Repudiating a Good Wife Is Out of the Question

180. Power of an Immortal

 

Translator: Sissy That Walk

 

In Prince Xing’s temporary residence.

The magistrate kowtowed to Xiao Yi and asked for punishment with his hands tied in front of him, “Shizi, please forgive me, I… I didn’t have an option!”

Xiao Yi squinted his eyes and replied, “Father has left for the capital city with the soldiers we have captured. I don’t have a say in this any more, the Ministry of Punishments will talk to you.”

“Please spare my life, Shizi! I know I’m guilty, but I don’t deserve to die because I was forced by them! Shizi, I will toil like beasts of burden for you for the rest of my life, please spare my life!” the magistrate begged.

Xiao Yi became impatient, he asked the guards to drag the magistrate out. In the yard, they met Cao Mo who was walking to Xiao Yi’s room with a crossbow he just made, the magistrate struggled to free himself from the guards and threw himself at Cao Mo, “Shizi Madam, please save me, I am wronged!”

Cao Mo asked magistrate to get rid of him but to no avail.

Xiao Yi pointed at the guards and shouted, “You two are fired, so useless!”

The guards let the magistrate go on purpose because they had taken the magistrate’s bribe, but now they dared not to be so slack when they heard Xiao Yi, they dragged the magistrate and scolded him, “Leave Shizi Madam alone, you get what you deserve!”

The magistrate wailed, “I know this is what I deserve, but my family doesn’t deserve this! Shizi Madam, I’m kowtowing to you, please save my wife and my son’s life! For that I’m forever grateful! I’m willing to die a horrible death as long as you can spare them!”

Cao Mo’s heart softened on hearing ‘my wife and son’, he looked at Xiao Yi and said, “Yi, Qiushuang is going to give birth in a few days, let’s help this man and accumulate some good karma for Qiushuang’s baby.”

Xiao Yi didn’t have the heart to say no to Cao Mo, “You deserve to die based on your act of connivance, but I’m willing to give you an opportunity to redeem yourself by good service. Tell me, who sent those troops last night?”

The magistrate broke out in a cold sweat, he was in a true dilemma, at this point he basically had to pick between Prince Xing and Prince Ning.

Sweat beads streamed down from the magistrate’s forehead, “Can I have a minute?”

Cao Mo patted on the magistrate’s shoulder, “We have given you the opportunity, it’s up to you whether you want to grasp it. You think you can help them cover the fact by not telling us the truth? We know who has sent them, it’s just a matter of time before we find some solid evidence.”

With that Cao Mo shook his head, he walked to the room and said, “What an idiot, he is even more dumb than my brother.”

Xiao Yi smiled, “Give him some credit, he made a right choice by begging you for mercy.”

Cao Mo raised his head, “Yi, how come Prince Ning still hasn’t fallen from power?”

“It’s Imperial Concubine Fair, she knows the emperor too well. She gave Prince Ning the twin ears rice to curry favour with the emperor. Plus Prince Ning has sent over ten thousand people to attack us, and they have lost, ten thousand VS one thousand, who appeared as a force to be reckon with in the end. The emperor doesn’t appreciate strong force when they are not under his name, you know?”

“We can find some auspicious sign as well!” Cao Mo frowned, “We can just say we have won the battle thanks to the emperor!”

Xiao Yi’s eyes sparkled, “What wonderful idea do you have in mind now?”

“I wouldn’t say it’s a wonderful idea, but I do have an idea, you wanna hear?”

“Twist my arm!” Xiao Yi put his arm around Cao Mo’s shoulder.

Cao Mo giggled, “We are blessed by the emperor! Didn’t the emperor give Prince Xing a plaque written by the emperor himself, permitting Prince Xing to wield power in Hunan and Hubei region. We can just say the enemy would catch fire whenever they tried to approach us or attack us, it’s all because of the plaque that we have been enshrining and worshiping in the hall. It’s like the emperor has powers of an immortal, isn’t it more auspicious than those twin ears rice? ”

Xiao Yi burst into laughter, “You little monkey, you dare fool the emperor!”

“Haha, it’s not like I have made him a laughing stock. On the contrary, I made him appear as an immortal, of course he is going to love it, he is no stranger to all the flattery and exaggerated praise. I just presented him some creative way of praising, better than those officials in court who sings the same old stuff all day.” Cao Mo yawned, “I didn’t sleep much last night, I’m going to catch up on my sleep now, wake me up when dinner is ready.”

Xiao Yi looked at him with affection in the eye, “Go, I can take care of this.”

… …

In the emperor’s audience hall the next morning.

“Your Majesty, allow me to say a congratulations to you!” an Imperial Censor stepped forward and said in excitement.

The emperor who got busy in Han Qi’s palace last night rubbed his eyes with impatience and said, “What congratulations!”

“Prince Xing’s temporary residence was besieged by some troops two days earlier, but the troops would just catch fire sent from Heaven whenever they tried to attack, everyone had seen a dragon was coiling above the residence’s hall, the plaque you wrote for Prince Xing has transformed into a dragon to protect Prince Xing’s subordinates, Your Majesty, you have the power of an immortal!” the Imperial Censor wailed emotionally.

Prince Ning cast a glimpse at Prince Xing and cursed him in the heart, ‘You have outplayed me again, no way can some twin ear rice match this immortal hearsay!’

Prince Ning dared not point out white elephant in the room, he dared not say this was ridiculous for he knew how much the emperor loved to hear that he had the power of an immortal!

Prince Xing snickered in the heart, he had been depressed since last night, but now he was just so delighted that Cao Mo had come up with this story, ‘We have won the battle thanks to our emperor!’

The emperor now looked so elated, he was thrilled to hear that common people had heard the story as well and they were all celebrating his power as an immortal.

The emperor’s face had softened, he looked at Prince Xing with a smile, “My son, you are the truly blessed one, there’s nothing I can do if otherwise.”

“Father, I am blessed by you, I am forever grateful!” Prince Xing stepped forward and kowtowed to the emperor.