Shocking News

Guo was preparing dinner. Although she had a servant or two helping her, she was accustomed to doing it herself, both out of years of habit and for her son's safety. They came from a poor family, and her son was a man of integrity. To get to this point, he had offended too many people. A pot of freshly wrapped dumplings was simmering in the broth, and Guo used a fire fork to stir the sparks on the stove.

The yard was silent, but she suddenly stopped what she was doing and walked over with a fork in hand.

"who?"

The old voice startled Cheng Jiao. She saw a flower shed in the courtyard and thought, this is quite remarkable, a man like Zhang Yannian actually cultivates flowers. It was said that his family had only two servants, one to care for his mother, the other to accompany him into the palace. This flower was a rare variety, not only precious but also extremely troublesome because of its delicate stems and the tedious care required. At that time, her palace had more than a dozen gardeners tending to it daily, but they could only barely fill the corridors with flowers. Zhang Yannian must have tended these flowers himself.

So she decided to put the news in the flower shed, but just as she was about to put it down, she saw Zhang's mother, Guo, approaching with a fire fork. She was wearing a blue flowered dress, her hair combed neatly with hair oil, without a single strand out of place. Her light gray eyes glanced towards the pomegranate tree beside her.

She can't see?

She waved her hand, confirming she was blind, and then she lowered her footsteps to slip away. However, Guo's ears were a hundred times sharper than those of an ordinary person, and she immediately caught her footsteps. She turned towards her with a squinting look, "Who? Come out."

Worried that she would call others, she simply stopped, walked to Guo's side and supported her to dispel her hostility.

"Madam, is you Mr. Zhang's mother?"

Guo couldn't see, but her sense of touch and hearing was acute. Someone standing behind her supported half of her shoulder and arm. She felt her hand, a delicate, soft pair with a slender frame. She felt it, a woman's. She reached up and found a half-exposed sleeve, woven from kesi silk. This meant she wasn't a killer or a spy. She lowered the fire fork in her left hand and smiled gently.

"Miss, are you here to look for Yannian?"

"I have something important to tell Master Zhang." She placed the bamboo slips in Guo's hands and said solemnly, "Please be sure to hand it over to Master Zhang in person."

Guo held the bamboo slips in her hand, stroked them clumsily, and put them into her sleeve.

"Don't worry, come and have a cup of tea."

Guo patted her hands, pulled her to sit in front of the stone table and poured her tea.

"No, that's not necessary. The things have been delivered. I'll go back now."

"Dumplings are being cooked in the kitchen. If I had known there were guests coming, I should have prepared more food. That kid Wen Dao didn't even tell me." Guo held her tightly, as if complaining, but she knew what she meant.

She was still testing her identity. Normally, if a guest came, there would be a servant to open the door and introduce him, but she appeared here quietly, so it was very likely that she sneaked in.

Cheng Jiao looked at the kind-looking woman and drank a sip of tea leisurely. "Just now, I knocked at the door for a long time but no one came. The door was open, so I was anxious and came in without permission."

"You come here often? I haven't seen Yannian get acquainted with any girl."

"My master knows Master Zhang and sent me to deliver a letter."

Guo nodded. "That's perfect. Yannian usually comes back around this time. It would be safer if you hand it over to him personally."

After Guo finished speaking, Cheng Jiao's heart skipped a beat. At this time?

There was a knock on the door in the front yard, and a servant's voice came, "Madam, the master is back."

Her heart began to beat wildly, but she remained calm. She smiled and stood up, saying, "Master Zhang is back. I'll go greet him."

Guo stood up with her and walked in front, with Cheng Jiao following behind her. The moment she pushed open the door and took a step forward, she lifted up the hem of her skirt and started running.

She jumped off the wall, ran into the temple, opened the stone cover, and almost slid down along the rope. Without paying attention to the stinging pain in her legs, she ran out of the golden house and returned to the stone chamber.

Zhang Yannian has already left his post, which means that Liu Che will be here soon.

She lay on the bamboo-matted couch, eyes closed, breathing heavily. Suddenly, she heard the sound of stones turning outside the door. She jumped up and slid back under the bed.

Liu Che lit the candles and placed the box he brought on the table.

"Come out."

He poured the wine into two wine cups, and it gurgled.

He seemed to have returned to normal tonight. Ah Jiao crawled out from under the bed. As soon as she sat down, she saw Liu Che frowning and looking at her, "What's that smell?"

"It smells sour." She sat closer to him. "Your Majesty has locked me up here, airtight. I'm lucky I didn't suffocate to death."

She spoke with sarcasm, and Liu Che looked at her unhappily, "Are you still going to use that tattered robe of yours as a rag?" She was sweating all over.

She gathered her clothes tighter when she heard this, "This is the finest kesi silk, a piece costs a hundred gold coins, it was in good condition when I came here."

