Chapter 33 [33]
【33】/First release
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, it rained for several days in Jinling, and the drizzling rain knocked down the osmanthus flowers to the ground.
On a rainy day with a faint fragrance in the air, Zhao Wenshao, dressed in a white robe, walked out of the prefectural government office in a daze.
Dai Ze hurried forward with an umbrella: "Brother Weixi, what's wrong?"
A drop of rain slid down Zhao Wenshao's chin. He raised his head, his eyes dim. "Prefect Huang said that my fame and honor are gone, and there's nothing I can do to change them. He told me to accept my fate..."
At this point, he chuckled sarcastically, "Oh, after decades of studying, filled with passion for serving my country, he's asking me to accept my fate?"
Dai Ze sighed upon hearing this, and stepped forward to hold the umbrella for him, cursing angrily, "I don't know which sinister villain actually made such a fuss about your sister's affairs and reported her behind her back. How despicable! The examiner in charge of the imperial examination is also crazy. He actually used this to strip you of your honor..."
If he encountered this situation, he would be furious, but Zhao Wenshao just frowned and remained silent.
"Brother Weixi, now that things have come to this, you should be more open-minded. I was born with talent that will be useful, and you're so smart. Even if you don't pursue a career in government, you'll be able to carve out a new world for yourself." Dai Ze observed his expression and said, "How about we go back to Yuezhou? I'll write to my uncle and ask him to help you find a solution?"
Zhao Wenshao was silent for a long time before he looked at Dai Ze: "Brother Dai, I want to go to Beijing."
"ah?"
"I want to go to the capital to file a complaint with the emperor and seek an explanation."
Zhao Wenshao appeared calm, but his dark eyes blazed with a blazing fire, and his tone was unwavering: "Your Majesty established the imperial examinations to select talented individuals for the country. I, Zhao Wenshao, won first place based on my genuine learning and talent, but due to the jealous denunciation of a villain, I have lost my honor. I refuse to accept this, and I will not resign myself to it."
"But you're going to the capital at this time... you're going alone, you're unfamiliar with the place..." Dai Ze looked at Zhao Wenshao in surprise. Seeing his persistence, he couldn't help but pour cold water on him. "Brother Weixi, I know you're unwilling, but I'm telling you the truth. Given your situation, even if you did make it to the capital... the officials probably wouldn't help you. After all, your sister offended His Majesty's favorite concubine and committed suicide in the palace out of fear of punishment. His Majesty has already shown mercy by dismissing your father and sparing your entire family's lives..."
"But my sister was wrongly accused." Zhao Wenshao frowned, "Brother Dai, you also said that she died unjustly in the harem, and there are many doubts."
Dai Ze choked: "I did say that this matter has many doubts, but that is a matter of the harem. There have been countless dirty things in the harem since ancient times. This world is not a world of black and white. I see you... Hey! Weixi, don't leave, I haven't finished speaking——"
However, no matter how he shouted, the slender white figure left the umbrella with firm steps.
"Brother Dai, I appreciate your kindness, but the truth is clear and people are burning with anger. I must seek justice."
The white figure walked solemnly, step by step, until it was gradually blurred by the dark grey sky.
Dai Ze stood there holding an umbrella with a complicated expression.
In a carriage not far away, a corner of the dark silver curtain was lifted.
The attendant in front of the carriage whispered, "Sir, it's the one who was first removed from the list."
Gu Rongyu sat in the car filled with the lingering scent of agarwood, looking at the figure that plunged into the rain and fog with a calm expression: "What a pity."
Slender fingers lowered the curtain, he closed his eyes and said calmly: "Let's go."
The red-wheeled carriage rumbled on in the opposite direction, while the rain continued to fall in the south of the Yangtze River.
***
Another month has passed in the blink of an eye. The maple leaves are red and the autumn is deep.
When Lu Zhiwan went to the Cining Palace to pay her respects, she learned that Gu Rongyu would be returning to the capital soon. A thought struck her, and she followed up on this conversation with Empress Dowager Gu: "Minister Gu is not young anymore. Aren't Prime Minister Gu and Madam Gu anxious about his marriage?"
She spoke in a nonchalant, casual tone, and Empress Dowager Gu didn't think much of it. She twisted her white jade Buddhist beads and said, "Why not? But there's no point in rushing about marriage. Besides, Rongyu is a man of his own ideas, and my brother and sister-in-law can't do anything about him."
"That's true." Lu Zhiwan nodded. "Minister Gu is a man of outstanding demeanor, both talented and handsome. It's not easy to find a noblewoman in the capital who matches him."
