Sweet Spring
The long night was as dark as water, and the sound of splashing water could be heard from time to time in the silence. The clear hot spring reflected the black sandalwood screens on all sides, which were painted with vermilion dragon and phoenix patterns, mating around their necks. Where the phoenix tails hung, four gold-carved square palace lanterns hung on the edge of the stone bricks. The dim light shone on the skin, making the man's broad arms and moon-white skin stand out even more.
A pair of pink and white fingers suddenly scratched a bloody mark on the side of his neck. He stepped back slightly, and the person in his arms took the opportunity to walk towards the shore. The soft spring water blocked her progress, and before she could go far, she was caught up by Liu Che again. The warmth hit her body violently, and she bit her lip, leaving only the hem of her skirt floating on the water like a fish tail.
"You...get away from me!"
She felt like a fish caught in a net, unable to escape the fine mesh no matter how hard she struggled. She was manipulated at will by his will, north or south, completely drained of strength. Liu Che, however, found this to be a truly sinister amusement. While offering sweet words, he twisted and turned her, letting her playfully play. Sometimes he would deliberately let her escape, only to pull her back before she could even reach the edge of the stone wall. Several attempts to struggle proved futile, and he only teased her. She was so enraged that she wanted to smash his head into pieces with the palace lantern on the wall.
With her rapid breathing, her chest rose and fell dramatically, pushing the surrounding water waves slightly, and the waves lightly touched his chest. Looking at her eyes that were wide open, almost spitting fire, he curled the corners of his mouth unconsciously, stopped teasing her, and lifted her up from the bottom of the water, using the buoyancy of the water surface to speed up his movements.
Ah Jiao couldn't help but call out, completely limp in his hands. Her voice was weak, but her eyes were blazing with ferocity. "Well, Liu Che, you don't take my words seriously at all. You only care about yourself, you scoundrel, old, ugly boar! You're still playing these tricks at your age. You have so many people in your harem, and you're always flirting with this beauty or that beauty. How come you haven't been played to death yet?"
He was kicked in the heart by her, and he endured the pain to put her safely in the water, and then climbed up in a mess.
"You're older than me. If we're talking about age, you're older than me. A man is in his prime at forty-one, but a woman is old and ugly..."
"I'm wrong, I'm wrong, auntie, be quiet, you have to see people tomorrow."
He picked up the fallen palace lantern and put on his clothes.
"Meet people? Who are you meeting? Aren't you the biggest bitch? You still have some shame. You're the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, yet you actually use such despicable means to deal with me!"
"We are all family, why do we need to save face?"
"Who says you are family?"
"She's my cousin, and she's my legally married wife. It's just a boudoir pleasure at best. Why would you say that so harshly..."
Ah Jiao sneered, "Your queen is staying in Changsheng Palace. Bring me my clothes."
"If you don't like me, I will draft an edict tonight to depose the queen, and tomorrow we will return to the palace to hold the ceremony of crowning her." Liu Che didn't care at all. He took a cup of tea and a bowl of snacks and sat down on the shore. "Drink some water, my throat is hoarse."
Gillian's eyes flashed with cold knives, "Go over there."
"What are you afraid of? Not to mention now, when we were kids, we used to fight naked in the same pool. Who hasn't seen that before?"
"Liu Che, you're itching for trouble, aren't you?"
She always had a bad temper, and the teasing made her blush. Liu Che knew when to stop, put the things down angrily, and turned to get her clothes.
She hastily put on her inner skirt and a gauze dress, then walked to the seat closest to the ice tub, sat down and took a big gulp of water.
"Why is it hot? You want to burn me to death?" In fact, it was not too hot, just warm enough to enter the mouth, but she was very hot and her face was red. Seeing Liu Che's refreshed look, she felt more unhappy and unhappy no matter how she looked at it.
"It's not good for your health to drink cold water right after you've sweated. What if my child gets frozen?"
She didn't swallow the water and spat it out, splashing it all at him. Liu Che turned sideways and laughed triumphantly.
Ah Jiao looked at him mockingly, sizing him up and down. "Your Majesty, I'm not saying this, but things are different now. You haven't even given birth to a child in three to five years, yet you treat that loser Liu Ju like a treasure."
"If you give birth to a child for me, I will immediately depose him." Liu Che suddenly walked over, hugged her from behind, and stroked her abdomen with his big hands.
She shuddered unconsciously and twisted her body to avoid his touch, but it only made her hug tighter. His hands made it hard for her to breathe, and he wrapped around her body like a giant python. She gasped for breath and was soon drawn into the endless darkness.
The nights were endless, and the days were too short. During the few days they had been in Ganquan Palace, Liu Che had indulged himself to excess under the guise of self-cultivation, and she could not bear it any longer. She only hoped that things would get a little more complicated in Chang'an Palace, so that he wouldn't bother her after he had enough to eat and drink.
After days of scorching sun, a torrential downpour finally fell today, and the overcast sky seemed surprisingly beautiful. She and several young palace maids set up screens and a tent, fumigated the mosquitoes with wormwood, and then played pitching pot inside.
"Oh, why did I lose again..." Gillian threw an arrow in her hand, and it landed next to the pot. She picked up a glass of wine and drank it.
