Chapter 25 Feeding the Man a Pastry: A thumb-sized pastry was placed into the man's thin lips...
Behind the artificial hill, Lin Sizhou glanced at the Regent with a complicated expression.
Not long ago, the prince ordered an increase in the Empress Dowager's monthly salary, a move that was met with a series of memorials from court officials, all of which were suppressed by the prince.
Now, after the young empress dowager has finished eating, she puts down her bowl and starts scolding the cook.
Lin Sizhou's worried expression grew even more grave. He bowed deeply and said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, the Empress Dowager is not the Emperor's biological mother, yet she cares deeply for him. I fear that after the two princes enter the palace, the Empress Dowager will try every means to win them over. In my opinion, Your Highness should temporarily confine the Empress Dowager to the inner palace..."
Before he could finish speaking, he heard the young empress dowager's cheerful voice coming from the pavilion:
"Jintong, remember to iron that Shu brocade phoenix-tail skirt sent by the Imperial Household Department until it's perfectly smooth. Now that His Majesty has learned to walk, I no longer need to be so careful carrying him to palace banquets. Ah~ finally I can wear a beautiful dress and walk freely..."
Lin Sizhou:.....
His face flushed red, and after a long pause, he still said with reluctance, "Your Highness, before the Empress Dowager entered the palace, she was engaged to Imperial Censor Shen. I am worried that the Shen family will take advantage of the Empress Dowager..."
Pei Muwei stroked the scar on the back of his hand, his tone calm: "Have you found any evidence of collusion between the Empress Dowager and the Shen family?"
"This humble official... has not been able to find it."
"What is Si Zhou worried about? Is he afraid that the novel written by the Empress Dowager will overturn the court, or does he think that my achievements over the years will be trampled underfoot by a toddler who has just learned to walk?"
The man's face was expressionless, yet he exuded an innate kingly aura that gave people an invisible sense of oppression.
"This humble official... had absolutely no such intention!" Lin Sizhou's flushed cheeks turned ashen with shame. After a moment's thought, he grasped the deeper meaning behind the Regent's words.
Yes, if the regent is wary of the Empress Dowager because of the past relationship between the Empress Dowager and the Shen family, it would make him seem petty and mistreat the late emperor's widow, which would then make the loyal ministers in the court feel ashamed.
The more virtuous and magnanimous a regent is, the more he can demonstrate the demeanor of a wise ruler throughout the ages!
Pei Muwei gazed at the carefree woman in the pavilion. The gold-embroidered auspicious beast patterns on her broad shoulders shone brightly in the setting sun, highlighting her handsome features.
"Furthermore, those stories were written by the Empress Dowager in her spare time, so Sizhou should just pretend he doesn't know about them."
Lin Sizhou dared not disobey and bowed his head to accept the order: "This subordinate understands!"
The setting sun casts its glow on the horizon, like a blush rising on a woman's cheek.
Inside the pavilion, the young empress dowager spoke to the imperial physician beside her. The woman stretched out her slender arm and placed it on the purple bamboo table. The imperial physician quickly found a silk handkerchief and covered the woman's fair wrist with it.
The distance between the doctor and patient during the examination was even closer than when the Empress Dowager was drunk that night.
Apart from that, the woman showed no wariness in her eyes, her bright eyes curved, and her smile was pure.
Pei Muwei narrowed his phoenix eyes slightly, his fingertips unconsciously tightening slightly on the scar on the back of his hand. He coldly withdrew his gaze and said in a calm voice:
"Go to the Secretariat and have the Right Vice Minister and concurrently the Vice Minister of the Secretariat add a clause to the list of reform articles: within thirty days, all clans and gentry who endorse the equal land tax law can share the compensation in silver. Those who fail to endorse it within the deadline will have their permanent land confiscated without any reward."
A brilliant idea flashed through Lin Sizhou's mind, and he repeatedly praised the Regent's plan as ingenious!
But why did this oppressive feeling of having a reward right in front of you, only to have it diminish over time, seem so familiar to him...?
———
That night, Xiao Yun developed a high fever in the Zichen Palace.
When Chu Yueyuan was awakened by Jin Tong, it was the dead of night. It was pitch black outside the window, and all that could be heard was the howling of the cold wind.
The red-carved door suddenly opened, and a slender figure rushed into the night. Behind her, four swaying blue gauze lanterns lit up one after another.
"Quickly, drape a Shu brocade cloak over the Empress Dowager!"
Without having time to notify the Imperial Stud to prepare a palanquin, Chu Yueyuan practically ran all the way to the Zichen Palace.
In the brightly lit bedroom, Xiao Yun lay with his eyes closed on the spacious dragon and phoenix canopy bed. His small face was flushed red, and his bright yellow nightgown was soaked with sweat. His small body, writhing in pain, made the bed seem exceptionally large, like an endless and turbulent sea, where a single wave could swallow him whole.
Chu Yueyuan knelt by the bed and reached out to touch Xiao Yun's forehead. The skin she touched was surprisingly hot!
"Where is the imperial physician? Has anyone been summoned to see him?"
