Rebirth of the Excellent Daughter of the Marquis Household (REDMH) - Chapter 120

Suddenly seeing Yun Ke appear, Yun Yi, who had been furious all the way, finally found a target to vent his anger.

Sitting on his horse, Yun Yi sneered. Without a word, he lashed at Yun Ke with his riding whip.

Yun Ke did not flinch or evade and simply took Yun Ke’s whip head-on. There was a loud crack as it struck Yun Ke’s shoulder hard, splitting his shirt open immediately. Blood began to seep through the tear, staining the fabric red.

All the palace guards and servants present were utterly stunned. This… Prince Jing had just whipped Prince An. What should they do? When two princes fought, they would be cannon fodder. What now? They all desperately wanted to flee!

One person looked up at the sky and soon everyone followed suit, pretending they had seen nothing.

A shadow flickered in Yun Ke’s lowered eyes. He then raised his gaze to meet his furious brother’s, “How have I offended Fifth Brother?”

“Don’t play dumb!” Yun Yi was beside himself with rage. If Yun Ke had dodged, perhaps Yun Yi’s anger might have lessened. But what did he mean by not evading? Was it contempt? Or did he think he was not worthy? “You know very well what you’ve done!”

“Fifth Brother has really confused me,” Yun Ke replied calmly, “I’ve done nothing to wrong Fifth Brother that I know of. Please, enlighten me, Fifth Brother! ”

In the eyes of the Virtuous Consort and Yun Yi, he really had been raised as nothing more than a dog to be used. Yun Ke felt both bitter and amused by Yun Yi’s whip. Had he already been angered to such a state? He just whipped someone without even a word? Did he not realise how many of the Crown Prince’s spies were in this palace, watching? His every move would be reported back. And if the Crown Prince knew, how could the Emperor not know?

The Virtuous Consort was very scheming but she had overprotected Yun Yi, always giving him the best and indulging his every whim. Yun Yi had lived too comfortably. That was why he could not even restrain himself in such a situation.

“Hah, is that so? You’ve grown bold!” Yun Yi, seeing Yun Ke’s calm demeanour as if the whip had not struck him at all, felt his anger boil over. He was so angry that his teeth were itching and he wanted nothing more than to slash his brother’s handsome face to pieces.

He dismounted, raising his hand to lash out with the whip again. He wanted to see how many blows Yun Ke could endure!

The guards who had chased after Yun Yi finally caught up. When they saw this scene in the courtyard, they were half-scared out of their wits. They quickly stepped forward and firmly gripped Yun Yi’s arm, “Your Highness, please, don’t lose your temper. Everything can be discussed!” they pleaded, all the while frantically winking at Yun Yi.

Already fuming, Yun Yi’s anger only intensified when his arm was tightly held, “Let me go!” he roared.

“Your Highness, Her Ladyship sent us to follow. Her Ladyship said that as brothers, whatever the issue is, discuss it behind closed doors!” The guards, loyal to a fault, continued to urge, “Don’t let others see and make a mockery of you!” With that, he gave Yun Yi several meaningful glances.

At this, Yun Yi calmed down slightly. He glanced around and saw that quite a few of Prince An’s household staff and guards had gathered. Wherever his gaze landed, they either looked up at the sky or down at their feet, avoiding his eyes.

In his earlier fury, Yun Yi had not considered that there would be so many people watching in Prince An’s residence.

He regained some sense of composure and begrudgingly lowered his arm. Seeing this, the guards carefully pried the whip from Yun Yi’s hand and discreetly tucked it behind his back, then led Yun Yi’s horse away, “Your Highness Prince Jing can discuss matters with His Highness Prince An,” he said before retreating to the side.

“We’ll talk inside!” Yun Yi shouted angrily, flinging his sleeve. Then he strode into Yun Ke’s study.

Yun Ke addressed the others in a deep voice, “Disperse. Nothing happened here. If this prince finds anyone gossiping about this, this prince will make it hard for them to even put food on the table in the future.” With that, he followed Yun Yi into the study and closed the door.

“What could have made Fifth Brother so furious?” Yun Ke asked knowingly after he walked in. He lifted the teapot and poured a cup of cool tea, offering it to Yun Yi.

“How dare you even ask!” Yun Yi snapped, snatching the cup and downing the tea in one gulp without so much as a glance at it. “You obviously know I like Gu Yu Qi. Why did you ask to marry her?! Do you have feelings for her too? Or are you just doing this to spite me?!”

Yun Ke calmly looked down at the tea cup in Yun Yi’s hand and sighed inwardly. His Fifth Brother was so reckless. Had the tea been poisoned, Yun Yi would have been poisoned by now.

This only strengthened Yun Ke’s belief that his previous life’s success had been carefully orchestrated by their father the Emperor.

“Why would I want to spite you, Fifth Brother? We grew up together. I never told Fifth Brother because you and the Virtuous Consort never asked me what I liked,” Yun Ke said softly, his long eyelashes casting shadows over his eyes, “Now, I’m telling Fifth Brother. I like her. Besides, she saved my life.”

“You like her?” Yun Yi raised a hand, pointing directly at Yun Ke’s nose, laughing in anger, “At least you’re honest! Then why didn’t you say anything sooner?”

