The Side Character Wants to Lie Flat-Chapter 131: He Is Determined to Make Prince Zhao Suffer
That night, Prince Zhao led three thousand soldiers from the Tiger Roar Camp to escort the Crown Prince out of Shangjing.
They traveled south through a heavy downpour.
To reach the south as quickly as possible, they traveled day and night, only stopping to rest for a single night every three to five days.
Prince Zhao was long accustomed to the life of marching and warfare, so he adapted well to this pace.
But the Crown Prince could not.
He couldn’t stand this life of eating in the wind and sleeping in the open.
Even though he rode in a carriage, spared the wind and rain unlike everyone else, he was still utterly miserable.
When they passed through a small county town, the County Magistrate came out to greet them, announcing that he had prepared fine wine and delicacies to properly entertain the Crown Prince who was passing through.
Li Cheng had long since had enough of the days of gnawing on dry rations.
Ignoring everyone’s attempts to dissuade him, he insisted on staying to rest.
Traveling with the Crown Prince, in addition to the staff from the Chamberlain’s Mansion, was Lin Qingzhi, who had recently been named a concubine.
Although Lin Qingzhi had only been married into the Crown Prince Mansion for a short time, she was greatly favored by the Crown Prince. He had even made a point of bringing her along on this trip south.
Seeing that they couldn’t persuade the Crown Prince, the staff from the Chamberlain’s Mansion could only look to Lin Liangyuan for help, hoping she would put in a word.
However, Lin Qingzhi just smiled and said softly,
"Since the Crown Prince wishes to rest, then let’s rest.
Everyone must be exhausted from traveling day and night all this time. It’s about time we took a break."
Seeing Lin Qingzhi take his side, Li Cheng was quite pleased, and the anger on his face dissipated somewhat.
Chen Wangbei relayed the Crown Prince’s decision to Prince Zhao.
Sitting in his carriage, Li Ji chuckled softly, his tone laced with scorn. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
"He still doesn’t forget to enjoy himself while on a disaster relief mission. Truly worthy of being the Crown Prince."
Hua Manman also felt this was highly inappropriate.
The south was currently suffering from a disaster. Countless victims were starving and freezing, in desperate need of money and provisions.
At a time like this, let alone a whole night, even getting the money and provisions to the disaster area one hour earlier could save many lives.
Li Ji said to Chen Wangbei outside the carriage,
"Since the Crown Prince insists on staying to rest, then let him rest here to his heart’s content. Give the order: everyone is to follow me and continue south."
Chen Wangbei hesitated. "Won’t this displease the Crown Prince?"
Li Ji sneered, "So what if it does? If he has the guts, he can go tattle to the Saint and have the Saint issue an edict to punish me."
Upon hearing this, Chen Wangbei said no more. He pulled on his reins, turned his horse around, and galloped toward the Crown Prince’s carriage.
Things happened just as Chen Wangbei had expected.
After he relayed Prince Zhao’s message, Li Cheng immediately became furious and sneered,
"What? Is Prince Zhao deliberately opposing me?"
Chen Wangbei kept his head bowed and said nothing.
Lin Qingzhi obviously hadn’t expected Prince Zhao to be so unyielding, not even giving the Crown Prince any face.
’The Crown Prince is the future Emperor. By offending him so grievously now, can Prince Zhao expect to have an easy time once the Crown Prince ascends the throne?’
But then, Lin Qingzhi recalled the rumors she had heard before her rebirth.
In her previous life, she had married the wrong man and had been worn down to an early death.
Before she died, she had heard people talk about Prince Zhao.
Rumor had it that Prince Zhao was temperamental and unpredictable, that he killed without batting an eye, and that his methods were ruthless and brutal. He had single-handedly thrown the entire Great Zhou Dynasty into turmoil, and later became the Regent King whose power overshadowed the court.
A man like that would certainly not be easily intimidated.
’One can only outsmart him; a direct confrontation is out of the question.’