The woman's usual gentle features were gone, and her crimson cloak resembled a thorny, wandering flower. Although she had no sideburns, when her slightly upturned peach blossom eyes narrowed, the cold light at the corners of her eyes revealed a sharp and majestic edge.
The palace servants knelt down in a flurry, and the head lady-in-waiting quickly replied, "Your Majesty, I have already sent someone to the Imperial Hospital."
"Send someone to urge them again! The Imperial Hospital is only a stick of incense's time away from the Zichen Palace. Why is it that even though I have arrived, not a single imperial physician has come!"
"This servant will go right away."
Chu Yueyuan was worried, so she sent the nimble-footed Xiao Yanzi to accompany the female official to the Imperial Hospital.
She took the damp handkerchief from Granny Xu and began wiping Xiao Yun's burning palms and soles.
"Granny, it's all my fault. I must have forced Yun'er to practice walking in the Imperial Garden today, which made him sick..."
Xiao Yun clutched his stomach in pain, and no matter how much she called him, she couldn't wake him. Chu Yueyuan was both anxious and guilty, and couldn't help but shed tears.
Xiao Yun was, after all, her blood relative, and like a piece of glutinous rice cake, he often clung to her side, calling her "Mother" in his childish voice. As time went by, she couldn't help but regard him as her own child.
Everyone says that a high fever is the hardest thing for a child to get through. If something really happens to Yoona, her days as a puppet empress dowager will be over.
"Your Majesty, please do not worry too much. When we ate dinner last night, His Majesty was still full of energy in our palace. After all, the Emperor is still young, and it is only natural for him to feel unwell occasionally. Once the imperial physician comes to take his pulse and treat him, after he has taken some medicine, in three to five days, His Majesty will be as lively and energetic as before..."
As soon as Granny Xu finished speaking, seven or eight imperial physicians rushed into the hall carrying medicine boxes.
Chu Yueyuan excused the imperial physicians from their formalities, wiped away her tears, and silently retreated to the warm pavilion to wait.
In stark contrast to the usual heated arguments over the dosage of angelica and chuanxiong in traditional Chinese medicine, the imperial physicians' consultation for the young emperor tonight was long and quiet.
The silence was so profound that it made one feel uneasy.
Chu Yueyuan was restless. She dared not go in rashly and disturb the imperial physicians' consultations. She could only gently twirl the jade prayer beads on her fingertips and softly recite the Peace Sutra.
It wasn't until the red candle on the gilded candlestick had its wick trimmed for the third time by the palace servants that Qiu, the most senior head of the Imperial Hospital, finally emerged from his bedchamber.
Chu Yueyuan hurriedly rose from the large chair with its dragon carvings, her brows furrowed with anxiety: "Headmaster Qiu, how is His Majesty's condition?"
Headmaster Qiu bowed and said slowly, "Your Majesty, I have already administered acupuncture to His Majesty. His Majesty has vomited up everything he ate, his high fever has gradually subsided, and he is now sleeping peacefully."
Chu Yueyuan finally breathed a sigh of relief. She walked slowly to the dragon bed and lifted the bright yellow gauze curtain with its dark pomegranate flower pattern.
In the dimly lit imperial bedchamber, only a single gilded, floral candlestick was lit. On the dragon bed, Xiao Yun's brows were relaxed, and he slept peacefully.
She knelt down and reached out to touch his forehead, finding that the temperature was no longer frighteningly hot as before, and her heart, which had been hanging in suspense for most of the night, finally settled down.
As a three-year-old child's eyebrows and eyes gradually open up, it is often said that boys resemble their mothers and girls resemble their fathers. Xiao Yun has deep-set eyes and double eyelids, which is exactly the same as Chu Wanxi's.
Chu Yueyuan smoothed the hair around his ears. Xiao Yun was covered in sweat after his fever subsided, and a few strands of wet hair clung to his scalp, making his large, protruding ears look like two small fans.
Does this child have protruding ears, like the late emperor?
Chu Yueyuan pondered for a moment, but the appearance of the Emperor Shang was blurry in her mind. Every time she recalled it, she mostly saw him lying in a pool of blood with holes all over his body on their wedding night.
She felt a sense of unease and quickly shook her head, giving up on thinking about the Emperor's appearance.
Gently tucking the corners of the silk quilt under her, Chu Yueyuan gracefully walked out of the bedroom.
Back in the warm pavilion, she sat back down on the large chair with the dragon carving and asked Xiao Yun earnestly about the cause of his fever.
Headmaster Qiu bowed deeply, his wide hat brim obscuring his weathered features: "Your Majesty, His Majesty is still young and has a weak spleen and stomach, making him prone to indigestion. Judging from the undigested food that His Majesty vomited, he must have eaten too much."
Chu Yueyuan's delicate eyebrows furrowed deeply, her tone hesitant:
"His Majesty didn't eat much in the Phoenix Palace today; his main meal was easily digestible vegetable porridge. Besides... when His Majesty had a high fever earlier, he couldn't even open his eyes, and he seemed completely deaf to my questions. All these behaviors are quite different from his usual indigestion..."
