Quick Transmigration: What to Do When the Male Supporting Character You Saved Becomes Obsessed with

Chapter 286 The Ruthless and Disabled Crown Prince (186)

Once everything was ready, Ji Shumin washed his hands with cold water in a basin and sat back down next to Lu Liruan.

Lu Liruan tactfully wiped his long, beautiful hands clean with a handkerchief.

"Thank you for your hard work!"

Ji Shuqin gave a soft "hmm" and scooped up a spoonful of porridge with little appetite.

"Hiss—delicious!"

Lu Liruan was slightly burned, but she still blinked her eyes vaguely and praised him earnestly.

To be honest, it wasn't particularly delicious, but Lu Liruan was very considerate that Ji Shumin personally cooked for her.

As usual, the two finished their meal, and Ji Shumin lazily got up, looking as if he was about to crawl back into the cabin for another nap.

“Um…” Lu Liruan called out to him.

"Ok?"

"The Empress Dowager passed away a few days ago," Lu Liruan said in a low voice.

She didn't ask Ji Shumin if he knew the news, but Ji Shumin must have known it before her.

"How did Li Ruan know?"

"That's what the fishmonger said when the boat docked this morning."

The news has already reached the south.

Ji Shumin leaned against the cabin door, looking at Lu Liruan, waiting for her to continue.

"When are we going back?" Lu Liruan asked naturally. "If we don't go back soon, my brother will probably start urging us to go back."

She smiled, her eyes crinkling. The agreement between Ji Shuqin and Ji Shumin, though not explicitly stated over the years, was something Lu Liruan was well aware of.

The emperor on the throne is clearly finding it increasingly difficult to endure. At first, he would receive letters from the post station every two or three months, but now he receives almost one letter every half month. This is quite evident.

"Does Li Ruan want to go back?" Ji Shumin asked gently, looking at Lu Li Ruan with tenderness and affection, as if he would accompany her all the way if she said she didn't want to, oblivious to the passage of time.

Lu Liruan tilted her head, listening to the rushing water beside her, and looked towards the direction of the capital. There were mountains and forests there, shrouded in mist and haze, making it difficult to see clearly.

"We've had enough fun, it's time to go home. After all, home is still there," Lu Liruan replied with a smile.

Back then, she was oppressed and bound in the palace and longed to break free. Ji Shumin accompanied her without hesitation.

She also stayed by Ji Shumin's side, no matter where they were.

I feel at ease when he's around.

This time, there will definitely be other changes.

On the day the two returned to the capital, the emperor issued an imperial decree from the palace.

Compared to before, Ji Shuqin had a more dignified air about him. He had grown a beard, and compared to Ji Shumin's handsome appearance, which remained unchanged, he had changed quite a bit. However, his expression was still familiar, gentle and serious.

The Empress Dowager's funeral was over, and it seemed as if no one in the court remembered that the Empress Dowager had a son; no one even mentioned it.

In recent years, many officials have criticized the relationship between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, and other ministers have also made many speculations in secret.

The duty of censors is to find fault with people, from the emperor down to the lowest-ranking official, there is nothing they dare not say.

As a censor, one must be sharp and ruthless in speech, unafraid of power, and not flattering others to be respected. If a censor is timid and silent, or mild-mannered, he will be despised by the ranks of censors.

Therefore, even if the emperor had no intention of mentioning the Empress Dowager, it had no effect. When the Empress Dowager fell ill this year, those officials seemed to be competing with each other, as if anyone who did not write about it would fall behind!

The emperor was not angry about this.

It wasn't until after the funeral, when Prince Min returned to the capital, that they seemed to have found a new direction. They vehemently criticized Prince Min for being equally unfilial and lacking in proper etiquette, even failing to return for the Empress Dowager's funeral.

But before he could lash out, the usually mild-mannered emperor suddenly became angry, rebuking the court and silencing everyone in the hall.

Everyone could see that the Emperor was protecting his younger brother, and it seemed that even after several years away from the capital, Prince Min's favor with the Emperor had not diminished.

The court was no stranger to Prince Min. Although he was not in court, Prince Min had come up with many ideas, and the emperor often mentioned his idle younger brother.

No one dared to underestimate him. His Highness Prince Min's memorials were incisive and to the point, never hesitant, and his approach was as firm as ever. Even though he was not in the capital, it seemed as if he was constantly observing the capital...

It was as if his eyes were everywhere, sending chills down one's spine.

Ji Shuqin fell ill very quickly, to the point that he was soon unable to get up.

Ji Shumin entered the palace to govern, while Lu Liruan stayed alone in the Third Prince's residence.

"Why are you only coming back at this hour?" Lu Liruan asked sleepily when she heard the noise. The small oil lamp she left on cast a long shadow of Ji Shumin as he entered the room.

"Did I disturb you?" Ji Shumin, carrying the scent of night, patted Lu Liruan's head and picked up the book she had put aside to close it.

