No one dislikes being praised — especially when these words come from a former adversary. Meng Yanxing felt as if he were walking on clouds. He immediately cupped his hands and said, “This humble commoner will do his utmost.”
Meng Fu slightly nodded and said: “That is good. I just wonder how long Grand Tutor Meng will need to complete the Male Virtue book.”
“This…” Meng Yanxing truly had no idea in his heart.
Meng Fu said, “Zhen does not want to wait too long. Let’s do this — Zhen will first give Meng xiansheng one month’s time. Tutor Meng, write a more detailed outline, and Zhen will then see if there are places that need amending. Thank you for your hard work, Sir Meng.”
Meng Yanxing rose and said, “This humble commoner obeys the decree.”
Meng Fu had Meng Yanxing stay in the Zichen Hall for lunch before allowing him to leave. Upon exiting the Zichen Hall, Meng Yanxing raised his hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The Emperor’s methods were far more formidable than when she had been a prince. He was a bit glad that he had resigned early on; judging by His Majesty’s temperament, had he remained in court and continued to be an eyesore, who knows what ending he would have met — after all, quite a few had died in court these past few years.
However, if he could write a Male Virtue book that satisfied His Majesty, then perhaps he might have a chance to return to court someday.
Don’t be fooled by how he had been teaching obediently at home these past few years — in his heart, he always longed for the sovereign’s appreciation, to have a chance to put his ideals into practice.
He had been forced to endure for so many years, and now, he could finally see hope.
After arranging the compilation work for Male Virtue, Meng Fu opened the secret reports sent by the hidden guards. According to what was written in the reports, Prince Xuan, Li Yu, had already connected all his forces. He was even spreading rumors again in the southeastern regions, claiming that someone was about to start a rebellion — most likely wanting to stage a “create noise in the east, strike in the west” tactic to make His Majesty send troops to the southeast, and then ally with foreign tribes to invade from the northern borders. Unfortunately, this prince didn’t wrap his bundle tightly — his scheme had already been exposed in advance.
Meng Fu trusted in Li Yue’s abilities. Even if they hadn’t received early notice, Prince Xuan’s plan still wouldn’t have succeeded. But being able to know every move Prince Xuan made in advance added a bit more fun to this play.
Things on Prince Xuan’s side were nearly ready to wrap up. He used his eloquence and some information he’d previously overheard from Nanny Liu to strike a deal with the former Crown Prince’s people. The remnants left by the late Crown Prince were truly pitiful — they’d already been purged several times by His Majesty and still refused to give up. Now, with just a few sweet words from Prince Xuan, they were tricked onto a pirate ship again. This time, they’d be cut down again.
As for when to act and how to act, Meng Fu hadn’t yet decided. She still needed to ask His Majesty for instructions. As it happened, she had time that afternoon, so she could leave the palace to meet with him.
The hidden guards had had a much easier time these past few days. Before, even the tiniest sesame-sized matters between Meng Fu and Li Yue would require them to pass messages back and forth, running between the palace and the marquis’ residence five or six times a day. It wasn’t that they no longer cared about sesame-sized things now, but rather, the two had switched to speaking directly.
The hidden guards privately gossiped: “The cuckold’s hat [‘green hat’ — being cheated on] on the head of Marquis Xuanping is getting greener and greener, yet he still sits there mourning the spring and grieving the autumn [lamenting sentimentally], completely unaware that his wife is about to be gone.”
Speaking of which, was His Majesty planning to just keep pursuing this kind of excitement? Judging from the look of the Marchioness of Xuanping, it wasn’t as if she had no feelings toward His Majesty. So shouldn’t His Majesty arrange for this lady to divorce Xie Wenzhao sooner?
They had already learned many techniques for wooing women from His Majesty. Surely, His Majesty had other deeper intentions in doing this — it must be they were too stupid to grasp it in time.
The hidden guards also discovered that the second concubine in Xie Wenzhao’s residence had recently grown quite close to one of his personal servants. Watching all this from the shadows, the guards looked toward Marquis Xuanping with even more sympathy in their eyes, extremely curious to know how many green hats would eventually land on his head.
When bored, the hidden guards even opened up a betting pool to gamble on how many green hats the Marquis would end up wearing.
Although one shouldn’t base their joy on the pain of others — this was really just too delightful.
Watching Xie Wenzhao’s completely oblivious and dumb-looking face, the hidden guards felt their happiness had doubled.
Today’s weather wasn’t great. The sky was overcast, the cool wind gusting — it might rain tonight. After leaving the palace, Meng Fu headed straight to the archery field in the western outskirts. His Majesty had already been waiting there for a while, seated on a chaise longue, eyes half-closed, looking like he hadn’t slept well and was lacking in spirit.
Meng Fu walked over and saw that Li Yue’s face was stinky, and she immediately understood. She held back a laugh and asked him, “Did Your Majesty come on your period today?”
Sigh.
