The Disabled Tyrant’s Pet Palm Fish [Transmigration] - Chap 43
Chap 43
The Emperor summoned Jing-wang once again into the imperial palace. In the imperial edict, it
clearly stated for Jing-wang to bring fish.
Li Yu didn’t know the individual arrangements that the 3rd Prince and Jing-wang had made.
Because fish was included in the imperial edict this time, he felt somewhat elated inside.
He very cooperatively jumped on top of the crystal bottle to allow Jing-wang to put him inside.
Jing-wang’s face color was somewhat dim, but it wasn’t towards the fish because Jing-wang still
extremely gently pet fish on the head.
Li Yu remembered that the same hand also encircled fish into Jing-wang’s embrace and taught
fish how to write. Embarrassed, Li Yu scooted away. However, not long afterwards, his fish
instincts took over and he started to beg for petting again.
He can tell that Jing-wang’s mood wasn’t very well. Although he didn’t know the reason, he
hoped that Jing-wang’s mood could turn for the better.
Xiao Yu, who was actively begging for strokes, finally earned a smile from Jing-wang. After
petting the fish, Jing-wang brought the fish to the imperial palace per the edict.
Outside of Ganqing Palace, Luo-gonggong welcomed them personally. Entering the palace, the
Emperor was still sitting on his dragon chair up top. There were also some people in official
outfits; what’s strange was that the 3rd Prince and 6th Prince were also present.
Li Yu couldn’t help but feel puzzled. Last time when the palace caught on fire, the 3rd Prince
and 6th Prince entered the palace specifically to check up on the Emperor’s well-being. What
were these two people doing here this time?
The 3rd Prince was slightly malicious; the 6th Prince was secretly craftly. Grouped together, they
must not be considered lightly.
Plus as soon as Jing-wang brought fish and entered the main hall, the two Princes’ gazes
immediately shot over, making fish somewhat nervous.
Therefore, from time to time, Li Yu looked over at these two princes.
Upon seeing Jing-wang’s arrival, the Emperor smiled and said: “TianChi, you came just in time.
Your fish grew gold scales so I ordered the astronomy department for a divination.”
So it’s for this. Li Yu nodded to himself. The Emperor’s summon was because of the auspicious
sign matter.
The Emperor’s words were not enough to convince the masses whether a fish like him was really
an auspicious sign. It would be like the Emperor creating a good luck charm for himself;
spreading this outside wouldn’t be too proper. However, if it was something that the astronomy
department calculated out using divination, it’d count as genuine.
The Emperor just finished talking when a long faced official made a noise in acknowledgement
and stepped forth. Reciting a series of words that Li Yu couldn’t understand, he finally said:
“Congratulations, your majesty. Great news. For a fish to grow gold scales, it is indeed a rare
auspicious sign. This official also looked at the state of the constellations recently. The Emperor
Star has been shining brilliantly, ascending slowly. This auspicious sign indicates that our
dynasty is prosperous and peaceful with favorable weather for good harvest, which is beneficial
to our dynasty and to your majesty.”
This official boasted with phrases after phrases, basically praising the fish. The little carp
couldn’t help but lift up.
He already guessed before, people who divinated were always very astute and definitely wouldn’t
go against the Emperor’s wishes. His label as an auspicious sign was probably down pat.
The shadow the Emperor had in his heart towards the big fire in Zhongcui Palace passed. He
nodded his head with a smile: “Very good. I also thought this to be true.”
The official from the astronomy department received a huge reward and gave thanks in
satisfaction.
“Father, this…this is all?” The 3rd Prince waited for a long time, but didn’t receive the
conclusion he needed. Shouldn’t the person from the astronomy department say that for a fish to
grow gold scales, it was a sign that it will transform into a dragon? Why was the person he
placed inside the astronomy department completely useless!
The Emperor said strangely: “This is all. What else can there be? Hearing from your tone, is
there something else?”
