Chapter 13: If we act quickly, it should be a matter of a split second...
As dawn broke, the palace remained dimly lit, especially the large dragon bed with its three carved walls.
Xie Lanzhou was covered by a half-brocade quilt, which covered her waist and below. The collar of her nightgown was open, allowing anyone to touch her.
Su Panyue blinked and stared for a long time, and had to admit that the emperor was really good-looking. Even just lying there with his eyes closed was pleasing to the eye.
Having admired the view enough, Su Panyue bolstered her courage: "It's alright, it's alright. If I'm quick, it should just be a momentary tremor."
However, she had no practical experience and could only recall the picture books she had carefully studied before.
I remember I could do this or that, but what am I supposed to do with him lying here like this? Why can't I remember things at this crucial moment?
Faced with the handsome man within easy reach, Su Panyue suddenly felt a little flustered and began to think:
[Um, the book doesn't seem to mention what the first step should be?]
[Her lips look so soft, they look so kissable.]
As she thought about it, she sat up in bed, carefully moved forward a little, and prepared to get closer to take a look.
Suddenly, someone grabbed his arm and pulled him back down to lie down.
"What are you doing?" The man's voice was a bit hoarse than usual.
Her wrist was suddenly grabbed, startling Su Panyue, who was about to do something naughty, into letting out a short gasp.
She felt a scalding heat spread from her wrist all the way to her face, and she could only be thankful that she had only looked at it and hadn't had a chance to touch it yet.
Clearing her throat awkwardly, Su Panyue wanted to first defend herself: "Your Majesty, you are awake. I don't know how I got into bed and disturbed your rest."
The courage she had just felt to deal with the person immediately vanished, and she tentatively asked, "This servant will go now?"
Xie Lanzhou neither responded nor let go. Su Panyue called out twice more, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, are you listening?"
Xie Lanzhou frowned: "It's too noisy, let's go to sleep."
Su Panyue paused for a moment, pursed her lips, and lay back down, not daring to say anything more, but she was still muttering to herself:
Why is he still holding my hand? How am I supposed to sleep like this? And his hands are so big!
Xie Lanzhou ignored her and instead tightened his grip. If being close to her could relieve his headache, now that he was holding her wrist, he felt a rare sense of clarity.
Su Panyue dared not speak again, nor dared to move while being held, and just lay there stiffly.
But she's always been the type to just lie there after falling down, so she quickly relaxed.
The bed was so soft; it was covered with some kind of brocade that felt smooth and cool to the touch, like lying on a cloud.
She closed her eyes again and sensed the atmosphere; there was a faint fragrance in the hall, which was refreshing and pleasant.
The dragon bed is really nice; no wonder so many people want to climb on it. The pillows are a bit high though; they would be even better if they were softer.
She sighed inwardly as she drifted off to sleep again.
Completely unaware that the man who was tightly gripping her wrist got up, took a cold shower while she was asleep, and then lay back down without disturbing her at all.
When the sun was high in the sky, Su Panyue slowly woke up again.
She comfortably turned over and found herself sleeping on the innermost side of this unusually large dragon bed, while the man who had been sleeping on the inner side was gone.
She closed her eyes again and tried to calm herself down for a while, but her head still felt a mess.
According to the Empress Dowager, today should be her last day, so why is she perfectly fine? Could it be that she will not die until tonight?
She slept here last night. Although nothing happened, no one else knows.
Or she could go and tell the Empress Dowager that she had already gained favor with the Emperor, and trick her into giving her the antidote.
Having made up her mind, Su Panyue got up, casually tidied her hair, and prepared to go out.
I stopped in my tracks when I reached the outer hall of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
Xie Lanzhou was sitting at the table having a meal, with Eunuch Fu and the young eunuchs serving him standing beside him.
Seeing her come out of the inner palace, Xie Lanzhou didn't react much and continued to eat slowly as usual. Eunuch Fu was so surprised that his hand trembled when he poured water, and another eunuch serving him opened his mouth wide.
Xie Lanzhou clicked his tongue softly, and the three people present came back to their senses.
Under the gaze of everyone, Su Panyue awkwardly took two steps forward, bowed, and said, "This servant greets Your Majesty."
"Get up and serve the meal," Xie Lanzhou said calmly.
The observant eunuch stepped aside, making way for the person serving the meal.
Su Panyue resigned herself to her fate and began working, secretly plotting something:
[Well, that's great. I opened my eyes and was immediately dragged into work. I knew the emperor wouldn't be so kind as to let me sleep in his bed.]
How can I sneak out now? He hasn't forgotten what I told him last night—that he's going to die today, has he?
[Maybe I should remind him to let me go back and prepare a nice outfit for my burial.]
As his thoughts raced, his hands stopped moving.
When she came to her senses, she saw Xie Lanzhou staring at her calmly.
"Your Majesty, have you finished using it all?" Su Panyue asked.
Xie Lanzhou put down his chopsticks and said, "This is a reward for you."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Su Panyue expressed her gratitude the fastest.
But upon closer inspection, almost none of the delicious food on the table had been touched; it wasn't even a minor scratch.
The opportunity has arrived!
Su Panyue had an idea and quickly said, "This servant will take the food away right away."
Xie Lanzhou saw through her little scheme at a glance and interrupted, "Let's eat here."
Having no other choice, Su Panyue could only agree, but Xie Lanzhou showed no intention of making a move.
She asked in confusion, "Your Majesty?" She swallowed the rest of her sentence, "Why aren't you leaving yet?"
Xie Lanzhou said succinctly: "Sit."
Since the emperor had spoken, Su Panyue could only sit at the table furthest away from him and pick up her chopsticks.
