Chapter 85: The Emperor is Actually a Love-Obsessed Person
The emperor then asked, "But what if palace maids and eunuchs keep coming over? They're all people from the Imperial Concubine and the Prime Minister's faction. What if they find out?"
When the emperor ascended the throne, he was still young. The prime minister assisted him until he came of age. On the surface, the prime minister had returned the power to him, but in reality, the ministers in the court were still the prime minister's men.
Unable to regain real power, the emperor was depressed all day long. After the imperial concubine entered the palace, she took great care of him and relieved his depression. The emperor then became very fond of her.
Little did he know that this was all a scheme by the Imperial Concubine and the Prime Minister.
He Jing said, "Someone will come to help you."
While the emperor was still in a daze, he saw He Jing fly out of the house and return with a young girl.
Yu Wan kowtowed, "This commoner, Yu Wan, greets Your Majesty."
The emperor looked at He Jing with surprise, "General He, who is she?"
“She is…” He Jing paused for a moment, unsure how to introduce her.
Yu Wan replied, "Your Majesty, I am his friend. He is busy with other matters, so I will stay here to help you."
He felt a little disappointed when he heard the word "friend".
The emperor nodded. "You have all worked hard. After this matter is over, I will definitely reward you according to your merits and will not treat you unfairly."
Yu Wan said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. Please rest well. Leave the rest to us."
The emperor looked at the unconscious concubine and felt very sad.
"I was sincere towards the Imperial Concubine, but I never imagined that in her heart, I was just an enemy."
Yu Wan thought to herself, "Your Majesty, can't you please clear your head? What kind of time is this to be making such a fuss?"
Before leaving, He Jing pulled Yu Wan aside and whispered a few words to her.
"Do you still have the dagger I gave you?"
Yu Wan took it out of her pocket. "Yes, it's here. What's up? Do you need it?"
He Jing said, "No, you just need to remember to protect yourself at all times."
Yu Wan nodded: "You too."
Before leaving, He Jing looked at her several times with reluctance, turning back every step he took. Yu Wan knew that he might encounter many dangers on his journey, so she looked at him with a worried expression.
After the person left, Yu Wan stood at the door, observing the outside.
The Imperial Concubine instructed that no one should disturb her and the Emperor today, so no one came.
The emperor sat on the edge of the dragon bed, staring blankly at the unconscious imperial concubine.
Yu Wan secretly shook her head; the emperor was actually a hopeless romantic.
"Your Majesty, are you hungry? Shall I make you something to eat?"
The emperor shook his head: "I can't eat. It's cold, get something to put on the Consort, so she doesn't catch a cold."
Yu Wan found a blanket and covered the concubine with it, which suddenly woke her up.
She looked at Yu Wan with a surprised expression, but after a while, she seemed to understand.
Yu Wan and that masked man are in cahoots.
She was about to unleash a torrent of curses when she found herself unable to utter a sound.
She tried to get up, but her limbs were too weak to stand.
"Your Highness, I'm afraid you'll have to endure this for a few days," Yu Wan said.
The Imperial Concubine stared at her in disbelief. She had never considered Yu Wan a threat, as she had always been obedient, well-behaved, and a delicious cook. She never imagined she had misjudged her.
The emperor had been tortured for a long time and could barely stand; his face was very pale.
"My beloved concubine, do you truly hate me that much?"
The imperial concubine merely glared at him fiercely.
The emperor's voice choked with emotion, "When you first entered the palace, we got along very well and had endless things to talk about every day. I thought I had found a soulmate for the first time in my life, but I never expected it was just wishful thinking on my part. This was a beautiful dream you wove for me to plunge me into the abyss."
The imperial concubine's eyes were red-rimmed.
The Emperor sighed, “Your entire family was executed, it was truly an injustice. I swore that one day I would seek justice for those who died unjustly, but I am utterly useless. Twenty years ago, when I first ascended the throne, real power was in the hands of the Prime Minister. What was I supposed to do? If I didn’t do as he said, he would unite all the civil and military officials to force me to abdicate. I thought that one day I could reclaim the power that belonged to me, but I found that he was becoming increasingly outrageous. I even thought that I would be a puppet for the rest of my life, with no hope whatsoever. Every day I felt like a living dead. It wasn’t until I met you that I felt alive. But I never expected that when I gave you my true feelings, you were all just pretending.”
The imperial concubine bit her lip and remained silent; she was unable to speak.
The emperor hadn't spoken properly for several years, so once he started talking, he didn't care whether there were any third people present.
"Your Majesty, I'll go cook." Yu Wan felt she shouldn't have listened to these things.
Seeing that she was about to leave, the emperor quickly called out to her, "Miss Awan, you don't need to go. Just stay here. How the Consort treats me is no secret. The entire palace is full of her and the Prime Minister's people, and they all know it."
Yu Wan knew he was a little afraid of the Imperial Concubine, so she left her behind to help bolster his courage.
She found a seat further away and sat down.
The emperor looked at the imperial concubine's face and asked, "My beloved concubine, do you really have no real feelings for me at all?"
The imperial concubine gave him a disapproving look, which was her response.
The Emperor said, "You really are a master of disguise. If you hadn't been torturing me with those silver needles, I wouldn't have known you hated me so much. Today I finally know the reason for your hatred, and I also know that there is another man living in your heart. But didn't you say that he abandoned you and married someone else? Have I been bad to you? From the time you entered the palace until now, have I ever mistreated you? Whenever there are good things in the palace, you are the first person I think of. Can't any of that move you? Can't I warm your heart?"
Yu Wan was bored and yawned, dozing off.
