Chapter 22 [22]

【22】/First release

This grand birthday banquet did not end until the hour of midnight. Lu Zhiwan, drunken and dizzy, returned to the Yangxin Palace with Xiao Jingting.

Anyway, it wasn't the first time they slept together, and Lu Zhiwan was sure that Xiao Jingting didn't have that kind of worldly desire for her, so now lying with him, she didn't feel nervous or shy at all because of the difference between men and women.

As soon as her head touched the pillow, she felt extremely sleepy due to the alcohol. Just when she was about to fall asleep, a cool hand patted her cheek.

"Wake up."

The hand clapped twice more. Lu Zhiwan couldn't even pretend to be dead. He could only look at the enlarged hateful face in front of him like a social animal whose energy was drained by the workday. He resisted the urge to slap the hand's claws away and forced a humble fake smile: "Your Majesty, what's wrong?"

Xiao Jingting sat on the edge of the bed, his long black hair casually draped behind him, with two strands hanging in front of his forehead, which inexplicably made his handsome eyebrows and eyes look more melancholy.

He placed one hand on the pillow, gazing at her with narrow eyes, and said slowly, "Regarding the Queen Mother's secret meeting with the Prince of Liaodong tonight..."

Speaking of this, Lu Zhiwan is no longer sleepy.

"Your Majesty, rest assured. I have sworn an oath. I will definitely not leak this matter to anyone!" She blinked, trying to make herself look more sincere. "Although I am dull, I am not that stupid. I know what to say and what not to say..."

"I want to ask, are you curious about the relationship between the Queen Mother and the King of Liaodong?"

Lu Zhiwan: “???”

"More than just curious, I'm absolutely dying of curiosity!"

"He's a worm in my stomach, right? How did he know I'd been thinking about this all night? Tell me now, or I won't be able to sleep well!"

Sitting up from the bed, Lu Zhiwan hugged half of the quilt, her face full of anticipation: "If your Majesty does not mind, I am all ears."

Seeing her so pretentious, Xiao Jingting felt amused, but he didn't show it on his face. He just said, "You can tell me, but you have to give me something in exchange."

Lu Zhiwan was stunned, his eyes filled with confusion.

Xiao Jingting said, "It is a great honor for you to hear such secrets of the deep palace from me personally."

Lu Zhiwan curled his lips slightly: “…”Haha, that’s such an honor.

There was silence for two breaths between the curtains. Xiao Jingting opened his thin lips and said, "It seems that you don't really want to know. That's all."

As he spoke, he pulled the quilt over him and pretended to lie down, sighing with regret: "It's rare for me to have some leisurely chat tonight, what a pity..."

This sigh brushed Lu Zhiwan's already restless heart like a feather. Before Xiao Jingting lay down completely, she couldn't help but move closer and asked, "Your Majesty, what does this concubine want in exchange for a secret?"

Anyway, all the gold, silver, treasures, silks and satins she has now were given by him, so he can take them. As for other things, such as sexual compensation -

She had long been prepared to sleep with him. As long as he could do it, whether it was kissing, hugging or sleeping, she would cooperate.

"I'm just worried this bastard will do some perverted things... but I don't think he'll do that. From what I've seen so far, he's a bit of a bastard, but he's pretty innocent in that aspect."

Perverted? Innocent in that respect?

Xiao Jingting's eyes darkened. This woman sometimes spoke very strangely, and some of her words were difficult to understand. He didn't know if it was the dialect of the countryside of Yuezhou, or if she had concealed a lot of her past.

"Promise me three things, and I will tell you about the past between the Queen Mother and the Prince of Liaodong."

"Three things?"

Lu Zhiwan was shocked. Her first reaction was that this was too much. He had to give her three things in exchange for one secret. She was at a loss.

On second thought, he was the emperor. She couldn't refuse him what he asked her to do. She would have to do three hundred things, not just three. Thinking about it this way, it wasn't a loss.

After calculating in her mind for a while, she nodded reluctantly, "Okay, then it's as Your Majesty wishes. I just don't know what three things Your Majesty wants me to do?"

Xiao Jingting hesitated for a moment and said, "I haven't thought about it yet. I'll tell you when I think of it."

