The Child Emperor

Chapter 101: Feet in the Grass

After the event, the tale of the battle in the abandoned garden would be blown out of proportion. Those who participated would speak of it with great conviction, depicting the melee as an unprecedented and brutal clash, resulting in countless casualties. The blood stained the weeds, and a few days later, all the flowers that bloomed on that piece of land were red…

Han Ruzi found these tales laughable, but at the time, he did indeed feel the tension.

Du Chuanyun easily captured Cui Teng. The second young master of the Cui clan never expected anyone to dare lay hands on him. He stood on the platform of the partially ruined pavilion, directing his martial arts experts and servants in the fight while exchanging insults with Chai Yun. The martial artists shared the same mindset, so they focused on putting on a vigorous performance, neglecting to protect their master.

Du Chuanyun circled around to the back of the pavilion, suddenly jumped out, tackled Cui Teng, rolled with him on the ground, and then carried him on his shoulders into the thicket.

The whole affair happened so quickly that Cui Teng offered no resistance. He didn’t even shout. The surrounding martial artists and servants didn’t notice anything amiss, except for Chai Yun, who witnessed the scene and couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “Cui Teng, you rat, today you’ve fallen into my hands. Let’s see if you’ll still be arrogant!”

The martial artists on both sides didn’t take the fight seriously, more concerned with showing off their skills. When they heard Chai Xiaohou’s words, they all looked in the direction, greatly surprised. The martial artists from the Cui clan rushed to follow, while those from the Chai clan fell back to protect their master.

“Why are you coming to me? Hurry up and chase after him! We can’t let Cui Teng be taken away!” Chai Yun angrily ordered.

Two martial artists left, and one stayed behind as a precaution.

If there had been an unspoken agreement between the two sides before, it spiraled out of control after Cui Teng was captured. Few people had witnessed the actual scene, and rumors spread like locusts in the thicket. “Cui Teng captured” quickly turned into “Cui Teng killed.” Many in Chai Yun’s group had heard about the plan to capture Cui Teng beforehand, and now, inexplicably, they began to suspect that Chai Yun might well have resorted to murder.

Han Ruzi and Prince Donghai ran in different directions, but wherever they went, they heard people shouting, “Second Young Master Cui is dead.” Han Ruzi couldn’t help but be alarmed: if this were true, Du Chuanyun would have stirred up a significant mess.

Han Ruzi intended to return to the open space by the pavilion, but somehow, he ended up near a wall. As he was about to turn around, he heard a soft voice coming from a tall tree: “Hey, I’m up here.”

Du Chuanyun, like a leopard with its prey, had taken it to a higher place. He was crouched on a branch, gesturing to Weary Marquis.

“Cui Teng…” Han Ruzi was about to ask, but he heard shouts nearby and hurried to the tree, carefully climbing up.

Du Chuanyun pulled up Weary Marquis. “You’re quite agile. You can learn light-foot skills from me in the future.”

Han Ruzi smiled, not daring to move recklessly on the tree branch. He could only turn his head to observe until he looked up and saw Cui Teng. He was sitting on a higher branch, with his hands tied behind his back, a cloth gag in his mouth, displaying a mix of anger and fear, his face alternating between red and pale.

“Hand him over to Chai Yun,” Han Ruzi said. When he saw that Cui Teng was still alive, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“There’s no hurry. Let’s scare him a bit more… Someone is approaching,” Du Chuanyun pointed in the distance.

“No, we’ve done enough. Let them rescue him. Let’s go,” Han Ruzi looked up at Cui Teng one more time, considered saying a few words to him, but decided it wasn’t necessary. He descended the tree trunk slowly.

Du Chuanyun hadn’t had enough fun, but he couldn’t disobey orders. So, he leaped up and stood on the ground, receiving Weary Marquis.

“Do you think they can rescue Cui Teng?” Han Ruzi looked up; Cui Teng was seated at quite a height.

“With so many people, they can form a human ladder to get him down,” Du Chuanyun wasn’t concerned at all. He had observed from the tree and led the way toward a deserted area. “It turned out to be so simple. I prepared so carefully for nothing. Will Little Marquis Chai give us some silver?”

“Did he see you take Cui Teng away?”

“He did.”

“That should be fine,” Han Ruzi believed Chai Yun wouldn’t go back on his word.

But what concerned him at the moment wasn’t this matter. Prince Donghai’s behavior today had left him perplexed, and he was still hesitating about whether to attend the rendezvous tonight.

Up ahead, Du Chuanyun suddenly stopped, and Han Ruzi almost collided with him. “What’s wrong?”

“Shh.”

Han Ruzi thought Du Chuanyun had spotted someone else and leaned forward to look in that direction, feeling a sudden shock.

A pair of feet protruded from the grass.

Du Chuanyun turned to look but saw that Weary Marquis wasn’t particularly frightened. He said, “Let’s go have a look. Could it be that someone really fought to the death here?”

Han Ruzi felt uneasy but followed Du Chuanyun over.

On the grass lay a neatly dressed young man, and the weeds beneath him were stained with fresh blood.

“Who is this? Doesn’t look like a martial artist or a servant, and he doesn’t seem like someone Chai Yun would have brought,” Du Chuanyun asked in surprise.

Han Ruzi’s heart skipped a beat. This was supposed to be a childish brawl with no fatalities. However, a lifeless body lay before them now, that he thought looked familiar. He couldn’t help but take a step closer, bending down to examine the body carefully. The face had lost all signs of life, lips slightly parted, eyes vacant.

Han Ruzi had seen dead bodies before, but this was the first time he had seen the eyes of a deceased person. He felt a chill run down his spine and finally recognized the identity of the dead man. “He’s a hostage from the Xiongnu King.”

