Chapter 74 The Argument: The Two Are Eating Together
An He chuckled lightly: "His Majesty was merely exchanging a few words with Princess Zhao; how could we dare to eavesdrop on His Majesty's conversation?"
This means that Anhe will no longer pursue the matter.
“However,” Anhe paused for a moment, making Li Ying’s heart jump again, “When Your Majesty chats with Princess Zhao about leisure matters in the future, I hope Your Majesty will consider… the fact that Princess Zhao and I are neighbors, and follow the proper words and deeds of an emperor.”
He spoke softly, adopting the demeanor of a loyal subject, but in reality, he hoped that Li Ying would be cautious in his words and actions.
An He gently placed a hand on Zhao Liangxu's shoulder and said, "Your Majesty, Princess Zhao's status is special. Sometimes, as your eunuch, I have to know a bit about what you say."
Li Ying looked at the two of them with suspicion and uncertainty. She was about to grit her teeth and agree when she was interrupted by a clear sound.
Zhao Liangxu brushed away An He's suggestive hand and said to Li Ying, "Your Majesty can just listen to what Eunuch An has to say."
Anhe looked at her hand that Zhao Liangxu had slapped away, pursed her lips, drooped her eyebrows, and snorted again.
Is she deliberately going against me?
Zhao Liangxu said to Li Ying, "What could Your Majesty possibly have to hide? There's probably nothing that can't be said. If Your Majesty is tired of studying, it wouldn't be a problem to chat with me for a while, would it?"
Li Ying's gaze shifted back and forth between the two, her heart filled with fear and confusion.
Zhao Liangxu had just spoken as if to Tong Anhe in reverse. He pondered for a moment, unsure what to say, and finally asked, "What exactly are you two...?"
Just now, Zhao Liangxu took An He's hand. What kind of relationship is that?
An He wanted to say that Zhao Liangxu was someone he valued, but Zhao Liangxu preemptively said, "An Gonggong and I should be a couple."
"What did you say?"
Li Ying had actually guessed it, but she was still shocked by the exact answer Zhao Liangxu gave.
Does Eunuch An also have a partner?
An He hesitated, as if he wanted to speak but then stopped. When Zhao Liangxu uttered the words "partnership," she saw An He extend his arm but then lower it, his face showing some...disapproval?
"Eunuch An has done so much for me, but now you don't want to admit it?" Zhao Liangxu said bluntly.
What was the reason behind his attempt to stop him just now?
Fortunately, Li Ying was still young and did not understand the deeper meaning of Zhao Liangxu's words, but what she said made An He feel embarrassed.
He said in a low voice, "What nonsense are you talking about? What have we done to you?"
"But now, in front of His Majesty, Eunuch An seems unwilling to acknowledge that I am your partner, and appears to be dissatisfied. So what does Eunuch An take me for?"
Li Ying was pulled into the conversation by Zhao Liangxu, her expression still puzzled, as she stared back and forth between the two of them with wide eyes.
He knew what "pairing up" meant—it was a relationship between palace maids and eunuchs who were close and formed a "pairing up" bond. They would occasionally exchange gifts, sometimes sit at the same table to eat, and were considered people they could confide in. In his earlier years, when he had no one to look after him, he would secretly observe the palace servants and knew that there were many people in the palace who looked out for each other. But were these two really people who could sit down and have a proper chat and meal together...?
In Li Ying's memory, An He was a treacherous and cunning person who had never shown any favoritism towards anyone. Yet, Zhao Liangxu became one of his close friends.
He found it hard to imagine the two of them chatting and eating together, but Anhe had indeed followed Zhao Liangxu's lead and eaten the pastries.
“You are our family’s… partner.” Anhe said after a moment’s hesitation.
An He naturally had a strong possessive desire for Zhao Liangxu, but he never mentioned the word "food" to her, because he always felt that these two words should not be Zhao Liangxu's title.
At the very least, it shouldn't be publicized in an overly boastful manner.
But he had long been certain that Zhao Liangxu was his soulmate, and he had already decided that he would not let her go.
“Anyway, just stop saying those two words all the time,” Anhe added stiffly.
Seeing the two arguing so fiercely, Li Ying timidly asked, "Then... would Eunuch An also like some pastries?"
Since the two were dining together, what could he do? He couldn't possibly entertain Zhao Liangxu while having An He stand aside and serve her.
However, Anhe would not usually eat at the same table as Li Ying. Even though Anhe was considered half of Li Ying's benefactor, as a eunuch, Anhe would strictly abide by certain necessary etiquette rules.
Just as Anhe had previously forbidden palace servants from calling Li Ying "Nine Thousand Years Old," even though Li Ying already knew this and didn't care about it.
At this moment, Li Ying felt that she had already spent half her life wandering at such a young age.
Which emperor in history has ever faced such difficulties, even inadvertently revealing his hidden secrets, only to discover that the person who knew his secrets had close ties with a powerful eunuch?
His biggest worry now is that Anhe will find out about his hidden schemes and then, in a fit of anger, switch him out.
Li Ying couldn't help but glance at the two of them.
Just then, Wang Laide's announcement from outside the hall broke the deadlock.
"Your Majesty, Eunuch An, Miss Zhou has arrived."
Li Ying immediately turned around with a resentful expression and shouted, "No, no!"
Miss Zhou from the palace? She could still see Li Ying... Zhao Liangxu tried hard to recall.
An He and Zhao Liangxu were arguing just moments before, but now An He seemed to hear Zhao Liangxu's inner doubts and reminded her in a normal tone: "It's Zhou Wenyue, the daughter of General Zhou Feng."