"The symptoms of indigestion in children fluctuate in severity. Tonight, His Majesty's condition was acute and quite severe. As the saying goes, 'immature yin and yang, accumulating and failing to digest, causing stagnation of qi...'"
Dean Qiu appeared extremely patient, reciting a long string of obscure and difficult-to-understand technical terms.
Chu Yueyuan frowned as she looked at the row of imperial physicians behind Headmaster Qiu, who were bowing their heads and remaining silent, her eyes thoughtful.
She nodded slightly and said calmly, "Since Chief Physician Qiu has concluded that His Majesty is out of danger, then you shall prescribe the medicine. Thank you all for rushing here tonight."
"This is our duty."
As the sky began to lighten with the first light of dawn, several imperial physicians in blue robes, carrying medicine chests, emerged from the vermilion palace gates amidst the swirling mist.
Just then, Xiao Yanzi hurried over, panting, and shouted, "Imperial Physician Zhao, wait! You left your identification token behind!"
Zhao Qiming looked down at the belt around his waist, a look of realization dawning on his face. He bowed to Xiao Yanzi and said, "Thank you, Eunuch Yan."
"You're too kind, Physician Zhao. The Empress Dowager saw that His Majesty's fever had subsided and was preparing to return to Fengqi Palace to rest, but after taking only a few steps, she felt dizzy. Physician Zhao just took the Empress Dowager's pulse yesterday and is familiar with His Majesty's pulse. Please come with me back again to examine the Empress Dowager."
"Thank you for leading the way, Eunuch Yan."
The vermilion carved palace doors opened and closed, and Zhao Qiming, led by Xiao Yanzi, entered the East Warm Pavilion of the Zichen Palace.
All the palace servants in the East Warm Pavilion had been dismissed, leaving only a graceful figure reflected behind the hanging red and floral brocade curtains.
Upon seeing this, Zhao Qiming nervously gripped the leather strap of the medicine box, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly as he lifted the soft curtain and went inside.
Suddenly, my vision brightened.
As the morning sun streamed through the window, the young empress dowager sat at a rosewood tea table with upturned eaves. Her fair, smooth fingers lifted a celadon teapot and slowly poured in tea. The woman, who had not slept all night, had a small dark spot under her eyes, but it could not conceal her radiant beauty.
Zhao Qiming stared blankly at the woman's stunning face bathed in the rising steam, his gaze momentarily dazed.
Chu Yueyuan pushed the teacup forward and smiled slightly: "This is a small dragon ball from Lubei Garden. It tastes sweet. Zhao Aiqing, come and have a taste."
Zhao Qiming snapped out of his daze and quickly bowed to accept the teacup: "Thank you for the Empress Dowager's gift."
Chu Yueyuan poured herself another cup of tea and gently blew on the steam rising from it.
"Minister Zhao is too modest. I heard Jin Tong mention before that on the night of the palace coup, Minister Zhao remained calm and devised a way to seal the palace doors with tables and chairs, ultimately protecting His Majesty and helping him through the crisis. I have never had the chance to thank Minister Zhao, so today I will offer you a cup of tea instead of wine."
The woman's eyes were clear as a babbling brook as she held a celadon cup and drank the tea.
Zhao Qiming's ears turned red, and he quickly picked up his teacup and drank it down.
At the same time, he heard the woman sigh: "I know that Imperial Physician Zhao is a loyal subject of the Emperor. Otherwise, you would not have deliberately left your waist token in the palace. Now that there are no outsiders, Imperial Physician Zhao may speak frankly. Is there some hidden reason why the Emperor suddenly developed a high fever tonight?"
Zhao Qiming placed the empty cup on the table, bowed his head and kowtowed: "Your Majesty is wise. His Majesty's symptoms tonight do not seem to be indigestion, but rather...poisoning."
Despite her doubts, Chu Yueyuan felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing this answer, and her fingertips trembled uncontrollably.
She clenched her fingers and took a deep breath: "How did Physician Zhao discover this?"
Zhao Qiming said with certainty, "Just now in the imperial bedchamber, I saw that His Majesty vomited some undigested cherries in his food. My ancestors were doctors for generations, but some of my uncles from collateral branches went astray. They were skilled at extracting poisons from plants, so I know a little about these poisons."
"There is a poisonous fruit called the 'Ghost Eye Fruit,' which resembles a cherry in shape and taste. If an adult accidentally eats it, they will experience abdominal cramps, high fever, and diarrhea, but it will not be life-threatening. Therefore, this fruit cannot be detected with a silver needle. However, children have weak digestive systems, and if a child accidentally eats this fruit..."
He paused, his expression turning extremely grave: "Then there's a high chance... he'll die suddenly."
The words "died suddenly" were like a knife stabbing into Chu Yueyuan's heart, causing her to tremble and sway.
