The old emperor
She must have been very useful, as the place the Pei family and King Zhao had "invited" her to stay was dilapidated, but the house itself was fully furnished. The furnishings inside were even elegant and unique, showing considerable ingenuity.
"Second Madam, I see that your maid has an injury on her face, so I have found some pain-relieving and blood-dissolving ointment. Please open the door." Ling Wan was looking at the furnishings in the room curiously when suddenly an oriole's cry was heard outside the door.
"I... I don't need it, you can take it back." Lu Yun immediately leaned against the door with his back and said loudly.
Ling Wan immediately put the curtain back on and sat upright at the round table.
The voice behind the door laughed like a silver bell: "You little maid are really unruly. Your mistress hasn't even said anything yet, and you're the first to refuse on your mistress's behalf?"
"Luoyun, this girl is kind, let her in." Ling Wan straightened her posture and became the dignified wife of the right prime minister again.
The door was pushed open, and first a burst of fragrance rushed in, followed by a beautiful woman coming in.
She was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with a beautiful face and a voluptuous figure. She was a graceful and elegant woman with mature temperament.
"Second Madam." She held two bottles of ointment and bowed slowly towards Chao Lingwan.
Ling Wan was stunned for a moment, then nodded slightly in return, motioning her to sit down.
"My name is Yun Miao. Just now, Second Madam called me 'girl'. I was really embarrassed!" Yun Miao was not polite either. As soon as she sat down, her eyes flashed, she covered her mouth and smiled, with a gentle charm between her eyebrows.
The woman has all kinds of colors. If she didn't know that she was now imprisoned, Chen Yuanyuan would definitely appreciate it.
"I was rude and made Madam Yun Miao laugh at me." Ling Wan changed her address, lowered her eyes slightly, and apologized with a faint smile.
The tone that was neither humble nor arrogant but polite and distant made Yun Miao's smile fade slightly, and he began to look seriously at the quiet lady sitting in front of him for the first time.
She has a slender figure and elegant manners. Although she is covered by a layer of white gauze that reaches her ankles, one can still vaguely see her unparalleled elegance as she holds the pipa and half-covers her face.
Seeing that Xu Lingwan's tone and posture didn't show any contempt, Yun Miao couldn't help but sit up a little straighter. "Second Madam, you are too polite. How can such a humble room be suitable for a beauty? It is I who am rude."
This is an interesting statement, with some of the subtle witty exchanges among scholars today.
Ling Wan smiled faintly: "This is a humble room, but my virtue is fragrant. Pei Gong used this abandoned house as a base for the secret guards in the palace. I think it serves as a reminder to me from time to time."
Yun Miao's eyes suddenly became stern, and murderous intent surged in them.
Ling Wan looked at him calmly.
Nowadays, it's a common practice among wealthy families to keep secret guards. She hadn't known this when she was a daughter of the Xu family, but since marrying into the Shen family and becoming the Second Madam, secretly disbursing the secret guards' funds every month has become one of her responsibilities as the mistress of the family.
"The mistresses of the Shen family are indeed extraordinary." After a moment of silence, Yun Miao stared at Xu Lingwan, then smiled and clapped her hands.
Ling Wan said calmly, "Madam, you are so kind."
Yun Miao smiled wryly, "Second Madam is clever, but do you know that cleverness can backfire?"
"Then what does the cleverness that Madam refers to? Does it mean that Pei Gong gave up the useless son King Zhao, or that the royal family used King Zhao as a raft?" Ling Wan asked with interest.
"You—" Yun Miao suddenly stood up, pointed at Xu Lingwan and shouted angrily, "How dare you!"
really.
King Zhao thought he was the mantis behind the plot to seize the Right Prime Minister's wife. Little did he know that his own father had already used him as a pawn, while he was the oriole behind the scenes.
"Xu Shuwei's daughter is interesting." When the two were in a stalemate, the door was pushed open again with a "creaky" sound, and an old man in a wheelchair appeared in front of Chen Yuanyuan first. Behind him and beside him were a tall and mighty middle-aged man and a delicate child of eight or nine years old.
Yun Miao quickly moved aside and knelt down to pay her respects.
Lu Yun suddenly rushed to Xu Lingwan and stared at the newcomer with a wary look on his face.
"Don't be so presumptuous." Xu Lingwan understood most of what she had said. She hummed softly, took the veil, stepped forward to block the green cloud, knelt down and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, your humble servant, Shen Xu, pays respects to His Majesty. May Your Majesty be in good health and may His Majesty live forever."
Before he could finish his words, the old emperor coughed several times like a bellows in his chest.
Chen Yuanyuan quickly spoke up again, "I was rude just now and I don't know how Your Majesty sees me. I hope Your Majesty will consider my loyalty and forgive my unintentional offense."
Old Emperor:...
He seemed not to hear, and walked straight past Xu Lingwan to the table, signaling the person behind him to pour him some water to moisten his throat.
Ling Wan knelt on the ground, feeling as if a blade-like gaze was cutting down from above, cold and gleaming.
If she was calm and composed towards Madam Yun Miao just now, then she did not expect that the old emperor would come in person. She began to review the conversation while a layer of cold sweat broke out on her back.
"Xi'er, go help your teacher's wife up." After about half a cup of tea, the old emperor gave a light instruction to his youngest son beside him.
