Chapter 121 [VIP]
With the warm spring sunshine, Lu Xuejin looked at the bright pink flowers blooming outside. He glanced at the time and couldn't help but ask Ziyan, "Has Your Highness gotten up yet?"
Ziyan: "Get up. His Highness has already gone to court. Young Master, you don't need to worry about His Highness... I've heard that His Highness handles state affairs with great ease."
She was quite adept at it; having often observed her father and elder sister's actions since childhood, how could she not understand these things? The only problem was getting up early; sometimes she would sleep for six hours straight, missing the entire morning court session.
They always seem to cause me worry.
Ziyan said from the side, "His Highness dislikes those tedious formalities. The morning court only discusses matters and does not make decisions. Decisions are discussed by the ministers before being presented... This has improved efficiency a lot, and it saves His Highness trouble."
Upon hearing this, Lu Xuejin said, "Your Highness is always good at saving trouble."
As they were talking, the people returned, watching Murong Yue and his guards approach from afar. Behind Murong Yue followed Tengluo, who carried several cloth notebooks in her arms.
Murong Yue: "Brother Changyou—"
Tengluo: "Young Master! Ziyan... just now when she went to see Fu Lian with His Highness, she brought us a new booklet!"
Ziyan: "Miss Fu is very skillful... She's come to the capital?"
Murong Yue responded, "She is with Feng Yu now. I'll have her come to the palace to take a look. Perhaps she can draw the palace after seeing it."
Tengluo: "That's wonderful! If I had that kind of skill, I could travel all over the country."
Lu Xuejin watched the three of them huddled together. Murong Yue and Tengluo both had smiles on their faces, and Ziyan also had a faint smile on her face. He looked over, and Murong Yue came in front of him, looking down into his eyes.
"Brother Changyou, what are you looking at? Are you waiting for me?" Murong Yue asked.
As she spoke, she stuck to him like a big chunk of frosting. His earlobe was touched, but before he could respond, His Highness said from behind him, "Brother Changyou, are you still reading those medical books? You don't need to read them anymore. You should read more memorials... Those newly appointed officials are all making mistakes. They don't seem as efficient as Tengluo."
Tengluo and Ziyan finished distributing the booklets with smiles, and then went with the guards to set the dining table. They overheard someone say, "Your Highness, please don't compare yourselves to servants. The ministers are very clever! If they are pretending to be confused, it's only because they are afraid of offending Your Highness!"
"Your Highness is harsh on his ministers... I bet soon the reputation of Your Highness as a tyrant will spread."
Murong Yue couldn't help but say, "When have I ever been harsh to my ministers?"
Lu Xuejin: "Your Highness always shows his emotions, which may make you look gloomy and terrifying. Naturally, the ministers are also on edge."
"Really?" Murong Yue touched his face and leaned closer, saying, "Brother, do I look gloomy and terrifying to you? What's terrifying about me? Look at me... how does my face resemble that of a tyrant?"
Lu Xuejin: "..."
Before he could answer, Murong Yue didn't give him a chance to reply. He leaned over and kissed him on the lips, then turned back to talk to Tengluo.
He touched his lips, while the two people beside him chattered, startling a flock of birds under the blue sky and white clouds.
Tengluo: "Does Your Highness still stand by what you promised me last time?"
Upon hearing this, Murong Yue looked over and said, "Of course it counts. Have you thought it through? I heard you went to the Imperial Prison a couple of days ago... Brother Changyou, my eyelids suddenly twitched. Do you think Tengluo has something to tell us?"
Tengluo realized that Murong Yue was teasing her, and she said unhappily, "Your Highness, please don't tease me. I don't want to be a princess or a county princess... but there is something I would like to ask of Your Highness."
“I went to see Lord Song and he was suffering terribly in the imperial prison. His punishment must have been enough, and he has not done anything wrong... Could Your Highness please release him?”
Murong Yue: "Brother Changyou, listen to this... They came to plead for us because of a man."
"There are plenty of men in the world... Why do you only like him? Just find someone else to like. It's a huge mistake for him to have chosen the wrong side, so naturally he can't be let off the hook. I've already shown him mercy by not killing him."
Tengluo took a bite of her bun unhappily and said to Murong Yue, "Your Highness makes it sound so easy, but it seems you don't respect my feelings. How can you expect to find someone else to like me? If you reject Your Highness, will you find someone else to like?"
Murong Yue: "So this is considered disrespecting your feelings? Well, you should also consider who you like. If you like a sixty-year-old man, and I object, wouldn't that also be disrespecting Tengluo's feelings?"
Lu Xuejin watched the two arguing. While arguing with Tengluo, His Highness still had time to serve him food. He glanced at the food in his bowl, swallowed it, and His Highness served him something else. He couldn't help but look at His Highness again.
"Brother, you should eat well. You've lost so much weight while I was away in the palace," Murong Yue said.
