The Empress Dowager had always kept Li Yue by her side, so even though everyone in the garden was curious, they did not dare approach the Empress Dowager to gossip.
There were indeed some people at the Empress Dowager’s side who wanted to speak to Li Yue in a roundabout way, but Li Yue ignored them all. Those who could stand beside the Empress Dowager were all prominent figures in the imperial capital. Seeing his cold expression, they naturally would not shamelessly cling on, but couldn’t help harboring inner complaints: how come this Marchioness of Xuanping looks a bit different from usual?
Soon after, they heard that it was Xie Wenzhao who was now managing household affairs in the Xuanping Marquis Manor, and immediately felt as if they had grasped the truth — this must be a quarrel between her and the Marquis of Xuanping. Understandable, understandable.
The Empress Dowager had been holding Li Yue’s hand the entire time, and even when speaking to others, she was unwilling to let go. The Fifth Princess came over, saw this scene, and smiled teasingly: “Imperial Mother, you like the Marchioness of Xuanping so much that your daughter is getting jealous.”
The Empress Dowager patted the back of Li Yue’s hand and smiled: “Aijia just likes this kind of beautiful and gentle girl.”
Li Yue wore a wooden face, offering thanks, but internally thought: Mother really doesn’t need to praise him like this.
But A’Fu is indeed very beautiful.
Thinking so, Li Yue’s expression turned a bit proud.
Others who noticed the change in his expression simply didn’t know what to say. So unmodest? What’s there to be proud of!
Oh—being praised by the Empress Dowager is indeed something to be proud of.
Good thing Meng Fu had already married the Marquis of Xuanping. Otherwise, with how much the Empress Dowager liked her, wouldn’t she have had His Majesty take her into the palace?
Although the Fifth Princess wasn’t born of the Empress Dowager, she had a lively and straightforward temperament, and from childhood was beloved by many palace concubines. Later, when the imperial sons fought for succession, she did not get involved, so her relationship with the Empress Dowager had always been good. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have invited the Empress Dowager out of the palace. She followed along with the Empress Dowager’s words and asked: “Could it be that your daughter is not gentle and beautiful?”
The Empress Dowager’s smile deepened, and she laughed: “You’re beautiful too. As for whether you’re gentle—go ask your Fuma.” [Fuma (驸马): the title for the husband of a princess.]
The Fifth Princess’s face turned red, and she lowered her head saying: “Imperial Mother always likes to make fun of your daughter.”
Her temper, though not as irritable as the Emperor’s, was nowhere near gentle either. The onlookers all laughed along with the Empress Dowager.
But in their hearts, they couldn’t help but wonder: there were countless gentle and beautiful girls in this Bai Xiang Garden—why was it that the Marchioness of Xuanping caught the Empress Dowager’s eye? Couldn’t figure it out. Truly couldn’t figure it out.
Just as everyone was trying to observe what other outstanding qualities this Marchioness of Xuanping had, they suddenly saw the young Prince sitting next to the Empress Dowager stand up. He toddled on his short little legs—da da da—over to Li Yue, stood still, then tilted his head up. His little mouth opened and closed for a while, then finally said:
“Here, you call me ‘Imperial Brother’ so I can hear.”
Li Yue: “……”
Meng Fu: “……”
The two of them immediately recognized that the little prince was mimicking what Li Yue had once said to him. The little prince didn’t really understand worldly matters, but he could tell the two of them had swapped bodies.
The crowd didn’t understand, but the Empress Dowager burst into laughter. She thought the Ninth Prince was simply expressing his fondness for Meng Fu. After all, aside from herself and the Emperor, he had never spoken to anyone else before. Though what the young prince said was disjointed, he’d always been like that. The Empress Dowager didn’t overthink it and just said:
“Looks like Xiao Jiu really likes you.”
She thought for a moment and added: “Good child, if you have time in the future, come to the palace more often, keep Aijia company and chat.”
When the Empress Dowager said this, she felt a bit guilty and ashamed. What she was doing now was somewhat unfair to the Marquis of Xuanping. She subconsciously glanced in the direction of Xie Wenzhao, only to see him dazedly staring at another young girl in the garden. The Empress Dowager suddenly felt much better.
She didn’t know what His Majesty was thinking. He still hadn’t made any moves to get the Marchioness and the Marquis of Xuanping to divorce. Was he really planning to let things go on like this? She must find time to ask him properly.
The gazes of the people around, as they looked at Li Yue, were filled with jealousy and envy. Who wouldn’t want to get closer to the imperial family? But His Majesty’s harem had no one, and they couldn’t even find an entry point. They had previously heard that the Empress Dowager and the Emperor did not get along well. But now, it seemed the mother and son were getting along quite well. If one pleased the Empress Dowager, it was equivalent to pleasing the Emperor.
They could tell that the Marchioness of Xuanping was able to receive the Empress Dowager’s favor probably had something to do with the Ninth Prince. But to be honest, wanting to curry favor with this Ninth Prince was probably even harder than currying favor with His Majesty.