She didn't know how much time had passed, but just as dawn was breaking, she was awakened by the voice of the eunuch outside the door.
"Your Highness, the Prime Minister requests an audience."
When the Imperial Concubine heard the name of the Prime Minister, she became very excited. She believed that as long as the Prime Minister came, he could save her because they were accomplices and in cahoots!
But Yu Wan walked to the door and coldly reprimanded the eunuch outside.
"What did Her Majesty say? Don't disturb Her Majesty and the Emperor's enjoyment, get out!"
The eunuch hesitated, "But the Prime Minister seems to have something very important to discuss with Her Majesty."
Yu Wan shooed him away through the door, "Wait until the Emperor and Empress wake up. If you don't get out now, you'll lose your head! Go and bring breakfast over."
"Yes." The eunuch had no choice but to leave.
Yu Wan never imagined that one day she would go from being a cook to becoming the emperor's bodyguard.
The emperor stopped chatting with the imperial concubine. He had probably talked for several hours, but all he got in return was a resentful glare from her. He was completely discouraged.
A short while later, the eunuchs came to deliver breakfast. Yu Wan only allowed them to leave it at the door, citing the reason that she didn't want to disturb the Emperor and the Imperial Concubine's rest, and refused to let them enter the room.
Yu Wan carried in five food boxes. Just as she was about to close the door, the eunuch tried to peek into the room, but Yu Wan shut the door on him.
The eunuch was originally the concubine's man, and was responsible for taking care of and watching over the emperor. Now he was very puzzled as to why he was not allowed to enter. Did he not have the trust of the emperor?
He never expected that the Imperial Concubine had been taken back into control, after all, such a large palace was almost entirely controlled by the Imperial Concubine and the Prime Minister.
In the eyes of this group, the emperor was merely a dying man controlled by the imperial concubine, a puppet.
Yu Wan took the breakfast out of the food box and placed it on the table.
There were twenty kinds of side dishes, as well as steamed buns, rice porridge, and pickled vegetables.
"Your Majesty, breakfast is ready."
The emperor was holding a teacup and feeding water to the imperial concubine.
"My beloved concubine, you haven't slept all night, you must be tired. I see your lips are dry, have some water."
The imperial concubine kept her lips tightly closed, refusing his offer to feed her.
The emperor, thinking she feared it might be poisoned, tasted it first.
"Look, I didn't poison you. No matter what, we were husband and wife, and the good times we shared have always been in my mind, never forgotten. No matter how you treated me, I can understand. I bear responsibility for the execution of your entire family. If I were more capable and could make my own decisions, perhaps this wouldn't have happened. I know that besides your family, many loyal officials were also murdered by the Prime Minister, including General He's family, who stopped attending to state affairs because of the Prime Minister's coercion."
Upon hearing this, Yu Wan thought to herself, "General He? Is he He Jing's elder?"
The imperial concubine's tears fell in a downpour. Her gaze towards the emperor was extremely complex, containing resentment as well as something else that was hard to explain.
The emperor held the rim of the cup to the imperial concubine's lips, pleading gently, "Take a sip, my beloved concubine. I can't bear to see you abuse your body like this."
Yu Wan remained silent, watching them enact their heart-wrenching love story.
Suddenly, the imperial concubine fainted.
The emperor was shocked. "My beloved concubine! My beloved concubine, what's wrong? Someone, quickly summon the imperial physician!"
Yu Wan stepped forward to check on her and comforted her, "Your Majesty, the Consort is fine. She just didn't rest all night and is exhausted."
The emperor then realized that he had been so engrossed in talking to his beloved concubine that he had kept her awake all night.
Yu Wan said, "Your Majesty, your health is of utmost importance. You still have many things to do. Please go and eat something to recover."
The emperor nodded, knowing that there were bigger issues to be addressed.
The emperor was in a bad mood and had no appetite. He only ate two bites and then stopped eating. He sat by the concubine's bedside, watching her and sighing from time to time.
Yu Wan prepared a special meal for him in the small kitchen, making a porridge with vegetables and meat, along with some appetizers. The emperor refused repeatedly, but she eventually persuaded him to take a bite.
To everyone's surprise, after taking one bite, the emperor came back to life, and his lifeless eyes lit up.
"Delicious! So delicious!"
He finished two bowls of porridge and wanted more. Yu Wan was worried that he would eat too much at once, so she agreed to make more later.
In the following days, Yu Wan added several nourishing medicinal herbs to the dishes she cooked, and the emperor's energy and spirit finally returned somewhat.
The emperor would feed the imperial concubine first, and then eat himself.
Late that night, He Jing led five men to sneak into the emperor's bedroom.
When the emperor saw the five people, he was so moved that his eyes welled up with tears.
"My five beloved ministers!"
Several of them were sons of senior officials in the court. Some later joined the army, while others became civil officials. However, because the imperial concubine and the prime minister disrupted the court, they all resigned from their posts.
Their fathers were members of the late emperor's elite assassin squad. Some have passed away, and others are old and frail, but they have passed on their duties as assassins to their descendants. They were instructed that whenever they see the late emperor's sword, they should regard the late emperor as if they were seeing the late emperor himself.
These middle-aged men watched helplessly as the court fell into the hands of treacherous officials and concubines, the emperor proved incompetent, those who offered advice were punished, and many loyal ministers were persecuted. So they secretly conspired to lay low and preserve their strength. If one day the emperor realized his mistake and came looking for their help with his sword, they would then emerge.
They heard that He Jing's fate was unknown, and discovered that the Prime Minister and the Imperial Concubine were chasing after him, so they assumed he was dead.
This made them feel desperate, as if Jin Kingdom was truly finished.
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