Zhao Qiming stepped forward to support the swaying woman, and quickly finished his sentence:
"Your Majesty, please rest assured, His Majesty will be fine. If anything, it is thanks to the bowl of Snow Mountain Pastry that Your Highness prepared for His Majesty. Your Majesty was worried that His Majesty would suffer from heatstroke, so you added a lot of Panax notoginseng powder to the Snow Mountain Pastry to relieve the heat. Panax notoginseng has the effect of detoxification, thus neutralizing most of the toxicity of the poisonous fruit. Therefore, His Majesty's poisoning this time was not severe. As long as he vomits out the remaining poisonous fruit in his stomach, he will be fine!"
That's really fortunate...
Chu Yueyuan propped her forehead up, her mind a jumbled mess of thoughts, unable to find a coherent conclusion.
Who exactly poisoned the Emperor?
Could he be a regent eager to clear away obstacles and seize the throne?
The thought had barely crossed her mind when Chu Yueyuan immediately dismissed it.
Based on her understanding of the Regent, if he wanted to get rid of her and the young emperor, the man would appear before her in a dragon robe, swaggering around, personally handing her a cup of poisoned wine, then coldly looking at her with his deep, domineering phoenix eyes, and saying in a detached tone, "May the Empress Dowager have a safe journey!"
A man who is proud and arrogant would never do something as underhanded as secretly poisoning someone.
Moreover, at this crucial moment when the two princes are about to enter the capital, if Xiao Yunruo were to die, it would not be of any benefit to the regent, and would only create more trouble.
Who could it be?
Chu Yueyuan pondered for a long time and realized that it was impossible for her to find the poisoner in such a large harem with her own abilities.
It seems... she still needs to find that all-powerful dragon lord and tell him that a lowly person slipped through the cracks in his dragon claws and almost overturned his Flying Dragon Avenue.
————
As dawn broke, the soft sunlight fell on the glazed tiles of the palace roof, and the layered glazes refracted a colorful halo, spreading a solemn and dignified atmosphere with the morning light.
Under the eaves, palace servants dressed in brown palace robes knelt on the ground, carefully wiping each white marble lotus brick in front of the hall with a rag.
If you do a tedious and boring job for too long, the plug on your mouth will easily fall off.
It was unclear which of the bolder palace servants spoke first, but they whispered, "For five consecutive days, the Emperor has stayed overnight in our Phoenix Perch Palace. What exactly happened in the Purple Palace?"
A young palace maid, wearing a jasmine flower hairpin, took over the conversation, lowering her voice:
"I heard from Aunt Jin, who serves the Empress Dowager, that the palace servants in the Zichen Palace were negligent in their service. Before going to bed, they allowed His Majesty to eat sesame dumplings all night long. That night, the Emperor developed a high fever due to indigestion, which alarmed all the imperial physicians in the Imperial Hospital. The Empress Dowager was furious about this and not only severely punished the head female official of the Zichen Palace, but also fined the palace servants of the Zichen Palace three months' salary."
"Well, the Empress Dowager is worried that the Emperor will fall ill again, so she personally brought him back to Fengqi Palace to take care of him, and she stays by his side every day."
After a chorus of sighs, someone else quietly remarked, "They say that cousins on maternal aunts aren't really related, and that the death of a aunt severs all ties. But I don't think that's necessarily true. Although Her Majesty the Empress Dowager never had any children of her own, she truly loved the Emperor as if he were her own child."
As the palace servants were gossiping amongst themselves, they suddenly heard a soft, feminine voice behind them: "In broad daylight, instead of doing your duties properly, you're all gathered under the eaves gossiping. Aren't you afraid of biting your own tongues off?"
Upon hearing the sound, the palace servants immediately shrank back like sparrows startled from a branch, grabbed their work, and ran away as fast as they could.
Some short-sighted eunuchs, in their haste, bumped right into a red-robed eunuch with a bullfighting pattern embroidered on his chest.
The animal patterns on the eunuchs' robes were honorary garments bestowed by the emperor as a great favor, equivalent to the yellow jackets worn by officials.
The young eunuch looked panicked and knelt down with a thud, slapping himself in the face as he apologized, "This servant was blind! Please forgive me this time, Eunuch Su!"
Everyone in the palace knew that when Emperor Shang was alive, his most trusted eunuch was Eunuch Su, who served him. After Emperor Shang passed away, this loyal servant, Eunuch Su, fell seriously ill as a result.
Until two months ago, after recovering from his illness, Eunuch Su returned to the Inner Palace and was assigned to the Phoenix Perch Palace as the head eunuch.
Even the young Empress Dowager in the Phoenix Palace had to show deference to this loyal and devoted eunuch Su out of respect for the late Emperor.
"The relationship between the Empress Dowager and the Emperor is not something you filthy scoundrels should gossip about... All the palace servants who were just talking here, take them all to the Censorate, slap them fifty times, and then send them to the Laundry Bureau for further punishment."
The makeup on Eunuch Su's face was thick, and his pale face paired with the crimson palace dress made the white powder on his face fall off as soon as he opened his mouth. Even when he stood in the sunlight, he looked like a paper doll with a sinister aura.
"Eunuch Su, spare my life... Eunuch Su, spare my life!"