"No, I haven't been sleeping much..." Lu Liruan hadn't seen him for several days. She was used to spending her days together doing nothing, and now she felt a little uncomfortable.

Ji Shumin put on his long-unseen court robes again, his hair neatly tied up. When Lu Liruan reached out to hold his hand, she touched the silver ring on his wrist.

"Get some rest, don't overwork yourself. You're not a teenager anymore." Lu Liruan said casually, but Ji Shumin raised an eyebrow, leaned closer to her, and whispered, "But where do you look old?"

Lu Liruan touched his face: "No, no."

If a word doesn't suit his taste, he might just make a big deal out of it. Even the most delicate young ladies in their boudoirs aren't as pretentious and affected as him.

Lu Liruan had no idea that years later, even when both of them had wrinkles on their skin and gray hairs that they could no longer hide, Ji Shumin would still ask her the same question from time to time.

-

The abdication proceeded smoothly because the emperor was too ill to get up and had no heir.

The new emperor ascended the throne in a hurry, and later, the servants in the manufacturing department whispered among themselves:

"His Majesty is extremely attentive to the Empress's crown and robes. I heard that the pearls sewn last year were all hand-picked by His Majesty."

"Back when the Emperor was still the Third Prince, the Princess's wedding dress was also designed by the Emperor himself. I heard that it really gave the nannies and the others a hard time..."

What do the young palace maids know? In the end, all they could say was, "The Emperor and the Empress are truly in love."

"What are you all slacking off for! Be careful, or the matron will punish you all one by one!" a palace maid shouted from under the eaves.

The palace maids scattered amidst laughter and chatter, leaving behind dappled light and shadows that seemed to agree with what they had just said.

-

Days pass by year after year, seemingly always the same, yet each day feels different.

Lu Liruan looked at the unchanging dark red palace walls and listened to the chattering of the people around her.

Zhuang Yuxun went to the palace today.

With border conflicts easing, news of rampant banditry arrived from the southwest at the beginning of this year.

Ji Shumin then ordered Zhuang Yuxun to withdraw part of the army to the southwest to suppress bandits and find out if there was any collusion behind them.

To everyone's surprise, the investigation actually uncovered a problem.

The report was sent to the capital, and Zhuang Yuxun returned with him to report on his duties, planning to stay in the capital for half a month.

She married He Pingyan in the army a few years ago, and gave birth to a baby girl in the third year. Lu Liruan saw her when she returned to Beijing for the New Year. She looked like He Pingyan, but her personality was like Zhuang Yuxun's, clinging to his father's clothes to climb up the social ladder.

General He, with a stern face, had no choice but to pick her up and let her sit on his arm. But the little girl was still not happy and continued to climb up, sitting on her father's shoulders. Zhuang Yuxun had long since run off and was nowhere to be found. Throughout the banquet, General He's hair and robes were all messed up as the little girl used him as a pole to climb up and down.

Zhuang Yuxun was no ordinary woman. She left for several months, leaving the girl to be raised by General He alone. She waved goodbye and left without looking back.

Hearing Lu Liruan's question, she waved her hand and said, "Finally, some peace and quiet for me!"

Lu Liruan thought to herself, "You've had your peace and quiet. It's hard to imagine what General He's situation is like now, what kind of miserable life he's going through."

Zhuang Yuxun pouted: "He's much more patient than me. He always says that I'm like that girl, but how am I similar?"

It's quite similar everywhere... General He's affection for the house extends to everything related to it.

"Do you still remember your younger sister from the second branch of the Lu family?" Zhuang Yuxun suddenly asked.

"what……"

Lu Liruan pondered for a moment before realizing that she was referring to Lu Yushi, who had been missing ever since she went to her fiefdom with the Second Prince.

The second wife acted as if she never had this daughter, never mentioning her in all these years, and probably never cared about or contacted her.

At first, Madam Gao would mention it a few times, but now she has gradually forgotten about it.

"What's wrong?" Lu Liruan wondered why she suddenly brought up this person.

"The place where we suppressed the bandits is above that person's fiefdom. When I went there, I suspected that this matter might be related to him. Although we have been keeping an eye on things for many years, after all... that person has never been quiet before," Zhuang Yuxun said calmly.

"The outcome had nothing to do with him. Now, he has actually entered the Daoist path, spending his days saying he is looking for some kind of immortal."

Lu Liruan was taken aback; the word "immortal" had left a very deep impression on her.

Zhuang Yuxun understood her meaning and waved his hand: "It's not that kind of thing. From what I heard, it seems like you believe in animism and karma, that mountains have mountain gods, rivers have river gods..."

"Oh." Lu Liruan thought to herself, as long as they don't cause any more trouble with poisonous witchcraft.

"That guy is acting strangely now, always smoking, but the people in his fiefdom are living a relatively comfortable life."

