The Regent’s Secret

After a few days, Lin Jian took the opportunity of a follow-up consultation to quietly inform Li Yi that the Shizi was almost fully recovered. 

Li Yi had been restraining himself for many days and upon hearing the news, he couldn’t wait to see Zhao Shen the next day. However, Lin Jian advised him, “There are many important people in the academy, and you are the first among them. The Shizi knows what is appropriate and will wait a few more days before going to the academy.”

Li Yi could only continue to suppress his emotions, feeling a little less anxious but a little more hopeful.

After waiting another day, he had already thought about what he wanted to say to Zhao Shen when he met him the next day, but then the Crown Prince Li Chi suddenly summoned him to Wen Hua Hall.

The Crown Prince had specifically sent a eunuch to summon him, which meant there was something important to discuss with him. Li Yi quickly dressed himself and went to see the Crown Prince. When he arrived, Li Chi dismissed all the attendants and spoke to him in a solemn voice, “Kneel down.”

Li Yi hurriedly knelt down, feeling anxious and afraid that he might have been found out. He thought to himself that it would be better to be caught by his father than his grandfather, but also worried that he might not be able to see Zhao Shen again or know how he was doing.

The Crown Prince saw Li Yi’s distracted expression and scolded him, “Do you know what your grandfather and I talked about today? We talked about Huan An, who is now grown up and has gone to school. If he makes friends with improper people at school, being young and inexperienced, he might be led astray. He told me to order you to be confined to the palace so that you can focus on your studies.”

Li Yi was shocked to hear this, but relieved that it wasn’t his father who had found out, but Emperor Guanghua. 

The Crown Prince continued, “I don’t even know what you’ve done wrong but I’m afraid you’ve offended the Emperor! The Pan Palace has not reported any problems, so you had better tell me honestly, who have you been hanging out with? What have you been doing?”

As the Crown Prince spoke, he became more and more agitated. He had always thought of his son as a good boy, but how could he suddenly become so unruly?

Li Yi knew that there was no point in hiding the truth and said, “Dian Nan Wang Shizi fell seriously ill with the epidemic, and the doctors at the school couldn’t help him. I saw him and couldn’t bear it, so I found someone else to treat him.”

“Li Yi, you are foolish! Those who are not of our kind are bound to have different hearts!”

The Crown Prince pointed at his son and shook his head repeatedly. “Since Emperor Gaozu has demanded that Dian Nan Wang send hostages to the capital, the Zhao family and our Li family have been at odds. Three generations of enmity, almost a hundred years of grievances, how could a young boy like you solve it? When Emperor Gaozu was alive, Dian Nan was already strong. Now that the censor has gone and returned empty-handed time and time again, what can be done? The Zhao family has ruled the southwest like an iron bucket, and the various ethnic groups in Dian Nan only know the Zhao family and don’t recognize our Li family! The Emperor has long wanted to move against Dian Nan, but couldn’t find the right time. Since the Shizi came here, it is bait, a hook, a test of the Emperor’s weight on the Zhao family.”

Li Yi had already made his move, and while he knew that the court was wary of Dian Nan, he only realized at this point that Emperor Guanghua had already reached the point of having an arrow on the string, fully intending to send troops to Dian Nan. He took a deep breath and said, “Father, Shizi… Is he His Majesty’s?”

“This is something you can ask? It’s not something even I cannot ask about. Where did you get the courage to bring it up?! It’s my fault for not teaching you well.”

Li Chi was filled with sorrow as he taught his beloved son.

“His Majesty wants to see how long Dian Nan Wang can endure. If a ruler wants his subjects to die, they must die. Now the ruler only wants the Shizi to be offered up. If Dian Nan Wang is willing to sacrifice his son, he can keep the Zhao family’s throne and centuries of history. You have messed up something this big! His Majesty loves you very much, only forbidding you from leaving the palace, but I’m afraid he’ll be disappointed in you from now on.”

At this point, Li Chi took Li Yi straight to Zhonghe Palace to apologize.

Emperor Guanghua saw his son and grandson being dragged in and knew that he had already scolded Li Yi on his behalf. After listening to many apologies, Li Yi’s forehead was swollen from kowtowing, but Emperor Guanghua remained indifferent, not smiling as he usually did when he saw his grandson.

Li Yi was completely confined to his quarters from then on, with the exception of continuous studying in the palace. The only thing that made the Crown Prince feel relieved was that Li Yi had a good attitude of admitting his mistakes and was willing to reflect on himself, even shutting himself in his room to transcribe Buddhist texts for Emperor Guanghua.

