Chapter 67

Chapter 67

Lin Shuyun's face was etched with anxiety. She had just stepped into the study when the creaking sound of the door closing behind her made her whirl around, hurrying towards Lu Yu.

"Has something happened? Do you want me and the children to leave here?"

Lin Shuyun's words tumbled out in a rush. Lu Yu's usually cool demeanor remained perfectly composed as he slowly opened his arms and embraced her.

"Recently, for reasons unknown, the matter of appointing the Crown Prince has suddenly spread throughout the imperial court. The candidates are none other than the Eldest Prince and myself."

"It has long been an open secret that His Majesty favors me. I subtly encouraged my subordinates to fan the flames, to escalate the situation, thereby forcing the Emperor to make an early decision and finalize the Crown Prince's appointment."

"Then why do you want us to leave?" Lin Shuyun asked, looking up at him.

"Wanwan," Lu Yu gently caressed her cheek, his voice soft. "When the Emperor announces my true origins, the struggle for the throne will become inevitable... Even if I lose... I cannot allow anything to happen to you."

Lin Shuyun asked, "What was your original plan?"

A faint smirk played on Lu Yu's lips. "Regicide."

Lin Shuyun's eyes widened. As she processed Lu Yu's words, she instantly grasped the full scope of his plan.

Covering her mouth, she stammered, "You... you want to make him appoint the Crown Prince and then... kill him?"

Lu Yu shook his head, leaning close to Lin Shuyun's ear to whisper, "I've already been poisoning him through the tea I send him. Over time, a significant amount of toxins has accumulated."

"So... so you plan to poison him again soon?"

Lin Shuyun was so frightened that her lips trembled. Lu Yu gently patted her back, coaxing her softly, "Yes, that's why the capital is bound to descend into chaos soon. You and the children must leave this place first."

"What about you?" Lin Shuyun nervously clutched Lu Yu's lapel, her eyes instantly welling up.

"My life is already staked on this gamble..."

Before Lu Yu could finish, Lin Shuyun's tears had already fallen, searing his heart.

"Don't cry, don't cry."

Lin Shuyun buried her face in Lu Yu's chest, weeping uncontrollably, her voice choked and muffled. "You can't die. You must not die."

Lu Yu's heart ached intensely. He lowered his head and kissed Lin Shuyun's forehead. "I swear, I will definitely come to bring you and the children home."

If he were merely the Heir to the Marquis of Xuanping, he wouldn't have to worry about the struggle for the throne. But when the Emperor placed Lu Yu in the position of a prince, the stakes were irrevocably raised.

"We will publicly announce that you and the children are going to the estate in Lingshui County, but in reality, we will switch carriages on the way and send you all to Jiangnan."

"I bought a house there and arranged new identities. You and the children wait for me there."

Lin Shuyun asked through her sobs, "When will you come for me?"

"Six months, at most six months."

"Okay."

To ensure their departure from the capital didn't attract undue attention, Lu Yu specifically arranged for Lin Shuyun and her three children to leave by carriage early in the morning five days later.

Meanwhile, news from a palace spy indicated that the Emperor had instructed senior court officials to draft a secret decree for appointing the Crown Prince. Lu Yu immediately sent the Emperor another canister of tea with an increased dosage of poison.

The effects of this poison would gradually manifest after a month.

----

The morning birds chirped noisily. Lin Shuyun heard the soft sound of the person beside her getting up. She propped herself up and slowly rose, her dazed eyes fixed on Lu Yu.

Lu Yu quickly helped her lie back down, coaxing her, "Sleep. There's no need to see me off."

Since learning of the impending separation from Lu Yu, Lin Shuyun had made it a habit to watch him leave for the morning court every day. The early rising made her eyes red with drowsiness and fatigue. The thought of a permanent separation from Lu Yu made her eyes sting with unshed tears.

Her tearful eyes stared fixedly at Lu Yu as she followed him step by step in her embroidered shoes.

She was truly afraid, afraid she would never see Lu Yu again.

"Sleep. I'll bring you pastries from the south of the city when I return tonight."

Lu Yu's deep voice echoed in Lin Shuyun's ears like a lullaby. She stretched out her arms, beckoning to Lu Yu.

Lu Yu chuckled softly, wrapped his arms around her, and gently kissed her pink lips.

"You... you still remember that?" Lin Shuyun's eyes widened in surprise.

Lu Yu smiled. "Of course. It's not like I’m seventy or eighty and forgetting things."

When Lin Shuyun was pregnant with Zhang'er, she had been particularly clingy. Every morning, she would watch Lu Yu leave just like this.

As if by habit, she reached out to beckon Lu Yu. Lu Yu would embrace her, kiss the corner of her lips, and whisper sweet nothings before letting him go.

