Still not believing what I said, Zhao w.a.n.g continued asking, "Not even summoning anyone to the Da Ming Palace?"
I shook my head.
Zhao w.a.n.g regained his composure and pondered. After a while, he replied with a rueful tone, "The Emperor has always been a dedicated lover."
I suddenly felt guilty about bringing this topic up because I thought it had reminded him of Jiang shi. I was about to console him when he suddenly held up his head and said, "The same goes for all of the men in Qi family. There is no shortage of dedicated and responsible man in our clan."
Dedicated? Responsible? Then what do you call the late Emperor who died on top of a beautiful woman?
Zhao w.a.n.g simply stared at me with a solemn face.
I too stared at him, looking indifferent. Though deep in heart, I very much wanted to stomp on his face with my shoe on.
I took a deep breath, trying to rein in my temper, and then I said, "I don"t care if he is a dedicated man. I am just bothered by Concubine Huang and some other concubines. They keep complaining and asking me for help. Since the Emperor doesn"t detest women, then could you tell him to appease those women? After all, whether he likes them or not, they are his women, and it would be shame to waste their youth on a man who doesn"t have time for them."
Caught off guard by my request, Zhao w.a.n.g paused before replying, "The Emperor is really busy. The event over at Yunxi keeps boiling and the north keeps acting up. He also has to deal with the power struggles at court. It"s hard to be an Emperor, you know. So you can understand that he didn"t have the time to visit his harem.
I thought for a while and asked, "Has the situation really become so intense?"
Zhao w.a.n.g nodded and replied, "I am not at the front, but I heard from a few old friends in the army that the decision to quash the rebellion has been made and the Emperor has ordered the provisions to be gathered and soon the army will be a.s.sembled and dispatched there."
I figured that Qi Sheng would send troops to Yunxi. I just didn"t expect that it would be so quick. Plus, I didn"t hear anything from the Zhang clan about potential military movement, so I was rather surprised when I heard this from Zhao w.a.n.g. I asked, "Do you know why the Emperor wants to a.s.semble the army? Who is going to lead the troops?"
Zhao w.a.n.g looked at me and replied, "The Emperor means to take this opportunity to conquer the entirety of Yunxi and to make it a province as oppose to its former status as a tributary state. To do that, He Liangchen"s force is not nearly enough and the army has to be a.s.sembled elsewhere. The Imperial Guard cannot be moved, and he will have to mobilize the army over at Jiang Bei."
Was this supposed to diminish the Zhang clan"s military strength? I was a bit worried and stared at Zhao w.a.n.g, waiting for him to give me more information. To my surprise, he simply smiled and said, "Unfortunately, I don"t know precisely whose army is to be mobilized."
Bulls.h.i.t! If you don"t know, why did you say so much? I think you are just messing with me! Well, I will find out myself! No need to beg you for it！
I sprang from the stair and started to walk out.
But as I left, I couldn"t shake off this feeling that something was off, but I couldn"t quite put my finger on it. It was only when I returned to the banquet and sat down that I suddenly realized that I had left Lv Li back there!
My first instinct was to go back and find Lv Li, but just when I was about to stand up, I immediately realized that Qi Sheng was sitting right beside me. I stole a glance at him, and sure enough, he was looking right back at me.
I sat back to my seat and thought that Lv Li, being a grown woman and the chamber maid to the Empress, would not be bullied so easily by anyone.
With this thought, I relaxed and held up the cup to place it under my lip for a small sip, not paying any attention to Qi Sheng"s gaze.
Qi Sheng"s gaze didn"t linger on me for long as Qi Sheng quickly turned around to talk to the Grand Dowager Empress.
I breathed a sigh of relief and totally got relaxed. I then thought that sipping wine was too feminine and so I emptied the entire cup in one go. Suddenly, I noticed that Lv Li was sneaking in from outside with her head down like a thief.
I found it strange, and as soon as she found her seat beside me, I turned around and asked, "What happened?"
Lv Li was blushing and she only managed to spit out a few words after a long while, "Your… Your Majesty. Zhao w.a.n.g… I…"
I was befuddled and hurriedly turned around to find Zhao w.a.n.g"s seat. There was no one there. Clearly Zhao w.a.n.g hadn"t come back yet. I then turned around to look at Lv Li and felt a chill running down my spine. Shoot, they were alone in that remote section of the palace. Could it be that Lv Li had been "bullied" by Zhao w.a.n.g?
While I was filled with shock, anger and regret, I heard Lv Li saying, "I… I beat up Zhao w.a.n.g…"
Caught off guard, I was struck dumb by this unexpected answer, and the anger that I had been feeling dissipated immediately.
