This was a question Li Yue really hadn’t discussed with Meng Fu. He wasn’t guilty in the least and directly answered: “Over twenty, I guess.”
The Empress Dowager thought: what’s with this child—she doesn’t even remember her own age? And she still says it so righteously? Just listen to that tone—it’s practically another emperor, isn’t it? Has she been infected by the emperor? Or is it as the saying goes: not of one family, one doesn’t enter one household?
The Empress Dowager asked a few more questions she had long prepared. Li Yue’s attitude became more and more casual. He showed none of the cautious reserve typically found in other noblewomen. She had to admit—the Empress Dowager liked her this way.
After walking for a while, the Empress Dowager encountered a eunuch who had just come out of the Linde Hall and asked, “Where’s the Emperor?”
The eunuch replied, “The Emperor is still drinking with General Tang.”
Li Yue subconsciously frowned. Tang Mingqi really had grown capable—still not done after so long. Could it be that Meng Fu had been forced into drinking too much?
He should remind Meng Fu more often. She was already the Emperor now—there were some matters where she could go with her heart and didn’t have to care too much about the details.
The Empress Dowager noticed the change in Li Yue’s expression. That definitely wasn’t because of Tang Mingqi—it meant she was concerned about the Emperor. It seemed this matter wasn’t just His Majesty being one-sidedly infatuated.
The Empress Dowager feigned anger and said, “Why is the Emperor still drinking? When I return, I must properly lecture him.”
Li Yue was a little unhappy. Meng Fu getting forced to drink by Tang Mingqi and then having to face a lecture when she got back? He said to the Empress Dowager: “You should speak more to General Tang. He’s already that old and still drinks so much.”
The Empress Dowager couldn’t help but burst out laughing. This young lady looked gentle and refined, yet she was unexpectedly quite protective. She said, “Alright, when I get back, I’ll have a word with him. Let’s not talk about that now—why don’t you tell Aijia more about that story you were just speaking of?”
The Empress Dowager seemed to be listening intently and didn’t watch her step. She nearly tripped on a stone but was caught in time by Li Yue. Once the Empress Dowager had regained her balance, Li Yue began to nag: “You should walk slower, watch your step. The trees up ahead are overgrown—you can’t pass that way. Go this direction. Didn’t you say you wanted to see the lotus flowers? They’re to the south. Walk this way and you won’t get sunburned.”
The Empress Dowager actually didn’t really want to see the lotus flowers. She had just casually used it as an excuse to spend a little more time with Li Yue, to observe what kind of person this young lady really was. Li Yue continued: “This path isn’t easy to walk—you should be careful. By the way, how could you come out with so few people? Why didn’t you bring more palace servants? You really…”
If it weren’t for the concern that someone else might overhear certain things, would the Empress Dowager have come out with just Li Yue and Ninth Prince like this? In a certain moment, she felt as if it was that eldest son of hers nagging in her ear again. This girl was just too much like her son. Just listen to the tone of her voice—if she didn’t know better, she would suspect this girl had also come out of her own womb.
And how did she know the Imperial Garden so well? The Empress Dowager was a bit puzzled—was this her home, or his? Had the Emperor and him had private meetings here more than once?
The Empress Dowager thought, this girl had finally entered the palace—it wouldn’t be good to keep her tied to her side the whole time. His Majesty should see her too. After glancing at the lotus flowers for a moment, she returned to Linde Hall.
After parting with Li Yue, the Empress Dowager said to Gugu Chen, “I don’t know why, but the moment I saw her, I felt a sense of closeness. I can even understand why His Majesty would like her. I like her too.”
Gugu Chen nodded and said, “This servant also finds her very familiar.”
The Empress Dowager gave a soft sigh and said, “That girl is good in every way—it’s just a pity she’s already married.”
Even if she were to divorce the Marquis of Xuanping in the future, and the Emperor wished to bring her into the palace, the court ministers would surely object.
But thinking another way, ever since the Emperor ascended the throne, there had already been many matters the court ministers tried to oppose. It seemed there was no need to take the ministers’ words too seriously. But what exactly was the Emperor planning? He couldn’t possibly keep going on like this sneakily and secretly forever.
Thinking of this, the Empress Dowager couldn’t help but sigh again. She thought: truly a case of the Emperor isn’t anxious, but the Empress Dowager is.
The banquet in Linde Hall came to an end. The noblewomen followed the Empress Dowager to the Imperial Garden to watch a play. Meng Fu accompanied them for a while before returning to Zichen Hall to handle memorials.
The sky gradually darkened. The performance ended, and it was time for the people to leave. The noblewomen took their leave one by one. Ninth Prince poked at Li Yue’s sleeve again, and the Empress Dowager then told Li Yue to stay behind and chat with her a while longer.
The noblewomen sighed inwardly: this Marchioness of Xuanping truly had great luck, to even win the affection of the little prince.
The sky grew darker again. Only then did the Empress Dowager allow Li Yue to leave. Gugu Chen came out to escort her. While passing through the Imperial Garden, they saw Gao Xi. Gugu Chen understood at once and withdrew.
Li Yue gave Gao Xi a once-over. Why did Gao Xi look so annoyingly smug today?
“The Emperor is inside?” Li Yue walked over and asked.
“Yes,” Gao Xi replied.
All the other palace attendants in this area had already been driven off by Gao Xi. When Li Yue walked in, he saw Meng Fu sitting inside the pavilion, holding a white long-haired cat in her arms. It was none other than the imperial concubine who usually treated him cold as ice.
