Chapter 80 The Only Person I Want
Rong An was standing outside the hall. A breeze blew past, making the back of his neck feel cold.
He stayed for a while, thinking carefully about what happened today, and he felt uncomfortable.
His disciple, Xiao Tang, came over and said with a wink, "Master, is it true that the Imperial Concubine has become a nun?"
Rong An was startled and raised his hand to slap him on the head. "You little monkey, you are so tired of living that you even dare to gossip about the master! Where did you hear such nonsense? How could the imperial concubine become a nun?"
Little Tang scratched his head, feeling rather aggrieved. "It's all over the place. They say that this afternoon, the Imperial Concubine left the Yangxin Palace and went straight to the Baohua Palace. She received the precepts from the Huixian nuns and they even started chanting. It's so convincing."
Rong An cursed in a low voice, "What nonsense! She's the Imperial Concubine, the Emperor's woman, how could she leave this family! Your Majesty is going to the Baohua Palace to chant sutras and pray for the soldiers on the front lines of the Great Zhou. Let me tell you, the Emperor has been in a bad mood these past two days. You'd better be careful. If these words get into the Emperor's ears, I'll cut off your tongue!"
After scolding his apprentice and sending him away, Rong An couldn't help sighing.
It's been so long, what has the Imperial Concubine been doing? She's just been sulking the Emperor and throwing tantrums, but that's about to end.
Rong An racked his brains but couldn't figure out how the Emperor had offended the Imperial Concubine recently.
It seems that the imperial concubine really doesn't intend to pay any more attention to the emperor.
Rong An looked back and saw that the lights in the hall were dim, so he went inside to cut the wax flowers.
As soon as he entered, he suddenly saw Lu Haozhi sitting on a stool under the west window with his head lowered, his hands resting on his knees. His handsome face, which had always been calm and composed, now had a hint of loneliness.
The candlelight was dim, and it fell on the monarch of the Great Zhou, making him look very lonely.
Rong An stepped forward and whispered, "Your Majesty, the wind is strong at night. Your health is at risk. It's better not to sit by the window."
"Rong'an," Lu Haozhi said calmly, "What have I done wrong recently?"
Rong An was completely bewildered. "You are the emperor, how could you be wrong?" he asked. "Even if you were wrong, it was not for a little eunuch like him to point fingers at you."
"Your Majesty, you have been diligent in your work lately. Even the Imperial Censor Lin cannot find any fault with you. How could you have done anything wrong?"
Lu Haozhi's expression was gloomy, and he whispered, "If I did nothing wrong, why did she punish me like this?"
I didn't see him, I ignored him, and tried every possible way to avoid him. When I couldn't avoid him anymore, I simply hid in front of the Buddha.
She would tell him what exactly he had done to displease her.
She refused to say anything and tortured him silently.
Rong An saw it and felt a little sad.
He has been serving in the Emperor's residence since he was still the crown prince, and has been following the Emperor until now. He has never seen this precious master suffer such injustice.
Who in the world dared to make him angry? But this one did. The emperor was angry, but he had no place to vent his anger, so he could only endure it.
In the past, when the Imperial Concubine Wanxi came to sleep with him, although she always made a mess of the Yangxin Palace and ordered him around, the Yangxin Palace was always full of laughter and bustle at that time, unlike now, when it was as deserted as an ice cave.
"Your Majesty, please don't think that. The Imperial Concubine... The Imperial Concubine is truly doing this for your own good. You think the war is urgent, and you're worried day and night. How could the Imperial Concubine not be anxious when she sees this? She's just a concubine in the harem, and there's nothing she can do. She can only recite sutras and pray for the Buddha's blessing."
Rong An thought for a long time before he uttered these few words.
Of course, these lame words of comfort could not appease the Emperor of the Great Zhou.
Lu Haozhi twitched the corner of his lips and said, "Really? I can't believe she has such thoughts."
He ascended the throne at a young age and held great power, full of vigor and ambition. However, when he lost Meng Yan's company, he suddenly realized what it meant to be alone.
As a descendant of the royal family and the crown prince of the Great Zhou, he never had the final say in his marriage.
In order to demonstrate benevolence and accept the loyalty of various families, the Zhou Dynasty royal family had to give status to the women sent by various families and allow them to enter his back house and harem. This was his duty as the crown prince of the Zhou Dynasty.
His preferences and his mood are irrelevant.
But at least, if he doesn't like them, he can choose not to touch them. This is his only insistence, and no one can force him.
Lu Haozhi didn't think he was as good as the Imperial Master said, that he was a gentleman as pure as jade and kept himself clean. He just couldn't stand hugging a woman he didn't like just to leave offspring. This was an insult to his dignity.
He hadn't even thought about what kind of person the woman would be who was willing to be connected to him by blood.
Until that day, he met Meng Yan.
The Empress Dowager's birthday banquet was not the first time he saw her.
At the beginning, the late emperor ordered him to inspect the conditions of various charity halls in the capital. When he passed by the Ning family clinic, he saw her standing on the threshold, distributing medicine to the poor families who came to seek medical treatment.
She is pretty and bright, with a brilliant smile, standing out among the crowd like a crane among chickens.
In that instant, Lu Haozhi immediately understood that he wanted her.
After returning to his residence, he could not contain his excitement and ordered his men to inquire about her family background and whether she was married.
Although he knew that the legitimate daughter of Yiyang Marquis would definitely be sent to the Zhou Dynasty royal family, he was still worried and spoke to the Queen Mother.
Only he and the Queen Mother knew about this matter, and it was the only time he took the initiative to ask for a woman.
Later, during the imperial election, she was indeed selected and sent to the Prince's Mansion.
Meng Yan is the only person Lu Haozhi truly wants in these years.
Lu Haozhi only felt as if something was tearing at his heart, as if something was about to burst out.
Alone in this spacious and empty Yangxin Palace, Lu Haozhi knew what he wanted desperately, but he couldn't say what it was.
But he knew that only Meng Yan could fill this emptiness.
At this moment, Lu Haozhi suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. His handsome face turned pale and beads of sweat the size of beans fell from his forehead.
He covered his chest and couldn't help but groan in pain.
Rong An looked at it, his face filled with fear, and hurried out, "Quickly call the imperial physician, quickly call in the imperial physician Xiahou!"
The news of the emperor's sudden illness spread throughout the palace in a flash.
The emperor's affairs have always been the most concerned issue for the six palaces. In the blink of an eye, this news overshadowed Meng Yan's visit to Baohua Palace to pray for blessings.
The concubines in each palace were all thinking about how to pay their respects and take care of the sick, and no one cared whether Concubine Meng had really become a nun.
Meng Yan had just finished reading a volume of scriptures in Baohua Hall, poured clean water into the pure bottle in front of the Buddha, and listened to Ruizhu's report behind her.
"Last night, the Yangxin Palace suddenly summoned the imperial physician Xiahou to the palace. This morning, news came that the emperor had a sudden heart palpitation."
Ruizhu said this while looking at the water bottle in Meng Yan's hand. The water in the bottle had overflowed.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
