"Your Majesty, in my opinion, the best solution now is for you to claim illness first..." Xiao Xinzi advised at the critical moment.
"I'm afraid this is the only option for now... However, based on my understanding of the Emperor, she will undoubtedly inquire about my illness and then summon the Imperial Physician to treat me..."
An Zihao muttered to himself, then narrowed his eyes slightly, suppressing his deep helplessness. He decisively ordered, "An Ning, go and bring Mu Yu here. Tell him to stop the emperor at all costs..."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
An Ning received the order and left quickly.
This An Muyu is the illegitimate son of An Zihao's sister An Zhiwei (Minister of Rites). He is seventeen years old this year and is quite handsome, looking a bit like An Zihao when he was young.
The An family had produced An Rongjun, who was now promoted to Huang Guijun. An Muyu, who had been reluctant to marry, also had a desire to climb up the social ladder. An Muyu stayed in Lanyue Palace under the pretext of accompanying her uncle, but in reality, she was a pawn sent by the An family to help An Zihao consolidate his position in the harem.
However, because An Zihao truly loved Nalan Yunzhi and didn't want another man to take away Nalan Yunzhi's affection for him, even though An Muyu had been in the palace for many days, he had still not made any move on this chess piece. But now, it seemed that this was no longer the time to worry about such things; the most important thing was to get through this difficult time.
"Your Highness! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long, long live the Emperor!"
The voices shouting "Long live" in front were becoming clearer and clearer, which meant that Nalan Yunzhi was about to arrive at the emperor's bedroom.
An Zihao hurried back to bed and lay down. He wrapped his white hair with a headscarf, covered himself with a quilt, and had someone lower the curtains and beaded curtains.
Although Nalan Yunzhi was busy with state affairs, he heard that An Zihao had been ill for the past two days. After attending the morning court and having breakfast and reviewing some urgent memorials, he specially came to Lanyue Palace to see him.
"See..."
When Nalan Yunzhi arrived at the Lanyue Palace garden, he suddenly saw a man in white brocade clothes reciting poems and painting in the pavilion by the lake in front of him, so he waved his hand to stop the palace people from paying their respects.
"A chilling rain and a bitter wind followed my dream, and this morning the pond is filled with shimmering water. The verdant vegetation is enchanting, and the lingering clouds in the sky are in a myriad of forms."
Beside the stone table in the garden pavilion, An Muyu rolled up his wide sleeves with his left hand, held a wolf-hair brush in his right hand, and wrote a poem on a painting he had just finished.
"Good poem! Good poem!"
Nalan Yunzhi, who had already walked outside the pavilion, couldn't help but applaud.
The handsome man who was concentrating on reciting poems and painting in the pavilion seemed to have just come to his senses after hearing the sound. He looked up and saw a figure wearing a yellow robe with a pattern of a phoenix flying in colorful clouds and yellow-forged green-soled boots approaching him.
"An Muyu pays respect to the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long, long live the Emperor!"
Seeing Nalan Yunzhi walk into the pavilion, An Muyu hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed.
"I didn't know that the emperor was coming, and I failed to welcome you in person. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!" An Muyu, who was kneeling on the ground, looked annoyed, but not panicked.
"You... are An Muyu? Zihao's nephew?" Nalan Yunzhi inexplicably felt that the man in front of him was familiar.
"Your Majesty, I am An Muyu, the nephew of the Emperor An."
An Muyu lowered his eyebrows and eyes, looking obedient, but his body remained straight, and there was a hint of pride. Seeing this, Nalan Yunzhi's lips curled up slightly, and he inexplicably remembered Feng Lingyan in the past, who looked like this.
"An Muyu, raise your head!"
Nalan Yunzhi walked to the stone table, gently lifted An Muyu's chin, and then he saw a handsome face with bright eyes, beautiful eyebrows, a powdered complexion, and lips as red as if painted.
An Muyu was slightly startled when his chin was suddenly lifted, and a slight blush immediately appeared on his fair and handsome face.
"Get up and speak!"
"yes."
Nalan Yunzhi stretched out a hand and pulled An Muyu up from the ground.
"Have you ever been educated? Can you write poetry and paint?"
Nalan Yunzhi picked up the calligraphy and painting on the stone table and began to admire it. He looked at An Muyu with satisfaction.
"In reply to the emperor, although it is said that 'a man's virtue lies in his lack of talent', I believe that reading more can make people wise and broaden their horizons. Men can naturally read, write and paint." An Muyu said neither humbly nor arrogantly.
"interesting!"
Nalan Yunzhi felt that he had not met such an interesting man for a long time, and he smiled more often.
"Mu Yu, accompany me to see your uncle. Later... I will discuss calligraphy and painting with you."
"Mu Yu will follow the emperor's instructions."
An Muyu was about to salute Nalan Yunzhi again, but she directly grabbed his hand and walked towards An Zihao's bedroom.
“Cough cough cough…”
"I have suddenly caught a cold and am unable to pay my respects to Your Majesty. Please forgive me for my disrespect!"
Under the warm hibiscus tent, on the large pearwood bed, An Zihao, wrapped up so that only his eyes were visible, pretended to stand up and salute.
"Forget it, Zihao, just take a good rest and get yourself well first. I'll have someone send you some nourishing medicinal food later."
Nalan Yunzhi raised his hand across the bead curtain to stop An Zihao from getting up. Just as Nalan Yunzhi was about to lift the bead curtain to go in, An Muyu beside him grabbed his arm.
"Your Majesty, my uncle is ill. Let him rest! Your Majesty... Your Majesty, didn't you just say... that you wanted to discuss calligraphy and painting with me?"
An Muyu raised his head slightly, glanced at Nalan Yunzhi quickly, then quickly lowered his head, leaving only his slightly red cheeks in Nalan Yunzhi's sight.
"Alright!"
Nalan Yunzhi curled his lips and smiled slightly.
"Zihao, take a good rest. I'll come to see you later!"
After Nalan Yunzhi finished speaking, he pulled An Muyu's hand and walked out of An Zihao's bedroom.
"Farewell, Your Majesty!"
It was not until Nalan Yunzhi and An Muyu had gone far away and An Zihao heard the eunuch report that they had gone to the Zichen Hall that he threw away the headscarf, quilt, etc. that had wrapped him tightly.
But An Zihao, who was leaning against the head of the bed, had snow-white hair, an old and haggard face, his eyes slightly closed, and his fists clenched tightly, suppressing the deep resentment in his heart.
Pushing the woman he deeply loved into the arms of another man with his own hands was like excruciating pain to An Zihao...
"Your Majesty, Young Master Mu Yu... succeeded!" Xiao Xinzi said thankfully.
It was a close call just now, just a hair's breadth away from being finished. If the Emperor discovered the state of An Huanggui, even if he wasn't banished to the cold palace, I'm afraid his favor would no longer be as great as before.
"Xiao Xinzi, An Ning, pack up and prepare to leave the palace!"
An Zihao's eyes turned cold as he suppressed the pain in his heart. Today's events only strengthened his resolve to cure his gray hair and aging, no matter the cost...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