The little prince was young, but Chen Yuanyuan didn't dare underestimate him. It wasn't because of his noble status, but because every member of the Xiao family's bloodline was a political monster, automatically unlocking various palace fighting skills from the age of seven.
Looking back at the history of the Zhou Dynasty, Emperor Xiao of Zhou ascended the throne at the age of three, and at the age of nine he was able to secretly contact military generals to launch a coup to seize the palace; Emperor Wu of Zhou succeeded to the throne at the age of eight, cracked down on local tyrants and conquered the countries in the Western Regions. Facing the provocation of the Tatars under internal and external troubles, this 1.30-meter-tall child was tougher than a 1.40-meter-tall general, and would never negotiate peace but fought to the death.
This old emperor who seemed to be in his twilight years learned to play crazy and stupid at the age of three to avoid the persecution of Queen Huan.
No matter how old they are, all the members of the Xiao family are not easy to deal with.
"You were eloquent just now, why are you speechless when you see me now?" Chen Yuanyuan was daydreaming when she was suddenly pulled back to reality by the old emperor.
She lowered her head even lower, thought for a moment, and said, "This is my first time seeing the Emperor, and I was terrified for a moment."
"You can even insinuate behind my back that I'm using my son to kill my ministers and reap the benefits, but I don't see any fear in you."
The old emperor's voice was so low and soft, but to Ling Wan it sounded like a death warrant, so she immediately knelt down again.
"Just answer whatever I ask. There's no need to kneel all the time." As soon as Xu Lingwan bent her knees, the emperor's light words forced her to stand up straight again in fear and trepidation.
"Are you afraid of me?" Maybe it was because Chen Yuanyuan's movements were too stiff or what, but the old emperor's voice seemed to have a hint of laughter.
Chen Yuanyuan felt strange, but couldn't tell what was strange, so she just said it as it was.
The old emperor laughed and asked again, "Why are you afraid of me?"
Chen Yuanyuan exclaimed in her heart, that's because this is ancient times! It's a feudal era where imperial power is supreme and the emperor is the only one!
As if he saw Xu Lingwan was about to flatter him, the old emperor smiled and added, "You must not deceive the emperor."
Ling Wan swallowed the words that were about to come out of her mouth, thought for a moment, and said truthfully, "Because you are His Majesty."
"Oh? If I were not the emperor, wouldn't you be afraid?" The old emperor became interested and made an assumption.
Ling Wan thought of his extremely aggressive actions before and after he ascended the throne, and shook her head again truthfully: "I'm afraid."
There are countless cases in history where the emperor was used to control other princes. The power of an emperor has always been in the person rather than in the position.
"Then why are you afraid?"
Ling Wan lowered her eyes and remained silent. After a moment, she gave up resistance and said, "I am a foolish woman and do not know how to answer. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
I didn't know how to answer. If I answered, it would be like assuming that the old emperor was not the Son of Heaven, which would be disrespectful; if I didn't answer or answered randomly, it would be like despising the emperor and committing the crime of deceiving the emperor.
"Are you afraid of Chen Cong?" The old emperor suddenly changed his tone.
Ling Wan shuddered, unsure of his intention. She gritted her teeth and replied, "I'm not afraid."
"Oh? Mr. Pei, tell me, everyone knows that Prime Minister Chen's methods are cruel, why is his wife not afraid of a cruel official, but afraid of me?" The old emperor laughed at the tall middle-aged man beside him, and his voice could not tell whether he was happy or angry.
When the words "Pei Gong" came out, Ling Wan almost screamed out loud, and her spine felt even colder.
The Duke of Zhao's Mansion did not support his nephew but the prince. She thought that the Duke of Zhao's Mansion was at most forced to find a way to stay out of the old emperor's thundering measures, but she did not expect that the Duke of Zhao's Mansion was also in the old emperor's calculations.
Her mind raced, and once she finally understood, she tried hard not to tremble. Now, with just a few words, the old emperor had pinned the unfounded accusation of "the emperor's cruelty" on her. Was he going to drag Shen and Xu into apologizing together?
On the other side, Duke Zhao had already knelt down and shouted, "Your Majesty, please forgive me."
Chen Yuanyuan was still standing here, her posture straight and upright, like a pine tree or a crane.
"You won't kneel now?" The old emperor crossed his hands on his legs, looking calm and composed.
"Because just now His Majesty ordered me to answer whatever His Majesty asks and not to kneel at every turn." Standing would be a blow and kneeling would also be a blow. If the old emperor was determined to kill the Chen and Xu families, there was no point for her to kneel.
"You are so sharp-tongued. It seems that what you said just now about being afraid of me was all fake." The old emperor smiled.
If you want to accuse someone of a crime, you can always find a pretext. So another "crime of deceiving the emperor" is confirmed, right? Xu Lingwan sneered inwardly, lowered his head and said nothing.
"Raise your head and let me see." Suddenly, the old emperor thought of something, tapped the table with his fingers, and ordered Xu Lingwan.
Chen Yuanyuan had no choice but to lower her eyes and slowly raise her head.
Because she was standing and sitting at the same time, although she lowered her eyes, she could still vaguely see what the old emperor looked like.
Strictly speaking, the old emperor wasn't very old, probably in his fifties. He was very thin, and his haggard face still hinted at the elegance of his youth.
"They have similar personalities, but not the same looks." The old emperor glanced at her and then looked away. He then said softly to the crown prince beside him, "Xi'er, take your teacher's wife to the side hall. Your father wants to speak to Lord Pei."
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