Tang Mingqi actually entered the palace today also for another matter. Yesterday, for the sake of His Majesty, he emptied out all the good wine at home—not a drop was left. In addition, his private stash of money was entirely confiscated by Madam Tang, and he was punished with a half-year ban on drinking, making an already not-affluent household even worse off. That’s why he came to look for His Majesty thick-skinnedly.
If the matter of the private money was something His Majesty had revealed to his wife, then he could just take this opportunity to get the wine back. But judging from His Majesty’s current attitude, it likely wasn’t him who said it. In that case, the wine would be difficult to get back.
“That, Your Majesty, yesterday…” Wanting to ask back something that was already gifted, Tang Mingqi was a little embarrassed to bring it up.
Meng Fu, seeing his embarrassed expression, immediately guessed the purpose of this General Tang’s visit. She simply pretended to have noticed nothing and picked up a memorial from the long table to hand over to Tang Mingqi.
She asked Tang Mingqi: “Qi Yunjiao brought up a few training methods for the troops. What are your thoughts?”
Tang Mingqi took the memorial and flipped through it, answering: “This humble official thinks that Qi Yunjiao’s methods are not very feasible. How can there be such a thing as changing the commanding officer every month during training? Would the officer still have any prestige? Would the soldiers still obey? Your Majesty, don’t you think so?”
Meng Fu nodded and said: “You should go discuss it again with Qi Yunjiao.”
Tang Mingqi had already met with Qi Yunjiao and the other officials from the Ministry of War. At this moment, hearing Meng Fu speak like this, he couldn’t help but complain: “Each and every one of them just spouts nonsense. When it comes to empty talk, they’ve got a whole set ready. Sounds reasonable on the surface, but when you think about it—ai—it’s all talk on paper.”
A few words from Meng Fu made Tang Mingqi completely forget the matter of asking for wine. After that, they kept discussing military training. Most of the officials in court were civil officials, and the few martial officials were suppressed until they seemed like a pitiful little group—almost no one in court wanted to associate with them. Even military training and warfare were mostly interfered in by civil officials. Civil officials indeed read a lot of books, but some matters couldn’t be handled just by what was in the books—they required more practical consideration.
Meng Fu noted down the several issues and proposed solutions Qi Yunjiao had raised, preparing to send them for the Emperor’s review.
It wasn’t until leaving the Zichen Hall and exiting the Gate of Morning Court that Tang Mingqi suddenly came to his senses.
The wine? Wasn’t he here to ask His Majesty for wine? How did he end up walking out empty-handed?
He began to recall what he’d been doing in the Zichen Hall for such a long time. It seemed that every time he was about to bring up the matter of the wine, His Majesty would raise another issue.
Hm, that must just be a coincidence.
But why did it feel like His Majesty was a bit different from how he was back in the Northern Frontier?
Tang Mingqi turned his head to look back at the vermillion palace walls. Maybe it was because the palace’s fengshui nourishes people.
Last night, after the titled ladies returned home, their family members one after another asked them what the Empress Dowager said when she summoned them into the palace, who she seemed close with, and whether she truly wanted to choose a consort for His Majesty.
Although many had seen at the time that the Empress Dowager had treated Meng Fu differently because of the Ninth Prince, taking her along with the prince to tour the gardens, by the time the story spread, the Ninth Prince had already been omitted, leaving only the part about the Empress Dowager inviting the Lady of Marquis Xuanping to a private chat.
Those who got the secondhand information were very puzzled—why would it be the Lady of Marquis Xuanping? The Marquis Xuanping’s household didn’t even have an age-appropriate girl. Could it be that the Empress Dowager simply liked the Lady of Marquis Xuanping?
Impossible. There must be some other reason.
They activated their clever little brains and began reasoning through this matter again and again. First, they had to look at whether there were other age-appropriate girls around Meng Fu. Soon they recalled that Meng Fu was not only the Lady of Marquis Xuanping but also the daughter of Meng Yanxing. Meng Yanxing still had a younger daughter who had not yet married—could it be that the Empress Dowager had her eye on that younger daughter?
But Meng Yanxing’s younger daughter wasn’t exactly young anymore, and His Majesty and Meng Yanxing had some previous discord. No matter how one thought about it, His Majesty wouldn’t agree to it, right?
These things—no one could say for sure, especially with this particular His Majesty, whose actions always went beyond their expectations. Meng Yanxing’s scholarship was indeed very impressive; it wasn’t impossible that His Majesty wanted to use this opportunity to bring him back into court as an official.
Everyone had their own thoughts, urgently wanting to know His Majesty’s attitude.
To ask His Majesty directly about such things would surely earn them a scolding right out of the gate—so they could only go ask the other party involved in the event.
