Chapter 28

Prince Cheng had been in a foul mood all day. Of course, he wouldn't show it. He spent the morning busy in the Ministry of Works, then visited the Ministry of Personnel, and finally inquired about the preparations for the upcoming celebrations at the Ministry of Rites.

Though all the ministers were astute, unlikely to show overt respect before disdain, he still distinctly felt the difference between having a merman and not.

Previously, when he inquired about something, the responsible officials would report to him proactively without him asking, including matters irrelevant to him.

Now, he actually had to ask the questions himself!

Those officials truly looked down on people with contempt!

After visiting three departments, filled with indignant rage and about to assist his family's chief historian, accused of murder, at the Ministry of Punishments, he coincidentally encountered Linghu Xuan deliberating there.

As their eyes met, Linghu Xuan gave a cold laugh.

Prince Cheng immediately knelt down, loudly exclaiming, "Long live, long live, long live the Emperor!"

Linghu Xuan remained silent, the hall of the Ministry of Punishments was deathly quiet, with the Minister of Punishments and the Minister of the Military by Linghu Xuan's side, along with other high-ranking officials such as the Prefect of the Capital, the Director of the Imperial Secretariat, and the Deputy Minister of the Civil Service, and some third and fourth rank officials.

All the ministers watched Prince Cheng prostrate on the ground.

Linghu Xuan flipped a page of the document before lazily saying, "Rise."

Though it was but a brief moment, Prince Cheng's forehead was already covered in sweat beads.

Thus, he stood up and joined the officials standing by Linghu Xuan's side.

Were Linghu Xuan absent, he would have been the protagonist here, with the officials surrounding him, making Prince Cheng increasingly resentful of Linghu Xuan.

Linghu Xuan was supposed to host a banquet with the high officials, and normally, Prince Cheng would also stay to dine, but now, extremely upset, he seized a moment to speak with the Minister of Punishments about releasing his family's chief historian, accused of murder. The Minister excused himself, saying the emperor was reviewing a major case in the department that day, and the case had been transferred to the emperor.

Look at that, what disdainful officials.

Prince Cheng then excused himself, claiming ill health, to rest in the palace.

Indeed, as a prince with his own estate, entering his cousin's palace was as unencumbered as returning to his own home.

Linghu Xuan had no beauties in his harem, nor did his father.

Now, the vast harem housed only one grandmother.

And this grandmother is also Prince Cheng's grandmother.

Prince Cheng headed straight for the Empress Dowager's Penglai Palace, arriving with tears in his eyes.

The Empress Dowager was having lunch, eating soft foods suitable for the elderly, while chatting with the old maids in the palace about old gossip.

With so few people in the palace, there was hardly any fresh gossip, so a group of old ladies reminisced about events from over a decade ago.

Suddenly, Prince Cheng arrived, and the Empress Dowager, seeing her eldest grandson, immediately beamed with joy, waving him over, "Xu'er, have you eaten yet?"

Prince Cheng's given name is Linghu Xu.

His father was the Empress Dowager's eldest son, while Linghu Xuan's father was her second son.

Ordinary parents might play favorites, let alone in the royal family, where all love and power should accumulate on one person.

However, the Empress Dowager believed in treating both sons equally. But with the second son as the emperor and the eldest only a prince, she favored the latter more, hoping to compensate for the imbalance in power and the psychological impact it brought.

Moreover, she truly detested Linghu Xuan's mother, her resentment extending to Linghu Xuan over the years, increasingly disliking him, considering him a ruthless emperor who never smiled and better off dead early, to pass the throne to her obedient eldest grandson.

Prince Cheng cried out, "Grandmother!"

Saying this, he threw himself into the Empress Dowager's embrace, although he was already in his twenties, in the eyes of the elderly, he remained the little baby of the past.

The palace was nearly deserted, eerily quiet and desolate, but the Empress Dowager happily hugged her eldest grandson, patting his sturdy back.

"What's the matter, who upset my Xu'er?" the old lady asked.

Suddenly, Prince Cheng's sorrowful expression vanished, and he said, "Grandmother, it's nothing."

The old lady became even more determined upon hearing this, thinking her eldest grandson was being considerate, not wanting to trouble her, but the more he acted this way, the more she felt compelled to seek justice for him.

"Now that the emperor is waging wars in the north, everything in the palace is under grandmother's control. Tell me, which minister has upset you!"

As she spoke, she even picked up a piece of braised rib from the table and fed it to Prince Cheng like a child, holding the bowl up to his mouth.

Struggling to suppress his disgust, Prince Cheng ate the braised rib filled with his grandmother's love, mumbling unclearly, "It's not the ministers. This morning, Xu'an brother returned on the national priest's giant eagle. Didn't you know, grandmother?"