“No. This is not what I mean.” The 3rd Prince realized that there must have been an issue
somewhere. Unwilling to accept that this chance would go to waste, he stubbornly said: “Father,
I’m not familiar with how the astronomy department operates. Is it just one person doing the
calculations or different people working together? If it’s only one person, can an omission be
possible?”
Mu TianMing(3) thought perhaps his subordinate didn’t get picked to meet the Emperor; he just
needed to switch the official.
The person from the astronomy department, who was congratulating the Emperor just now, was
the head diviner, Sun XiMiao. Head Diviner Sun said with a smile: “3rd Prince, your words were
quite excessive. To divinate important matters for his majesty and for this dynasty, the answer
that I provide is deduced from a collaborative effort from everyone in the astronomy department.
If your highness doesn’t trust me, you can exchange me for someone else. But the answer will
still be the same.”
Li Yu: ???
Li Yu jumped in fright at the 3rd Prince’s words. Everything was perfect, so why was the 3rd
Prince suddenly suggesting to change people. He seemed to be up to no good.
He just shook slightly in surprise; Jing-wang who was sitting next to the crystal bottle
immediately started caressing his back with a finger, idly stroking here and there as if to comfort
him, wanting him to calm down.
Of course Li Yu would listen to his tyrant master. What was the 3rd Prince? Only a cannon
fodder. Also Jing-wang had the protagonist aura and was the next Emperor. He already managed
to hug his master’s big thighs, what’s there to be afraid of!
To be able to work inside the astronomy department, one had to have some skills. Although Sun
SiMiao’s official rank wasn’t high, he still had quite some weight in front of the Emperor. The
3rd Prince doubted Head Diviner Sun without reason, however Head Diviner Sun responded
quite magnanimously. The Emperor trusted Sun SiMiao. Therefore, he only felt that the 3rd
Prince was being immature.
The Emperor reprimanded sternly: “TianMing(3), since you don’t understand how the astronomy
department words, then stop criticizing randomly.”
Scolded, the 3rd Prince lowered his head and gave the 6th Prince a glance. Mu TianXiao(6)
understood and actively stepped forth to say: “Father, it’s not that elder brother is speaking
randomly. Rather, privately we heard a children’s nursery rhyme being sung amongst the
common people, which seemed to contradict with the words of the astronomy department……
The 3rd Prince and I are afraid to misunderstand so we specifically invited a few seasoned
Buddhist monks to ask them to take a look.”
Hearing the words “children’s nursery rhyme,” the Emperor’s heart skipped. He turned to stare at
the 6th Prince and asked: “What kind of nursery rhyme?”
“The actual words of the sentences are unbearable, this son doesn’t dare to recite it. Please look
it over instead, father.”
The 6th Prince pulled out a previously prepared piece of paper and handed it over for the Head
Manager Luo RuiSheng to present to the Emperor.
After the Emperor received the paper, he carefully read it. Although his complexion didn’t
change, Li Yu already felt the surrounding atmosphere turn cold.
He thought, what’s written on the paper? Why would it make the Emperor so unhappy?
Was it some kind of prophecy similar to “In the 3rd dynasty of Tang, a woman will be Wu
Emperor”?
After the Emperor finished reading, he coolly indicated to head manager Luo to give the paper to
Jing-wang.
The paper landed in Jing-wang’s hands. Jing-wang swiftly opened it for a look. He read very
quickly. Because ancient writing was hard to understand, Li Yu only managed to catch a
glimpse, saying “Gold scales aren’t actually objects in a pond. Placed in the sky, it’ll turn into a
dragon.”
Li Yu: ???
Even though Li Yu didn’t understand ancient words very well, he understood this sentence. This
was a plan to shift blame on fish!
Not only was it causing trouble for fish, it secretly hinted at Jing-wang’s name. On the surface, it
said that fish can turn into a dragon. But in actuality, wasn’t it pointing out that Jing-wang might
ascend the throne?
