Chapter 10: Hu Xuan's Dream in the Study of Youning Palace...
Youning Palace Study
At the hour of Yin, Song Youning lay on the desk, supporting his head with one hand and spinning a pen with the other, which made a beautiful circle at his fingertips.
With a "click", the pen rolled down onto the newly completed "New Policy on Grain Transport", and a few drops of ink splashed out from the tip of the pen.
"Li Funing! I've finished writing!"
She stood up and walked to Li Funing's desk, the beads on Bu Yao's head jingling with the amplitude of her movements.
The man who was revising the memorials did not even raise his head, and there were a few red stains on the cuffs of his moon-white uniform.
Her slender fingers held the pen and she patiently wrote comments on the piece of paper where she had written the folded paper.
"Li Funing, I haven't updated my book for half a month. Now that "New Strategies for Grain Transport" is complete..."
She dragged her voice, tapping the table with her fingertips intermittently, a hint of pride in her eyes, and threw the newly written "New Policy on Grain Transport" in front of his desk.
"Can I..."
"Go out of the palace for a walk?"
"Speaking of the latest article in 'Dagan Fengwuzhi', everyone is saying..."
"Young Master Jinzhi was planted with a love poison in Lingnan and trapped there by his lover. He can't come back..."
"I have to explain myself...otherwise I won't be able to open this bookstore."
Li Funing picked up the volume of "New Policy on Grain Transport" and kept turning the pages. He glanced at her as the pages flew:
"Oh? Is this true?..."
The end of his voice rose slightly, with a hint of playful temptation.
"Some people say I'm dead!"
She feigned dissatisfaction and kicked his calf, leaving a dusty mark on his moon-white uniform.
"There's a bookstore owner in Jiangnan who's a huge fan of Prince Jinzhi's books. He even burned paper money for them! If this princess doesn't clarify things, this bookstore won't be able to continue."
“…” Seeing the man in front of him remained unmoved.
The morning light from outside the window gradually came in, illuminating the pile of memorials on the desk. Song Youning's eyes turned and he decided to try a different approach. He suddenly lay down in front of Li Funing's desk.
She raised her face, the corners of her eyes were red, with a hint of pleading, and her eyelashes were stained with faint tears when they trembled.
"I heard that a new group of Western Hu girls have arrived at Zuixianlou..."
Her hands grabbed his sleeves, pulling his arms from time to time, staring at him pitifully.
"I heard that the Huxuan dance is even more spectacular than the one performed by the emperor, and her waist is so flexible that she can circle the pillar three times... Lord Li, don't you want to see it?"
"I don't want to..." Li Funing refused without even looking at him.
"but……"
Li Funing changed the subject, a smile on his face, and looked at her like a prey.
"If the princess danced for me, I would be very interested."
Song Youning: ...
Seeing that he was not moving in, Song Youning simply took advantage of him and kept shaking his hand.
“Please, please.”
Li Funing was shaken by her, and the booklet in his hand suddenly tilted and fell to the ground with a "bang". He immediately bent down to pick it up.
"As the owner of Zuixianlou, how can I not attend such a big event?" Song Youning lifted her sleeves to wipe away her tears. "When my father comes back, I will sue you and accuse you of enslaving me."
The man in front of her thought for a long time. These days, she would read at her desk in the early morning light, and would still study hard at night when the dew was heavy.
In just a dozen days, he managed to figure out some of the key points of this obscure subject and wrote "New Strategy for Grain Transport".
It's really hard work.
"Come back after you finish reading it?" He raised his eyebrows slightly, with a hint of suspicion in his eyes.
"Come back after you finish reading!"
Song Youning immediately raised three fingers: "I'd be a puppy if I lied to you."
Li Funing touched her head and suddenly took out a food box from under the table.
She opened the lid and found eight kinds of dim sum neatly arranged inside. They were all Zuixianlou's signature dishes, all her favorites (and others' favorites).
"Your Highness, after you have eaten, I will accompany you to watch the Huxuan Dance this afternoon. Is that okay?"
Song Youning's eyes widened as he took the food box and asked, "Master Li, are you... going to see the dancers together?"
"Um."
He admitted calmly, "I'm afraid Your Highness will break his leg again, just like last month, by climbing over the wall."
The morning breeze blew through the hall, blowing the memorials on the desk and stirring the hearts of young boys and girls.
At this moment, the Zuixian Tower was completely different from before.
Song Youning was wearing a light gauze hat, and under the translucent gauze, she looked around.
She grabbed Li Funing's sleeve and excitedly pulled his wrist to the front of the stage.
"Look! That blue-eyed Hu Ji is turning!"
The Western dancers stepped on the ground with their toes, their pomegranate skirts swirled like flames, and bells jingled as their waists swayed.
Amid the cheers of the guests, Song Youning tilted her head back and drank the wine in the glass. The sweet liquid slid down her throat, making her squint her eyes and let her mind wander.
It feels so comfortable...
Suddenly, as if he remembered something, he quickly took out a booklet from his bag and wrote:
[Zuixian Tower, the Huxuan Dancer, is magnificent and beautiful, a paradise on earth, fair to all, come quickly, come quickly!!!]
[Special Approval: Lord Li, who is not interested in women, is also here!!!]
Song Youning was probably promoting his own restaurant, so he wrote with extra enthusiasm, even if it meant sacrificing Li Funing's beauty, so what!!!
With Li Funing's alluring face to "promote" her, her Zuixianlou is sure to be a hit this time.
"Li Funing, did you see that? The dancer's eyes were so beautiful... like sapphires..."
"Li Funing, look, that dancer's waist is so soft..."
Before Song Youning finished speaking, a sneer suddenly came from next door:
"Princess Youning? She's just a fool who only knows how to travel around. Do you really expect Da Gan to have a future under her?"
