Chapter 48 Random Thoughts Even if Eunuch An is serving the Emperor, he must be on call at night...
Zhao Liangxu took two booklets related to caravans back with her and flipped through them from time to time.
The first New Year since I traveled through time felt both lively and desolate.
On the first day of the new year, Zhao Liangxu saw An He again. She was putting up Spring Festival couplets with Zhu Mu when she saw An He coming out of the gate of the An residence. Zhao Liangxu smiled at An He and said, "Eunuch An, Happy New Year."
Anhe surprisingly replied with a proper "Happy New Year".
Zhang Sheng, who was slowly following behind An He, was so startled that he stumbled.
Anhe muttered a curse at Zhang Sheng: "Useless thing, not even looking where you're going on the first day of the new year. How did our family accept you as our son?"
Zhao Liangxu couldn't hear clearly, but she did catch the last sentence, and she was curious about it for a long time.
Zhang Sheng looked to be only a few years younger than An He, yet An He, at such a young age, had already persuaded others to adopt a godson. Even when a senior eunuch adopted younger eunuchs as godsons, there was always a reasonable age difference. It was just that An He was unpredictable, adopting someone several years younger than himself as a godson.
Upon closer reflection, it seems reasonable. The renowned Ninth Prince is incredibly favored and powerful. Even old eunuchs in their forties or fifties might want to curry favor with Anhe. As long as they follow Anhe, they'll never have to worry about wealth and honor. I'm afraid most people would shamelessly call Anhe their godfather.
Thinking of this, Zhao Liangxu couldn't help but laugh again.
If she saw a group of old eunuchs and sycophantic officials with beards following behind Anhe, calling him "godfather" obsequiously, she would truly burst out laughing.
Zhao Liangxu didn't say much to Anhe, who only replied once before going to the palace.
Both the An family mansion and Zhao Liangxu's new residence were decorated with red lanterns and Spring Festival couplets. However, as the New Year approached, An He was expected to accompany Li Ying in causing trouble in the palace. The servants of the An family mansion also followed the rules and did not celebrate the New Year in a lively or noisy manner. However, the An family mansion was a wealthy household, and the rewards that slipped through their fingers were enough to make the servants happy. Everyone in the An family mansion was silent with rosy cheeks.
There were hardly any people in her new house, so Zhao Liangxu generously gave Zhu Mu and the other cleaning and cooking staff large red envelopes.
Even when Li Ying was in the palace, he remotely bestowed a bunch of treasures upon Zhao Liangxu during the New Year. He was still diligently playing the role of a tyrannical ruler, and these irregularities were of no concern to him.
For many days in a row, Zhao Liangxu lived a peaceful and leisurely life.
She hadn't seen Anhe often these days, but whenever Anhe returned early, he would almost always call her to his study, saying, "Doesn't Princess Zhao enjoy reading? Then continue your previous habit and read more under our noses."
An He rarely talks to Zhao Liangxu, and even physical contact like hugging and cuddling is something he won't take unless Zhao Liangxu initiates it.
To avoid getting too close to An He, Zhao Liangxu quickly gave up her shallow interest and refrained from approaching him. Most of the time, she would only try to get close to An He verbally, which displeased An He.
As the snow gradually falls less and less, and only the remaining snow slowly melts away, true spring has finally arrived.
Zhao Liangxu was reading in Anhe's study again that day. Not long after she sat down, Anhe threw down a folded document he had brought back and snorted coldly, clearly in a bad mood.
Zhao Liangxu glanced at him silently without saying a word.
This made An He even more unhappy. For nearly a month, Zhao Liangxu actually stayed in his study and read books in a very proper manner, rarely doing anything unreasonable. Even if he was stupid, he could see that Zhao Liangxu was becoming somewhat distant.
For some reason, Zhao Liangxu's quiet and well-behaved demeanor irritated him.
"What's wrong, Eunuch An?" Before An He could even start a fight, Zhao Liangxu, seeing his intention, spoke first to try and defuse the situation.
They do have some sense.
Anhe slid the folded document across the table and said, "Look."
Zhao Liangxu didn't move. She just said, "This is a memorial to the throne. It's Eunuch An's duty to review and approve it himself. Is it inappropriate for me to see it?"
It was rare for the Ninth Prince to bring memorials back to his residence, so Li Ying turned a blind eye. If he were to open his eyes and confess to An He, then Li Ying would lose both eyes.
Anping would never be so arrogant as to take a memorial out of the palace, but this matter had been bothering him for several days, so he took out the memorial he had already decided on and carefully considered the countermeasures.
“You’re being coy now. You saw her quite a bit in the Qianqing Palace before, so stop dawdling.” Zhao Liangxu had seen Li Ying learning to review memorials in the Qianqing Palace before, and she had inadvertently glanced at her a couple of times, all of which were seen by Anhe.
Zhao Liangxu stopped pretending and picked up the gold-plated document, glancing at it twice. At that glance, she knew where Anhe's irritability came from, and she was also startled for a moment: "The court officials are ordering Li Ying to fill the harem?"
An He sneered coldly, "Not only that, do you know who they recommended?"
Zhao Liangxu shook her head.
"They usually argue and bicker all the time, but now they've all agreed to let Zhou Feng's daughter go to the palace! Zhou Feng is really willing to give up his daughter..."
