The shadow guards did not dare say much, only able to mutter in their hearts while exchanging glances with each other. After being glared at by Li Yue, they hurriedly withdrew their gazes.
Each one of them knelt down obediently, thinking to themselves—how is this furen just as frightening as His Majesty?
No wonder His Majesty hasn’t found someone to his liking all these years. After all, finding someone with a temperament like his is truly hard to come by.
This young lady seemed to have quite a bit of His Majesty’s aura—one could even say that in her presence, His Majesty appeared gentler than usual.
But this young lady was already married, and moreover, she was the wife of the Marquis of Xuanping.
For His Majesty to act this way… isn’t it a bit improper?
Yi… [噫 – an interjection expressing mild disgust or discomfort]
Regardless of what these shadow guards were thinking in their hearts, things that shouldn’t be said—those they absolutely wouldn’t say. Having almost completely arranged the matters for the next two days, Meng Fu and Li Yue were also ready to return to Linde Hall.
Once everything was explained, the shadow guards returned to the shadows. When Gao Xi saw them coming out from the pavilion, he stepped forward, bowed, and said to Meng Fu: “Your Majesty, just now Chen Gugu came by.” [姑姑: “Gugu” is a respectful term for older palace maids or wet nurses.]
Meng Fu’s expression didn’t change, but in her heart she pondered over who this “Chen Gugu” in Gao Xi’s mouth was.
“She is the Empr—” Li Yue beside her opened his mouth, paused for a moment, and corrected himself, “She is someone from the Empress Dowager’s side.”
“Empress Dowager?” Meng Fu turned to look at Li Yue. Someone from the Empress Dowager’s side saw her and His Majesty here—what would they think?
Li Yue met her gaze, more or less knowing what she was worried about, and said to her: “No need to mind it.”
Meng Fu gave a small “Mm,” but she couldn’t completely relax.
But these things couldn’t be completely avoided for now—she could only be more cautious the next time they met.
Following behind the two of them, Gao Xi was extremely curious. When did His Majesty get to know this Marquis of Xuanping’s furen? He didn’t know a single thing about it, and from the looks of it, His Majesty even seemed a bit more gentle in front of this furen.
Gao Xi didn’t dare speak much. After all, while His Majesty was gentle to this furen, that didn’t mean he’d still show the same face when looking at him. Gao Xi’s heart felt like it had a little cat inside, scratching all over—unbearably uncomfortable.
Meng Fu and Li Yue couldn’t return together, so they agreed that Li Yue would go back first. As they were about to part ways, Li Yue stopped walking. He said to Meng Fu: “I find you somewhat familiar. Have we met before?”
The moonlight fell across her fair face. Meng Fu’s heart wavered slightly. After a moment, she replied,
“Perhaps we’ve met at a palace banquet before.”
Li Yue didn’t ask further, only nodded: “Perhaps.”
He turned and entered Linde Hall first.
Meng Fu sat down on the chair behind, lifted her head to look at the bright moon in the sky. Gao Xi stood behind her. Seeing her like this, he couldn’t help but grow a little worried in his heart.
Could it be that His Majesty really fancies someone else’s wife?
That’s not very good.
But regardless, next time they meet this furen, they must show proper respect.
Inside Linde Hall, when he saw that Meng Fu had finally returned, Xie Wenzhao could finally let go of the heart he’d been holding up.
While Meng Fu was out, Xie Wenzhao had practically been sitting on pins and needles, feeling like there were thorns on his back. Even the slightest cough nearby would scare him out of half his soul.
For a gentleman as elegant and composed as Young Master Xie, when had he ever been so flustered?
Once Li Yue sat down, he quickly lowered his voice and asked: “Where did you go?”
Li Yue shot him a sideways glance: “What does that have to do with you?”
“Meng Fu!” Xie Wenzhao truly got angry.
Yet Li Yue didn’t take his anger to heart at all.
He narrowed his eyes, sizing up Wei Jun’an who was sitting not far away.
He especially wanted to know: why was this old man so happy today? The corners of his mouth were about to stretch behind his ears.
Wei Jun’an was cheerfully chatting with his colleagues about the benefits of performance evaluations.
Suddenly, he felt as if he were in the imperial court, being stared at by His Majesty.
He turned and looked around the hall, but His Majesty hadn’t returned.
Wei Jun’an pressed down the doubt in his heart and continued to praise His Majesty’s wisdom to his colleagues.
His colleagues responded perfunctorily—why hadn’t they noticed before that Wei Jun’an liked to show off this much?
Not long after, Meng Fu came in from outside.
This banquet continued until the very end, and no one ever figured out exactly why His Majesty held a banquet in Linde Hall today.
Upon leaving Linde Hall, Xie Wenzhao instinctively reached out and touched the top of his head.
For some reason, he suddenly had the odd feeling that someone was secretly staring at his head.
What was so interesting about his head?
He adjusted his hat and quickened his pace.
—
In Cining Palace, the Empress Dowager of the current dynasty was lying on the couch, taking a short nap.
She was only in her forties this year, and because she took good care of herself, her face didn’t show many traces of age—she even retained a kind of mature charm.
A palace maid stood behind, fanning her.
The hall was filled with the scent of various precious spices.
The Empress Dowager opened her eyes and swept her gaze around the hall, asking, “Where is Xiao Jiu? Why hasn’t he come yet?”
The maid beside her replied, “Replying to the Empress Dowager, His Highness has gone missing again.”
“Have someone hurry to find him,” the Empress Dowager sighed.
She removed the nail guards from her fingers and rubbed her temple.
This wasn’t the first time this had happened—she was even a little used to it now.
She muttered to herself, “He has so many palace attendants around him—why can’t they keep an eye on one person?”
