Chapter 7 A Forced Kiss: So Close, Aren't You Afraid of Me...?
"Your Majesty...you are drunk..." Her voice trembled as she tried to back away, but her path was blocked by rocks.
Zhou Ling chuckled softly, his nose almost touching hers: "Is it that you can't figure it out? Or..." Suddenly, his lips, hot against her ear, sizzled, "Your predictions are all just made up?"
"Your Majesty is wise. Didn't the River Supervisor's Office already..." Before she could finish speaking, Zhou Ling suddenly smashed the wine pot on a stone, and shards of porcelain flew up and grazed her skirt.
"You can only foresee the fortunes and misfortunes of the next six months." Zhou Ling sneered, revealing his gleaming white teeth. "I want to see how long you can keep up this charlatan act once the floodwaters from the breached dikes flood into the capital."
Upon hearing this, Fangru's eyes flashed with anger: "Does Your Majesty truly believe that you are all-knowing and all-seeing? Gu Zhou was framed and imprisoned, and suffered cruel torture in the Dali Temple. His injuries have not yet healed!"
"Injustice?" A sinister glint flashed in Zhou Ling's eyes. He suddenly grabbed Fang Ru's wrist. "Gu Zhou colluded with the rebels, the evidence is conclusive! How dare you, a woman who plays tricks, presume to discuss state affairs?"
Fangru winced in pain, but stubbornly raised her face: "Your Majesty's so-called evidence is nothing more than a confession obtained under torture by the Dali Temple! Gu Zhou is an honest and upright official who cares about the people. How could he possibly plot a rebellion?"
"Concerned about the people?" Zhou Ling sneered, pinching her chin with his other hand. "Does he know what my people need? Stability and obedience, not to believe in some prophecy or sorcery!"
The moon was suddenly obscured by clouds, half of his face was shrouded in shadow, and his hawk-like eyes were fixed on Fangru, suffocating her like a blade against her throat.
“If Your Majesty does not believe me, you may simply remove me from the position of Imperial Advisor.” Fangru endured the pain in her wrist, but her voice was like a candle flame flickering in the wind. “I have given Your Majesty enough prophecies, and I have no regrets.”
"Trying to leave?" Zhou Ling sneered, his fingers tightening abruptly as he pulled her closer. A dangerous glint flashed in his eyes under the moonlight. "Since when did my imperial advisor get to make his own decisions?"
"I don't want to be your national advisor!" Fangru suddenly looked up, trying to pull her hand away, but he gripped it even tighter. In the struggle, she stumbled and almost crashed into Zhou Ling's arms.
Zhou Ling stared at the person in his arms, his Adam's apple bobbing. "You have no choice. From the first time you looked me straight in the eye at the Xuanji Banquet, you should have known..."
The last syllable disappeared into the mingled breaths.
As Fangru struggled, all her hairpins fell off, and her black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, with a few strands clinging to Zhou Ling's embroidered golden dragon robe.
He grabbed her chin, forcing her to look up, his thumb grinding heavily against her bitten lip: "This whole world belongs to me, let alone you?"
Fangru shoved Zhou Ling away abruptly, staggering back a few steps. Her lips still felt a burning pain, and her ears were ringing.
"I am already engaged to Gu Zhou." She raised her hand to straighten her disheveled clothes, her voice soft yet clear, "I beg Your Majesty... to have some self-respect."
The last sentence was spoken very softly, yet it was like a sharp blade, shattering the tender feelings between the two.
The sound of hurried footsteps came from afar, but they stopped tactfully at the corner.
"Get out." Zhou Ling turned his back, his voice regaining its imperial coldness. "Remember your identity, Shen Fangru. I can let Gu Zhou live, and I can let Gu Zhou die."
Fangru practically escaped from the palace.
The night breeze brushed against her burning cheeks, but couldn't dispel the lingering sensation on her lips. She raised her hand and fiercely wiped her lips until she tasted blood.
The lanterns of Shen Mansion swayed in the night.
Fangru walked quickly through the corridor and headed straight for the west wing, where Gu Zhou was recuperating.
Strangely enough, Gu Zhou's injury had been recuperating for more than half a year, but it still didn't seem to be getting much better.
Pushing open the door, the bitter smell of herbs wafted out.
Gu Zhou was leaning against the bed, flipping through a book. Hearing the noise, he looked up, a look of surprise appearing on his pale face: "Fangru? What brings you here so late?"
"We must leave the capital," Fangru said urgently. "We must leave tonight."
Gu Zhou put down his book, his brows furrowed: "What happened?"
Fangru knelt before his bed and held his well-defined hands. Those hands, which once held a pen with incredible speed, were now covered in scars.
