His Royal Highness, Wants A Divorce! Chapter 15

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The messenger retreated with Meng You’s letter. Meng You did not have that much time to spare on matters like these. Daming had already provoked them once beyond their defense boundary after they had arrived at the borders.

Meng You was arrogant by nature and could not tolerate seeing others flaunting in front of him. A few days ago, after Daming had withdrawn their troops after taunting them, Meng You had resolutely and meticulously devised a plan to advance his troops. 

—-  

After the experience of visiting the brothel yesterday, Tang Qi no longer dared to go to the Crown Prince’s residence. At least, for the time being, he did not dare to face the steward of the Crown Prince’s residence.

The steward was as smart as a monkey. Even if he could not smell the fragrance of rouge on the Crown Princess, he would also have asked the secret guards following the Crown Princess… If the steward found out and sent a letter to inform Shu Li that he had brought the Crown Princess to the brothel, then Shu Li’s sword that should be aimed towards the enemies would be pointed towards him instead. 

At this moment, Yan Ke was also troubled. Not because of anything else, but because this morning, when he was preparing to go to the kitchen to make himself breakfast, a little girl had b.u.mped into him while walking.

b.u.mping into him was not a big issue. What matters was that the girl had slipped a note into his hand when she knocked into him.

He thought it was some fearless little girl from the Crown Prince’s residence who wanted to have an affair with him while the Crown Prince was away.

He did not expect the message to be: 

Your Highness, the General has asked this slave to inform you to meet him, under the willow tree beyond the city moat, in the third quarter of the hour of zi1 tomorrow night.

Yan Ke sighed heavily. Ever since he had received that letter, he could sense the original Yan Ke in his body stirring with the desire to resurface.

He could not be bothered with breakfast anymore. Holding on to that small piece of paper, he stepped into the room, feeling irritated. Then, like the last time, he prepared paper and a brush, ready to have another soul-to-soul communication with the original host regarding this letter from Su Yu.

Yan Ke, “Do you want to go?”

: Yes.　　

Yan Ke, “Buddy, please. This body may be yours, but there is no need for you to deliver your own head on a platter that fast, is there? You are now a Crown Princess! How would it look like meeting a man outside in the middle of the night? By the way, do you know there’s this Xiao Wu in the Crown Prince’s residence? His wife was drowned in a pig cage2 because she was caught having an affair.”

: Meng You said you can do whatever you want.  He won’t drown you in a pig cage.

Yan Ke covered his face. This Crown Prince was really too naïve!

Yan Ke, “Your Royal Highness, no matter what, you grew up in the palace, right? Aren’t you a little too naïve? It’s fine if the one you married was a common man, but you are married to the Crown Prince of a country! Do you still think this is just a matter between you and Meng You? This concerns two countries. Both countries were originally on bad terms with each other. Everyone knows there is an ulterior motive for sending you into a marriage alliance. If I were Meng You and I found out you were fooling around in the middle of the night with Su Yu of all people, I would definitely use this as an excuse to kill you. What’s more, it would be perfectly justifiable to do so. The State of Chu would have no excuse to deploy troops.”

: Su Yu gege must have encountered some trouble if he’s looking for me. I must go!

Yan Ke did not know what to say about the other Yan Ke’s unyielding words. The stakes in this matter had already been clearly laid out on the table. Was this the time to be swayed by emotions? Was life really so worthless?!

For the whole day, the steward did not see Yan Ke stepping out of his room, not even to have his meal. Several maidservants had tried to call him, but he did not open the door, so the steward had personally come to look for Yan Ke.

Steward, “Your Highness, are you feeling unwell?”

Yan Ke snapped out from his trance and opened the door. There was a faint trace of worry between his brows.

Yan Ke replied, “No. I’m fine.”

The steward smiled. “Is Your Highness thinking of the Crown Prince?”

Yan Ke shook his head.

Nah, he was not thinking of the Crown Prince; he was thinking about how to save his own life.  

Based on the original Yan Ke’s lovestruck behavior, Yan Ke had no doubt that he would really throw caution to the wind and dash off to see Su Yu tonight!

Two single men3, having a rendezvous outside in the middle of the night. Who knew what Su Yu could do? And there were also so many secret guards in this Crown Prince’s residence… 

Just thinking about it made him irritated.

Although the steward had some complaints about Tang Qi, Tang Qi was at least still about the same age as the Crown Princess. An old man like him could not understand the volatile mood swings of these young masters. However, it was different for peers of the same age.

Steward, “Your Highness, why don’t this old slave call Imperial Guard Tang over to take you out for a walk?”

Yan Ke was about to refuse when he suddenly thought of something and nodded his head.

Yan Ke, “Then, I’ll have to trouble you.”

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Some Rights ReservedFootnotesChinese hours in ancient times came in two hours block. The hour of zi (子时) is 11pm-1am. The third quarter (三刻) is at the 45 min mark. So the time indicated in the letter is roughly 11.45pm-1.45am.It was customary in the old days for a person or couple caught for committing adultery to be put into a pig’s cage and drowned in the river. A wordplay on 孤男寡女 “a single man and a single woman”. It was improper for a single man and a single woman to be alone together (even more so at night) as it could tarnish their reputation, especially the woman’s (i.e., rumors that she was no longer chaste might spread). A woman’s reputation and virtue were particularly important in those days, where a bad reputation could mean that she could not be married off.