wanton

Ping An frowned as soon as he arrived at the Qianqing Palace.

Something's not right, very not right. This is the Qianqing Palace's sleeping quarters, so why does it feel so dilapidated and run-down? It wasn't like this when she left.

She picked up an ornament at random and looked at it. Then she turned to Qiu Yan, who was trembling as if she had seen a ghost, and asked, "Qiu Yan, what happened when I left the palace?"

Qiu Yan shuddered, not answering Ping An's question, but instead cowering and asking, "Your Highness? You...you're not...you're a human now..."

When Ping An saw Qiu Yan's familiar useless appearance, a strange sense of relief rose in his heart.

She walked up to Qiu Yan and pinched Qiu Yan's face hard.

"Not dead, alive. Are you disappointed?"

Qiu Yan shook her head and burst into tears, crying as she complained.

"Your Highness, you have no idea how much His Majesty suffered after your death... no, no, after you left!"

“Suffering? He is the founding emperor of the new dynasty. What suffering could he possibly have? Who would dare, and who has the ability, to make him suffer?”

"Those princes and ministers!" Qiu Yan said indignantly, "They all bully His Majesty! They don't let His Majesty eat well, drink well, or use the best things. They tell His Majesty to be frugal all the time, but they all live more extravagantly than His Majesty!"

—These words were all instilled in Qiu Yan by Qiao Siyu.

Ping An listened without much doubt. After all, she had personally witnessed the princes and ministers making a scene around Cui Shenzhi. Moreover, given Qiu Yan's personality, she couldn't lie so convincingly. Besides, the situation in the palace was right in front of her. If Cui Shenzhi hadn't been bullied, how could the emperor have lived like this?

The thought of Cui Shenzhi's obsequious manner in front of the princes and ministers made Ping An feel a surge of anger, not only towards those ministers, but also towards Cui Shenzhi.

He's the emperor! The emperor! Even the most good-tempered emperor can't be trampled on by his ministers! Let alone the founding emperor. Throughout history, which emperor with a good reputation is so weak and easily bullied? Does he want to be remembered as a puppet emperor in history?

Ping An glared angrily at Cui Shenzhi, who came in afterward, but had no intention of arguing with him. After all, they had argued before, and since neither of them could convince the other, why waste words?

Ignoring the innocence and confusion on Cui Shenzhi's face, she forcefully ordered, "Ju'an, go to the Imperial Household Department and ask them how they are doing their job. The emperor's palace is so dilapidated. Anyone who doesn't know better would think that the 'An' in 'Anguo' means 'anxious and uneasy'."

“Siwei, take some people with you. Everything in this bedroom, except for the larger decorations, needs to be replaced, especially the things on the bed. It was the same set when I left, and it's still the same set after three months.”

Choi Shin-ji touched his nose, his face slightly flushed, because it was a nose he had deliberately refused to let be changed, always feeling that Ping An was still by his side.

“As for Qi Kang,” Ping An raised an eyebrow, “Go and summon those members of the royal family, nobles, and ministers to the palace. I’ve only been gone for a few months, and they’ve become this bold. If we don’t teach them a lesson, they might forget who the ruler of the world is.”

Upon hearing this, Cui Shenzhi quickly stopped him, saying, "Wait, Ping An, about this..."

Ping An glared at him with a sharp look.

“Ping An, it’s not that I forbid you from doing this,” Cui Shenzhi stepped forward and carefully helped Ping An sit down, placing her hand on her lower abdomen. “I’m worried that you can’t take it. Fengping said you need to rest well, not to overwork or worry. Have you forgotten?”

Ping An choked up, and after realizing what had happened, she glanced at her lower abdomen with a hint of disgust.

Cui Shenzhi was right. If she started having stomach pains or bleeding while arguing with those people, her momentum would immediately weaken, and she wouldn't be able to argue anymore.

"...Alright, I'll see them when I'm feeling better."

*****

The Imperial Household Department breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the instructions.

They had long suspected that Cui Shenzhi's spending habits were amiss. In all the dynasties, no emperor had ever been so frugal. For three months, he hadn't bought a single new piece of clothing or changed a single item of furniture. No matter how good the gifts sent by the Imperial Household Department were, Cui Shenzhi refused to keep any of them.

The King of Chu loved slender waists, and many starved to death in the palace.

If Cui Shenzhi is this frugal, what will people say about him in the future? Will they even lay off the palace servants? Where will all those eunuchs go to make a living then?

Now it's all right. Whatever the reason, it's good that Choi Shin-ji has 'come to his senses'.

The people from the Imperial Household Department quickly sent all the good things they had accumulated over the past few months to the Qianqing Palace.

As the gifts sent by the palace servants grew increasingly extravagant, Cui Shenzhi couldn't help but frown. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Ping An's words, tinged with disdain.

“Take these things back, they’re ugly. We’re not nouveau riche, why bother with all this fancy stuff? Keep those plain porcelain pieces, and replace those gold items in the curio cabinet. And the gauze curtains, have the people in the Imperial Household Department gone mad? The bedroom is a place for sleeping and resting, aren’t they afraid that using gold and silver threads on the gauze curtains will keep people from sleeping?”

