Chapter 401 The Empress's Fight for Favor

Don’t want to see me... Don’t want to see me?

The smile on Zhao Duan's face froze little by little, and a string of question marks slowly floated above his head.

No...what do you mean? Didn’t you ask me to come to the palace to see you, but now you’re gone again?

Zhao Duan held a cautious attitude and asked tentatively:

"Is Your Majesty meeting guests? Or did you meet someone after returning to the palace?"

The palace maid serving in the bedroom shook her head and said softly:

"No, His Majesty simply doesn't want to see him."

After saying this, the palace maid glanced around with her bright eyes and warned carefully: "Your Majesty seems to be angry with you, my Lord."

Is Zhenbao angry?

Zhao Duan felt a little headache, but although he lacked experience in love in his previous life, with his emotional intelligence, he knew that he could not really leave when the empress was "saying one thing and thinking another".

False anger

——Tell you clearly that you are angry, and then expect you to coax you.

Really angry

——He had no chance of entering the palace at all, as he was stopped by the imperial guards at the palace gate.

At this time, we should exercise our subjective initiative... Zhao Duan was thinking about what to do when he happened to see a young eunuch from the imperial kitchen coming in with a tray in his hands.

On top is the lotus seed soup that is served on time every day to replenish qi and nourish blood.

"Please stay, sir!"

Zhao Duan stepped forward and took the soup without giving the latter any explanation in his bewildered eyes. Then, while the palace maids deliberately let him go and pretended to stop him, he strode into the bedroom.

The Empress's bedroom was an entire courtyard, with maids on duty everywhere. Zhao Duan followed the instructions and soon arrived at a familiar door.

——The room where he stayed overnight last time after killing the State Master.

That is: the empress's boudoir.

"Knock knock." I knocked on the door gently and waited to hear a cold voice saying "Come in".

Only with the indulgence of several palace maids and eunuchs who pretended to be blind did Zhao Duan creak open the door.

…

As winter approaches, the curtains are drawn on the door. Zhao Duan steps over the threshold carrying a tray, and a warm breeze blows on his face.

What caught his eye was still the elegant and noble "warm room" where he slept last time. The floor was covered with thick cashmere carpet. Next to the antique shelf and opposite the Luohan bed was an animal-shaped incense burner.

There was no brazier to be seen because there were pipes underneath the house, and someone was constantly burning charcoal to bring in a steady stream of heat from underground, like an ancient version of floor heating.

Xu Zhenguan stood with his back to the door, holding a pair of black scissors in his hand, and was concentrating on trimming the vines of an unknown species of flower planted in the blue and white glass dragon floor vase in front of him.

From this angle, she was slightly bent over, with her round buttocks raised, her waist narrow and her hips wide. Even through her casual clothes, one could vaguely see a clear upward line on her back.

Her long black hair was tied up in a bun, with a strand hanging down on each side. Her cuffs were slightly slipping down, and as her slender white wrist turned, the lush green branches fell down one by one.

Zhao Duan was stunned. It was the first time he saw the empress in such a "lifelike" scene.

In the past, even when the two of them were dining and drinking alone, there was always a sense of official business between superiors and subordinates.

The empress even ate voraciously, as if she was in a hurry, as if she was either handling government affairs or on her way to govern the country.

Pruning flower branches by oneself... This kind of "entertainment" activity is very common among the noble ladies in the capital, but it is particularly rare for the empress.

"Your Majesty... the soup is here." Zhao Duan swallowed, came back to his senses and said in a low voice.

“Crack—”

The scissors that were weaving through the green branches suddenly stopped. Xu Zhenguan straightened up, turned around, and looked at him expressionlessly: "Who let you in?"

Pretend, just pretend... If Your Majesty hadn't deliberately let me go, would those servants in the palace dare to let me sneak in...

Woman, your name is "hypocrisy"!

Zhao Duan complained madly in his heart, but with a humble attitude on his face:

"I happened to see the imperial kitchen delivering soup on the way. It's so cold, and I'm worried they'll be slow and the heat will escape, so I dared..."

Xu Zhenguan had a stern face and an angry look. He grabbed the sharp black scissors with his fair little hands and pointed at the door: "Get out."

Zhao Duan looked disappointed and turned back with the tray.

After taking two steps, I heard an unpleasant voice behind me: "Where are you going?"

Zhao Duan pretended to be bewildered and turned back: "Your Majesty, don't you want me to leave?"

"I want you to leave, but I don't want you to take the soup away..."

As Xu Zhenguan spoke, he suddenly felt tired. He walked to the Arhat bed in the warm hall, sat down, and said helplessly:

"Well, present it."

Zhao Duan smiled slyly, walked to the sandalwood coffee table in front of Luohan's bed, put down the tray, wiped the cups skillfully, opened the earthenware jar, filled a bowl of white and hot meat soup, and handed it over.

The empress looked at him quietly, without saying a word, just watching.

Zhao Duan blinked, tentatively scooped a little with a spoon, then gently blew away the hot air with his mouth and handed it over:

"His Majesty?"

The empress's stern face finally brightened up a bit, but she didn't drink. Instead, she asked quietly:

"Do you admit your guilt?"

Zhao Duan pretended to be confused.

The Empress said unhappily:

"Why didn't you inform me beforehand about your debate today? Have I been too indulgent and lenient with you, and have you become arrogant? You acted on such a major matter without informing me."