Queen Mother Gu was also very satisfied with her nephew. Now, hearing Lu Zhiwan praising him, her smile deepened with pride: "I watched him grow up. I'm not bragging, but my nephew is indeed a very good boy."
Speaking of this, he seemed to think of something else: "These days, my sister-in-law has been in frequent contact with Princess Lan Chun of the Liaodong Wang family. She must have that intention..."
Xiao Lanchun?
Lu Zhiwan drooped his eyelashes. It seemed that there was such a minor supporting role in the original novel, whose main task was to promote the relationship between Xiao Ningning and Gu Rongyu.
If I remember correctly, in the original novel, Xiao Lanchun tried to frame the heroine but failed, and after being flatly rejected by Gu Rongyu, he returned to Liaodong in disgrace?
"Princess Lan Chun is a straightforward person. If she and Rong Yu can get along, I will be happy to facilitate this beautiful event." Dowager Gu picked up her teacup and took a sip. "Of course, everything still needs to wait for Rong Yu to come back and see if they are destined to be together."
After hearing this, Lu Zhiwan had an idea in his mind.
Now the Gu family and Queen Mother Gu both want to facilitate the marriage between Xiao Lanchun and Gu Rongyu - if Gu Rongyu can really marry Xiao Lanchun, then what role will the female lead play? Wouldn't the second male lead's line be broken?
Just as she was musing on this thought, Empress Dowager Gu called her again, smiling kindly, "You've been with His Majesty for six months now, so we should be quite familiar with each other. When do you plan to have children and let me become a grandmother soon?"
The topic suddenly changed from urging marriage to urging childbirth. Lu Zhiwan was stunned for a moment, and when he met the expectant curved almond-shaped eyes of Empress Dowager Gu, he suddenly felt guilty as if everything was seen through.
"Your Majesty, I... Your Majesty, I and I..." Lu Zhiwan lowered her head in embarrassment, her voice becoming softer. "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I'll be with you as soon as I get back."
But giving birth to a child is not something she can do alone.
Although the Dog Emperor had kissed her more and more often during this period, and his kissing skills had become more and more proficient, he had yet to move on to the next step——
Lu Zhiwan reasonably suspected that he wouldn't, and felt that if this guy got too excited one day, he might ask her to sit on him and move himself.
Previously, he had been fine with her taking the initiative to hold hands, hug, and kiss, but asking her to take the initiative to teach him that...
Lu Zhiwan's temples twitched. She was a complete novice in theory, so how could she teach him? She didn't care about her reputation.
Seeing her hesitant and drooping brows, Empress Dowager Gu thought she was just shy, chuckled softly, and soothed her gently, "Don't be nervous. I was just mentioning it, and I don't mean to rush you."
At this point, her gentle expression relaxed, and she sighed, "It's already been difficult for you to get Ah Yin to accept you to this point. For the rest, you can just take your time and follow your own comfortable pace."
Lu Zhiwan felt warm at heart when she heard this, and she looked at Queen Mother Gu with even more respect and love: "I will keep your teachings in mind. I will do my best to serve Your Majesty."
"That's good." Queen Mother Gu nodded with satisfaction.
After drinking a cup of tea in the Cining Palace, Lu Zhiwan stood up and took his leave.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he walked out of the gate of Cining Palace, he ran into Xiao Lanchun and the prince Xiao Zhengfeng who came to visit the empress dowager.
This pair of siblings are twins, a boy and a girl, and they look very similar. Xiao Lanchun has a round face, and Xiao Zhengfeng also has a round face, both of which are fair and clean. If they were put on a modern talent show, they would definitely be cute little puppies.
When they saw Lu Zhiwan coming out of the Cining Palace, they were a little surprised. When they came to their senses, they hurriedly bowed and greeted him.
"Greetings to Her Majesty Zhao Fei, may Her Majesty be well and at peace."
"Princess, Prince, there's no need to be so polite."
Lu Zhiwan raised her hand to support him, a polite smile on her fair face: "Are you here to pay your respects to the Queen Mother as well? What a coincidence."
Because of Concubine Gu, Xiao Lanchun didn't like Lu Zhiwan, and her attitude in answering was also a little cold: "I didn't expect that Concubine Zhao would also come to pay her respects to the Queen Mother."
Lu Zhiwan's eyes flickered, but his smile remained unchanged: "What do you mean, Princess?"
