Troublemaker Prince Chapter 12
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 12
You Yusui's single remark implicated all those who had married their cousins, yet he maintained an innocent expression. Wasn't what he said correct? Shouldn't the Third Prince be granted a few more households as fiefdom? If it weren't for the fact that all the children born were fools, having a few more households as fiefdom would at least make the Third Prince's life easier after being enfeoffed as a prince.
"Father Emperor, is what this son said inappropriate?" You Yusui asked in apparent bewilderment.
You Fenyun was left speechless. What audacity to act innocent after gaining such advantage.
The Noble Consort Xian and the Eldest Princess were so angry their teeth itched. They had failed to embarrass the Crown Prince at this banquet, and instead the Crown Prince had sabotaged the marriage between the Third Prince and the Commandery Princess. Everyone knew that the Emperor's "this matter shall be discussed later" meant there would never be any follow-up—this marriage was finished.
Seeing this, You Yusui lowered his head with a satisfied smile, then reached out to hook his finger around Huo Xiling's palm.
Those who heard the Crown Prince's words also began to contemplate the outcomes of cousin marriages in their own families, and they suddenly realized that children born to cousins often died young, and those who survived were accompanied by many diseases, some even born with disabilities or mental deficiencies.
For a moment, the consorts in the palace all began thinking of writing letters to their families, advising them to avoid marrying relatives with close blood relations. Though marrying within the family strengthened bonds, problems with heirs marked the beginning of a family's decline.
"Are you satisfied?" You Yusui asked Huo Xiling in a low voice.
Huo Xiling was momentarily confused—satisfied with what? Then he saw You Yusui wink at him, and Huo Xiling immediately understood, responding softly, "Very satisfied."
Just then, the Emperor sitting above suddenly spoke.
"The Crown Prince has also turned seventeen today. Marriage arrangements should be prepared. Does the Crown Prince have any young lady in mind?" You Fenyun looked down at You Yusui from above.
Hearing this, You Yusui's heart jumped in alarm. In over a dozen rebirths, no one had ever suggested that he should consider marriage. Only two people could decide the Crown Prince's marriage: the current Empress Dowager or the present Emperor. The Empress Dowager supported the Third Prince and naturally wouldn't actively arrange his marriage, which would allow the Crown Princess's maternal family to add strength to the Crown Prince. The present Emperor, on the other hand, was indifferent, merely giving perfunctory responses when pressed by court officials. So in those previous dozen lives, You Yusui had never had a Crown Princess, not even a fiancée.
However, now You Yusui didn't know why his Father Emperor wanted to bring up his marriage.
At this moment, Noble Consort Xian and others were as active in their thoughts as You Yusui. The Crown Prince taking a wife was absolutely not a situation they would be happy to see.
Therefore, the people at the banquet were restless, and for a moment the entire gathering fell silent.
Huo Xiling gripped You Yusui's fingers even tighter. He didn't know why, but he feared You Yusui marrying a woman he didn't know. Sitting beside Huo Xiling, You Yusui smiled with satisfaction. Though Huo Xiling didn't speak, this feeling of being cared for was wonderful.
The next moment, You Yusui rose from his seat. Though the young man was thin, he stood tall and straight like green bamboo, then bowed to You Fenyun seated at the head. "This son believes that no matter which noble lady marries down to this son, it would be wronging this son."
The Crown Prince's voice was clear and melodious, like spring water, reaching everyone's ears distinctly, but they all felt something was amiss.
You Fenyun, seated at the head, frowned as he looked at his second son and said, "Say that again?"
"This son believes that no matter which noble lady marries down to this son, it would be wronging this son." You Yusui repeated expressionlessly.
Hearing this, Huo Xiling couldn't help but lower his head to suppress his laughter. The crowd, having heard You Yusui's original words again, was somewhat stunned. What did he mean by "wronging himself"? Shouldn't the correct answer be that it would wrong the other families' noble daughters?
Just as everyone waited for the present Emperor to scold the Crown Prince, they heard You Fenyun say, "The Crown Prince speaks correctly. It would indeed be wronging the Crown Prince."
Given the Crown Prince's status, only daughters of prominent families would be suitable matches. But You Fenyun disliked the great families and didn't want the Crown Prince to have too many connections with them, nor did he want the families to band together in support of the Crown Prince. The scholarly officials had already sided with the First Prince and absolutely wouldn't want to marry their daughters to the Crown Prince. As for the maternal relatives, they wished the Crown Prince were dead.
Not a single noble lady in all of Chang'an could match the Crown Prince—if this wasn't wronging the Crown Prince, what was?
At this moment, You Fenyun glanced again at the First Prince's faction, which had become arrogant, and the Third Prince's faction, which was already boldly forming alliances, and decided some discipline was in order.
"Next month, on the third day of the third lunar month, the Shangsi Festival, there will be a Spring Banquet where all the noble ladies in the city will go out for spring outings. The Crown Prince might as well go and see if there's any lady who catches his fancy. If there is, Zhen can arrange the marriage." You Fenyun said with a smile.
As his words fell, both the First Prince and Third Prince couldn't help but stare at You Yusui. Their marriages had been decided through negotiations between multiple parties—why could the Crown Prince choose freely?
You Yusui didn't even bother to lift his eyelids at these two's gazes. If his scumbag father told him to choose freely, did he really think he could just pick anyone? How naive.
Anyway, You Yusui had already seen through it—his Father Emperor was using his marriage to discipline those two.
"Thank you, Father Emperor." You Yusui bowed and sat back down.
Seeing this, everyone began to contemplate which family's daughter You Yusui would choose as Crown Princess, and several names came to mind.