She lowered her head, looking obedient, but her words were not intimidating at all and directly pointed out his absurdity.

Liu Che sneered, "A piece of kesi worth a hundred gold pieces is also a reward from me. You think it is precious, but I have hundreds of pieces here."

"Your Majesty has many valuables and many people to look after. There are too many monks and too little porridge, and there are joys and sorrows. Although the general has only two pieces of cloth, they are all mine."

His deep gaze fell on her for a long time. She closed her mouth silently. His patience with her was limited, so it was better not to irritate him.

"The food brought by the kitchen, as well as the wine from the Western Regions, should be something you're used to."

Two bowls of millet rice, a plate of smoked meat, steamed fish, braised lotus root, a plate of red amaranth...all her favorite dishes. Her heart sank. Was he testing her?

"I don't like these dishes. It's hot and stuffy in the summer. The smoked meat is too dry, and the carp is fishy and has too many bones. The general used to ride to Wutingfang after court at this time and bring me their sweet osmanthus candied lotus root. Suji's fried fish with sauce is delicious..."

She placed the lacquer bowl heavily on the table, then closed her mouth again and whispered, "Your Majesty wants to ask me..."

"Eat some vegetables."

He stared at her, his gentle voice cold.

She rolled her eyes secretly and began to eat the food. Normally, it was fine, but today, pretending to eat was a struggle. From yesterday until now, she hadn't eaten a single bite, had sweated profusely, and had run around a lot.

Even a mouthful of white rice would be as delicious as a fairy peach, not to mention the food she loved in the past. But Liu Che kept staring at her without blinking, so she could only pretend to be disgusted while chewing and taking a sip of wine from time to time.

That gaze was so intense that she finally couldn't stand it any longer. "Your Majesty, aren't you going to eat? Why are you always staring at me?"

"How do you know I'm looking at you if you're not looking at me?"

She was speechless for a moment, cursing him a thousand times in her heart, then picked up her chopsticks again, resisting the urge to eat. She muttered to herself, "I don't want to eat, I don't want to eat, I don't want to eat. It doesn't taste good at all."

Seeing that she had put down her chopsticks, Liu Che personally picked up a piece of fish and gave it to her. He considerately peeled off the fish skin, removed the fat near the belly, and put the tender and lean piece of fish into her bowl.

“I don’t like this…”

"You love to eat."

His chopsticks pressed on hers, and his sharp eyes stared at her, giving her a dangerous feeling of oppression.

Then, he picked up another piece of lotus root slice and said, "Eat it, this is also what you like."

She opened her mouth, saw his cold gaze, lowered her head and ate the lotus root slices and fish he picked up.

Liu Che's expression eased a little, but it was only compared to before. He still had that sullen face. He raised his glass and clinked it with hers, then drank it all in one gulp without waiting for her response.

He drank cup after cup in silence, and she ate and ate under his intimidating gaze, until most of the plates were empty and she could eat no more. Then she advised, "Your Majesty, you have drunk enough today. Drinking too much is harmful to your health. Eat something."

"Not much, the food is not finished yet."

"I'm full."

"This lotus root was freshly dug from the Imperial Lake. The chef braised it for a whole day and added honey, dogwood and soy sauce."

He seemed not to hear her, or rather, to have completely ignored her words, lost in his own world. He simply brought the plate of lotus roots over and moved it in front of her.

"Eat, I'll watch you eat."

"I've had enough." Her face turned cold. "I don't like these things, and I don't want to eat any more. Your Majesty, it's impossible to find someone through me or see anyone you want.

Because I am not the Queen, nor the Princess Pingkang. She died long ago. If Your Majesty wants to find her, you should immediately take a carriage to the Ba Mausoleum to pay your respects!"

She spoke harshly and sternly, but Liu Che seemed to be drunk and did not get angry. After listening to her anger, he slowly stood up with the wine jar in his hand.

He was so tall that he almost completely covered her. She looked up at him coldly, feeling a little nervous. Then she felt angry. Why should she be nervous? Why was it clearly his heartless nature that caused her tragic death? Why was he the one she was angry about when she talked about it? It was as if she owed him something.

He clamped her arm, picked up the jar of wine that was almost empty and put it to her lips.

She turned her head and began to kick and grab him with her hands and feet. He felt the pain and poured the wine directly into her throat, not caring whether she could swallow it in time or not, completely soaking half of her body.

She coughed and pushed him away. He threw the wine jar to the ground and then covered her lips.

The mellow aroma of the wine slowly melts on the tip of the tongue. After the sourness, the bitterness seeps into every grain of tongue coating bit by bit, caressing each other softly and roughly.

She finally got the chance to bite his tongue, and the sweet scent of blood came out along with the saliva, rolling and flowing, tightly wrapping each other.

She slowly seemed to be getting drunk, she grabbed his arm and let him linger on her lips and tongue, watching his sharp eyes gradually soften and become misty.

