Chapter 29 The Pawn: "Have pity on me."

Wen Miao was stunned for a moment. She remained silent for several breaths before asking again, "What?"

Emperor Qianyuan repeated with great interest, "Let me paint your nails, Madam."

He remembered that in another world, his wife's fingernails and toenails were always painted with many beautiful colors, some of which were sparkling and had three-dimensional designs, such as butterflies, carvings, and tiny oriental gemstones. His wife looked beautiful no matter what color she painted them, and she looked beautiful even without them. But now that she was in the Great Chu, it was truly unfair to his wife.

...It's because he didn't work hard enough as an emperor.

Wen Miao opened her mouth, still somewhat dazed, "Now?"

The emperor, still holding Wen Miao's ankle, nodded. Seeing that Wen Miao showed no resistance, he immediately gave instructions to Xu Sheng outside the hall.

Imperial decrees are always executed with lightning speed.

In less than half an incense stick's time, fresh balsam flowers and their pollen, a mortar, alum, and fern shoots were brought over. After the maid carefully explained the process, Emperor Qian Yuan nodded slightly, indicating that he understood how to proceed.

It's not difficult.

From now on, he can take over this job.

"Madam, please continue reading. I will take care of the rest."

Wen Miao was skeptical of the emperor's skills, but thinking of her hair today, she nodded in agreement, leaned back on the cushion, and slightly lifted her foot, letting Emperor Qian Yuan hold it, simply handing everything over to him.

...She seemed to have become accustomed to the emperor's approach through some kind of subtle influence from being relentlessly pressed, and at this moment, she found such actions to be acceptable.

The hall fell silent again. Wen Miao read her book while occasionally glancing up to observe Emperor Qian Yuan's actions.

The latter, with a serious expression, first mixed the bright red balsam flower powder with water, then ground and crushed the petals, and added alum.

The tall emperor, who used to either fight on the battlefield with weapons or write replies to memorials in the Wenyuan Hall, was now doing these tasks with extreme caution, keen knowledge, and excessive patience.

The brightly colored balsam mud landed on Wen Miao's feet, making her already fair and smooth skin appear even more translucent. The contrast between the two colors was so striking that Emperor Qian Yuan stared at her for a moment, mesmerized.

He loved every part of his wife's body.

Just as Wen Miao finished reading most of the book in her hands, she suddenly heard the emperor, who had been sitting at her feet, say in a hoarse voice, "Madam, it's time."

The floral foam wrapped around the fern leaves is also enough to add color.

It was just a routine reminder, but because of Emperor Qian Yuan's hoarse and deep voice, it inexplicably gave people a strange feeling of heat.

Wen Miao sat up and looked over, her gaze meeting Emperor Qian Yuan's.

Scalding hot, intense, profound, and obscure.

Wen Miao felt a chill run down her spine, as if she were being watched by a wild beast that was never full, greedy and insatiable.

She avoided the emperor's gaze and replied softly, "Then, then let's tear it down."

The emperor said "Good".

A soft rustling sound filled the quiet space. Wen Miao lowered her eyelashes, avoiding looking at Emperor Qian Yuan's eyes and expression, and instead stared at his hand, which had a slightly darker skin tone.

Long, broad, with distinct knuckles.

Holding her ankle, he slowly untangled the intertwined fern leaves—

The combination of fair skin and deep orange-red balsam juice was beautiful, so beautiful that Emperor Qian Yuan's heart was stirred, and he suddenly realized that he might have developed some unsavory tastes.

No... how can you say it's something that can't be shown in public?

It was his depraved tastes that caused his wife to be so pure and innocent, and thus she suffered his covetousness and prying. He could only blame his insatiable greed.

You have to be patient; you can't scare people.

"...Madam is so beautiful."

The emperor, whose mind was churning with mixed thoughts, suddenly looked up, and a restlessness flowed across his usually cold and stern face, which was usually impassive of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness.

He asked, "May I kiss them?"

His generous and natural demeanor made it seem as if he were simply asking Wen Miao an ordinary, common question.

"you……"

Wen Miao was both ashamed and angry. She muttered that he was a lecher and a scoundrel. She couldn't help but kick him. But Emperor Qian Yuan didn't care at all. For him, listening to Wen Miao curse was a kind of enjoyment. Being kicked and hit by Wen Miao was a reward.

