Meng Fu turned her head at the sound, and sure enough, saw His Majesty standing behind her. He was wearing a moon-white long robe, with some gold-woven patterns on it, revealing a different color under the dim light.
The gloomy sky seemed, at this moment, to have its clouds disperse and rain clear, pouring down ten thousand rays of radiance.
“Your Majesty?” Meng Fu called, tilting her head slightly, with a bit of confusion showing on her face.
Li Yue gave a sound of acknowledgment, took a step forward, and brought Meng Fu entirely under his umbrella. Meng Fu was still looking at him, her gaze a little dazed. After a while, she came back to her senses, couldn’t help but let out a laugh, and then asked him: “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be at Jun Mountain for the hunt right now?”
Yesterday morning not long after Meng Fu left, the other troops participating in the hunt also arrived. As the emperor, Li Yue still had to preside over some matters at such a time. But he kept thinking of Meng Fu and couldn’t help being absent-minded. In the forest, he didn’t shoot any prey and was laughed at by Tang Mingqi for quite a while.
That evening back in the tent, outside was lively with singing and dancing, but Li Yue had no interest in joining them at all. Gao Xi brought in a few plates of roast meat from outside, but he only took a few bites before setting them aside. Listening to the laughter and cheer outside, His Majesty felt, inexplicably, that all the happiness belonged to them, and he had none of it himself.
This really should not be.
His Majesty was very unaccustomed to having such melancholic moments.
He immediately decided he had to resolve this matter quickly. Since he couldn’t let go, why not go see with his own eyes? So this morning he casually found an excuse to leave Jun Mountain and returned to the imperial capital.
As soon as he heard from the secret guards that Meng Fu and Xie Wenzhao had gone to the Meng household together, Li Yue rushed toward the Meng residence. Before even reaching the gate of the Meng mansion, he had already caught this little girl who didn’t carry an umbrella in the rain.
Li Yue let out a snort and said to Meng Fu: “If I didn’t come, how would I know that you don’t carry an umbrella when it rains?”
Meng Fu defended: “The rain isn’t heavy, it’s fine not using an umbrella.”
Li Yue glanced at the few strands of wet hair clinging to Meng Fu’s forehead but said nothing, merely shifted the umbrella in his hand further in Meng Fu’s direction, so that now he was standing almost entirely in the rain himself.
At first, Meng Fu didn’t really notice. Not until they turned a corner did she look up at the paper umbrella overhead. The umbrella was large, painted with two ink-colored carp. As the umbrella gently swayed in the rain, it seemed as though the fish had come alive. Meng Fu looked at Li Yue and reminded him aloud: “Your Majesty, the umbrella is too much on my side. Your clothes are all wet.”
Li Yue didn’t look at her, only huffed angrily: “Didn’t you say the rain isn’t heavy, it’s fine not using an umbrella? I think so too.”
Meng Fu: “……”
The words she had just said hadn’t even had time to turn a corner before being thrown back at her by His Majesty—who said the emperor wasn’t cunning!
“I was wrong,” Meng Fu hurriedly admitted her mistake. She turned her head to look at Li Yue’s side profile—many small raindrops slid down along his cheek. As she handed a handkerchief to Li Yue, she promised, “I won’t do it again next time. Next time it rains, I’ll definitely remember to bring an umbrella.”
Only then did Li Yue shift the umbrella slightly back to his own side, making sure Meng Fu wouldn’t get wet in the rain. He asked Meng Fu: “Why did you come out alone? Where are your attendants? Why did you go to the Meng residence today? Meng Yanxing didn’t scold you, right? How’s that ‘Male Virtue’ book of his going? Has he made any progress as a human being?”
His Majesty’s questions were truly too many. Meng Fu waited until he finished, then directly answered: “I’ve dissolved the marriage with Xie Wenzhao.”
All the nagging words Li Yue had been about to say stopped right at his lips. He turned his head sharply and stared straight at Meng Fu beside him. He had absolutely not expected to hear such an answer from her mouth. He asked: “Dissolved the marriage?”
Meng Fu nodded.
Li Yue opened his mouth but forgot what he was going to say originally. All the melancholy he had felt yesterday at Ju Mountain was instantly swept away. The happiness he didn’t get yesterday now surged back doubled. Actually, Li Yue didn’t even quite know why he was so, so happy—his hands and feet even felt like they didn’t know where to put themselves. But he did remember that he must not lose his composure in front of Meng Fu.
He cleared his throat, pretending to be calm, wanting to ask some important questions, but in the end, only blurted out: “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
Meng Fu tilted her head to look at Li Yue. Although His Majesty was doing his utmost to conceal it, the joy overflowing from the corners of his eyes and brows was truly hard to ignore. It was she who had dissolved the marriage, but His Majesty looked even happier than she did—like a big cat whose fur had just been smoothed. Even those old officials in court with bad eyesight could see at a glance that His Majesty was in a very good mood at this moment.
