When Sun Xu returned to Beijing, he found that half of his men had gone to Pan Yang's side.
Zhou Yang becoming the Imperial Advisor was something he hadn't expected.
At night, Zhou Yang walked alone into a rather desolate courtyard of the palace, where another person dressed in a black robe was waiting for him.
“My lord,” Zhou Yang said.
The figure in black robes moved, and the moonlight shone on his face; it was Sun Xu.
“Zhou Yang, don’t forget your place. Who gave you access to the palace?” Sun Xu sneered and continued, “Don’t forget we’ve always been in the same boat. If you help him against me…”
“I understand,” Zhou Yang nodded.
Sun Xu took out a medicine bottle from his pocket and handed it to him: "It contains a slow-acting poison. You should know what to do."
Zhou Yang took the medicine: "Understood."
Sun Xu left satisfied after seeing that he had agreed.
Zhou Yang stood in the courtyard for a long time, looked up at the moonlight, and finally put the medicine bottle into his sleeve and walked out of the courtyard.
They had only taken a few steps when they saw a dark shadow flip over on the wall.
Zhou Yang was startled. In this day and age, Pan Yang and Sun Xu were almost openly and secretly fighting each other. Who would dare to sneak over the wall into the palace at this time? They must be courting death.
However, upon closer inspection, the figure seemed somewhat familiar, and upon seeing the person's face, Zhou Yang was stunned into silence.
That person was none other than Pan Yang! He racked his brains but still couldn't understand why Pan Yang, as the emperor, would climb over the palace wall.
Pan Yang landed on the ground, dusted off his clothes, and greeted Zhou Yang naturally: "Good evening, you couldn't sleep either, so you just wandered around?"
"..." Zhou Yang remained silent. Who would sneak out of the palace to sleep? And isn't it suspicious that he's alone in the palace, a place with few people?
"I couldn't sleep, so I wandered around and accidentally ended up here. But why did Your Majesty climb over the wall?" Zhou Yang asked, voicing his doubts.
"I'm just exercising." Huan Yang seemed completely oblivious to the absurdity of his statement. "Zhou Yang, want to go for a walk together? To get some exercise?"
Looking at Pan Yang, Zhou Yang didn't know how to describe his feelings. Should he climb over the wall with him?
"OK."
"??" Pan Yang blinked. No, I was just being polite. What kind of good person would wander around the palace like a lost soul at night if they couldn't sleep?
001: "..." It's okay, none of you are good people anyway.
The two were walking on a path in the palace—no, in the underworld.
Feeling a bit bored, Pan Yang broke off a leaf and fiddled with it in his hand.
Suddenly the boat stopped, and Pan Yang almost crashed into it before he could react.
"What's wrong?" Pan Yang asked, puzzled. Why did this person suddenly stop?
"Your Majesty," Zhou Yang looked at Fan Yang, "may I ask Your Majesty, why do you trust me so much to become the Imperial Advisor?"
"There's no reason why." Pan Yang shrugged. There really was no reason why. As for why he trusted Zhou Yang, it was just his intuition. If his intuition was wrong, it wouldn't matter. At worst, he could just drag Zhou Yang down with him.
"If I had to give a reason," Pan Yang thought for a long time before continuing, "it's probably because you are Zhou Yang."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yang realized that Pan Yang wasn't joking. The moonlight shining on the man gave him a sense of detachment, but Zhou Yang's heart skipped a beat for some reason.
"But what if I am not worthy of Your Majesty's trust?" Zhou Yang opened his mouth, finally managing to find his voice.
"Oh." Pan Yang seemed quite indifferent: "We'll see when the time comes." So tired, and with the wind howling in the middle of the night, can we go back to our palace first?
Zhou Yang's eyes flickered: "It's getting late, Your Highness, please return to your palace."
"Alright, you should go back early too." Without hesitation, Fan Yang headed straight for his palace, freezing to death.
He stopped halfway through his journey and turned back. Finding Zhou Yang still standing there, he simply took off his robe and draped it over Zhou Yang's shoulders.
"Your palace is a bit far away, don't catch a cold." Pan Yang awkwardly touched his nose: "I'm going back now." After saying that, he left in a flash.
Zhou Yang looked at the robes he was wearing, tugged at them, and smelled the delicate fragrance emanating from the other person.
The next day, Fan Yang went to the morning court with a yawn. To be honest, he shouldn't have been so talkative and ordered Zhou Yang to wander around.
After finally finishing the morning court session, he had to go to the Imperial Study to review memorials. These days, most of the memorials contained useful information, so he couldn't just slack off anymore.
Being an emperor is exhausting; why even want to be an emperor?
Fan Yang propped his head up and revised the memorials. He saw one that seemed to have been written by an official from the south, but the content was different.
"Thank you for sending people to deal with the flood. Mangoes have been produced in the south today. I wonder if Your Majesty has tasted them?"
Pan Yang silently wrote two words: "ate".
Several more memorials from the south followed.
"If Your Majesty has never tasted this before, would you please have a taste?"
Pan Yang silently wrote down, "No need."
"Your Majesty may have a taste. The harvest in the south this year is exceptionally good, and the mangoes are especially sweet."
Pan Yang continued writing, "No need."
Then came the next memorial: "Your Majesty, mangoes are really sweet! Have you ever eaten a mango?"
"..." Pan Yang was completely speechless. What kind of nonsense was this? Was this some kind of remote conversation?
Zhou Yang walked in and saw Pan Yang's speechless expression. He asked, "Is there something you're having trouble deciding about, Your Majesty?"
When Pan Yang saw Zhou Yang, he felt as if he had seen a savior. He sat up from his chair and decisively pulled Zhou Yang to a seat: "It's up to you!" He nodded very solemnly.
Then I went to sit on the other half of the tatami mat and felt incredibly comfortable.
Zhou Yang was somewhat bewildered. He looked at Fan Yang and then at the memorial in front of him, and had no choice but to pick up his pen and start criticizing it.
However, before they could rest for long, they heard a commotion from the soldiers outside.
"Catch the assassin! Catch the assassin!"
Sure enough, the next second a man in black burst through the door and took Zhou Yang hostage without hesitation. Then he saw Pan Yang on the soft couch and was stunned for a moment. Wait, why doesn't the emperor approve the memorials himself?
He quickly realized what was happening, pressing the knife firmly against Zhou Yang's neck, and watching Fan Yang warily.
Soldiers appeared outside the door and surrounded the room tightly.
The assassin sneered, "Pan Yang, this person must be very important to you." As he spoke, he tightened his grip.
"What do you want to do?" Instead of sitting up from the soft couch, Pan Yang remained calm and composed.
"What am I going to do?" The assassin narrowed his eyes. "The purpose is simple: if the Emperor stabs himself with a knife, I will release this person."
Upon hearing this, Pan Yang stood up from the soft couch, and with a wave of his hand, a white sword appeared in his hand, causing a hint of surprise to flash across everyone's eyes.
The assassin took a step back with Zhou Yang and said, "If you're unwilling, I can also drag this person down to hell with me."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com