He doesn't feel any pain.

He was just worried that his muscular body might hurt his wife.

So after Wen Miao finished venting her anger, Emperor Qian Yuan shamelessly leaned closer, showing no airs of a ruler, and asked, "My lady, may I kiss you?"

Wen Miao blushed furiously, and her body was burning with heat from the kicks and punches earlier. Even the cool breeze in the mountains on a summer evening couldn't withstand such heat, especially with the tall and hot Emperor Qian Yuan in front of her. Wen Miao felt as if she was about to be completely engulfed and swallowed up by his aura.

She wanted to continue refusing, but then she saw Emperor Qian Yuan chuckle, kneel before her, and adopt a completely submissive posture, one that clearly carried a hint of male allure, and say—

"My lady, have pity on me."

"Consider it a reward for me, okay?"

The beautiful woman on the couch blushed deeply, turning her head away and covering her lips. Her hair trembled, casting a gently swaying shadow on her heaving chest.

In this respect, she could never defeat Emperor Qian Yuan.

...

The Taihua Palace was shrouded in the cool stillness of summer at night, with countless stars twinkling in the sky and insects chirping incessantly in the woods.

Inside the summer palace where the emperor resided, thin gauze curtains fluttered in the night breeze, and in a sleeping chamber with interlocking screens, Wen Miao was already fast asleep.

She was curled up on her side under the covers, her wide, thin sleeves revealing her elbows, which were slightly turned to the side. Her face was flushed from the summer heat, but her expression was peaceful, indicating that she had fallen into a deep sleep.

Emperor Qianyuan gently lowered half of the bed curtains, then picked up the thin blanket that had fallen onto the footstool, gazing intently at the other person.

He felt that the idea of ​​Lady Wen Miao being wronged was not just something she was saying now, but something he had had since last winter when he first saw Wen Miao, who was unconscious and unable to wake up.

Within the territory of the Great Chu, compared to the North and the Southern Barbarians, it is already far more prosperous. There is no war to disturb the peace, and the people live in peace. Nowadays, every household can barely afford to eat. The power of aristocratic families has been weakened, and people from humble backgrounds can become officials. The restrictions on women have also improved compared to the previous dynasty...

But compared to where Wen Miao used to live, Emperor Qian Yuan felt that this grievance was too great, too deep, and too indescribable.

What he could offer his wife was far too limited.

Occasionally, Emperor Qian Yuan would think that if he were a good person, he might let go and try every means to send Wen Miao back to where she came from. However, Emperor Qian Yuan knew that he was not only not a good person, but also a despicable person who coveted the swan. He could not help others achieve their goal, so he could only resort to any means to ask the goddess who had fallen to the mortal world to stay by his side.

Only when he was with his wife did Emperor Qianyuan feel a sense of security in his life. So how could he possibly let go?

The emperor gazed at her tenderly for a long time, then straightened the bed curtains and quietly left the palace.

...

In another courtyard of the Taihua Palace, candles burned all night.

Meng Hanzhou, who had fainted from the whipping, slowly regained consciousness. In the brief moment after his consciousness returned, he felt a sharp pain as if his back was being torn apart, and his eyes and throat were burning. Every part of his body was in pain.

The twenty lashes from Cheng Yingwei did not injure a person's core, but they were indeed excruciatingly painful. Otherwise, young people like Meng Hanzhou and Lin Su, who often practiced martial arts, would not have fainted after only ten lashes.

The pain in his body stimulated Meng Hanzhou's nerves and reason. Now that his memories were returning, he recalled why he had suffered this ordeal. For a moment, his face turned pale, as if he understood, and as if there was another deep-seated resentment.

"woke up?"

The candlelight flickered in the room. Meng Hanzhou struggled to look up and saw the Duke of Wei sitting quietly with his back to him not far away.

“Father…” he called out in a hoarse voice.

Duke of Wei: "I didn't tell your mother and sister. I suppressed this matter. Don't let them worry."

Meng Hanzhou's voice was hoarse: "My son knows."

The room fell silent for a moment, then Meng Hanzhou asked, "Lin Su, he..."

"He's alright, Minister Lin took him back." Duke Wei sighed deeply, his tall, imposing frame seeming to shrink slightly.

