Chapter Eighty-Nine: The Crown Prince Taken Hostage

The moment Zhu Hao finished speaking, Wei Xiaobao hurriedly explained, “Your Highness, the Crown Prince was here just a moment ago! I asked around just now. This place was the palace where the Crown Prince’s birth mother lived while she was alive. Since she died of a dreadful illness, no one has repaired it since her passing, and over time it has fallen into this state.”

Hearing this, Zhu Hao thought to himself, So my elder brother came to the palace where his mother once lived. He must have been terribly unsettled these past days. He came here hoping to find even the faintest trace of the security only a mother could give.

The thought left him somewhat desolate. Though I am a transmigrator, in this world I am far luckier than my elder brother. I could not stop my father from leaving, but at least I still have my mother’s love. My brother has nothing. Instead, he has become the very center of every faction’s struggle for power, tugged this way and that. He is truly pitiable.

Thinking of this, Zhu Hao felt a pang of tenderness for his elder brother. Since Wei Xiaobao had said he was here, Zhu Hao called out, “Elder Brother! Elder Brother! Where are you? It’s Youjian!”

He called more than a dozen times in succession, but no one answered. At last he turned to Wei Xiaobao, confusion in his eyes, and asked, “Xiaobao, what exactly is going on here?”

Unlike Zhu Hao’s puzzled mood, Wei Xiaobao was in a state of near panic. He knew something had gone wrong. Though his heart was in utter chaos, he still had no choice but to answer. “Well, Your Highness... perhaps... maybe... the Crown Prince has gone somewhere else.”

Hearing him stammer that his elder brother had vanished again, Zhu Hao’s anger flared at once. With a cold snort, he barked, “Wei Xiaobao, is this how you carry out orders for this prince? You cannot even keep watch over a living man? Is your Central Intelligence Office full of useless fools?”

Faced with Zhu Hao’s thunderous fury, Wei Xiaobao was terrified. Not knowing what else to do, he dropped to his knees and trembled as he said, “Please calm your anger, Your Highness. This servant deserves death! I deserve death!”

Seeing him kneeling there, shaking all over, muttering nothing but apologies, only made Zhu Hao angrier. He snorted coldly. “You do deserve death. But even if you die, you will find my elder brother first! Otherwise, even if you want to die, this prince will not grant you the chance!”

His words were harsh, but in truth he only meant that Wei Xiaobao should stop wasting time and hurry to search for the Crown Prince.

After speaking, Zhu Hao looked at Wei Xiaobao, who still knelt there as if he had not understood a word. Furious, Zhu Hao kicked him squarely in the backside and shouted, “Did you not understand me? Get up at once and bring the Crown Prince back to me!”

Only then did Wei Xiaobao finally understand. He scrambled to his feet and said, “This servant will go at once. Please rest easy, Your Highness. I will definitely bring the Crown Prince back to you!”

Watching his flustered figure flee, Zhu Hao thought bitterly, Wei Xiaobao was right after all. One really cannot be too gentle with subordinates. The moment I eased my tone a little, he went and lost my elder brother. Truly exasperating.

Yet what worried him far more was the possibility that his elder brother might have fallen into the hands of Noble Consort Dowager Zheng, that venomous woman. If that had happened, then all his efforts this time would come to nothing.

As the saying went, what one fears most is precisely what comes to pass. No sooner had Wei Xiaobao left than Zhu Hao heard his elder brother’s angry voice.

“Let me go! Let me go at once! I heard my younger brother calling for me. If he cannot find me, he will be worried. Let go of me! You villain!”

At the sound of his brother’s voice, Zhu Hao had just begun to feel a surge of joy and was about to rush forward when another cry rang out—a sharp scream of pain. Then came a furious voice, shrill with rage.

“You little bastard! You dared bite me? Just see if I do not beat you to death, you little wretch!”

Then came the sound of slaps, accompanied by his elder brother’s cries.

Smack!

“Ah!”

Smack!

“Ah!”

Smack!

“Ah... sob...”

By the final sound, it was obvious his elder brother had been beaten to tears. Zhu Hao’s fury blazed skyward. Yet the other voice filled him with wariness, for it belonged unmistakably to Noble Consort Dowager Zheng. After clashing with her several times, he knew that voice all too well.

Though he had his misgivings, the thought of his elder brother still being beaten by that vicious woman was more than he could bear. Cautious by nature though he was, Zhu Hao could endure it no longer. He charged in the direction of the voices at full speed, shouting as he ran, “Old poisoner! Release the Crown Prince, or this prince will make you regret it for the rest of your life!”