They absolutely couldn't let the Crown Prince marry daughters from these families. If the Crown Prince married them, he would be like a tiger with wings—they had to strike first.
Soon, this family banquet came to an end. The Emperor departed, the Eldest Princess took her leave, and the main character, Crown Prince You Yusui, also left. With their departure, the banquet hastily concluded.
Walking out of Changle Palace, You Yusui happened to see the Eldest Princess's daughter trip and sprain her ankle ahead of them, then begin angrily scolding and beating the servants.
Watching this scene, You Yusui couldn't help but comment. "How this prince sees it, ruining the Third Prince's marriage actually saved him from a sea of suffering."
"Her temperament has always been like this," Huo Xiling said, his gaze toward the Eldest Princess's daughter Ji Shuang revealing some disgust.
"Do you have a grudge against her?" You Yusui turned to ask Huo Xiling beside him.
"When this subject was at the General's mansion, she cut down a pear tree that this subject's sister had planted with her own hands." After saying this, Huo Xiling's gaze darkened somewhat.
Cutting down trees planted by someone's deceased relative—this Eldest Princess's daughter was indeed willful and hateful.
You Yusui took Huo Xiling's hand and said, "Next time, this prince will take you to bully little girls, alright?"
"Your Highness?" Huo Xiling looked up somewhat puzzled.
In the wind, Huo Xiling heard You Yusui say softly, "Call this prince 'elder brother,' and elder brother will always cherish you."
As his words fell, You Yusui looked toward the Eldest Princess's party, who had already walked far away. Since they had bullied his child, they shouldn't blame him for bullying back.
"Let's go, the wind is strong here." After You Yusui finished speaking, he got into his sedan chair and took Huo Xiling back to the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace.
Afterward, treasures from various palaces flowed like water into You Yusui's palace: red coral as tall as a person, twenty-four perfectly matched pearls from Hepu, jade ruyi scepters carved from white jade, and various rare treasures covering the floor. Most eye-catching was a piece of calligraphy personally written by the present Emperor.
Just one character, terrible! Unremarkably terrible.
You Yusui sometimes wondered if becoming Emperor made people overly confident. How did his father dare to send his own calligraphy as gifts throughout the entire court and harem? He even suspected his father was trying to save on gift expenses.
"Your Highness, shall this ginseng also be used for stewing chicken?" Eunuch Fubao, who was organizing the gifts, asked.
"No." You Yusui looked toward Huo Xiling beside him. Previously he hadn't cared about ginseng, but Huo Xiling would be joining the military in the future—such life-saving items should be saved for him.
"These, these, especially that 'Plum and Magpie' painting from the Eldest Princess, pack them all up for Xiling." After speaking, You Yusui looked at Huo Xiling and said, "After you return to the General's mansion, hang that painting in your room and invite many people home to admire it."
After over a dozen rebirths, You Yusui had become expert at annoying people.
"The rest, store them all in the treasury. After this prince dies, use them as burial goods." You Yusui spoke these words with calm expression.
Eunuch Fubao beside him quickly made spitting sounds, saying You Yusui would live a hundred years—how could he speak such inauspicious words?
At this moment, the young eunuchs returning from the Sixth Prince's and Consort Ning's palaces brought several large chests and reported to You Yusui. "Your Highness, according to your instructions, we have emptied the Sixth Prince's and Consort Ning's palaces. These ornaments and porcelain amount to eighty thousand taels of silver."
"Still short twenty thousand taels. Deduct it from Sixth Brother's future stipend." You Yusui said indifferently.
"Yes."
On the other side, the Sixth Prince, having held back his anger, returned to his own palace to find his chambers completely emptied, the vast palace like a snow cave.
"What is the meaning of this!" The Sixth Prince was furious.
The palace servants quickly explained the reason, then tearfully complained. "Your Highness, we couldn't stop them—they brought Eastern Palace guards."
Hearing this, the Sixth Prince's blood surged as he cursed, "You Yusui, you’ve gone too far!"
Then, a young eunuch from the Eastern Palace who had been waiting said, "The Crown Prince said that Your Highness the Sixth Prince still owes him twenty thousand taels of silver. Please remember to repay it."
The Sixth Prince couldn't contain himself and fainted on the spot from anger.
"Your Highness, Your Highness!" For a moment, the Sixth Prince's palace was in chaos.
The Eastern Palace eunuch snorted at this sight, then walked back to the Eastern Palace at a leisurely pace to report.
In the Eastern Palace, the palace servants were registering and cataloguing the gifts received. The only two idle people in the palace were You Yusui and Huo Xiling.
In the inner chamber, Huo Xiling lit osmanthus incense in the gold and silver inlaid Boshan incense burner, then turned to look at You Yusui resting on the bed and couldn't help asking, "Is Your Highness really going to the Spring Banquet?"
You Yusui, who had been resting with closed eyes, opened them, and the tear mole at the corner of his eye seemed to dance. He looked at Huo Xiling and said, "Go. Imperial commands cannot be disobeyed. It's also perfect for going out to celebrate your birthday—this palace is boring, going out to play is just right."
Hearing this, Huo Xiling's heart filled with joy. He asked, "Will Your Highness select a lady to be Crown Princess?"
Hearing this, You Yusui laughed. He reached out and hooked Huo Xiling's chin with his finger. "You're quite good at pleasing this prince. How about you dress as a woman, and this prince will tell Father Emperor that the one who caught his eye at the Spring Banquet was you, and have Father Emperor arrange our marriage. How about that?"
Huo Xiling began to contemplate, then finally raised his head to look at You Yusui before him and said with complete seriousness. "That's not impossible."