After court, Wei Jun’an and Liu Changlan and the others came out of the Xuanzheng Hall one by one with joy written all over their faces, as if they had encountered a matter of great happiness. For them, it truly was so — they had actually managed to reverse His Majesty’s will, something that had never happened since His Majesty ascended the throne. In a bit, they had to find a place to properly celebrate.
Li Yue had nothing to do today, so he came to the long street outside the Meridian Gate and sat at a breakfast stall on the west side, waiting for the officials to come out after court.
As it neared noon, the hundred officials came out from the Meridian Court Gate. Wei Jun’an and Liu Changlan were walking at the very front. Li Yue dragged his chair to a spot close to the roadside. Not long after, the officials passed by his side. He saw Liu Changlan beaming with joy and spring in his step, saying: “The speech Lord Wei gave in court just now was truly impassioned and stirring, words flowing like a string of pearls, touching to the heart — to be able to make His Majesty change his mind, Lord Wei is truly an indispensable contributor.”
Wei Jun’an said modestly, “Not at all, not at all. It was still Lord Liu’s earnest words that did the trick. That part you said in court is still echoing in my mind — it was truly powerful and resonant, a thunderous wake-up call! Your demeanor is just as impressive as it was back then!”
Liu Changlan waved his hand and said, “Lord Wei overpraises me. I only got the inspiration after hearing your previous speech. The real credit still belongs to you, Lord Wei.”
Wei Jun’an shook his head and said, “What credit? In truth, we didn’t do much. We just made it so that our colleagues don’t have to be on edge anymore, worrying about being sent by His Majesty to the northern frontier. And we took the opportunity to suppress those military generals a little.”
He said it like that, but the expression on his face clearly looked very proud.
This matter today was something he could brag about until the day he entered his coffin.
No — even after entering his coffin, he had to tell those colleagues who died before him all about it in detail.
Liu Changlan nodded. He could very much understand Wei Jun’an’s mood at this moment, and grinned as he said insincerely, “Yes, yes, we just did a bit of what was within our capabilities, nothing more.”
The two looked at each other and then burst out laughing together.
Li Yue listened to these two go back and forth with mutual flattery, and saw those officials behind them also looking equally smug, as if they had gained a huge advantage from His Majesty.
He narrowed his eyes slightly and put down the bowl of soup in his hand. He suddenly felt that these officials under him, one by one, all looked a bit… not so bright.
Forget it — not being bright also had its benefits.
This wasn’t bad either.
Once those officials left by sedan chair, Li Yue paid and stood up to walk onto the street. He looked up toward the palace city and suddenly thought — he didn’t know what Meng Fu was doing at this moment.
The old madam of the Marquis Residence had noticed that Li Yue had been going out too frequently these days and couldn’t help but become suspicious that she might have someone outside. The Madam of the Xuanping Marquis Residence didn’t want to manage the household, wanted to practice martial arts, and wanted to find some entertainment — these things, if tolerated, could pass, but if she truly had another man outside, that absolutely could not be tolerated.
The old madam sent servants to secretly follow Li Yue to see what she did every day when she went out. Many times, she didn’t even bring a personal maid.
But the other party’s tracking skills were too clumsy. They were discovered by Li Yue almost as soon as they left the residence.
So once Li Yue entered Yunxi Tower, he had a shadow guard dress up as him and sit alone in a private room. When evening came, they would switch back. Although this trick wasn’t very novel or meticulous, it was more than enough to fool a few servants from the Marquis Residence. Until now, no one had discovered that every time the Madam of the Xuanping Marquis Residence left the residence, she was actually having secret meetings with the Emperor.
The word “secret meeting” sounded rather ambiguous. Li Yue touched his chin and had a bit of a desire to arrange another “secret meeting” with “His Majesty.”
But these past few days there probably wouldn’t be time — this reform matter had just been finalized, and Meng Fu would be busy for a while.
Li Yue went to Yunxi Tower, packed up some of the pastries Meng Fu usually liked, and had a shadow guard deliver them to her, then returned to the Marquis Residence, planning to head over to the Meng family’s place before noon. If Madam Meng was truly seriously ill, he should find a way to let Meng Fu see her once.
The old madam learned from the servants that the young madam had been going to Yunxi Tower every time she went out these past few days — ordering a pot of tea and a plate of peanuts and sitting there the whole day.
After hearing this, the old madam thought to herself: What kind of behavior is this? Has the Marquis Residence already become a place she cannot stay in?
She asked, “She was alone?”
The servant said, “Only the madam was there.”
