Chapter 130 The Willful Emperor
"Your Majesty." Fang Linlang bowed gracefully, her beautiful eyes filled with affection and longing.
The emperor quickly reached out and helped her up, saying with a smile, "I told you not to bow."
Fang Linlang smiled and said, "I'm not bowing because of the rules, but because I want to tell Your Majesty that you are worthy of my admiration. Do you think Your Majesty will disallow this?"
The emperor's heart melted upon hearing this, and he kept saying, "I didn't say that. Look at you, you're starting to feel wronged again, and now it's all my fault."
Fang Linlang smiled and took his arm, saying affectionately, "Your Majesty, how come you have time to come here today?"
The emperor laughed heartily and said, "Now that the palace examination is over, I am naturally free."
Upon hearing this, Fang Linlang asked without hesitation, "Then Your Majesty, please tell me if there are any talented people this year?"
The emperor looked at her with a smile: "There are indeed a few people. Why don't you guess who they are?"
Fang Linlang said coquettishly, "How could I know who it was while I'm in the palace? But before entering, I had heard of several talented men. The most famous of them was the great scholar Meng. In Qingzhou, whenever someone mentioned a scholar, everyone would think of him."
"Then you guessed wrong. Although Meng Ting is good, he is slightly inferior this time." The emperor laughed.
Fang Linlang hugged his arm and shook it, acting like a little girl, "Your Majesty, please stop keeping me in suspense."
"Linlang must know this person too." The emperor laughed. "Su Fengzhang."
"Su Fengzhang?" Fang Linlang frowned and thought hard, then suddenly cried out.
The emperor laughed and said, "Now I remember, it's the same person who wrote 'Song of the Year Flower'."
Fang Linlang said, "So it's him. Your Majesty, this name is very familiar to me. It's not because of the poem 'Song of the Year Flower', but because I've heard my brother mention it before."
The emperor was curious when he heard this and asked, "Fang Yu also knows this person? That's right, you two once lived in Qingzhou, and you are both scholars. It's not surprising that Fang Yu knows him."
"Your Majesty, my brother knows Su Fengzhang, but it's not because of his studies." Fang Linlang said with a smile, "Why don't you let me keep it a secret for now, Your Majesty, and guess why."
The emperor's interest was also piqued, and he guessed, "I've heard that Su Fengzhang is an expert in calligraphy and painting. Could it be because of this?"
Fang Linlang just shook her head. The emperor made a few more guesses but none of them came true. He could only look at his beloved concubine helplessly.
Fang Linlang then smiled and said, "It's natural that Your Majesty couldn't guess it, as not many people know about this matter. If Your Majesty hadn't mentioned it today, I wouldn't have dared to bring it up."
"It was three years ago. Back then, my brother and I rushed from Hushan County to Qingzhou to seek refuge with my uncle. Who would have thought we would encounter pirates in Qingzhou?"
"My life was hanging by a thread at that time, and my brother was just a weak scholar. If it weren't for Master Su's righteous intervention, I'm afraid Your Majesty would not have been able to see me. Speaking of which, Master Su is our lifesaver."
The emperor was indeed surprised when he heard this and asked, "How could this be true? In the Qinzheng Palace, I saw that Su Fengzhang looked weak and frail, not like someone who could bravely fight against the pirates."
Fang Linlang smiled angrily and said, "I only met Mr. Su once, so I don't know much about him. But I heard from my brother that he killed several bandits on the ship with his own hands. He is quite brave."
Fang Linlang finished speaking, then covered her mouth and said, "Your Majesty, I was so excited about talking that I forgot you didn't want to hear this."
The emperor liked people who were quiet and had few desires, who concealed their faults, who were tolerant and generous. Famous scholars like Ji Kang and Ruan Ji tended to like literature and dislike literature. He was even a little afraid of blood.
The emperor laughed and said, "Linlang, don't be nervous. I won't blame Su Zhuangyuan for this. On the contrary, I think he is brave and resourceful, and his literary talent is outstanding. He is indeed a promising talent."
"Besides, he is the lifesaver of my beloved concubine and Fang Yu. It is only right for me to use him for both personal and public reasons."
Fang Linlang then smiled with relief and said, "Then I am relieved. Your Majesty, by doing this, you are repaying a favor for me."
"Then how will Linlang thank me?" The emperor reached out and pinched her cheek, the ambiguity evident in his words.
Fang Linlang smiled slightly, leaned over and kissed the emperor on the cheek, then said, "Your Majesty, I heard that Su Fengzhang is the top scholar. The dispute between the two Sus shocked the capital, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince personally selected the champion. I thought Su Fengzhang would be the top scholar."
After hearing this, the smile on the emperor's face faded a little.
Fang Linlang quickly said, "Your Majesty, I said the wrong thing."
The emperor asked, "Have you heard about the fire in the Imperial Examination Hall?"
Fang Linlang asked with a puzzled look on her face, "The Imperial Examination Hall caught fire? When did it happen?"
The emperor did not ask any further questions. He suddenly stood up and said, "Well, you can take a rest. I will go to the queen."
Fang Linlang hurriedly stood up to see the emperor off. After the emperor left, the smile on her face slowly disappeared, replaced by a cold look.