Lu Zhiwan smiled awkwardly and said yes, thinking to himself, what do you mean by 'I'll tell you when I think of it'? It's obviously just that I'll make trouble for you when I think of it... He is really full of bad intentions.

Fortunately, Xiao Jingting kept his word. After agreeing on the benefits, he also talked about the King of Liaodong and the Queen Mother.

"Before my mother entered the palace, she and the Prince of Liaodong were in love. However, before the Prince of Liaodong proposed marriage to the Gu family, my grandfather, the emperor, issued an edict, appointing my mother as the Crown Princess. The imperial decree could not be disobeyed, so my mother married my father. The Prince of Liaodong had no choice but to live together as uncle and sister-in-law."

Lu Zhiwan suddenly realized, "So that's how it is."

She had thought it was some kind of story about the Empress Dowager in the deep palace being lonely and intolerable, or a widower prince having a night out with his widowed sister-in-law.

Lu Zhiwan shook his head slightly, temporarily getting rid of the yellow garbage in his mind. He put his arms around his knees, one hand supporting his cheek, and his dark eyes flickered: "And then?"

Xiao Jingting lowered his eyes: "What then?"

"Since entering the palace, how have the Queen Mother and the Prince fared?"

"What else can I do?"

Xiao Jingting said calmly, "Once you enter the palace, it's like entering a deep sea. From now on, Xiao Lang is just a stranger. Now that you're married, there's no possibility for you and the King of Liaodong anymore."

Lu Zhiwan frowned: "That's it?"

After all, she had promised him three things, and she thought it would be an exciting story, but she didn't expect him to dismiss it with just a few words, which spoiled her fun.

His black eyes rolled around twice, and Lu Zhiwan thought, since he can't tell stories, she will dig them out of his mouth.

This method did work. After a few questions and answers, she pieced together a complete story.

Twenty-seven years ago, the Gu family was an ordinary official family, not as prominent as it is today. At that time, Xiao Xian, the Prince of Liaodong, was still the Sixth Prince. He and Gu Xisheng, the elder brother of Empress Dowager Gu, studied at the Imperial Academy together. They were both classmates and good friends.

It was also in the spring of that year that he met Empress Dowager Gu, also known as Miss Gu Hui, at the birthday party of the Gu family's master.

At that time, both of them were young. They fell in love at first sight and fell in love again. With the help of Gu Xisheng, they interacted more and their feelings gradually deepened.

The Empress was hosting a banquet in the palace, inviting all the ladies of the capital to attend. Xiao Xian took the opportunity to ask his biological mother, Concubine Yu, to look after Gu Hui, so that he could discuss the matter of marriage with the Empress.

Concubine Yu was very satisfied with Gu Hui and was planning to find a suitable time to mention this matter to the empress, but before she could open her mouth, the emperor and empress chose Gu Hui as the Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace.

"Then the King of Liaodong didn't go to our ancestor and tell him that he and Gu Hui were in love."

"What good will it do? Will the Emperor change the imperial decree because of this child's personal relationship?"

Xiao Jingting's expression was calm, and his voice was steady: "If Sixth Uncle shows that he cares too much, it will make Grandfather want to kill him and get rid of the woman who may cause a quarrel between brothers."

Hearing this, Lu Zhiwan took a deep breath and said, "Is it that serious?"

Xiao Jingting looked at her wide eyes and said, "To you, it's love between a man and a woman, but to those in power, it's the sacred and inviolable majesty of the royal family."

Lu Zhiwan touched his nose in frustration, what an evil feudal society.

In short, whether they were willing or not, Gu Hui entered the Eastern Palace and married the prince.

It is said that on the day of the bride's reception, Xiao Xian was the prince's best man and accompanied the prince to the Gu family to receive the bride.

Not long after, the emperor died of illness, the prince ascended the throne, and Gu Hui became the queen.

At this point, the former queen and prince had no more contact until the emperor went to the south of the Yangtze River and met Concubine Zhen.

"My father once wanted to depose my mother and appoint Consort Zhen as the Queen Mother, but the court officials strongly opposed it..."

Xiao Jingting paused, glanced at Lu Zhiwan's fascinated face, and continued, "Sixth Uncle is the most vehemently opposed."

When the emperor insisted on his own way, Xiao Xian took Zhenfei hostage at a banquet on the pretext of sword dancing.