He turned to look at his son, who was lying on the bed unable to move, and couldn't help but say, "Meng Hanzhou, Meng Hanzhou, you are my son, always clever and quick-witted. How could you offend His Majesty this time? Tell me everything that happened during the day!"

Only by knowing what happened could the Duke of Wei determine how to "make amends" afterward.

Meng Hanzhou was pale, biting his lower lip hard, feeling as if his dignity had been shattered.

But under imperial power, who can still have dignity?

The emperor's name was once known throughout the Great Chu, but because Meng Hanzhou himself had never served as an official in the court, he always felt that the distance between them was still far away. However, he never expected that his first love would lead him to fall into such a deep pit.

Lady Wen is actually... actually His Majesty's future Empress!

If it were anyone else, he might have a chance to compete, but that person was the current emperor, the supreme ruler of the Great Chu...

Seeing his eldest son's flustered and unsettled expression, the Duke of Wei couldn't help but stand up and reprimand him in a low voice, "Speak! Eunuch Xu, who serves His Majesty, says you have offended a noble person. Who is it? If you don't tell me, I don't know how I will make amends afterward!"

Meng Hanzhou snapped out of his daze, looked at his father, and with a voice so hoarse it was almost like he was gritting his teeth, managed to utter these few words with extreme difficulty, "She is His Majesty's future... Empress."

Upon hearing this, the Duke of Wei suddenly slumped down on the round stool.

He stood there stunned for a long time before finally asking, "Are you...are you sure?"

Emperor Qianyuan is now over thirty years old. Several years ago, when he ascended the throne, some ministers advised him to open a harem, but the emperor refused because he was busy with state affairs. A few years later, when the country was stable and the country was peaceful, some ministers again submitted a memorial asking Emperor Qianyuan to open a harem and have more children.

At that time, the emperor seemed to be interested, but the next day, all the memorials concerning the harem were rejected by the emperor.

Some officials originally wanted to unite and force the emperor to compromise, and also wanted to use this opportunity to divide the power in the harem—the old aristocratic families were gradually declining due to the imperial examinations, so new aristocratic families should be born from behind the concubines in the palace.

Clearly, the peace and stability of those years made them forget that the current emperor was not as incompetent and muddle-headed as the late emperor, and could not be easily controlled.

So, when the united ministers knelt and refused to rise, Emperor Qianyuan, sitting on the high platform, smiled lightly and tossed down several secret letters sent by the Chengying Guard.

These are all sordid affairs of the inner quarters of the household: favoring concubines over wives, keeping mistresses, having affairs with daughters-in-law, and having children who are not one's own...

While his ministers were in a panic, the emperor casually asked, "Since you are all so enthusiastic about the affairs of my harem, why don't I also be enthusiastic about your own affairs? What you can't manage, I will manage for you?"

After this incident, the officials immediately became obedient and dared not oppose Emperor Qianyuan again.

Past events flashed through the Duke of Wei's mind. He looked at Meng Hanzhou and asked, "Do you know whose family that lady belongs to?"

Meng Hanzhou felt a dull ache in his heart and turned his head away, unwilling to speak.

"Meng Hanzhou!" Duke Wei raised his voice, "Now is not the time for you to be willful!"

"It's that person from the Xie family..."

Meng Hanzhou opened his mouth, but couldn't utter the words that best pointed to his identity.

Duke Wei frowned: "From the Xie family? The only unmarried woman in the Xie family is Xie Mengjun. Didn't your mother want to arrange a marriage for you before? Could it be..."

"It wasn't her!"

Meng Hanzhou endured the pain, half-scratching to his feet. His eyes, sunken from the injury, were red, and his pupils seemed to burn with fierce flames. "It's Madam! It's Madam Wen! Besides, the person I admire isn't Xie Mengjun! It's her cousin, Wen..."

Snap!

After being slapped, Meng Hanzhou's face was turned to the side by the Duke of Wei, and even the corner of his mouth was stained with blood.

Duke Wei, his face contorted with anger, questioned in a low voice, "You say the person you admire is that widow from the Xie family? You, the heir of a duke's mansion, are you eyeing a widow who has lost her husband?"

