Chapter 27 [27]

【27】/First release on Jinjiang Literature City

The meteor was beautiful but short-lived, and the small fire in the cave didn't last long either, gradually dying out into ashes.

The night before dawn is always the most difficult to endure. Fatigue and sleepiness come silently. Lu Zhiwan put on the coat that was barely half-dried, leaned against the stone wall, hugged the man in his arms, and soon fell asleep.

She was so tired that night that she slept very soundly despite the difficult conditions.

I don't know how long it took, but in a daze, I seemed to hear someone talking.

"I am late in coming to your rescue, Your Majesty..."

"Silence."

The voice was familiar, it was Xiao Jingting.

Lu Zhiwan wanted to open her eyes, but her eyelids were too heavy. She felt like she was trapped in a dream, but she could sense the movements in the outside world.

A pair of slender hands wrapped her with a thick robe. She seemed to be rolled up into a silkworm cocoon, tightly wrapped from head to toe, and then fell into a solid embrace. The hands held her up and weighed her up.

She frowned and let out a moan, and the man paused for a moment.

A touch of warm breath brushed across my cheek, and the man's low, hoarse voice rang out: "Sleep peacefully, I won't abandon you."

These words seemed to have some kind of magical power. Lu Zhiwan's heart gradually calmed down, like a drifting boat reaching the shore. Her brows relaxed, and she indulged her consciousness again and fell into a deep sleep.

***

When he woke up again, outside the dark green curtain embroidered with sea water patterns, the sky was half bright and half dark. Lu Zhiwan couldn't tell whether it was morning or evening.

She held up her heavy eyelids and felt as if she had been thrown into a millstone and ground back and forth several times. Her whole body ached and she couldn't exert any strength at all.

However, when she saw the familiar magnificent bed and the magnificent palace, she breathed a sigh of relief - it seemed that she was saved.

It's pretty good, it's a million times better than opening your eyes and finding yourself still lying in that dark ghost cave.

But was she possessed by sleep? How could she sleep so soundly that she didn't wake up all the way from the mountain back to the palace...

Lu Zhiwan was speechless for a while about his excellent sleeping quality before turning his head and calling out softly, "Is anyone there?"

When the rough voice came out, she was shocked. How come her personality changed after waking up?

A burst of hurried footsteps soon came from behind the tall red sandalwood carved screen, and then Xia He's joyful voice rang out: "Great, Master, you are finally awake!"

Lu Zhiwan looked at her little face that was both crying and laughing, propped himself up and sat up, deliberately joking: "I'm not dead, why are you crying?"

"Pt. Pt. Pt. Pt." Xia He quickly turned her head and spat a few times, then clasped her hands together and bowed towards the sky: "Buddha, please don't blame me. Master, I don't mean what I say. Please don't blame me."

After she finished her greeting, she tucked away the tears from her eyes and quickly walked to the bedside: "Master, are you hungry or thirsty? Are you feeling unwell somewhere? I'll go call the imperial physician..."

"Don't be impatient..."

Lu Zhiwan tried to lean against the pillow beside the bed, but still felt limp all over: "Pour a glass of water first."

"Yes, I'll go right away."

After a while, Xia He brought over some warm tea and handed it to Lu Zhiwan carefully: "Please drink slowly."

Lu Zhiwan took a sip of the tea. The warm water moistened her dry throat, making her feel much more comfortable. She gathered some energy and looked at Xia He: "What time is it now? When were we rescued?"

"My Lord, it's just past the hour of You." Xia He stood by the bed and answered each question one by one. "You and His Majesty were rescued by the Imperial Guards yesterday morning. When Chief Steward Yu asked me to come to the Yangxin Palace to take care of you, I was startled and thought you were..."

She avoided any negative words and continued, "The imperial physician said you were overly frightened, and the cold entered your system, which is why you're unconscious. Fortunately, although you have some bumps and bruises, they're not serious. Drink some tranquilizing and qi-replenishing soup for a while, and rest and recuperate, and you'll be fine... By the way, how are you feeling now?"

Looking at the little girl's worried face, Lu Zhiwan smiled comfortingly: "I've had a good sleep for two days and I feel much better."

"That's good." Xia He's brows relaxed slightly. Seeing that Lu Zhiwan was almost done with his tea, she quickly took the cup and refilled it. "You must be hungry too. I'll go get you some food."

"etc."