Meng Fu said with a smile: “It’s not too late now, right? Other than the Xie and Meng families, you should be the first to know.”
Li Yue corrected: “No, I meant—why didn’t you talk to me before the divorce?”
“No need, right?” Meng Fu turned her head to look at him again and asked, confused, “Could it be that Your Majesty wanted to oppose it?”
Li Yue declared righteously: “Oppose what? I could have come and held the scene for you.”
Meng Fu: “……”
There was no such need, really.
Li Yue saw Meng Fu fell silent, so he pursed his lips and asked again: “Meng Yanxing agreed too?”
Meng Fu gave a hum in response: “He agreed.”
Li Yue recalled how the last time he visited the Meng residence, Meng Yanxing had been so enraged he nearly jumped with fury, and how he later secretly trapped Li Yue inside the courtyard to copy “Precepts for Women” \[《女诫》], and thought: Meng Yanxing probably wouldn’t have agreed so easily. Could it be that he actually made some progress writing that “Male Virtue” book?
Li Yue asked with concern: “He didn’t nag about anything else?”
Meng Fu said: “He didn’t say much, just kicked me out of the Meng family.”
“Kicked you out of the Meng family? Meng Yanxing really is something else!”
This really was something Meng Yanxing would do. Taking into account that Meng Yanxing was, after all, Meng Fu’s biological father, there were some things Li Yue couldn’t say in front of her. He suppressed himself for a moment, then asked: “Why?”
Perhaps because she never had much hope to begin with, Meng Fu didn’t feel particularly sad about the matter. Plus, the moment she left the Meng residence, she ran into His Majesty—she didn’t even have the chance to feel sad. Regarding Li Yue’s question, she could objectively say: “Nothing more than face, really.”
As for that group of old stubborn mules like Meng Yanxing, Li Yue already had a thorough understanding. He had felt back then that Meng Yanxing didn’t have much real affection for Meng Fu. Now hearing her say this, His Majesty still couldn’t help being angry. He said: “When I get back today, I’ll see what kind of garbage he’s written in his ‘Male Virtue’ book.”
Meng Fu sighed lightly. She said to Li Yue: “Your Majesty, can you stop being angry? If you keep being angry, I’ll cry.”
“Got it.” Li Yue took a deep breath, then turned his head to say to Meng Fu: “In any case, being able to divorce is a happy event. Let’s find a restaurant later and celebrate a bit? And think about what you’ll do next.”
Meng Fu nodded and said: “That’s fine. What does Your Majesty want to eat? It’ll be my treat.”
Li Yue glanced at her and asked: “Did you bring money?”
Meng Fu had left the Marquis Xuanping’s residence with some money on her, enough to treat His Majesty to a meal. Worried that His Majesty might still be brooding over her being driven out of the Meng family, she joked: “If I didn’t bring any, I could just pawn you there—is that okay?”
Li Yue clicked his tongue and protested: “You want to pawn me? What are you to me, to pawn me? Would the shopkeeper even agree?”
Meng Fu lowered her head slightly, gently tucking the hair in front of her forehead behind her ear, and asked with a smile: “Then would you agree?”
What could Li Yue possibly disagree with?
He said: “Pawn me, pawn me. If one’s not enough, you can pawn the secret guards too.”
The secret guards had just caught up from behind when they heard His Majesty say this.
His Majesty is playing little romantic games with that lady—can they not drag them into it? It’s so tiring.
What made the secret guards even more exhausted was that His Majesty then added: “Just don’t forget to redeem us. If you can’t redeem us, just leave the secret guards there.”
That lady even chimed in, playing along with His Majesty: “Your method is good.”
The secret guards sighed silently in their hearts—where was it good? They didn’t understand.
The autumn wind was bleak, the misty rain hazy. The silhouettes of the two gradually disappeared into the vast rain and fog.
After Meng Fu and Xie Wenzhao left the Meng residence, it wasn’t long before Meng Yu chased out from inside. She was still one step too late—when she came out, both Meng Fu and Xie Wenzhao were already gone. But Meng Yu didn’t give up, chose a direction to chase after, and in the end, what she saw wasn’t Xie Wenzhao—but she did harvest something else.
Meng Yu stood in place and watched for a while. Only after the two figures completely disappeared from sight did she return to the residence. Meng Yanxing was still sitting in the front hall, his face filled with anger. Seeing that Meng Yu’s expression looked off, Meng Yanxing asked her: “What did you go out for?”