The Fourth Prince flirted with a young palace maid, was caught by the Ninth Prince, and, afraid the Ninth would report him, locked him up instead??
What kind of nonsense was this!
Emperor Wei felt something inside him twist as he finished listening.
So the Fourth Prince was actually such an arrogant, wanton person?!
All that gentleness, humility, and so-called disinterest in women—was it all fake? All just a façade meant to deceive him?
Emperor Wei, who had mastered the art of high-level sarcasm all on his own, took a deep breath. Though he was furious, he had to pretend like nothing had happened and sit there calmly while Wei Yu spouted nonsense below.
“Yes, Royal Father has a good memory, still remembers that I couldn’t attend last year due to illness and didn’t get to personally wish you a happy birthday…”
Emperor Wei cut him off, “What do you think of your Fourth Brother? How does he treat you?”
Why the sudden question from his dad? Could it be… he already knew what Fourth Brother did?!
Wei Yu felt a bit excited.
There’s no such thing as a question for no reason. If someone suddenly asks something totally unrelated, then it usually means they do know what’s going on and are just pretending not to!
Don’t ask Wei Yu where that logic came from—it was years of TV drama immersion corrupting his innocent soul.
Afraid he might laugh out loud, Wei Yu adjusted his expression and thought for a moment before replying slowly, “Replying to Royal Father, your son and Fourth Brother are blood siblings. Naturally, the relationship between brothers is quite good.”
[Hehe, lies! All lies! I’m being totally fake right now—Father, you get what I mean, right? You must get what I mean, otherwise you wouldn’t be asking this!]
If he wasn’t certain that Wei Yu didn’t know mind-reading arts, he’d honestly think they were having a conversation via telepathy.
Listening to Wei Yu’s lively and shameless inner monologue, and then looking at his “honest-to-the-point-of-tragic” face…
For some reason, a strange, hard-to-name feeling rose in Emperor Wei’s chest. Not quite frustration, not quite indignation. The kind of feeling where you want to personally slap someone but can’t be bothered to because it’d be beneath you. A general sense of discomfort?
The more he thought about it, the more Emperor Wei was sure that was exactly the feeling!
If he described it to Wei Yu, Wei Yu would probably sum it up in two words: “ball ache.”
Yeah. That kind of ridiculous, irritating ball ache.
Wei Yu was still waiting for his dad to respond.
After waiting a long time with no reaction, he looked up and saw his father frowning, as if deep in thought.
[What’s going on? You asked the question, I answered, and now there’s no conclusion? So does this mean you know the truth about Fourth Brother and you’re going to punish him?]
As Wei Yu was thinking this, he suddenly saw his dad raise his eyes—and that gaze shot right at him like a sharp arrow.
Realizing he couldn’t meet that gaze head-on, Wei Yu was just about to lower his head when he heard his dad speak.
“I just told the Eighth Prince about opening residences for the two of you. I was going to have the Directorate of Palace Affairs handle it, but since you say you and your Fourth Brother are so close, might as well have him take charge of this.”
Emperor Wei gave Wei Yu a kind smile. “He doesn’t have any serious duties anyway. It’ll be a good chance for you brothers to bond.”
The invisible Eighth Prince: …
Wei Yu wanted to yell for help. He really wanted to yell for help. Fresh chapters posted on novel(ꜰ)ire.net
Having Fourth Brother in charge of organizing their households—are they sure there’d be any silver left over by the time they moved in?
[The old man really has no idea just how greedy his Fourth Son is!!!]
The moment the word “greedy” popped up, Emperor Wei’s gaze sharpened.
He wanted to hear what Wei Yu had to say about that, but unfortunately, Wei Yu had no intention of elaborating.
The boy was mumbling in his head about how to stop the Fourth Prince from meddling, or about what he’d do after he got his residence: getting a massage chair, planting an orchard, setting up a couple of card tables… not a single serious thought.
Wei Yu really thought his dad’s brain had been fried by lightning.
Why the hell was he pulling moves ?!
The refusal slipped out instantly, and the next second, Wei Yu had to cover it up.
“Ahem, Royal Father, uh, Fourth Brother is busy! He shouldn’t have to worry about trivial matters for his younger brothers. The Directorate of Palace Affairs will be fine. Eighth Brother and I can handle it ourselves!”
Yeah, he was clearly panicking a bit.
He even forgot to refer to himself humbly.
The Eighth Prince chimed in, “Right, Ninth Brother is absolutely right! Royal Father, there’s no need to trouble Fourth Brother with this. It’s better to leave it to the Directorate.”
If they really let the Fourth Prince handle it, who knows what kind of mess they’d end up with?
The Eighth Prince wasn’t about to take that risk.
Never mind brotherly love and harmony—he’d rather go the safe and proper route.
Emperor Wei nodded and said calmly, “Then it seems you two really care about your Fourth Brother. Since your brotherly bond is so strong, all the more reason for him to help out…”
Ignoring the Eighth Prince who had his mouth half open, clearly about to object, Emperor Wei continued, “For opening your residences, I’ll give each of you 50,000 taels of silver. Get it done properly, and report back to me afterward.”
Wei Yu’s mind stirred.
[If we have to report, is it Fourth Brother doing the reporting, or are we doing it ourselves?]
He wanted to ask, but before he could say anything, he heard his dad speak again.
“Once everything is done, I’ll have the Fourth Prince come by and give me a report.”
Wei Yu understood now.
That meant Fourth Brother would be doing the reporting.
Since they’d already failed to argue it down once and it was set in stone that the Fourth Prince would handle the setup, Wei Yu didn’t bother trying again.
He obediently replied, “Yes, Royal Father. Your son understands.”
If it’s decided, then so be it.
As long as they could live outside the palace by opening a residence, let Fourth Brother handle it. Even if he’s greedy, he wouldn’t be able to take all fifty thousand taels, right?
Leave him two-thirds or half, and consider the rest as a reward.
Thinking about it this way, it was like a sudden flash of insight.
Wei Yu felt quite generous about it.
He wasn’t going to hold it against the Fourth Prince anymore, but Emperor Wei, who could hear his thoughts, nearly wanted to scold him for being “spineless!”
When an official was bullied, even if another official insulted them, they knew well enough to report it either openly or secretly. Yet here was a prince, bullied by his own older brother, and he didn’t even think to come to his father for justice?!
He really had been calling him “father” in vain!
Emperor Wei sneered, his mustache twitching slightly as he said to Wei Yu, “I see you haven’t studied enough. The Grand Tutor’s lessons probably didn’t stick. Go out, head to the side hall and continue reading. I’ll quiz you before dinner.”
A bolt from the blue!!
Wei Yu’s eyes went wide, and he felt a lump in his chest.
He could accept reading, but a quiz?!!
Hadn’t he been free from punishment for years already?!
Wei Yu, the timid, helpless, frightened son, obediently bent at the waist.
[Damn it, this old man is going too far!]
Emperor Wei silently smiled.
When things were going well, he was “father”; when things weren’t, he was “the old man.”
This kid, he was really something.