Chapter 71 - 71 Chess Piece
71 Chess Piece
Usually, Chu Yi was dressed in snow-white clothes. Today, he was wearing a rare red dress that made his skin look even fairer and peerlessly beautiful.
It was clearly a bright red color like a peony, but he wore it with a clear and aloof temperament.
He was playing with a short sword between his slender fingers, and his movements were carefree and agile. An unfathomable aura surrounded him and added to his unruliness.
The warm room was as warm as spring, but cold sweat seeped out of Fang Huairui’s broad forehead, and his tall body was tense.
He had experienced the tempering of the battlefield and the turmoil in the royal court and was considered a person who could hold his own. However, when facing the Eldest Prince, he was actually suppressed to the point of being unable to raise his head.
Fang Huairui did not dare to move and maintained his cupped fists. Time seemed to have slowed down.
“Swoosh!”
The short sword was drawn an inch from its sheath. The silver blade shone coldly, and the subtle sound echoed in Fang Huairui’s ears like lightning, making the sweat on his neck become denser.
Chu Yi said calmly, “Very good.”
His voice was as clear as a zither, neither fast nor slow, neither light nor heavy, but also unclear. It was unknown if he was saying that the sword was very good or if he was talking about something else.
The two words suddenly relaxed the stagnant air, and some of the invisible authority dissipated.
Fang Huairui felt relieved, as if he had been forcefully pressed into the water for the time it took to brew a cup of tea, and had only now been picked up.
He roughly raised his hand to wipe away his cold sweat with mixed feelings.
The Eldest Prince, Chu Yi, had left the Great Jin Dynasty for eight years, so no one in the imperial court knew him well and most people did not have a high evaluation of him. After all, having been a hostage in the enemy country for eight years, it was obvious that the State of Yue would not raise him well!
Therefore, the nobles in the imperial court were all waiting and watching the Eldest Prince’s attitude, including the Fang family.
Furthermore, after Chu Yi returned to the capital, he had been silent and allowed Kang Wang to press on and make things difficult for him. To outsiders, he looked helpless. At that time, Fang Huairui did not take Chu Yi seriously.
He never expected Chu Yi to be so shrewd at such a young age. It was fine if he did not make a move, but once he did, he was unstoppable.
Over the past few days, Fang Huairui had already deeply experienced the power of the Eldest Prince and did not dare to slight him anymore.
“As long as Your Highness is satisfied,” Fang Huairui said. A forthright smile appeared on his bearded face.
Recalling the entire sequence of events, he still felt a little shocked.
The marriage between the Fang and Gu families had been decided more than ten years ago. However, a few months ago, the Gu family suddenly proposed to change people at the last minute without giving a reason. What did they mean by who gave birth to whom? These messy matters were all family matters of the Gu family, so Fang Huairui did not care and could not be bothered to investigate.
Since the Gu family was not sincere about this marriage, Fang Huairui thought that they would not get married. However, Madam Yu insisted, so he did not interfere.
Until four days ago, the Eldest Prince, Chu Yi, had summoned him to an audience and asked him to submit a memorial to impeach Kang Wang for snatching his wife.
The British Monarchy’s status was stable, so there was no need to take sides at all, nor was there a need to fight for meritorious service. Therefore, Fang Huairui originally did not want to be involved in the internal strife between the two sides of the royal family and planned to pretend to be stupid and reject it. However, Chu Yi showed him a ledger, scaring him out of his wits.
Only then did he know that Madam had helped her family use the name of the British Monarchy to secretly occupy a few iron ore mountains in Yuzhou to privately mine stones. The local authorities turned a blind eye and did not dare to interfere.
Although the people who benefited from this matter were the Yu family, the Yu family was fighting against the Fang family in the name of the outside world. The two families were in-laws, so the Fang family could not sever ties at all, and he could not escape the crime of “not strictly controlling his wife”…
According to the law, iron ore was owned by the country and could not be privately mined by the people.
The crime of seizing iron ore was not light. It could give the Emperor enough excuse to seize the hereditary title of Duke of the Fang family and lower his status to a Marquis or even an Earl.
The Fang family’s current status was obtained by the Fang family’s ancestor at the cost of his life, flesh, and blood. This status could not be lost because of him!
After weighing the pros and cons, Fang Huairui had no choice but to agree.
That was why he had submitted a letter of impeachment for three consecutive days.
After that, under Chu Yi’s instructions, he asked Madam to go to the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion to propose an engagement and cause a commotion that could shock the entire capital.
In fact, Chu Yi had never explained his intentions. He would only instruct Fang Huairui to do what needed to be done. However, Fang Huairui had eyes that could see and a brain that could think.
In the past few days, Fang Huairui had been panicking at first. Later, he gradually calmed down and planned to find a new turning point in the crisis. Ever since then, he had been quietly observing the young Eldest Prince.
It had to be said that Chu Yi’s strategies, his grasp of timing, his estimation of the human heart, and his understanding of the big picture made Fang Huairui look at him in a new light. He was so young, but his thoughts were so meticulous. He hid behind the scenes and managed to push things step by step to the situation he wanted.
Everyone was just a pawn in his hands.
Thud! Thud!
Fang Huairui’s heart suddenly raced twice. His eyes were bright and filled with excitement.
With Chu Yi’s schemes and methods, he was clearly a wise master worthy of loyalty.
Kang Wang was powerful, and Chu Yi needed the help of the nobles. The Fang family also needed Chu Yi. Hence, working together was beneficial to both sides.
In fact, if the Fang family could help Chu Yi achieve something, they could even rise to a higher level!
At this moment, Chu Yi completely pulled out the short sword and carefully sized up the thin and sharp blade. Without looking at Fang Huairui, he said, “Fang Huairui, sit down.”
Fang Huairui was finally relieved when he heard this, and the smile on his face deepened.
Being in no hurry to sit down, he cupped his hands casually and bargained with Chu Yi with a smile. “Your Highness, on account of the fact that I’ve done this job for you, can you exonerate me? Don’t worry, Your Highness. I’ll definitely handle Madam Yu!”
Fang Huairui smiled warmly, as if he had known Chu Yi for many years. From his words, it was as if he had not been forced by Chu Yi this time, but had received an errand.
He was indeed sincere in his words. After this lesson, not only would he restrain the Yu family, but he would also not let them off easily.
Chu Yi chuckled and casually waved his sword. His simple movements were as smooth as flowing water.
The silver sword light reflected in Fang Huairui’s eyes, making him a little dazzled. His heart tightened and he was shocked.
Feeling that something was wrong, he recalled what he had just said, but could not think of anything wrong with it.
Chu Yi simply sheathed the sword, then put it aside with a clatter. He asked, “Fang Huairui, do you know that there’s another person hidden in the Yu family?”
His tone was very calm, as if he was chatting with Fang Huairui.
“…” Fang Huairui looked at Chu Yi in shock and confusion.
Chu Yi said slowly, “In February of the first year of the Heavenly Calendar, a great-aunt from the Yu family returned with her newborn son.”
“A year ago, when Empress Yu and Emperor Hongwu died in the sea of fire, she was said to be eight months pregnant.
When Chu Yi said these two sentences, it was as if he was talking about an unimportant matter or a needle hidden in cotton wool.