T/N: .( ̵˃﹏˂̵ ) this chapter took me a long time to do so there may not be an update in the middle of the week next week, my brain is fried and I need a break ヾ(@゜∇゜@)ノ
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Returning to the ship at night, Su Qing Chen had a dream, inthe dream he returned to when he was a child, the memory of a child was hazy,every time he only remembered a bit, then in a blink of an eye he would vaguelyfeel he had nothing to look forward to, but this time he actually genuinely andeagerly experienced his past.
His father was the son of the Su family in Hangzhou,Xiaoshan, at twenty years old he was a candidate who came second in theexaminations, when he was thirty-six he had already been promoted for hisservices to right censor official, honest and uncorrupted for the people, butexceptionally skilled, judging a case like a G.o.d, and was graceful and eminent,no matter what his reputation was outstanding amongst both the court and thepeople of Qingliu, only sadly the year he was forty years old everything was ruined…
Su Qing Chen still remembered how his coming to be was verydifficult, his mother Lishi only gave birth to him at the age of thirty-two, hehad three older sisters, so they treated him like a treasure, even his strictfather when no one was around, would frequently allow him to sit on his shouldersto play.
It was also winter that year, father brought his wife andchildren home to visit his parents, they arrived at Qingzhou on an officialship…, stopping at the sh.o.r.e, the narrow pa.s.sageway on the sh.o.r.e was brightlylit, father lead him along, mother and older sisters stood to the side, thelights were hazy, a hubbub of voices, father bought a qianzi steamed bun placing it in his hand, the steamed bun was niceand warm, the steam rose with the smell of food in the winter air, changingfather’s dignified appearance, mother’s gentle smile, older sisters innocentand unaffected appearances into a haze.
It would be great if time could stop at this moment.
When Su Qing Chen woke up, he only felt his face was damp,reaching out to touch it with his hand, traces of tears covered his hand…, hisheart was empty, a pain like he lost a piece of his heart.
The moon hung high in the sky, a moist coldness filled theair, so cold it could pierce bones, making it impossible but to shiver.
When Su Qing Chen walked out covered in a cloak, right atthat moment he saw Zhao Jin Yu gazing into the distance leaning against theparapet, the night wind moved her skirt to and fro, graceful, her hair lightlyfluttering…, he silently walked over, when he approached her he then discoveredhe had actually held his breath in fear of scaring the other person.
“Jin girl.” Su Qing Chen called her by the nickname heusually deliberately used to get close to her, at this moment it held a lot ofsincerity.
Zhao Jin Yu did not imagine she would still come across SuQing Chen in the middle of the night, she said rather somewhat unexpectedly,“Uncle Su, why are you not asleep?”
Su Qing Chen suddenly felt this way of calling him uncle wasa little bit unpleasant to hear, =.=, was he that old? He was still very young,right?
“I just woke up, what about you?”
Zhao Jin Yu turned her head glancing at Su Qing Chen beforeturning her head back, looking at the mountains far across from the sh.o.r.eshrouded in darkness, “I haven’t slept at all.” Speaking up to here her faceshowed a sort of hesitation, only very quickly she recovered her resolution,“Uncle Su,
Auntie Chen and I plan to change ships here.”
“Why?”
Zhao Jin Yu did not know how to tell Su Qing Chen thatAuntie Chen’s complexion had paled when she saw the scene of the two of thempractically holding each other, after she returned she had constantly andtactfully spoke to her about how important a woman’s reputation is, andfortunately this was outside, no one they knew had seen, otherwise what sort ofrumour would have been spread around, Zhao Jin Yu naturally explained thesituation, but still it did not rea.s.sure Chen Rong…, and since getting to knowChen Rong, Zhao Jin Yu knew she once had a child when she was younger, and wasa female baby, but did not raise her by her side, this has always been a sorepoint for her, this time she was exceptionally worried for Zhao Jin Yu, and hadunconsciously overlapped the two people together.
“Lady Zhao, you don’t understand how hard it is to be awoman in this world.” Chen Rong took in a deep breath, “It’s not that I thinkthere is something going on between you and Lord Su, but there are thousands ofmouths in the world, their spit can drown you, what’s more, Lady Zhao’s familybusiness is unfinished…, even though Lord Su has never married, but woulddefinitely not marry you currently.”