Lu Zhiwan called her, pursed his slightly moist lips, and said hesitantly: "His Majesty... where is he now? Is he okay?"

Those of hers who were not injured were in a coma for two days, not to mention that the man was injured and looked like a sick cat.

"Don't worry. After His Majesty's return, several experienced doctors from the Imperial Hospital have gathered around to care for him. He is a strong man after all, and even though he was caught in the rain, he recovered quickly. He was even in the Yangxin Palace this morning to meet with ministers for a meeting. He should be reviewing memorials right now."

This nonchalant tone surprised Lu Zhiwan: "He also summoned ministers to handle government affairs?"

"Yes." Xia He nodded. Seeing her master's surprised look, she couldn't help but wonder, "Is there something wrong?"

Lu Zhiwan lowered his eyes: "......"

Could it be that he was pretending to look sick in the cave that night?

This didn't make sense, why would he act weak in front of her.

"master?"

Xia He called out twice more before Lu Zhiwan came to his senses and nodded slightly: "Go get some food."

Xia He didn't understand what was going on, but seeing that her master was just about to wake up and was still weak, she didn't ask any more questions and quickly knelt down and retreated.

The bedroom, filled with the scent of agarwood, soon returned to silence.

Lu Zhiwan lay on the soft brocade pillow with round flowers, staring at the changing light and shadow outside the wooden window frame, lost in thought.

Could it be that Xiao Jingting's recovery ability was so strong that he recovered in one night? Or did he hide his injury from others?

Even when Xia He came back with the food, Lu Zhiwan was still thinking about Xiao Jingting.

Xia He also noticed something at this time. As she placed food on the small table, she smiled and sighed, "It seems that the saying in the storybook that a friend in need is a friend indeed is true. In the past, my master would not have cared so much about Your Majesty..."

Lu Zhiwan paused with his chopsticks in his hand: "Who's thinking about him?"

Xia He shrugged while holding the tray, revealing an ambiguous smile that showed her own understanding.

Lu Zhiwan: ".......You are becoming more and more daring, girl."

Xia He chuckled and continued to serve the dishes.

Lu Zhiwan lowered his eyes, staring at the soup in the bowl, thinking to himself, this is just an additional layer of revolutionary friendship that lasts for life and death.

Her ideal type is the gentle and elegant type like Gu Rongyu, and the moody psychopath like Xiao Jingting. She must be crazy to like him.

***

The sun was setting, drums were beating, and it was almost time to end the shift. In the Wenyuan Pavilion east of the Meridian Gate, the cabinet ministers were arguing fiercely.

"A thief star has fallen from the sky, and the earth and mountains have collapsed. This is a warning from heaven, a very ominous sign!"

"Your Majesty has made many private visits before, and all have gone smoothly. But this time, with the Lu family, you encountered such a disaster! If Your Majesty were not the True Dragon Emperor, blessed by Heaven, I'm afraid you would also be implicated by the Lu family's bad luck!"

"Lü Si, the Director of the Imperial Observatory, has served for many years, his divinations and predictions always accurate, yet this time he made such a colossal mistake. Yes, he was indeed derelict in his duty and deserves death, but think about it, everyone. Even Lü Si couldn't predict the power of that evil star. How could he dare to keep her in the harem and endanger His Majesty and the country?"

"In the previous dynasty, the Taibai star frequently appeared during the day, and the historian Li Chunfeng divined the divination that 'The emperor will rule for three generations, Wu will replace Li, and a woman will prosper.' Emperor Taizong exercised benevolence and refrained from utter slaughter, leading to the absurd situation of a woman ruling the country. Now, the heavens have issued another warning, lest another calamity like a hen crowing at dawn occur. I would like to present myself to Your Majesty at the Xuanzheng Hall and implore you to consider the overall situation and exterminate that ominous witch as soon as possible."

"I'll go with you!"

"I'll go too!"

The indignation of the ministers almost blew the roof of the cabinet apart, but Prime Minister Gu, who was sitting in the upper seat, had a solemn face and said nothing.

Seeing this, Deputy Minister Zou Demin leaned forward and asked, "Why didn't Lord Gu say anything?"

Prime Minister Gu slowly raised his eyelids, glanced at the ministers in the room, and said after a while: "Do you still think that His Majesty is a five-year-old child who can be manipulated at will?"

Everyone in the room was startled and fell silent, waiting for Prime Minister Gu to continue.

"You may not know this yet, but last night Lu Si left a letter of apology and then hanged himself in the Jinyiwei prison to apologize."

