I, The Substitute, Am With The Main Character Chapter 108

Xueya was in so much pain that tears flowed uncontrollably; he didn’t even have the strength to get up and could only lie on the ground and cry. Through blurry eyes, he caught sight of a pair of embroidered boots and suddenly realized that Yin Qingxuan was still there. He quickly wiped his tears with the back of his hand and stammered, “I… just fell… it hurts too much.”

He cried so hard that he couldn’t help but gasp for air.

Yin Qingxuan crouched down, watching the young man sobbing helplessly on the ground. Though he was already nineteen, he looked like a child when he cried. Yin Qingxuan lifted the boy’s chin, and when their eyes met—those little fox-like eyes filled with tears—the boy quickly turned his face away.

“Although He Xulan has been defeated, the emperor’s heavy taxation and the construction of temples for you, along with the senseless killing of innocents, have led to other uprisings. Just days ago, after you and the emperor returned from the suburban temple, he ordered the Imperial Army to kill hundreds in the streets.”

Xueya was still trying to compose himself when he heard Yin Qingxuan’s words and was struck with shock and fear. “Hundreds?”

“Though those rebels are not as skilled as the soldiers in court, the court’s soldiers have just fought He Xulan’s forces and are not in fighting condition now. The rebels have a clear purpose; they don’t plan to rebel against the emperor, but they want the emperor to kill you.” Yin Qingxuan’s fingertip brushed against Xueya’s tears, and he paused, wiping his finger on his clothes before continuing, “Besides waiting here for the rebels to come and have you killed, you have another option: you can leave the palace.”

If Yin Qingxuan had said this two months ago, Xueya would have been willing. But now that He Xulan had been defeated, he couldn’t leave the palace. If there were a chance for him to become the empress dowager, he could save He Xulan then.

“I’m the noble consort; I’m not leaving,” Xueya replied, pushing himself up from the ground. He wiped his tear-streaked face, forgetting that he had a silk handkerchief with him.

Yin Qingxuan pressed his lips together. “You really won’t come with me?”

“I won’t go.” Xueya suddenly realized something was off about Yin Qingxuan’s words. He looked up and stared at him. “Come with you? Where are you going?”

Yin Qingxuan stood up, looking toward the palace door. The sunlight illuminated the bricks at the entrance, but only a small patch; they remained shrouded in shadow. “You’ve seen how the emperor is now. Though the ruler should be the moral example, a minister should care for the people. If the ruler is cruel and the ground is littered with corpses, then being a minister is meaningless. I’ve resigned from my position; I’ll leave the capital in two days.”

Xueya didn’t expect Yin Qingxuan to resign from office, but upon reflection, Yin Qingxuan’s words did make sense. It turned out that although Cui Lingjing was unpredictable, he hadn’t expected him to go so far as to casually massacre hundreds of civilians. What wrong had the civilians done? They had merely complained a little. Yin Qingxuan must have genuinely been disappointed in Cui Lingjing, which was why he chose to resign.

“So, do you want to come with me?” Yin Qingxuan looked down at Xueya, who was sitting on the ground.

Xueya tilted his head back, his eyes still red from crying. “Why do you want to take me with you? You… you’re not planning to lure me out of the palace to kill me, are you?”

He hadn’t forgotten about Yin Qingxuan’s previous attempt to kill him, and he had guessed that Yin Qingxuan liked him before and begged the other party to let him go, at which time Yin Qingxuan had very nonchalantly humiliated him.

“You really only have a face, if I want to kill you, I can kill you now, why bother tricking you out of the palace before killing you?” Yin Qingxuan had only spoken two words calmly before he started being mean again, but Xueya was not in the mood to be angry with Yin Qingxuan right now, his heart was in turmoil right now. However, after thinking for a while, he still said to Yin Qingxuan, “I’m not leaving.”

Yin Qingxuan’s eyes darkened a lot, “Even if you will die in the palace, you won’t leave? I’ll ask you one last time, are you coming with me or not?”

“I’m not leaving.” Xueya said this sentence three times, if he went with Yin Qingxuan, he would never see He Xulan again.

Hearing this, Yin Qingxuan was silent for a long time, and finally left directly without saying a word. Seeing Yin Qingxuan leave, Xueya couldn’t help but look in the direction the other party went, Yin Qingxuan walked towards the daylight while he was hidden in the cold and icy hall. Although the palace in early spring was still burning a charcoal stove, the chilly air would not dissipate.

That day, Xueya didn’t wait for Cui Lingjing to return, and the palace servants sent to gather news hadn’t come back either. Feeling uneasy, Xueya planned to go directly to Fengrui Palace the next day, but the Imperial Guards outside the Beauty Pavilion wouldn’t let him leave, saying that His Majesty had decreed he shouldn’t move about freely.

Xueya grew more anxious. By the afternoon, he suddenly realized he hadn’t heard Yuan Si’s voice all day, which puzzled him. He got up to check the Dongnuan Pavilion, only to find that Yuan Si was missing.

“Where is the Crown Prince?” Xueya asked the palace servants behind him.

The servants seemed to have known that Yuan Si was missing and didn’t answer. Xueya sensed something was off and quickly searched the room for a toy—specifically, a small stuffed tiger that Yuan Si needed to hold in order to sleep.

The stuffed toy was gone.

“Where did the Crown Prince go? Speak up!”