"Wake up..."
Hearing these words, the wine glass trembled between her fingers.
The voice continued, "Those memorials submitted recently must have been written by Lady Li. Even if she was trained by His Majesty as an empress, she's been fooling around outside for so many years. How could she possibly have any knowledge? She's barely even good at governing a country, playing with crickets. Hahaha."
"Go to bed early... Dagan is going to die."
A man in a blue brocade robe nearby chimed in, "She's just a woman, how could she understand all this? If it weren't for His Majesty's sake, how many of the ministers in the court would obey her?"
"Isn't it?"
Another person interjected, "My cousin works in the palace. He said that the princess couldn't even approve memorials properly. It was all thanks to Lord Li... He actually mistook "wan shi" for "wan dan" and was severely scolded by Lord Li."
The man in blue echoed, "How can a woman like you be able to govern a country?"
The wine in Song Youning's hand suddenly felt sour and hard to swallow. She froze in place, at a loss, her nails unconsciously digging into her palms.
"Your Highness."
Li Funing's voice brought her back.
He looked calm, and with his slender fingers he picked up the wine jug and slowly poured her more wine.
"you..."
Song Youning's throat tightened, "Did you hear it?"
"I heard it."
He stroked the rim of the cup with his fingertips and suddenly pushed over a plate of candied plums. "This is Zuixianlou's signature dish, the princess's favorite. Try it."
The plums, round and plump, coated with honey, were her favorite snack, but now they tasted bland.
"Bang"
Song Youning stood up suddenly, and the gauze of his hat fluttered.
Li Funing's eyes moved slightly, but he saw that she just snatched the wine jug, tilted her head back and took a big gulp, then threw the jug casually on the table.
"Return to the Palace"
She almost ran away without looking back.
Li Funing followed her out of the restaurant slowly, the moonlight making his figure look slender and sharp.
He suddenly stopped.
"Jingwen."
He turned around suddenly, a cold glint in his eyes.
“Those people have too long tongues.”
Half of his face was immersed in the shadows, and his voice was as soft as if he was discussing tomorrow's weather: "No need."
What Li Funing didn't know was that the people in Zuixian had already been beheaded and died in a horrible manner.
On the carriage
Although Song Youning had heard those words a long time ago, this time in front of Li Funing, she felt like she was being stripped naked in front of him. For some reason, she always cared about his opinion...
Her face was solemn, and she leaned her forehead against the car window in a daze.
Li Funing seemed to see his embarrassment, and like a magic trick, he took out an oil-paper bag from his sleeve. The sweet aroma immediately filled the carriage. It was the sugar-coated fruits that had just been baked in Wang Po's house in the south of the city.
"Your Highness."
He picked up a piece of sugar-coated fruit and handed it over, "Your Highness, you haven't eaten enough just now. Would you like to have something to fill your stomach?"
"Um"
Song Youning took it and took a bite casually, with sugar threads sticking to the corners of his lips.
Li Funing suddenly leaned forward and brushed his thumb across her lips. "I still remember that your Highness's first travelogue was about this family's sugar-coated fruit."
Song Youning's eyes relaxed as he looked at the candied fruit in his hand and fell into deep thought: "You know this too?"
"Of course I remember."
On the day your highness's first travelogue was published, a long line of hundreds of feet long formed at the candied fruit stalls on Suzaku Street."
"It's also thanks to Your Highness...that Wang Po is able to survive."
"I heard that Wang Po wanted to close her shop because of poor business."
He turned his head and looked out the window at the endless stream of shops, and finally his eyes landed on a shop with a fresh coat of paint. "Not only has the ancestral shop been reopened, but they've also taken in five orphan girls as apprentices."
"Your Highness's unintentional act actually helped quite a few people..."
Li Funing slowly put the remaining paper package into his sleeve. "It's ridiculous, the whole court has spent ten years discussing major issues concerning the people's livelihood, but it's not as good as your Highness's... two pages of casual notes."
Song Youning knew that he was comforting her, but still didn't want to talk. Seeing that she had no desire to communicate, Li Funing simply took off his shawl, put it on her, and stayed with her quietly.
The carriage rolled over the bluestone slabs, and the rumbling sound was particularly clear in the night.
"Did you know this a long time ago?"
Her voice was tight, but she still couldn't look at him.
"Um."
“I’m tired of hearing this every year.”
He suddenly chuckled, "Every time Your Highness leaves the palace, the memorials from those old scholars in the Ministry of Rites fill up half of Your Majesty's desk."
His slender fingers slowly adjusted her shawl. "Something about 'hens crowing at dawn' and 'the universe is turned upside down'... They said Your Highness was incapable of leading the future great cause and asked Your Majesty to choose another son of the royal family as the emperor."
"Then why didn't you ever tell me?"
Song Youning suddenly looked up at him, trying to see what he was thinking from his eyes.
The car curtains were swaying in the wind, and the moonlight flowed between his brows.
"Tell His Highness...and then what?"
Song Youning's breathing stopped and he didn't know how to answer.
"Is it forbidden to speak?"
His voice was soft, but every word was as sharp as a knife. "Or should we do as Your Majesty did and throw those who criticize us into the Imperial Prison?"
The night wind suddenly became biting.
She remembered that her always kind father had once beaten to death a censor for saying "a hen crows at dawn" because of her.
"Your Highness can eliminate all rumors, but you cannot eliminate all prejudice in people's hearts."
"It would be better..." Li Funing looked at her gently, wanting to say something but stopping himself.
The author has something to say:
----------------------
Hens crowing at dawn: In the old days, it was a derogatory metaphor for women in power, which would lead to the destruction of the family and the country.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