This kind of banquet didn’t need to be too solemn. Meng Fu let these guests relax a bit as well. At first, everyone didn’t dare speak freely due to the Emperor’s presence. But later, seeing that His Majesty was chatting happily with General Tang, they gradually loosened up. There were many young men and women in the garden. When the Empress Dowager said she wanted it to be livelier, the Fifth Princess arranged for them to come forward and perform. Some played instruments, some composed poems on the spot, and some told jokes, making the Empress Dowager laugh non-stop.
After most had finished performing, the sky darkened. A full moon hung in the sky. Meng Yu got up and walked over, performing a dance.
Her dancing had always been very good. The moonlight draped over her body like silver gauze. The gold and silver ornaments on her sparkled with her movements. Quite a few young men present were dazed watching her. Meng Fu, under the pretense of drinking, glanced in Li Yue’s direction and saw His Majesty slightly furrowing his brows, as if in contemplation. Meng Fu judged that His Majesty was probably thinking: “Didn’t Meng Yu have trouble with her legs? How can she dance so high?”
Li Yue sensed someone looking at him. When he turned his head, he met Meng Fu’s smiling eyes. Li Yue instantly smiled too and even winked at her.
Meng Fu also followed and smiled with him.
The moonlight was enchanting, faint fragrance drifted, the sound of strings and flutes rang on gently and endlessly. Everyone around was watching Meng Yu dance, and no one noticed this fleeting interaction between them under the dim lantern light.
Li Yue heard the pounding of his own heartbeat — the sound seemed to strike against his eardrums, momentarily overwhelming all the other sounds in Baixiang Garden, as if in this moment, only he and Meng Fu remained in this world.
When Meng Yu’s dance ended, the applause around surged toward her like a tide. She hadn’t received this much attention in years, and naturally felt very joyful in her heart. She didn’t step back right away, but instead secretly raised her eyes to glance at the Emperor — yet the Emperor was looking elsewhere. Meng Yu couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.
It was clear the Empress Dowager quite liked her dance, but didn’t show any intention of calling her forward.
Meng Yu felt indignant in her heart. Why was the one who won the Empress Dowager’s favor not herself? If it were her… she could definitely restore the Meng family to its former glory.
After the crowd enjoyed the festivities for a while, Meng Fu noticed a trace of weariness on the Empress Dowager’s face and prepared to send her back to the palace.
The Empress Dowager, full of strategy, said she was reluctant to part with the Marchioness of Xuanping and asked Li Yue to accompany her for a bit longer. Once they had walked away from the crowd, the Empress Dowager said she wanted to rest for a while and brought the Ninth Prince and a few palace servants to sit in the pavilion — leaving only Meng Fu and Li Yue behind.
Meng Fu: “……”
The Empress Dowager’s acting skills also seemed to need some polishing.
She turned her head and found Li Yue staring at her feet, and asked: “Your Majesty, what are you looking at?”
“I’m looking at whether you’re walking straight.”
Seeing that Meng Fu was looking at him with a puzzled face, Li Yue explained: “I saw you drinking wine.”
Meng Fu said: “No, I had Eunuch Gao switch the wine to plain water in advance.”
She knew that even though she was now in the Emperor’s body, her alcohol tolerance hadn’t increased a bit.
Li Yue asked: “Didn’t Tang Mingqi notice?”
Meng Fu laughed: “General Tang was busy complaining to me the whole time and didn’t notice at all.”
After Ji Yun discovered that his private stash of money had been exposed, he quickly found out that it was Tang Mingqi who leaked the information. Ji Yun simply couldn’t understand this kind of behavior — harming others without benefiting oneself. All the men had private savings hidden, so why make things hard for another man? To make Tang General experience his own suffering, Ji Yun told Lady Tang about how Tang Mingqi had hidden several jars of wine back in the Northern Frontier. And thus, the last bit of wine Tang Mingqi had left was also confiscated by Lady Tang.
The pitiful General Tang sternly denounced Ji Yun’s shameless behavior in front of Meng Fu. He still didn’t know that it was His Majesty who sold him out.
Li Yue, upon hearing the tragic experiences of his two brothers, not only didn’t show sympathy but even proudly said, “I will definitely never hide any private stash of money in the future.”
“Hmm?” Meng Fu hadn’t misheard what His Majesty said—she just hadn’t expected him to say that.
Being looked at like this by her, Li Yue didn’t know why he suddenly felt a little shy. He gave a light cough, turned his head to look elsewhere, and said, “N-nothing.”
Meng Fu didn’t press him, which instead made Li Yue feel a bit disappointed.
Meng Fu tilted her head and gazed at the full moon in the night sky. She suddenly remembered the Lantern Festival of the eleventh year of Wenkang. She said softly, “Your Majesty, tonight’s moon is very round.”
If it were someone else who said this, Li Yue would most likely reply with: ‘Isn’t that nonsense? Of course, the moon of the Mid-Autumn Festival on the 15th of the eighth lunar month is round.’ But because it was Meng Fu who said it, he only felt that tonight’s moon was more beautiful than any moon before.
He turned his head—not to look at the moon in the sky, but at the moon in Meng Fu’s eyes. He softly replied, “It is very round.”
The moonlight was bright and clear, and the wind was gentle.