Ch13.2 - Birthday

Early the next morning, Sui Yan was dragged out of his blankets by Sui Xun.

Sui Yan thought Sui Xun was here to make him copy books, so he hugged the blankets and dazedly said, “I’ll copy, I’ll copy! I’ll go copy right away! Let me sleep for a bit longer, just a……bit longer……” 

Sui Xun was so angry that he nearly laughed. He turned around and opened a nearby window.

Outside, it was snowing heavily. The cold wind rushed in, blowing straight into Sui Yan’s face.

He shivered and completely woke up.

A while later, wrapped in six layers of brocade robes, he held onto the small hand warmer that had been filled with charcoal and followed Sui Xun into a carriage. 

Ever since he had gotten sick, Sui Yan had felt that eight hours of sleep weren’t enough. As soon as he got on the carriage, he rested his head on a small table and fell asleep.

Sui Xun was so angry that he ran out of rage. Afraid of Sui Yan catching a cold, Sui Xun hugged him and wrapped him in a large cloak to keep him warm.

Sui Yan slept even more comfortably.

An hour later, the carriage slowly stopped at the Third Prince’s Manor on the South Street of the capital city.

It was still early, and there weren’t many guests at the Third Prince’s Manor. A servant was waiting at the entrance. When he saw Sui Yan and Sui Xun step off of a carriage, he held an umbrella and rushed over to welcome them.

Sui Yan had wrapped himself in so many layers that he looked like a ball, but he still shivered after getting off of the carriage. His lips were pale blue, and as he walked towards the manor, he asked, “Is anyone here?”

The servant hurriedly answered, “Young Master Song and Young Master Jiang arrived just now. They’re in a side courtyard drinking tea.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Sui Yan replied, “Oh, what about the Third Prince?” 

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“Greetings to General Sui, Little Young Master.” 

Sui Xun waved his hands, indicating that they didn’t need to be so polite.

Sui Yan hopped twice to shake off the snow on the boots before grabbing a stool and running over to sit by the charcoal basin, ignoring them.

Sui Xun was sitting there drinking tea, so Song Xian and Jiang Enhe didn’t dare to be too blatant and could only secretly glare at Sui Yan.

After a bit, Sui Yan had warmed up, so he raised his head and asked Jiang Enhe, “You went to Xiangguo Temple yesterday. Did you see Master Gengxue?” 

As soon as Sui Yan mentioned this, Jiang Enhe instantly stopped glaring at him. He pulled a stool over and sat down, intending to chatter endlessly with Sui Yan.

Sui Yan stretched out a finger to stop him, “Don’t gossip. Just tell me the main points.”

Jiang Enhe, “…….”

Why hadn’t such a dense person been beaten up yet? 

Jiang Enhe speechlessly asked, “Do you want to hear it or not?”

Sui Yan could only compromise, “Fine, fine, you tell me, and I’ll listen.”

Jiang Enhe really began to chatter endlessly. He started with how a few crows flew overhead when he had set out, and he spent half an hour talking about his trip to the temple alone. Nonsense and spit filled the air.

In the end, even Song Xian couldn’t stand it anymore. He frowned, “Can you get to the point? Who wants to hear about how many girls you met along the way? Who’s teaching you? I want to visit the genius that can teach someone to be like this.” 

Jiang Enhe’s face immediately flushed, and he stammered, “I…… I was just about to get to it. Don’t rush me!”

Song Xian couldn’t resist the urge to roll his eyes.

Although Jiang Enhe had said that he would immediately get to the point, he babbled on for a quarter of an hour before getting to Xiangguo Temple.

Jiang Enhe remarked, “I didn’t see Master Gengxue.” 

Song Xian nearly spat out a mouthful of water. Sui Yan also glanced at Jiang Enhe speechlessly as he quietly said, “Are you playing with us?”

Jiang Enhe’s face was flushed. He glared at both of them before conspiratorially whispering to Sui Yan, “But I saw the Second Prince.”

Sui Yan was stunned for a moment before his enthusiasm was renewed.

The culprit who had poisoned Duan Mingchong in his previous life was the Second Prince, Duan Ruwang. 

Jiang Enhe glanced outside, pulled his stool closer to Sui Yan, and lowered his voice, “It’s not unusual for the Second Prince to show up in Xiangguo Temple since everyone in the capital wants to use this opportunity to get acquainted with Master Gengxue. It’s just that I found out that the person he met with was another Master from Xiangguo Temple who had previously stayed in the palace for some time.”

Sui Yan’s eyes twitched, “Did you hear what they were saying?”

Jiang Enhe answered, “How could I? I was lost, and I had been wandering around Xiangguo Temple. When I saw those two acting mysteriously, how could I have dared to approach? I immediately slipped away.”

Sui Yan said, “Aiyah,” hating iron for not becoming steel, “Then what do I need you for?” 

Jiang Enhe glared at him. He thought for a bit, unresigned, before he added, “But just before I left, I caught a glimpse of the Master giving something to the Second Prince. It was a small square paper bag. I didn’t know what was inside.”

Sui Yan’s breathing paused.

Stigma was a secret palace medicine. Even princes and key ministers usually wouldn’t be able to come into contact with any. If the Second Prince intended to use Stigma to murder Duan Mingchong, then what he asked the Master from Xiangguo Temple for might have been its medicinal powder.

Stigma was colorless and tasteless. Its toxicity was similar to that of a famed poisoned wine. Stigma was valuable because the Emperor granted it to those who committed serious crimes. Once they drank it and died, it meant that they bore the stigma of committing a great evil against the royal family. 

Duan Mingchong grew up in the East Palace and had been brought up by the Emperor. The Emperor would be merciless against whoever murdered the heir he had personally raised with a glass of Stigma.

Thus, after the Crown Prince had been poisoned by a glass of Stigma in his past life, the Emperor had been so furious that he wanted Duan Zhisu to be buried along with his heir. If it had been another poison, the Emperor might have spared Duan Zhisu’s life.

After Sui Yan thought things through, he felt that the Second Prince was shrewd. He used a single move to kill the two princes most likely to inherit the throne and smoothly raised himself above the rest.

Sui Yan took a deep breath, looked down at the begonia embroidery on the small hand warmer in his arms, lost in thought. 

Then……in the Third Prince’s Manor, who could secretly poison Duan Mingchong?