Meng Hanzhou grinned sarcastically, "So what if she's a widow? Just because His Majesty likes her, does that mean I can't like her too? The fact that His Majesty likes her only proves that Lady Wen has something special about her. Besides, if His Majesty were to make her Empress, would Father still be able to look down on her and say that Lady Wen is just a widow who has lost her husband? When they meet in the future, wouldn't she still have to kneel down and call her 'Your Majesty'?"

"you……"

Seeing the defiant look on Meng Hanzhou's face, the Duke of Wei laughed in anger.

"Yes, if Your Majesty truly establishes a woman from the Xie family as Empress, I will naturally kneel and call her Your Majesty 'Long Live the Empress'! Not only me, but the entire Great Chu will be convinced and no one will dare to question the widow status of the Xie family woman. You want to ask why? It's because the person who did this is Your Majesty!"

"And you, Meng Hanzhou, think about what you have. Your status as the heir of the Duke of Wei is inherited from your ancestors! You have neither official rank nor power. If you marry her, no matter how open-minded the people of the Great Chu are, they will only laugh at you, the heir of the Duke's mansion, for marrying a widow. Do you have the ability to shut them up? To make them pretend to be willing to give their blessings?"

Seeing Meng Hanzhou's increasingly grim face, the seemingly rough but actually meticulous Duke of Wei only gave a cold smile, shattering the subtle yet insignificant hopes and grievances in his son's heart.

"Meng Hanzhou, you don't have that ability!"

Meng Hanzhou, who had been high above others since birth and was hailed as a prodigy, fell heavily to the ground several times that night. He gasped for breath, enduring the excruciating pain from the whip marks on his back, trying to find a reason to refute the Duke of Wei. But in the end, he tragically discovered that his father was right.

Because he is not strong enough, because his power and ability are inferior to His Majesty's, even if he manages to marry a lady, he cannot escape the gossip and criticism of the world.

Duke Wei sighed, softening his tone as he said softly, "Take good care of yourself these next few days. Leave everything to the servants. I'll explain things to your mother and sister. As for the Xie family..."

Their generation had already experienced the power of the current emperor, and now the ministers, members of the imperial family, and princes were all as still as quails, simply because they did not want that terrifying shadow of the past to reappear... The one on the dragon throne was simply a tyrant among wise rulers!

After a pause, he said sternly, "Meng Hanzhou, remember who you are. There are some people you can't even dream of!"

After saying this, the Duke of Wei flicked his sleeve and turned to leave, already pondering how he would "make amends" to the emperor in court in the future.

Since Emperor Qianyuan has revealed this information, it means he wants the women of the Xie family to enter the Phoenix Palace in a grand and glorious manner, so that the court officials and the people will be convinced and have no complaints, and their names will be remembered for generations. If that's the case...

Duke Wei was taken aback. Looking at the night sky above the Taihua Palace, he suddenly recalled the auspicious celestial phenomena "calculated" by the Director of the Imperial Observatory, the "phoenix and luan" legend that had spread throughout the streets and alleys, the fortune slip obtained by Consort Rong from Lingyun Temple, and the matter of the Consort summoning the widow of the Xie family to the palace to attend to her illness a few days ago.

Long before any of them anticipated it, His Majesty had already calculated a hundred paces ahead—

Whether it's paving the way or creating momentum, this path to the throne has long been laid to the feet of the Xie family widow. With just one step, she will become the only empress of the first year of the Great Chu Dynasty. As for the Duke of Wei and Minister Lin... all they can do is add icing on the cake and ensure that the emperor's plans are foolproof.

Perhaps they weren't the original "supporters," but things didn't go as planned. The Duke's son was just beginning to develop feelings for his wife, and the Minister of Revenue's son was with his close friend. With such a coincidence, who else could be the "first to speak out" in the court besides the Duke and his wife?

Having understood everything, the Duke of Wei shook his head. His mind was filled with distracting thoughts, so he paced back and forth in the night. Unexpectedly, he ran into the Minister of Revenue, who was also unable to sleep. The two looked at each other from a distance and smiled wryly in tacit agreement.

They are nothing more than pawns that the current emperor can manipulate at will.

-----------------------

The author's note: I've always felt that an emperor with real power in feudal times, if he wanted to, should be able to protect his beloved.

Thank you for your support! [Milk Tea]