What the heck? Even though Zhao w.a.n.g had fallen out of power, he was still Qi Sheng"s brother, and the grandson of the Grand Dowager Empress!
I got to beat him because last time those three brothers nearly got me killed, and so they all felt a bit guilty towards me. My action was justified. But what have you got over them to justify your beating of a prince?
Lv Li gauged my expression carefully, with guilt written all over her face. She said timidly, "I was really bored and fell asleep. When I woke up, I saw a figure right in front of me. I was startled and hit him without thinking…"
Having listened to her account of what happened, I figured Zhao w.a.n.g wasn"t without fault. Plus, Lv Li"s face was really pitiful and so I whispered, trying to console her, "There, there. What"s done is done. This is not the first time you did that anyway. So long as you didn"t hit his face, you… Wait, you didn"t hit his face, right?"
Lv Li remained quiet. She only looked at me with her big eyes, looking sorry and scared at the same time.
I watched her for a while, and then turned back to that empty seat. It was only then that I realized what just happened and immediately I felt like I want to stuff this girl in a package and send her right back home. Heavens! Zhao w.a.n.g disappearing in the middle of the banquet? What is Qi Sheng supposed to make of that?
What if the Grand Dowager Empress were to ask about the whereabouts of Zhao w.a.n.g? What was I supposed to do?
While I was still cursing inwardly, the Grand Dowager Empress suddenly spoke, "Eh? Where is Lord Fifth? Why hasn"t he come back yet? It"s been a while."
I trembled a bit at her question.
Qi Sheng"s gaze went to Zhao w.a.n.g"s seat and then back to me. He looked as if he wanted to ask me something.
I figured, if they were to find out what Lv Li had done, she would be executed. I had no other options but to cover for her. I swallowed my saliva and replied timidly like what Lv Li did back there, "I… I beat up Zhao w.a.n.g… again…"
Qi Sheng widened his eyes when he heard what I said, and after staring at me for a while, he turned around and smiled to the Grand Dowager Empress, "Probably he got drunk and fell asleep somewhere. I"ll have someone check it out." Then he turned to a eunuch, "Go find Lord Fifth. If he was wasted, let him have a rest in a warm place, otherwise he may catch a cold."
Before he finished, a young eunuch came inside and reported that Zhao w.a.n.g got drunk and found a place for rest, so he would come and beg for the pardon of his majesty, her majesty, and other royal highnesses after he sobered up.
When the eunuch said "her majesty", he took a particular look at me, which made me feel guilty.
Qi Sheng laughed, "What I guessed was right. Grandmother, no need to worry about him."The Grand Dowager Empress probably took it that Zhao w.a.n.g was drinking to ease his sorrow and so when she heard that, she became rather displeased and groaned, "What a shame it is for a good boy to be ruined by that tramp. How infuriating!" With that, she cast a look at Qi Sheng.
Qi Sheng pretended that he didn"t hear anything, and turned back to ask me, "How is the little princess?"
I nodded, "Good, she is alright. She can flip over now."
Qi Sheng looked surprised, and asked, "Already?"
My, you are really such a good actor! Last time you visited me, you played with her and watched her flip over several times! How can you not remember any of it?
Qi Sheng was still waiting for my answer expectantly and so I had to put on a happy face and nodded, "Yeah, she can do multiple flips in one go."
Everyone present had rarely seen the royal family talking so much, and so all discussions quieted down and they all looked towards our direction.
Under the gaze of the crowd, both Qi Sheng and I felt rather awkward. So, we both reached out our hands to get the cup to cover our embarra.s.sment. But then, we both thought that it would look weird if we just drank like that and so we held up our cups, greeted each other and then gulped down the wine.
The Grand Dowager Empress watched us with a smile and pointed her hands at us, "Emperor Chen Zu once said that woman shouldn"t always look so fragile, and that sometimes, a bit masculinity will do woman good. Only a strong woman will be able to help her husband meet the challenges and rule over the world. From what I saw just now, I think the Empress is starting to look more and more like the woman Emperor Chen Zu depicted. Not only has she become more sophisticated, she even drinks like a man."
I nearly spewed out the wine when I heard that, but I managed to hold it in. However, some of the wine ran into the lung, precipitating a fit of heavy coughing which sent tears streaming down my cheeks.
Qi Sheng turned around and looked at me with mixed feelings.
I waved to him, trying to signal him that I was OK, but I only managed to wave a few times before quickly withdrawing my hands to cover my mouth and stifle the coughing.
Lv Li lunged forward to give a few pats on my back, but soon she was replaced by Qi Sheng.
Qi Sheng patted my back while smiling to the Grand Dowager Empress, "Grandmother, all these compliments are simply too overwhelming for her."