The maidservant hesitated to speak, but finally asked, "Your Majesty, why did you add that last sentence? If you hadn't mentioned it, His Majesty wouldn't have gotten angry and left."
Fang Linlang sneered and said, "Your Majesty has long been dissatisfied with the Crown Prince, otherwise he would not have insisted on appointing Su Fengzhang as the top scholar and suppressing Su Qu's ranking."
The maid said worriedly, "But Your Majesty has always stayed out of this matter, so why should you say this?"
Fang Linlang smiled and said, "You don't understand. This is something I should be saying."
Who was she? She was His Majesty's most favored concubine, yet her position was low, with no support from either side of the palace. She was known for being oblivious to external affairs. Yet, even she had heard that the Crown Prince belonged to Su Qun.
Just as Fang Linlang had thought, the emperor frowned as he walked out the door. He didn't lose his temper in front of his beloved concubine, but the low pressure all over his body was enough to scare people.
The emperor walked all the way to the outside of the Queen's Palace, then stopped and suddenly asked, "Ah Li, what do you think the Crown Prince will do this time..."
The emperor swallowed the rest of his words halfway through the question and stood at the door in deep thought.
At this time, the Queen's palace had already heard the news, and the Queen brought the palace maids out to welcome the emperor in person.
The queen was younger than the favored Concubine Xu in the palace, simply because she was not the first queen, but the second queen.
This empress had been on the throne for over a decade, but she had no children, having only adopted a princess born to a palace maid. She was known for her strict adherence to rules, and while she was disliked by the emperor, he did respect her.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. May your Majesty live forever." The queen had a pretty face and her hair was not covered with luxuriant green. However, she was dignified and graceful when she saluted, with the bearing of a mother of a country.
The emperor raised his hand, and was obviously less intimate this time than when he was with Fang Linlang.
When they entered the palace, the Queen saw that he looked unhappy, so she took the initiative to ask, "Your Majesty, have you encountered any troubles?"
The emperor sighed and suddenly asked, "Are there any rumors in the harem recently?"
The Queen's eyes flickered slightly, and she smiled and said, "Your Majesty, are you asking this? Do you think you don't believe me?"
The emperor glanced at her and said, "How could I not believe you? It's just..."
The Queen smiled and asked, "Your Majesty, are you worried about the rumors in the Imperial Examination Hall?"
The emperor didn't expect her to bring it up so directly, and his brow furrowed. However, the empress seemed oblivious and said, "If that's the case, Your Majesty, don't worry. There were indeed some rumors earlier, but I dealt with a few people, and the rumors died down."
Who would have thought that after hearing this, the emperor's worry did not dissipate, but instead became even more gloomy: "Alas, I'm afraid that no one dares to mention it openly, but it's spread all over the capital behind the scenes."
The Queen continued, "Your Majesty, I do not speak of strange things. They are merely imaginary and not worth discussing."
The emperor glanced at her, sighed, and said, "Never mind, it's good enough as long as this evil trend is curbed."
After saying this, the emperor had no intention of staying overnight and got up and walked out.
As soon as the emperor left, the queen's face showed a bit of sarcasm. She really didn't believe in those things about heaven and witchcraft, but their good emperor and good monarch believed in them very much.
The queen adjusted her hair bun and went to bed as if nothing had happened, washing up and not caring at all about the emperor's scolding. After all, she had been in the palace for many years and had been on the throne for more than ten years. If she was still sad about such things, her heart would have been broken long ago, and she would not be as comfortable as she is now.
However, she wanted to see how the emperor would deal with the situation if these two people confronted each other. One was the prince left by Empress Bai Yueguang, and the other was the fourth prince born to Concubine Xu, her beloved concubine.
On second thought, the queen felt that this matter would not lead to any result. She thought that their amorous monarch would still play both sides and maintain superficial harmony.
The Queen looked down on Concubine Xu to some extent. They had such a good opportunity, but they didn't stir up any trouble. What's the use of spreading rumors about the Imperial Examination Hall on fire and the Prince not being favored by God? They can't shake the Prince's position at all.
However, this emperor once again exceeded her expectations. If he wanted to protect the prince, he should not have suppressed Su Juan and let Su Fengzhang become the number one scholar. But if he disliked the prince, he should not have suppressed these rumors.
After so many years, the queen still felt that she could not understand the emperor's mind. Did he like the prince or was he afraid of him?
Not only the empress couldn't understand the emperor, even eunuch Li, who had followed the emperor the longest, sometimes couldn't understand him.
When the emperor personally selected Su Fengzhang as the top scholar, everyone thought that he was dissatisfied with the prince. However, once others said something bad about the prince, the emperor would get furious, so that even the fourth prince did not dare to deal with the prince openly.
Sometimes Eunuch Li even had an illusion that their emperor knew everything but just didn't want to care about anything. Perhaps this time was the same. He chose Su Fengzhang as the top scholar without much consideration, just because he had a good impression of him.
After all, this is not the first time that His Majesty has done such a thing.
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The author has something to say: I know that many little cuties are used to waiting for midnight.
Go to sleep right after watching this
Love you guys, muah
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