The Crown Prince had been restless lately as he had not received any clear reassurance from Emperor Guanghua. Li Yi was his only legitimate son, but he was not the only grandson of the emperor.

Whenever the Crown Prince mentioned Li Yi in passing, he had to point out how sincere and respectful his apology was and how he was always thinking about the Emperor. Emperor Guanghua then spoke up.

“Huan An has truly hurt my heart this time. I used to love him the most, but I never thought he would grow up to be like this and fail to understand my heart.”

“Father, it’s all your child’s fault. I never mentioned your intention to send troops to Dian Nan to him.”

“He may not know about these things, but he should know that I don’t like Dian Nan Wang Shizi. I remember telling him that the Shizi should know his place. How could he ignore his identity and my expectations of him and hang out with a foolish and stubborn person? After this incident, I investigated and found out that these two had been together for a long time!”

“Father, please calm down!” Li Chi hurriedly stepped forward to persuade him. “Your heart is even more broken because you love Huan An so much. But why do you love him? Isn’t it because you once said ‘My grandson is as bright as the moon and his heart is as hard as jade’? What you love about him is his jade-like character, which is exactly what he has shown now.”

After hearing this, Emperor Guanghua fell silent for a moment and said with emotion, “I want to stabilize all these unstable places and leave you with a stable country. My son surpasses me, and I believe you will be able to reach even greater heights, leaving a bright future for my grandson. When Li Yi becomes a wise ruler in the future, our family can lead the country to prosperity for three generations, and continue the legacy of the Li family for hundreds of years, which would be a tribute to our ancestors.”

The Crown Prince listened and had already shed tears, “Father, you care too much for the world and us unworthy children.”

Emperor Guanghua rubbed his forehead, closed his eyes for a moment, and then made a decision when he opened them again. “Since Li Yi saved the Shizi, let them go. In the future… if there are any more actions, because of Li Yi’s close relationship with the Shizi, not only can it make Dian Nan Wang lower his guard, but even in the face of battle, the world will only say that Dian Nan Wang is unjust and I am not unrighteous.”

“The Zhao family had bad intentions from the beginning. Father, how can you be blamed?” The Crown Prince originally had some sympathy for the innocent Shizi, but because he had caused trouble for Li Yi, he wished he could have gotten rid of this disaster earlier.

Father and son reached a perfect consensus. Li Yi’s mistake turned into a cover-up to stabilize Dian Nan Wang, and they only had to continue with previous matters after some time had passed.

Since Dian Nan Wang was not at fault, the emperor could not arbitrarily strip him of his title and demote him. The emperor coldly watched as the Shizi’s situation in the capital worsened day by day, but Dian Nan Wang remained unmoved. In their correspondence, he only urged the Shizi to behave himself and be respectful.

Emperor Guanghua could not discern the true intentions of the Zhao family, so he resorted to a harsh strategy. If the Shizi truly died without him making a rebellious move, Emperor Guanghua would trust the loyalty of Dian Nan Wang. If the opposite occurred, the emperor would be prepared and use the opportunity to eliminate a great internal threat.

Soon after the Crown Prince made a plea, Li Yi finished copying the sutras and was released from house arrest.

The Crown Grandson had not been to Pan Palace for many days. The explanation given by the palace to the outside world was that Emperor Guanghua’s long life was nearing its end, and the Crown Grandson, being filial, wanted to stay in seclusion to pray for the emperor’s longevity and copy sutras as a tribute.

When Li Yi was finally allowed to return to the palace, the Crown Prince did not tell him about the emperor’s complete plan and only instructed him not to worry about the Shizi’s affairs.

“The emperor just doesn’t like you being too close to Dian Nan Wang Shizi, and he’s afraid you’ll be hurt if things go wrong in the future. But now that you’ve made friends with him, the emperor has let it go. You’re grown up now, so you can do as you please in the future.”

The Crown Prince spoke the truth, but also hid some things.

Although Li Yi did not fully believe it, he had no choice. In addition, he also had his own considerations.

The tension between the court and Dian Nan arose from the conflict between the ruler and the subject. If they wanted to resolve it, the ruler and subject had to come to an agreement. It was much better than calculating and forcing each other, resulting in mutual defeat.

Li Yi was not willing to accept his current situation. He treated Zhao Shen with sincerity, and this true devotion had to be tested before he could have no regrets.

Since the emperor had let him go, Li Yi was delighted and sent someone to deliver a letter to the academy that night, inviting Zhao Shen to meet at Wuliang Mountain the next day.

When Zhao Yuan received the letter, he indeed waited for Li Yi on the mountain early the next morning.

After more than a month of not seeing each other since breaking into the ruined house, their mental state had subtly changed upon meeting again.