Chapter 88: Kept in Secret

Yang Yaozong held Jing Yijun’s hand, and together they knelt and bowed to the Emperor. The Emperor’s eyes shimmered with emotion as he gazed affectionately at Jing Yijun for a moment, then turned to Yang Yaozong. “I have accepted your betrothal gifts. It pleases me greatly. I hope you did not make this decision on a mere impulse. Do you realize the responsibilities that now rest upon your shoulders?”

Yang Yaozong looked solemnly ahead, his eyes resolute. “I understand, Your Majesty.”

The Emperor drew a long breath. “Yang Yaozong, I have one last request to make of you.” He gave Jing Sheng a doting glance, then fixed his gaze on Yang Yaozong. “Promise me, no matter what happens, you will ensure Jing Sheng’s safety.”

Jing Sheng fell to his knees, tears streaming down his cheeks. “Grandfather Emperor!”

Yang Yaozong nodded vigorously. “Rest assured, Father-in-law! I will never betray your trust. I shall devote myself wholly to supporting the Crown Prince and safeguarding him!”

The Emperor laughed heartily. “Of all the emperors through the ages, I must be the first to be called ‘father-in-law’ by my son-in-law. Yang Yaozong, you truly have courage! I like hearing you call me ‘father-in-law.’ I have entrusted you with the two greatest burdens of my heart. You now bear both family and state matters on your shoulders. Yet, family matters are state affairs, and state affairs are family matters. I shall watch from above to see how you carry this load!”

Perhaps because his burdens were finally lifted, the Emperor’s borrowed time came to an end. His lips moved as if to speak, but no sound came. Gradually, his gaze grew vacant, and his chest no longer rose or fell.

The Crown Prince and Jing Yijun’s faces turned deathly pale, and Eunuch Shun, too, knelt in silence, his whole demeanor seeming to age by years in an instant.

Suddenly, the Crown Prince shook Jing Yijun’s arm urgently. “Aunt, Aunt, quickly, use your skills to save Grandfather Emperor!”

Jing Yijun’s hands trembled as she reached out to feel her father’s pulse. She could detect no heartbeat at all. Tears burst forth, unstoppable.

The Crown Prince panicked but could not face the reality of his grandfather’s death. He stood up in confusion. “I... I’ll summon the imperial physician!”

When the Emperor’s health had worsened, he had refused any further visits from imperial physicians, relying only on Jing Yijun’s daily infusions of vital energy and some medicinal tonics to sustain him. The Crown Prince knew this; despite that, he clung to a sliver of hope, unwilling to accept his grandfather’s passing.

Yang Yaozong, still recovering from serious injuries and having knelt for so long, now felt utterly drained. Witnessing the Emperor’s death before his very eyes, his chest filled with a suffocating sense of oppression.

Seeing the Crown Prince rise to fetch the physician, Yang Yaozong urgently reached out to grab his sleeve. The effort nearly overwhelmed him; his vision darkened, and sweat beaded across his brow. Gritting his teeth, he held tightly to the Crown Prince’s robe and looked up to see the boy gazing back at him, puzzled and anxious. Yang Yaozong took a deep breath. “Your Highness, you must not go. The Emperor... the Emperor has already passed away!”

The Crown Prince stamped his feet in agitation, shaking off Yang Yaozong’s hold and glaring at him in fury. “You’re lying! How dare you, Yang Yaozong! Grandfather Emperor is just asleep, as he always is—you! You dare say he has passed? How dare you!” He shouted at Yang Yaozong, his eyes wild with grief and rage.

Jing Yijun called softly to Jing Sheng, who seemed to snap out of his daze at her voice. He looked at his aunt’s tear-reddened eyes, then at the Emperor’s lifeless form on the bed, and collapsed into Jing Yijun’s arms, sobbing. “Aunt! Aunt! Grandfather Emperor has left me!”

A sudden thought struck Yang Yaozong. Fearing he would faint again and cause delay, he forced himself to remain conscious, supporting his trembling arms on his knees, his face pale and breath ragged. “Your Highness…”

The Crown Prince slowly lifted his head from Jing Yijun’s embrace to look at Yang Yaozong.

Yang Yaozong closed his eyes briefly, took a few breaths, and said, “Your Highness, the Emperor’s death must remain secret for now! No one must know!”

All in the room—Crown Prince, Jing Yijun, and Eunuch Shun—looked at him in bewilderment.

The Crown Prince’s confusion turned to stern anger. “Yang Yaozong! What are you saying?!”

Just then, a voice rang out from beyond the hall. “Prince Xian has arrived!”