Xiao Lanchun glanced at her, lowered her head, and slowly stroked the embroidery on her hibiscus-colored cuffs. "People say that the Emperor favors Consort Zhao very much. When she was still a concubine, she was exempted from paying respects to Consort Gui every day. I thought that now that you have become a concubine, you can even skip the Empress Dowager's visit."
Could it be that this little girl is trying to stand up for the imperial concubine?
Lu Zhiwan raised his eyebrows slightly, and looked at Xiao Lanchun's face with a clear sense of stupidity, and couldn't help but click his tongue.
Could it be that in the original novel, this guy tried again and again to destroy the relationship between Gu Rongyu and Xiao Ningning, but only provided assists every time... Now it seems that he really is an unreliable cannon fodder.
However, if her status and ability to act are used in the right place, she can be a very good helper...
A bold idea popped up in Lu Zhiwan's mind, and her eyes gradually brightened as she looked at Xiao Lanchun.
Xiao Lanchun frowned: "..........."
What's this Concubine Zhao doing? I'm mocking her, why is she looking at me with such a disgusting smile?
"My princess may have misunderstood. It was His Majesty who issued the decree, exempting me from paying my respects to the Imperial Concubine. I personally wanted to go pay my respects to the Imperial Concubine, after all, it would be a good opportunity to get close to the sisters in the harem. But it is difficult to disobey the Imperial Will..."
Lu Zhiwan frowned, a look of helplessness and melancholy on her face. "If you don't believe me, you can ask His Majesty. Let's see if I'm being arrogant and deliberately not paying my respects to the Imperial Concubine, or if His Majesty is the one who decided this matter alone."
When she mentioned the emperor, Xiao Lanchun was speechless. She hesitated for a long time and didn't know what to say.
It was the Crown Prince Xiao Zhengfeng who stepped forward, bowed to Lu Zhiwan, and apologized awkwardly, "My sister and I are new to the capital, and we don't know much about the palace. My sister only heard this from hearsay, and there may be a misunderstanding. I hope Her Majesty Zhao Fei will be magnanimous and not hold it against me, and definitely not take it to heart."
This little puppy has some good sense.
Lu Zhiwan blinked his eyelashes lightly and smiled, "You are too polite, my lord. We are all family. It's just a casual chat, why should I care?"
Xiao Zhengfeng's brows relaxed slightly: "Your Majesty is right."
Having said that, Xiao Lanchun didn't want to stay any longer. Just as she was about to go to the Cining Palace, Lu Zhiwan stopped her and said, "Princess, please stay."
Xiao Lanchun's heart skipped a beat. Her first reaction was, "This treacherous concubine pretended to be indifferent, but now she's going to attack me again? She's really not a good person."
When he turned around, he was met with Lu Zhiwan's smiling face with curved eyebrows and eyes.
"Princess, may I have a moment to talk?"
“...........”
Xiao Lanchun was full of questions, but she knew not to hit someone who smiled at her. Moreover, this was in the harem, so it would be bad to make things awkward in front of so many people.
After hesitating for a few breaths, Xiao Lanchun pursed her lips and nodded, "Okay."
Anyway, we are in front of the Cining Palace, so I don’t think she would dare to do anything to me.
The two of them walked one after the other to the front of the long palace alley. After making sure that no one could hear their conversation, Lu Zhiwan turned his gaze to the round-faced girl in front of him.
At the age of sixteen, he would only be in the first year of high school in modern times.
"Don't be nervous, Princess. I just want to tell you something."
"What's the matter?" Xiao Lanchun frowned and looked at Lu Zhiwan with a wary expression.
"To be honest, I know a little bit about physiognomy."
Lu Zhiwan remained calm and started to talk nonsense: "I see that the princess has a rosy complexion and a broad brow. This is a sign that the red star is moving and a good marriage is approaching."
Xiao Lanchun frowned: "............"
His face was full of disbelief.
Lu Zhiwan didn't care and continued to talk nonsense: "I just calculated for the princess, there is a Qingyun Temple outside the capital. In the next seven days, you will definitely meet your sweetheart there."
Qingyun Temple, within seven days?
Xiao Lanchun's brows furrowed even tighter. "I haven't been in contact with Concubine Zhao before. Why are you suddenly telling me this?"
Lu Zhiwan smiled and said, "Maybe it's fate. I felt a sense of familiarity the first time I saw you, princess. Besides, since you are His Majesty's cousin, you are also my cousin. It's natural for a cousin's wife to care about her cousin. Princess, don't you think so?"
Xiao Lanchun: "..." Do you think I believe a single word you say?