The eunuch's pleas for mercy echoed throughout the front hall. The palace servants responsible for cleaning dared not utter a sound, nor lift their eyes even slightly, keeping their heads down as they continued their work, as if they hadn't seen the palace servants being gagged and carried away.
Chu Yueyuan, who was having her meal in her bedchamber, soon heard about the commotion that had occurred that morning from Lin Mu.
She scooped up a bowl of eight-treasure porridge and fed it to Xiao Yun, her expression calm as she said, "Eunuch Su is an old man who served the late Emperor, and he has always been prudent in his work. As for those palace servants who were punished..."
She murmured "Amitabha" softly and gently blew on the steaming eight-treasure porridge in the porcelain bowl.
"Pass on my message that His Majesty has just recovered from a serious illness and should not be exposed to bloodshed. Those palace servants who have been punished in the Censorate should be given a sum of money and sent out of the palace."
Lin Mu clasped his hands in a salute: "Your humble servant obeys!"
Chu Yueyuan fed Xiao Yun a few more mouthfuls of porridge, her voice gentle: "An urgent report came from the border. I will be staying at the Qin Zheng Hall for a while tonight. After Your Majesty has finished your dinner, remember to rinse your mouth with salt and go to bed early."
Xiao Yun pouted and retorted in a childish voice, "Mother is either dozing off or eating snacks in the Hall of Diligent Governance. She might as well come back earlier and play the game of pitch-pot with me."
Jin Tong was trying hard to suppress her laughter as she was stuffing pastries into the ivory-shaped food container.
Chu Yueyuan put down her bowl and spoon, dipped her fingertip in the eight-treasure porridge and dabbed it on Xiao Yun's little nose, and said in a serious tone, "Your Majesty is still young... I don't know how much effort it takes to read memorials, so you should bring some pastries to fill your stomach."
"Then why isn't the Regent eating?"
"Who says he doesn't eat them? Half of the pastries I bring with me end up in stores..."
Chu Yueyuan stopped abruptly. As if remembering something, her delicate eyebrows furrowed, and she turned to Jin Tong, instructing, "Don't bring too many pastries today."
Since the man has already taken advantage of her, he shouldn't even think about eating the snacks she brought!
Jin Tong was a little confused, and she asked naively, "Then...should I pack the lotus seed cake that the Regent likes?"
"Not a single piece is allowed!"
"This servant...accepts the order."
————
Having not set foot in the Hall of Diligent Governance for many days, Chu Yueyuan's heart began to pound inexplicably as she stood before the study once more, each beat more intense than the last.
She patted her chest, silently reminding herself not to dwell on the past.
The regent was exceptionally handsome and incredibly powerful, and being unmarried, he was the most sought-after man among the noble ladies of the capital. Meanwhile, she was a widow who had caused her husband's death on their wedding night. Comparing the two, it's hard to say who came out on the worse side!
With this "what's the use" attitude, Chu Yueyuan slightly raised her chin and gracefully stepped into the study.
The interior furnishings remained the same, the scenery outside the window remained the same, and the man sitting behind the rosewood desk with cloud patterns remained the same.
He wore a flowing, smoky-silk court robe adorned with auspicious beast patterns. Sunlight shone faintly through the window, casting a hazy glow on his robe.
The young man had his hair tied up with a jade crown, his eyebrows and eyes were deep, his nose was straight and his lips were thin. He held a scroll of documents in his hand, his expression was focused, and he occasionally picked up his pen to make annotations. His posture was noble and his demeanor was extraordinary.
Why doesn't the Empress Dowager come in?
Even the man's cool voice remained unchanged.
Chu Yueyuan snapped out of her daze and saw that the Regent had put down the memorial in his hand and was staring at her with his dark, jade-like eyes.
She responded with a graceful smile: "It's been many days, but Pei Qing's demeanor remains as elegant as ever."
Even before she arrived, she had already figured out how to greet the Regent. The more nonchalant she appeared, the easier it would be to gloss over the incident at the palace banquet.
Your smile should be dignified and generous, your tone should be familiar and at ease; in short, you should convey an air of indifference.
The woman, dressed in a pomegranate-colored skirt embroidered with colorful clouds and fitted at the waist, stood under the floating floral floor-to-ceiling doorway. On her little finger was a white jade nail guard, inlaid with several blood-red gemstones carved into the shape of mandalas, which accentuated the woman's fair and delicate hands, making them appear slender and graceful.
Her long hair was styled into a cloud-like bun by palace maids, adorned with a golden phoenix hairpin with pearls in its fins, and the crystal tassels hanging down swayed gently in the sunlight, like shimmering water flowing slowly over her delicate skin.
Pei Muwei sat upright on the high place, his gaze carefully scanning the woman's hair, dress, and phoenix shoes from top to bottom. His gaze was not frivolous, but rather somewhat focused.
After a careful look, he nodded slightly: "The Empress Dowager is even more graceful than before."
Chu Yueyuan: .....
After a short while, the ministers entered the study one after another.
Upon seeing the young empress dowager, who had not appeared for many days, appear behind the jade curtain, a hint of surprise flashed across the eyes of these people. Some, who were always eager for a good show, even secretly glanced at the newly promoted censor-in-chief, Censor Shen, in the corner.