Murong Yue: "Tengluo, you're right about him, which really hurts me. I finally escaped with great difficulty. Although you saved me once, Song Zhao is also the culprit... Now you're siding with him, forgetting who your real family is. Just keep praising him, I'm not sad at all, my heart doesn't ache at all."
Upon hearing this, Tengluo blushed, whether from anger or shame, it was hard to tell. Unable to argue with Murong Yue, she could only angrily shut up and ate two large bowls of rice in a huff.
Lu Xuejin watched as Tengluo walked away dejectedly. Seeing how sharp-tongued the person beside her was, he looked over and asked, "Your Highness... what are your plans?"
Murong Yue: "What plans could I possibly have? Look at her, Brother Changyou. She's so useless. She wouldn't even be a princess. She's only willing to rescue Song Zhao."
“If they are in love, that would be fine. But I think Song Zhao is very aloof. Not to mention that Tengluo will have to serve him in the future, he might even look down on her because of her background... How can such a person be worthy of Tengluo pleading for him?”
"Brother, don't you think so?"
Lu Xuejin recalled Song Zhao's attitude towards Tengluo. Although he had mistreated Tengluo once before, he never resisted Tengluo's care later.
“Song Zhao is not a petty person who judges people by their background…” He paused slightly, recalling that if there was anything about Tengluo that Song Zhao disliked, it was perhaps because she was his maid.
“Brother always thinks so highly of everyone else; I think he’s the real villain,” Murong Yue said.
Lu Xuejin glanced at the person beside her. His Highness always thought the worst of people, but his natural malice was not malicious. He was just criticizing someone... which made him seem adorably innocent.
“I wrote to Wei Ning, but she hasn’t replied yet… Does Your Highness have her reply?” he asked.
Murong Yue: "With my uncle here, brother, you don't need to worry about Sister Wei Ning... She hasn't replied, perhaps because she's hesitating about whether to tell Brother Changyou that she should be getting married to my uncle soon."
His eyes reflected the prince's expression. He was still somewhat dazed when he heard the news. Cui Ruhao's face suddenly appeared in his mind, and he remained silent for a long time.
For some reason, it wasn't too surprising.
“Although it’s just my guess, I can tell that my uncle cares about her a lot and probably won’t want her to come back,” Murong Yue said. “My uncle is much worse than me.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Xuejin looked over and met the seemingly innocent eyes of the person beside her. Those eyes held him, revealing intense emotions, as if they wished they could engulf him entirely.
...Cui Lingjie.
“Brother Changyou, don’t think about it anymore. It’s all other people’s business. Why should you care? Let me see what you’ve written in the room,” Murong Yue said to him.
The books on his desk were opened, and His Highness naturally wanted to see what he had written. Just as he was about to stop him, His Highness put the books down and turned his attention back to him.
His Highness then hugged his waist and leaned in to bite him on the cheek.
...Although His Highness always likes to bite people, he is not gloomy and terrifying at all; he is clearly a lively little sun.
It looks like a sunflower, and also like a trumpet vine.
As he thought this, he subconsciously touched the corner of his lips; he should be smiling. All his worries dissipated, and as long as he was near His Highness, his attention naturally fell on him.
His mother, father, and brothers... all have left him.
Two days passed, and Tengluo did not speak to Murong Yue for two days. Murong Yue sent a guard to the imperial prison to inquire about Song Zhao's intentions.
The eerie city walls towered high, blocking out the sun, and the air was filled with the smell of dampness and decay. Even if a person was still alive inside, the low-lying space and oppressive environment would cause their body to emit a putrid odor.
Song Zhao was in this environment, and he reminded himself every day not to be depressed, until Murong Yue's guards arrived.
"Lord Song, His Majesty has sent someone to ask your opinion... There is a great opportunity that can absolve you of your crimes."
"You should be considered lucky. His Majesty's own sister has taken a liking to you. As long as you marry Miss Tengluo, His Majesty will not pursue the past... All past grievances will be wiped clean. Are you willing?"
...ask him if he's willing?
...His lord has passed away.
...The last wishes left by the lord.
As long as he is alive, Lu Xuejin will think of her lord whenever she sees him, and that is all he can do.
The old dynasties have passed away, and the newly established dynasties will inevitably collapse... only in the distant and unreachable future.
When he was released from prison, he saw the sun. After being in darkness for so long, the sun was incredibly dazzling. All the past seemed to vanish as he stepped out of the prison and into the sunlight.
Not far away, Murong Yue was with Tengluo, the woman he had previously looked down upon... now appearing beside the new monarch.
Lu Xuejin watched him from a distance on the other side, observing his behavior.
Long ago, during her youth, when she witnessed a classmate being looked down upon, Lu Xuejin had told her classmate about it.
The saying goes, "Those who despise others today will be despised by others tomorrow."
He met Lu Xuejin's gaze, looking into her eyes as if entering a silent realm. She was the arbiter of this land; her eagle eyes could see the fate of anyone they looked at.
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