Chief Minister Gu spoke calmly, pulling a booklet from his sleeve and placing it on the table, tapping his fingers. "This was sent to us by Yu Mingjiang after dinner in the corridor. He said that His Majesty knew that we were loyal officials and would definitely want to get to the bottom of the incident. He specially copied a letter of apology from Lu Si and asked us to review it."

"Come on, let's pass it around in turn—"

Prime Minister Gu turned his gaze to Deputy Prime Minister Zou Demin. Zou Demin understood and took the first step to pick up the booklet. After just a few glances, his expression became solemn.

After that, every time the booklet was passed to someone, that person's expression changed.

After one round, the court officials who had just been angrily clamoring to eradicate the evil were now silent.

This was simply because every word in this confession was written in Lu Si's voice, revealing that he knew of the disaster at Dongshan, but, under the instructions of someone behind the scenes, he deliberately concealed the astronomical phenomena in order to trick the emperor and his concubine into going to Dongshan, intending to murder them. The person behind the scenes also said that even if the emperor survived the disaster, they could still blame Lu for being the evil concubine who brought disaster to the country.

As for who was the mastermind behind the scenes, Lu Si did not mention it.

When Prime Minister Gu saw that they had all finished reading, he spoke again: "What do you all think now?"

The cabinet ministers looked at each other, but no one said a word.

It's all written in the letter of apology, so maybe the Lu family can be pushed out to take the blame - haven't they just done what the book says, clamoring to get rid of this troublemaker?

A feeling of being fooled permeated the hearts of the court officials. They felt that the mastermind behind this was truly despicable, but at the same time, they couldn't help but speculate: Is there really such a mastermind? If so, who is so audacious?

"Mr. Gu, this matter is of great importance. We are ignorant and would appreciate your guidance." The second-in-command stood up and bowed respectfully to the first-in-command, Mr. Gu.

When the other ministers saw this, they also bowed and said, "Please give us some advice, Lord Gu."

Prime Minister Gu looked around, sitting upright, his aged voice steady and dignified. "Your Majesty has ordered the Eastern Depot and the Imperial Guard to investigate the mastermind behind this. As for Lu Si, considering his voluntary confession, Your Majesty will mercifully pardon his family's death sentence and exile them a thousand miles away. The palace maids killed in this natural disaster will be buried with honor, and their relatives will be comforted with generous compensation..."

After a brief pause, he lowered his voice and said, "There is another decree. Concubine Lu has been calm and composed in this adventure, loyal to her master, and courageous. She is promoted to the rank of First Rank Concubine and granted the title of Zhao."

Zhao means bright sun, brilliant and glorious.

Your Majesty not only conferred the title of consort on Lu, but also bestowed this title upon her!

The ministers were shocked and secretly worried. Fortunately, they did not rashly run to His Majesty to make trouble, otherwise wouldn’t they be going against His Majesty?

"I have said everything I wanted to say. Now, let's figure out what to do next."

Prime Minister Gu stood up from the armchair slowly, without looking at the people in the room, and left.

After he left, the house fell into a long silence.

Finally, the deputy minister waved his hand and said, "The drums have died down, and everyone can go home."

This was considered a way to give way, and everyone dispersed one by one with their own thoughts.

***

Lu Zhiwan had no idea that she was almost labeled a "witch concubine" by the cabinet and was about to be eliminated, and she had no idea that she was now a first-rank concubine. After eating and drinking, she lay back on the bed, covered herself with the quilt and went to sleep.

However, the mental trauma caused by this accident was too severe, and she couldn't even sleep peacefully. Sometimes she dreamed of earthquakes, sometimes of tsunamis, and later she dreamed that Xiao Jingting dragged her to a volcano. She refused to go, but he carried her on his shoulders anyway.

As expected, an accident happened. The volcano erupted and the scorching magma turned into a ferocious fire dragon, chasing them relentlessly.

She ran for her life, screaming and cursing: "Xiao Jingting, you bastard, I told you not to come!!"

"Lu Zhiwan."

The man's deep voice seemed to come from far away in the sky.

After being called twice more, Lu Zhiwan felt a chill on her face. The chill made her soul tremble, her eyes widened, and she woke up from the nightmare.

When Lu Zhiwan saw the tall dark figure sitting beside the bed, he couldn't help but feel dazed.

"Why did I see him again? Am I still dreaming?"