Shen Zizhan held the memorial in his hand, standing upright like a pine tree. His expression was calm, his eyelids were slightly lowered, and his amber eyes were hidden in the shadow of his eyelashes. His gaze remained disciplined and never once fell on the beautiful figure behind the curtain.
However, in a corner unseen by others, the man's knuckles, gripping the memorial, were faintly white.
Chu Yueyuan was surprised, but not astonished, by Shen Zizhan's appearance in the council hall today.
Shen Zizhan had previously been entrusted with an important task by the late emperor: to inspect salt affairs in Yangzhou. During his search of the local salt bureau, he discovered problematic documents and account books. With the imperial sword of the censor, he eliminated many evil spirits.
If Emperor Shang were still alive, Shen Zizhan would surely have been promoted rapidly after returning to the capital.
Unexpectedly, a storm suddenly broke out, and an ambitious and vicious dragon soared into the sky above the imperial city.
Shen Xiang harbored many grievances against the reforms implemented by the regent. As Shen Xiang's grandson, the officials speculated that Shen Zizhan's previous achievements in Yangzhou were likely to be in vain.
However, the regent made an exception and promoted Shen Zizhan to the head of the Censorate.
This caused much controversy in the court, with many suspecting that the Shen family might have secretly betrayed the regent. In addition, the Central Secretariat suddenly added a "time-based" clause to the reform approval document, causing officials in the court to rush to put their fingerprints on the document agreeing to the reform.
Behind the jade curtain, Chu Yueyuan's expression remained unchanged. She removed the glass nail guard from her little finger and took out her brush, ink, paper, and inkstone to prepare for writing her manuscript.
Although the Regent had the Ministry of Revenue increase her monthly salary, so she no longer had to worry about the money to reward the palace servants, she wanted to take advantage of Jade Steps Immortal's popularity in the capital's bookstores to earn more money.
The palace coup on her wedding night taught Chu Yueyuan a lesson: mountains may crumble, people may run away, and it's never as good as relying on yourself.
The brushstrokes flowed smoothly across the pristine white Xuan paper, while the loud debates of the ministers could be heard from time to time. Imperial Censor Shen spoke little, but his words were always to the point. With the imposing presence of the Regent Prince, the council meeting went exceptionally well today and ended before late afternoon.
The ministers gradually left the council chamber, and the once bustling study instantly fell silent, with only the soft murmur of flowing water heard outside the courtyard.
Chu Yueyuan put down her wolf-hair brush, looked up at the memorials piled up on her desk, and her eyelids twitched involuntarily.
Well, with the addition of Shen Zizhan, a wise minister, the Regent Prince is truly like a tiger with wings, and the number of memorials he submits has doubled.
Writing a memorial is physically demanding, so Chu Yueyuan decided to fill her stomach first.
Jin Tong opened the ivory food box, took out several plates of exquisite tea snacks and arranged them one by one. Chu Yueyuan washed her hands, picked up a piece of jade cake, took a bite, and squinted her eyes in satisfaction.
"Your Majesty, the osmanthus-flavored pastry is frozen in the ice cellar. Would you like me to fetch it now?"
Chu Yueyuan nodded hurriedly and urged, "Go quickly, I've been wanting to eat this."
Jin Tong smiled and curtsied before heading to the ice cellar to retrieve the osmanthus-flavored pastry.
In the quiet study, Chu Yueyuan ate pastries in small bites, her gaze inadvertently glancing at the tall figure behind the jade screen, before taking another bite with a clear conscience.
She held a jade cake in her hand, moved to the edge of the couch, hooked her toes on her pearl-embellished phoenix shoes, and leisurely strolled to the antique shelf, preparing to choose a travelogue to read while eating.
My eyes swept across a row of books on the shelf, and I finally chose "Travels Around the World" on the top shelf.
She stood on tiptoe, stretched her arms as far as she could, and pulled the book outwards with her fingers gripping the spine.
Unfortunately, there were too many books on the shelf, one tightly packed next to another, and I couldn't move it for a while.
Chu Yueyuan frowned, stood on tiptoe even higher, raised her arms high, gripped the spine of the book with her fingers and pulled hard. The bookshelf shook twice, and the celadon gourd-shaped bottle on the shelf wobbled precariously.
With one hand holding pastries and the other holding a travelogue, Chu Yueyuan couldn't free her hands. Seeing that the celadon gourd bottle was about to fall, she shrank her neck in fright.
At that moment, a hand with distinct knuckles swept over her head, its fingertips touching the swaying bottle.
Chu Yueyuan turned around and saw the Regent King standing close by. Startled, she took a small step back, pressing her back against the antique shelf, cutting off her escape route.
The man steadied the celadon gourd-shaped vase, but instead of lowering his raised arm, he casually rested it on the shelf. The narrow sleeves of the satin embroidered with gold python patterns bound his strong forearms, and his tall and upright figure cast a large shadow in the sunlight, completely enveloping the woman in front of him.
