Chapter 67 Long Live Your Majesty 3 The Land is So Beautiful
As Zhang Yu's hands crumpled from reviewing the papers, his thoughts drifted away. He pictured Pei Yan's radiant face, and a faint smile involuntarily crept onto his lips.
Pei Yan, Yan'er, his little swallow. If he could, he really wanted to chat with Yan'er instead of reviewing these boring memorials.
For others, reviewing memorials might be a great favor from the emperor, a gift bestowed by His Majesty, but for him, it was a troublesome burden.
He's really, really, really tired of it all...
At this moment, Qi Wang had already walked up to Zhang Yu. He still did not look up, nor did he speak to Qi Wang. He simply wrote the word "read" on the memorial casually.
Qi Wang reached out, grabbed Zhang Yu by the neck, and pulled him up from his seat.
"Having sat on my dragon throne for so long, do you really think you're the supreme ruler?"
Zhang Yu stared in horror, dropping the vermilion brush from her hand to the ground.
He struggled incessantly, his fingers digging fiercely into the back of Qi Wang's hand, leaving several deep bloody marks.
"Your Majesty, are you insane? Let me go..."
He no longer referred to himself as a servant; his gaze toward Qi Wang was filled with fear and intense disgust.
Qi Wang: "..."
Ha, how audacious! They've completely forgotten their place.
Qi Wang suddenly exerted force, throwing Zhang Yu directly away.
Zhang Yu felt a sudden dizziness, and then his body crashed heavily into the antique shelf next to him.
The display shelf collapsed with a loud crash, its contents scattering across the floor with a deafening roar.
With such a commotion in the Imperial Study, the guards outside could no longer pretend to be deaf.
If an assassin were to break in, the emperor would probably be killed.
The guards burst into the imperial study and immediately saw Zhang Yu lying among the shards.
He fell quite hard. Although he didn't cry out, he didn't look very good. His delicate and handsome face was twisted together, and he looked rather frightening.
"Your Majesty, what has happened?"
Qi Wang pointed at Zhang Yu: "Zhang Yu has deceived the emperor and is guilty of a crime deserving of death. Take him away and lock him in the imperial prison. He will be executed on a chosen day."
Upon hearing this, the guard was immediately taken aback and subconsciously asked, "Your Majesty, what did Chief Steward Zhang do wrong? Why are you punishing him?"
Qi Wang's gaze fell on the guard, and when he saw his face clearly, Qi Wang raised an eyebrow.
This guard was none other than Ye Chaoyu, the commander of the Imperial Guards, who was also a favorite of Pei Yan.
Judging by the timeline, at this point in time, Pei Yan had already met Zhang Yu, the Grand Eunuch; Ye Chaoyu, the Commander of the Imperial Guards; and Liu Yizhou, the newly appointed top scholar.
Oh, and there's also the original owner's rebellious son, Qi Zhen, who has already hooked up with Pei Yan.
Ye Chaoyu and Zhang Yu obviously knew each other, and when he discovered that Zhang Yu was disliked by Qi Wang, he naturally wanted to find out the truth.
Qi Wang's sharp gaze fell on Ye Chaoyu: "Do I need to explain my actions to you?"
Ye Chaoyu sensed that Qi Wang's tone was off. He shivered, immediately realized what was happening, and hurriedly knelt down: "Your Majesty, I am terrified. Please forgive me."
Qi Wang waved his hand: "Take Zhang Yu away and throw him into the Heavenly Prison. Let the Imperial Clan Court investigate and try his crimes."
Ye Chaoyu dared not say anything more and could only agree. He waved his hand, ordering the guards to drag Zhang Yu, who was in so much pain that he could not stand up, away.
After that, the other eunuchs and palace maids filed in and quickly cleaned up the mess.
Qi Wang sat on the dragon throne, holding a newly replaced vermilion brush, reviewing the memorials that were supposed to be reviewed by him.
Without Zhang Yu, that abnormal eunuch, the other eunuchs and palace maids returned to normal.
They finally remembered that Qi Wang was the supreme ruler, and gave him the respect and authority he deserved.