They began to ask people to inquire about news from the Xuanping Marquis Manor, and it was only then that the Old Madam learned such a big matter had occurred after Meng Fu entered the palace yesterday. She sent someone to Jixue Courtyard to call Meng Fu over, intending to ask her what exactly the Empress Dowager had said to her.
Not long after, the little maid came back from Jixue Courtyard. She lowered her head and replied to the Old Madam: “Young Madam said, she’s currently busy and cannot come. If you have something to say, please tell this servant, and this servant will relay it to the Young Madam.”
The little maid’s voice grew lower and lower. Hearing these words, no telling how furious the Old Madam might become.
In a grand household like this, how could a daughter-in-law dare to speak like this to her mother-in-law?
But in that moment, the Old Madam actually didn’t feel angry—in fact, she even felt a bit like laughing.
She should’ve thought of it earlier. This wasn’t the first time Meng Fu had defied her. Meng Fu’s wings had truly hardened now, and she could no longer control her.
If it were a normal matter, the Old Madam might have just let it go, perhaps even followed Meng Fu’s suggestion and had the maid relay their conversation. But this matter concerned the royal family. If the servants were to find out, it would be inappropriate.
The Old Madam didn’t want to go to Jixue Courtyard to meet Meng Fu—it would seem as if she were a notch below Meng Fu. But she really wanted to know what exactly the Empress Dowager had said to Meng Fu. This matter might be very important to their Xuanping Marquis Manor.
In the end, the Old Madam still unwillingly went to Jixue Courtyard. Inside Jixue Courtyard, Li Yue was lifting two stone locks for exercise. Hua Xiaoling and Qu Hanyan were standing under a tree practicing horse stance. The Old Madam paused at the entrance, and for a moment, she doubted whether she’d come to the wrong place.
What were they even doing?
Wasn’t this the Xuanping Marquis Manor and not a martial arts training ground?
The Old Madam took a deep breath to force herself to calm down. She had the servants and the two concubines leave, then walked up to Li Yue and asked, “Yesterday in the palace, did the Empress Dowager meet with you alone?”
“No,” Li Yue said. Wasn’t Xiao Jiu also there? How could that be called alone?
He picked up the stone locks on the ground again. Meng Fu’s constitution wasn’t good, and her arms had no strength. Li Yue had specially found a pair of small stone locks, planning to train her bit by bit.
The Old Madam frowned. Then who was it that told her the Empress Dowager had met Meng Fu alone? Which one of them was lying?
“The Empress Dowager didn’t speak to you?” the Old Madam asked again.
Li Yue casually replied, “She did.”
The Old Madam quickly followed up: “Then what did the Empress Dowager say to you?”
Li Yue lifted his eyelids and gave the Old Madam a glance, answering her with: “Too lazy to say.”
It was all unimportant trivial matters—nothing worth talking about.
The Old Madam was instantly infuriated by those three words, her head buzzing. She snapped sharply: “Meng Fu!”
But Li Yue completely ignored her. The Old Madam wasn’t young anymore—if he replied with a few more sentences and angered her to death, what then? Even if he himself didn’t care—after all, it would be her own fault—it still wouldn’t be good for Meng Fu.
But the result of doing this didn’t seem to turn out any better either.
The Old Madam, seeing Li Yue directly ignore her, became even more dizzy and ear-ringing with anger. But she no longer knew what method she could use to handle this person.
She stepped back two paces, found a stool to sit down, calmed herself slightly, and looked at Li Yue lifting the stone locks again and again. She felt that this scene was simply too surreal.
Had Meng Fu been stimulated somehow, which led to such a drastic change in personality? Maybe she should just give her the account books? After all, she’d come here today—might as well take care of this too.
These days, the Old Madam had sprouted many white hairs just from balancing the accounts. A while ago, some of her close friends had invited her to go out together, but she had politely declined—she truly had no time. That alone was fine, but she still had to listen to the maid daily reporting how leisurely and blissful Meng Fu lived in Jixue Courtyard. Even though the Old Madam never had heart problems before, if this kept up, she really might not be able to take it anymore.
She consoled herself, saying she was giving Meng Fu the account books because Meng Fu had mentally broken down over the housekeeper issue—this was out of compassion and didn’t count as yielding. She said to Li Yue: “In a while, I’ll have someone send the account books to you.”
Li Yue finally showed a reaction upon hearing this. He suddenly turned his head to look at the Old Madam.
The Old Madam thought to herself: As expected, he really does care about this matter. But the next thing she heard was Li Yue saying: “Better not. My health is bad. Just looking at the account books gives me a headache. You’d better manage it yourself.”
After he finished speaking, he even gave a couple of fake coughs for effect.
The Old Madam: “……”
The Old Madam tightly gripped the cane in her hand. She felt that today’s sunlight was too harsh, the birds chirping were unbearably noisy, her head hurt terribly, and it was as if a heavy stone was pressing down on her chest—she could hardly breathe.