Yuan Si lived with him, yet he had been taken away right under his nose. What did this mean? Why were these people hiding the fact that they had taken Yuan Si?

The servants remained silent. Xueya’s heart sank, and in a moment of frustration, he picked up a teacup from the table and smashed it to the ground. “You won’t talk, huh? Even if I’m confined here, I can still execute one or two people, can’t I?” To make his threat more convincing, he reached out to grab the servant who seemed the most cunning. “You kneel on this broken porcelain. Only when you decide to speak will you be allowed to get up.”

Kneeling on the shards wouldn’t take long before it would cut the servant’s skin, and if it went on, he might even injure his legs. The servant, frightened by Xueya’s threat, hurriedly spoke up: “It was Minister Yin! Minister Yin took the Crown Prince away!”

Xueya froze, unable to process it. “Yin? Why would he take the Crown Prince? Didn’t he resign? How could he take the Crown Prince away?”

The servant fell to the ground with a thud. “Your Highness, the imperial forces are no match for the rebels, and the rebels are already at the city gates. Minister Yin has taken the Crown Prince under His Majesty’s orders to leave the capital overnight.” He cried out the last part, “It’s already chaotic outside! I just learned from a fellow servant that most of the palace servants have already fled. Your Highness, we’re all going to die here!”

Xueya hesitated. “Losing to the rebels? Are the rebels the insurgents?”

“I don’t know. All I know is that the rebels are about to break into the palace.”

Unable to contain his anxiety, Xueya began pacing around the room. Suddenly, he remembered something. “Is the emperor still in the palace?”

“He is.”

“What about the Empress and the consorts?” he asked.

The attendant cried, “Most of the masters in the palace left yesterday. Those who didn’t leave were the ones who are not favored, and they left this morning too.”

Xueya had heard tales where, on the eve of a dynasty’s overthrow, the emperor and his family fled to the northwest to establish a new capital. Now, with the military of the Li Dynasty losing to the rebels, Cui Lingjing had ordered everyone in the palace to escape.

Looking at the weeping attendants, Xueya realized that Cui Lingjing had locked him up here, and because of him, these attendants might face death alongside him.

No, he might not die. The rebels might not be insurgents; what if they were He Xulan’s people?

But could that be possible? The He Xulan from his dreams had lost.

The day dragged on in the gloomy atmosphere of the Beauty Pavilion. Everyone wore expressions of fear for the future; even the slightest noise from outside sent them into a panic.

Xueya attempted to bribe the Imperial Forest Army guards with hairpins, but they wouldn’t take any bait and ignored him completely. There wasn’t even a single escape route in the large Beauty Pavilion. Trapped, he could do nothing but remain there.

Still, he was more optimistic than the attendants; if the rebels were indeed He Xulan’s people, he might survive.

On the third day, before Xueya had even had breakfast, someone entered the Beauty Pavilion—it was the chief eunuch who served Cui Lingjing. He had never shown Xueya any respect before, but today he surprisingly knelt, saying, “I come to pay my respects to Your Highness.”

“Why are you here?” Seeing the chief eunuch, Xueya felt a sense of foreboding.

The chief eunuch respectfully replied, “The emperor has ordered me to bring you to the Golden Luan Hall.” He then turned to the attendants attending Xueya, saying, “Hurry up and get the consort dressed. Wear the outfit the emperor bestowed a few days ago, and use the hair and jewelry from the little New Year’s Eve set.”

A few days ago, Cui Lingjing had gifted Xueya a set of spring robes, which were adorned with elaborate phoenix and peony patterns. Because the clothes were so extravagant, Xueya had never worn them.

Upon hearing the chief eunuch’s words, Xueya’s unease grew.

Wasn’t the Golden Luan Hall where Cui Lingjing met with officials for morning court? Why did he need to go there? And why was he being asked to dress up?

“What am I going there for?” Xueya asked nervously.

The chief eunuch smiled at him, “You’ll find out when you get there, Your Highness.” He paused, “Perhaps you should bring something you like along.”

***

Golden Luan Hall.

Cui Lingjing sat alone on the dragon throne, clad in a red robe embroidered with dragon patterns. It was a cloudy day, and the hall was dim, exuding an eerie atmosphere. With a blank expression, he looked down at his hands; his wrists were so thin they resembled mere bones. It wasn’t just his wrists; his entire body had a sickly appearance.

He was born a crown prince, with a noble Royal Mother, a loving father, and few siblings—only one brother who had passed away early. No one competed with him for the throne; it was a position destined for him.

Yet after only three years on the throne, it seemed he was nearing the end.

He had ascended to the throne young, and next month he would celebrate his twentieth birthday, but he wouldn’t live to see it. His Royal Mother had died giving birth to him, so every year on his birthday, he would go to Qianfo Temple to chant sutras for her. To maintain sincerity, he would only drink water and not eat anything for three days.

He had never enjoyed a proper meal on his birthday, let alone eaten longevity noodles. Was it because he had never eaten longevity noodles that he would not live long?

“Noble Consort Xue has arrived.”

The announcement from outside broke Cui Lingjing’s thoughts. He raised his head to look at the entrance, where a young man entered, dressed in splendid red robes. His made-up face looked even more radiant, resembling a summer rose. Cui Lingjing stared for a moment before getting up and stepping down.

As soon as Xueya entered the Golden Luan Hall, he wanted to flee. The reason was simple: right in the middle of the hall sat a pair of coffins.

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