The imperial concubine lying in Meng Fu’s arms yawned lazily upon seeing him, closed her eyes, and rubbed her head against Meng Fu’s chest—showing not even a trace of her former arrogance.
Li Yue: “……”
Truly gave his heart to the wrong person!
Meng Fu recalled the palace servants saying that Guifei previously hadn’t been too willing to interact with His Majesty, so he asked Li Yue: “Does Your Majesty want to pet her?”
Li Yue didn’t move his hand, only stood where he was and looked at Meng Fu. A faint blush had risen on Meng Fu’s face, making her whole person appear even softer. If the Empress Dowager were here, wouldn’t she also say “pretty”?
Li Yue thought to himself: what kind of nonsense am I even thinking? He asked Meng Fu, “Did you drink too much?”
Meng Fu said, “Didn’t drink much. It’s nothing.”
“Bullsh—” Li Yue had originally wanted to say bullshit, but couldn’t bring himself to say it to Meng Fu’s face. The words changed at his lips: “Nonsense. I saw it all.”
“Really, it’s nothing,” Meng Fu smiled. “I drank plain water later on. But General Tang might be in for a rough time when he gets back.”
“He deserved it.” Li Yue hadn’t expected that Tang Mingqi actually got set up. He immediately felt cheerful again and said to Meng Fu, “Now even his stash of private money is gone.”
Li Yue then recounted in detail to Meng Fu how he had tricked Tang Mingqi.
Meng Fu lifted her head to look at the Emperor sitting across from her. As Li Yue spoke, he looked proud and smug, like a little boy asking to be praised. Meng Fu smiled—a bit of pity for poor General Tang.
When Li Yue finished, she picked up a jar of wine from the ground and placed it on the table. She said to Li Yue: “This is what General Tang brought back from the northern frontier. You take it back and try it—but don’t drink too much all at once.”
She paused for a moment, then continued: “There are six jars left. I had someone place them in your wine cellar. You can drink them when you return.”
Li Yue came over and sat down across from Meng Fu. He picked up the wine jar and asked: “Tang Mingqi gave so much?”
That really didn’t match his usual stingy behavior.
Meng Fu said: “Originally, General Tang was planning to leave a few jars for his family. Later he thought the palace wine wasn’t strong enough, so he left it all for you.”
Of course, some of this was due to Meng Fu’s subtle coaxing in her words—but now His Majesty had repaid kindness with betrayal, and completely cleaned out Tang Mingqi’s little treasury.
Li Yue felt no guilt whatsoever.
Since swapping bodies, his alcohol tolerance had clearly been affected. Meng Fu felt she really hadn’t drunk much, but now that several hours had passed, the aftereffects seemed to be catching up. Her head felt a bit dizzy—but it didn’t seem to be anything serious.
She sat obediently on the stone bench holding Guifei, not moving at all—looking very well-behaved. Li Yue didn’t expect that one day, he’d be able to see the words “well-behaved” applied to his own face. Truly, if one lives long enough, there’s nothing they won’t witness.
He observed Meng Fu for a while, then called Gao Xi over and instructed, “Help him back, let him rest well.”
At first, Gao Xihesitated a little, but later saw that His Majesty really did seem drunk, and only then cautiously stepped forward to support her.
Li Yue said helplessly, “Still saying you’re not drunk.”
When Meng Fu heard this, she lifted her head and looked at Li Yue.
Li Yue glared at her. Seeing her cheeks flushed, he raised his hand and touched her forehead—feeling that it wasn’t particularly hot, he put his hand down.
Meng Fu pressed her lips together and didn’t speak. Li Yue, for some reason, actually felt that the way she was right now was a bit like the small cloth doll he kept at his bedside.
He said to Meng Fu, “Don’t drink next time.”
Meng Fu still hadn’t realized that she might be drunk. She looked at Li Yue and, in her muddled mind, forgot that she and the Emperor had swapped bodies—she confusedly thought the person in front of her was herself.
She felt that the Meng Fu before her was lively and adorable, free and unrestrained.
So nice.
She curved her lips and smiled.
The silvery moonlight cloaked her like light gauze, and the surrounding flowers seemed to slowly bloom along with her smile. The fragrance of the flowers surged forward like waves crashing in.
Li Yue froze, momentarily forgetting what he had been about to say.
Even when he left the palace and sat in the carriage returning to the Marquis’ manor, he kept thinking—why did she suddenly smile at me?
And smile so beautifully.
At the same time, a subordinate of the Prince Xuan came out of the palace and returned to their temporary residence. Upon entering the room, he nervously said to a man dressed as a servant, “Your Highness, I think His Majesty may have discovered our conspiracy.”
That servant turned around, face pale and features handsome—it was none other than Prince Xuan himself, who had claimed to be recuperating in Yecheng. He let out a laugh, not taking it seriously, and said, “How could that be?”
The subordinate said, “Today when I offered birthday congratulations to the Empress Dowager, His Majesty smiled at me.”
“What?” Prince Xuan’s expression immediately grew extremely grave. He asked anxiously, “How did he smile?”
“Like this.” The subordinate lifted the corners of his mouth and imitated the Emperor’s expression perfectly.
Prince Xuan’s heart gave a sudden jolt when he saw that smile.
It’s over. His Majesty definitely knows something!