She raised her head to look at Li Yue again. Li Yue was still lifting the stone locks, his eyes lowered as he examined his own arm. Meng Fu’s arms are too thin, he thought. She needs to eat more and get proper nourishment. Later, I’ll have Qingping prepare a few more meat dishes.
In that instant, the Old Madam’s dizziness grew even stronger.
Where exactly was her health “not good”?!
Could she put down the stone locks first when she speaks?!
In the end, the Old Madam left Jixue Courtyard supported by her maid. No matter what the Empress Dowager said to her, she never wanted to come here again.
As soon as the Old Madam left, Hua Xiaoling and Qu Hanyan quickly came over. They had been worried that the Madam would be scolded by the Old Madam, but judging from how things looked now, the one more injured clearly seemed to be the Old Madam.
Perhaps the Madam hadn’t even exerted any strength yet before the Old Madam collapsed.
Meng Yu had also caught a few rumors here and there, and her thoughts started stirring again.
Even though Meng Yanxing was no longer a court official, there were still quite a few people seeking to marry Meng Yu. But she couldn’t accept that her future husband might not even compare to Xie Wenzhao—she was unwilling.
Although the possibility that the Empress Dowager had met Meng Fu for her sake was really quite low, what if it were true?
Thinking of the emperor she’d seen that day at Yunxi Tower, Meng Yu felt—perhaps there really was that slim chance.
And right at this time, there truly was some fool who dared to submit a memorial asking His Majesty when he would fill the imperial harem. The writer even used many classical allusions to urge His Majesty, saying that at His Majesty’s age, other emperors had already established crown princes, yet he hadn’t even chosen any consorts. For the sake of the nation and its stability, His Majesty should select concubines to enter the palace.
Meng Fu thought for a moment and had the secret guard deliver this memorial to the Xuanping Marquis Manor.
Li Yue read just two lines and already knew what kind of nonsense it was. He directly cursed at the end of the scroll: “Mind your own business! If you don’t want to work, then get lost and go home!”
Seeing His Majesty’s reply, Meng Fu couldn’t help but smile. The written format still restrained His Majesty’s full potential a little too much.
A few more days passed. The matter of the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet gradually faded from everyone’s memory, and the officials also realized that His Majesty still had no intention of choosing consorts or establishing an empress.
How old was His Majesty already? Why did he have no interest at all in matters between men and women?
What exactly was going on?
How come His Majesty hadn’t inherited this trait from the late emperor at all?
Oh, in fact, he didn’t seem to have inherited anything from the late emperor.
Oh, then never mind.
But His Majesty did encounter a matter—the Old Madam had fallen ill, and yesterday, she even had the account books delivered over to him. These past few days, His Majesty had been having fun, and had no desire at all to deal with this stuff. If not for Qingping stopping him, he might have publicly posted a notice at Jixue Courtyard’s gate to recruit someone to deal with those annoying account books.
He decided to hand the books to Xie Wenzhao. After all, that guy had no serious business all day, and staying at the manor to manage household affairs suited him well.
At this time, Xie Wenzhao was not doing well at all.
Early in the morning when he woke up, he found himself lying on Sun Yulian’s bed, not a single piece of clothing on him. Sun Yulian was lying beside him, eyes open, staring at him. She must have already been awake for some time.
She saw that Xie Wenzhao had woken up and gently called him once: “Marquis?”
Xie Wenzhao sat up, and the memories of last night gradually returned to his mind. Yesterday, he had an unpleasant argument with Meng Yu. In the evening, he came to Qiuxiang Pavilion and, unable to resist, drank a few more cups with Sun Yulian. After that… everything that should and shouldn’t have happened, happened.
After a while, he covered his eyes and let out a bitter laugh. He couldn’t blame Sun Yulian for this—he had once already accepted her as a concubine because they drank together. It was his own fault for not learning his lesson, forgetting the pain before the wound had even healed.
Last night, Sun Yulian had already thought through how she would respond to Xie Wenzhao’s questions. But now that Xie Wenzhao was silent, it left her at a loss, and even a little afraid. She spoke up: “Last night, Marquis, you drank too much. I helped you to bed, and then—”
Xie Wenzhao interrupted her and said coldly, “No need to say anything. Just leave it at that.”
There was no possibility between him and Meng Yu. What was he still insisting on?
Besides, he had already had intimate relations with Hua Xiaoling.
He got up, dressed, and left Qiuxiang Pavilion without even looking back.
Sun Yulian sat on the bed, staring blankly toward the door. Suddenly, she didn’t know whether what she had done this time was right or wrong.
If she didn’t become pregnant with Xie Wenzhao’s child this time, judging from his attitude today—would there be a next opportunity for her?