The old madam was finally at ease, but still could not understand why Meng Fu insisted on going to Yunxi Tower to sit there — could it be that the peanuts there were especially delicious? But then again, thinking about it differently, she felt it was pretty good for Meng Fu to stay outside — saved her from making a fuss in the marquis manor every day, which would only upset herself.
The old madam’s health had improved quite a bit compared to a few days ago. These past few days she was even able to go out and stroll around with her sisters. She knew that right now, the accounts of the marquis manor were being managed by Xie Wenzhao. Reasonably speaking, she had always doted on Xie Wenzhao and couldn’t bear to let him be too exhausted, but not long ago she had a really hard time managing the accounts herself, so she could only let Xie Wenzhao shoulder a bit more.
Moreover, she discovered that letting Xie Wenzhao manage the household did have some advantages. In the past, he didn’t handle household affairs and didn’t know the hardship of buying firewood and rice [idiom: literally “those who don’t manage the household don’t know the price of daily necessities”]. He always spent money lavishly. Now it’s different — Xie Wenzhao understood the marquis manor’s situation, didn’t have time to attend banquets outside, and expenses suddenly became much more frugal.
In Jixue Courtyard, Li Yue changed into a new set of clothes and brought Qingping along to head to the Meng residence. The Meng residence wasn’t too far from the Xuanping Marquis Manor — the carriage took just over an hour to arrive.
The servants in the Meng residence, upon seeing Meng Fu arrive, hurried into the residence to report. Not long after, they came back and led Li Yue further into the residence. Li Yue found it strange — this didn’t feel like returning to her parental home.
Then again, he had never returned to his own parental home before, so whether it felt right or not wasn’t up to him to say.
On the way, Qingping asked a couple of questions. A servant said that Madam Meng had been sick for some time and was only recently starting to improve.
Madam Meng was seated in the main hall to receive Meng Fu. When she saw Li Yue enter, she did not rise, and weakly said, “You’ve come.”
She wasn’t even fifty this year. After marrying Meng Yanxing, she hadn’t suffered any hardship, and had taken good care of herself. Even now, she was still a beauty — only her complexion was slightly pale. She had indeed been sick, but it didn’t seem to be anything serious.
So then, why did they summon Meng Fu home? Could it be that they missed her?
Madam Meng smiled and said, “It’s a pity that today is a bit unfortunate — your father isn’t at home.”
Li Yue thought to himself: how is that unfortunate? It’s fortunate to the extreme!
Li Yue lowered his gaze and looked at Madam Meng, asking, “How are you? Is your health any better?”
Madam Meng let out a soft sigh and said to Li Yue, “It’s just that I’m getting older, my body can’t handle much. I caught a chill a while ago and came down with a cold. It knocked me down completely. It’s nothing, a few days of rest and I’ll be fine. With A’Yu taking care of me by my side, you don’t need to worry. Speaking of which, A’Yu has been completely worn out lately — she’s looking much more haggard. Makes my heart ache seeing her like that.”
Li Yue gave a vague “oh” and nodded. He said, “Since you’re fine, then I’ll be leaving.”
He turned and began walking out.
Madam Meng: “?”
She’s not even going to go through the motions of polite talk?
Madam Meng hadn’t expected Li Yue to be so unpredictable. Seeing that Li Yue had already turned and walked to the doorway, she quickly called out: “Meng Fu?”
Li Yue paused and looked back at her: “Do you still have something?”
Madam Meng originally wanted to exchange a few more pleasantries with Li Yue, but seeing her attitude — afraid that if she said one more word of nonsense, her leg would already step out the door — she could only get straight to the point and said:
“I heard that some time ago, on the Empress Dowager’s birthday, you entered the palace, and the Empress Dowager took a walk with you through the imperial garden.”
Because the information they received wasn’t complete, many who didn’t know the truth believed that the Empress Dowager could not have gone out of her way to stroll with Meng Fu alone for no reason — it had to be either for something concerning the Xuanping Marquis Manor or the Meng family.
They couldn’t get any useful information from the Xuanping Marquis Manor, so they thickened their skin and came to the Meng family, using roundabout ways to probe and ask questions.
Back when His Majesty ascended the throne, Meng Yanxing — for reasons unknown — directly resigned his post in court. His Majesty made no effort to retain him. People knew then that His Majesty was somewhat displeased with Meng Yanxing. Fearing they would be dragged into retribution, many aristocrats and court officials who had once associated with Meng Yanxing severed ties with him. The once-bustling Meng residence suddenly fell into quiet.
But now, the Meng residence was lively again. Madam Meng didn’t know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. However, after so many days of no movement from the palace, she couldn’t help but feel anxious. Whatever was going to happen, they should at least be mentally prepared.