During dinner, Qiao Xiuyu came to Mingyue Tower to find Shang Shaoyan again.
He arrived in a bit of a hurry, carrying the chill from outside. Upon seeing Shang Shaoyan, he smiled and said, "An'an, may I have dinner with you?"
Shang Shaoyan was stunned for a moment, then suddenly remembered that he had brought Qiao Xiuyu back to the mansion some time ago, and the two of them had not eaten together yet.
She snapped out of her reverie and smiled, "Of course, please have a seat."
The Duke of Zhenguo's mansion doesn't have many rules, mainly because the brother and sister are both from the past. So there's no set rule about when to eat, where to eat, or whether to eat together.
Qiao Xiuyu then sat opposite Shang Shaoyan, in a position that was neither too intimate nor too distant.
Shang Shaoyan looked at Qiao Xiuyu until the latter felt slightly uncomfortable before he looked away and said solemnly, "Young Master Lu, I have something to say to you."
Qiao Xiuyu suddenly had a bad feeling, and his eyes couldn't help but show some worry. He put down his chopsticks and straightened his back: "Speak freely."
Shang Shaoyan hadn't intended to make the scene so serious, but seeing Qiao Xiuyu's expression, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous: "I've been thinking about the relationship between the two of us for a long time."
Qiao Xiuyu was stunned. He obviously didn't expect Shang Shaoyan to say it so directly.
After a moment's consideration, Shang Shaoyan said, "I admit that I like you a little. I can tell that you feel the same way, but we have both kept too much from each other. In other words, our relationship was fake from the very beginning."
She paused, looked into Qiao Xiuyu's eyes, and said earnestly, word by word, "I like honest and sincere feelings. I already like you a little. I'm afraid that when I fall in love with you, there will still be many secrets that I can't tell you. That's not what I want."
"The first time I saw you, you were in Madam Xie's pastry shop, holding a zither. At the time, I just thought you were very pretty. But ever since you met my cousin and we had a fight, I've started to really like you."
"You like my good points and tolerate my bad points; you play the piano for me, draw flowers for me, bring me delicious snacks, come to see me when I am sick, and care about me when I have my period."
As she spoke, her voice unconsciously softened: "Young Master Lu, I don't know what your true feelings are for me, but what you're doing will only make me like you even more."
Shang Shaoyan looked at Qiao Xiuyu one last time, his eyes gentle yet firm: "I... will have to do many things that are not tolerated by the world in the future. You don't really understand me, Mr. Lu. You don't need to be so good to me in the future."
"Being nice to me is completely unnecessary."
Qiao Xiuyu stared blankly at Shang Shaoyan, feeling a pang of sadness and bitterness in her heart for some reason.
He really wanted to say that he truly wanted to marry her and that he truly loved her.
But Qiao Xiuyu also knew that she had hidden a lot of things, and Shang Shaoyan was not entirely honest either.
Shang Shaoyan was right. What they had been hiding would eventually become a knife used against each other.
He remained silent for a long time, so long that Shang Shaoyan thought he wouldn't speak, before softly saying, "I have been abrupt with the County Princess lately."
Qiao Xiuyu took a deep breath, then solemnly bowed to Shang Shaoyan: "I want to go home to think about what has happened recently. I hope the county magistrate can give me a few days. I will come to see the county magistrate again after she returns from Shu Prefecture."
The words he wanted to say, "Wait for me to propose marriage," were ultimately swallowed back down.
Shang Shaoyan calmly took a sip of tea, lowering his eyes to conceal the smile in them.
Yes, that's right, a smile.
The conman, Shang Shaoyan, was very satisfied with the impact of his words. In fact, all of those words were true, except for one false statement.
"Being nice to me is completely unnecessary."
She's not a fool, how could she really think that way?
Men, if you don't push them, they'll really just stand still.
Watching Qiao Xiuyu's hurried departure, Shang Shaoyan smiled contentedly, squinting at the sunset outside the window, and murmured, "He taught me to let go of lingering resentment, to refrain from petulance, to reform myself, to change my temperament, to stop clinging to the past, to turn back from the sea of suffering, and to realize the cause of my misfortune early on—"
...
The next day, the Golden Palace was still in chaos. Emperor Chen sat drowsily on the dragon throne, listening to the ministers arguing incessantly below. He couldn't help but feel irritated: "Stop arguing, everyone. If there's nothing else, just adjourn the court."
Qin Ye stood beside Emperor Chen, his head bowed and eyes lowered as he advised, "Your Majesty, don't be angry. Isn't it quite amusing to see them arguing?"
Emperor Chen had recently become increasingly fond of Qin Ye, and upon hearing this, he happily replied, "What you say makes sense."
Then they actually started listening to the music as if it were a piece of music. When the courtiers below came to their senses, they heard Emperor Chen say with displeasure, "Why did you stop arguing? Continue!"
If it were the late emperor who said these words, they would know that His Majesty was unhappy with their arguing; but if it were the present emperor, he might actually want to hear them argue.
But to "argue under orders" is just too absurd!
The court officials were at a loss for what to do.
At this moment, Qin Ye suddenly spoke up: "If you gentlemen truly care about His Majesty, then you should obey His Majesty's orders and avoid causing His Majesty any worry."
As he spoke, he glanced subtly at Prince Zhao Ming of Nan'an, who was exchanging pleasantries with the Crown Prince.
Neither the Prince of Nan'an nor the Crown Prince were good people; they were people everyone avoided in Shengjing. No matter how noble their status, many people disliked them.
These two have always been in cahoots. Drinking, gambling, and whoring are minor matters. The most serious thing is that a few months ago, during the flood, the Prince of Nan'an and the Crown Prince embezzled 100,000 taels of disaster relief funds. After being found out, they pushed out a scapegoat, and His Majesty did not pursue the matter.
Qin Ye then thought of Shang Yunlan again. He said that the Duke of Zhenguo and his wife, who died in the Northwest, were actually murdered. He immediately thought of Zhao Ming, but Zhao Ming's birth mother, Princess Anle, was the person His Majesty respected the most. This was simply an unsolvable problem.
Qin Ye sighed inwardly. This young Duke Zhenguo would probably have to swallow this bitter pill.
While he was pondering, several old ministers below were angrily denouncing "eunuchs' monopoly of power" and recounting the fates of dynasties throughout history that had favored eunuchs.
Upon hearing this, Qin Ye immediately knelt down and said to Emperor Chen with utmost sincerity, "This servant would never dare to meddle in politics. I only wish to make Your Majesty feel better. If I have offended Your Majesty, this servant will atone with my death!"
As he spoke, he was about to crash into a pillar to the side.
Emperor Chen hurriedly got off the dragon throne, grabbed him, and sighed, "When did I ever say that you were meddling in politics? I know your loyalty."
Then he retaliated against several of his ministers, and remembering the iron-eating beasts in Shu Prefecture that Shang Yunlan had mentioned, he decided to exile them all to Shu Prefecture as well.
Upon hearing this, Shang Yunlan was speechless.
Is this some kind of tactic where they're practically throwing their lives away?
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