunuch.