Li Yue took out the imperial capital map that Qingping found and analyzed from which place digging a tunnel would be the fastest way to enter the imperial palace. (T/N: He was serious? LMAOO)
He supported his chin and looked at it for a long while, in the end giving up this absurd idea.
Then how else could he enter the palace?
Qingping walked in from outside carrying tea. She gently placed the tea on the table and said to Li Yue: “Madam, someone from the palace came just now.”
Upon hearing Qingping say someone from the palace came, Li Yue immediately became somewhat interested. He looked up and asked, “Hmm? Who is it? Is it the emperor?”
How could the emperor come to their Marquis Residence for no reason? Qingping shook her head and replied, “It was an eunuch, said that His Majesty will hold a banquet tonight at Linde Hall, inviting all court officials.”
Li Yue immediately realized this would be a good opportunity for him to enter the palace. This opportunity was also very likely deliberately created for him by that person in the palace. He put down the map in his hand and asked Qingping, “Can I go?”
Qingping pursed her lips and said in a low voice: “That eunuch said one may bring family members along…”
Li Yue gave an “oh” sound and nodded: “Then that means I can go.”
Qingping, however, felt in her heart that this matter might not go through. She reminded: “But not long ago, you just scolded the Marquis. The Marquis probably won’t go with you, right?”
Li Yue said: “No need to bother about him, go prepare the carriage.”
Qingping gave Li Yue another glance, and seeing her expression didn’t look like a joke, her round little face instantly filled with worry. If the Marquis doesn’t allow it, what use is preparing the carriage?
If it were in the past, Qingping might still dare to act cutesy with Madam and ask what she was planning to do. But today she didn’t dare do any of that, and could only obediently withdraw and order the servants to prepare the carriage.
Outside, the sky gradually darkened. Xie Wenzhao changed clothes and came out of Songxuan Hall. When he walked to Lingxiang Pavilion, his steps paused for a moment. He looked eastward, and the tall toon tree in the Jixue Courtyard looked especially lush in the twilight, its elongated shadow stretching all the way to his feet.
Xie Wenzhao couldn’t help but think again of the scolding he got in Jixue Courtyard that afternoon. Even now, he still couldn’t understand how Meng Fu, who was always gentle and magnanimous, could say such things. He only hoped she would return to normal tomorrow.
Xie Wenzhao arrived at the entrance of the Marquis Residence, only to see two carriages parked outside. He was just about to ask what was going on when he turned his head and saw Meng Fu also walking out from the residence, heading toward the carriage in the back.
Seeing Meng Fu, Xie Wenzhao’s eyelid twitched. The words she scolded him with in Jixue Courtyard that afternoon seemed to ring in his ears again. Xie Wenzhao hurriedly asked, “What are you doing here?”
Li Yue replied as if it was perfectly natural: “Going to the palace.”
Xie Wenzhao pressed further: “Why are you going to the palace?”
Li Yue frowned and threw four words at Xie Wenzhao: “You talk too much,” then directly got into the carriage and let down the curtain, shutting the idiot Xie Wenzhao outside.
Xie Wenzhao’s expression became very unpleasant. This young master, who was always jokingly called the “no temper dough figurine,” for once showed a bit of anger on his face. Qingping was standing outside the carriage, and when she saw Xie Wenzhao looking her way, she stiffly tugged the corners of her mouth and gave him a dry laugh.
Xie Wenzhao had no intention of making things hard for a little maid. Actually, if Meng Fu wanted to go to the palace, he couldn’t really stop her. But just not far away was the Princess Residence, and there were still pedestrians on the street. If anything really happened, it would only make them the laughingstock of others.
The reason he didn’t want Meng Fu going to the palace wasn’t just because of the scolding he took from her that afternoon. It was more so because her current state truly made one uneasy. Her momentum that afternoon made Xie Wenzhao feel that even if the emperor stood in front of her, she’d still scold him without hesitation.
The imperial palace is the most honorable place under heaven, and also the place with the strictest rules—no mistakes allowed. Before, Xie Wenzhao never needed to worry about these things. Meng Fu was the daughter of Meng Yanxing, and ever since she was young, someone had taught her these things. She was always the one who best understood decorum, never stepping out of line in word or deed.
However, now everything had changed. Xie Wenzhao faintly had a premonition that this might just be the beginning.
He took a deep breath and comforted himself—no matter how bold Meng Fu was, she shouldn’t cause trouble in the palace. He got into the carriage and said in a low voice: “Let’s go.”
The moonlight was like water, spilling over the vermilion palace walls. The swaying shadows of trees lightly trembled in the evening wind. In the distance, tens of thousands of lights adorned the vast palace city, making it as bright as day. When they reached the palace gates, they got off the carriage to be inspected by the guards. After being cleared, they were allowed through. A eunuch led the way ahead, heading toward Linde Hall.
On the way, they encountered quite a few officials, walking in twos and threes, speaking in low voices.
“Why is His Majesty holding a banquet in the palace tonight?”
“How would I know that?”
“Look, Lord Wei looks very happy. Could he know something? How about we go over and ask?”
That official from the Chancellery Department [门下省, Menxia Sheng — one of the Three Departments in traditional Chinese bureaucracy] heard this and immediately let out a cold sneer. During morning court today, His Majesty, in an extremely rare move, praised someone—and the one being praised was none other than that old fox Wei Jun’an. How could he not be pleased?
But saying this outright would seem narrow-minded and full of sour grapes, so the official casually said, “Maybe he encountered some joyful occasion.”
The colleagues didn’t press further and soon continued gossiping about the purpose of His Majesty’s banquet tonight.
Ever since Li Yue ascended the throne, the number of times he held a banquet in the palace could be counted on one hand. And more often, it was only summoning those subordinates from the Northern Frontier war days for a small gathering in the palace. Just what kind of scheme was His Majesty planning this time?
Li Yue listened carefully to their idle chatter, trying to deduce what had happened during the morning court, but the officials’ nonsense was too much—half the day passed without getting to the point. Even by the time Li Yue entered Linde Hall and sat down, he still hadn’t heard anything useful.
And that old man Wei Jun’an was sitting at the very front, his face full of smiles.
Li Yue increasingly felt that Madam must have been bullied in court this morning, and that in the end, this whole assessment matter had let that old fox Wei Jun’an get his way.
—
Meng Fu thought that that His Majesty might also be among the people here, and specifically instructed Gao Xi to arrive early at Linde Hall to inform everyone that later, upon seeing her, they did not need to perform formal greetings.
The crowd couldn’t understand what kind of act His Majesty was planning to put on next. Only Li Yue could more or less guess Meng Fu’s intention—he was now 80% certain that Madam had become “himself.”
Not long after, Meng Fu entered Linde Hall. Her gaze swept over the guests in the hall, and she quickly found “herself.”
“Self” was seated beside Xie Wenzhao, without a trace of a smile on his face. Seemingly sensing Meng Fu’s gaze, he raised his head and looked toward her.
Meng Fu met his eyes for just a moment before immediately shifting her gaze away. There were too many people here, and she was afraid of attracting the attention of those with ulterior motives.
Next, she had to think of a way to meet with “herself” in private.
Accompanied by the sounds of strings and flutes, dozens of dancing girls in colorful dresses entered the hall and began to dance gracefully. Plus, with Meng Fu opening her mouth and saying there was no need for restraint, everyone could treat this as an ordinary family banquet. The atmosphere in the hall gradually became lively, with wine cups clinking and laughter filling the air.
Wei Jun’an, thinking of the praise he received at court this morning, boldly offered a toast to Meng Fu.
Li Yue, upon seeing this scene, slightly narrowed his eyes. Was Wei Jun’an provoking him? This old man had never toasted him before.
