Li Rong heard this and smiled softly. She opened the small golden fan in her hand, covering half of her face, and smiled with her eyes squinting, "Then I will wait for good news from Master Pei."
Pei Wenxuan bowed his head and respectfully saw Li Rong off.
Li Rong put away the small fan and walked out.
When they reached the outer gate, they saw the palace maids waiting outside. Li Rong's face turned cold, and she said to the person next to her, "Drive, go to the East Palace."
Not long after Li Rong left, the queen slowly came back to her senses. She straightened her appearance for a moment, then raised her voice to the outside: "Shan De."
When the call was heard from the outer hall, Shande hurried in, knelt before the queen and said, "Your Majesty."
The queen sat on the golden throne and said tiredly, "Call Pei Wenxuan in."
Shan De was stunned at first, but then he realized that the queen probably didn't know Pei Wenxuan was outside the door. However, he didn't say anything more, just responded in a low voice, turned to the door, and said loudly: "Xuan, Pei Wenxuan is here to see you--"
Pei Wenxuan bowed to Shan De and then walked out of the door. The queen was sitting on the golden throne, supporting her forehead with her hand. When she saw him come in, she raised her eyes and stared at the young man quietly.
Pei Wenxuan walked into the hall with a calm expression and knelt down to pay his respects. The queen stared at him. After a moment, she spoke slowly, "Were you outside the hall just now?"
If he had entered from the outer door, he would not have appeared in front of her so quickly.
Pei Wenxuan knelt on the ground and said calmly, "Just now the princess asked me to stay outside the palace and wait for the queen to summon me."
The Queen nodded, and Shande retreated tactfully and waited outside. The Queen stood up and said in a low voice: "You also heard what I talked to the princess just now."
Pei Wenxuan didn't say anything, but the queen knew that he acquiesced. She was silent for a moment, then said slowly, "Your father passed away early, and there is no elder in your family to help you with your future. It will be of no benefit to you to get involved in the affairs of the palace. Don't mention what happened last night to anyone. After you go back, I will assign you another official position and arrange a marriage for you with a family of equal status. You don't have to worry."
Pei Wenxuan remained silent. The queen seemed to have a headache. She held her forehead and asked, "What else are you dissatisfied with?"
"Thank you, Madam, for understanding my difficulties and planning for my future. However, there is one thing I do not understand."
"What is it?"
"If I retreat," Pei Wenxuan raised his head and met the Queen's gaze, "Your Highness, what should I do?"
“That’s not your concern.”
The Queen spoke in a cold voice. Pei Wenxuan looked at the Queen and said calmly, "What if I want to consider it?"
"What do you mean?"
The Queen frowned, and Pei Wenxuan said calmly, "Your Majesty, last night Concubine Ning entered Weiyang Palace and used coercion and inducement to tie Yang and the Crown Prince together. Then she went to Concubine Rou's palace. Your Majesty never thought about why she went to Concubine Rou's palace."
The queen froze and said, "You say."
"Now Yang is wholeheartedly trying to get close to the princess, and Concubine Rou is enjoying great favor. Concubine Ning went to Concubine Rou to ask her to help Yang marry the princess. But Concubine Rou and the empress and the prince are mortal enemies. If it is a good thing for Yang to form an alliance with the princess, why would she help? It can be seen that Yang's marriage to the princess must have hidden dangers. I hope Your Majesty will think twice."
The Queen said nothing. She was silent. Pei Wenxuan continued, "Yang promised the Queen the military power. But if Yang still has the power to resist, then the alliance with the Crown Prince is a complement. If Yang is a fish out of water and just fights desperately, then the alliance with the Crown Prince is to drag the Crown Prince into the quagmire. The Crown Prince has no actual military power. The only military power is in the hands of the Queen's mother's family, the Shangguan family. What Your Majesty fears most now is that the Crown Prince is the eldest son. If you want to abolish him, you are afraid that the ministers will be angry and shake the foundation of the country. But if the Crown Prince has made a mistake now, do you think that the Yang and Shangguan families can suppress the ministers and Your Majesty together?"
"In your opinion," the queen hesitated, "what should we do now?"
"Your Majesty, you don't need to do anything," Pei Wenxuan said calmly, "These people all have their own plans. Now, Your Majesty and the Crown Prince only need to do two things. First, after I leave Weiyang Palace, Your Majesty will immediately block any news about me entering the palace and the princess being with me last night."
"I have already done this." The Queen was a little surprised. "Why do you want me to do this?"
"With your Majesty's eyes and ears in the palace, what the Queen did cannot be concealed." Pei Wenxuan said calmly, "The Queen targeted me, so I can gain your Majesty's trust. So next, what the Crown Prince has to do is to prepare a memorial to impeach Yang. Once Yang is in trouble," Pei Wenxuan raised his eyes and said seriously, "The Crown Prince should impeach Yang immediately and then promptly provide a replacement candidate for the post of Zhenbei General."
"Why is that?"
"Your Highness will know in the future."
Pei Wenxuan looked at the empress and said, "I just don't know if your Majesty can trust me now?"
The queen looked at Pei Wenxuan, a man who looked to be no more than twenty years old, but he spoke clearly and was thoughtful. Even when facing someone as high-ranking as her, he remained calm and did not look like a teenager at all.
He stared at the queen quietly for a long time before the queen asked, "What do you want?"
As she spoke, she stood up and said, "You are just an eighth-rank official. Why did you get involved in the disputes in the palace?"
"If you don't have ambitions, why don't you just quit?" Pei Wenxuan said calmly, "Aren't the people in the court all seeking the same thing?"