Zhao Jin Yu could not deny it, Chen Rong’s point was right.
In fact Zhao Jin Yu also thought about making their wayseparate from Su Qing Chen, however what made her decide was not the issue ChenRong was worried about, rather stopping at each port like this for an entireday, her letter would only be delivered after a long time! Before when she wasseasick she still persevered to stay on the ship, mainly because going by shipwas a lot quicker than land transport, she could deliver the letter sooner, butwith Su Qing Chen’s appearance her plan was completely in disorder.
When she thought of her adoptive father still in the damp andcold prison cell, she felt so anxious it burned.
“Nothing, only we don’t dare to delay Uncle Su’s officialbusiness.”
Even though Su Qing Chen was confused for a moment, butrecovered his rationality very quickly, he had previously heard Zhao Jin Yu askmany times, why did they need to stop for such a long time anyway, could it beshe was in a rush?
Since he had come here, naturally he had thoroughly madediscreet inquiries about matters, he knew Zhao Jin Yu had made a trip to theprison cells of the Ministry of Justice to see her adoptive father Zhao ChangChun before she left, and the armed escort with Zhao Jin Yu was the famous headarmed escort of Xing Tian bodyguards establishment, young but still veryskilled, she rarely went on jobs in recent years, this time she actually tookthe initiative to follow Zhao Jin Yu…, this matter was thoroughly uncommon.
He thought of Zhao Chang Chun’s implication case, and with afrown, he thought…, could this be Zhao Chang Chun’s escape route he found forhimself?
Su Qing Chen’s gaze again stopped on the stone restingaround Zhao Jin Yu’s neck, he couldn’t help silently curse, why did this stonejust had to be on her?
The emperor’s decree appeared to still be in his ear, “Theerrand we are asking you to do today is somewhat different, it’s to protect astone, that stone has a spirit, it is an extremely importantly thing, you musttreat it with all your effort like you would us, it has just come into thisworld, it’s very curious about the world, you need to take it to see more ofthe outside, fine food, fun things must not be forgotten even more, as for LadyZhao, naturally you must spare no effort to help her, you cannot be negligent.”Soon after he called Rui Fu over with a brocade small box, two yuxue pills were inside, he said, “It’sthe first time that Lady Zhao is on a ship, her body is unwell, you need tobring the two pills to her.”
At that time even though Su Qing Chen’s face was calm, hisheart however was incomparably shocked, leaving aside the fact it was the firsttime he heard a stone has a spirit, this was unheard of, very rare, moreoverthese were yuxue pills, even thoughit was still very precious in the palace, because the ingredients were hard tofind, at most ten pills in a year, the price of one pill outside had alreadybeen risen to a thousand golds, granted it was still a priceless market, whowould have imagined the emperor would so easily take them out to give to acommon woman to use, if this woman was seriously ill, fine if she urgentlyneeded it to save her life, but she was only seasick! How could it not astoundpeople? This generosity of the emperor was also rather too grand.
As an official subject you must always try to fathom thethoughts of the person above, only in this way can you live for a long time, hereckoned that stone was the one that the emperor made them look for before…,but even though they obviously found it why didn’t they bring it back, henaturally did not ask, after interacting with her for the last few days, hethen had a rough understanding, he reckoned this stone had to be raised likethis outside, unable to be shut inside the home, and Zhao Jin Yu neverthelesshad a very important relationship with the stone, therefore she was thecarrier.
Who would have imagined, he beat his brains out, but wasmoved a little by Zhao Jin Yu, his mood again changed somewhat, the stone, theemperor’s decree, Zhao Chang Chun’s case, his adoptive daughter Zhao Jin Yu,and the purpose of going south, now thinking about it so many things weretwisted together, it was somewhat unclear.
But with unclear matters, so long as he was given the timehe could always make out the clues right?
Su Qing Chen again thought of her current situation, hepitied her even more, since young Su Qing Chen had gotten used to the coldnessand warmth of human emotions, he was completely indifferent towards people,today however he felt his feelings soften unimaginably, he said, “If it’s soyou can reach Hangzhou earlier, I can actually help you.” In any case the emperorhad said, he needed to look after her as much as possible right?
