Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Everyone, including the Empress, wore puzzled expressions, wondering what he was really up to.

The Emperor was totally thrown off by that, thinking he'd been trying to give the kid an out, but now the kid had painted him into a corner.

The Emperor frowned and said, "You little punk, what do you mean by this? If that's truly the case, then I'll have you tossed into the Imperial City Bureau lockup!"

Lu Yunqi extended both hands and said, "Fine, Your Majesty, I admit it. Go ahead and lock me up!"

Now the Emperor was stuck. He'd asked that earlier hoping Lu Yunqi would weasel his way out—rich brat versus rich brat, what could two spoiled brats even have a real beef about? Just a scrap over some courtesan, and Lord Wang got the short end of it.

But Lu Yunqi's blunt confession left him completely stuck.

Seeing the Emperor hesitate, the Empress piled on: "Your Majesty, you heard him, right? He admitted to hurting the Imperial Uncle, so what are we waiting for? Throw him in jail!"

The Emperor stared him down and asked again: "Let me ask you once more—is there really no misunderstanding between you and Lord Wang? This is your last shot. Think hard—what actually started the fight between you two?"

Lu Yunqi repeated himself: "I beat Lord Wang on purpose, and I made sure they went straight for his junk! A piece of trash like him? Not leaving any kids behind is the kindest thing I could do."

The Empress finally started bawling again: "Your Majesty, did you hear what he said? Even if Wang Kun is a brat, he doesn't deserve to be crippled on a whim. If you don't throw him in jail, I'll kneel right here and never get up!"

With that, the Empress dropped to her knees with a thud, sobbing with red-rimmed eyes.

At this point, the Emperor couldn't protect Lu Yunqi even if he wanted to. He had no choice but to grit his teeth and order the Dragon Guard to haul him off and lock him up.

Murong Jie, who'd watched the whole thing go down, was even more confused. What the hell was Lu Yunqi trying to pull?

Did he just get a wild hair to try something fun and exciting in jail?

Just then, the Dragon Guard led Lu Yunqi away. Before they hauled him off, he whispered to Murong Jie: "Tell Liu Bao for me—have him bring my stuff to the Imperial City Bureau prison."

Murong Jie realized—he was planning to move into the Imperial City Bureau prison long-term?

The Empress was happy, the Emperor was stressing, and this invisible prince quietly slipped out. The moment he stepped out of the palace gates, he spotted Liu Bao waiting.

Seeing him return, Liu Bao stepped forward and asked, "Your Highness Prince Cang, where's my young master? Why didn't he come back with you? Did His Majesty keep him for dinner? ...No, that can't be right—if His Majesty was hosting a meal, wouldn't you have stayed too?"

Murong Jie said, "He got locked up in the Imperial City Bureau prison. He wants you to bring him some of his stuff."

Liu Bao: ???

Liu Bao laughed and said, "My lord, are you messing with me? My young master, locked up in the Imperial City Bureau prison? Hahaha, that's impossible! Even if you got locked up there, my young master..."

Realizing he'd put his foot in his mouth, Liu Bao cleared his throat and said, "Um... Your Highness, Liu Bao didn't mean it that way. What I meant was—His Majesty would never throw my young master in jail!"

After all, Lord Nine Thousand Years had just marched north with his troops to defend the Murong family's realm—so locking up his only son? That made no sense.

Murong Jie said, "Do I look like the kind of guy who jokes around?"

Liu Bao stopped laughing. He knew this prince—even though the young master often bullied him, he rarely talked and never smiled, and he never, ever joked.

With that, Liu Bao spun the carriage around and raced back, muttering, "Oh crap..."

Halfway home, he remembered he'd left the prince stranded at the palace gates. When he got home, he sent servants to pick up the Sixth Prince while he packed up all his young master's stuff and hauled it to the Imperial City Bureau prison.

The second he saw Lu Yunqi, Liu Bao burst into tears and dropped to his knees at the cell door: "My young master, how did you end up in jail? What... what happened? Has our Lord Nine Thousand Years lost his power? Is he... dead?"

"Tsk..." Lu Yunqi picked at his ear and said, "Say something good for once! Even if you croak, my dad won't!"

And he wasn't wrong—Liu Bao had died protecting him, and his father had died after that.

Liu Bao stopped crying and asked, "Then what's going on? This doesn't make sense—His Majesty wouldn't lock you up of all people! Just 'cause you hit Lord Wang? That's not that big a deal, is it?"

Lu Yunqi said, "I turned myself in. I told the Emperor I picked a fight with Lord Wang and beat him up for no reason."

Liu Bao was shocked: "You... what are you trying to pull here?"

Lu Yunqi said, "You wouldn't get it. I've got my own plan. Now, help me clean up this cell and bring the bed in. Hmm... thoughtful of you—knowing I don't like light when I sleep, you even brought thick bed curtains. Oh, and later, tell the warden that I don't like being disturbed when I'm not sleeping. If I hang up a 'Do Not Disturb' sign at my door, no one is allowed to come in and bother me. If something truly important comes up, ring the bell on the rope, and I'll come out when I hear it."

Turning imprisonment into a vacation—truly a first in history.

Liu Bao, however, nodded eagerly: "Yes, yes, of course, young master. You've suffered so much, my lord. You've never endured such indignity, my lord."