He reviewed memorials, met with ministers, and discussed important matters; during this time, no further trouble arose.
Soon it was evening, and the eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department brought in a green plaque.
The original owner did not have much desire for women, and he did not have many concubines in his harem.
The Empress passed away two years after giving birth to the Crown Prince, and the original owner never appointed another Empress after that.
The affairs of the inner palace were jointly managed and overseen by the four consorts Rende, Liyi, and Rende.
Apart from the four imperial concubines, the other concubines, ladies-in-waiting, and other high-ranking officials were all only in their early twenties.
Because the original owner was not interested in beautiful women, he only selected concubines twice after ascending the throne. The last time was three years ago, and only Pei Yan entered the palace.
The reason she was chosen was because Pei Yan herself was willing to enter the palace.
Yes, when the original owner reached middle age, the selection of concubines was just a formality. The young women would enter the palace once and then go home to get married. The original owner would not force them to stay.
Pei Yan was unusually enthusiastic, as if she was determined to enter the palace. Seeing this, the four consorts, Rende and Liyi, simply allowed her to enter the palace.
However, although Pei Yan entered the palace, she was still young, and the original owner was too lazy to cultivate a relationship with the newcomer, so she was given the title of Cai Ren.
There weren't many women in the harem, so there wasn't much infighting. You could get promoted when the time was up, and because there were so few of them, everyone, regardless of rank, could live in their own private quarters. There were also quite a few eunuchs and maids serving them. You could say that, apart from not being able to see the emperor, they were much freer.
The original owner did not consider himself an emperor who liked to mistreat his concubines. He would give them the rewards they deserved during festivals, and he would visit the palaces of the four benevolent and courteous concubines in rotation, while he would occasionally visit the palaces of the other concubines once or twice.
The original owner had been with the concubine for many years and they were almost like family. Suddenly, another concubine appeared who could be her daughter. The original owner really couldn't bring herself to kiss her.
To be fair, by the standards of a feudal emperor, the original owner was already a pretty good emperor.
Although he was a little confused at times, otherwise it was all harmless and there wasn't much to criticize.
Qi Wang glanced at the green nameplates, then looked up at the eunuch of the Imperial Household Department: "Where is Consort Pei's green nameplate?"
Eunuch Li paused for a moment, then said cautiously, "Your Majesty, it was you who said that Consort Pei was too young... therefore the Imperial Household Department did not make a green plaque for Consort Pei."
Didn't you make her a green-headed signboard?
The original owner had no intention of sleeping with Pei Yan, so he didn't care about whether or not she had a green headplate. However, according to palace rules, concubines entering the palace had to have green headplates engraved, so Pei Yan's lack of a green headplate was somewhat intriguing.
"It's alright, we'll go to Lengdiexuan tonight."
Lengdiexuan was the palace where Pei Yan lived.
Eunuch Li responded and immediately went to make the arrangements.
Not long after, Eunuch Li returned.
"Your Majesty, Consort Pei is ill and cannot serve you tonight..."
As he said this, Eunuch Li kept his head down, not daring to look up at Qi Wang's face.
His Majesty had finally shown interest in the concubine, but Consort Pei unfortunately fell ill. His Majesty must be angry, right?
To make matters worse, Zhang Yu has offended His Majesty for some unknown reason and is now imprisoned in the Imperial Prison. If His Majesty is angry, there is really no one who can appease him.
"Then I will go to Lengdie Pavilion to take a look. Consort Pei has been in the palace for two years, and I have not seen her yet. I have neglected her for so long. Now that Consort Pei is ill, I should go and show her some concern."
Eunuch Li should have tried to dissuade Qi Wang, fearing that he might overdo his illness, but seeing that Qi Wang insisted on going, he didn't say anything more.
Eunuch Li arranged the sedan chair, and Qi Wang sat on the sedan chair with his eyes closed to rest.
On the other side, Pei Yan sat in her dormitory, head down, silently shedding tears. She didn't say a word, the crystal tears sliding down her cheeks, gathering at her pointed chin, and finally dripping down.