“His Majesty is determined to attack the Northern Barbarians, which will drag the entire Great Xia into war! He also…” She bit her lip, skipping the forceful kiss, “He will kill us sooner or later. Gu Zhou, let’s leave here while we can still walk.”
Gu Zhou gazed at her silently, his expression complex. After a long while, he gently withdrew his hand: "I can't leave."
"Why?" Fangru almost shouted, then quickly lowered her voice, "You almost died in the imperial prison! His Majesty is suspicious and cruel, if we stay, we'll only face death!"
“That’s precisely why we can’t leave.” Gu Zhou coughed a few times, forcing himself to sit up straight. “Fangru, you have the ability to foresee disasters; it’s a gift from heaven. If we just leave, how many people will die when the war breaks out?”
Fangru looked at his pale face, her heart filled with mixed feelings.
Gu Zhou's kindness was precisely what attracted her to him in the first place. But now, that kindness might ruin their future.
Fangru suddenly stood up, her sleeve knocking over the teacup on the table. The tea flowed meanderingly on the table, just like her chaotic thoughts at that moment.
“My precognitive abilities can only predict events up to six months in advance, and His Majesty has already noticed this limitation.” Her voice tightened, and her fingertips unconsciously rubbed the Buddhist prayer beads on her wrist. “This time is different, Gu Zhou, we must go.”
Over the past six months, she had considered resigning and fleeing more than once. But whenever she saw Gu Zhou's pale face, and saw him forcing himself to review case files despite his illness, she swallowed back the words that were on the tip of her tongue. Now, she could wait no longer.
Gu Zhou slowly sat up, supporting himself on the edge of the bed. His injured leg forced him to hold onto the edge of the table for support. He reached out and grasped Fangru's trembling fingertips: "Fangru, look at me."
His voice was soft, yet firm: "I understand your fear, because I am afraid too. But if we only care about saving our own lives, how are we any different from those petty people who abandon morality for personal gain?"
Fangru abruptly pulled her hand back, a hint of hurt flashing in her eyes: "You're always like this, always putting everyone else first." Her voice choked with emotion, "But who will protect you? Who will protect me?"
Gu Zhou tried to step forward, but stumbled due to his leg injury: "Fangru..."
"Enough!" She took two steps back, tears welling up in her eyes, and turned to rush out of the room.
That night, Fangru tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
The next day, as soon as the sky began to lighten, Fangru got up and put on her clothes.
She gathered her disheveled hair and was about to go find Gu Zhou to discuss the matter further when she suddenly heard a commotion outside the window, as if hundreds or thousands of people were shouting in unison.
Pushing open the carved wooden window, one sees a dense crowd already gathered on the long street in the morning mist.
They held up wooden signs that read "Stop the War" and shouted slogans such as "Ceasefire," their voices rising in waves.
She then remembered that the news of the emperor's plan to send troops to the Northern Barbarians had already spread throughout the capital.
Although the Xia soldiers were valiant, the Northern Di cavalry were equally ferocious. Having finally achieved peace in recent years, who among the people wanted to experience the ravages of war again?
"The Northern Di cavalry are fierce; this battle will surely result in mutual destruction!"
"I have three sons, two of whom are already buried at the border!"
"Your Majesty, please reconsider!"
Fangru's gaze swept across the throng, then suddenly stopped at the very front of the line.
Su Wanqing wore a plain white dress, her black hair loosely tied up with a single wooden hairpin, and her unmade-up face showed signs of illness, yet she stood upright in the most conspicuous position.
"Stop the war!" Her clear voice pierced through the noisy crowd, and the four characters "Better to be a dog in times of peace" on the white linen in her hand were written with such force that they seemed to penetrate the paper.
Several young men who looked like scholars were protecting her when she suddenly stepped onto the stone steps and raised a stack of yellowed papers with her delicate hand.
"This is a blood oath signed by thirty-five girls from Zuixianlou!" Su Wanqing held the paper high, the morning breeze making the pages rustle. "Though we live in the brothel, we know the greater good of our country!"
An uproar immediately erupted in the crowd.
Fangru saw that the patrolling constables had already gripped the hilts of their swords, but dared not make a move because there were too many onlookers.
Even more shockingly, Su Wanqing took out a pair of scissors from her sleeve and cut off a lock of her hair in front of everyone: "If this war cannot be stopped today, I will shave my head and become a nun, and never return to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion!"
Before she finished speaking, the sound of scissors snapping rang out from the group, and more than a dozen girls followed suit.
The black hair falling in the sunlight was like black snow, landing on the blood-written letter covered with signatures.