"Then why choose the prince?"
The queen stared at Pei Wenxuan, who pondered for a moment and told the truth.
"I, your humble servant, cannot bear to see Her Royal Highness being humiliated."
"Do you like my son?" The queen looked somewhat enlightened, and Pei Wenxuan was speechless.
After a moment, he bowed respectfully and said, "I wish to plant a phoenix tree in my yard and lead the phoenix home."
The queen looked at Pei Wenxuan in silence for a long time before finally saying, "You go."
"I will take my leave."
Pei Wenxuan saluted and then stood up calmly.
He walked out of the gate slowly, and a eunuch came out and led him to a sedan chair.
Not long after he got into the sedan, he felt that the sedan was going in the wrong direction.
He had been in and out of the palace for many years in his previous life and was already familiar with the place. After lifting the curtain and taking a quick look, he knew that the sedan chair had turned towards the direction of Yu's study.
After a moment's thought, he realized that it was Li Ming who had received the news from Weiyang Palace and was probably summoning him there.
Pei Wenxuan calmed down a bit and pretended to take a nap. When the sedan stopped, he heard a voice calling him, "Master Pei?"
He pretended to wake up from his sleep, opened his eyes half-heartedly, and saw the eunuch in front of him with a smile on his face. He was a little dazed: "My lord is..."
"I am Fulai, the servant of your majesty. Your majesty has summoned Lord Pei. Please move aside, Lord Pei."
Hearing this, Pei Wenxuan pretended to be shocked, then hurriedly got down from the sedan chair and followed Fulai into the courtyard of Yu's study.
He followed Fulai trembling with fear, asking, "Sir, do you know why His Majesty summoned me?"
Fulai smiled and said, "Your Excellency should know the answer."
Pei Wenxuan's face changed, but he didn't say anything. When he reached the door, he saw Yang Quan standing there. Pei Wenxuan walked over and saluted Yang Quan. Fu Lai told the two to wait here and walked in.
After Fu Lai entered, Pei Wenxuan glanced at Yang Quan and asked with a smile, "What are you doing here today, Master Yang?"
Yang Quan looked at Pei Wenxuan coldly and said calmly, "Propose marriage."
"Then the Lord may be disappointed." Pei Wenxuan folded his hands in front of him, stood up straight, and whispered, "I'm afraid this matter is settled."
"What do you mean?"
Yang Quan raised his eyes to look at Pei Wenxuan, who smiled and asked, "Sir, why did I turn back last night?"
Hearing this, Yang Quan's expression suddenly changed.
Others could not hear anything, but Yang Quan knew clearly that his ambush last night should have been unknown to anyone, but Pei Wenxuan not only knew about it, but also turned back and even saved the princess and spent the night alone with her.
"Your Majesty is a wise ruler," Pei Wenxuan said in a low voice, "Lord Yang has nothing to be unwilling about. You should go back to the northwest. The mulberry flowers there are very beautiful."
Sangge flowers are the flowers sprinkled on coffins during funerals in the northwest. Most people in Huajing did not understand what it meant, but Yang Quan was sure of Pei Wenxuan's meaning.
Pei Wenxuan was the prince consort who had been chosen long ago. When something went wrong yesterday, the emperor asked him to come over quickly and used Yang Quan as a wedding dress to pave the way for Pei Wenxuan and the princess.
The Yang family was doomed to a dead end. Not only did the emperor know all this, he even told Pei Wenxuan, the ignorant idiot, so that he could show off in front of him.
Pei Wenxuan saw that Yang Quan was furious, so he smiled and said nothing. At this time, the emperor summoned him from the palace.
The two men entered the hall together. Li Ming was reading a memorial. The two men bowed, and Li Ming stood still.
Li Ming drank his tea slowly, then raised his eyes and asked, "Are you here?"
As he spoke, Li Ming looked at Pei Wenxuan and said, "Pei Aiqing, please get up."
Pei Wenxuan immediately responded with a joyful "yes", then stood up and stood aside. Yang Quan knelt on the ground and clenched his fists.
Li Ming glanced at him and said calmly, "What are you doing here?"
"I have come here today to ask for marriage from Your Majesty."
Yang Quan spoke respectfully, and Li Ming raised his eyebrows: "Propose marriage? Who do you want to marry?"
"I am very pleased with Princess Pingle," Yang Quan said stiffly, "I hope Your Majesty will grant me an order to marry you."
"Well," Li Ming nodded, but said, "I need to think about this matter again. Pei Aiqing," Li Ming turned to look at Pei Wenxuan, stood up, "Come with me to the garden for a walk."
Pei Wenxuan agreed, and hurried forward to help Li Ming up, and walked past Yang Quan. When he reached the door, Pei Wenxuan suddenly remembered: "Your Majesty, Lord Yang is still kneeling."
"Oh." Li Ming seemed to have suddenly remembered, turned his head to look at Yang Quan, and said calmly, "Get up, if there is nothing else, go back."
After saying that, Li Ming led Pei Wenxuan and walked slowly towards the Yu Garden.
When they reached a less crowded place, the attendants around them did not follow them at some point. Pei Wenxuan supported Li Ming and heard Li Ming slowly say, "I heard that you saved Pingle last night."
Pei Wenxuan didn't say anything. Li Ming raised his eyes and asked, "Why don't you say anything?"
Pei Wenxuan stopped for a long time, then he took a deep breath, as if he had made some important decision, walked around to the front of Li Ming, and knelt down in front of Li Ming.
"Your Majesty, I beg you to save my life!" He kowtowed deeply, his tone mournful.