Li Ying then shouted to the outside world, "I will not see her! I do not want to make her empress, I do not want to make an empress!"
Li Ying decided to get through this chapter on his own first. Regardless of the relationship between Zhao Liangxu and An He, he still needed to conscientiously play the role of a capricious and tyrannical ruler.
Furthermore, he really didn't want to appoint an empress.
Zhao Liangxu believed that he was both insightful and concealing his true abilities, and that he was not faking it.
He knew the purpose of Zhou Wenyue being sent to the palace. If he were really coerced into becoming empress, the best-case scenario would be that someone else would use him as a puppet.
He thought Zhou Feng was not as good as An He, but who knew what the situation would be like then?
Zhao Liangxu remembered and asked Li Ying, "Is this the first time she's come looking for you? Have you met her before?"
Li Ying replied: "I had someone ask me when I would be free, but I was too busy with state affairs to think of seeing her. She came by herself today."
"You? You're incredibly busy?" Zhao Liangxu asked Li Ying, raising an eyebrow.
Li Ying blatantly lied: "Attending court, listening to lectures, doing homework—which of these doesn't keep me extremely busy?" Li Ying began to throw a tantrum in front of the two people in front of him, completely giving up.
Anhe coldly addressed the person outside the door, saying, "His Majesty said he wouldn't see her; tell her to go back."
Wang Laide's voice came from outside the door again, but it was hard to hear clearly. After a while, it quieted down, and Zhou Wenyue had already left.
Zhao Liangxu glanced towards the door and asked Li Ying, "Does Your Majesty still want to hear about the caravan?"
"Listen... um, I won't listen!" Li Ying hadn't recovered yet, and worried that Zhao Liangxu would try to get more information out of her while telling her funny stories, so she refused righteously.
He wanted to stay away from Zhao Liangxu and avoid any danger.
Zhao Liangxu didn't say anything more. Her mind was focused on the little girl outside the door, so she informed the two of them and left first.
*
Zhao Liangxu met Zhou Wenyue, whom she had not seen before, in the Imperial Garden.
She could tell at a glance that this was still a young girl.
Zhou Wenyue, with her hair styled in a simple and neat bun and dressed in red, squatted on the ground, sulking at the big tree in the Imperial Garden.
Zhao Liangxu felt that this little girl was really pitiful. She was sent directly to the palace by her father without her consent, and she also had to shoulder the task given to her by Zhou Feng to get close to Li Ying.
As a result, Li Ying nipped the possibility in the bud, refusing to even glance at Zhou Wenyue.
She didn't hear Zhou Wenyue crying and making a fuss after being rejected inside the hall, and the outside of the hall quickly became quiet, which piqued her interest and made her want to see what kind of girl this was.
In short, Zhao Liangxu loves to join in the fun.
Before Zhao Liangxu could even get close to Zhou Wenyue, Zhou Wenyue clenched her fist and snapped the branch in her hand, snorted at the tree trunk, rolled up her sleeves, and left.
When Zhao Liangxu saw this spirited young girl, who was not short, from a distance, her first impression was that she resembled Zhou Feng but was not quite the same.
It has the heroic spirit of a military general like Zhou Feng, but it lacks Zhou Feng's disgusting nature.
Zhao Liangxu didn't bother to talk to Zhou Wenyue. Seeing her high spirits, whether she was determined to meet Li Ying or had something else to encourage her, Zhao Liangxu knew there was no need to disturb her.
Since she was already out, she decided to take a look at the Empress Dowager's palace on the way.
When Zhao Liangxu entered the Empress Dowager's palace, Xiaoqing and the others were laughing and playing in the courtyard.
"Oh my goodness, who is this? We've never seen a girl like this before!"
Xiao Qing saw Zhao Liangxu first and greeted her jokingly, "Princess Zhao, how long has it been since you last visited the Dowager Consort? We've all almost forgotten about you."
Several maids also gathered around, chattering and asking Zhao Liangxu all sorts of questions.
When Xu Huayue saw Zhao Liangxu, she waved for Zhao Liangxu to sit next to her. She felt happy as soon as she saw Zhao Liangxu.
"It seems you're quite capable. I heard you were attacked again outside, but I can tell you're not injured," Xu Huayue said with a smile, brushing Zhao Liangxu's hair behind her ear. "How have you been lately? You've been working as a clerk and making a splash at the Wanshang Banquet. It's quite an experience for me to hear about you in the palace."
"Life is naturally going well, and things have been going very smoothly these past few days." Zhao Liangxu smiled as she thought about how she spent time with Anhe. Wasn't that a pleasant thing?
Xu Huayue chatted with Zhao Liangxu for a while, mostly about how well they were eating and how their health was. As for matters in the harem, Xu Huayue had nothing to say to Zhao Liangxu. Nowadays, there were few proper nobles in the palace, and nothing much happened every few days.
Xu Huayue chatted with Zhao Liangxu. Zhao Liangxu had come here to tell Xu Huayue about her relationship with Anhe and to ask about things related to Anhe that Xu Huayue had been unwilling to talk about.
But before Zhao Liangxu could ask, Xu Huayue, with concern in her eyes, inquired about Zhao Liangxu's situation.
"You seem to be having a pretty smooth time these days, but how has Eunuch An treated you? Has he made things difficult for you?"
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Author's Note: I chuckled to myself when I saw yesterday's comments. Anyway, I'm not exactly a serious political intrigue writer; everything serves the two-person comedy, so I had to sacrifice Li Ying as part of the play.
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