Chapter 28 part 1
Edited by renderedreversed
Chapter 28 part 1
Go…to the palace?
Recently, this general and that princess hadn’t been living in peace together. Two months ago, they even tried to kill each other. And yesterday, the princess had a miscarriage. The emperor, being “my” brother in law, surely wouldn’t let me eat good fruit[1. Eat good fruit: It’s a Chinese saying. XXZ is thinking that the emperor will let her suffer]...
My heart was disturbed. I thought of numerous ways to escape on the way to the palace. But when I looked at Chu Yi, who was riding on a horse beside me, I figured he wouldn’t run away with me. With no servant to serve me, my life as a commoner wouldn’t be easy.
I gritted my teeth, calmed my heart, and consoled myself. In the long run, the emperor would be of no consequence. No matter how powerful he was, it would be impossible for him to see that inside this rough man’s skin was actually a fragile woman.
In the first lifetime, I went to the palace a few times with father Song. From that time, I still remembered proper palace etiquette. After passing the Shen wing, the eunuch took me to the royal study.
Sitting behind a large desk was a man wearing dark red clothes. He was writing something with a serious expression. I quietly thought to myself: they were both emperors, but the emperor of the human realm looked more like an emperor than Yanwang.
I didn’t know how the emperor usually got along with the general, and I also didn’t know if they had a good relationship. So, I simply bowed and kneeled in silence. When facing someone powerful, being obedient was always a safe bet.
The eunuch quietly stood beside the emperor. To reduce their presence, they had been trained to silence even their breathing.
I heard the emperor put aside his brush.
“Qinghui.”
His voice was deep.
“Is Fuying’s body alright?”
I thought for half a day before I realized that Fuying and Qinghui were Chu Kong and I. My heart spiraled into lamentation. It really was because of the miscarriage that I was summoned. I kept my head down and said, “Your vassal is guilty.”
The emperor’s side was silent. Then, I heard a chuckle. The emperor said, “You can stand up. Besides, the empress dowager isn’t here now; you don’t have to pretend anymore.”
Hey, what was this situation? My heart was beating really hard. I pretended to be calm and stood up.
There was still a trace of a smile on the emperor’s lips as he sat behind the desk, but his eyes looked like they were biting into ice. He peered at me and said, “Qinghui, you say, now that Fuying has lost the child, will it cause us more harm or bring us more benefits?”
This emperor and the general were really impure, ah...
I narrowed my eyes and held the emperor’s smelly feet[2. hold someone's smelly feet: Another Chinese saying. It means flatter. XXZ is flattering the emperor]: “This vassal is dull.”
The emperor chuckled for a moment. “During the few days zhen hasn’t seen you, Qinhui has learned how to be humble.”
The emperor’s finger’s tapped on the desk.
“After receiving the news yesterday, zhen[3. Zhen:I, used by the emperor] was happy that the throne could be saved, but I was also worried... Da Qi Country won’t be safe for much longer. This move of Wei Country was terrific.”
I totally didn’t understand what he was saying. I could only gaze at the ground in front of me.
The royal study was silent for a moment before the emperor suddenly stood up. He stood in front of me and said, “Speaking of military matters, Qinhui, it seems that you’ve been slightly neglecting the affairs of the court as of late.”
My heart tightened and I wanted to kneel again, but the emperor seemed to have expected it. He grabbed my hand and pulled me up.
“Qinhui, you don’t need to be cautious. It’s not that I blame you. You and I have been brothers for many years; of course I know that you’re loyal and don’t have any second thoughts. It’s just...haven’t you been a little too soft-hearted on Fuying a few too many times lately?”
I stiffened. Mentally, I was bitterly complaining: “I can’t not be soft-hearted on “Fuying,” ah...”
“I know that Fuying is infatuated with you. It’s inevitable that two people who have been living together for a long time will form some feelings that you shouldn’t have.”
Considering the general and the princess were already married, what exactly were these feelings they shouldn’t have?
“I heard that after seeing Fuying miscarriage, you were really hurt and stayed by her bed for three days and three nights without rest. You even let Chuyi go catch those spies alone. Now, they’ve even escaped. Qinghui, say, don’t you have some responsibility in this matter?”