Unfazed, Jiang Lin waited out the tirade before cheerfully offering tea. "Master Yin, this is not our fault. Who would have thought that the fourth prince would hide among the refugees and even persuade them to kill and rob? If he had been a good prince and not done such a thing, how could he have come to this point?"
"But he’s still a prince! Jiang Lin, do you fear no imperial wrath? And those injuries... your doing?"
Jiang Lin admitted freely. "My orders. He deserved it."
"As for repercussions... would a prince who exploited refugees to massacre citizens and incite chaos dare complain? If he does, who’s to say the emperor didn’t sanction it?"
"Have you heard the latest rumors in the capital?"
Whispers painted Emperor Changde as a tyrant, his reign plagued by divine retribution. Should he remain unrepentant, greater calamities would follow.
Though Jiang Lin had no hand in these rumors, they were ripe for exploitation. He wagered the emperor wouldn’t dare punish him, he might even be rewarded.
Yin Ji had heard the rumors. Eyeing Jiang Lin suspiciously, he voiced his doubts.
Jiang Lin raised his hands. "Not my doing this time, but I know the culprit." He smirked. "The Crown Prince."
Emperor Changde and the Crown Prince were at odds, with the emperor privately consulting ministers about deposing him.
The rift stemmed partly from lingering resentment over Cao Lan’er and Wei Su’s past affair, but chiefly from the Crown Prince’s assassination attempt on the eldest prince.
Despite dispatching rescuers upon Cao Lan’er’s warning, the emperor arrived too late. The eldest prince was poisoned, then gravely wounded. He hovered near death, mirroring Wei Yunzhao’s ordeal.
Too injured to transport, the eldest prince convalesced at the border under imperial physicians’ care. He also flatly refused to return to the capital, further enraging the emperor.
Though both the Crown Prince and Cao Lan’er orchestrated the attack, she shouldered the blame to shield him from deposition. While the emperor couldn’t punish the crown prince directly, their relationship ruptured irreparably.
Snubbing the Crown Prince, the emperor lavished favor on the Sixth Prince. The Crown Prince retaliated by spreading rumors. In the end, father and son were now locked in mutual loathing.
With locust plagues, droughts, and refugee-related deaths compounding the crisis, the Crown Prince seized the chance to escalate his smear campaign.
Their feud was a godsend for Jiang Lin.
Dog-eat-dog dramas are always the most entertaining.
Yin Ji, privy to the imperial strife, sighed wearily. "Such chaos." The common people suffered, the court was in disarray, and even father and son warred, all rotten to the core.
"Enough, return home. I’ll report the Fourth Prince’s situation to the emperor. Stay out of it." Yin Ji dismissed him, drained.
Jiang Lin complied, departing promptly.
Soon, once this disaster passed, vengeance would follow.
Cracking his knuckles, Jiang Lin itched to pummel the "dog emperor" and kick Cao Lan’er, sending the couple to their graves together.
Meanwhile, the "dog emperor" he envisioned was massaging his temples over a memorial. Eunuch Gan Yongfu served tea cautiously. "Your Majesty, more ill tidings?"
"No, good news," the emperor said sourly.
He tossed the memorial to Gan Yongfu, whose eyes widened in instant understanding of the emperor's displeasure. The document detailed the lackluster progress in locust control, which had been implemented using Jiang Lin's methods.
Had anyone else proposed the solution, the emperor would’ve rejoiced and rewarded them generously. But Jiang Lin was Wei Yunzhao’s detestable male wife, which was another matter.
Gan Yongfu ventured, "Does Your Majesty fret over how to reward Jiang Lin?"
The emperor scowled. Precisely he loathed the idea.
Gan Yongfu smiled obsequiously. "This slave has an idea."
"Speak," the emperor grunted.
"Anyang Bo's heir position remains vacant. Since Jiang Lin hails from that lineage…"
Before he finished, the emperor pointed and laughed. "You crafty old fox! Splendid. Draft the edict: Jiang Lin is hereby named Anyang Bo's heir."
A title rightfully Jiang Lin's was now grandiosely "bestowed" upon him, as if it were a magnanimous imperial favor.
Receiving the edict, Jiang Lin scoffed, typical dog emperor.
The paltry reward for his contributions underscored the emperor’s disdain, deterring any courtier from speaking in Jiang Lin’s defense.
Only two parties celebrated: the emperor and Anyang Bo, who had long coveted Jiang Lin’s succession.
Since Zhao Qiuru’s descent into madness, Jiang Lin had avoided Anyang Bofu, relying on his informant Qiushui for updates about Anyang Bo and Jiang Zhen.
Anyang Bo remained immersed in his hedonistic bubble, but Jiang Zhen grew restless, badgering his father about the heir position and scouting for a politically advantageous bride.
With Zhao Qiuru incapacitated and Anyang Bo's indifferent, Jiang Zhen’s pickiness yielded zero matches over half a year.
Blaming his mother, resenting his father, and seething at Jiang Lin (though too cowardly to confront him), Jiang Zhen resorted to cursing him in secret.
When the imperial decree granted Jiang Lin the heirship, Anyang Bo was overjoyed, immediately summoning Jiang Lin home. Jiang Zhen, meanwhile, nearly burst a vein, retreating to his room to stab a Jiang Lin doll.
Jiang Lin expected the summons but declined. He had no interest in the title or self-inflicted misery.
Anyang Bo's displeasure was fleeting, with Jiang Lin as heir, the Anyang Bofu's future was secure. The visits held little significance.
Magnanimously, Anyang Bo declared Jiang Lin could return whenever convenient, it was his home, after all.
This magnanimity further enraged Jiang Zhen, who stabbed Jiang Lin doll viciously, snarling, "Jiang Lin, you’ll pay! I’ll reclaim everything you stole... and your life!"
A needle pierced the doll, and his own finger. Blood welled.
Simultaneously, at the Sixth Prince’s residence:
A black-clad shadow guard appeared before Yue Heng in panic. "Your Highness, disaster! That woman has escaped!"
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