Sun Yulian heard Hua Xiaoling and Qu Hanyan’s laughter outside.
All the happiness was theirs. She had nothing.
She had thought that after having relations with Xie Wenzhao, even if he didn’t suddenly fall in love with her, he would at least comfort her a bit more, and that their relationship could move a step further.
But seeing Xie Wenzhao’s coldness this morning, Sun Yulian suddenly panicked.
She realized that in Xie Wenzhao’s heart, perhaps she wasn’t much different from Hua Xiaoling.
That conclusion was truly a blow, leaving Sun Yulian in a daze for quite some time.
She stumbled up, dazed, and walked out of Qiuxiang Pavilion. Hua Xiaoling was jogging in the nearby garden, shouting strange slogans as she ran.
Sun Yulian suddenly felt a bit envious of Hua Xiaoling.
Do people who are simple-minded live happier lives?
—
Prince Xuan, ever since he learned that the Emperor had once smiled at one of his subordinates, spent several days in a state of fear and apprehension. But after seeing that the Emperor made no further moves, he gradually relaxed. Perhaps that smile… really was just a smile without any other meaning.
He began to operate secretly. The arrest of Nanny Liu in the palace was, for him, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—he had to gather the remaining people under his command.
That crazy woman Nanny Liu—she’d never have guessed that someone would target their own people!
And ever since the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet, Meng Fu found that the little prince had clearly grown even more attached to her. He always stared at her with his round eyes, constantly watching her.
The imperial physician had examined the little prince and said there was no issue with his throat. Meng Fu had tried to coax the little prince into speaking, but he was just too stubborn. No matter the threats or temptations, he simply wouldn’t open his mouth.
Meng Fu crouched down and patted the little prince on the head, saying to him: “If you don’t talk, then I won’t give you those books. I’ll send them to other younger brothers and sisters who can speak.”
The little prince pouted, and his expression even showed a trace of helplessness.
He furrowed his brows slightly, as if caught in an enormous dilemma.
After teasing the little prince, Meng Fu went to the secret prison in the palace to see Nanny Liu. That Nanny Liu was incredibly tight-lipped—even after so much torment, she still stuck to her original story, only saying that she hated the little prince because of her son’s death.
For her to endure so many brutal tortures without changing her words—it showed that she truly wasn’t an ordinary person.
As soon as Nanny Liu saw Meng Fu arrive, she immediately began to hurl curses.
Meng Fu stood outside the prison cell, listening to Nanny Liu’s various venomous curses without even so much as blinking.
This Nanny Liu clearly hated His Majesty even more.
Just as Meng Fu was pondering from what other angle she could investigate this matter further, she suddenly heard the sound of footsteps—da-da-da—coming from behind. She turned her head and saw the little prince standing at the bottom of the stone steps.
Meng Fu asked: “How did he get in?”
“Your Majesty, we weren’t able to stop the little prince,” the guard knelt and pleaded guilty. The young Highness had secretly followed behind His Majesty and slipped in. When they discovered him and tried to take him out, the little prince glared fiercely at them. They didn’t dare lay a hand on him, afraid he might get hurt not knowing his own limits.
The moment Nanny Liu inside the cell saw the Ninth Prince, her expression changed drastically. Her face was full of agitation, and tears fell like rain. Her voice was hoarse and pleading as she cried:
“Your Highness, please save this servant! For the sake of all the years this servant took care of you, please save this servant!”
“Your Highness, do you still remember? It was this servant who again and again saved you from those people’s hands—it was this servant—”
Meng Fu said coldly: “Someone, seal her mouth.”
Once Nanny Liu’s mouth was sealed, the dark prison fell into silence.
Seeing that the little prince’s expression showed no unusual change, Meng Fu was just about to go over and take him away when suddenly she heard him shriek in a sharp voice: “This bastard child really is a fool! Heaven has eyes!”
The little prince actually spoke!
Before Meng Fu could react, the little prince continued: “I’ll strangle you! Strangle you! Strangle you! Don’t blame me—if you must blame someone, blame the fact that you’re that dog emperor’s brother.”
—Your Highness, that’s something one absolutely cannot say!
Meng Fu immediately realized: the little prince was imitating the words Nanny Liu had said before. His tone and manner of speaking were exactly the same as Nanny Liu’s.
After speaking, the little prince tilted his head and stared at Meng Fu for a moment. Seeing that she still hadn’t given him the books, he looked a bit confused, and also somewhat helpless. He placed his hands on his hips and let out a chilling, sinister laugh, continuing to imitate:
“That idiot Prince Xuan really thinks he can fool me? Wants our people to work themselves to death for him? Has he even looked in the mirror to see what kind of thing he is? Dream on!”
Inside the prison cell, the blood drained completely from Nanny Liu’s face.