It was now deep into the night, nearly dawn. Yang Yaozong had no idea why Prince Xian had come, so he said to Eunuch Shun, “Please, Eunuch Shun, see to Prince Xian’s comfort for now. Do not let news of the Emperor’s passing slip out. And don’t let Prince Xian leave the palace. I... I will meet with him shortly.”

Eunuch Shun had long served at the Emperor’s side and knew Yang Yaozong well. Though he didn’t understand the reason for this secrecy, he trusted that Yang Yaozong must have his reasons. Bowing respectfully from his knees, he replied, “This old servant will see to it at once.”

After Eunuch Shun had left, Yang Yaozong saw that the Crown Prince was still glaring at him with hostility. Yang Yaozong edged closer to the bed, kneeling by its side, the pressure in his chest nearly suffocating him. Forcing himself to speak, he gasped, “The Emperor’s death… must remain secret!”

The Crown Prince, already furious, could bear it no longer when Yang Yaozong repeated himself. He leapt up from Jing Yijun’s arms, shouting, “Fine! Fine! Yang Yaozong! Grandfather Emperor treated you so well, even betrothing my aunt to you before his death! And this is how you repay him? He’s barely gone, and you wish to keep it secret. What is your true intention?!”

Yang Yaozong only furrowed his brow in silence, making no reply. The Crown Prince, unaware of Yang Yaozong’s injuries, thought him merely arrogant, taking advantage of a child. Enraged, he lifted his foot and kicked Yang Yaozong hard in the chest. “What are your intentions? Say it!”

On an ordinary day, such a kick would have meant little to Yang Yaozong. But in his current state, it sent blood surging through his body, and he coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood. Yet somehow, he felt the blockage in his chest had cleared.

Jing Yijun, dazed with shock, hadn’t expected Jing Sheng to kick Yang Yaozong. Seeing the blood, she snapped out of her stupor and rushed to help the fallen Yang Yaozong sit up. Though she was always fastidious, she now wiped the blood from his mouth with her own sleeve, heedless of her scruples. She frowned, about to scold Jing Sheng, but Yang Yaozong, resting against her, stopped her.

The Crown Prince, horrified by the sight of Yang Yaozong spitting blood from his kick, stood frozen, not knowing what to do.

Having cleared the pressure from his chest, Yang Yaozong could finally breathe. Seeing Jing Yijun filled with concern and about to rebuke the Crown Prince, he quickly tugged at her blood-stained sleeve and turned to the Crown Prince. “What intentions could I possibly have? This is the Jing family’s empire. I am but a son-in-law, the head of a secret organization, a Grand Mentor to the Heir without real power…” He glanced at Jing Yijun’s anxious expression, then back to the Crown Prince. “A royal consort, nothing more!”

Jing Yijun, deeply worried, pleaded, “Don’t say any more.”

Yang Yaozong shook his head. “What intentions could I have? It is a great honor that the Emperor favored me, entrusted his daughter to me, placed his hopes in me. I know he was placing his dying trust in my hands. The weight of that responsibility is not lost on me. He believed in me—I cannot betray that trust! Now, within our borders, Prince Qin is stirring with ambition; beyond, the barbarians wage constant war against our dynasty. Do you not see? The moment you announce the Emperor’s death, Prince Qin will march south with his armies. All he lacks is a pretext, and this would be the perfect excuse: that you are too young to rule and that the welfare of the people requires his intervention. With that, he can rebel, and with our armies tied up at the borders, do you think the city garrison alone can stand against Prince Qin’s revolt? He would not even need to rebel outright—he could simply make you a puppet emperor, with real power in his hands or in those of some influential court minister. Would you like to be a puppet emperor? And have you considered what news of the Emperor’s death would do to the morale of our troops at the frontier? Despair, confusion—do you know what consequences that could bring?”

Understanding suddenly dawned on Jing Yijun. She finally saw the depth of Yang Yaozong’s concern. Looking at him, exhausted and gravely injured, just now forced to spit blood by Jing Sheng’s kick, her nose stung with sorrow, and tears slid down her cheeks. Gently, she soothed, “That’s enough. Don’t speak anymore. Rest for a while.”

At last, the Crown Prince understood Yang Yaozong’s true intentions. He pressed his lips together, shame burning within him as he remembered his earlier kick. Slowly, he knelt before the Emperor’s body, voice trembling. “Even if we keep it secret, how long can we hide Grandfather Emperor’s death?”

Yang Yaozong, weak and breathless, murmured, “How long can we hide it... how long...” At last, his strength gave out, and he fainted into Jing Yijun’s arms.