"As for your younger sister, she moved out of the manor and now lives on the estate. She opened a few shops using the tenants' money and doesn't care about showing her face in public anymore. She's very shrewish. At first, her husband tried to control her, but she wouldn't listen. Now he can't even control himself, so he's gradually stopped caring about her."

Lu Liruan was indeed a little surprised to hear this. What kind of person was Lu Yushi? She was simple-minded, easily manipulated, vain, and weak.

She could actually transform into the way Zhuang Yuxun described, showing absolutely no regard for her own dignity.

"The women in the manor are all short of clothes and lack of supplies, after all, that place is indeed barren. It's a bit sad that she's the only one who's doing so well."

The Second Prince would never give her money so she could open a shop and support herself. Lu Liruan thought of the silver notes her mother had asked her to give her before she left.

Perhaps they've realized that relying on oneself is worse than relying on anyone else? Although they've gone through a long and winding road, it's not too late.

I wonder if Lu Yushi is there, if there is any news about the second wife, and if she knows that the second wife has fallen on hard times.

The second wife originally hoped to marry her daughter to a good family, and even thought about sending her daughter into the new emperor's harem. However, after waiting for several years, the new emperor showed no intention of holding a selection of concubines.

Their family had a bad reputation, and they were stuck in a limbo, neither good enough for high positions nor low enough for low ones. The patriarch of the family was also involved in the unfortunate affair of weakening the power of nobles, and was implicated and suffered a heavy and miserable fall.

The second branch tried to use the same old tricks again, sticking to the Marquis of He'an's mansion. But this time, the Marquis of He'an had indeed learned his lesson. Back then, when the second prince and the third prince were at odds, and the second prince was dealing with the third prince, the second branch did not do what they claimed to themselves. They said that the two branches of the Lu family were still connected even if their bones were broken, and that they should at least help each other.

Instead of saying anything, he quietly waited to see the Marquis of He'an's mansion suffer misfortune. How could the Marquis of He'an not see it?

This time, no matter what, he could not get any pity from the second wife.

The two lay back in their chairs, chatting idly about their experiences over the years.

"It's so nice..." Zhuang Yuxun said happily, closing his eyes and feeling the warm sunlight falling on him.

"Ok?"

"It can be considered that good and bad are rewarded accordingly, and everyone goes their own way," Lu Liruan said earnestly.

After resolving the issues in the southwest, Zhuang Yuxun quickly prepared to set off back to the border.

General Zhuang has not yet retired. She and He Pingyan are both on the border. Normally, a general who holds a large army would have his family in the capital as a way to keep them in check. But it is unprecedented in history for both husband and wife to be generals.

"Would it be better for me to separate the couple and incur their resentment, or to let them reunite in harmony and be loved more?"

When someone in court brought up the matter, Ji Shumin calmly asked a question in return.

"Your Majesty! Loyalty to the Emperor is..."

"Alright, enough already, stop wasting time with your pedantry." Ji Shumin waved his hand, and seeing that no one else wanted to speak, he signaled the court to adjourn, leaving the officials looking at each other in bewilderment.

"You bookworms are all cunning! The Emperor trusts the two generals, so why are you acting like this?"

Military generals and civil officials rarely get along, and they often exchange a few words after court.

"You warriors! You warriors—" The civil official was so angry that he blew his beard.

But after court adjourned, he calmed down on his way home.

The emperor neither favored civil officials over military ones, nor vice versa; he always treated everyone equally in court… In other words, the emperor ridiculed both sides in the same way.

Those ministers who had seen the emperor in his early years, when he was still the crown prince, often sighed, "Even after he recovered, those days changed his temperament... Before..."

These words also reached Lu Liruan's ears, but based on Lu Liruan's understanding of Ji Shumin, he was just more reserved when he was young, and she didn't know what he was really thinking.

The Crown Prince, once so brilliant and radiant, now exists only in people's memories.

Although the civil and military officials maintained their airs and had been vying for power for many years, they actually thought the current court was quite good.

The emperor possesses the talent to govern the country and is impartial. Even when ministers quarrel, he does not care as long as things do not turn ugly. Even if he is displeased, he will not punish them based on his biased feelings. This allows people in the court to speak up.

Although they may have argued, it was all for the sake of the court, and they mostly didn't need to harbor resentment towards each other.

Although many of the more conservative officials did not agree with the emperor's decision, they also felt a sense of reassurance.

This shows that the emperor was not the kind of person who would discard his hunting dogs after the rabbit was caught; a monarch who was good at managing his subordinates and cared for his ministers was ultimately pleasing to the eye.

-

Even decades later, Lu Liruan still clearly remembered the events of the day Ji Shumin ascended the throne.

The first thing I remember is that the Queen's crown and ceremonial robes were truly magnificent and breathtaking; they were also so heavy that it made it difficult to move one's feet...