The palace maid said, “His Highness is probably in the Imperial Garden. It’s just that we’re afraid he might play too much and run into His Majesty.”
The Empress Dowager was also worried about that. She said, “Then go find him quickly.”
“People have already been sent to search.” The maid replied.
The Empress Dowager sat up and let out a heavy sigh.
Xiao Jiu was the child she had given birth to after Li Yue was sent to the Northern Frontier.
His mind wasn’t very bright.
The two brothers hadn’t spent much time together, so their relationship wasn’t close.
Back then, Li Yue had been exiled to the Northern Frontier because he happened to see her having a secret meeting with Imperial Physician He, and clashed with the Crown Prince.
The late Emperor sent him away.
Later, when the late Emperor was seriously ill, Li Yue led troops to storm the imperial capital.
She and Xiao Jiu had nearly dragged him down again.
So the Empress Dowager had always felt she owed Li Yue.
Even when palace staff said they saw him getting angry at Xiao Jiu, she pretended not to know.
She tried her best not to let Xiao Jiu appear before Li Yue.
Most of the time, she herself didn’t even know how to face this son.
She wanted to show more care for Li Yue, but whenever she saw him, guilt overwhelmed her—many words reached her lips but never left them.
“Tell the palace staff to hurry up,” the Empress Dowager said.
“His Majesty is holding a banquet in Linde Hall today. That banquet should be ending soon. Oh right—where’s Chen Gugu?”
The maid replied, “Chen Gugu has already gone out to search for His Highness.”
The Empress Dowager gave a slight nod, but with the Ninth Prince still not back, she was still uneasy.
—
After the banquet ended, Meng Fu didn’t take the imperial palanquin but chose to walk toward Zichen Hall.
There was a lake by the roadside, the surface shimmering with light, and many tiny fireflies flitted about.
As she passed by a rockery, she vaguely heard a soft sound coming from within.
She stopped walking and told Gao Xi to raise the lantern and go see what was going on.
Gao Xi went forward and looked.
Then he turned and said to Meng Fu, “Your Majesty, it’s the Ninth Prince.”
Meng Fu stepped over, and sure enough, saw a child hiding inside the rockery.
He looked to be five or six years old, sitting on a stone as tall as a person—no one knew how he got up there.
He stared at her without blinking and didn’t speak.
In the capital, there had always been rumors that the Ninth Prince wasn’t quite right in the head, and that he rarely appeared in front of others.
He and the current Emperor were born of the same mother, but due to the Emperor’s cold relationship with the Empress Dowager, he wasn’t close with this younger brother either.
Meng Fu remembered that the Emperor had just told her specifically to look after the Ninth Prince more— it seemed the rumors were not to be trusted.
“Carry His Highness down,” Meng Fu said.
Gao Xi put down the lantern in his hand and reached out to carry him.
The Ninth Prince gave him a blank look, and his two drooping little legs pulled back. His whole body leaned away in avoidance.
Seeing this, Gao Xi didn’t dare to make a move—after all, this was a royal prince; if he fell, it wouldn’t be good.
Meng Fu stepped forward and said: “Let zhen do it.”
Gao Xi stepped aside.
Meng Fu looked up at the Ninth Prince sitting on the rock.
He was also looking at her, though his gaze seemed a bit dull. Fortunately, when Meng Fu reached out her hands, he didn’t dodge anymore.
Meng Fu picked him up in one motion.
She had originally intended to set him down on the ground, but this Ninth Prince first wrapped both arms around her neck.
His hands were a bit cold.
Meng Fu turned to Gao Xi and said, “The evening wind is strong. Go and fetch a cloak for Ninth Prince.”
Gao Xi answered at once and quickly ordered the other palace attendants to bring over a cloak.
Meng Fu carried the Ninth Prince out from behind the rockery.
This Ninth Prince lay obediently against her shoulder.
When Meng Fu looked at him, he would slightly tilt his head, blinking his pair of big, jet-black eyes—it was very cute.
Meng Fu wasn’t particularly fond of children, but seeing the Ninth Prince like this, her heart softened involuntarily.
She opened her mouth to ask, “Why are you here alone? Where are the palace servants with you?”
The Ninth Prince still didn’t speak.
Meng Fu didn’t mind too much.
She was just unsure whether she should let the palace servants take Ninth Prince back to Cining Palace, or if she ought to personally send him back herself.
—
On the Cining Palace side, they had already received word that the Ninth Prince had been spotted in the Imperial Garden by the Emperor.
“How did he end up over at the Emperor’s place again?”
The Empress Dowager raised her hand to her temple and sighed.
The Emperor already didn’t like him.
That Nanny Liu beside him had said more than once that she saw the Emperor lose his temper at the prince.
But the prince’s head was a bit slow, and he never seemed to learn his lesson.
Nanny Liu was kneeling in front of the Empress Dowager, crying with snot and tears: “This old servant had only gone to fetch some clothes, and His Highness disappeared. His Majesty has always disliked His Highness—who knows how he will blow up this time! My poor little prince—he’s still so small, he doesn’t understand anything at all.”
The Empress Dowager was getting a headache from the old nanny’s wailing.
She said, “Stop crying. Aijia has already sent someone to the Emperor to bring Little Jiu back.”
[哀家 (Aijia) – first-person pronoun used by widowed empresses/empress dowagers.]
Though she said so, the Empress Dowager was still affected by Nanny Liu’s words.
Every time Nanny Liu went to retrieve Little Jiu from the Emperor, His Majesty would always show some dissatisfaction.
It seemed he ultimately could not forgive the things she had done.
Clearly, she had already followed Nanny Liu’s advice, making sure Little Jiu didn’t appear before the Emperor as much as possible, but the relationship between mother and son was only getting worse and worse.
She no longer knew what she could do to mend it.