How old is Li Ying? The court officials seem a bit impatient.
Zhou Feng's daughter? Zhao Liangxu asked, "How old is his daughter?"
Anhe gritted his teeth: "The twelfth of the new year."
Isn't she still a child? Li Ying is only eleven years old.
But a twelve-year-old girl is indeed very young, just beginning to grow up. She's just a little girl, but perhaps she's also been instilled with the idea of marriage at the age of fifteen by her family, and understands some things at a young age.
But no matter what, they're both just little kids.
"Zhou Feng is really willing to do this? The court officials actually unanimously recommended him?" In a normal court, Zhou Feng, a general with many military achievements, would send his daughter to the palace. Now that Li Ying's palace is empty, it is clear that he is after the Empress. If his daughter really becomes the Empress, then Zhou Feng will truly hold military power and become the Emperor's father-in-law. Wouldn't this make Zhou Feng more prominent than the Emperor?
Although Li Ying was not particularly prominent to begin with, throughout history, ministers who were at the height of their power were often a great scourge.
If she could figure it out, power-hungry courtiers certainly could too.
An He sensed the doubt in Zhao Liangxu's words. He spread his hands, gesturing for Zhao Liangxu to hand him the memorial. He took the memorial, tapped it lightly on the table, and said, "You're right. This shouldn't have happened, but do you know who most court officials fear most?"
It is peace and harmony.
"They would rather promote a father-in-law of the emperor who holds military power than let our family be restrained by Zhou Feng."
Anhe pressed his finger against the square corner of the folded book, then suddenly looked up and said, "Speaking of which, you deserve some credit for driving them to such a desperate situation."
Zhao Liangxu was puzzled.
“You’re going to work as a clerk in the Ministry of Rites, but because of this matter, they’ve already been spewing accusations against our family in the court, saying we’re spreading heretical and flattering words.”
They even called Zhao Liangxu a traitor who brought disaster to the country, and said some other even harsher things, but Anhe felt it was unnecessary to tell Zhao Liangxu.
Zhao Liangxu raised an eyebrow: "There are also women in the palace who hold official positions. I'm just a low-ranking clerk, and they're making such a fuss over me?"
An He was worried that Zhao Liangxu would be discouraged after hearing this, but she made it clear in one sentence that she did not feel that she had been held hostage by their words, or even ashamed and sad.
Yes, that's how she should be.
"Hmph, it's simply because they think your identity is unreasonable. Even Li Ying, who is usually timid and doesn't often express her opinions, seemed very supportive of this matter during the morning court session, so they panicked."
Zhao Liangxu asked, "What does Eunuch An think?"
"What else could we think? We just went along with them. They said to raise her in the palace to cultivate a relationship, so we raised her. She's just a little girl. If Li Ying doesn't want to become empress, can they force her? What royal offspring is nothing but wishful thinking! Zhou Feng has just given us a handle this time."
A chilling light welled up in Anhe's eyes.
This is how you get that little girl involved.
Zhao Liangxu showed a complicated expression. An He guessed what Zhao Liangxu was thinking and thought that he was being seen as a pervert who would not spare children. He slammed the folded document on the table in anger.
Zhao Liangxu held the book up to conceal her expression.
Only a muffled voice came from behind the book: "I wasn't thinking anything."
Suddenly, Zhao Liangxu said from behind the book, "They are both children and will be grown up in a while. How can these people be talking about royal offspring? They are really insanely anxious."
Anhe said irritably, "Those people who only have long beards and no heads are always the same. In the previous dynasty, there were also emperors who had princes as young as thirteen or fourteen. They are all stupid ministers who offer so-called advice."
Thirteen or fourteen years old? That's a bit too early.
Zhao Liangxu's eyes darted around, and suddenly she became curious about something. She put the book down again, revealing her eyes, and asked, "Did Eunuch An serve in the imperial court during the late emperor's reign?"
"Yes, what's wrong?" An He didn't know why Zhao Liangxu suddenly asked about something unrelated, but everyone knew about it, so he just answered irritably.
"Then... does Eunuch An also wait outside the door at night?"
at night......
An He seemed to understand what Zhao Liangxu was asking, and his face turned pale and then red.
She didn't say anything explicit, but Anhe knew what she was curious about!
It's just about the emperor!
It's fortunate that the late emperor died early. Otherwise, if the late emperor had heard that Zhao Liangxu dared to spy on the emperor's private affairs, he would have really chopped Zhao Liangxu's head off for being so curious about such messy things!
Doesn't she feel any fear at all when she asks this question?
She asked a eunuch about this kind of thing again. Sometimes Anhe really wanted to crack open Zhao Liangxu's head to see what kind of brain it was made of! Even if she had been indulged a little these past few days, couldn't she figure out what she should and shouldn't ask?
His expression shifted, feeling embarrassed, ugly, and angry. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, his expression gradually darkened into a deep, still pool. An He gave a cold laugh, his voice drifting like a chilling wind into Zhao Liangxu's ears: "Not only that, we're still guarding the house."
"What do you want to hear? Do you want me to tell you?"
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Author's Note: Eunuch An is about to be driven mad by Zhao Liangxu.
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