"Has this humble subject committed some offense that has offended the Empress Dowager?"
The man leaned down, and the crisp sandalwood scent suddenly pressed down on her, like fine spider silk wrapping around her layer by layer. Although their limbs had not touched at all, the skin that fell under his deep gaze felt as if it were being burned by fire.
Chu Yueyuan turned her head, a blush quickly rising on her delicate cheeks: "Ahem... Minister Pei, I don't quite understand what you're saying..."
The woman's eyes were brimming with tears, her jade-like neck was taut, and her delicate white collarbones rose and fell with her breath, causing even the peony embroidery on her chest, which was about to bloom, to tremble gently.
Pei Muwei's eyes darkened, his gaze subtly shifting from the two bulging peony-shaped buds to the jade cake between the woman's fingers.
"It has been many days since I last saw Your Majesty. It seems that Your Majesty has become quite distant from me. In the past, after the discussion of state affairs, Your Highness would order two servings of tea and snacks to be prepared. However, today I have waited for a long time, but Your Majesty has not yet bestowed any tea or snacks upon me. I am wondering if I have done something wrong and offended Your Majesty."
Chu Yueyuan turned her head back, her dark eyes wide open.
The Regent was usually a man of few words, and this was the first time Chu Yueyuan had ever heard him speak so much to her.
It turned out that... he wanted to get pastries from her.
It's surprising that the Regent could tolerate the grandson of the Prime Minister, but couldn't tolerate a few pieces of pastry.
Chu Yueyuan's taut, delicate shoulders relaxed, her eyes crinkling into a smile that was both graceful and charming.
"Pei Qing is overthinking it. It's just that His Majesty has been staying at Fengqi Palace these past few days, and Xu Mama is in charge of taking care of His Majesty's daily life. She doesn't have time to peel lotus seeds and make tea and snacks, so I brought fewer pastries today."
She raised her chin, glanced at the ivory food box on the table, and said, "If you feel hungry, there are a few taro pastries in the box."
Pei Muwei narrowed his deep phoenix eyes and said in a low voice, "The pastries in Your Highness's hand look quite delicious."
Chu Yueyuan nodded in agreement: "Minister Pei has a discerning eye. When Granny Xu saw that the mugwort in the Imperial Garden was growing well, she picked fresh mugwort leaves, ground them into a paste, added glutinous rice flour, rice flour and sugar water to make a dough. The filling was made with freshly picked roses and osmanthus flowers as a sweet sauce. The steamed jade cake was soft and glutinous, with a light mugwort fragrance on the lips and teeth. It was the best to eat with tea."
"It's a pity that Granny Xu didn't prepare many jade cakes today. There's only this one left, and I've already taken a bite out of it."
After speaking, she held up the jade cake in her hand, deliberately offering the chipped side, her eyes filled with a dazed yet sincere look:
"If you don't mind, Pei Qing, you might as well try it. If you like it, I'll have Xu Mama make another batch next time."
Chu Yueyuan knew that the Regent was a person with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Swords used for killing must be wiped clean with strong liquor, hands used for writing must have ink wiped away with a handkerchief stained with cedar resin, and official robes must be spotless, without even the slightest crease.
He had offended her, but the reason for it was something she couldn't bring herself to say. Instead, he deliberately used pastries as an excuse to tease her.
Why should she keep tolerating it and make herself a laughing stock?
She thought the Regent would give up the idea, but the man seemed to have a craving, his dark eyes fixed on her for a moment, his voice low:
"Your humble servant has not yet washed his hands."
Perhaps because she had been feeding Xiao Yun meals every day for the past few days, Chu Yueyuan had long since gotten into the habit of casually tossing him a couple of bites of pastries and fresh fruit when the little emperor was engrossed in playing.
Without any hesitation, she directly offered the jade cake in her hand to the man's lips.
The woman's wide sleeves, embroidered with peonies, fluttered down, revealing a section of her fair and delicate forearm. The cinnabar mark on the inside of her elbow was exceptionally bright in the sunlight.
A faint glint appeared in Pei Muwei's dark eyes, and the veins on the back of his hand, which was resting on the rosewood cabinet, throbbed a few times.
The young empress dowager was beautiful, but she had a pair of extremely clear eyes, like a demon who had just cultivated herself into human form. She had a strong demonic aura, but because of her innocent eyes, she exuded a captivating purity.
The banished immortal, who originally intended to tease the little demon, nearly destroyed his thousand years of cultivation because he underestimated the demon's shallow cultivation.
Seeing the Regent's thin lips tightly closed, Chu Yueyuan's eyes flashed with a sly smile. Just as she was about to lower her arm, the other party grabbed her wrist.
The man slowly lowered his head, his profile backlit, blending into a dark shadow.
Granny Xu was an excellent cook, and in order to let the young emperor grab the pastries himself, she shaped them into small, delicate pieces.
Chu Yueyuan placed a thumb-sized pastry into the man's thin lips, and her fingertips inevitably touched his moist lips.
Her eyelashes fluttered suddenly, and she instinctively tried to pull her hand back, but the hand gripping her wrist tightened its grip so much that she felt a slight pain.