In the blink of an eye he was upon them. There he saw his elder brother with both cheeks swollen red, tears endlessly spilling from his eyes in a pitiful stream. Beside him stood another figure, her face dark with anger. It was indeed Noble Consort Dowager Zheng.

At once Zhu Hao shouted, “Old poisoner, let go of the Crown Prince!”

When Zhu Youjiao saw that it was Zhu Hao, he only managed to cry pitifully, “Younger Brother...” before Noble Consort Dowager Zheng yanked him behind her and pinched him savagely. The pain made him scream, and he dared say no more.

Pulling Zhu Youjiao behind her, Noble Consort Dowager Zheng sneered at Zhu Hao and gave a heavy snort. “What sort of day is this? Since when do every little shrimp and minnow dare shout at me? Is the world turning upside down? Good that you came. I have yet to settle the score for the last time you placed me under confinement.”

Zhu Hao paid no heed to a word she said. Right now, he cared only for his elder brother’s condition. In an unwavering tone, he repeated, “Let go of the Crown Prince.”

Seeing that he ignored her completely and said nothing but the same sentence again and again, Noble Consort Dowager Zheng grew even more displeased. With another forceful snort, she said, “If you say release him, must I obey? I refuse. What can a little bastard like you do to me?”

Though Zhu Hao now inhabited only the body of an eleven- or twelve-year-old child, he still had ample confidence in dealing with the frail old shell of a woman in her fifties. At once he raised his fists and charged toward her.

Ever since Zhu Hao had ordered her confined at the Gate of Supreme Harmony, Noble Consort Dowager Zheng had known that he cared nothing for age or rank. Seeing him rush at her now, she shouted, “You had better stay exactly where you are! Otherwise—”

Before she could finish, Zhu Hao abruptly stopped.

It was not because he feared her threat, but because he had seen the gleam of a dagger in her hand, pressed against his elder brother’s pale throat. The meaning was clear enough. If he made even the slightest reckless move, his brother would be sent to join their father in the next instant. Afraid she might truly harm him, Zhu Hao had no choice but to halt.

Seeing that Zhu Hao indeed dared not come closer, Noble Consort Dowager Zheng smiled in satisfaction. “That is more like it. An obedient child is a good child.”

It was plainly the sort of thing one said to praise a child, yet from her lips it filled Zhu Hao with a boundless sense of humiliation. But with his elder brother held hostage, he dared do nothing and could only remain where he was.

Just as Zhu Hao was at a loss, the sound of clapping rang out. Then a voice dripping with mockery came through the air.

“Noble Consort Dowager Zheng, to threaten one child with the life of another—how utterly shameless. In my eyes, all your years have been wasted on a dog.”

As the words fell, Empress Guo appeared behind Zhu Hao. Because he had been so anxious about his elder brother, he had not noticed when she arrived. But from the meaning of her words, it was clear she had seen everything.

The moment Noble Consort Dowager Zheng saw that it was Empress Guo, she gave a cold snort. “Empress, do not speak to me in that tone of contempt. If it were you standing before me, I would not even deign to use tricks. You are not worth the effort.” As she spoke, she pointed at Zhu Hao. “Is he a child? No. You are wrong. My plans were laid with exquisite precision, nearly flawless, and yet this so-called child of yours ruined everything. I myself was brought down by his hand. Can he still be counted a child? If not for his appearance, let me tell you—at this moment you would have no right even to stand before me and speak. You would have gone long ago to accompany the late emperor in death! Hahahaha...”

Hearing this, Empress Guo’s brows drew together into a deep furrow. Coldly she said, “So you had planned everything long before. The words you spoke to me that day in Kunning Palace were all lies, were they not?”

At this, Noble Consort Dowager Zheng shook her head. “No, do not use such an ugly word as lies. I merely used you. If you were used, do not blame me. If you must blame anyone, blame your own stupidity. And such charming stupidity at that! Hahaha...”

Hearing such naked humiliation, Empress Guo let out a cold snort. “You are courting death.”

Noble Consort Dowager Zheng only shook her head again. “Whether I am courting death or not remains to be seen. But I do know this—if either of you dares make a rash move...”

As she spoke, she tightened her grip around Zhu Youjiao once more. The dagger in her hand had already nicked the skin of his pale neck, and upon its blade a few bright crimson points had begun to gleam. The threat needed no further explanation.