Tacit Cover
Pei Heng was an ambitious man. As an emperor, he was forced to have a concubine. How could he have an easy life?
He was so angry that he picked up the blue and white teacup, but before he could take a sip, he smashed the cup heavily on the huanghuali wood table, splashing water everywhere, and he showed no composure or grace.
Pei Zhaoying frowned as she looked at him, gripped the wheelchair handle tightly, and wanted to leave right then and there.
There is no one who overwhelms or conquers the other between her and Xiao Bo. It has nothing to do with their positions and comes from the heart.
She hated Pei Heng's words and completely calculated that Xiao Bo was a lackey working for the royal family. She also disliked Pei Heng's casual comparison of Xiao Bo with others.
"Your Majesty... since this marriage has been arranged, at least stop torturing each other and live a good life. If she suffers, you will suffer, so why both of you suffer?"
"How can I get along well with Concubine Jing! If I accidentally have a child with her... wouldn't Xiao Yucheng be controlling the imperial heir? By relying on their status as the emperor's uncle, foreign relatives are bringing disaster to the country!"
Pei Zhaoying was absent-minded and didn't want to bear Pei Heng's fear and complaints unilaterally.
She looked up and outside. The sky was divided into small square pieces by the roof of the palace, which made people feel indescribable oppression. In the imperial city, even a bird could not spread its wings freely. The sky was a dirty black and gray, and dark clouds covered the city. Summer thunderstorms could come at any time.
It is best to make timely arrangements to carry out flood prevention in summer.
Otherwise, by the time the dam breaks down or the Yellow River bursts its banks and widespread suffering occurs, it will be too late.
"Your Majesty, live your life as it should. Don't let temporary gains and losses distract you. For example, deploy personnel to reinforce the levees, evacuate residents from areas prone to the Yellow River breaches, and promote officials skilled in water conservancy to manage the floods. Thousands of years from now, the history books will not remember Your Majesty as being oppressed by powerful ministers, but will praise Your Majesty as a benevolent and wise ruler."
Young men under the age of twenty are most likely to have their minds dominated by anger.
No matter how hard Pei Zhaoying tried to persuade him, Pei Heng still put his face and imperial prestige first, and was resentful towards the Xiao family and could not get over it.
Pei Zhaoying was suddenly shocked - how could a king who didn't care about the suffering of the people have the qualifications to sit in a position above everyone else?
When the flood season arrives and the Yellow River bursts its banks, the disaster in the Central Plains will almost cover half of the country. Throughout history, there has been no emperor who did not regard flood control as a top priority. The collapse of some dynasties was even indirectly caused by uprisings in various places caused by the bursting of the Yellow River. Is Pei Heng still grieving over these things in the harem?
Pei Zhaoying no longer plays the lute to a cow.
A terrible idea that even his ancestors would never tolerate even emerged in his mind... If there really was someone who loved the people like his own children and took away the Pei family's kingdom, at least the people would live a better life, right?
As for her, her passion had long been worn out. She felt that she had already given everything she could for the country and the people. She only wished to retire from the limelight with Xiao Bo and become a loving and free pair of wandering clouds and cranes.
Thinking of Xiao Bo who was waiting outside the palace, Pei Zhaoying felt tenderness in her heart. Since Pei Heng was unmoved, she would just deal with him casually and hoped that nothing would go wrong during this visit to the palace.
The more you fear something, the more it will come to you. After taking a few sips of the tea, the eunuch Wei hurriedly reported:
"Oh no, Your Majesty! The East Warm Pavilion in Weiyang Palace is flooded!"
Pei Zhaoying secretly cried out in disbelief: Why is the water leaking again?
"Why is there another fire?" Pei Heng happened to think the same thing. "The fire in Weiyang Palace might have been caused by the new owner of the palace! Did she think that would get me to come and see her? That place is close to Taiye Lake, so I don't think it would be too difficult to put out the fire."
Eunuch Wei followed the emperor's wishes and said:
"Yes, Your Majesty. The Commander-in-Chief of the Palace Guard has already organized personnel to come to the scene to put out the fire. The entire East Warm Pavilion wasn't burned down, and no one in the palace was trapped. It's just that Concubine Jing was terrified."
Upon hearing this, Pei Heng felt that this was Xiao Caizhen's plan. With his trusted commander Wei Zhihui in charge, there was no need for him to personally deal with the Weiyang Palace.
Just as Eunuch Wei left, Pei Heng vented his anger at Pei Zhaoying again:
"Royal sister, have you seen this? Xiao Yucheng's sister dared to set fire to the imperial palace! She's truly comparable to the traitorous Marquis of Huaiyang! This family is incredibly ambitious and audacious!"
Pei Zhaoying said nothing.
The timing of the fire in the Weiyang Palace was too clever.
She just hoped that Xiao Bo would not be affected.
Pei Zhaoying refused to believe Xiao Caizhen dared to set fire to the palace without solid evidence. She had seen the infatuation and yearning on Xiao Caizhen's face, and if she insisted on marrying her, she must have been harboring the hope of being treated as an equal. No matter how domineering she was outside, she should have wanted to show her sweetheart a quiet and beautiful side.
Xiao Bo accompanied her into the palace today, saying that he had to discuss important matters with Commander Wei Zhihui, and then a fire broke out in the Weiyang Palace, and Wei Zhihui had to take charge of the firefighting...
A thought flashed through his mind, and Pei Zhaoying's eyes lit up. He changed his impatient and helpless look and said earnestly:
"Your Majesty, please do not worry about such trivial matters for now. I have some free time today. How about I play a few games of chess with Your Majesty? I hope to make Your Majesty happy and forget your worries."
Pei Zhaoying was a terrible chess player, and Pei Heng wasn't much better either, but among all the civil and military officials in the court, Pei Heng could only beat Pei Zhaoying if no one deliberately gave him a handicap.