After a long while, he suddenly let her go and just looked at her, smiling foolishly.

He hugged her arms and said coquettishly, "Don't ignore me, I was wrong, I will never make you angry again."

"Your Majesty, I am Cheng Jiao, not Chen Yu." She pulled his hand away indifferently, but he held it again like a dog-skin plaster.

"You are Gillian, Gillian...Azhu misses you so much."

"Your Majesty, you are drunk. Go back and rest."

She didn't want to face this drunk man. He wasn't sober, and she was confused too. She would rather see him look at her coldly than see him calling her name with such eyes and such a gesture.

There was a coldness in her voice, and Liu Che instinctively felt that she was still angry. He didn't want her to be angry, because when she was angry, she would ignore him, throw things at him, beat him with a whip, close the palace gates and not say a word to him for days on end, watch him cry sadly, and sit under the pomegranate tree, staring blankly at the empty kite string.

Then she summoned the wizard to the palace, locked the gates, and went out with him, sleeping on the same bed... He would rage and accuse her, he killed people in front of her, and even pointed his sword at her. Then she went to Changmen Palace, and the look in her eyes when she looked at him was no longer angry, no longer loving, like a pool of stagnant water, without a ripple.

Then there was a fire in Nagato, and the living person turned into a charred corpse with white bones.

In his dreams at midnight, he always saw her screaming in pain in the fire, watching the flames rush towards her, swallowing up her thin body...

Every time that happened, he would sit up, his whole body cold, his arms trembling. He shouldn't have been angry with her, he shouldn't have sent her to Changmen Palace, he should have followed her closely, stayed by her side all the time.

His eyes must be on her every moment.

"Cousin, Ah Zhu knows he was wrong. Ah Zhu shouldn't have made you angry. Please hug Ah Zhu. Ah Zhu is scared."

"Afraid? What are you afraid of? Are you afraid that I will turn into a ghost and come after you?"

She sneered and shook off his hand. He crawled towards her on his knees, staring at her with bloodshot eyes and tears streaming down his face.

"Whether you're a ghost or a human, as long as you stay by my side, I'm afraid I'll never see you again—"

"Get lost."

She endured it again and again, and finally kicked him away. Liu Che was still mumbling with his eyes closed and his brows frowned. The alcohol evaporated quickly in his stomach, and he soon fell into a deep sleep with the smell of alcohol in his head.

The dim candlelight shone on Liu Che's face. The room fell silent. He called her "cousin" in a coquettish manner... He would call her like this every time he was angry. Unfortunately, she rarely heard this name since they got married. As her Ah Zhu grew older and more independent, the expression on his face became more and more unpredictable.

Her grandmother died, he changed, everything changed, but she still lived in the dream of her childhood that only had Ah Zhu and Ah Jiao.

She was unwilling to accept this. Why did he betray her after getting everything he wanted? Why did he have the right to do whatever he wanted? In the past, she could banish the maids from his palace with just a word, and later, when she just wanted to drive Wei Zifu away, he defended her in every way, quarreled with her for her, and even fought with her.

She lowered her eyes, her complex feelings lingering on his face. The boy already had a few white hairs on his temples, his beard was dark blue, and his face was even thinner...

The past years flowed through her heart like water, bringing with them endless coldness after the sweetness. She suppressed the ripples in her heart and sighed.

Liu Che, what exactly do you want?

As soon as Zhang Yannian entered the room, he heard his mother's anxious voice, "Miss, Miss? Yannian, quickly hold her!"

"Mother, I'm here, what's wrong?"

As he spoke, he looked around. Guo said, "Didn't you see that girl?"

"What girl?"

Guo knew that the woman had already left and was not acquainted with Yannian as she said. She took out a bamboo slip from her sleeve and said, "A girl just sneaked into the house and asked me to give this to you, saying it was something very important."

Yannian took the bamboo slips, which read, "The general is on the march, and the emperor has imprisoned Mrs. Huo in the palace. She is living a life worse than death. I hope you can rescue her."

After reading it, he threw the bamboo slips into the fire and frowned.

"Is this the person my mother has met?"

"She must be someone from the palace. She is wearing a kesi dress." said Guo.

Kesi... Kesi is extremely rare. The palace only gave it to a few relatives, but only two or three bolts each. She said she came here on her master's orders. Even servants can wear such clothes, so only in the palace can it be. Could it be the queen?

No, the queen herself has her own followers, so why would she find him, a stranger?

That is someone from the Huo Mansion.

This news was truly shocking, unbelievable, but it was just hearsay, and even if it was a frame-up, no one would use this news to harm him... He frowned and thought for a long time, then led his horse and galloped out.

"Yannian, where are you going? We haven't eaten yet."

"I'm going to the General's Mansion. Please have your meal first—"