Choi Shin-ji was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Ping An was puzzled by the commotion, but she was busy directing the palace servants to tidy up and didn't have time to pay attention to Cui Shenzhi, so she didn't say anything.

Cui Shenzhi quietly stepped aside, watching Ping An lead the palace servants busily working in the bedroom, turning a lifeless bedroom into a vibrant 'home'. He felt as if his heart was soaking in warm water, feeling incredibly comfortable.

*****

When it was time to eat, Ping An looked at the dishes served by the imperial kitchen and saw that they were not as good as what she had eaten outside the palace. She was so angry that she glared at Cui Shenzhi again.

"Take it away," Ping An ordered imperiously, hands on his hips. "And call the head of the imperial kitchen over here. Even families with slightly better means eat better than this. I want to ask him how he has the nerve to try and fob us off with this little bit of food!"

“It’s alright, it has nothing to do with the Imperial Kitchen,” Cui Shenzhi quickly explained. “I just told them to serve two simple home-style dishes every day.”

Seeing Cui Shenzhi undermining her like this, Ping An said angrily, "Then from now on, you eat your food, and I'll eat mine. You eat your home-cooked dishes, and I'll eat my delicacies. We'll keep to ourselves!"

Cui Shenzhi would never agree to this, so he quickly admitted his mistake and coaxed Ping An for a long time before she stopped saying such things. As for the meals in the future, of course everything would be done according to Ping An's wishes.

After dinner, Cui Shenzhi took Ping An for a walk in the palace as usual to aid digestion. As they walked, they arrived at Yangxing Hall. Ping An looked at the plaque of Yangxing Hall and asked out of the blue, "Have you decided on Cui Sugong's posthumous title?"

Choi Shinji thought of Choi Sukgong, who was still barely clinging to life, and after a moment of silence, he replied, "I want to give him a 'thought'."

Upon hearing this posthumous title, a playful smile appeared on Ping An's face.

"To regret one's past is to reflect; he...repented?"

Cui Shenzhi sighed: "Ping An, he is still your and Ling Xian's father. Using a derogatory posthumous title will not look good on you either."

"So what if he was given a bad posthumous title? The country is dead. Would it make me look better if I were given a neutral posthumous title?" Ping An scoffed. "Besides, I would love to carve his deeds in stone for posterity and make him as famous as Jie and Zhou. Why hide them? If we give him a neutral posthumous title, future generations will probably think that what he did was just a rumor."

After reviewing all the posthumous titles she knew in her mind, Ping An said with a mocking expression, "If you ask me, the character 'Li' is much more suitable for him than 'Si'."

Slaughtering the innocent is called "Li" (厉), and being tyrannical and heartless is called "Li" (

“It’s settled then. I can’t take any more work right now. Have Qi Kang inform him later. By the way, have you decided on his burial place?” Ping An turned to look in the direction of Kunning Palace: “I won’t allow him to be buried with Fu Yunjin.”

Following Ping An's gaze, Cui Shenzhi took Ping An's hand and slowly walked towards Kunning Palace.

"Of course I would not do that. The late Empress was such a good person, and she should not have her peace disturbed by Cui Sugong. Cui Sugong is not worthy of defiling her final resting place."

"So where did you choose? Something like the Valley of Death?"

Cui Shenzhi was both amused and exasperated.

“Ping An, this is against the rules. I plan to build him a princely tomb near the imperial mausoleum of the Cui family ancestor, just for him alone. As for the burial goods…”

"You're even giving him burial goods?" Ping An interrupted, "You might as well give them to the people in the slums. They're going to be taken anyway. Wait, I have a better idea!"

Ping An turned to look at Qi Kang, his voice filled with barely concealed excitement: "Qi Kang, when Cui Sugong dies, you should arrange for a few people to guard his tomb for a few days, and then dig up all his burial objects and sell them on the black market. I've heard that the black market loves things with a somewhat shady origin the most; it's much more profitable than selling them directly."

Qi Kang and Cui Shenzhi were dumbfounded.

"Ping... Ping An, where did you learn about these things from...?"

“When I was in Qingshui Town,” Ping An said enthusiastically, “I made a lot of friends. They know a lot about all sorts of things. I’ve heard a lot about the black market alone. Wait a minute, aren’t all the people around me arranged by you? How come you don’t know that I’ve heard about these things?”

Choi Shin-ji remained silent.

To prevent himself from losing control of his longing for Ping An and forcibly bringing her back, he only allowed his bodyguards to protect her, leaving everything else to Qiao Siyu. Now it seems he shouldn't have done that.

Cui Shenzhi regretted his actions, thinking about Qiao Siyu's occasional overly eccentric behavior, but it was too late.

In short, once things were settled peacefully, Choi Shin-ji was powerless to resist, especially since Ping An was now 'two people,' two against one, so Choi Shin-ji could only concede defeat.

As evening fell, Ping An's leisurely life was challenged.

She looked at Cui Shenzhi, who was standing in the bedchamber, smiling at her. A blush involuntarily appeared on her face. After hesitating for a while, she took a deep breath, seemingly calm, but actually quickly went to the bedside.

"I'm going to sleep now, you... do as you please."

After saying that, Ping An crawled into the quilt.

Choi Shin-ji looked at An Ping, who was wrapped in a blanket and whose head was the only part of his head that he could see, and chuckled a few times.