Chapter 60 Part 2

 

Xuyu was stunned for a moment. After thinking for a while, she asked, “Then I guess this young lady will also help Aunt Wang to decorate the place where your master lives?”

“I suppose so.”

“The curtain you sent is no longer needed?”

Qingtou nodded: “I showed it to Master, and he said he was not use to sleep with it.”

“Did you tell me I asked you to buy it?”

Qingtou nodded again: “Of course I did!”

“Go tomorrow and bring the curtain back!” Xuyu ordered without hesitation.

Qingtou blinked and said, “Master told me to put it away, so I brought it back.”

Xuyu couldn’t hold it in any longer, and a nameless anger rose in her heart. She said, “It useless anyway. You burn it for me!”

Qingtou was stunned: “Such a good curtain, why burn it?”

Xuyu said, “I bought it with my own money, why do you care so much? If I told you to burn it, then burn it!”

Qingtou refused to obey: “No, no! Not even if it’s your money! If you burn such good curtain, I will break my legs if Lord Pei finds out! Young Master, if you really don’t want it, you can leave it with me first. I will keep it and make sure you don’t see it and get upset!”

Xuyu was so angry with the boy that she didn’t know what to say for a moment. She waved her hand to send him away and sat alone for a while. Suddenly, there seemed to be a slight noise coming from outside, as if someone was walking and accidentally stepped on a small stone.

She walked to the door and opened it, which scared Yang Zai’en who was about to leave secretly. He came back in a hurry to apologize, saying that he just knew that she had returned from going out, so he came to see if there she had some instruction for him. Seeing that Xuyu didn’t say anything and just glared at him, he wiped the sweat off his forehead and retreated awkwardly.

Xuyu watched coldly as Yang Zai’en walked out awkwardly, closed the door, slowly sat back in front of the lamp, and once again to be in daze.

Yang Zai’en quietly left Yongning’s residence overnight, went out of the lane gate, and rode to the palace on horseback.

He entered through the side gate and came to Ziyun Palace. When he saw Zhao Zhongfang, he immediately reported: “Master Pei has not come back in the past few days. Yesterday evening, the princess went to the government office to look for him. The two talked for a while on the river bank outside and then separated. Tonight, when the princess came back from outside, she heard from the servant that Master Pei was called to Cui Mansion and met a young lady named Wang. He also didn’t want the curtain that the princess asked the servant to buy. She seemed very angry and ordered the servant to burn the curtain. But then, she sat alone in the room in a daze.

“This servant dare to say that the princess looked quite sad. This servant felt very uneasy, therefore went to the palace overnight to tell you. Maybe you have some idea of ​​what’s going on.”

After hearing this, Zhao Zhongfang told him to go back and pondered over it in the small pavilion.

In the little princess’ heart, there should already be someone. However, that someone was a person the emperor was wary about.

On one side was the emperor’s order, and on the other side was his beloved little princess. What should he do? The old man was at a loss for a moment and looked worried. At this time, the palace clock rang the third clock.

It was getting late, it was time to urge the emperor to go to bed.

Zhao Zhongfang temporarily suppressed his worries and hurried out of the door, only to see Xuyu standing outside. He didn’t know when she followed into the palace. She only looked over and said softly, “Zhao Bandang, it’s all my father’s fault, isn’t it? It was my father who didn’t allow Master Pei to go home?”

Zhao Zhongfang was startled. He looked around and saw only a few small eunuchs standing nearby with their hands at their sides. He hurriedly ordered them to guard the door, and then he pulled Xuyu in. He closed the door and coaxed her in a low voice, “Where did you hear such a thing? Little princess, who told you that?” His face turned stern, “Is it Yang Zai’en? That scoundrel must be tired of living, daring to spread baseless rumors to sow discord between the little princess and His Majesty. This is a capital offense. This old servant will have him whipped to pieces!”

The old palace eunuch first excluded Pei’s son. Although he had just returned to the palace and had little contact with him, his experience for most of his life made him intuitively believe that this boy was definitely not such a reckless and ignorant person.

Xuyu wanted to cry and laugh at the same time, and shook her head: “Zhao Bandang, I am not a child anymore. I am not a little princess, don’t call me that.”

Zhao Zhongfang sighed twice: “For this old servant, little princess will always be little princess.”

“No one needs to tell me about this, I can see it with my own eyes. After Father sent so many people to Pei’s residence, he never came back. I didn’t think about it at first, thinking that he was really that busy. But tonight, I thought about it again. How could it be a coincidence that as soon as Yang Zai’en and the others came, he was immediately so busy that he couldn’t even go home. If I hadn’t gone to find him, I don’t think he would have met me again. Obviously before…”

Facing this old eunuch who had accompanied her in her childhood, infinite grievances and dissatisfaction surged deeply into her heart at this moment.

Xuyu tried hard to suppress it so that the corners of her eyes wouldn’t appear too red.

“It doesn’t matter to me. But that was originally the Pei family’s house. At first, he invited me to live there out of kindness and for the sake of protecting me. now it feels like I become a dove who occupy the magpie’s nest and drive away the original owner! What will Master Pei think of me? What on earth is my father doing? Does he think I haven’t lost enough face already?”

