Chapter 46 The Passionate Emperor and the Heartless Demon Consort

The day after Su Panyue escaped, the capital was placed under even stricter martial law. There were more guards at the city gates, and the rule was that only people could enter and not leave. Everyone who passed through the city gates was thoroughly checked.

The Imperial Guards have begun searching house to house, ostensibly for the sake of a case, but in reality, news of the missing imperial concubine had already spread far and wide, and everyone knew perfectly well who Xie Lanzhou was looking for.

Some even started sending people into the palace, many of whom looked like Su Panyue. They were sent to the palace to disguise themselves as palace maids and get close to Xie Lanzhou, but without exception, they were all dealt with on the spot.

Thinking of how many innocent women who looked like her had been harmed, Su Panyue felt uneasy. For the past two days, she had been wandering around outside during the day and then coming back at night to crawl into bed and fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, having a very pleasant time.

After two days of continuous rain, the third day finally brought a bright sunny day. Su Panyue disguised herself and prepared to go out, but Gui Bo stopped her.

Uncle Gui asked, "How long do you plan to stay?"

Su Panyue raised an eyebrow: "You promised seven days, but it's only the third day! You're not going to back out, are you?"

Gui Bo said, "Of course not. It's just because of you that the capital has become increasingly secure. People are even starting to search for the ghost market, causing widespread panic."

Su Panyue was unaware of this. She usually only wandered around crowded streets and hadn't realized how much martial law in the capital affected ordinary people. It turned out that it was affecting these underground transactions.

She gave an awkward laugh: "As you know, I can't leave now either. Let's wait a little longer."

Uncle Gui said confidently, "How long? You won't be able to leave even if you wait a week."

Su Panyue said uncertainly, "No way, I just ran away, I didn't do anything heinous, he wouldn't be so relentless in pursuing me and trying to kill me..."

Gui Bo glanced at her with one eye, seemingly somewhat helpless, and reminded her, "If you have nothing to do today, why don't you go to the teahouse and listen to some storytelling?"

Su Panyue blinked, not understanding why he said that, but she had never heard storytelling before, so she could give it a try.

She turned left after leaving the house and went into a teahouse that looked crowded. She found a corner seat and sat down.

The waiter brought over a pot of tea, and Su Panyue asked curiously, "What story will we be telling today?"

The waiter smiled and said, "Is this your first time here, Madam? Today we're talking about the story of Consort Su and the infatuated emperor. You've come to the right place."

Su Panyue found the name a bit strange, but she always enjoyed reading strange and unusual stories, so she didn't think much of it.

Before long, the storyteller, dressed in a gray robe, walked onto the stage and struck the gavel, attracting the attention of everyone present.

"The play I'm going to talk about today is the story of a lovestruck emperor and a heartless concubine."

Before it even started, cheers and applause erupted from below, which made Su Panyue take it more seriously.

This story tells of a king who fell in love at first sight with a palace maid and, breaking with tradition, promoted her to the rank of Imperial Concubine, granting her exclusive favor in the harem. He even stopped selecting concubines for her sake, doting on her alone.

However, this woman was heartless and cruel; she only coveted the king's beauty and physique and did not treat him with sincerity.

When she grew tired of it all, the imperial concubine abandoned the king and fled the palace to find new handsome men, leaving the king alone in the empty palace, waiting foolishly for her return.

As the storyteller recounted this, many young ladies in the audience were moved by the king's infatuation, and some even couldn't help but condemn the heartless and ungrateful concubine.

"Giving up such a good man and wanting to go find someone else, I really don't know if this imperial concubine is stupid or wicked."

"This king is too pitiful. He's not worth it for a woman like that."

"This is somewhat similar to the experience of the person above us..."

"You're kidding me. How could anyone dare to make up that story? This story must have been made up by a storyteller."

The whispers reached Su Panyue's ears, and she covered her face in embarrassment. As she listened to the many details in the story that matched up, she began to question the meaning of life.

If the storyteller's tale is fabricated, the details of the two people's interactions are too coincidental; but if he didn't fabricate it, but was instructed by someone, who would dare to fabricate Xie Lanzhou's story?

Unless it is him.

After thinking it over and over, Su Panyue still couldn't understand why this was happening. How could Xie Lanzhou, with his aloof and superior personality, portray himself as such a devoted and humble handsome man?

Absolutely impossible!

Unable to figure it out, Su Panyue gave up and randomly found a roadside vendor to eat a bowl of wontons.

She had eaten at this wonton shop the morning she ran away from the palace, and when she came back, the owner's face was filled with a smile.

"Madam has arrived. Please make yourself at home."

Su Panyue then asked with a smile, "Boss, what happy occasion makes you so happy?"

The shopkeeper replied, "Madam, you don't know yet? We won the war against Yan, and all the soldiers will be rewarded according to their merits. My son is among them, and he should be back soon."

Su Panyue nodded blankly and offered her congratulations.

The war was won, and Xie Lanzhou should be very happy. Perhaps he won't be looking for me anymore soon...

*

The atmosphere inside the Imperial Study remained gloomy.

When the border battle report arrived, the ever-victorious general led the main force to confront the enemy head-on and gradually closed in. Ji Hongxi led 5,000 elite troops to flank the Yan army from the rear and besieged the Yan army at the border between the two countries, achieving a great victory.

Afterwards, Ji Hongxi led a team of elite cavalry to break through the border and travel through the heart of Yan State, clearing the way for the main army.

