The old emperor knew that Pei Qingfeng had gone to the Desolate Region but he wasn"t about to announce it to the entire world. There were already some who caught on but the old emperor wasn"t going to explain himself to them. As for the imperial censor, he was on Pei Rumo"s side. Despite the fact that he should be denouncing the other princes the moment they committed a mistake, Pei Rumo had not pa.s.sed down any instructions and he wasn"t able to run rampant. After his long service in the imperial court, the imperial censor felt that the old emperor"s thought process was extremely complicated and he wasn"t willing to make any reckless moves. The imperial censor might seem to be sullen and incompetent, but he was still able to continue holding his post.
As for Honored Tian Yun, he took drastically different actions. In order to prevent the fact that Pei Qingfeng had sneaked into the Desolate Region, he confined Ling Xian"er in the Stargazing Pavilion. He wouldn"t leave his room if he could and he pretended to be stuck in secluded meditation. Every time a carriage pa.s.sed on the outside, he would perk up his ears and listen closely, hoping that it wasn"t the old emperor who paid him a visit. He, who originally had a well-built body, was now looking a little haggard. How could he not be worried? He was so worried someone would find out about this little "secret" and he was hopping about like a startled rabbit.
"Sigh."
The disciple by the side raised his head slightly and his finger twitched. It was as though he was counting the number of sighs Honored Tian Yun let out the entire time. No longer able to control himself, he said, "Honored Sir, you have sighed 38 times today and it isn"t even noon yet. If you are feeling sorry for Young Lady Xian"er, why not just let her out of confinement?”
"What do you know?!" Honored Tian Yun turned around and yelled at the disciple before turning back to sigh again, "I am doing this to protect her! She messed up real bad and now, she thinks that I"m trying to punish her! I watched her grow up! Why will I want any harm to befall her? I"m blaming myself for spoiling her and allowing her to do anything she wants! I hope this will be a lesson for her…”
As Honored Tian Yun spoke of his thoughts out loud, the disciple by his side was dumbstruck. He was right. Ling Xian"er was like a little princess and everyone in their faction had pampered her. None of them ever saw Honored Tian Yun so angry before and they knew that she messed up really badly. Sigh… I wonder when Junior Sister can be released...
Ling Xian"er was hopping mad. She never expected that Honored Tian Yun, who doted on her more than her biological father, to give her such a harsh punishment.
Ling Xian"er"s two good friends didn"t take a single step outside and they accompanied her for the entire day. When they saw that she became even more gloomy, they started to persuade her, "Xian"er, why don"t you just apologize to Honored Tian Yun? He might just decide to forgive you…”
"That"s right, Honored Tian Yun dotes on you the most. It is just an apology, right?”
Ling Xian"er was too angry to listen to any advice and she snapped, "I didn"t do anything wrong, why should I apologize? He can punish me all he wants!!!"
The two of them shook their heads helplessly. A moment later, one of them spoke up again, "Xian"er, why don"t you tell me what you did to anger Honored Tian Yun?”
Just as Ling Xian"er was about to tell her the entire story, she realized that the lesser people who knew about it the better. She clamped her mouth shut and refused to say anything. When the two of them saw that they weren"t about to persuade her, they gave up and decided to allow her to calm herself down.
As the two of them left, Ling Xian"er was left alone in the ma.s.sive Stargazing Pavilion. Since she had nothing better to do, she took out her newly bought folk stories and started to flip through them.
"Hmph, I asked you to reflect yourself but here you are reading your books again." Honored Tian Yun finally couldn"t bear the guilt and he came over to look for Ling Xian"er. He never expected her to be enjoying herself instead of reflecting on her actions.
"Life still goes on. I cannot possibly stop living just because of a setback. Honored Tian Yun must be really free to look for me now..." A tinge of dissatisfaction could be heard in her voice when she spoke to Honored Tian Yun.
Tian Yun nearly choked. After calming himself, he asked, "Do you still think you have done nothing wrong?"
After hearing his question, Ling Xian"er"s blood started to boil again. She tossed away the book in her hand and she sat up straight and glared at Honored Tian Yun, "What did I do?!”
When he saw that Ling Xian"er was still extremely unapologetic, Honored Tian Yun started to laugh. "Fine, fine, fine, let me tell you your mistake."
"I am all ears."
"Firstly, you talked back to me. That isn"t really a reason to punish you since I can"t be bothered with that. The reason I punished you is because you came up with a plan with Qingfeng without consulting me. I am very disappointed in the two of you. Next…” Before he could continue, a disappointed look flashed in his eyes as he turned to face Ling Xian"er. “Do you know that a prince will be sentenced to death for sneaking into a battlefield determined by the emperor? Even if I can stop the old emperor from executing Qingfeng, can I cover up the mouths of everyone in the imperial court?!”
Ling Xian"er felt that something was off and a hint of regret appeared in her heart. “What… what?”
"Pei Qingfeng will become a traitor of the nation! Can you imagine the shame he will feel?!” Despite Honored Tian Yun"s casual remark, the words "traitor of the nation" seemed to echo repeatedly in Ling Xian"er"s heart.
"Honored Sir, what... did you say?" Ling Xian"er turned pale and her lips trembled.
"That"s right..." Tian Yun looked at Ling Xian"er in the eye. “This is why I"m angry with you! If something really happens to the two of you, tell me about it! Why do you have to take matters into your own hands? Are you two able to create a flawless plan to hide Pei Qingfeng"s actions from the world?!”
Ling Xian"er knew that she messed up. “What should we do now?! Why don"t I go and bring Big Brother Qingfeng back?”
"You better calm down. The imperial court has been extremely quiet lately. The old emperor either has no idea that Pei Qingfeng is gone, or he has already accepted it. We have to remain calm and deal with anything that comes our way.
Ling Xian"er nodded and she apologized, "Xian"er is willing to receive punishment."
"I am not going to punish you." Tian Yun glanced at Ling Xian"er and continued, "I am just afraid that something will happen to you if you keep messing about. That"s the reason I confined you.”