Within the Nanchu Royal Palace, Nangong Yin had been waiting outside the sleeping palace of the Nanchu King for one hour, but he did not hear anything from inside.
He had no choice but to ask Li He, "Eunuch Li, what is wrong with His Majesty today? Is he not up yet?" đđđđđ¨đ˛đđđ¨đŻđđ.đđźđş
Li He nodded, and respectfully replied, "Sir Nangong, His Majesty has not been able to sleep or eat well recently. He only managed to fall asleep around the fourth watch of the night last night. Heâs only been asleep for less than two hours so far. He decided to take a break from court matters today. Can we let him sleep a little longer?"
Nangong Yin frowned and asked, "What happened last night? I heard that Ye Guixue visited His Majesty late at night, is that true?"
Li He looked around and said quietly, "Yes, I believe it had something to do with the princess. After His Majesty sent me away, he had a private conversation with Second Young Master Ye. I didnât hear what they talked about, but I did pick up that it was about the princess."
Nangong Yinâs face darkened. Could it really be that Su Rong had come to Nanchu? She had just arrived in Nanchu, yet she had already dared to provoke the Nangong Familyâs secret agents. Moreover, he sent Nangong Xi, Nangong Zhuo, and Nangong Le with the secret guards, yet they still hadnât been able to kill Su Rong?
He then made up his mind to gather people and discuss how to stop Su Rong at the outskirts of the royal capital. He had to kill her. If he couldnât, he would have no choice but to mobilize the troops.
Having made his decision, he nodded to Li He, "If thatâs the case, let His Majesty sleep a little longer! After all, itâs rare for him to take a break from governing."
Li He respectfully agreed.
Nangong Yin then left the sleeping hall of the Nanchu King and walked towards the palace exit.
Li He watched him leave the palace, and dismissed the respectful expression on his face. He quietly thought to himself that His Majesty really understood Sir Nangong well. As soon as the princess was mentioned, Sir Nangong would become impatient and would not insist on seeing him, but would instead quickly rush back to plan.
He smirked secretly. Nangong Yin most certainly did not know that His Majesty had already left the royal capital. When he eventually found out, it would be too late to find anyone. After all, even he didnât know where His Majesty went after he left the royal capital.
As such, within the Nanchu Royal Palace, under the protection of Eunuch Li, the officials who wished to see His Majesty were all stopped under the pretext of His Majesty needing to rest.
In the afternoon, half a day later, the Nanchu Queen came to the sleeping palace of the Nanchu King, intending to see him.
Li He respectfully said, "Your Majesty the Queen, His Majesty has instructed that he is resting today and will not see anyone."
The Queen looked at Li He coldly, "I have pressing business with the King, report my visit."
Li He shook his head, "Your Majesty, my report wonât be of any use. I beg you not to make things difficult for this servant. Even Sir Nangong and Ye Xiang werenât able to see His Majesty today."
The Queen frowned, "His Majesty has been in his sleeping palace all day, and has not even had any meals delivered. What has happened?"
Li He sighed, "His Majesty said he did not feel like eating."
The Queen was incredulous, "For these five years, His Majesty has never neglected his health."
Out of helplessness, Li He lowered his voice and said, "Second Young Master Ye visited late last night and had important matters to discuss with His Majesty. It was only after Second Young Master Ye had left that His Majesty was able to finally rest. These past few days, Her Majesty may not be aware, but His Majesty has not been eating properly and his sleep at night has not been good."
The Queenâs voice grew sharp, "Is it because of Su Rong? Did Ye Guixue come to the palace yesterday because of Su Rong too?"
Li He fell silent and bowed his head, "Your Majesty, why donât you come again tomorrow? His Majesty is not in a good mood today."
The Queen took a few moments to suppress her anger, and stared intently at the tightly closed door of the Nanchu Kingâs sleeping palace. With a flick of her sleeve, she turned around and once again boarded her carriage.
Li He let out a sigh of relief. He was really afraid that the Queen would barge in. Even though His Majesty had not set foot in the imperial harem for many years, the Queen was still the Queen after all.
By evening, Li He sent in dinner at His Majestyâs usual dining time.
The dinner was returned untouched. There was news within the palace that His Majesty had not eaten a single grain of rice all day.
Nangong Yin laughed when he received the news, "Chu Rong is really worried about his precious daughter."
Privately, Nangong Yin no longer even referred to the King as His Majesty.
His advisor suggested, "Sir, you should mobilize the troops!"
"Letâs wait a little longer. Although my troops seem to be slightly superior at the moment, Iâm afraid that Ye Yu has other tricks up his sleeve. Ye Xiang is as cunning as a fox and his son is also full of tricks," Nangong Yin said. "We should send out another group of people to kill Su Rong. As long as Su Rong is killed, we will have won half the battle."
Although the advisor wanted to persuade him further, he felt that what Nangong Yin said also made sense, so he just nodded, "Youâre right, Sir."
Thus, through the cooperation of Eunuch Li, the Nanchu King managed to deceive everyone for an entire day.
By dusk, after Ye Guixue had his dinner, he visited Ye Xiangâs study and told Ye Xiang that the Nanchu King had left the palace and the royal capital the night before.
After hearing this, Ye Xiangâs eyes widened in shock. He stared at Ye Guixue in shock and anger for a long time before saying, "Bastard, how could you keep such a big secret from me?"
Ye Guixue calmly replied, "Father, calm down. If I hadnât kept it a secret, would you have agreed?"
Ye Xiang was rendered speechless. Naturally, he wouldnât have agreed. He thought that leaving the royal capital would be much more dangerous than staying in the palace. The Nangong Familyâs influence stretches across Nanchu. He felt that with just one command from Nangong Yin, the Nangong Family would unite their people across the country and find the King to kill him. It would be much easier for them to kill the King outside the palace.
Ye Xiang grew angrier the more he thought about it, "What position have you put Ye Xiang Residence in? Do you even consider me your father?"
Ye Guixue gently said, "Father, His Majesty agreed."
Ye Xiang was immediately more annoyed, "You...you...you really want to make me angry."
"Today, we managed to deceive them for a day, so we should be able to do the same for another night before they realize the King has left the palace and the royal capital. A full day and a nightâs time is enough for Zhou Gu to take the King far away," Ye Guixue further explained.
"Zhou Gu, Zhou Gu, always Zhou Gu," Ye Xiang was close to stamping his feet in frustration, "What makes you believe that Zhou Gu can protect the King?"
"The fact that he has a wedding letter written by the princess herself. He is the chosen husband of the princess," replied Ye Guixue, "Father, we donât have any other choice. We can only trust Zhou Gu and support the princess. We must also help the King against the Nangong Family and the Liuâan Princeâs camp to the end. If not, our Ye Xiang Residence may be in danger of collapse. Whoever wins in the end, be it Nangong Yin or Liuâan Prince, our Ye Xiang Residence will not fare well in their hands."
Ye Xiangâs face turned livid with rage, "So, youâre just giving up? You are willingly surrendering the position of Kingâs Consort?"
"There is no âgiving upâ. Itâs just that I failed to win the princessâs affection. A single misstep leaves no room for return," Ye Guixue replied, "Even if I canât become the Kingâs consort, I can still become the Auxiliary Minister to the princess. In the future, with the support of the princess, I can help Nanchu prosper and flourish, thereby maintaining the eternal glory of the Ye Xiang Residence. The Ye Xiang Residence has no other options, but I do."
Half of Ye Xiangâs anger disappeared, but he was still annoyed, "This is too risky!"
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