RPAGF Chapter 50 Addiction
Chapter 50 Addiction
Yin De acted swiftly.
When Batu came out of the back door of the opium den, the alley was pitch black, with only a lantern swaying in the distance.
After finishing his opium, he was unsteady on his feet, feeling lightheaded, and humming a folk tune from the grasslands.
Two dark figures emerged from the shadows and grabbed his arms from either side.
Before Batu could react, he was hit on the back of the head.
His body went limp, and he was supported by two people and stuffed into a small blue cloth sedan chair that had been waiting at the alley entrance.
The sedan chair had no lights or markings, blending silently into the night as it passed through street after street, entering the Tenth Prince's mansion through a side gate.
Yin'e had ordered that the person be locked in the most secluded empty room in the backyard.
That was the northernmost room in the mansion. It was originally used to store old furniture and miscellaneous items. The doors and windows were sturdy, the walls were thick, and the sound insulation was excellent.
Yin'e ordered his men to tidy up the room in advance, remove the clutter, and replace it with a wooden bed covered with a thin mattress. The windows were nailed shut from the outside, and an iron bolt was added to the door.
Batu was tied to the bed.
Wide cloth straps secured his hands and feet to the four corners of the bed, preventing him from injuring himself while struggling.
His eyes were covered with a black cloth, and his mouth was not stuffed with anything, but no one around him spoke to him.
Yin'e stood outside the door, the moonlight shining on his face, making his expression half bright and half dark.
He stood with his hands behind his back, listening to the sounds coming from inside the door.
At first, there was silence.
Batu is still in a coma.
He woke up after about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
He moved his fingers first, then his wrist, and then his ankle.
He felt himself being tied up, and with a sudden struggle, the bed creaked.
"Damn it! Let me go!"
The voice squeezed out from the crack in the door, rough and irritable, carrying a fierceness that seemed to seep from the very bones.
"Do you know who I am?!" Batu's voice rose several octaves. "You bastards! I'll kill you all!"
He began to struggle, his body twisting on the bed, the cloth straps on his wrists being pulled taut and digging into his flesh.
"I am the heir apparent of a Mongol prince! My brother-in-law is the Tenth Prince! My sister is the Tenth Princess Consort! You dare to arrest me? You're all tired of living!"
Batu's voice squeezed out from the crack in the door, each sentence louder and more urgent than the last.
He rattled off every title he could think of to bolster his courage.
Yin'e stood outside the door, listening to the shouts, his face expressionless.
Ulan had somehow walked up behind him.
The moonlight shone on her face, making her complexion appear deathly pale. Her lips were pressed tightly together, and her eyes were brimming with tears.
Yin'e heard her rapid breathing and turned to look at her.
"Tenth Master...I...I..." Her voice was broken and choked with sobs, almost inaudible. "I'm sorry...I have no face to stay in the Tenth Master's mansion anymore."
I implore you to petition the Emperor to grant me a divorce.
As she said this, tears streamed down her face like beads from a broken string, but there was no sobbing in her voice, only a complete, heartbroken calm.
That calmness was more unsettling than any loud weeping; she truly felt she was unworthy of being the wife of the emperor.
Yin'e looked at her and remained silent for a moment.
He didn't rush to speak, but instead reached out and grabbed Ulan's hand.
"Madam, if I truly had such thoughts, why would I need to inform you?"
"I could have simply gone to the palace, told Father Emperor the truth, and asked him to make a decision. Why didn't I do that?"
Ulan looked up at him, her eyes blurred with tears.
"I did this today in the hope that Batu can see the error of his ways and stop doing things that would hurt your father, hurt you, and hurt the Tenth Prince's Mansion."
He's your brother, and also my brother-in-law. If I wanted to deal with him, I had a hundred ways; I wouldn't need to tie him up and lock him up.
Ulan's lips trembled, and her tears flowed even more fiercely.
She lowered her body slightly, bent her knees, and actually knelt directly at Yin'e's feet.
"Tenth Master, I'm sorry. Over the years, I've disrespected you in the manor, made you lose face, and even embezzled money from the manor."
Even so, you still have such magnanimity towards me and our whole family.
Outsiders say you are impulsive, easily angered, and a good-for-nothing.
I used to think that way too, but now it seems, Tenth Master, you are the true hero.
Yin'e lowered his head, looking at Wulan kneeling at his feet, his heart filled with mixed feelings.
He knew that Ulan's words weren't just flattery; she was genuinely moved.
If a woman steals money from her husband's family to support her own family, any man would at least give her a beating, or worse, divorce her and send her back to the grasslands.
But he didn't do that. Not only did he not pursue the matter, he also tried to find a solution for her and cleaned up the mess for her brother.
Such magnanimity is indeed rare in this era.
But Yin'e knew in his heart that he did this not entirely for Wulan.
More than anything, it was for the sake of the Tenth Prince's Mansion, and for their own sake.
Ulan is the Tenth Prince's wife; her scandals are the Tenth Prince's scandals, and her problems are his problems.
Helping Ulan is helping yourself.
Batu, though stupid and useless, is the eldest son of Prince Urjingalap. If he can be tamed, he will be an extremely useful pawn on the grassland.
The double agent thing would make others worry about loyalty, but with Batu, as long as you have something on him, he'll be more obedient than anyone else.
"Get up." Yin'e bent down, supported Wulan's arms with both hands, and helped her up. "The ground is cold, don't kneel."
Ulan stood up, wiped her face with a handkerchief, took a deep breath, and calmed down a little.
Yin'e pulled her a few steps deeper into the corridor, away from that room.
Batu continued his cursing, but it was no longer as forceful as before.
"Ulan, I'm asking you, do you understand your brother?"
Ulan paused for a moment, then nodded, then shook her head.
"He wasn't like this before. On the grasslands, he was reckless, but not a bad person."
He was filial to his father and also good to me, his younger sister.
But in the last few years... I don't know what happened to him, it's like he's become a completely different person.
"It's not that he's been replaced; someone has tampered with him." Yin'e's voice turned cold. "Do you know what the Crown Prince's men gave him to inhale?"
Ulan shook her head, looking at him blankly.
"That stuff is called opium, also known as 'longevity ointment'," Yin'e said, emphasizing each word.
"It is extracted from a plant called poppy, and you will become addicted after eating it once or twice."
Once addicted, a person can't live without it, and will do anything to get it.
"The money your brother gambled away at Juxianju, the debts he incurred, and his collusion with people from the Crown Prince's residence—all of it ultimately stemmed from this opium."
Ulan's face turned pale instantly.
"Tenth Master...you mean...my brother..."
"He was tricked by the Crown Prince's men."