Zhao Jin Yu looked distracted, “…”
Su Qing Chen laughed brightly, eyes gentle, very muchhandsome, saying, “Tomorrow we’ll switch to a government official ship, wewon’t stop for the whole journey, recovering the time we lost from the last fewdays of stop overs. Do you think that’s good?”
Her heart thumped…, why did it feel like Su Qing Chen’s eyeswere luring her, such a handsome and mature man, at moments his body had acharm gathered over a long time, if he used enough power, she would truly nothave a bit of resistance, what did she say before to Chen Rong? She said shecould resist him?
Zhao Jin Yu blushed across her face, even though in her mindshe knew nothing could happen between the two of them, she also did not havefeelings of like for him, but the other person luring her in such way, teasing,she as an ordinary woman, would always have some impulsive thoughts.
At Su Qing Chen’s age, he could be considered to haveexperienced a lot of things, being able to last in his position up until now,he naturally invested a lot of effort normal people could not see, after thetides have washed sands away the giant amongst men emerges, a person rarelyseen, capable of causing such feelings from Zhao Jin Yu was also very common.
An ambiguity rippled in the air, Zhao Jin Yu in any casefelt Su Qing Chen’s last words were too gentle, gentle like the whispersbetween lovers.
It was at this moment, Zhao Jin Yu felt a pain in her neck,it turns out the stone was jumping about right now unhappily, using all hisstrength to pull on the red rope, hurting her so much she almost cried.
Even though Su Qing Chen knew this stone wasn’t simple, butstill seeing it move like this he was astonished, extremely amazed he stared atthe stone.
Zhao Jin Yu jumped in fright, because she was afraid ofpeople discovering, the stone very rarely moved like this in front of otherpeople, she hurriedly held the stone saying, “It’s late, I’m going back.”
Having returned to the room, Zhao Jin Yu asked somewhat amazed,“Little thing, what are you doing?”
The emperor looked at Zhao Jin Yu out of the corner of hiseyes, feeling an unquestionable stuffiness in the pit of his stomach, Zhao JinYu blushing face incessantly came into his mind, over and over irritating hisheart, making him simply impossible to maintain his reasoning, he said, “Yourstupidity really is incurable, such a person as Su Qing Chen, even if he hasnot been married, he has numerous beautiful concubines at home, regardless thathe is a frequent visitor to the pleasure quarters, he understands women themost, wouldn’t it be easy for him to coax a woman who was brought up at home?With merely a few flatteries you are affected?”
Zhao Jin Yu was stunned, both shy and angry, she said, “Whatare you saying?”
“I’m just afraid such a stupid woman like you will beswindled that’s all.” The stone speaking such harsh words, simply invisiblyinjured people, “You really should take a mirror and look at yourself, youfrequent forget what your own value is.”
Zhao Jin Yu chest moved up and down, the rim of her eyesred, it seemed like tears were to fall right away.
***
Inside Wuling palace early morning the emperor stared at therich breakfast for a while, however he didn’t eat a bite, ordering people totake it away, he sat on the kangbeneath the window with a gloomy expression, appearing as if he had a lot ofpent up frustrations.
Rui Fu couldn’t help be astonished, thinking about it theemperor’s mood had been good for the last few days, last time he even asked himif the injuries from his previous beatings were better? If it hurts he canrecuperate for two days, it simply made him feel overwhelmed by favour from hissuperior, feeling like the sun rose from the west, how could His Majesty theemperor’s mood suddenly change like this, who would have imagined early thismorning there would be something not right again, he seemed to have returnedquite a bit to his previous temperament.
This appearance only made Rui Fu sigh, he thought tohimself, when will enough be enough?
First the emperor had pa.s.sed away, the eldest prince alsopa.s.sed, only the Empress Dowager was left half alive, but was alreadyhandicapped, the entire past had vanished like smoke in thin air, His Majestyalso ought to move forward.
After morning court finished, Rui Fu served the afternoonmeal early, he still had not drank the early morning water, this was not a goodthing, but as far as the eye can see, the emperor’s current meals were actuallysubstantially different from before, rice b.a.l.l.s wrapped around marinated beef,potatoes stewed with dried meats, meat wedged in steamed buns, mung beannoodles, sheep intestines…, sugar-coated tangerines on a stick were addedtoday, = . =
Rui Fu also did not know how the emperor knew so manycommoner dishes, in any case the chefs in the imperial kitchen were terriblytired, in order to give an authentic flavour, they urgently recruited severalchefs who cooked regional dishes from outside the palace, the lack of greatdisorder was due to the imperial kitchen’s proper management.