The Regent ate with refined manners, savoring the taste of a celestial peach from the heavens from a small piece of pastry.
Chu Yueyuan could clearly feel his light breaths, like feathers falling on the back of her hand, sending a tingling, slightly itchy heat that flowed down her hand and into her bones.
Her breathing suddenly became erratic, and without looking in a bronze mirror, she knew that her cheeks were redder than a monkey's bottom.
The inexperienced demon suffered a crushing defeat.
When the Regent finished the last bite of pastry, Chu Yueyuan blushed and withdrew her hand, wiping it haphazardly on her skirt.
Pei Muwei straightened up, his handsome features bathed in sunlight, his deep phoenix eyes curving into a half-smile: "The Empress Dowager is right. The jade cake has a sweet and refreshing taste that is not cloying, and it is suitable to accompany tea. I will trouble Your Highness to take care of it in the future."
Chu Yueyuan secretly ground her back teeth and forced a smile: "You're too kind, Pei Qing. I'll make sure you get a share of the pastries I bring!"
Having been teased by the man and feeling deeply aggrieved, Chu Yueyuan sat back down at her desk and vented her pent-up anger on the memorials, slamming them shut with a deafening thud.
Pei Muwei glanced at the little empress dowager with her chubby cheeks, and a faint smile unconsciously appeared on his lips.
The sky outside the window gradually changed from orange-red to pale purple, and finally turned into a tranquil deep blue.
Palace servants lit the ram's horn palace lanterns with tinderboxes, and the warm yellow candlelight illuminated the small area under the eaves. But in the dark corners where the candlelight couldn't reach, who knew what demons and monsters might be hiding.
Guards dressed in dark blue official robes and with straight swords at their waists patrolled back and forth outside the palace, the sound of their armor rubbing against each other as they walked.
It was past 7 PM, and there was still no news from Phoenix Perch Palace. Chu Yueyuan couldn't help but worry. She sat on the tea table with one hand supporting her chin, holding a travelogue without turning a single page for a long time.
At this hour, Yoona should be asleep.
Has Granny Xu made proper arrangements for him?
General Lin Mu possesses remarkable martial arts skills, but as the saying goes, it's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but difficult to guard against an arrow in the dark...
My thoughts grew wildly like sprouting weeds, unstoppable, and the more I thought about it, the more panicked I felt.
The flickering candlelight pulled Chu Yueyuan back from her reverie. In the instant she came to her senses, the man had already leisurely sat down at the gold-threaded sandalwood tea table opposite her. A faint sandalwood fragrance wafted over, and the dancing candlelight outlined the deep contours of his eyebrows and eyes.
"I have long admired the Empress Dowager's exceptional chess skills; I humbly request Your Highness's guidance..."
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After eloping with the Emperor and Empress, the Regent Prince came after them.
Chu Wanyi disguised herself as a man and lived in seclusion in a temple for many years until the world was at peace and a new emperor ascended the throne. At that time, she finally learned the whereabouts of her long-lost younger brother.
She immediately went to the capital to participate in the selection competition for the Imperial Preceptor.
An accidental "cause and effect" led her to catch the eye of the regent, and she became the Grand Tutor of the Great Chu, spreading "demonic rumors".
What was originally a deal where one person sought the other's skills and the other sought the other's power was abruptly disrupted by an unexpected event.
At the Qionglin Banquet, she and the Regent were afflicted with the Seven Emotions Gu. When the poison took effect, they were engulfed in flames and nearly lost their will to live. The two stumbled and fell into a side hall, their prayer beads scattered and their monk's robes half-undone. Seeing that they could no longer hide the truth, she held his hand tightly and gritted her teeth as she made three demands:
First, blindfold them.
Second, lock your hands.
Third, she was on the way to ferry him.
That night, the brocade curtains were drawn low, making it airtight, and the clanging of iron chains continued until dawn, as if a wild beast had been imprisoned and could not be freed.
The Seven Emotions Gu, as the name suggests, requires seven treatments to neutralize its poison.
Chu Wanyi: I cried... How am I going to get through the remaining six times?
Male protagonist's perspective:
Wei Yanfu was a ruthless warlord in a chaotic era, a regent who held the emperor hostage to command the feudal lords, and a fearsome figure in the court. He was obsessed with power and had a cold and indifferent heart.
It is said that monks do not lie, do not covet gold and silver, and do not concern themselves with worldly affairs, but the little national teacher he appointed was a smooth talker who was greedy for money and profit.
No problem, he only needs to use the Jade-Faced Imperial Advisor's mysterious tongue to eliminate dissidents and seize the throne.
In the end, he was not only deceived in love, heart, and body by the young imperial advisor, but the advisor even ran away with a younger and more handsome emperor!
When they met again, Wei Yanfu almost didn't recognize the face that haunted his dreams every night. As his long fingers brushed her meticulously cultivated hair, a hint of obsessive malice seemed to permeate his shimmering eyes: "This female bodhisattva, the Imperial Preceptor, how can you only save half of those who are saved..."
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