He became more and more certain that Madam had definitely been bullied hard during this morning’s court session. He must find a way to meet with her soon—at the very least, he must make sure that she wouldn’t be bullied again at tomorrow’s court.
Although this banquet had only invited titled nobles and ministers of third rank and above within the imperial capital, the number of people gathered wasn’t small. Li Yue leaving wouldn’t attract too much attention.
When Xie Wenzhao saw him rise to his feet, he was so startled that his heart nearly stopped. He quickly asked, “Where are you going?”
“It’s too stuffy here, I’m going out for a walk,” Li Yue said.
“Meng Fu!” Xie Wenzhao reached out and grabbed his sleeve, lowering his voice and warning him, “This is the imperial palace, not the Marquis Residence. One misstep, and you’ll lose your head.”
Li Yue’s expression didn’t change at all, as if he hadn’t even heard what Xie Wenzhao said.
“I shouldn’t have brought you today,” Xie Wenzhao was full of regret. Even if it made them a laughingstock, he should have left Meng Fu at home.
“Are you finished?” Li Yue lowered his eyes to look at the hand Xie Wenzhao was using to grab him, and said lightly, “If you’re done, let go. Otherwise, I’ll call someone over.”
Xie Wenzhao’s eyes went wide. Did Meng Fu eat a bear’s heart and a leopard’s gall? [吃了熊心豹子胆 – idiom meaning “recklessly bold; acting as if one has no fear”] This is the imperial palace—she dares to call someone?
Xie Wenzhao thought this joke was too absurd, but he couldn’t laugh. And Meng Fu, at this moment, didn’t look like she was joking at all.
“You’re truly insane.”
He let go of her hand.
Li Yue didn’t pay him any more attention. He turned and walked around a pillar, heading out of the hall along a path that could avoid most people’s line of sight.
Xie Wenzhao looked at her retreating figure as she avoided the crowd, and in his heart, strangely, arose a hint of relief—Meng Fu’s madness was not entirely beyond saving.
He himself was also insane.
The wine cup was already filled, but Meng Fu’s hand did not move away. Gao Xi softly called her:
“Your Majesty?”
Meng Fu returned to her senses and gave Gao Xi a low command:
“Go and keep an eye on the Marchioness of Xuanping. No matter where she goes, do not stop her. Just return and report to Zhen.”
“Yes.”
“If she sees you and asks you to do anything, just go along with it.”
Gao Xi acknowledged and retreated. But Meng Fu called out to him again:
“Also, I do not want others to know about this matter.”
Gao Xi bowed: “This servant understands.”
Actually, Gao Xi understood nothing at all in his heart—his mind was in chaos. When had their Majesty gotten involved with the Marchioness of Xuanping?
After Gao Xi left, another official came forward to toast Meng Fu. Meng Fu didn’t know what that His Majesty’s alcohol tolerance was like, and didn’t dare drink too much—after all, she still had a very important matter to handle afterward.
So, at tonight’s banquet, Meng Fu only drank the cup of wine offered by Wei Jun’an.
The officials in the hall looked toward Wei Jun’an with even more jealousy in their eyes.
It couldn’t be that just because during morning court today, Wei Jun’an was the first to bring up the matter of assessment, His Majesty began to regard him in a new light and now treats him as a trusted confidant?
In the past, everyone got scolded by His Majesty together—fine. But now, they absolutely could not allow the Central Secretariat to monopolize His Majesty’s favor.
Absolutely not!
Meng Fu was unaware of what these officials were thinking. She had been preoccupied the whole time, thinking about what she should say once she met that His Majesty later. This made her seem a bit distracted.
Soon after, Gao Xi returned from outside. He told Meng Fu that the Marchioness of Xuanping was currently at a pavilion by the lakeside in the northeastern corner of the Imperial Garden.
The pavilion’s location was extremely secluded, even the palace attendants rarely went there. Gao Xi also didn’t know why that “Madam” would go there.