Chapter 64

Chapter 64

"Cutting ties?" Lu Yunqi blinked, thinking he understood his father. It must be that his father felt Murong Jie had caused his death, which was why he'd cut ties with him.

But he vaguely felt something was off. Lu Tong was a total pushover for his son, showing it in absolutely everything by going along with whatever his son wanted.

His son's wishes were the be-all and end-all, and even in death, he'd honor his son's final wishes.

So he didn't believe Lu Tong would truly cut ties with Murong Jie. After all, just because Lu Yunqi had asked, Lu Tong had given Murong Jie fifty thousand troops. Sure, he was dead now, but he'd died protecting Murong Jie, and he'd even given birth to Murong Jie's child.

So Lu Yunqi wasn't buying this whole "cutting ties" thing.

Yuan Pingya hummed in acknowledgment and asked, "City Lord, do you have a next step planned?"

Lu Yunqi thought for a moment, then said to Xiao Jiu, "Give me an invisibility mini-program. I want to go see my son!"

Xiao Jiu popped out and replied, "Yes, Master! The program has been downloaded for you. You can enter stealth mode at any time!"

Lu Yunqi then instructed Yuan Pingya, "The capital liaison point is entirely in your hands. You can loosen up the loyalty requirements a bit—as long as it's above sixty percent, they're good to go."

Now that his power had grown, his ability to bear risks was much stronger than before. As long as they were highly capable, he could be flexible on loyalty.

Yuan Pingya acknowledged, "Don't worry, City Lord. I'll get the job done!"

Lu Yunqi flicked open his fan, fanning himself as he stood up. "You don't need to follow me. I've got some things to take care of on my own."

Though Yuan Pingya was still somewhat worried, he understood that what the City Lord decided was not something he could interfere with, so he let him go.

Lu Yunqi walked to Lord Nine Thousand Years' mansion and saw that the estate was recruiting wet nurses and maidservants—obviously for taking care of Lu Feiluan.

The kid he gave birth to had the surname Lu, which caught Lu Yunqi completely off guard.

Too bad he'd sent Xiao Liuzi to Hill Commandery, or else he could've stayed with Feiluan. Xiao Liuzi would have taken good care of him.

Lu Yunqi just peeked at the front gate before circling around to the back door. He ducked into a corner by the wall, activated the invisibility program, and quietly slipped into the estate.

He made his way to his own courtyard like it was second nature, and sure enough, there were maids and wet nurses bustling in and out. His big brother Lu An was personally overseeing them: "Keep it down, the little young lord is asleep. Don't wake him up."

Lu Yunqi glanced at his elder brother and thought, thank god, I'm the only one who died—you're all still alive.

The people he'd died for across multiple lifetimes—it felt so good to see them alive.

Lu Yunqi turned and slipped through the courtyard gate, sneaking into his own room. On the bed he used to sleep in, he saw the sleeping Lu Feiluan.

Lu Feiluan was over a month old now, clearly a whole size bigger than when he was born. He didn't look all wrinkled and scrunched up like a newborn anymore—he was starting to look like a proper cute baby.

Lu Yunqi couldn't help but pick him up, dropping his invisibility, and planted a gentle kiss on his cheek.

In his sleep, Lu Feiluan stirred slightly. A smile tugged at the corner of Lu Yunqi's mouth uncontrollably, and his heart just about melted. He thought, I regret it—boohoo, I shouldn't have left my kid with Murong Jie. I should have taken him with me. Gahh, my son is so adorable!

But then again, leaving the kid with family to look after him was the smartest call he'd made.

Otherwise, who knows how many people in his family would've lost their minds. His brother and dad might've straight-up rebelled against the court because of his death, and the first thing they'd do is storm over to Murong Feng's place and gut him.

Cradling the soft, squishy little baby in his arms, Lu Yunqi couldn't help but wonder what Murong Jie was doing right now.

Did he like this child?

Surely he must have some plan by now.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have handed the child to Lu Tong, nor would he have publicly cut ties with him.

Lu Yunqi kissed his precious son again and whispered, "Feiluan, Daddy will come see you another day. Right now, Daddy needs to go see your other daddy."

With that, he left Lord Nine Thousand Years' mansion and only deactivated the invisibility program once he was outside the gates.

Lu Yunqi asked Xiao Jiu, "Where is the new Prince Peer's residence?"

Xiao Jiu replied, "At Jiazi Avenue, Number One."

Lu Yunqi was surprised. "Isn't that the Eastern Palace's auxiliary residence?"

Usually, when the Crown Prince took up residence in the Eastern Palace, he would establish an auxiliary residence closest to it for convenience when conducting business outside the palace, and that spot would typically be claimed by the Crown Prince.

Setting his residence there—the old emperor certainly had ideas. Was he trying to make his two sons fight each other?

Lu Yunqi hesitated and said, "How about... we go take a look?"

Xiao Jiu covered his face. "Xiao Jiu's advice is not to. Master, you've seen the atmosphere in the capital. Something big might be about to happen."

Lu Yunqi pursed his lips and asked, "When?"

Xiao Jiu waved his hand. "As a system, I can only make estimates and analyses of events. I'm not a fortune teller, so I can't pinpoint an exact timeline."

Lu Yunqi pondered for a moment, then sighed. "Forget it, forget it. Let's go somewhere else then. Um... how about we go see Xie Lianyi?"

Xiao Jiu waved his hand again. "Can't see her either. Xie Lianyi has retired after her success and is no longer in the capital."

Lu Yunqi: ...

Fine, fine. Even Xie Lianyi had exited the stage. It seemed Murong Jie was truly playing a grand game of chess.

He had a vague premonition that it might happen within the next day or two.

In the imperial palace, the old emperor lay in bed, coughing lightly now and then. The Empress sat before the sickbed, taking the medicine handed over by a eunuch, gently blowing on it, and said softly, "Your Majesty, it's time to take your medicine."

The old emperor waved his hand. "I've told you, I'm fine. Empress... has your Wang clan truly grown so bold as to reach this point?"

Empress Wang put away her gentle facade and said, "Your Majesty, why must you blame my Wang clan? You could have easily named Feng'er as Crown Prince long ago, but why did you keep delaying? Did it have to come to one of my sons dead and the other crippled? What breaks my heart is that even after all this, you still refuse to name the Crown Prince early. And now, you've started favoring that bastard Murong Jie again. You're getting on in years—why cling so desperately to this throne?"

The old emperor let out a cold laugh and said, "Your sons caused such chaos, and you blame me? Does the eldest prince's character and virtue truly qualify him for the position of Crown Prince? Don't forget how your youngest son died! I refuse to believe Murong Feng had no hand in that."

Empress Wang smashed the medicine bowl with a crack and angrily retorted, "Stop trying to drive a wedge between me and my son! Feng'er was forced into it too—it's all because you, as a father, kept wavering!"

The old emperor sighed. "You know the truth in your heart. It's just that your Wang clan rises and falls together. They sent you into the palace—wasn't it all for that position?"