The man beside the bed raised his eyebrows slightly and looked at her with interest: "What did you dream about?"

The sound was so clear that it was definitely not a dream.

Lu Zhiwan opened his eyes slightly, lifted the quilt and was about to stand up: "Your Majesty?"

Xiao Jingting looked at her: "After only two days of sleep, you don't recognize me anymore?"

"I know you, even if Your Majesty turns to ashes, I will..."

Feeling the strange gaze from the man, Lu Zhiwan stopped talking in time and changed her words angrily: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I was confused in my sleep and spoke incoherently... I pay my respects to Your Majesty first."

As she was about to get up, the man held her arm down and said, "Just lie down."

Lu Zhiwan was slightly stunned, his eyes inadvertently sweeping over the slender hand resting on his forearm.

As if noticing her gaze, he quickly let go.

For some reason, a sense of inexplicable restraint and awkwardness appeared in the air.

Lu Zhiwan pursed her lips uncomfortably, then raised her eyes again and asked softly, "Why is Your Majesty here?"

"This is my Yangxin Palace."

"...My point is, Your Majesty, why don't you let me know so I can welcome you in advance."

"Does he have a habit of peeping at people sleeping?"

Xiao Jingting: "..."

It's more pleasing to see her sleeping peacefully.

He didn't continue to talk about this with her. He repeated the question he asked at the beginning: "What did you dream about? You kept frowning."

Thinking of that terrible nightmare like a disaster movie, Lu Zhiwan's mouth twitched slightly.

"How dare you ask? Every time I go out with you, something bad happens. I'll never go out with you again, even if you kill me!"

Despite her inner complaints, she still succinctly recounted her nightmare. At the end, she raised her sleeve to wipe away nonexistent tears and gave Xiao Jingting a delicate and pitiful look. "This trip to Dongshan really made me extremely anxious. Fortunately, God has blessed me, and Your Majesty and I are safe... But next time Your Majesty goes out of the palace for fun, please don't take me with you. I am really timid, and it is safer for me to stay in the palace."

After listening to her dream and looking at her pitiful appearance, Xiao Jingting pursed his lips and said softly, "Since I promised you that day, I will not go back on my word."

"Promise me? What did he promise me?"

Lu Zhiwan was stunned for a long while before he suddenly remembered that on the rainy night the day before yesterday when they had just escaped from the crevice in the mountain, he wiped her tears and seemed to have said that she didn't have to go out if she didn't want to.

So that was not just a casual remark to coax her, he was serious about it.

A sudden warmth welled up in my heart, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

She said softly, taking another close look at the person in front of her.

He sat beside him in a loose, smoky-black brocade robe, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, and a jade belt. His simple attire gave off a solemn, elegant and unrestrained aura because of his handsome face.

"As expected, the perfection of fashion depends on appearance."

Lu Zhiwan sighed in her heart, he looked completely different from the sick cat that fell in her arms that night.

Thinking of this, she lowered her gaze to his arm: "Your Majesty, how is your injury?"

Xiao Jingting glanced at her drooping eyebrows and saw a hint of concern in her eyes. He then said, "I've applied medicine to the wound. It's nothing serious."

"That's good." Lu Zhiwan nodded. Seeing that he looked normal and looked good, she was finally relieved. "Luckily, the injury wasn't to my right hand, otherwise it would have delayed my writing and reviewing memorials."

Xiao Jingting narrowed his eyes and said, "I injured my hand, and what you care about is whether I can approve the memorials?"

Lu Zhiwan felt that his question was a bit strange, but he couldn't tell what was strange about it.

"Having my right hand injured would have delayed things even more. Am I wrong?"

"Lu Zhiwan!"

The dignity of calling her by name gave Lu Zhiwan a start: "I'm here."

She raised her eyes cautiously: "What are your orders, Your Majesty?"

The man in front of her had a sullen face, his dark eyes looking deeply at her, wanting to say something but stopping himself, finally taking a deep breath and saying, "Forget it."

Lu Zhiwan: “.......?”

The two of them sat there staring at each other. Seeing that the atmosphere became more awkward as it became quieter, Lu Zhiwan quickly used his brain and changed the subject to the day they were rescued.

Xiao Jingting was rare in that he patiently told her about the search and rescue. When Lu Zhiwan asked about the palace maids who died, he pondered for a moment, did not hide anything, and told her everything.