The State of Yan was known for being easy to defend and difficult to attack. Because of its complex terrain, many veteran generals lost their way and became lost in the layered mountains of Yan.

Therefore, Ji Hongxi's smooth advance was largely due to a young general in the army who was very familiar with the terrain of Yan and even knew about Yan's military deployment.

The entire court was shocked. Anyone with eyes could see that this must have been Xie Lanzhou's arrangement, but no one expected that he would have such extraordinary means to obtain such a secret matter of the Yan Kingdom.

They were right; the young general named Shao Yan was none other than Yan Shao, the fifth prince of Yan, whom Xie Lanzhou had arranged to infiltrate the kingdom.

He placed Yan Shao under Ji Hongxi's command, giving Yan Shao a chance to prove himself. As it turned out, he had not misjudged the ambition and unwillingness in the young man's eyes. He indeed repeatedly performed outstanding feats in the army, striking fear into the hearts of the people of Yan.

The great victory at the border should have been an exciting and joyous occasion, but the court and the palace were filled with gloom and despair.

Five days have passed since the imperial concubine fled, and no news has come. Xie Lanzhou is becoming more and more irritable each day.

In the imperial court alone, many people were punished under the pretext of corruption and bribery. It was an open secret that everyone accepted bribes from their subordinates. Although Xie Lanzhou never expressed his opinion, he had never punished too many people for this. He was always too lazy to care and turned a blind eye. But this time, he directly confiscated the property of three powerful families.

What is most intriguing is that the families whose property was confiscated had all submitted memorials impeaching the Imperial Concubine for her humble origins and unsuitability to assist in managing the six palaces.

Not only that, the atmosphere in the palace was also bleak. All the palace servants dared not utter a sound when they saw Xie Lanzhou. Everyone couldn't help but miss the days when the Consort was still alive.

Although her handling of palace servants after taking over the harem displeased many, she never punished her servants arbitrarily. Most importantly, during that period, even the Emperor became much more amiable.

Therefore, in a short time, many more people, both inside and outside the court, hoped to find Su Panyue.

As evening fell, Seventeen, who had led his men north to pursue the enemy, returned.

"Greetings, Your Majesty." Seventeen knelt and bowed, surprised to see Xie Lanzhou whom he hadn't seen for several days, and couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty, please take good care of your health."

Xie Lanzhou's headaches have worsened in recent days, and he can count the number of times he sleeps on one hand. He has become visibly haggard, but this has not diminished his imposing aura.

He spoke calmly, "How is it?"

"Your Majesty, I led my men on horseback northward at breakneck speed, but we did not find any trace of the Imperial Concubine. Moreover, the border defenses of Lu State have been strengthened, and I was unable to infiltrate this time."

Xie Lanzhou said with a deep look in his eyes, "Then let's break in and take a look."

Seventeen was startled and hurriedly advised, "Your Majesty, please reconsider. I have already sent people to expand the search area, and perhaps we will have results soon."

"But I suspect..."

Xie Lanzhou asked, "What do you suspect?"

"The Imperial Concubine may not have left the capital. Otherwise, whether she traveled by land or water, she would surely have left traces. My men have searched for three days without finding a single clue. She is probably still in the city."

Xie Lanzhou had considered this matter. He nodded, waved for him to leave, leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and felt another throbbing pain in his temple.

The border war went so smoothly because Su Panyue had not handed over the real military map, which is why the Yan Kingdom was caught off guard and attacked without any warning.

However, Xie Lanzhou couldn't say whether she was happy that she didn't really want to harm him or Daqi, or sad that she hadn't done anything wrong but still chose to leave him. Did she really not see his true feelings?

This is also what he has been thinking about day and night for the past few days, unable to sleep. If he had explained this matter earlier and not made her worry about it, would she not have left?

He leaned back on the chaise longue in the imperial study as if relieving his fatigue, one hand caressing the sachet Su Panyue had given him, inside which were two strands of hair he had cut himself. They had promised to stay together forever, so why did she just leave like that?

Xie Lanzhou closed her eyes, feeling her increasingly severe headache, and thought to herself with a self-deprecating smile, "If there were a national mourning, and the whole world knew, would she shed another tear for me then?"

If I could, then it would be worth it.

Thinking this, his consciousness gradually blurred, and as if he could no longer hold on, he collapsed unconscious on the chaise longue.

Eunuch Fu quickly discovered that he had fainted and hurriedly summoned Physician Gao.

"How is His Majesty?"

The imperial physician Gao frowned and stroked his beard, saying, "His Majesty's headache has flared up. His blood is congested and his qi is blocked, which is why he has fainted."

Grandpa Fu paced anxiously, "Wasn't everything fine before? How could this happen?"

After a moment of contemplation, Imperial Physician Gao spoke: "Previously, the Imperial Concubine's treatment had a relieving effect on His Majesty's headache. I went back and searched through medical books and ancient texts, but I couldn't find the reason. Now that the Imperial Concubine has left, His Majesty's headache has worsened, which has reminded me of something."

"This may be caused by Gu worms."

Grandpa Fu was shocked: "Gu worms? Can such evil things be cured?"

Imperial Physician Gao slowly shook his head: "I only study medicine; Gu worms are mostly used in the Northern Regions."

"What should we do? Oh, Your Majesty..." said Eunuch Fu anxiously.

Imperial Physician Gao said in a deep voice, "It's not that no one knows about Gu poison; there is one in the capital."

Grandpa Fu hurriedly asked, "Who is it?"

The imperial physician slowly uttered two words: "Uncle Gui".

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