"Yan'er, please don't cry, okay? When you cry, my heart breaks."
Qi Zhen looked at Pei Yan, who was crying with her eyes down, and felt his heart breaking. He wanted to get closer to Pei Yan, but he was afraid of hurting her, so he could only stand a little distance away and comfort her.
Pei Yan didn't say anything, but her tears fell even more fiercely.
Looking at Pei Yan like this, Qi Zhen felt a headache coming on. He said a lot of nice things, but no matter how he coaxed her, Pei Yan remained silent.
In the end, Qi Zhen had no other choice. He sighed and stood there without saying a word.
Pei Yan cried her heart out. When Qi Zhen tried to comfort her, she felt wronged. When Qi Zhen stopped talking, she felt even more wronged, and tears streamed down her face like a burst dam.
Helpless, Qi Zhen hesitated for a moment, then walked up to Pei Yan and tentatively placed his hand on her shoulder.
Pei Yan struggled for a moment, but not very much. Seeing this, Qi Zhen knew what was going on. He simply pulled Pei Yan into his arms and gently soothed her.
"Yan'er, don't cry. I promise you, I'll find a way..."
Pei Yan sobbed, "You said it yourself, I didn't force you..."
Qi Zhen's voice was filled with helplessness: "Yes, you didn't force me, everything was of my own free will..."
Seeing him say that, Pei Yan pursed her lips and took out a handkerchief to wipe away her tears.
"Ah Zhen, tell me why? Is Qi Wang crazy? Why would he treat Zhang Yu like that?"
Hearing Pei Yan address Qi Wang by his name without any politeness, instead of addressing him as "Your Majesty," Qi Zhen felt it was inappropriate and couldn't help but speak up.
“Yan’er, that’s my father, and also His Majesty the Emperor. You should address him respectfully as Your Majesty…”
However, before Qi Zhen could finish speaking, Pei Yan pushed him away.
Qi Zhen staggered back two steps, looking at Pei Yan in confusion, seemingly not understanding why she had pushed him away.
Pei Yan glared at him angrily and said sarcastically, "Qi Zhen, now you've thought of correcting my form of address. You want me to address him as Your Majesty the Emperor, but I refuse. In my eyes, he's just an old man who forcibly took me into the palace. I'm young and beautiful, and he forced me into the palace. I'm already being lenient by not calling him a slut. Why should you expect me to address him respectfully?"
“All men are born equal. I have never felt that he is any more noble than me. He was just born lucky and became emperor. If I had such good fortune, I could have been emperor too.”
Hearing Pei Yan's strong and clear voice, Qi Zhen couldn't help but soften his voice.
"Alright, alright, Yan'er, don't be angry. I misspoke. I was just concerned about you. I was afraid that you might say something wrong in the palace and give someone with ulterior motives a handle to use against you."
It's not a big deal for Pei Yan to call Qi Wang by his name to his face, but Qi Zhen is afraid that Pei Yan is used to it and will give herself away in front of others.
Calling the emperor by his given name is a serious offense, and Pei Yan is a concubine. If this gets out to someone with ulterior motives, I may not be able to protect her.
Seeing Qi Zhen's cautious demeanor, Pei Yan sneered. She suddenly stood up, wrapped her arms around Qi Zhen like snakes, and wrapped her two smooth legs around his waist.
She was dressed lightly, with an orange-red bodice over a pair of light pink trousers that only reached her upper thighs, revealing her two fair and radiant legs.
Seeing Qi Zhen suddenly tense up, Pei Yanmei's eyes were as alluring as silk, and her breath was as sweet as orchids as she said, "Our Crown Prince actually knows what disrespect is?"
She chuckled, her tone incredibly flippant: "I am Qi Wang's concubine. According to your ethics and morals, you should call me 'little lady'..."
Qi Zhen suddenly grabbed Pei Yan's waist, his tone revealing a hint of anger.
"Yan'er, I don't want to hear you say this."
Qi Zhen had always known that Pei Yan was his father's concubine.
But when he fell in love with Pei Yan, he only thought she was an ordinary palace maid. By the time he learned her true identity, it was too late.
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