Upon learning that the disaster had caused 29 deaths and 35 injuries, Lu Zhiwan was in a low mood and could not help but curse the director of the Imperial Observatory who had caused the deaths again.

Then Xiao Jingting told her: "Lü Si has hanged himself in the imperial prison."

Lu Zhiwan: “….”

For some reason, she didn't feel happy at all, but instead had an indescribable feeling of something being wrong.

From watching the meteor shower to the landslide, everything happened so suddenly...

Although she was not a lucky person, she did not want to admit that she was so unlucky.

Seeing that she was unhappy and silent, Xiao Jingting thought she was still grieving for the murdered palace maids, so he told her about the consort's appointment.

Lu Zhiwan was surprised to hear that she was named Concubine Zhao, but given the current situation, she couldn't feel much joy.

She forced a smile and thanked Xiao Jingting. Xiao Jingting stared at her for a moment, said, "You should have a good rest." Then he got up and left.

Lu Zhiwan knew that her reaction might be a bit disappointing, but the feeling that something was wrong was like a huge rock pressing down on her heart, making her not even think about acting.

Let him be for now and try to coax him tomorrow.

As she thought about this, she lay down again with the quilt in her arms, continuing to think about what was wrong.

After thinking for a long time, Lu Zhiwan's mind was still confused.

It feels like playing a puzzle. The rest of the puzzle is almost done, but you just can't find the most crucial piece in the middle.

But the next day, she got some clues from the whispers of the palace servants.

"Have you heard that the Junior Minister of the Imperial Household Department is speaking up for Lu Jianzheng and threatening to die?"

"I heard! He crashed headfirst into the Panlong Pillar in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, blood splattering all over the floor. Before he closed his eyes, he was still muttering, 'The evil concubine is a disaster, she will destroy our Daxing.'"

"Your Majesty just announced in court that Concubine Lu would be appointed Concubine Zhao, and this Zhang Shaoqing crashed into the palace and said such things... Isn't this deliberately trying to bring bad luck upon Your Majesty?"

"That's right! His Majesty was furious and even threatened to drag Zhang Shaoqing's body to Jinli Garden to feed the tigers!"

"I wonder if His Majesty will still appoint Concubine Lu as his consort after something like this happened..."

The civil officials died for their advice, showing their unyielding character.

The palace maids were sighing, and the court officials were also deeply moved.

Everyone could see that His Majesty intended to make the "Dongshan Disaster" a small matter, but at this moment Zhang Shaoqing appeared and banged his head against the pillar in the court, instantly pushing the matter to another development.

What was even more unexpected was that within a few days, the news of Zhang Shaoqing hitting his head against the pillar spread outside the palace and was made into a story by storytellers and spread everywhere.

The earthquake in Dongshan that day was quite loud. Word of mouth spread from one to ten, and from ten to a hundred. Many people came to believe that "there is a witch concubine in the country, and God has sent down a punishment, but Your Majesty has disregarded God's will and killed loyal people."

When Lu Zhiwan heard this, the chaos in her mind seemed to be split open by a giant axe. She finally found the forgotten puzzle piece.

In the original novel, the hero and heroine first met in Jinling. While chatting, they talked about the incident in which the tyrant emperor in the capital took his treacherous concubine to watch the meteor shower.

But no meteor fell that day, and the treacherous concubine was very unhappy. In order to please his beloved concubine, the foolish emperor lit thousands of lanterns on the mountain. It happened that a strong wind blew, and the lanterns flew everywhere, setting the forest on fire, causing a fire and countless deaths and injuries.

Afterwards, the emperor held the director of the Imperial Observatory accountable for his incorrect calculations. He tied the director naked to a tree and burned him to death as a sacrifice to appease the anger of the mountain god.

This action caused great dissatisfaction among the court officials, who all submitted protests. One of the court officials even committed suicide by hitting his head against a pillar.

In the original text, the heroine also sighed: "The emperor is so foolish, why do you still work hard to take the imperial examination, serve such a court, and serve such a monarch?"

The hero spoke righteously about how he would become an official in the court one day and would be able to wipe out the darkness and bring a bright future to the country, which made the heroine's heart flutter.

Thinking of the conversation she had scanned at a glance, Lu Zhiwan: “…”

The plot's gravity is so terrifying?!

She prevented the fire from happening, but in order to advance the plot, the original novel forced the continuation by sending an earthquake?

How could this be played?! She and Xiao Jingting simply lay down and waited for the male protagonist to kill them.