You're talking like it's the first time I've done this... You weren't angry before, but this time you're angry, it seems a bit fake... Zhao Duan put down the porcelain bowl, feeling ashamed:

"I acknowledge my guilt! However, I am not being arrogant. It is Your Majesty who has banned Buddhism because of me. Lately, while at home, I have repeatedly heard believers in the city slandering Your Majesty. I feel deeply ashamed, and I had no confidence that I could defeat those bald asses in a debate..."

I am worried that if I inform Your Majesty first, this matter will be implicated with Your Majesty. If I do it privately and succeed by chance, and Your Majesty is spared from being slandered by the ignorant people, I will be overjoyed.

If we are unfortunately defeated, even if the vultures want to investigate, Your Majesty will not be implicated. If there is any blame, I will bear it myself... If Your Majesty wants to punish me, I will accept it without complaint!

Haha... no complaints... that sounds nice, but what are all these things about?

Xu Zhenguan hummed in his heart, listened to him quietly, his expression softened, and he hummed to take advantage of the situation and said:

"That's good to know."

He paused, glared and said, "Why don't you serve the soup?"

One side is full of lies and making up excuses;

When one party gives the other a way out, they will forgive at the speed of light... This is also a tacit understanding between the monarch and his subjects.

Zhao Duan was as if pardoned and handed the soup to the empress.

The latter glanced at him, opened her red lips slightly, and slowly swallowed a spoonful.

Then, as if she felt that the feeding posture was too ambiguous, the empress raised her hand to take the bowl of soup and started drinking it herself.

After taking two sips, Xu Zhenguan's cheeks inexplicably felt hot when he saw Zhao Duan staring at him while he was eating.

Putting down the soup, he casually asked him to sit down and talk, then suddenly asked:

"Tell me, what's going on between you and Prajna."

Zhao Duan just pulled a low stool from the side and sat down next to the coffee table. As soon as his butt touched the stool, he almost bounced up.

He was surprised and said:

"Your Majesty, why do you say that? I'm already busy trying to avoid that shameless old nun, so how could I be involved?"

Xu Zhenguan sneered: "No?"

"It has nothing to do with it!" Zhao Duan said righteously, and then couldn't help but say:

"Your Majesty, could you please put down the scissors and talk?"

"..." Xu Zhenguan threw the scissors in his hand onto the coffee table, moved back, and leaned casually on the pillow on the Arhat bed, saying lightly:

"Then how do you explain that the so-called Buddhist teachings you presented today are similar to the principles of Prajna?"

No...So the reason you suddenly got angry for no reason today was because of this?

Zhao Duan remembered the last time the empress stayed at her house for one night and it happened that Prajna Bodhisattva came to visit.

It had been so long that he had almost forgotten it, but the broad-minded empress still remembered it...

"Your Majesty, I have absolutely no connection with that old nun. This debate is also for the sake of fairness..."

Zhao Duan hurriedly told everyone everything he was thinking.

The reason is roughly the same as what Yuan Li guessed. This is also the method that Zhao Duan has figured out after spending the past two days at home, thinking hard and pondering to maximize his interests.

It was a way to vent one's anger and disgust the people of Shenlong Temple and the Western Regions, and it also made efforts in many aspects, such as weakening the authority of the temple and supporting Prajna to share the power of Xuanyin.

Although there is a major disadvantage of helping Buddhism to advance further and spread more easily, after weighing the pros and cons, he feels that the pros outweigh the cons.

Xu Zhenguan listened quietly without interrupting.

Lying on her side on the ancient sofa, her hand unconsciously grabbed a pillow embroidered with a colorful phoenix and gently held it in her arms. Her beautiful eyes stared at Zhao Duan who was analyzing the situation in detail.

I hardly heard what he said, but instead found his anxious look in trying to distance himself from Prajna quite amusing.

The slight amount of resentment in my heart also disappeared, and was replaced by a more complicated emotion.

I got angry for no apparent reason...

This kind of thing shouldn't have happened to me.

Whether it was during the three years since she ascended the throne, or before that, when she was the third princess, since she became an adult, in the eyes of her father, brothers and sisters, the emperor and his ministers, and her uncles, she was an image of a wise and calm man who was no less capable than a man.

If we look at it rationally, even if Zhao Duan did make some rash mistakes in his debate today, the result was ultimately good.

Therefore, from the perspective of controlling her subjects, she could have used a softer and better way to reward or discipline them.

Instead of using this childish way of being "little tempered" that is no different from that of ordinary little women...

Thinking of this, Xu Zhenguan felt annoyed, wondering what he had just done. If this got out, it would be a laughing stock.

But... I just did it inexplicably, just like when I was very young and felt that I was gradually losing my father's favor, I also tried to get his attention by not eating.

Just like those concubines in the harem who competed for the emperor's favor.

Xu Zhenguan stared blankly at the lotus seed soup in front of him, with an inexplicable "distress" in his eyes.

Although I don't want to admit it, I just... seem... maybe... probably... maybe...

To the man in front of me...

“Competing for favor”…?

Thinking of this possibility, she was a little dazed.

"His Majesty?"

Until Zhao Duan's voice woke her up.

——

Next chapter will be updated before midnight

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(End of this chapter)