"Uncle Sixth, under Concubine Zhen's orders, forced my father to swear an oath to all his ancestors, vowing never to depose the Empress. My father agreed, but was also furious. It was only after the princes, ministers, the late Empress Dowager, and the Concubines pleaded and persuaded him that he finally pardoned Uncle Sixth's death sentence and sent him to the frontier, barred from returning to the capital without imperial decree."

"Wuwuwuwuwu, what's this about a little wolfdog guarding love for love? I take back all my disrespect for the King of Liaodong from the beginning. He's too brave! The late ancestor and the late emperor, father and son, are really not good people. Ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh, they're trying to break up my couple, may heaven strike you with lightning!"

"Alas, arranged marriages are deadly. The Queen Mother and the Prince of Liaodong should have lived happily together..."

Lu Zhiwan held his chin and sighed, thinking back to the banquet tonight, when the Prince of Liaodong had secretly glanced at the Queen Mother several times while drinking.

The one you love is right before your eyes, yet there is an insurmountable distance between them...

It's a pity that their identities are too special, otherwise it wouldn't be impossible for one of them, a widow, and the other a widower, to rekindle their past relationship.

Xiao Jingting listened to the melancholy sighs coming into his ears, and his brows furrowed slightly.

She is not very old, but she has a lot to say about romantic matters.

Could it be that before entering the palace, she had an old lover in Yuezhou who she could not get and was filled with endless regret?

"It's getting late. If you don't have anything else to ask, you can rest now."

A clear and cold voice interrupted Lu Zhiwan's overflowing emotions. She opened her eyes and looked at the man's deep outline in the hazy light and shadow, her eyes flashing.

Maybe it was because the alcohol gave her courage, or maybe it was because they had just talked so much, the atmosphere was pretty good, she suddenly wanted to strike while the iron was hot and ask about the "Zhen Fei disaster" that was considered a taboo by everyone.

She tightened her grip on the corner of the quilt, took a deep breath, and spoke carefully, "Your Majesty, could you please tell me about Concubine Zhen?"

Before he finished speaking, a sharp gaze as cold as ice shot towards him.

"You want to ask Zhenfei?"

When Lu Zhiwan met those cold and deep black eyes, he felt as if a cold winter wind was seeping into his neck, and his back could not help but shiver.

"Oh my god, this is a minefield! This is terrifying! I shouldn't have asked such a stupid question!"

"Your Majesty..." Lu Zhiwan swallowed dryly, her voice weak, "It was my concubine who overstepped her bounds. I won't ask any more questions, never again... It's getting late, and you still have to attend court tomorrow, so go get some rest."

The man in front of him still had a serious expression, pursed his lips and said nothing.

Lu Zhiwan felt like she was about to be frozen silly by the cold atmosphere. She endured it for a while, but finally couldn't bear it anymore. She looked at the man's face, mustered up her courage, and quietly moved her hand towards him.

Little by little, the distance gradually narrowed.

First, she placed her little finger on the man's warm back of the hand. Seeing that he didn't shake it off, she placed the second and third fingers. Finally, her entire palm covered the man's back of the hand and slowly held it.

Lu Zhiwan softened her tone and said pitifully, "Your Majesty, I truly know I was wrong."

Xiao Jingting lowered his eyebrows, his eyes swept across the hand she was holding, slowly moved up, fell on her panicked little face and those trembling black eyes, paused for a moment: "Do you really know your mistake?"

Lu Zhiwan nodded heavily: "Really!"

After another moment of silence, Xiao Jingting spoke solemnly: "It's rare to have undue curiosity."

There was a strong warning in his words. Without waiting for Lu Zhiwan to react, he grabbed her hand, pulled her into his arms, hugged her, pulled the quilt over her and lay down.

Lu Zhiwan, who was worried just now whether he would kill her, was now lying in the man's warm and strong arms, her mind was a little confused.

"His emotions are so uncontrollable, changing all the time. Luckily, he's not some tyrant who kills people at will, otherwise I'd probably be drinking Meng Po soup by now... Never mind. I'm tired after a long day, so I should sleep."

Silently adjusting to a comfortable angle in that warm chest, Lu Zhiwan had just closed his eyes when a man's magnetic yet somewhat malicious voice suddenly came from above his head.

"I thought of the first thing I wanted you to do."