After taking a couple of bites and finding the taste quite good, I didn't care about anything else and ate my fill in one go. Even if I were to die today, I couldn't be a starving ghost.
After she had almost finished eating, she poured herself a glass of water to moisten her throat, only to find Xie Lanzhou looking at her.
See? See? You won't see my stunning face tomorrow.
Hearing her thoughts, Xie Lanzhou lowered his head and smiled. Beautiful as she was, this woman was far too narcissistic.
Su Panyue was anxious to find the Empress Dowager, so she said, "Your Majesty, this servant has finished eating and will now take her leave."
Xie Lanzhou gave her a cold glance, which immediately silenced her.
A quarter of an hour later, she appeared in the Hall of Supreme Harmony with Xie Lanzhou.
Several ministers and imperial relatives were standing in the hall. Su Panyue glanced around and noticed that Lu Xingchang, the Vice Minister of Revenue whom she had met before, was also there.
In addition, there was another person whose portrait she had seen, namely Prince Rui.
Prince Rui is the biological son of the current Empress Dowager. He was the second son born after raising His Majesty, and it is said that he was greatly favored by the Empress Dowager and the late Emperor.
After Xie Lanzhou arrived, the hall quieted down. Amidst shouts of welcome for His Majesty, Su Panyue noticed that Prince Rui only made a token bow, not even bending his waist.
However, Xie Lanzhou didn't even glance at anyone, and went straight to sit on the dragon throne in the middle, waving his sleeve as if to say that he was exempt from formalities.
An official from the Censorate stepped forward: "Your Majesty, the day's plans begin in the morning; postponing the court session in this manner is truly inappropriate."
Another person glanced furtively in the direction of Prince Rui and stepped forward, saying, "I second that Your Majesty should set an example by being diligent in state affairs."
Upon hearing this, Xie Lanzhou's face turned as cold as ice. He glanced at the two of them coldly, and his tone was even more chilling.
What important matter do you have to report today?
The two officials who had just stepped forward were intimidated by his imposing manner and could not utter a coherent sentence.
Su Panyue stood aside as if she were invisible, but she was quite surprised:
[So he slept in today too. How could he possibly have the mind to wait for me to eat, leaving so many ministers waiting here all morning? Tsk tsk tsk, it's so great to be a foolish ruler who doesn't care about his reputation.]
Hearing her thoughts, Xie Lanzhou gave a light snort, which startled the two officials who immediately knelt down and admitted their mistake: "Your Majesty, we were wrong. Your Majesty is busy with many affairs of state and should take a break from work."
Prince Rui, who was standing to the side, could not stand it any longer and stepped forward, saying, "Your Majesty, I have something to report."
Su Panyue stole a glance at him, thinking to herself, "Royal blood is truly wonderful. This Prince Rui is so handsome and dignified."
Xie Lanzhou was drawn to her thoughts and frowned in displeasure, his gaze towards Prince Rui becoming more unfriendly.
King Rui withstood his intimidation: "The Yan state has been harassing our borders for a long time. Your brother is willing to lead troops to meet them in battle and will surely force the Yan army to retreat five hundred li."
Xie Lanzhou glanced at him and replied with a curt "No," silencing his impending boast.
“You…” Prince Rui could barely maintain his composure. He managed to utter one word before swallowing it back, his face turning ashen as he stared intently at Xie Lanzhou.
The Prime Minister stepped forward at the opportune moment, cupped his hands and said, "News has come from the border that the Yan Kingdom intends to negotiate peace and has already sent an envoy to the capital. I believe that it would be better to negotiate first and have the Yan Kingdom pay some taxes and give up some cities, which could also avoid a war."
This time, Xie Lanzhou neither denied nor confirmed. He turned the Buddhist prayer beads on his wrist expressionlessly, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking.
The hall fell silent for a moment.
Xie Lanzhou: "Have you finished speaking? If there's nothing else, then the court may adjourn."
The Vice Minister of Revenue took a step forward, seemingly wanting to say something, but after meeting Xie Lanzhou's cold and deep eyes, he kept his mouth shut.
Xie Lanzhou turned and left, thus ending the morning court session that was a morning late.
Su Panyue followed behind Xie Lanzhou and saw that he was heading towards the Hall of Mental Cultivation. She whispered to Eunuch Fu, "Eunuch Fu, my stomach hurts a little and I need to relieve myself."
Grandpa Fu pointed in a direction with his little finger: "Go quickly."
"Hey." Su Panyue glanced at Xie Lanzhou's oblivious back and ran away in a flash.
Unaware that the man silently shook his head after she left.
Eunuch Fu: "Your Majesty, Miss Su is probably going to see the Empress Dowager. Should we let her go?"
Xie Lanzhou: "There is no cure for the poison in her body. Going to the Empress Dowager will only be another deception."
Eunuch Fu: "Why didn't Your Majesty tell her that the imperial physician came last night? If she knew, she probably wouldn't have gone to see the Empress Dowager."
Xie Lanzhou turned to look at her retreating figure and said, "You only know which way to go after you hit a wall."
Eunuch Fu: "Your Majesty is wise."
Xie Lanzhou changed the subject: "Change the pillows in the Hall of Mental Cultivation. They should be shorter and softer."
Eunuch Fu was stunned for a moment. His Majesty was acting very strangely. He was someone who would never bother with such trivial matters. Suddenly, he was making arrangements for these things. He could only reply with a blank and a "Yes."
A note from the author:
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Why change my pillow? That's hard to guess! [doge emoji]
Dear reviewer, I've already deleted them all, please let them go! [Please]
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