Because the sugar-coated tangerines on a stick wasespecially ordered by the emperor, Rui Fu placed
the sugar-coated stick closerto the emperor.
As expected, the emperor seemed to have a lot of feelingsfor the sugar-coated fruit, waving his hand he made the palace maids who servedthe food to withdraw, he personally held the sugar-coated stick, scrutinisingthe tangerine segments for quite a while, afterwards he took a bite, who would havethought after eating half of it he would throw it on the plate, producing aclattering noise.
The palace maids and eunuchs waiting at the side wereshocked that they threw themselves onto their kneels all together, Rui Fulowered his head saying, “Your Majesty, is the flavour of this sugar-coatedstick not good? Do you need to punish the chef?”
The emperor’s gaze was gloomy however he did not speak,yesterday night, the weather was cold, everywhere was covered in snow,nevertheless people surged like the tide through the narrow roads, under hazylighting, young ladies smiled like flowers, but it wasn’t towards him…, layersof gloominess filled his heart, he halted, looking at the distant window, as ifhe was remembering last night she also sat under the window, tearfully askinghim, “Am I really that unappealing to you? So long as a man is amiable to me Iwould just throw myself at him immediately? Am I like this in your eyes? Sinceyou so easily look down on me, from now on you go your way, I will go mine, weshould part ways.”
Those tears were sparking and translucent, tumbling downfrom her cheeks, as if scalding his heart.
The emperor’s gaze again fell on the sugar-coated tangerinestick on the plate, the syrup’s colour rich and transparent, every segments oftangerines were almost identical, and the whites had been carefully peeled off,the stick it was skewered on was top-notch sandalwood, it truly could be saidvery luxurious, but like this, the flavour was still not as good as the fivecopper coin per stick at the night market, the sugar-coated tangerine stickthat Zhao Jin Yu had pa.s.sed him at that time was sweet, with a hint ofsourness, the syrup was sweet but not soft, promptly melting in the mouth.
“Take them away.” The emperor impatiently said.
Rui Fu rose, somewhat reluctantly asked, “Your Majesty, atleast have a little more, Your Majesty must indeed take care of the imperialbody”
The emperor saw Rui Fu bowing, with a face full of concern, inhis mind it unconsciously changed to another face with the same worry, “Littlething, you eat so much, what are you going to do if you can’t digest it?”
Rui Fu was still thinking would the emperor be enraged byhis own boldness, he was rather scared witless, who would have imagined theemperor saying, “Serve us rice.”
The potatoes had been stewed soft and tasty, the emperorladled a scoop of potatoes, and mixed it with rice, eating it bite by bite.
Rui Fu jaw was about to drop…, what is this way of eating?How would he have known the emperor had seen Zhao Jin Yu eat like this severaltimes, that’s why he wanted to try it that’s all.
Even though it wasn’t as tasty as when he changed into astone, but the emperor still ate half a bowl of food, this made Rui Fu verypleased, his gaze looking at the emperor contained happiness, he was evenhappier than when he was eating.
The emperor couldn’t help think, he actually wanted to makethem happy…, it was very, very simple, just as he remembered everytime he didwhat he was told, Zhao Jin Yu would also expose such a happy expression.
***
At noon it started snowing again, in just a short time thepalace was again enveloped in snow, this year it snowed particularly more,accounts of snow disasters were reported in all parts of the country, theemperor also gave a disaster relief decree, opening the granaries to giverelief aid to the common people, regarding those rich families who voluntarilydonated, the emperor also gave commendations.
However to the ordinary people, the days were neverthelessextremely challenging, the great mistress of the house of the Tao family Lu Shisat in a carriage on her journey, she saw many people begging, the maid whoserved her Bao Er said, “Mistress, these are all refugees from Lincheng, ai, sopitiful.”
Lu Shi lowered her head without speaking, the Bao Er besideher again spoke, “They all say this is the Heaven’s punishment, the eldestprince at that time was kind-hearted and lenient, outstanding, but was…”
“Shut up!” Lu Shi shouted, “Are you tired of living?”