After Liu Bao left, looking back every few steps, Lu Yunqi hung a sign outside his cell door: "Resting."

Seeing the sign, the warden voluntarily withdrew the patrol guards, knowing that the esteemed one was about to sleep.

But Lu Yunqi didn't sleep. He slipped into the bed curtains, opened an Anywhere Door inside, and returned directly to his own room. Humming a tune and wiggling his feet, he grabbed his favorite blanket that he was used to sleeping with.

Pulling the covers up, he fell into a comfortable sleep.

He slept through the night and returned to the cell the next morning. As soon as he entered the bed curtains, he heard the bell ringing incessantly.

He stretched lazily with annoyance, threw open the curtains, and said in a languid voice: "What's all the rush? Trying to summon the dead? I said I hung up 'Resting' because I don't want to be disturbed. I installed that bell for you to use, not to wake me up!"

Yan Yang, the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial City Bureau, stepped forward and clasped his hands in greeting: "Young Lord Lu, I didn't mean to disturb you. His Majesty ordered me to investigate the conflict between you and Lord Wang. Do you have any grievances to report?"

Lu Yunqi replied: "Yes, I do! I have grievances! I have enormous grievances!"

Now it was Yan Yang's turn to be confused: "I heard that you admitted before His Majesty that you deliberately crippled Lord Wang. Why are you now claiming grievances?"

Lu Yunqi said, "Yes! I deliberately crippled him, but can't I still have grievances?"

The scribe behind him was dumbfounded, exchanging glances with Yan Yang. Yan Yang cleared his throat and said, "Then what grievances does Young Lord Lu have?"

Lu Yunqi said, "I have an enormous grievance—a murder case!"

Commander Yan truly had no idea what this young lord was up to, but since the Emperor had ordered him to conduct the interrogation, he had no choice but to continue: "Could the young lord provide some specifics? Whose murder case is it?"

Lu Yunqi said, "My distant cousin's neighbor's sworn brother's second aunt! She held me as a child—I called her my great-aunt! Her name is Zhao Erping, and she died in Ping'an Village in the northern border, killed by Wang Kun's own hand. My poor great-aunt, torn from me forever! Curse that murderous Wang Kun—I'll never rest until I see justice done!"

The scribe's hand froze in mid-writing, looking up helplessly at Yan Yang.

Lu Yunqi said impatiently, "Can't you remember that? I'll repeat it one last time! My distant cousin's neighbor's sworn brother's second aunt! My great-aunt Zhao Erping, who lived in Ping'an Village, Wanyuan, in the northern border!"

Commander Yan's lips twitched as he asked, "Young Lord Lu, you're not joking with me, are you?"

Lu Yunqi shouted, "Joking? I've moved into a prison cell—who in their right mind jokes about something like this? Since His Majesty ordered you to investigate, then investigate! Get to the bottom of it, and I'll seek justice for her! If you can't, I'll stay in this prison and never leave!"

Commander Yan was at his wit's end. Before he came, the Emperor had instructed him to go through the motions and let Lu Yunqi stay in prison for a few days—whatever he did, he must not let Old Lord Lu, who had just departed for the border, find out.

If he found out, forget the 200,000-strong army—just the 50,000 troops he kept in the capital would be more than enough to give the Dragon Guard a run for their money.

The old emperor's greatest regret was allowing Lu Tong to grow so powerful. He had been the commander who came to the emperor's aid and a key contributor to placing him on the dragon throne.

In his early years, he had considered reclaiming military power, but he had elevated three great generals, all of whom ultimately failed.

He had personally led two military campaigns, both ending in failure, and was ultimately forced to rely on Lu Tong.

Watching him rise to become the Lord Nine Thousand Years, second only to the emperor, in theory, as long as Lu Yunqi didn't rebel, with Lu Tong backing him, he'd be untouchable no matter what crime he committed.

That's why the original host had been spoiled into such a reckless, lawless streak, causing so many fatal disasters.

There was no way around it; Lord Yan knew it was easier to invite trouble than to get rid of it, so he had to report this matter to the emperor and then plan his next steps.

The emperor was even more troubled. After reviewing the case files for a long while, he waved his hand and said, "Since he wants you to investigate, then go investigate! Look into it thoroughly, turn this Peace Village upside down! Ride hell-for-leather to investigate! Move troops at double time!"

Yan Yang acknowledged the order and that very night sent a carrier pigeon to the local county magistrate, instructing them to cooperate in investigating the matter of Peace Village.

The pigeon flew back and forth for a day and a night. When Yan Yang received the message, he was stunned—Peace Village actually did have a woman named Yang Erping, and she had indeed been murdered, her death was brutal—her body was cooked and eaten by refugees afterward.

Seeing this pigeon message, Yan Yang's hand trembled. He had thought this was just Lu Yunqi's nonsense, but who'd have thought there was an actual murder case?

At this point, as the commander of the Imperial City Bureau, he figured he'd have to make the trip himself.

But along the way, Yan Yang saw starving corpses everywhere, barren wasteland, and bones littering the ground.

He traveled north, writing secret letters one after another to the emperor. After reading them, the emperor flew into a rage and immediately ordered Wang Kun, who was recuperating at home, to be arrested and brought directly to the great hall.

One memorial after another was hurled at Wang Kun's head as the emperor shouted, "Wang Kun, I sent you with grain and silver to handle the relief—and this is what you did?"