After the abolition of curfew, Yuelai Inn closed even later.
Zhao Hong followed Zhang Erniu, bustling about from noon until midnight without touching the ground, and only after there were no more sounds of serving tea and water in the guest rooms did he finally step into the small, dark room not far from the stables...
Lying on the hard, narrow bed that was both short and dark, where the air was permeated with the pungent smell of horse urine and dung, the exhausted Zhao Hong, his back and legs aching, covered himself with a quilt filled with straw and silently sobbed.
At this very moment, he also experienced a feeling eerily similar to what Yang Ge had felt years before: "Zhao Hong, Zhao Hong, how did you bring yourself to such a state?"
"Thump thump thump."
The decrepit wooden door was vigorously knocked on.
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Zhao Hong lifted his tear-streaked face, and saw a warm light spilling in from the crack under the door.
He guessed who had come and, trying to pinch his voice to feign normalcy, said, "Who is it?"
Zhao Miao’s crisp and firm voice came from outside: "Open the door!"
Zhao Hong: "I... I have already gone to bed; whatever it is, let’s talk tomorrow!"
Zhao Miao was unmoved: "Open the door!"
Furious, Zhao Hong slapped the hard bed board and angrily exclaimed, "Bitch... Have you come to mock me?"
Although he changed his words quickly, Zhao Miao still understood what he wanted to call her and her voice instantly took on a sharp edge, "Are you going to open it or not?"
Zhao Hong could not resist her and had no choice but to get up, sloppily put on his clothes, slip into his cloth shoes, and take two steps to the door to pull back the bolt.
"Creeeak."
The door opened, and Zhao Miao entered with a cold face, holding a lamp in one hand and a food box in the other, marching straight into the small room without giving him a glance.
Seeing this, Zhao Hong angrily said, "Take it away; I do not need your charity!"
Ignoring him, Zhao Miao set the food box on the room’s only piece of furniture—a rickety old wooden table—and said without looking at him, "Whether you eat or not is up to you. If it offends your eyes, feel free to throw it away, but if you do, it will be the only time; there will absolutely be no next time!"
Zhao Hong was so angry that he broke into a derisive laugh and uncontrollably reproached her, "You lowly maid, how dare you insult me!"
It is said that there is no affection in the royal family, and when it comes to the succession of the throne, even less can be said about kinship.
Zhao Hong was the eldest legitimate son of Emperor Xiping, named the Crown Prince in his youth and had always been the dominant figure in Ziwei Palace.
Though Zhao Miao was the eldest daughter of Emperor Xiping, she was born of a concubine. Although her mother’s family was also an official clan, compared to Queen Mother Wu of the Marquis Zhongshan family, it was hardly noteworthy. Furthermore, her younger maternal brother, Prince Zhao Ze, was quite favored by Emperor Xiping, and she used to be bullied by the Crown Prince often in the palace.
If this had been in Ziwei Palace, she would have had to walk a long way around upon seeing the Crown Prince.
Thankfully, this wasn’t Ziwei Palace.
This was Yuelai Inn!
"Hehe..."
Zhao Miao sneered with narrow eyes, "I haven’t been called by such a name in a while. It does feel jarring to hear it again... Do you believe that if I told second brother about your two words, he would break your three legs to vent my anger?"
Zhao Hong angrily retorted: "He wouldn’t dare!"
Zhao Miao: "Why don’t you try me?"
Zhao Hong’s angry expression faltered, and then he assertively yelled again, "Are you here so late just to humiliate me?"
"One!"
Zhao Miao raised one slender finger and seriously corrected, "Second brother said that in our Yuelai Inn, there’s only the shopkeeper and the servants, not any other nonsense people. You’d best remember his words, he has little patience for nonsense. Secondly, I came here so late because I don’t want you, the former Crown Prince, to starve to death in our inn, forcing second brother and our father to have a falling out... I don’t know if you’re really naive or just playing dumb. Haven’t you often boasted about the incredible and capable people who serve you? How come now that you’re in Lu Ting, you still dare to put on airs with second brother? Are you sure you weren’t calculated against and foolishly came here to send yourself to your death?"
When she said these words, her face wasn’t even red. In fact, when she first came to the inn, she knew very little about Yang Ge, only that Yang Ge had even dared to kill Prince Ning, and after the deed, nothing had happened to him, and their father even used her to curry favor with Yang Ge.
Her current knowledge about Yang Ge came entirely from spending the past year in the inn and listening to the gossip.
As a shrewd observer, no tidbit of news was eaten in vain!
"I... How could I not know!"
Zhao Hong stiffened his neck and said: "The Master Qin and Hero Jia in my manor are both well-known martial arts experts. They have personally told me that although Yang Erlang’s name is famous, if they join forces, it’s not certain they would lose to Yang Erlang in even a single move!"
Zhao Miao: ???
"You believe whatever they say?"
With a perplexed face, she asked, "Haven’t you read enough to know about the story, ’Zou Ji’s Admonition to Prince Qi’? If second brother was really someone anyone could match, would our father have gone through the trouble to push us there? Also, you can’t be unaware that Prince Ning died by second brother’s sword, can you? Second brother has killed even Prince Ning; without real skill, would our father have tolerated him?"
Zhao Hong started the habitual scolding, "Insolent, criticizing a parent is unfilial and treasonous, a subject slandering the sovereign deserves death..."
His voice gradually faded as he continued, trying to maintain his stance: "My advisors in the manor all say, Father Emperor values Yang Erlang so highly because he is in good terms with the Ming Sect, the White Lotus Sect, and other martial arts rebels. It is a wise strategy of respecting the learned to acquire a praiseworthy steed, what would an uneducated woman like you know?"
Zhao Miao looked at this fool before her, hardly able to believe that she had been bullied by him for over a decade without uttering a word...
"Where is your brain?"
Incredulously, she asked, "Let me ask you, where is your brain? Don’t you have any idea what kind of temper our father has? Is he the type to lower himself with respect, to spend a fortune on acquiring talent? And what about Prince Ning? You can’t not know that Prince Ning died at the hand of second brother, right? He even killed Prince Ning, so without genuine skill, would our father have tolerated him?"