The eunuchs have been following her these past few days. His Majesty has ordered that they must stay by her side whenever she goes out. They also know how favored she is, and were trembling with fear at first. But after getting along with her for these past few days, they found that this Lady Gu was actually quite friendly, easy to talk to, and generous with her food, drink, and entertainment, so they also felt a lot more relaxed.
"No more playing, no more playing. Did you do something to the arrows? Why do you always hit the target with your first shot?"
De'an smiled and said, "How could we dare to play tricks with you? We are here in Ganquan Palace to accompany Your Majesty on hunting trips. With practice, your archery skills will become more accurate, and throwing pots will be no problem. In a few days, Your Majesty will take you there to practice your skills, and then you can come and play with us and it will be different."
"Your Majesty has been busy these days and has no time to care about me. Just pick a horse for me and take me directly to the hunting grounds."
"Well... you'd better wait for His Majesty to take you there. Our archery skills are no match for His Majesty's."
"Why? I heard that the royal gardens allow others to enter. Am I not qualified?"
"How could that be possible?" De'an said, "Your Majesty arrived so suddenly that the fence of the enclosure hasn't been repaired yet. The hill is not high to begin with, and many people come here to collect herbs. We were afraid someone would break in and disturb you."
"That's no big deal. The edge of the enclosure is guarded by imperial guards, and they're afraid of letting anyone in."
"Other places are easy to deal with, but in the southeast corner, the forest is tall and dense, the grass is as tall as a person, there are poisonous snakes, insects and ants, and you often hear wild beasts.
Roaring, two years ago, a few Yulin guards were on guard at night, and one of them went to the toilet and was left alone. He was gnawed until only bones were left. The horses didn't dare to go in, and the guards didn't dare to go deep into the cave.
"Is there such a thing? What kind of beast is so powerful? It can't be a python, right?"
"How can a snake roar? They all say it's a tiger. The late emperor kept it here, but then no one cared about it, so it hid in a cave. No one can find it, and no one dares to go in."
As they were talking, the sky suddenly became overcast and raindrops hit the nose of a palace maid. They hurriedly escorted A Jiao back to the inner hall. As they were walking to the corridor, they ran into Liu Che walking towards her with an umbrella.
"You're back so late, where have you been?"
He kept a close eye on her, asking about her where she went and what she ate, as long as she wasn't under his watch. Except when they were discussing government matters with the accompanying ministers, the two of them were always together, and the sight of him annoyed her. Gillian rolled her eyes at him, then walked around him and into the door.
"Why do you care where I went? I haven't asked you where you went."
Liu Che brushed the rain off himself and followed her skirt to the table. He smiled and said, "I just met Yao Yan in the government hall. He said there's been some unrest in the East Sea Kingdom. The Enfeoffment Order has been in effect for so long, but they're still restless, hoping to change it. They've been secretly communicating with the surrounding marquisates several times, and their words are quite provocative."
"You've divided up their power and their land. Donghai is a rich place with the most salt mines. With the enfeoffment and the state-run salt and iron industries, it would be strange if the King of Donghai didn't want to make some small moves. Speaking of seniority, he's your uncle, taking advantage of his age and being a playboy. He has dozens of concubines, and he has the most. That's why he's not willing to listen to you."
Liu Che smiled and said, "My aunt has often urged me to give your second nephew a title. What do you think?"
"If you're going to do it, do it with great force. Why worry about the royal family, the old uncle, the third aunt, etc.? Cut them off first, so as to shock the people. This is not the time when you first ascended the throne. We have soldiers and money now. Why should we be afraid of them..."
Gillian didn't care and said, "It has nothing to do with me what place they want to be granted or how many marquises they want to be granted. I haven't settled the score with them yet."
"That's right. We have soldiers and money now. The old uncle wants to cause trouble for me, but I won't let him have his way."
Liu Che had a slightly happy smile on his face. Ah Jiao knew she had said something wrong and turned her head away. "Who would want to talk to you? If you are really that powerful, give me a fiefdom and I will sing your praises and promote your new policies."
"You won't be the one to offend anyone like that. Don't worry. Zhang Yannian has already submitted a letter impeaching several ministers who had dealings with the King of Donghai. The evidence is solid and the writing is beautiful. I was worried that the Crown Prince might be weak and indecisive, but having Zhang Yannian by his side to counsel him is a good thing. I really made the right decision to promote him."
Ah Jiao paused while chewing the pastry, a little absent-minded. Zhang Yannian... should he tell Liu Che?
She recalled the moment she'd first seen him in Changxin Palace: towering as a mountain, smooth as jade, clad in a jade cap and silk robe, upright and dignified. The gentleman he'd once been was no pretense; she wondered how he'd ended up in this state. She sighed. She'd just have to be more careful. He still had a mother, servants, and relatives in Jiangdong. One person's sin could implicate the entire clan, so there was no need to worry about him doing anything directly to Liu Che; it would simply be a case of using someone else's knife to kill someone. Now that she knew his intentions, she wouldn't fall for his tricks again, and Liu Che would be safe.
Thinking so, she swallowed the cake with tea. As long as he didn't cause any more trouble, she would leave it like this for now.
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