Although Jing-wang really did ascend the throne in the end, to use nursery rhymes to pass this
information on right now, was this someone terrified that the Emperor wouldn’t notice Jing-
wang?
The Emperor was the ruler of a nation after all. Even if he felt pity towards Jing-wang, he still
wouldn’t bear this kind of instigation!
“TianChi, what do you think?” The Emperor asked Jing-wang without batting an eye. No one
knew what the Emperor was thinking at this moment. Mu TianMing(3) and Mu TianXiao(6)
only hoped that the Emperor would grow fear and caution against Jing-wang.
However, after Jing-wang learned of the 6th Prince’s malicious plan, he ordered people to
secretly follow the 6th Prince. He accidentally discovered that the 6th Prince ordered people to
teach kids this nursery rhyme outside. Therefore, Jing-wang was even prepared for this nursery
rhyme.
Jing-wang calmly gave Wang Xi a glance. Wang-gonggong stepped forth and spoke for his
master: “Your majesty. This is complete nonsense. His highness is also very baffled why this
kind of folk song would spread amongst the common people and deliberately create dispute
between the Emperor and his father-son relationship. His highness implores your majesty to
investigate thoroughly and see when this nursery rhyme spread. If it’s only in the last few
days……”
Jing-wang’s fish only switched scales recently after all. The Emperor only discovered this
recently. It was likely someone did it purposely to target Jing-wang.
The Emperor pondered momentarily and nodded his head in approval: “Jing-wang’s words are
correct. I also plan to do this……”
The Emperor didn’t actually throw a temper at Jing-wang because of the nursery rhyme. Instead,
he ordered the imperial guards to investigate the earliest start of the song, as well as the people
who spread it first.
Seeing his traps towards Jing-wang fail continuously, the 3rd Prince gave the 6th Prince an
urgent look. The 6th Prince looked unperturbed outwardly, but actually he was also starting to
sweat.
This was the hammer that the 6th Prince came up with, but contrary to what he expected, the
Emperor didn’t actually pay attention to the nursery rhyme itself. Not to mention, the earliest
spread of the song was easy to investigate and couldn’t fool anyone.
At this time, the seasoned monks that the 6th Prince invited also arrived. Seeing the row of
monks, Li Yu who had been observing all this time suddenly remembered something. There was
also an event that occurred in the book that mentioned seasoned monks.
Because of his little butterfly effect, the plotline of the original novel has already been messed
up. Originally, when the 6th Prince and Jing-wang struggled for the throne, he ordered monks to
start rumors in front of the Emperor to slander Jing-wang. However, in the book, the rumor
created was “As a naturally born mute, Jing-wang was inauspicious.” How did it become “Gold
scales aren’t actually objects in a pond. Placed in the sky, it’ll turn into a dragon”?
Of course it was absolute nonsense. It wasn’t even exceptionally rare for a fish to have gold
scales. For example, all koi basically have gold scales. The Emperor himself raised many, many
koi in his lotus pond. So how could a food ingredient fish transform into a dragon first?!
However, this reason couldn’t be used to persuade the Emperor.
Li Yu secretly thought, since this was the same plan that the 6th Prince came up with, different
broth but the same old medicine, would the loophole that appeared in the book also appear here?
In the original book, the 6th Prince was in too much of a hurry to frame Jing-wang and couldn’t
find any trustworthy seasoned monks quick enough. Plus, normal monks weren’t stupid and
wouldn’t get involved in the battle between the princes. Therefore, the monks that the 6th prince
found were all just his loyal subordinates in disguise. They didn’t even shave their head bald for
too long. Nor did they have the 6 markers on their heads.
Thinking this, Li Yu stared unblinkingly at the monk at the forefront, searching for some kind of
clue.
