In his heart, he knew that he had never gotten along with Li Wan. If there truly was some good news for himself, Li Wan would never show up with that kind of expression.
Li Wan had probably come to mock him. He just wasn’t sure yet what the mockery was about. Meng Yanxing put down the book in his hand, frowned, and asked: “What matter?”
Li Wan laughed so hard even his eyebrows were about to fly up. He said to Meng Yanxing: “It’s about your eldest daughter.”
Meng Yanxing’s face immediately dropped. He recalled the things he’d investigated last year—could it be that Meng Fu really had ended up with that coachman? Since Li Wan said it was joyful news, then… were those two about to get married?
What made Meng Yanxing even more alarmed was that Li Wan knew about this. That meant probably half the imperial capital already knew.
Meng Yanxing suddenly felt a bit fortunate—thankfully, thankfully he had removed Meng Fu from the family registry early on. Otherwise, how would the other girls of the Meng family get married in the future?
He said coldly: “What eldest daughter? I have no eldest daughter!”
Upon hearing this, Li Wan laughed so hard the wrinkles on his face almost folded into a flower. He said to Meng Yanxing: “It’s Meng Fu.”
So it was Meng Fu.
“She’s long not a member of the Meng family,” Meng Yanxing said coldly.
Li Wan’s smile didn’t fade. He stepped closer and said in a persuading tone: “Old Brother Meng, aren’t you being a bit too cold-hearted? No matter what, Meng Fu is still your daughter.”
Meng Yanxing gave a cold snort to express his stance: “She is not.”
He sensed that something was off about Li Wan’s expression, but couldn’t quite figure out what exactly. Still, one thing was certain: Li Wan had definitely not come to the Meng residence with good intentions today.
“Sigh,” Li Wan put on a fake sigh and said, “The joyful news I came to tell you is that His Majesty intends to make Meng Fu the Empress. Since you don’t acknowledge this daughter, then this matter has nothing to do with you. What a pity.”
Meng Yanxing sneered: “I knew it, she—”
His words abruptly stopped.
He suddenly leapt to his feet, his eyes wide open, and asked: “What did you say?!”
Li Wan very kindly explained to him: “His Majesty said in court today that he wants to establish Meng Fu as Empress.”
Meng Yanxing slapped the table and shouted: “Absurd! Preposterous! Simply laughable!”
When Li Wan had first heard this news in court, he had also thought it absurd—but now, seeing Meng Yanxing erupt in fury like this, he suddenly felt that His Majesty’s decision was truly excellent. He said: “Old Brother Meng, His Majesty’s golden words are as firm as a decree. Who knows—by now, the imperial edict may already be on its way.”
Just as his voice fell, outside the study came a chorus of calls: “Master Meng, Brother Meng”—a dozen or so officials had all arrived at the Meng residence to “deliver congratulations.”
These people were crowding at the entrance, all saying there was joyful news. But before Meng Yanxing could speak, Li Wan was already shaking his head at them with a regretful expression and said:
“What joyful news? This joy has nothing to do with Old Brother Meng. He just said himself that he absolutely won’t recognize Meng Fu as his daughter. I tried to persuade him for quite a while, but Old Brother Meng just wouldn’t listen.”
Li Wan then turned his head and smiled cheerfully: “Right, Old Brother Meng?”
“I… I…” Meng Yanxing felt like there was a huge stone pressing on his chest, and he could hardly breathe.
The emperor actually wanted to make Meng Fu the Empress?
Crazy. They were all crazy!
Meng Yanxing’s body swayed, his vision went black—and he collapsed unconscious.
Li Wan rushed forward and shouted:
“Old Brother Meng! Old Brother Meng! What’s wrong with you! Hurry, call a doctor over to take a look at Old Brother Meng!”
The entire Meng residence was thrown into chaos in an instant. Who knew how much time passed before Meng Yanxing felt a pain at his temple and woke up from unconsciousness. When he opened his eyes, he saw Madam Meng sitting at the bedside holding a handkerchief, silently shedding tears.
Meng Yanxing sat up, drank a mouthful of water, and said to Madam Meng: “Wife, I think I had a dream. In the dream, someone said His Majesty wants to make Meng Fu the Empress.”
Just as he finished speaking, Li Wan’s head poked out from behind the curtain. He said to Meng Yanxing:
“Old Brother Meng, that wasn’t a dream—it’s real.”
Meng Yanxing’s eyes rolled back, and he actually fainted again. Madam Meng cried even harder.
The other officials in the room looked at Li Wan with expressions of mild reproach—he had been a bit too cruel to Meng Yanxing.
Li Wan shrugged. Meng Yanxing’s health really was too weak.
Old Brother Meng’s blessings are still ahead of him—he really needs to take better care of himself!
Seeing that Meng Yanxing wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon, the officials all took their leave one after another.
Madam Meng stayed at Meng Yanxing’s bedside the whole time. It wasn’t until evening that he woke up again, but after waking, he simply stared at the ceiling above the bed, saying not a single word.