Bao Er had been serving Lu Shi since young, with a livelyand restless temperament, clever and quick-witted, well-liked by Lu Shi, so shewas slightly arrogant and wilful, making her speak in front of Lu Shi withoutapprehension.
“Mistress, at that time you had the eldest prince’s favour,if it wasn’t for…, at least you married into the Tao family, now even thatgreat aunt from the poor and humble family has to give mistress respect.” BaoEr said without resignation.
Lu Shi heard Bao Er mention the eldest prince, the rim ofher eyes reddened, unable to say a word.
Arriving at the palace gate, Guo Shi the Lady of Duke ChengGuo who had been waiting, this was an extremely beautiful woman, snow jadedskin, peach cheeks, remarkable manners, just looking at her it made peoplethink she was like a picturesque beauty, he saw Lu Shi, nodding her headpleasingly, she said, “Follow me.”
Lu Shi however was slightly hesitant, saying, “Is thisreally okay?”
Guo Shi raised her head slightly, with arrogance, she said,“Your husband is now on the brink of a crisis, you however still think ofpa.s.sing your days effortlessly, that’s really funny.”
The more high official Yan’s case was investigated therewere even more implications, Tao Shi’s husband belonged to the Ministry ofRevenue, and had been dragged into it, even if he still hadn’t been arrestedand put into a prison cell, but everything pointed to disaster.
Lu Shi hesitated before finally nodding her head, saying,“I’ll follow you.”
“Exactly, before you and me, as well as His Majesty theeldest prince…, and His Majesty the emperor grew up together, I don’t believe,could he really be so heartless?” Guo Shi clenched her teeth as she spoke.
The two people entered the palace, originally the emperordid not have audiences with women, but the Lady of Duke Cheng Guo actually hada hasty audience tablet on her, which made her able to directly see theemperor, in this way the two people were very quickly received into the Wulingpalace.
After sitting for a short time they saw the emperor dressedin a bright yellow robe walk over surrounded by a crowd of people, the twopeople hastened to carry out the great greeting of sankoujiubai,saying, “Love live Emperor Wu.”
The windows inside the palace hall were shut, dimly lit, butit still couldn’t hold back the emperor’s handsome like a mountain rangeappearance, a luxurious and out of the ordinary manner, Guo Shi somewhatabsentmindedly thought, he is still as incomparably handsome as before, and nowonder he was so graceful back then, superior to the jade like eldest prince,known as Hanzhen’s number one handsome man.
“Lady Hui, it really has been a long time.” The emperor hadjust sat down when he said this to Lady Guo Shi of Duke Cheng Guo neither warmnor cold, Lady Hui is Guo Shi’s childhood name, when they were children, theyhad studied and played together in the palace, and could be considered aschildhood playmates.
Guo Shi did not rise, kneeling she said, “Your Majesty, ifyou are truly concerned with our friendship of the past, then release myhusband and Mei Zhen’s husband.”
The emperor did not move a thread, saying, “Duke Cheng Guoand Minister Tao Yuan Wai are suspected of corruption, even though we are themonarch, we cannot abuse the laws.” The emperor finished speaking and got up, withan expression showing he was not willing to say anymore, soon he was about todisappear, Guo Shi very much not resigned, couldn’t help yelling, “Back thenwhat did the eldest prince say to you?”
The emperor stopped, turning his head to look at Guo Shi,seeing tears at the corner of her eyes, her dark gaze did not diminish herbeauty, instead it made her even more lovely and touching, truly a beauty, ifthe eldest prince was still alive, Guo Shi would be the imperial concubine ofthe eldest prince…, thinking about it he would have to call her sister-in-law,but now things have remained the same but people have changed, many things havealready become fuzzy.
Guo Shi saw the emperor halt his steps, some hope burstforth in her eyes, she said, “Your Majesty, you haven’t forgotten right?Otherwise you wouldn’t have ordered people to give me this tablet, I’m beggingyou.” Guo Shi finally couldn’t help cry, “my husband truly is innocent.” Sheknew the so-called corruption case was just an excuse, the emperor was lookingfor a reason to eliminate those who opposed him that’s all.
The emperor smiled, nevertheless the coldness did not reachhis eyes, saying to Rui Fu, “Take back that hasty audience tablet back.”
