Chapter 69 — TVF Chapter 69

The Table-Flipping Old Father (9)

Qin Jingzhou had assumed that Princess Anyang, after realizing “relying on others is a dead end, you have to count on yourself,” would come to him to study martial arts once Prince Haicheng relaxed his restrictions on her. He never expected that Princess Anyang would spend her days flirting and acting coquettishly in front of him.

The moment Qin Jingzhou saw Princess Anyang, he saw right through her. He laughed and shook his head. “So, you just want my body.”

The System giggled, “A leopard never changes its spots… ahem.”

While Anyang’s looks couldn’t compare to her famously beautiful mother, she was still a striking beauty in her own right. She couldn’t beguile Qin Jingzhou, and continually suffered cold shoulders from Dalang, Erlang, Han Xuanfeng, the direct disciples, and even Prince Haicheng’s two sons who hadn’t yet graduated. But even so, she managed to sway the hearts of some of Qin Jingzhou’s outer sect disciples.

During a regular meeting, Dalang specifically brought up this matter to Qin Jingzhou, who didn’t pay it much mind. “We’ve always had an open-door policy, but Master Qin’s Family is strict about who actually makes it through. In the end, very few truly become disciples. From now on, I’ll announce publicly each year which disciples have officially graduated, to keep opportunists from exploiting loopholes and seeking empty fame. Princess Anyang’s arrival might not be a bad thing, since she’s actually helping us filter people out.”

Currently, the hundreds of disciples on the mountain could be divided into three types: diligent working-student disciples with outstanding talent, ordinary disciples with some aptitude, and special admission disciples who had gained entry through their family’s wealth.

Anyang’s targets were largely of the last group, and it was true that these special admission disciples were the easiest to entice—and also the easiest to be gently persuaded to withdraw on the grounds of “insufficient progress due to lack of talent.”

So Qin Jingzhou said, “Every autumn, just before new students are recruited, let’s suggest a batch withdraw.”

Princess Anyang was still simmering with embarrassment at Qin Jingzhou’s “lack of romantic interest” when—much to her frustration—all three disciples she’d spent over a month courting landed on the withdrawal list.

She didn’t even get a chance to confront anyone directly. Instead, she was so furious when those three disciples—each from minor but fairly well-off families—came in turn to demand answers that she coughed up blood and fainted on the spot.

Princess Anyang tried to console them: don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Even their families liked to lay bets on multiple sides, and as a princess, as long as she didn’t personally join a rebellion, at worst she'd be imprisoned for a spell before being released, still with a chance for a comeback.

The disciples lucky enough to come up the mountain were all young, and took Anyang’s words seriously. But when they saw their names on the withdrawal list, panicked and at a loss, they all ran home to complain—only to learn the truth from their elders: Princess Anyang might not face mortal danger, but those implicated because of her, like Wang Daren, didn’t even get a proper burial after death… When the three spirited youngsters then heard the rumor that they were all being groomed as Princess Anyang’s potential male concubines, how could they possibly swallow their anger?

So when the trio next saw Princess Anyang, their words were very harsh, and she was so upset that she fell gravely ill.

Anyone else who treated an imperial relative with such disrespect would have had to cool their heels in the dungeon, but this particular royal was Princess Anyang… In the end, the three who had to withdraw were instead quietly consoled by the First Prince’s Third Son.

The prince didn’t blame them, so the boys and their families breathed a sigh of relief. Still, they felt some regret about leaving, and even nursed a small grudge against their former teacher, Qin Jingzhou.

Their complaints didn’t take even three days to reach Qin Jingzhou himself.

Truth was, Qin Jingzhou had never really demonstrated his martial skills, but given that he always had answers for every training question, and after he presented Prince Haicheng with the detoxification manual—curing the prince from being bedridden to lively overnight—no one dared doubt his status or ability any longer. In order to flatter and curry his favor, both disciples and their families were eager to outdo each other; a bit of tattle-telling was minor business.

Even so, Qin Jingzhou, aware as he was, kept quiet. Not until crops throughout Prince Haicheng’s domain began yielding a bumper harvest, and Princess Anyang was still confined to her sickbed, did he finally decide it was time.

“It can’t wait much longer,” he remarked. “If we don’t take action soon, we’ll really miss the chance.”

The System replied, “Frankly, I’m amazed the Emperor’s held back this long.”

It was obvious: the Emperor had never really planned for Anyang, his own daughter, to make it home alive, since her mission was to poison Prince Haicheng. Still, the Emperor did have high hopes for the plan, so he’d assigned many elite agents to accompany Anyang on her journey south.

Once the plot was uncovered and Anyang captured, those openly accompanying her were almost completely wiped out, though secretly, many death soldiers remained in hiding.

When Princess Anyang defected to Prince Haicheng’s side, she stayed only a few days in the dungeon before rushing to Si Family Fortress—indeed, aiming for Qin Jingzhou and his sect, and naturally using the opportunity to contact the “outside world.” Si Family Fortress was set deep within a mountain range, and just over the ridge was imperial territory. For the Emperor to send an army over the range was impossible, but to dispatch a team of ten or even a hundred elite agents by stealth was not unreasonable at all.

Qin Jingzhou trained in the mountains every day, rain or shine, summer or winter. So, even though the Emperor’s agents deliberately avoided the area around Si Family Fortress, he still witnessed traces of the group as they moved through the terrain.