“Has Fifth Brother ever truly cared about me?” Yun Ke slowly lifted his gaze, looking at Yun Yi with burning eyes, “From childhood to adulthood, I’ve remembered everything about what Fifth Brother likes and dislikes. But what about Fifth Brother?”

Yun Ke’s words left Yun Yi momentarily speechless. He had always regarded Yun Ke as merely a tool. Why would he care about what a guard dog liked?

“Are you saying this to distance yourself from me?” Yun Yi stuttered and asked back.

“No,” Yun Ke sighed softly, “You are still my good brother. It’s just that this time, as your younger brother I won’t give in.” He took a step closer, fixing his eyes on Yun Yi, and spoke word by word, “In this life, I can give up everything for Fifth Brother, but not her!” He paused, “So, please go back, Fifth Brother. As I said outside, I’ll pretend none of this ever happened. You are still my good brother, but I will never relinquish Gu Yu Qi. Father the Emperor has already issued the decree and now the imperial edict should be on its way from the Ministry of Rites to the Ding Yuan Marquis’ residence. No matter what Fifth Brother does, it’s useless. She is destined to be mine.”

“You!” Yun Yi was livid but at a loss for words. He could only point a finger at Yun Ke’s nose, shaking with rage.

“Oh, and don’t say your younger brother is distancing himself from you,” Yun Ke said, raising a hand to push Yun Yi’s hand away from his face. He spoke to Yun Yi in a cold voice, “I’ve discovered some unusual bandit activity near the capital. The security of the capital has always been the responsibility of the Crown Prince. Fifth Brother should think about what to do next.”

“What am I supposed to do? Don’t bother me with such trivial matters!” Yun Yi was so consumed with anger that he could not even register Yun Ke’s words. His mind was entirely preoccupied with the thought of Gu Yu Qi marrying Yun Ke. How could he care about anything else?!

Yun Ke had said what he needed to say. Whether Yun Yi could grasp the opportunity was now up to him. Yun Ke deliberately mentioned the impending chaos of the Gengzi Rebellion not for any other reason than to see how Yun Yi would react to such crucial information.

If he dismissed such vital intelligence because he was angry with him, then it was very likely that in their past life, their father the Emperor never truly intended to pass the throne to Yun Yi.

In fact, Yun Ke was merely gambling to see if his suspicions were correct.

The Gengzi Rebellion was destined to happen. How it would be handled depended on each person’s opinion. In this lifetime, he could only help Yun Yi so much.

It was somewhat ironic. In his previous life, Yun Ke had harboured deep resentment towards Yun Yi and the Virtuous Consort. Yet, having lived through it once more, he could now see that if it were not for the Virtuous Consort, a prince like him might not have survived in the palace at all.

The so-called gratitude and resentment probably meant this. He had already done everything he could to help Yun Yi. Yun Yi had to choose his own path and that was not something he could do for him. Whether Yun Yi could reach that pinnacle again in this lifetime was no longer of primary concern to Yun Ke. He had found some things in this life that he had missed in the previous one. Gu Yu Qi was one, and so was his father the Emperor’s true intentions.

He used to be filled with suspicion and anger towards everyone around him. He isolated himself, using a facade of aloofness as his shield. Yet, looking back now, he realised he had gone too far in many ways.

“I will send off Fifth Brother,” Yun Ke stepped aside and bowed respectfully. Yun Yi was furious, but what could he do now? Their father the Emperor’s decree had been issued and he had already struck Yun Ke. There was nothing more he could do.

With a deep, resentful glare at Yun Ke, Yun Yi angrily flicked his sleeves and stormed out of Yun Ke’s study.

As Yun Ke had mentioned, the Minister of Rites arrived at the Ding Yuan Marquis’ mansion with the imperial edict. The entire household came out to kneel and receive the decree.

When the decree was read out, everyone, including Gu Yu Qi, was left in stunned silence.

Gu Yu Qi, this rebellious girl, was actually going to marry into the royal family? This was what the Ding Yuan Marquis thought. This is bad news!

That wretched girl Gu Yu Qi was actually so lucky? Wonderful, once she left, that old wretch Liang Huai Yu will be killed soon and the position of the Marquis’ main wife will be mine again. This was what Liu Yue was thinking. She was very happy.

As for Gu Yu Qi, she had long suspected that she would not be able to escape Yun Ke’s grasp in this lifetime, just like in the previous life, but she had not anticipated that it would happen so quickly.

Reflecting on the timing, Gu Yu Qi could not help but smile bitterly. Fate indeed had a peculiar sense of humour. After all the twists and turns, she was again betrothed to her nemesis Yun Ke at the age of fourteen, just like in her past life.

But in this lifetime, she was not entering Prince An’s palace as a concubine but as a secondary consort.

A secondary consort! The title had changed, but she was still not the principal wife!

After receiving the decree, Gu Yu Qi remained expressionless as she knelt to express her gratitude.

Yun Ke seemed to be in quite a hurry. The wedding date was set for the end of the winter month, just two months after the Gengzi Rebellion would end. It was clear he did not intend to let her spend the new year away from his palace.