Guo Shi heart and spirit broke, her only hope had beendestroyed, how could she resign herself to it? A sudden unbounded bitternessrushed into her heart, she said, “What exactly do you want? How do you want toretaliate against us? Is it not enough for someone to die? Is it still notenough to get rid of your resentfulness?”
“You have been tyrannical since young, very ruthless, everyonewas scared of you, however the eldest prince was different, he was kind andcultured, making people feel comfortable, an outstanding person, everyonenaturally liked him…, when it comes to who should have the throne, naturally itwas him they hoped for, after all he was the eldest son of the first wife,regardless of his personality or his background he surpa.s.ses you a lot, whatelse are you not content with?” Guo Shi spitefully said, recalling the eldestprince’s jade like elegant manner, she still felt heartache.
The corner of the emperor’s mouth lifted, showing aridiculing smile, eyes however as ice-cold as a thousand years of snow, hesaid, “You are right, we are this brutal, so why did you come to beg us?
It’smore important for you to return to prepare funeral arrangements.”
Once Lady of Duke Cheng Guo heard these words, it was likeher life had been pulled apart, immediately she sat on the ground paralysed,tears falling like rain, saying, “You tyrant! You will have a painful death!You can’t even compare with a fingernail of the eldest prince!”
The emperor felt these words were somewhat familiar,carefully she thought about it and recalled, Ningguo princess had also saidthese words before, he sneered, “Ah.” As if he was regarding Guo Shi as an ant,waving his hand impatiently…, these people were merely failures, to him theywere nothing.
Very soon the Imperial bodyguards came rushing in, pushingthe two people onto the floor.
Rui Fu retrieved the hasty audience tablet watching the twoupper-cla.s.s ladies immediately becoming prisoners, his heart stirredconsiderably, Guo Shi and Lu Shi had previously been well liked by the empress,having been chosen into the palace to be companions to the princess, and couldbe considered fine people, one was almost the imperial princess of the eldestprince, one almost became an imperial concubine, now however the phoenixes hadbecome inferior to chickens. The eldest prince truly is a famous person, he hadpa.s.sed away for so many years, yet so many people are dead set on…, thinking upto here Rui Fu was again refused to submit, they said the emperor is brutal, butwho is naturally like this?
His Majesty the emperor’s nature is forceful, when he wasyoung he did not know how to control his power, once he carelessly beat a puppythe empress raised to death, the empress turned pale with fright, since thenthe empress was determined he had a brutal nature, treating him even harsher,so much so that even the eyes she looked at him with were filled with fear…,when he was younger the emperor even once asked him with a puzzled expression,was he actually the empress’s child? It was seriously somewhat unbelievablespeaking about it, that harshly cruel empress was indeed His Majesty’s birthmother, and the eldest prince who the empress treated like her own child gentlyand considerately was actually born from the original empress.
Even now he couldn’t understand this matter, who actuallytreated their own child in such a harsh manner?
Returning to the Qin palace hall, the sky had just darkened,the emperor had washed his face and rinsed his mouth early then got into bed,Rui Fu had originally thought the emperor was in a bad mood…, he was verycautious, who would have imagined the emperor actually looked like he hadforgotten about what just happened, instead he had an eager expression, tryingto sleep, = . =
He stood outside the netting which reached the ground, hesaw the emperor now turn over, now turn the other way, finally he couldn’t helpsay, “Your Majesty, you should dine first, your stomach is hungry, naturally itis hard to sleep.”
The emperor then sat up hearing these words, somewhat defeatedhe said, “Order food.”
Just as he was going to eat, Qin Hong entered the palace tohave an audience with the emperor, he had been recuperating the last few daysat home, today he immediately entered the palace to thank the emperor for hisfavour after feeling more or less better.
The emperor indifferently drag his soup, asking, “Minister,tell me, if there is someone, who you always think about when you don’t seethem, but when you see them you again can’t help…”
Qin Hong sat having a meal with the emperor for the firsttime, he was very nervous, hearing such a question from the emperor, heimmediately put his chopsticks down, a listening with respectful attentionmanner.
“Can’t help but look at them repeatedly?” The flames of QinHong’s gossipy heart ignited, instinctively he recalled the time when theemperor had even asked him how to get a woman’s fondness. Could it be the HisMajesty likes someone? Which lucky girl is this?