Lu Zhiwan also knew that this move was a bit risky, but she thought it was better to give it a try than to do nothing. What if...
"I just figured it out, so I'm just giving you a heads up. If you're not interested in a good match, just pretend I didn't say anything today."
After saying this, she smiled calmly, said nothing more, and left in the sedan chair.
"Farewell to Her Majesty the Concubine Zhao——"
The palace maids bowed in unison on both sides.
Seeing his sister standing there with a frown on her face, Xiao Zhengfeng couldn't help but move closer and asked, "Sister, what did Concubine Zhao say to you?"
Twins, a boy and a girl, born from the same pregnancy are closer than ordinary siblings. Xiao Lanchun did not hide it from him and told him the truth about what Lu Zhiwan had said.
Xiao Zhengfeng was stunned for a moment, then he looked at Xiao Lanchun with his eyes wide open: "Sister, are you going to Qingyun Temple tomorrow?"
Xiao Lanchun's mouth twitched slightly, and she raised her hand to pat her silly brother on the head: "Fuck off, I don't believe it!"
***
After leaving the Cining Palace, Lu Zhiwan returned to the Lifeng Palace to play with Xiao Fugui for a while, and was then summoned to the Yangxin Palace to have dinner with another ancestor.
When she arrived at the Yangxin Palace, the sun had already set and the sky was filled with sunset glow.
In the courtyard where red maples were in full bloom, the man in a dark purple brocade robe stood tall and graceful, with one hand behind his back, quietly enjoying the autumn scenery.
The evening breeze blew gently, and Lu Zhiwan looked at the man's face, which was more beautiful than a red maple, and her expression was dazed.
"What a beautiful face..."
"What a pity, such a beautiful face belongs to such a bastard."
“…”
The tall dark purple figure slowly turned around, the man lowered his thick eyebrows, and stared at her with sharp eyes, his expression unfriendly.
Lu Zhiwan shuddered and quickly paid her respects: "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. May your Majesty be well and prosperous."
Xiao Jingting was no longer surprised by her habit of saying one thing and thinking another. He glanced at her calmly and said, "Come here."
Lu Zhiwan quickly responded with a "yes" and walked to the man's side. Only then did she realize that he was not only looking at the maple leaf, but also a dead leaf butterfly lying quietly on the maple leaf.
"Your Majesty, isn't he busy with government affairs today?" she asked casually.
"fine."
Xiao Jingting said, and looked at her again: "What did you do today?"
She didn't know when he started asking her about her day.
Lu Zhiwan just thought of it as reporting the day's work to his boss and told him his daily itinerary truthfully.
Upon learning that she had gone to the Cining Palace, Xiao Jingting asked her what she had talked about with the empress dowager.
Since she was free anyway, Lu Zhiwan gave a brief account of the situation and concluded by saying, "The Gu family seems quite interested in Princess Lan Chun. When I left the Cining Palace, I even ran into Princess Lan Chun and the Crown Prince who came to pay a visit."
"I don't know if Xiao Lanchun listened to what I said... This is a great opportunity to leave a deep impression on Gu Rongyu!"
"The Empress Dowager must have suffered enough from arranged marriages, otherwise she would have simply issued an imperial decree to arrange a marriage for Gu Rongyu, and wouldn't the matter have been settled?... However, this kind of arranged marriage is certainly unfair to Gu Rongyu. If the marriage is unhappy, wouldn't it create a lot of resentful couples?"
"Well, never mind. The opportunity has been given to the young princess anyway. Whether she can seize the initiative depends on her own charm. It's a pity that my status is limited. Otherwise, if I were Xiao Lanchun, or some unmarried young lady from the capital, I would have done it myself."
She kept muttering to herself until she felt a chill running through her body.
Her long eyelashes trembled and she slowly raised her eyes.
The sunset glow was like brocade, the red maple leaves looked like fire, but the face of the man in front of her was as gloomy as ice. The cold aura that spread silently was like an invisible hand strangling her neck, making the hairs on her body stand up.
Swallowing dryly, she called out anxiously, "Your Majesty?"
The tall figure suddenly took a step forward, and Lu Zhiwan's heart seemed to skip a beat.
She raised her head nervously. The man in front of her looked down at her, his narrow black eyes slightly narrowed, as if there was a dangerous undercurrent surging.
As their eyes met, everything around them seemed to come to a standstill.
After a long moment, Xiao Jingting stared at her, his thin lips parted slightly, his deep voice carrying a chilling chill: "Do you like Gu Rongyu very much?"
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