Because he stared extremely seriously, he slowly discovered that the monk would occasionally
rub his neck against his neck collar. This movement was somewhat odd–
Li Yu suddenly realized. Shaving in a hurry often left broken pieces of short hair behind. This
monk was in discomfort from being poked by the short hairs.
From this he determined that this time the 6th Prince also was using fake monks!
As long as these fake monks can be exposed in front of the Emperor, no matter what these
people said, the Emperor wouldn’t believe them.
Thinking it through, Li Yu naturally planned to splash Jing-wang with some water and make
them go outside again. However, the 6th Prince didn’t give Jing-wang any chance to breathe. He
rushed to present to the Emperor, saying: “Father, the investigation of the nursery rhyme will
take some time and might not come up with anything. All of these people I invited are senior
monks. Why not let them examine 5th brother’s fish. We’d know immediately.”
Li Yu: “……”
Although the Emperor ordered the imperial guards to investigate, he still had doubts towards
Jing-wang in his heart. Thinking that it wouldn’t matter to permit the monks to have a look, he
nodded and allowed it.
But the Emperor didn’t actually say clearly to have Jing-wang hand over the fish to the monks.
On the contrary, Jing-wang held onto the crystal bottle even tighter with his hands. Wang Xi,
who understood Jing-wang deeply, gathered his courage and said to the monks: “You guys don’t
need to move. His highness will hold the crystal bottle for you guys to see.”
The Emperor knew Jing-wang was very careful and concerned towards the fish. This way, the
monks can also see the fish. Since the Emperor suspected Jing-wang, he also held a faint hint of
guilt conscience. Therefore, he silently acquiesced to Jing-wang’s decision.
By this time, it was too late for Li Yu to find some other way of letting Jing-wang know. The 6th
Prince would be the first to object prolonging time. Not to mention, these fake monks were right
before their eyes. Li Yu couldn’t allow these monks saying something related to “gold scales
transforming into dragon” and continue to drive a wedge between the Emperor and Jing-wang.
Jing-wang was able to suggest the Emperor to investigate the nursery rhyme because this was the
first time the Emperor had heard of this kind of rumor; he wouldn’t believe in it so easily.
However, if the monks also said the same thing, repeated rumor becomes a fact. How could the
Emperor trust in Jing-wang then?
Li Yu normally was always together with Jing-wang so he knew best that Jing-wang didn’t have
any disrespect towards his father at all. The father-son relationship between the two of them
didn’t come easy; it shouldn’t have to suffer this kind of suspicion and doubt!
The top priority was still to expose these fake monks right in front of everyone. If these people
managed to leave the imperial palace, it would be hard to find them afterwards. It’s not that
there’s no chance at all. It’s fine if he has to take a risk!
As Jing-wang brought fish closer to the head monk and allowed the monk to see fish, inside the
crystal bottle, Li Yu slammed violently towards the direction of the monk.
The strength of his fish body has been increased in a variety of areas after the main mission,
several times. Li Yu also used everything he got. With a kacha sound, a big hole appeared on the
crystal bottle from the impact. The little carp instantly flew out and pounced on the head monk.
How could the monk have thought the fish would escape out of the crystal bottle. For a split
second, he was shocked. Subconsciously, he raised his arm to block.
However, it was too late. The little carp already jumped pass the other’s hand, landing on this
person’s shoulder. When the system sounded at this time, it was in the middle of a loud
commotion; Li Yu didn’t have time to bother checking which mission updated. Aiming carefully
and tail raised in waiting, as soon as he jumped onto the monk’s shoulder, he swung his tail
horizontally outward.
He originally intended to knock the monk’s hat off, believing that if this happened, Jing-wang
would figure out that these monks were fake. In order to expose these people, he already
disregarded the mission and disregarded how blasphemous it was to attack a monk’s hat right in
front of the Emperor. Without excess time to think and deliberate, he only instinctively thought
about protecting Jing-wang by proving that this was all a plan by the 6th Prince to harm Jing-
wang.