“No…” The emperor pursed his lips, pulling a face he said,“We always want to scold her.”
Qin Hong, “…”
“Your Majesty, women are ying, similar to water, in otherwords must be treated gently, being too aggressive will instead make them cowerin fear.” Qin Hong thought about it for a while, before stuttering, offering tothe emperor tactfully this method of getting a woman’s fondness.
For a while the emperor’s voice was not heard, Qin Hongdidn’t even dare to breath heavily, about a quarter of an hour pa.s.sed, theemperor then said, “What is considered to be gentle?” The emperor recalled ZhaoJin Yu’s bashful appearance in front of Su Qing Chen, only feeling hatred rushinto his heart, ever more irritable.
Her brain must be filled with straw, unable to see that SuQing Chen’s interest in her was only fleeting?
Men are fickle in love affairs, this was what empress motherhad said to him before, at that time he did not understand.
When the previous emperor favoured a new person to visit,empress mother would kindly bestow things to those new people, but he couldtell, empress mother was not all happy. One day, a favoured imperial concubinemiscarried, when she madly stated to the empress mother a debt of blood must bepaid in blood, he suddenly understood.
As an official, Su Qing Chen naturally held a high standard,however as a man…, the emperor recalled Qin Hong teasing Su Qing Chenattracting the famous courtesan, in his heart he had labelled him a loose man.
He found it difficult to imagine one day, the one whoappeared to him, so naïve that she was somewhat stupid Zhao Jin Yu would turninto such a woman like empress mother, gentle and considerate was merely thesurface layer of a beautiful flower, hidden behind was a poison capable ofcausing people to meet a violent death.
Seeing the emperor finally speak Qin Hong hurriedly said,“Scolding someone is definitely not good.” Following which he somewhat probed,secretly glancing at the emperor, saying, “The only women Your Majesty has metin the past were imperial concubines in the palace, they had been trained bytheir wet nurses, even if they are beaten and scolded by Your Majesty, theywould still grin and bear it, but…”
The emperor thought of those imperial concubines who hadbeen picked, they truly were compliant, even if they were a bit brazen, theystill kept it in their heart no daring to show it, their words would becarefully considered, then acknowledge their mistakes first.
“But what?”
“May this humble servant be so bold as to ask, does thatperson not know of Your Majesty’s ident.i.ty?” Qin Hong felt an immense aura fromthe emperor, so unless you’re blind, who would recklessly rush head first? Itwas only if they did not know the emperor’s ident.i.ty, that would be why theywould resist, resistance would naturally make the emperor unhappy, because theemperor had long ago gotten used to women complying with him, therefore thiswas the contradictory reason.
The emperor made an oh sound, considered to be a reply.
Qin Hong knew he had guessed correctly, very happy, hiscourage also somewhat grew, he said,
“Before the imperial concubines of thepalace become the emperor’s women, they are firstly the emperor’s subject, andas a subject they must see, hear and obey their master…, but if that girldoesn’t know the emperor’s ident.i.ty?”
All of a sudden the emperor stood resolutely, showing amanner of talking all night.
In the end Zhao Jin Yu still decided to stay away from SuQing Chen a bit, therefore on the same day at night she had secretly gone onsh.o.r.e with Chen Rong, and found a tavern to stay in, wanting to wait until SuQing Chen left, then switch to another ship.
At that time Chen Rong was extremely happy with Zhao JinYu’s decision, saying, “Such a good child.” That sort of loving gaze made therings of Zhao Jin Yu’s eyes a little red, because it was too similar…to herformer adoptive mother.
During the day, Zhao Jin Yu hold up in the tavern, Chen Rongwent to check out the sh.o.r.e, only returning late at night, so when the emperorwoke up, he suddenly found the perplex issue was resolved in such a way.
The obnoxious, Su Qing Chen who had caused him indescribabledistraught was left behind by Zhao Jin Yu in such a way, when he thought of SuQing Chen’s defeated appearance, he felt so good, in one breath he ate twobowls of rice.
At that moment he simply forgot, Su Qing Chen had beenordered by him to serve him as an attendant, = . =
Aformal way of greeting. It involves putting your hands together, bowing yourhead, then kneeling before kowtowing.