Fangru suddenly recalled the mocking look in Su Wanqing's eyes when she sang "The courtesan knows not the sorrow of a fallen nation" while holding a pipa on a painted boat last Mid-Autumn Festival.
It turns out that this woman of the night harbored such fierce spirit deep down.
Without thinking twice, Fangru lifted her skirt and rushed downstairs.
She struggled through the crowd, grabbed Su Wanqing's slender wrist, and dragged her to the street corner: "Are you crazy? Don't you know His Majesty's temperament? Even the highest-ranking officials in the court dare not question this, yet you..." Her voice trembled with anxiety as she glanced at the blood-stained letter in Su Wanqing's hand.
Su Wanqing smiled bitterly: "When the late emperor founded the country, he said, 'Swords and spears should be stored away, and horses should graze freely in the southern mountains,' which brought more than ten years of peace. Now, the new emperor has only been on the throne for three years, and he wants to restart the war and increase taxes..." She looked at the sallow-faced and thin children on the street and said in a voice as soft as a sigh, "Indeed, in this world, the rise and fall of dynasties are all caused by the suffering of the common people."
As she spoke, the sound of the Imperial Guards' orderly footsteps could be heard in the distance.
Su Wanqing turned around and was about to return to the parade.
Fangru gripped her sleeve tightly, but heard the usually delicate girl say softly, "Miss Chen, let go. The girls of our Drunken Immortal Pavilion live by the rules."
These words struck Fangru like a hammer blow. Looking at the faces of ordinary people in the parade, she suddenly understood Gu Zhou's persistence.
When she returned to the mansion, Gu Zhou was pacing back and forth in the courtyard. Upon seeing her enter, he immediately came to greet her.
Their eyes met, and Fangru said softly, "I'll stay."
She paused, a resolute glint in her eyes: "Moreover, I must find a way to stop this war."
She searched through her memories of her past life and finally found something.
At that time, she was hiding behind the screen in the imperial study and overheard Zhou Ling talking to his confidant. Every word he spoke was about plotting to acquire those seemingly insignificant mines in the northern border.
"What Zhou Ling truly wanted was never to expand territory."
Gu Zhou looked at her with a puzzled expression.
Fangru whispered the key point: "It's the mines. The mines in the North that everyone has overlooked."
The following day, at the grand court assembly, Fangru stood in the hall dressed in a crimson official robe.
"Your subject has something to report." She bowed gracefully, her voice not loud, yet it silenced the entire Golden Palace.
As he looked up, he met Zhou Ling's unfathomable gaze from the throne.
“The mines in the northern border are more valuable than those in the wilderness.” Her voice was clear and melodious as she lightly tapped the area on the map with her fingertip. “I have a plan that can be obtained without losing a single soldier.”
Zhou Ling tapped the armrest of the dragon throne lightly with his fingertips: "Speak."
Fangru approached, a strand of her black hair slipping from her temple, brushing lightly against the back of Zhou Ling's hand holding the pen: "The Northern Di people live by following the water and grass, how could they know the value of mountains and rocks? We only need to..." She suddenly lowered her voice, only allowing the emperor and his minister to hear.
When it came to the crucial point, her slender fingers traced a circuitous route on the map, while the hair ornament in her hair remained perfectly still, clearly indicating that she had been planning this for a long time.
Zhou Ling suddenly leaned forward, the scent of ambergris enveloping her: "My dear minister, are you not afraid that I..." The last syllable of his voice turned into a warm breath that brushed against her earlobe.
Fangru took a half step back without changing her expression: "If Your Majesty does not wish to hear, I will take my leave now."
"Continue." Zhou Ling leaned back on the dragon throne, his interest growing even stronger.
For seven consecutive days, Fangru stayed at the Ministry of War's duty room.
Zhou Ling would often arrive unexpectedly in the dead of night.
That night, he pushed open the door and saw Fangru rubbing her temples wearily in the candlelight, her collar slightly open, revealing a section of her jade-like neck.
"Your Majesty..." She hurriedly stood up, but Zhou Ling pressed her back into her seat.
His long, slender fingers brushed across her shoulder, and he draped a dragon-patterned cloak, still warm from her body, over her shoulders: "My dear minister, you have worked so hard for the country, and I am deeply gratified."
That night, the candlelight flickered red, and Fangru was writing furiously at her desk, her vermilion brush outlining new clauses on the silk.
Suddenly, I felt a warm sensation approaching from behind, and a familiar scent of ambergris wafted over me.
Zhou Ling's arm went over her shoulder, and his chest was almost pressed against her back.
"My dear minister, your concessions are so great..." His lips almost touched her earlobe, "Could it be that you harbor ulterior motives?"
