ng Qianqian snapped to her senses upon hearing this.
She propped herself up with her hands and suspiciously eyed the dark circles under his eyes. "Did you stay up all night? Sitting here the whole ti? Just to... collect a ’debt’? Aren’t you... late for court?"
Lu Yuan stubbornly declared, "So why won’t you hurry up and pay your debt?"
Bla , huh?
All the shock of ng Qianqian’s life had been used up this morning.
Fifteen minutes later, Lu Yuan stepped out of the room, looking refreshed.
"Good morning, young master!" Nanny Wan greeted him warmly. "The autumn and winter weather is dry, don’t forget to apply lip balm."
Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow. "I already did—three tis!"
ng Qianqian covered her eyes, feeling like all the face she had ever saved in her life had been lost that very morning.
Ban Xia entered the room to help ng Qianqian dress. "The young master is truly hardworking. His injuries have only just begun to heal, and yet he stayed up all night, burning the midnight oil to read."
ng Qianqian froze. "Burning the midnight oil to read? He was... in the study all night?"
"Yes," Ban Xia confird.
ng Qianqian clenched her fists.
He hadn’t been sitting on the bed all night—he was actually handling serious business!
His dark circles had nothing to do with her, and yet he could still shift the bla onto her so confidently!
Scoundrel!
Traitor!
Yu Zichuan sat atop the carriage, polishing his bow.
He had been at it for half an hour, going through several cloths, before Lu Yuan finally arrived—unhurried and clearly quite satisfied.
Yu Zichuan’s gaze landed on his lips. "What did you eat? I want so too."
In response, Yu Zichuan was decisively thrown off the carriage.
After entering the palace, Lu Yuan bypassed the Jinluan Palace and headed straight for the Supre Emperor’s Zhaoming Palace.
As expected, the Supre Emperor was once again seated in the Warm Pavilion, contemplating a ga of chess.
"Supre Emperor, the Grand Commander requests an audience," Eunuch Fu quietly reported.
The Supre Emperor, holding a black chess piece, gazed at the board, hesitating over where to place it. After making a move, he shook his head and picked the piece back up again.
Eunuch Fu didn’t dare to urge him and simply stood silently, waiting.
"No, that won’t work either."
The Supre Emperor shook his head, tossing the chess piece back into the Chess Shrine. "Let him in."
"Yes."
With his horsetail whisk in hand, Eunuch Fu withdrew and soon brought Lu Yuan into the Warm Pavilion.
In recent days, Capital City had experienced several heavy rainfalls, causing temperatures to plumt. Today, however, was a rare sunny day. The Warm Pavilion was cozy and filled with warmth, so much so that the two little eunuchs attending to the space had broken into a light sweat.
"Your subject pays respects to the Supre Emperor," Lu Yuan said, bowing with cupped hands.
The Supre Emperor dismissed him indifferently. "Enough, no need to act deferential—I’ve seen you strut about in my presence plenty of tis before."
"I plead guilty," Lu Yuan replied.
The Supre Emperor shot him a glare. "Did you learn this from the Pri Minister?"
"I wouldn’t dare," Lu Yuan said softly.
"Is there anything in this world that you, Lu Yuan, wouldn’t dare to do?" The Supre Emperor gestured for silence with a hand.
Eunuch Fu imdiately placed a ditation cushion opposite the Supre Emperor.
Lu Yuan knelt on the cushion.
Eunuch Fu positioned himself by the tea table, kneeling as well.
"Try this new tea," the Supre Emperor suggested.
Eunuch Fu quickly poured a cup of hot tea for Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan raised the teacup and took a few sips before remarking, "Excellent tea."
The Supre Emperor asked, "What makes it excellent?"
Lu Yuan replied, "It’s excellent because it is bestowed by the Supre Emperor."
The Supre Emperor lifted his gaze toward Lu Yuan. "Lu Yuan, you’ve grown cunning. Speak—what’s going on between you and the Pri Minister? Early this morning, soone ca to requesting that I uphold justice on behalf of the Pri Minister. Skipping court today was wise; the Jinluan Palace is likely filled with people speaking on his behalf."
Lu Yuan straightened his expression. "I dare not hide it from the Supre Emperor. The Pri Minister sent people to assassinate , so I turned the plan on its head, bribing one of the Pri Minister’s trusted aides to stage a fake death and substitute."
The Supre Emperor picked up another black chess piece from the Chess Shrine and asked casually, "Was this trusted aide Luo San?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan imdiately knew that Chief of Staff Xing had already t with the Supre Emperor and truthfully reported Hai Pig’s confession.
"Yes," Lu Yuan admitted openly.
As for the fact that Luo San was actually Pri Minister Xun’s own son, Lu Yuan conveniently chose to withhold that information.
One must always leave oneself so leverage, especially when dealing with a benefactor like the Supre Emperor.
The Supre Emperor expressed mild surprise. "So it’s true—you set the Pri Minister up yesterday."
Lu Yuan said, "Indeed, I disguised myself as Luo San with his cooperation. The Pri Minister mistook for Luo San and brought back to his mansion, which set the stage for what followed."
The Supre Emperor sighed with a hint of regret. "What a marvelous drama. If I’d known, I would’ve joined the crowd just to see the spectacle. These days, few can outmaneuver the Pri Minister. Tell , where should I place this piece on the board?"
Lu Yuan replied, "Your subject is dull and unable to solve this puzzle."
The Supre Emperor comnted, "Perhaps I’ll have your wife co and try one day—she’s quite skilled at chess."
"Yes," Lu Yuan answered deferentially.
"Did you uncover anything at the Pri Minister’s Mansion?" the Supre Emperor asked.
"I found so incriminating evidence, which I present for the Supre Emperor’s review."
Lu Yuan withdrew a stack of docunts from his wide sleeve.
He had ticulously reviewed this evidence the previous night, setting aside a few pieces to pave the way for his own future plans while submitting the remaining ones.
The Supre Emperor flipped through the ledgers and secret letters, muttering, "Pocketing profits, embezzling military funds, forming cliques for personal gain... he even dared to ddle in salt transport!"
The more the Supre Emperor read, the angrier he beca, slamming the docunts onto the table. "No wonder the national treasury has been depleted—it all went into Pri Minister Xun’s stomach! What a fine pillar of the state he is!"
Eunuch Fu hurriedly interjected, "Supre Emperor, please calm your anger and take care of your health!"
The Supre Emperor furiously exclaid, "The Great Zhou’s empire will perish at my hands sooner or later. What use is this broken body of mine?"
Eunuch Fu cast a pleading glance at Lu Yuan, silently urging him to placate the Supre Emperor rather than infla his rage.
Lu Yuan, lowering his head, borrowed a tactic from Chen Long’s tea ceremony tricks. "Your subject is guilty."
The Supre Emperor gritted his teeth. "Go on! I want to know just how many sches he’s hiding behind his façade of loyalty and patriotism!"
Reviews
All reviews (0)