The Empress Dowager expressed surprise, "I didn't know, no one told me."

A palace maid beside her said, "Empress Dowager, earlier, Mama Liu mentioned it, but you were playing mahjong at the time and must have forgotten afterward."

The Empress Dowager narrowed her eyes, recalling now that someone had mentioned something about the emperor while she was playing mahjong in the morning. She was one tile away from winning, too tense to care, and given her disdain for the emperor, she hadn't bothered to pay attention.

The Empress Dowager slightly angered, "Oh, so the emperor has upset my Xu'er again?"

"No," Prince Cheng struggled to conceal his anger. "Besides, Xu'an brother is just like that. As his elder brother, I should be tolerant. Whatever he says goes; how could I be angry at him? Grandmother, it's his merman that's truly willful, making me kneel publicly for a long time."

Snap.

The soup spoon in the Empress Dowager's hand fell, sliding down her golden-thread embroidered skirt to the ground, shattering into eight pieces.

"What did you say?" The Empress Dowager looked shocked, "A merman, did I hear you right?"

Prince Cheng: "Yes, grandmother, a merman."

"Xu'an brother has found a merman and brought him directly back to the imperial palace on an eagle. This merman is even more willful than recorded in the Chronicles of Mermen, now residing in Shuiyue Palace."

He expressed his concern, "I observed that the merman looks ordinary, not as stunningly beautiful as the legends suggest. I suspect he might not be a merman, perhaps some other creature?"

"Grandmother needs to see him to be sure."

"If he truly is a merman, we must teach him the rules of the palace."

The Empress Dowager pondered in silence.

Since her marriage to the late emperor, she had been informed she was just a stand-in; if a merman appeared, regardless of her having heirs or not, she would be expelled from the palace. Thus, she always prayed for the merman never to come.

Fortunately, after she bore two sons, that damned emperor died without witnessing the arrival of a merman.

She thought all women married to the emperor would lose to a mythical creature as she had, but her second son, while searching for a merman, suddenly met a female Taoist and declared that even if he encountered a merman, his heart would not change.

She resorted to despicable means to ruin their marital bliss, but the female Taoist, with her profound Taoist skills, drank poison in front of everyone and remained unharmed.

Any attempt at palace intrigue, like introducing beauties into the harem, was strictly forbidden by her good son.

She could only watch helplessly as they lived happily ever after, until the female Taoist priest personally killed her beloved son.

The Grand Empress Dowager felt a surge of satisfaction, wondering why she didn't also eliminate that troublesome grandson.

All the chaos originated from an ancient curse on the Linghu family.

From the times of yore.

The Grand Empress Dowager, having read "Chronicles of the Mermen," knew mermen were creatures capable of causing storms and turmoil in a blink. Wishing for a peaceful retirement, she excused herself, "Xu'er, I am old and cannot bear such creatures. When the emperor comes to pay his respects, I'll ask him to take more responsibility."

Prince Cheng, knowing his grandmother was cunning and not easily manipulated, didn't dare offend the Grand Empress Dowager. He patiently joined her for meals, played mahjong in the afternoon, and had dinner with her again.

Then, the steward brought a bunch of fresh bananas, saying it was a newly cultivated variety, available only to the Grand Empress Dowager and the emperor.

The Grand Empress Dowager gave Prince Cheng one to try, and finding it delicious, she gave him the entire bunch to share with his consort.

Carrying the bananas, Prince Cheng walked down the palace corridor, pondering how to further trip up Linghu Xuan.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, and Linghu Xuan appeared beside him, standing tall and looking at him coldly... and at the bananas in his hand.

Prince Cheng: "...Your Majesty."

Linghu Xuan: "Brother Prince Cheng, give the bananas to me. Please go to the royal kitchen and get yourself a bunch. The merperson wants to eat, and I don't have time to go that far."

He spoke rather politely.

Yet, in Prince Cheng's heart, tumultuous waves crashed; previously, upon his visits to the palace, the Grand Empress Dowager would divide all of Ling Hu Xun's beloved treasures, all sorts of foods and playthings, between them.

Suddenly, with the appearance of the merman, even the bananas in his hand were being commandeered by Ling Hu Xun!

Once Linghu Xuan took the bananas, he left.

Prince Cheng turned around and went back to complain to the Empress Dowager!

"Grandmother, Xu'an brother stole my bananas!"

The Empress Dowager: "..."

Ready for bed, the old lady found it amusing that her two grandsons, a prince and an emperor, were fighting over a bunch of bananas, but Prince Cheng exaggerated the story, saying the merman made the emperor steal his bananas.

If the merman demanded his life, or anyone's life, would the emperor fetch it with a smile?

Recalling her own biases, the Empress Dowager felt a chill in her heart and stood up decisively, "Change my clothes; I will personally teach this creature a lesson!"