This time, the Emperor’s plot against Prince Haicheng likely wasn’t poisoning, but assassination… If Prince Haicheng got hit again, Qin Jingzhou would have to revise his assessment of the man.

Two days later, Princess Anyang’s condition turned critical, and she requested to see Prince Haicheng once more.

At the time, Prince Haicheng was hosting a family banquet at his residence, inviting his close friends and relatives. As his in-law, Qin Jingzhou was, of course, among the guests.

After listening to the report from his inner attendant, Prince Haicheng pondered and then said to the assembly, “They say people speak kindly when death is near. Why don’t we all go hear what my grandniece has to say?”

Everyone knew the princess’s side was a trap, but the prince appeared so confident, and they were happy enough to witness the scene themselves… Last year and this year had both brought good harvests. By next year, the prince would launch his Righteous Rebellion.

So, with light hearts, they all made their way to Princess Anyang’s current residence, and soon surrounded the deathly pale princess—who had been placed on a flower viewing bed by her attendants for “easy viewing.”

Prince Haicheng took a seat by her hand. “If you have something to say, speak.”

Princess Anyang gazed at Prince Haicheng and calmly replied, “I’m about to die. With family to accompany me on the road to the underworld, how could I feel lonely?”

Prince Haicheng narrowed his eyes. “You mean the death soldiers your father smuggled into Haicheng Prefecture?”

Anyang now struggled to speak, but managed, “They weren’t aiming for you… originally.” When she finished, she gave a faint and beautiful smile, turned her head, and simply stopped breathing.

Prince Haicheng shot to his feet and urgently summoned his confidant to order: All sons and daughters, return to the manor at once!

This banquet had only been attended by the prince’s favored children—such as his two sons currently training under Qin Jingzhou, and his cherished daughter. In reality, he had more than these three. Altogether, the prince had ten living sons and daughters, with two more yet unborn in their mothers’ wombs.

Prince Haicheng had once doted upon Consort Yang. But after seeing through the Emperor’s schemes, an angry, betrayed, and grieving prince subjected both Princess Anyang and Consort Yang to severe interrogations. Because both women had surrendered—especially Consort Yang, who had only obeyed the Emperor and Anyang out of a desire for revenge—she gave a full confession as soon as she learned her family’s destruction could not be disentangled from the Emperor’s plots.

Her candor once again pleased Prince Haicheng; besides, Consort Yang’s looks were exceptionally “blessed by heaven.”

Consort Yang was freed from the dungeon and returned to live in the prince’s residence.

Once the prince’s health was more or less restored, he resumed favoring Consort Yang, though her privileges were much diminished from before.

Even so, Consort Yang became pregnant with the prince’s child. The other expectant mother was the birth mother of the Little Princess.

At last, the princess’s wife reached her breaking point. She was certain she loved the prince more than Lady Dugu ever had, but the prince had never even looked at her, let alone granted her a child… Yet even treacherous Consort Yang could have… everything, trampling her beneath her feet!

At her wit’s end, the princess’s wife resolved: If the prince wouldn’t love her, then they could die together!

The Emperor’s agents quickly noticed the princess’s wife’s unstable state and secretly made contact with her.

Though not favored, the wife still retained some authority. She had covered for the Emperor’s people several times already but hadn’t found another chance to strike at the prince. In the end, she settled for a lesser target: the prince’s sons and daughters.

The prince’s children were already on guard against the Emperor’s malice, and were cautious whenever they left home, assuming the greatest danger would still come from outside the prince’s residence… Nobody, not even Prince Haicheng himself, expected the meek, dutiful wife suddenly to turn traitor.

But the prince’s staff were not to be trifled with. They quickly discovered the true culprit, apprehended the wife and the remaining imperial agents before they could escape, but not before the prince’s children suffered terrible losses.

The two sons sent to study martial arts managed, through their own efforts, to break free from the trap and escape with their lives, though they suffered many injuries and remained whole.

The rest were not so “lucky.” Some died, others were gravely wounded. Consort Yang miscarried. The birth mother of the Little Princess perished—with her unborn child. The Little Princess suffered a broken arm. Si Chenghui’s leg was shattered. With proper care, the Little Princess’s arm would heal so she could use it, though heavy tasks might be beyond her. Si Chenghui’s leg, however, would limp for life.

Apparently, during the crisis, Si Chenghui had decisively protected the Little Princess; originally intent on avenging her father, she softened and cared personally for her husband for a time. Si Chenghui, for his part, was deeply moved.

Prince Haicheng was so enraged he vomited blood; even strangling his wife scarcely helped vent his fury. Originally, he’d planned to spend longer preparing for the northern campaign, but now he gave a direct order: Once spring arrived, they would march forth—with Qin Jingzhou as instructor to the Prince’s Personal Guards over the winter, teaching them martial arts and some basic self-defense.

After meeting with Prince Haicheng, Qin Jingzhou reflected as he made his way home, “Prince Haicheng has lost his edge.”

Even the System, now adept at hitting the nail on the head, asked, “How many years does he have left?”

“If he doesn’t go to war, five or six. If he leads on the front lines, maybe two or three.”

The System chuckled. “So he’s determined to go down with his mortal foe. But, Zhou-ge, are you confident about… taking over the realm when the time comes?”

“But I’ll be holding the Emperor hostage and commanding the lords.”