Fangru's hand holding the pen trembled slightly: "Your Majesty is wise," she turned her head, her red lips almost brushing against his chin, "to take, one must first give; this is the best policy."
Zhou Ling's eyes darkened, and he suddenly trapped her in front of the desk.
He picked up a stray strand of her hair and twirled it between his fingers: "If this doesn't work out..."
Fangru raised her eyes to meet his gaze, a faint smile appearing on her lips: "Your subject shall accept the punishment." Before she finished speaking, her sleeve accidentally brushed against the desk, and the pen holder fell over with a thud.
The moment the cinnabar splattered, Zhou Ling instinctively raised his hand to block it.
Crimson ink dots dotted the black dragon-patterned cuffs, contrasting with the mottled red marks on Fangru's white clothes, making them resemble red plum blossoms blooming in the snow.
"Clumsy." Zhou Ling frowned, but reached out and picked up a piece of cinnabar from her sleeve, rubbing it between his fingertips.
The bright red color stained his slender fingers, giving them an inexplicably alluring appearance.
Fangru hurriedly took a half step back, but unexpectedly stepped on the brush that had just fallen, causing her to sway.
Zhou Ling swiftly grabbed her wrist and steadied her. As their eyes met, she saw a hint of a smile flash across the emperor's eyes.
"It seems you are in a hurry for me to... deal with you?" He deliberately softened his tone, his thumb gently stroking her wrist.
Fangru felt an unbearable burning sensation on her skin from his touch and hurriedly withdrew her hand: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, I will go and prepare the documents for tomorrow's negotiations." After saying this, she hurriedly bowed and took her leave, even the roots of her ears turning a vermilion blush.
...
The rainstorm subsided on the day the final agreement was reached.
Fangru stood under the veranda, gazing at the rainbow that was just beginning to appear on the horizon.
Cheers from the people could be heard in the distance, and the streets and alleys were filled with praise for her wisdom as "National Advisor Shen".
She gently stroked the Buddhist prayer beads bracelet on her wrist, a faint smile appearing on her lips.
"Lord Shen."
The woman's voice came from behind her, and Fangru's body stiffened slightly.
She had long heard that Zhou Ling was going to reward those who had contributed to the cause, and now she had made up her mind to ask for a favor: to marry Gu Zhou and stay away from the court's intrigues.
Fangru straightened her clothes, and as she turned around, a polite smile remained on her lips: "Thank you for informing me, Miss..."
The words came to an abrupt halt.
Lin Yueyao, dressed in plain white, stood at the foot of the stone steps, a cold glint flashing in her hand.
A sharp chill suddenly pierced her abdomen, and Fangru shuddered.
She staggered backward, the thick, warm liquid already soaking through her clothes and gushing out between her fingers.
"Yueyao..." The trembling voice choked in her throat.
The familiar face before me was distorted to the point of being almost unrecognizable, and madness and hatred surged in the once bright almond-shaped eyes.
"You clearly could foresee everything..." Blood dripped from the dagger in Lin Yueyao's hand, her voice trembling violently, "You could save millions of soldiers of the Great Xia, so why... why wouldn't you warn me that Xu Ziqian was a beast?"
Fangru suddenly remembered that while she was busy mediating the war these past two months, she had vaguely heard rumors of trouble in the Xu family. But she never expected...
"He used my Lin family's ancestral property to support his mistress!" Lin Yueyao suddenly laughed hysterically. "By the time I found out, that slut was already pregnant, and I... he aborted my child with his own hands!"
Fangru gasped, the pain from her wound making her vision blur. She had no idea that Lin Yueyao had suffered such inhuman torture.
Even more terrifying is that Xu Ziqian stole the antiques and calligraphy that Lin Yueyao gave him to please his mistress, and among those treasures, someone had secretly mixed in a few forbidden items that were gifts from the Northern Rong envoys.
When the case of treason was exposed, these items became irrefutable evidence, making the entire Lin family accomplices in treason.
“Yesterday… the Ministry of Justice raided the Lin family home…” Lin Yueyao raised her dagger again, its cold light gleaming in the morning light. “My parents, unable to bear the humiliation, committed suicide in prison. You could have stopped all of this with just a word!”
The second stab came fiercely, and Fangru was powerless to dodge.
She slid down the stone steps and sat down on the ground, her vision beginning to blur.
In a daze, she saw the corner of a black dragon-patterned robe flash before her eyes and heard Zhou Ling almost roar, "Summon the imperial physician!"
In her last moments of consciousness, she saw the arrogant emperor trembling as he pulled her into his arms, his scalding liquid falling on her face—she couldn't tell if it was rain or tears.
A note from the author:
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