Jian Yang subconsciously turned her head and smelled her shoulder.
Aside from the herbal fragrance, it has no other taste.
She never used face powder or liked to scent her clothes, so it was impossible for her to have any special fragrance.
Suddenly, Jian Yang froze.
She finally realized that Zhou Jing'an, that bastard, was bluffing her!
When misunderstood, the first reaction should be to explain, not to verify.
It's fair to say that her act of sniffing her own shoulder just now completely revealed her identity.
"Empress," Zhou Jing'an said jokingly, "since that's the case, why not show your true face to the world?"
Jian Yang stared at him for a while with a look of utter despair, then said in despair, "Fine, so be it if I get caught. I don't care."
Zhou Jing'an asked in confusion, "Care?"
Jian Yang shrugged, too lazy to explain to him.
"May I ask what brings Your Highness here today?"
After a brief moment of panic, Jian Yang quickly regained her composure.
Zhou Jing'an came to see her brother, not her, so there's no problem.
"I'm just here to confirm whether you are the General's wife or the Empress," Zhou Jing'an replied.
Jian Yang nodded. "Now that it's confirmed, Your Highness, please return. I still have to see patients later."
Zhou Jing'an sat down in the chair opposite her.
"The Empress used to call me Imperial Brother, but now she calls me Your Highness. It's too formal."
Jian Yang said coldly, "Empress Wende has long been buried in the imperial mausoleum. Now I am just a folk doctor. If Your Highness wants to use my identity to make a fuss, I'm afraid you will be disappointed."
Zhou Jing'an smiled and said, "Then I'll call you A-Yang like everyone else, shall I?"
"Please do as you please, Your Highness."
Zhou Jing'an looked directly into Jian Yang's eyes and said, "After this year, I will return to my fiefdom. Since A Yang is no longer the empress, would you be willing to come with me to my fiefdom?"
Jian Yang gave him a strange look: "What does Your Highness going to your fiefdom have to do with me?"
Zhou Jing'an said with deep affection, "I have long admired A-Yang. Doesn't A-Yang know that?"
Jian Yang: "I am grateful for Your Highness's favor. I never want to have anything to do with your royal family again in this lifetime. I wonder what Your Highness likes about me? I will change it."
Zhou Jing'an couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Ayang, I really like you more and more."
Jian Yang looked at him in horror.
“A gentleman does not force others to do things they do not want to do,” Zhou Jing’an said with a smile. “Since A-Yang is unwilling, I will not coerce her. However, I am a little curious, why did you leave the capital in the first place?”
In that instant, eight hundred thoughts flashed through Jian Yang's mind.
She inexplicably felt that Zhou Jing'an had come today to investigate this matter.
She certainly couldn't tell the truth, but she also couldn't lie.
So she started to half-truthfully lie to him.
"What else could it be? I'm tired of the intrigue and power struggles in the palace, and even more tired of the Emperor's exploitation of me. Even the donkeys in the production team aren't as tired as me."
"Production team?" Zhou Jing'an couldn't understand her words for the second time.
Jian Yang said calmly, "That's not important. What's important is that I'm tired, weary, and completely disillusioned with the Emperor."
"The Emperor loves you so much, yet you still managed to break A-Yang's heart?"
Jian Yang put on a pained expression: "Your Highness, you don't know this, but back then, the Emperor didn't even think twice before dragging me to shield him from the sword. After experiencing something like this, even the warmest heart will turn cold."
“I see,” Zhou Jing’an nodded. “Then I understand.”
"So Your Highness should understand how I feel, once bitten by a snake, twice shy. To be honest, seeing you members of the royal family makes me feel short of breath and my chest tightens. If Your Highness has nothing else to do, please leave."
Zhou Jing'an still smiled and said, "I came here today to say goodbye to A Yang."
Since the attempt to win over Jian Hong has failed, there is no need to stay in this remote and impoverished place any longer.
Jian Yang's eyes lit up immediately.
"Then I wish Your Highness a safe journey. My clinic is full of patients and I really can't leave, so I won't be able to see Your Highness off. I hope Your Highness will understand."
Zhou Jing'an's smile remained unchanged. "Ayang, we'll meet again someday."
Jian Yang twitched the corner of her mouth: "No need."
After Zhou Jing'an left, Jian Hong stayed for two more days before he had to take a boat north.
On the day he left, someone had piled up a lot of fresh flowers, fruits, vegetables and snacks in front of the clinic.
It must have been sent by a girl in town who secretly admired him.
Jian Yang laughed at Jian Hong for a long time because of this.
After everyone left, her life returned to its previous rhythm.
When she had patients, she would see them; when she didn't have patients, Yang Shichang would come to her for drinks and chat with her about the gossip that had come back from the outside world.
Jian Yang would unconsciously ask him about things in the capital, even though she didn't quite understand her own behavior.
But as long as nothing major happens in the capital, she feels much more at ease.
After returning to the capital, Zhou Jing'an naturally wanted the emperor to report on his itinerary.
"Your Majesty, the General Who Guards the North is indeed not in the northern border region. As for where he went, I have not yet found out."
Since his attempt to win him over failed, he naturally wouldn't speak up for Jian Hong; in fact, he would even try to put him down.
"Has Your Majesty seen or heard anything else along the way?" the Emperor asked tentatively.
Zhou Jing'an said calmly, "Aside from the vast and magnificent scenery of the border region, I have nothing else to report."
The emperor listened to his fabricated story with a smile, and said nonchalantly, "Brother, you must be tired from your journey. Go back to your residence and rest early."
Zhou Jing'an respectfully said, "Your subject takes his leave."
Unbeknownst to him, the day before he arrived in the capital, the emperor's secret guards, sent to monitor him, had already returned to the capital at full speed and reported all his actions in Hundred Flowers Town to the emperor.
The emperor's face immediately turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
Previously, his elder brother had seduced Consort Yu, and he turned a blind eye and pretended not to know. But now that Zhou Jing'an had extended his hand to Jian Yang, he could no longer sit idly by.
Moreover, his decision to allow Zhou Jing'an to meet Jian Hong was precisely to test whether he harbored any disloyal intentions.
If Zhou Jing'an really went to the Northern Border and reported the situation there truthfully, he would naturally consider their brotherly bond and let him return to his fiefdom to enjoy the rest of his life in peace.
But now that this person doesn't speak a single truth, it means that the brotherhood has naturally come to an end.
Thus, another purge of the imperial court began.
Zhou Jing'an has been quite overwhelmed lately.
The officials he placed in the court were frequently involved in scandals and fell from power.
These high-ranking officials were originally the power he had cultivated over many years, just to help him in the future, but now they have been dismissed by the emperor one after another.
One or two would have been fine, but after four or five officials were dismissed in succession, Zhou Jing'an finally realized that something was wrong.
The emperor has his eye on him.
So he immediately sought out Wei Cong to discuss the matter.
“Your Highness, for now, lying low is no longer a foolproof strategy,” Wei Cong said, lowering his eyes.
Zhou Jing'an's eyelids twitched. "Mr. Wei means I should rebel?"
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