“A hostage?” Du Chuanyun asked.

“A prince sent to the Chu empire by the Xiongnu King to serve as a hostage.”

“He doesn’t look like a Xiongnu… Well, that’s okay then. The Xiongnu are wicked people. If he’s dead, so be it.”

Han Ruzi shook his head. “Something feels off. Can you tell if he’s truly dead?” Han Ruzi was quite bold, but he didn’t want to get too close to the corpse.

Du Chuanyun walked over, reaching out to check for signs of life, listening to the chest for a while, then said, “He’s definitely dead.”

A commotion came from nearby, and Han Ruzi signaled to Du Chuanyun to stay silent. Both of them crouched on the ground, but if someone came closer, they could still be discovered.

“We found the Second Young Master! He’s not dead!” someone shouted, and the commotion gradually moved further away.

Han Ruzi breathed a sigh of relief.

Du Chuanyun was puzzled. “Did you kill this person?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why are you so nervous? Let’s go. Let others deal with the body.”

Han Ruzi didn’t move and thought for a moment. He spoke in a hushed tone, “Something’s not right.”

“What’s wrong? These guys aren’t used to fighting, so maybe someone accidentally killed him.”

“No, there are no signs of a fight nearby. The body was brought here from elsewhere.”

“That’s not your concern.”

Han Ruzi grew more uneasy. He remembered this Xiongnu prince; he had served as an attendant in the palace and once had a fight with Zhang Yanghao. As a hostage, he was ostracized in the Capital and wouldn’t have been invited to participate in the dispute between Chai Yun and Cui Teng. But now he had died for no apparent reason, which was highly suspicious.

“Let’s move the body and hide it for now,” Han Ruzi said.

Du Chuanyun widened his eyes. “You…”

“Hurry up, there’s no time to explain.” Han Ruzi had many worries, and as a deposed emperor, he was particularly suspicious. Given the deceased’s unique identity and the ongoing conflict between the Chu empire and the Xiongnu, he didn’t want to attract trouble at this moment. He even felt that the body might have been left here to incriminate him.

“Where can we hide it? We can’t carry a corpse around,” Du Chuanyun looked left and right and then crouched down into the tall grass, disappearing for a while. When he returned, he said, “We’re really lucky. There’s a dry well nearby. Let’s toss it in; it will go unnoticed for a while.”

Du Chuanyun grabbed the dead man’s hands and looked at Weary Marquis. “Help me out; I can’t do it alone.”

Han Ruzi had hoped that Du Chuanyun could handle the corpse by himself, but he had no choice but to step forward and assist, grabbing the dead man’s feet.

The two of them carried the body quietly, pausing every time they heard distant shouts. Fortunately, Cui Teng had captured the attention of everyone in the garden, and no one came to this side.

The dry well wasn’t far away, and the two of them tossed the body inside. There was nothing nearby to cover it, but inside the well, it was pitch dark, and from above, nothing appeared out of the ordinary.

“Thank goodness we found the body first,” Han Ruzi said. He had walked only a short distance, but he had already expended all his energy. He struggled to stand up, intending to leave this troublesome place as soon as possible.

“We took one of the paths out of the garden. There might be people coming this way later. What should we do about the bloodstains over there?” Du Chuanyun was more meticulous about such matters.

“I don’t care. As long as the body isn’t discovered today.”

The shouting in the distance grew louder, and Han Ruzi and Du Chuanyun hastily left, not staying to witness what happened afterward.

That night, Han Ruzi resisted his curiosity and did not meet with Prince Donghai. As a deposed emperor, he could behave foolishly; at most it would confirm that he was an imbecilic ruler. However, if he were inadvertently entangled in court conspiracies, it would be a road to death.

Cui Xiaojun noticed Weary Marquis’s unusual behavior but didn’t ask further.

Early the next morning, Chai Yun sent someone to invite Weary Marquis.

Han Ruzi went along with Du Chuanyun. Chai Yun personally welcomed them, looking delighted. “You both left too early yesterday. You missed Cui Teng’s pathetic display. He cried in front of everyone, and it was hilarious. He even said he wanted Grand Tutor Cui to kill both of us to avenge him. But I know he wouldn’t dare mention this to his family. Haha…”

Chai Yun called over his closest friends to entertain Weary Marquis. During the banquet, everyone was exuberant, as if they had just returned from the battlefield. They boasted about their courage and ridiculed their enemies for their cowardice.

Someone brought up the bloodstains, but amid a series of exaggerated rumors, the real bloodstains went unnoticed.

After a few rounds of drinking, Chai Yun leaned in closer to Weary Marquis and whispered, “The silver has been delivered to your residence, not a tael short.”

Han Ruzi smiled. In reality, Chai Yun hadn’t contributed much to the wager. He had set up a gambling game, where the outcome depended on whether Weary Marquis’s subordinates dared to capture Cui Teng. He had won the bet, and it was enough to cover the sixty thousand taels of silver.

“Let’s go out tonight together,” Chai Yun invited.

“Where?”

Chai Yun grinned. “Just come with me. I guarantee you’ll have a great time.”

Han Ruzi was initially inclined to refuse, but Zhang Yanghao came over to offer a toast. Emboldened by alcohol, he loudly declared, “Little Marquis Chai, don’t forget me when you go out. It was me who brought Weary Marquis here.”

“Everyone, let’s go, all of us!” Chai Yun exclaimed, drawing a hearty cheer.

Han Ruzi raised his glass, effectively agreeing. He kept an eye on Zhang Yanghao. No matter how he thought about it, the death of the Xiongnu prince had something to do with this person, but he couldn’t figure out the conspiracy behind it.

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