Chapter 397 – Oh so high Wangyue Building (2)
Having no idea about the recent events in the palace, Ji Man peacefully slept the night away and even had a good dream that night. She woke up feeling refreshed.
—
Standing in the rice shop, Yan Buba said in a serious tone, “Boss, the capital might be undergoing a major change soon.”
Scared, Ji Man asked, “How’s it going to change?”
“It’s going to get colder.” Yan Buba looked at the outside. “The autumn rain has brought cold weather.”
Ji Man, “…” Gah, he had almost scared her to death. She had thought he meant a catastrophe was going to happen.
As she was helping the store assistants bringing in a few bags of rice from outside, she heard a group of meddlesome people causing a ruckus with one of them shouting, “Bad news! Something has happened in the palace!”
“What happened? What happened?” The group of middle-aged men, who had ducked underneath the eaves because of the rain, quickly started to gossip.
“I don’t know what happened, but the empress is furious. She soundly whipped Kangyuan Junzhu before kicking her out of the palace,” someone said in a lowered voice, “My daughter works in the palace. When I was waiting at the side entrance of the palace today to visit her, I overheard the palace maids gossiping about this. Aiya, I’ve always thought that Her Majesty was a dignified and gentle woman. Who could have thought she would whip someone?!”
Ji Man was stunned. Pengyue whipped Kangyuan? She had only taken a break for two days. How could something like this have happened?
—
The rainy weather was very cold, and it took two days before the sky cleared up. Once the weather improved, Zhu Yurun came skipping over here and cleared up Ji Man’s confusion.
“Kangyuan Junzhu straightforwardly told the empress that she and the emperor had been physically intimate, and she wanted to become his consort.” Zhu Yurun munched on snacks as she said, “That Zhenyuan General is a really forgiving person. I heard that he wrote a letter to divorce Kangyuan Junzhu and another letter to clearly state that he would continue to be loyal to the emperor. The emperor was very pleased by this and raised his annual salary. The emperor said the raise was a reward, but it looks more like an appeasement.”
Ji Man fed her more food as she gestured for her to continue speaking.
Zhu Yurun didn’t have any intention of hiding anything. She shared all of Qian Yingchen’s guesses with Ji Man without missing a single one.
“The road between the capital and Zhangjun is almost complete. On a whim, the emperor said he wants Ning Mingjie to bring ten thousand soldiers to Zhangjun as military exercise. Zhangjun is place that’s easy to defend and hard to attack. The people from Zhangjun haven’t replied back yet. They’re probably thinking that the emperor has too much free time and nothing better to do.
Zhu Yurun spoke without censoring herself. Fortunately, Ji Man was her only audience.
Military exercise? Who would have nothing better to do than go over to Zhangjun as a type of military exercise? Zhangjun had become a thorn in the emperor’s side, and the time was ripe for the emperor to find an opportunity to remove that thorn.
Ji Man furrowed her brow. Zhangjun Prince had returned his fiefdom, so it had naturally become difficult to contact him. She didn’t know what he was going to do next.
“I feel really uneasy. I keep feeling like there’s going to be war soon.” Yurun put down the half-eaten snack and said, “Yingchen said the imperial court appears calm right now, and Zhenyuan General’s matter hadn’t stirred up any major waves. But, I still feel worried about Yingchen.”
“Why are you worried about him?” Ji Man found the matter a bit laughable. “He isn’t a general. He’s a civil court official. He follows Marquis Moyu. Who could harm him?”
“You don’t understand.” Zhu Yurun sighed and said, “You wouldn’t know what this feeling is like. When you’re in love with someone, you’ll worry about him even if he’s only going out for just a stroll. You’ll worry that he twists his ankle or something. As long as he’s out of your sight, you’ll be worried about suddenly losing him.”
Ji Man froze in surprise for a moment before poking Zhu Yurun’s bright and clean forehead. “You’re overthinking things. Nothing bad will happen.”
“En.” Yurun lowered her eyes. “It’ll be good if our days can remain peaceful.”
—
How could there be peace? Ning Mingjie had divorced Kangyuan Junzhu. Because of Kangyuan Junzhu’s matter, the empress started a cold war with the emperor. Kangyuan Junzhu’s father, Prince Rong, had also written a letter to the emperor to apologize for not raising his daughter well. He also requested the emperor take into consideration that they were one family and make Kangyuan his consort.
Sitting in his wheelchair, Zhao Li stayed outside of Wangyue Building for a long time, but Pengyue never opened her window. More and more misunderstandings had piled up between him and Pengyue, but he didn’t have the energy to explain all of them. She had once been a smiling woman that publicly declared that she would protect him, but his recent actions had finally broken her heart.
The eunuch was put into a difficult position as he came over to report, “Your Majesty, Kangyuan Junzhu has been kneeling by the west entrance for a long time.”
Zhao Li slowly closed his eyes. “Bring her to the inner palace.”
“Understood.” The eunuch let out a sigh and left.
The matter of Kangyuan Junzhu becoming the emperor’s consort was only a matter of time. The emperor had to give Prince Rong face.
Zhao Li looked at the oh so high Wangyue Building and finally turned his wheelchair around and left.
—
The emperor summoned Ning Mingjie and Ning Yuxuan to the Taihe Hall.
Since Ning Mingjie’s loyalty towards him had been tested again, he felt safe with handing over the military power to him. As for Marquis Moyu… Although he had his heir in his possession, Zhao Li didn’t feel confident about having his loyalty.
Once Zhangjun’s road was complete, the army would be sent there. At that time, he couldn’t afford to make a single mistake about the people by his side.