His Majesty got his period.
What a ridiculously funny thing to say!
Li Yue gave a weak “mm.” This wasn’t his first time getting his period, but he still couldn’t get used to it. His right hand was resting on his lower abdomen, and his whole person exuded a sort of delicate frailty not usually seen from him.
Meng Fu took two steps closer and squatted down in front of Li Yue. Her figure was tall now, so even squatting, she wasn’t much lower than His Majesty. Meng Fu’s tone carried a hint of imperceptible complaint and remorse. She softly said, “You should rest more. If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have asked you to come out.”
“That won’t do. I feel even worse when I’m in the marquis’ residence.”
And seeing Meng Fu could make him a little happier.
Meng Fu said helplessly, “Alright then.”
She turned her head and saw a bowl of snowflake pudding placed on the small table beside them. Her brows furrowed, and she asked Li Yue, “Why did you buy this kind of thing? You can’t eat cold foods right now.”
“Kn—ow—” Li Yue deliberately dragged out the syllables, then explained to Meng Fu, “I didn’t plan to eat it. It just looked nice, so I bought it for you.”
After saying that, he reached out and brought the bowl of snowflake pudding in front of Meng Fu. Meng Fu took it, lowered her eyes, and saw that there was some bruising on Li Yue’s right wrist. She casually asked, “You’re injured?”
Li Yue immediately withdrew his hand and loudly said, “N-no.”
Meng Fu actually hadn’t seen clearly what was going on with his wrist, but His Majesty really wasn’t good at lying sometimes. She directly bluffed: “Don’t hide it, I already saw. Let me take a look.”
Li Yue pursed his lips. Seeing Meng Fu’s firm attitude, he had no choice but to obediently extend his hand.
Meng Fu rolled up his sleeve — on that fair arm, a dark bruise had appeared. At first glance, it looked a bit frightening, but the bone wasn’t hurt. It wasn’t too serious.
Meng Fu let his sleeve fall back down and asked, “How did you get this injury?”
Li Yue told her everything truthfully. Yesterday, while practicing boxing in the garden, his monthly period had suddenly arrived. He couldn’t control his strength and accidentally punched the ornamental rockery behind him — and thus, gloriously injured himself.
“Did you apply any medicine?” Meng Fu asked.
“I did.”
If the injury had been on himself, Li Yue probably wouldn’t have cared. But this was an injury that wasn’t supposed to appear on Meng Fu’s body.
Meng Fu didn’t really mind whether her body would leave scars. She simply instructed him, “Be more careful next time. Don’t let yourself get hurt again.”
Li Yue gave an “mm” in response. He also didn’t want to leave any more marks on Meng Fu’s body.
While Meng Fu was eating the snowflake pudding that His Majesty had bought for her, she noticed him staring at her. She hesitated, set the bowl down, and asked, “Does your stomach hurt a lot?”
Li Yue said, “It’s alright, I suppose. When I was injured in battle at the northern border, it was about the same.”
That didn’t sound alright at all.
When Li Yue was sent to the northern frontier, he was only fourteen years old. To be subjected to that kind of punishment — apart from the previous emperor not valuing him, part of the reason was also that he frequently provoked the emperor’s anger.
Meng Fu somewhat wanted to know what His Majesty had gone through back then in the north.
It wasn’t anything that couldn’t be said — yet heaven was too cooperative. Just as Li Yue began describing how on the first day he arrived in the north there had been a fierce wind, sharp as blades, a strong gust of wind rose on their side too.
Li Yue’s story came to a sudden halt.
When Meng Fu raised her eyes again, she found that His Majesty’s eyes had actually grown misty with tears.
Was His Majesty saddened by the memories of the northern frontier?
Meng Fu quickly stepped forward and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Just got sand in my eyes.”
Li Yue had originally wanted to curse this damned sky, but remembering that he and Meng Fu didn’t know when they’d switch back, he forced himself to hold back.
He reached up to rub his eyes.
Meng Fu grabbed his wrist and said helplessly, “Don’t move. Let me take a look.”
Li Yue responded with an “oh,” widened his eyes, and obediently sat still.
Meng Fu leaned a bit closer, carefully pulling apart his eyelids.
She was perhaps leaning a bit too close — their breaths intertwined, laced with a heady fragrance.
Golden sunlight spilled through the layered clouds, falling into her soft and focused eyes.
Some people’s cheeks flush before a storm.
Li Yue thought maybe he was like that too.
In a daze, he realized he really shouldn’t have wanted to curse the heavens just now.
He pursed his lips, raised his hand to press against his chest.
Meng Fu noticed his movement and quickly looked down to ask, “Your Majesty, what’s wrong?”
Li Yue looked up into her eyes and said deeply, “A’Fu, I think I’ve been poisoned again.”
…Poisoned again?
Li Yue said earnestly, “My heart… seems to be beating too fast.”
—
T/N: He’s quite an idiot himself, isn’t he?