Pei Heng could only find back some of the imperial self-respect he desperately needed from Pei Zhaoying, so he hurriedly asked the eunuch to bring out the best chessboard and chess pieces.
Pei Zhaoying played black and made a messy move, hoping that no matter what Xiao Bo's purpose was, she could buy him more time to achieve his wish.
A cup of tea before the fire in Weiyang Palace broke out, Wei Zhihui was about to invite Xiao Bo into the duty room to treat him politely, but Xiao Bo wandered under the eaves twice on the pretext of looking for a sachet.
He lowered his voice and said to a guard:
"I remember you. Your name is Wang Hu. You were once a member of the Princess's Changlin Army. Your parents and family members were stricken with an epidemic and lost their lives. It was all thanks to the Princess that she gave you medicine and sent you doctors. After Her Highness was assassinated, two-thirds of the Changlin Army was disbanded and dispersed into other units. Wang Hu, do you still wish to repay Her Highness's kindness?"
The soldier was surprised.
Soon, a fire broke out in the Weiyang Palace and Wei Zhihui left in a hurry.
The rows of duty rooms were empty in an instant. Xiao Bo fumbled around with a cold face, trying to find some writing material.
In the assassination of Pei Zhaoying, Xiao and Cheng must have colluded with the emperor!
If there is no solid evidence, Pei Zhaoying would probably still be entangled and soft-hearted.
There were some inconspicuous military letters in the duty room, but the important ones were obviously not tossed aside casually. Xiao Bo took advantage of the brief period of no one around to knock on the walls and floor tiles, hoping to find a secret compartment or secret room. Unfortunately, the structure of this duty room was too ordinary, and Xiao Bo found nothing.
The human voice is getting closer.
The firefighters slowly returned.
If I don't find it this time, I wonder if there will be such a good opportunity in the future...
Xiao Bo pounded the wall unwillingly. Fortunately, he didn't search it in a big way, so he didn't need to restore anything.
At this moment, the decorative painting hanging on the wall fell down.
A square-shaped shrine was revealed behind it.
However, inside the shrine is a most confidential and important approval document from the past.
Xiao Bo was overjoyed. He quickly put away the documents, restored the hanging painting, sat back in his seat, and met Wei Zhihui's eyes when he returned:
"Commander Wei, can we get back to discussing the deployment of defenses?"
…
In the chess game, Pei Zhaoying was defeated by Pei Heng and was thrown to the ground.
She was not a person without temper made of mud. She was angry after losing too much, and her temples were throbbing with pain. However, Pei Heng became more and more excited, dragging her to play one round after another.
I really hope Xiao Bo can achieve his goal soon...
Fortunately, Eunuch Wei came in again to report, tactfully saying that the consort was waiting for the princess to return home. Pei Heng was so pleased that he did not stop and readily released the man.
As soon as they got into the carriage back home, Pei Zhaoying hooked her arms around Xiao Bo's neck and cuddled up to him.
"Did you succeed? I dragged the emperor into a game of chess for you, and was defeated in the process!"
Xiao Bo bent down to smell the sweet fragrance of Pei Zhaoying's hair, put his arm around her waist, and whispered in her ear in a low voice:
"A-Ying is so smart! She immediately guessed that the fire in Weiyang Palace was related to me. A-Ying actually protected me... Will she also protect me to the end in bigger things in the future?"
"Of course! I'm the most protective of my shortcomings. You must have your reasons. Even if you have to go to the eighteenth level of hell, I will accompany you - um -"
Xiao Bo's eyes were dark. He didn't want to hear Pei Zhaoying say unlucky words like "accompany him to hell".
Just block it with your mouth.
She just needs to continue to be a goddess who is not tainted by the dust of the world.
He would seek justice for her, even if it meant his hands were stained with blood, as long as it could keep her pure and innocent, that would be fair.
After a long kiss, Pei Zhaoying leaned against his chest and panted:
"Xiao Bo, I really feel sorry for you. Although I haven't seen what you looked like before, I always think of you as being all alone with no one to love you. If you had an argument with someone, your elders would definitely not stand on your side. Sometimes I fantasize about knowing you earlier. Then, you would have someone who loves you! I would definitely protect you first, no matter what! It's a pity that I met you too late. I can only start from now on to slowly compensate you for the grievances you have suffered, bit by bit..."
Xiao Bo kissed her tender and tempting lips again, wanting to say that Pei Zhaoying was the biggest fool in the world.
"Aying...if one day you find that your family has betrayed you, don't be sad or despair, okay? Because you still have me, someone who will never abandon you no matter what..."
Xiao Bo did not dare to reveal the contents of the approval document stolen from Wei Zhihui to Pei Zhaoying, but the sword of revenge had already locked onto those who needed to pay with blood.
He will definitely make those who hurt her pay back tenfold or a hundredfold.
But Pei Zhaoying was heartbroken, and he would be helpless and at a loss.
Pei Zhaoying was tickled by him and giggled, swinging her legs and hooking them around his. She felt relaxed and comfortable being able to show signs of recovery in front of him, and she especially enjoyed wrinkling Xiao Bo's sky-blue robe.
"Very well, having you is enough. The Emperor and the Empress Dowager's appearances hurt me deeply. I no longer have any kinship or affection with them. I'm already an outcast from the royal family. No matter how they try to hurt me, I won't be surprised, nor will I foolishly stick my neck out and let them bully me. I still have you, so I won't be sad. It was you who tried every possible way to find a good doctor to heal me, and it was you who led me to learn to walk again like a toddler. I have you, so I'm not afraid."
Xiao Bo clamped her naughty legs and hugged her tightly, wanting to embed this person into his flesh and blood.
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