Previously, Lin Qingzhi had encouraged her cousin, Han Zhenzhen, to marry Prince Zhao, intending to use her to keep track of his movements and find an opportunity to pull him into the Crown Prince’s camp.
But the result had been a great disappointment.
After marrying into the Prince Zhao Mansion, Han Zhenzhen had vanished without a trace, and to this day, it was unknown whether she was alive or dead.
Worried that she would be exposed, Lin Qingzhi found a way into the Crown Prince Mansion to escape Prince Zhao’s investigation.
She had originally planned to use this trip south as an opportunity for the Crown Prince to subdue Prince Zhao, so that Prince Zhao could be of use to him. This way, the Crown Prince would be like a tiger with wings and would no longer have to suffer an early death as he did in her previous life.
But now, it seemed she had been too idealistic.
Winning over Prince Zhao was far more difficult than she had anticipated.
But no matter what, she couldn’t let the Crown Prince and Prince Zhao tear all pretenses apart right now.
Lin Qingzhi persuaded him in a gentle voice.
"Your Highness, please don’t be angry. Prince Zhao was likely just saying that casually. He couldn’t possibly abandon you.
In my humble opinion, why don’t you call Prince Zhao over so you can sit down and discuss it properly?
It’s not a big deal. I’m sure you can negotiate a result that satisfies both sides."
Remembering the Empress’s instructions before his departure, Li Cheng finally suppressed his temper and said to Chen Wangbei,
"Go and get Prince Zhao."
"Yes, Your Highness."
A moment later, Prince Zhao’s carriage drew near and stopped beside the Crown Prince’s.
The two spoke to each other through their carriage windows.
Li Cheng sighed. "I don’t wish to stay and rest because I myself am tired. I am concerned the soldiers can’t take it."
Li Ji watched him with a half-smile.
His gaze was so piercing it seemed as if it could penetrate Li Cheng’s skin and see right into his heart.
Li Cheng felt so uncomfortable under that gaze that he instinctively looked away.
Li Ji said slowly, "Wang Bei, go ask the soldiers for me. See if they can still take it. If they can’t, it’s fine to stay and rest for a night."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Chen Wangbei rode off on his horse.
Then, his resounding shout was heard—
"Prince Zhao asks if you’re too exhausted to go on! If you can’t take it, then we stay here! No need to travel further!"
By now, Li Cheng’s expression had already darkened.
’In this situation, how could the soldiers possibly admit they couldn’t take it?’
’Not unless they wanted to be kicked out of the Tiger Roar Camp.’
And just as expected.
The soldiers responded with a deafening roar.
"WE ARE NOT TIRED!!"
Li Ji smiled calmly. "Crown Prince, did you hear that?"
Li Cheng’s hands, resting on his knees, were clenched into fists, wrinkling the hem of his robes.
He put on a helpless expression.
"Prince Zhao, why must you be so serious? It’s just one night. How much time could we possibly waste?"
Li Ji said lazily,
"I don’t have many hobbies. I just enjoy being a stickler for the truth.
With the Crown Prince’s magnanimity, surely you wouldn’t stoop to the level of a cripple like me, would you?"
Although he called himself a cripple, his tone was filled with mockery.
He was clearly taunting him with biting sarcasm.
When had Li Cheng ever been subjected to such ridicule?
In his heart, he had begun to utterly despise Prince Zhao.
He sighed lightly, his tone full of the condescending tolerance a superior shows a subordinate.
"Fine. Since you are unwilling to stay, let’s continue on our way.
It’s nothing more than a bit of extra hardship. If you can endure it, then naturally, so can I."
He secretly swore that Prince Zhao had better not give him an opening in the future.
If the chance arose, he would definitely make Prince Zhao pay!
Li Ji heard the Crown Prince’s inner thoughts as clear as day and let out a soft chuckle.
"Heh, truly worthy of being the Crown Prince."
...
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