But even though things were different now, Lin Shuyun watched Lu Yu's departing figure, sighed softly, and a trace of anxiety flickered in her eyes.

After returning to her room, she found herself unable to sleep, a sense of foreboding filling her.

After lunch, alarming news arrived from the palace.

"Third Prince's Consort, His Majesty is slightly unwell and has specifically asked the Third Prince to attend to him in the palace."

A flicker of worry passed through Lin Shuyun's eyes. She lowered her gaze and waved her hand. Ming Yue immediately slipped the prepared silver coins into the messenger eunuch's hand.

Feigning concern, she asked, "I saw His Majesty in good health just a few days ago. How did he suddenly fall ill?"

The eunuch tucked the silver coins into his sleeve and sighed softly. "His Majesty felt unwell during court today and fainted."

Lowering his voice, he whispered, "When this servant left the palace to deliver the message, the imperial physicians and the princes were still guarding the Qianyuan Palace."

After seeing off the messenger eunuch, Lin Shuyun clutched her silk handkerchief and paced back and forth in the flower hall.

She suddenly remembered the dosage of poison Lu Yu had mentioned a few days earlier—with that amount, the Emperor should not have fainted under any circumstances.

How could he have collapsed so soon?

Could it be... that Lu Yu's plan had been discovered by the Emperor?

With the Emperor ill, Lin Shuyun and the children could no longer use the pretext of leisure to leave the capital. They could not return to Prince Ding's mansion either, nor could they trouble her parents further.

Lin Shuyun had no choice but to keep her three children with her at all times, eating and living together, keeping them under her watchful eye day and night.

Seven days later, the Emperor still had not awakened.

According to palace regulations, the senior court officials had to convene a court session without the Emperor to select a regent from among the princes.

Lu Yu, dressed in a light blue python robe, strode into the main hall of Beiyang Palace.

The Eldest Prince and the Second Prince glanced at him, their eyes flashing with smug mockery.

During these days of attending the emperor during his illness in the palace, Lu Yu would sit in an armchair every night, carefully pondering the cause and progression of the events.

He recalled the day the imperial physician took the emperor’s pulse, his eyes filled with panic, replying in a thread of a voice, "His Majesty... His Majesty shows symptoms of poisoning."

Lu Yu lowered his gaze in thought—the dose of poison he had administered to the emperor should not have caused sudden collapse or revealed signs of poisoning.

Suddenly, a scene from outside the Qianyuan Palace flashed into his mind—the undisguised contempt in the eldest prince’s eyes when he looked at him, and the second prince’s obsequiously warm demeanor toward the eldest prince.

All his confusion was resolved in an instant.

So... he was not the only one who wanted the emperor dead. But... what were the eldest prince and the second prince aiming for?

To kill him?

As Lu Yu stood in the hall deep in thought, the high-ranking ministers, led by the cabinet, had already begun discussing which prince should serve as regent.

The eldest prince immediately stepped forward and declared with moral authority, "As the eldest son of our father and the eldest brother to my younger siblings, it is only natural that I should serve as regent."

However, the high-ranking ministers who had secretly participated in the succession planning and were yet to complete the drafting of the secret edict already knew who the next emperor would be.

They naturally wished to use this as a token of loyalty, leaving a favorable impression on the future ruler.

An elderly, authoritative voice spoke up, "The third prince has recently distinguished himself militarily and once served as Senior Grand Secretary. He is undoubtedly capable of serving as regent."

"Oh? Is that so?"

The eldest prince crossed his arms and said with a smile, "Our father is old—he’s lost his wits. Are you all certain that Lu Yu is truly the third prince?"

The court officials broke into an uproar, like water droplets falling into hot oil, instantly boiling over.

Ministers supporting the eldest prince widened their eyes, their voices growing louder as they manipulated sentiment, "Indeed? None of us has ever seen Noble Consort Zhao, nor have we heard of her giving birth to a child in the palace."

The second prince, also crossing his arms, said with a mocking laugh, "This is nothing but deceiving the emperor and attempting to usurp the throne."

A flicker of derision flashed in Lu Yu’s eyes as he said calmly, "Our father himself issued the decree. How dare you claim that the imperial edict is fake?"

The second prince, his eyes full of amusement, clapped toward the outside of the hall and shouted, "Let them in!"

Everyone turned toward the entrance.

A limping scholar and a woman in humble garments walked into the hall.

Lu Yu’s expression darkened, his deep gaze filled with anger. He clenched his fists tightly and opened his mouth to speak.

The Censor-in-Chief frowned and shouted, "How dare commoners like you enter the hall?"

"Ah? Minister Li, don’t be so quick. Soon enough, you will find out who the real commoner is."