The monk was so scared by this extremely ferocious behaving fish that his mouth opened wide.
When his monk’s hat hit the floor, he completely forgot about covering his head.
“Father!” The 3rd Prince and 6th Prince yelled loudly in unison. The two of them both saw this
fish breaking out somehow and even… even knocking off the monk’s hat!
Jing-wang was paying attention to Xiao Yu this entire time. Ever since he got closer to the monk,
the carp demon started to pace agitatedly inside the crystal bottle. He felt that it was extremely
likely there was something wrong with the monk. The demon carp seemed to want to tell him
something important. He already envisioned all sorts of plans, but he never thought the demon
carp would disregard its personal safety and directly jump on the monk instead!
Seeing the carp demon already breaking out of the bottle, Jing-wang couldn’t allow any mishap
to happen to this fish and needed to deal with the aftermath for this fish. A large portion of the
broken pieces of the crystal bottle still remained by his hand; Jing-wang focused his thoughts.
While everyone was still looking at the fish, he resolutely squeezed the broken pieces in his
hand, allowing the fragments to cut his own hand, drawing blood.
“Your highness!” Wang Xi cried out in alarm by Jing-wang’s side.
Jing-wang waved his hand. Urgent time. No other choice.
Wang Xi stomped his feet. Deliberating for a moment between helping Jing-wang wrap his
wound and protecting Master Xiao Yu, he ultimately chose Master Xiao Yu because Jing-wang’s
expression told him to do so. He couldn’t go against Jing-wang’s wishes.
After the little carp knocked down the monk’s hat, he fell to the floor and flopped around. Wang
Xi hastily placed the fish into a spare crystal bottle.
Once the fish was fine, Jing-wang focused on finding the monk’s issue. He discovered that the
monk, who had his hat knocked off just now, revealed a completely bald and shiny head with
nothing on it at all.
Jing-wang quickly realized, so…… this was a fake monk. That’s what Xiao Yu wanted him to
know!
“TianChi, what happened just now. Your hand……”
One moment, the Emperor saw the fish somehow jumping onto the monk. The next moment, he
saw Jing-wang’s hand injured.
Wang Xi anxiously wanted to speak for his master, however, Jing-wang didn’t allow him.
Instead, he used his blood and wrote directly on Wang Xi’s clothes–
Father, please inspect thoroughly. This son discovered the monks to be fake; they didn’t actually
take the oath. In a moment of urgency, I threw the crystal bottle forcibly exposed this deceit.
The Emperor: “……”
Ever since the Emperor heard the nursery rhyme, he’s been slightly perturbed. At this moment,
as he looked at the bloodstain repeatedly landing on the front of Wang Xi’s clothes, and then
looked at the broken crystal fragments on the floor, his heart continued to twist and turn. In utter
panic, the monk put on his hat again. However, it was already too late. The Emperor ordered the
guards to restrain the monk firmly and examine his head. After taking off the monk’s hat for a
look, sure enough, he did not take his oaths.
The Emperor understood. He saw the fish fly out. In actuality, it was Jing-wang who hastily
broke the crystal bottle by squeezing it. Jing-wang was unable to speak so he was unable to
promptly explain himself clearly. He could only use this kind of plan to expose these fake
monks.
Because of his habit as an Emperor, he didn’t think clearly and started to suspect Jing-wang. He
was almost tricked by this group of fake monks!
Jing-wang’s hand bled unceasingly, face turning pale. The Emperor regretted deeply. Patting
Jing-wang’s shoulder, he said gently: “TianChi, good child. You suffered. Quickly go let the
imperial physicians take a look.”
The Emperor ordered Luo RuiSheng and Wang Xi both to support Jing-wang and help him to the
side hall to wait for the imperial physicians.
The 3rd Prince, 6th Prince, and the fake monks, who were kowtowing nonstop, remained behind
to face the absolutely infuriated Emperor.
Next