He felt like Heaven had played a tremendous joke on him. All his life, he had acted with the utmost caution, fearful of taking even one wrong step. He had thought that agreeing to marry off Meng Yu to the Marquis of Xuanping’s manor would be the biggest regret of his life—but never had he expected that Meng Fu would deliver him such a huge “surprise.”
What exactly was the emperor thinking?
Meng Yanxing couldn’t understand it. A great Confucian scholar like him, who had read the classics for decades, simply could not fathom why the emperor would marry a woman who had already been married before, and even make her Empress.
But none of it had anything to do with him now. Li Wan had once again schemed against him today. So long as he had even a shred of dignity left, he could not possibly bring Meng Fu back into the family registry again.
Thinking of this, a rush of metallic taste surged in his throat. From the time of Meng Fu’s divorce until today, it had only been half a year, yet Meng Yanxing felt as if he had aged ten years.
—
The imperial edict conferring the title of Empress had been placed into a case by Meng Fu. That afternoon, she and Li Yue had nothing else to do, so they went to Mount Fengji to visit Master Huaiming, wanting to ask if the two of them might ever switch bodies again in the future.
Master Huaiming, looking profoundly mysterious, said a bunch of cryptic words. Meng Fu didn’t really understand most of it. She turned to look at Li Yue, who smiled and nodded, seemingly having gained some insight.
Just as Meng Fu was about to ask His Majesty what the master meant, she saw the emperor roll up his sleeves, rubbing his fists and palms, then stride toward Huaiming.
The two of them quickly began sparring. Seeing that they wouldn’t be done any time soon, Meng Fu simply walked over to the pavilion at the side, sat down, poured herself a cup of tea, and leisurely watched.
The two actually fought with quite a bit of finesse—exchanging over a dozen moves, and not a single strike to the face.
His Majesty’s martial strength had recovered considerably lately. Master Huaiming had underestimated him at first, but once he realized how much stronger Li Yue had become, he got serious—and as a result, His Majesty hit even harder.
In the end, Master Huaiming, cradling his bald head, curled up in a corner and finally began to speak human language:.“This opportunity has run its course. The two of you may now be at peace.”
Meng Fu set down her teacup, walked over, and pressed her palms together in gratitude: “Thank you, Master. Your martial arts are quite impressive.”
Huaiming rubbed his head and chuckled: “Just average, just average. No match for His Majesty.”
His Majesty raised his chin proudly. Of course he couldn’t compare to him—wasn’t that obvious?
Meng Fu turned to look at Li Yue and asked: “Does it hurt?”
His Majesty had just been about to say no, but when he met Meng Fu’s glistening eyes, he instantly changed his tune: “It hurts, hurts like hell. My whole body is covered in injuries. Look at my arm—this bald guy hit me here.”
As he spoke, His Majesty rolled up his sleeve.
Meng Fu had thought they’d fought pretty fiercely earlier, but when she lowered her head to look, she found that the exposed part of His Majesty’s arm wasn’t even red.
Meng Fu: “……”
Li Yue also noticed that what he said didn’t quite match the reality. He gave a cough and somewhat awkwardly lowered his sleeve again.
Meng Fu helped His Majesty save face. She pressed her lips together and nodded: “I know, it’s all internal injuries.”
“That’s right,” Li Yue followed up, “The injuries on my body are even worse. A’Fu, why don’t you come back to the palace with me later and take a look?”
Huaiming: “……”
He looked down at himself. Just now it was clearly he who got beaten up more, right? His fists barely even landed on His Majesty.
And why were these two… flaunting affection in front of a monk?
Was this a distortion of human nature, or a collapse of morality?
Today, he was going to put up a sign right outside the main gates of Baima Temple: “Li Yue is not allowed to enter!”
—
《Night Talks of Mount Qi》had already been printed and released. The response was quite good.
While proper, serious scholars might not necessarily go read such a book, it was very popular among the common folk.
When Meng Fu wrote this book, what she had been thinking about was exactly how to write it in a way that would earn her more money.
Now, as expected, a hefty manuscript fee had landed in her hands.
The boss of the bookstore wanted to commission two more books from her, but she was currently busy preparing for the royal wedding with His Majesty, and really didn’t have the time.
—
In the palace, the only people who could make decisions were Li Yue and the Empress Dowager.
Li Yue had to handle governmental affairs during the day and didn’t have much time.
The Empress Dowager alone was struggling to manage everything, so Meng Fu simply entered the palace herself to take charge of preparing her own wedding.
She had always been good at organizing these kinds of matters, and after understanding the necessary procedures, she began directing the palace staff to begin the preparations.
Everything was proceeding in an orderly and well-managed fashion.
—
The Office of the Astronomical Bureau had calculated three auspicious dates.
After Li Yue and Meng Fu discussed it, they chose the nearest one:
May 18th.
Translator’s note:
Next mass updates will be on sunday.