Chapter Ten The Wind Rises

  Ye Xiang withdrew his gaze and looked up at the moon in the sky, saying faintly: "The Moon Palace must be very lonely. I wonder if Chang'e has any regrets about what happened back then. Was it Hou Yi's fault or Chang'e's fault?"

  After hearing the prince's words, Li Jinzhong was slightly stunned. He came from a humble background and had naturally heard of Chang'e and Hou Yi's story. But what was wrong with the prince? Was he thinking about women? Should he bring Li Ran over?

  "What's on your mind? Why are you so distracted?" Ye Xiang asked with some curiosity, glancing at Li Jinzhong who was standing behind him in a daze. For a university student accustomed to the hustle and bustle of modern life, this dark and oppressive palace was really unbearable, and having to be constantly cautious made things even more difficult for Ye Xiang.

  "It's nothing, Your Highness, just a small matter, no need to trouble you." Li Jinzhong said with a faint smile as he saw the prince looking at him.

  Seeing Li Jinzhong not wanting to speak, Ye Xiang didn't ask further, only saying somewhat listlessly: "In this life, it's hard to have perfect things. In these deep palaces and grand courtyards, our lives are all quite helpless. As for me, I will remember everyone who is good to me in this world. You and Guest Ba Ba are the people closest to me, I hope you can understand. I treat you as one of my most trusted people, you must also be loyal to me, I don't want a day when we become enemies." After saying these words, Ye Xiang's gaze burned intensely at Li Jinzhong, for the eunuchs by his side, he had to guarantee their loyalty, at least knowing who they belonged to.

  In this vast imperial palace, Ye Xiang may have only believed in one person, Li Lan, but he didn't dare to trust too much. At this time, Ye Xiang was no longer the simple college student he used to be. In a place where life could be lost at any moment, the first thing Ye Xiang learned was to hide himself. His emotions, his worries, everything about him.

  Li Jinzhong was somewhat flustered, he hadn't expected the usually carefree crown prince to speak to him like this, had something gone wrong? He hastily knelt down and said to the crown prince: "I am your humble servant, I will never change for the rest of my life." At that moment, he hung his head in shame, not daring to look at the crown prince's face, and for the first time, he felt a sense of unfamiliarity towards him.

  "Come on in! It's going to rain!" Ye Xiang took a glance at the moon covered by dark clouds, patted Li Jinzhong's shoulder and turned into the house.

  Beijing in April is not usually very hot, but this year's weather has been quite abnormal. The hottest days of the year have never been so hot before, and now it's unbearably hot. Originally bustling Beijing city now seems somewhat desolate. People living here all know that with such weather, a big rainstorm is likely to come soon.

  Today, Ye Xiang got up very early because he knew that there was something about himself that required him to show up. After the imperial physician's care, Ye Xiang's body had improved a lot and he could move around on his own. Of course, mainly because he couldn't pretend to be ill anymore, naturally he also couldn't recover all at once, only slowly recovering.

  Looking at Li Ran dressing herself, he nodded slightly. Recently, Ye Xiang had been keeping Li Ran by his side, and she was in charge of his daily life. The feelings between the two people were also rapidly warming up, just like a loving young couple.

  "Lan'er, you're getting prettier and prettier?" He gently lifted the chin of the little beauty, making him look into his own eyes, and gently pinched the little beauty's cheeks. Ye Xiang smiled and said.

  Gently grasping Ye Xiang's hand, Li Lan leaned her body into his and said softly: "I am the Crown Prince's person, whatever the Crown Prince says is what it is."

  Ye Xiang really liked this era now, this is what a woman should be like.

  He smiled and knew that this was probably a flattering remark. He didn't mind it in his heart, took a deep breath and said: "Li Lan, have you read any books?"

  When Ye Xiang asked the question, Li Ran's body suddenly shook violently, as if she had thought of something unpleasant, her shoulders shaking without speaking.

  She sighed softly, it seems that everyone has a story, this great Ming dynasty palace, is as deep as the sea!

  "Your Majesty, I have read books and my parents died early. I was raised by my uncle until I entered the palace."

  Looking at Li Ran's sad appearance, Ye Xiang knew that things were definitely not as simple as she said, but he didn't ask further, everyone has their own story.

  "Your Highness." Just as Ye Xiang and Li Ran were talking, Li Jinzhong suddenly walked in, seeing that he wanted to say something, Ye Xiang waved his hand to interrupt him, staring straight at him, "What's the matter?" Good grief, eunuchs are indeed eunuchs, this is clearly jealousy! Ruining one's own good deeds, next time I'll have you castrated a hundred times! A hundred times!

  Li Jinzhong's body suddenly shook, but his face didn't change at all. He smiled and said: "I'm just coming in to take a look, Your Highness, is there anything going on?" Although Li Jinzhong's words were flattering, they were cautious, as he knew that he might have angered the Crown Prince.

  "Li Jinzhong, do you know if anyone has planted a mole by my side? Who is someone else's mole?" Ye Xiang's words made the three people in the room stunned, and Li Lan in Ye Xiang's arms trembled slightly, but Ye Xiang stared tightly at Li Jinzhong.

  "Your Highness is joking, how could anyone dare to plant a mole by your side!" Although he didn't know why the prince asked this, Li Jinzhong still felt some fear and subconsciously wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead before cautiously speaking.

  No one dares to plant a mole beside the crown prince, this is true, not because of the crown prince, but because of Li Jinzhong. In the palace, there are only two people who want to know every move of the crown prince, one is Zheng Guifei and the other is Li Xuancai. However, these two people do not need to arrange a mole, because Li Jinzhong is their mole.

  Looking at Li Jinzhong's appearance didn't seem like a lie, Ye Xiang said meaningfully: "Maybe it is!"

  On August 25th, in the grand hall of the Palace of Heavenly Purity, Emperor Taichang summoned the Grand Secretaries, the Ministers of the Six Ministries and other high-ranking officials in the capital. Today he was going to do something important.

  At this time, everyone had arrived, only the emperor had not yet come. The ministers in the great hall stood together in twos and threes, discussing in a low voice. Although they were divided into many small groups, all of them mentioned one name, that is Yang Lian.

  At this time, Yang Lian was only a seventh-rank supervising secretary in the Ministry of Revenue. Although as a civil official in the Ming dynasty, his status was very high, but as a seventh-rank supervising secretary, he did not have the qualification to stand here except for grand court meetings. However, he came at this time. At a time when many high-ranking officials gathered, he came, and in this occasion where even the lowest were vice ministers, this supervising secretary stood out. Although Yang Lian was standing on the outermost part of the great hall, he still stood out.

  There are some things I need to go out for today, if I can't update on time at noon, it will be postponed until tonight.