The old eunuch hurried to defend the emperor: “Little princess, you really misunderstood His Majesty! How could he ever do anything that would harm you? His Majesty has his concerns, and it’s all for your own good. He’s worried that if things continue this way, and Master Pei ends up breaking your heart in the future, then that would be the real heartbreak—”

How could Xuyu listen to his words at this moment? She turned around and walked out: “Is my father asleep? I’ll ask him myself!” The old eunuch grabbed her from behind in panic, dragged his broken leg, and knelt down: “Princess! Listen to what this old servant says, and be patient. If you go and talk like this, His Majesty might be upset!”

“I’ll talk to him nicely. Everything has its reasons. He can’t think that just because others call him a saint, he truly believes he’s one.”

“His Majesty can’t do anything to you, but later on, he will definitely take it out on Pei’s son. By then, this old servant is afraid it will be even more difficult for the young master…”

Xuyu’s footsteps were firmly nailed to the ground by Zhao Zhongfang’s words. She stood there for a moment, then turned back and said, “Zhao Bandang, then tell me, why is Father so afraid that Pei’s son will have a bad future and will break my heart?”

Zhao Zhongfang was startled, and a look of regret immediately emerged on his wrinkled old face. He raised his hand and began to hit himself: “This old servant made a slip of the tongue and made the princess suspicious! There was no such thing. This old servant just wanted to persuade the princess to calm down and stop thinking about it…”

Xuyu couldn’t bear to see him hitting himself, so she calmed down and went to stop him, trying to help her old companion up from the ground. At this moment, the door of the pavilion opened and a voice came out: “Zhao Zhongfang is right! How can it be a slip of the tongue!”

Xuyu turned her head and saw her emperor father appear in front of her. His brows were slightly frowned and his eyes fell on her face with displeasure.

Zhao Zhongfang was frightened and kept kowtowing.

“Get out,” said the emperor.

The old eunuch hesitated, but finally got up from the ground and walked out slowly.

The emperor entered and came to the couch. After he sat down, his expression gradually became gentle and he said, “Hao’er, you come too and sit next to Father.”

Xuyu didn’t move.

The emperor showed a trace of helplessness on his face and paused.

“Father originally wanted you to move out of Pei’s residence, but seeing that you were unwilling and said you didn’t want the hassle, Father just let you do it. But you are Father’s princess, how can Pei Xiaoyuan live with you? It’s only natural to ask him to move out, why are you so angry?”

Xuyu shook her head: “Father, you lied again! What did Zhao Bandang mean by what he just said? Why did you say Pei Er would hurt me in the future?”

The emperor was silent for a moment.

“Hao’er, Pei’s son is very scheming. Father is telling you the truth, even Father may not be able to control him. He came to the capital this time with evil intentions.”

“What evil intentions does he have?”

“If you can easily see it, would it still be called evil intentions? He has no loyalty to Zhen, you just need to know this. Father also knows that you two have some friendship before, and you trust him very much. It’s precisely because of this that Father is worried, let alone let go.

“Listen to Father. Father is the one who loves you the most in the world and will never harm you. Asking him to stay away from you is for your own good.”

Xuyu stared at her father emperor in silence, and suddenly asked again: “Since he harbors evil intentions and has no loyalty to you, then why did you transfer him to the capital and entrust him with important tasks? Let him fend for himself in Ganliang, or, if Father is really worried, you can find any excuse to kill him, wouldn’t it be better?”

The candlelight in the small pavilion was not as bright as that in the outer hall. The emperor’s sunken eyes were hidden in the candlelight, flickering slightly.

“It’s a rare good sword, so Father will continue to use it. But for Father, there is still no matching sheath to be found.

“If a sword doesn’t have a sheath that can contain its sharpness, how can it be safely hung by your side?”

Xuyu nodded: “I understand. If Father can’t find it, then once the sword is no longer useful, to prevent it from turning against its master, you will simply break it.”

The emperor stared at Xuyu and said, “So you understand Father’s painstaking efforts, right? You are Father’s daughter. If you don’t stand on my side, are you going to speak on behalf of an outsider??”

Xuyu lowered her eyes and said nothing.

The emperor waited for a moment, then spoke more gently: “It’s getting late. Father will ask Zhao Bandang to clean up a room for you here, and you can sleep there.”

Xuyu shook her head: “I won’t stay here.”

The emperor immediately changed his words: “You can go back tonight. If you don’t want to live there anymore, Father will give you a new house tomorrow. You move out and give that broken place back to him. We won’t live there anymore!”

Xuyu stepped out of the palace.

She rode the horse, letting it move southward with loose reins. Suddenly she stopped, turned around, and shouted at the figures following her from a distance: “Get lost! Stop following me!” As her voice trailed off, she snapped her whip against her mount and sped away. The attendants, who had been ordered to accompany her, snapped out of their daze and hurried to catch up, but by then, the rider was long gone. They hurried to Pei’s residence and were told that Young Master Ye had not returned. Panicking, they quickly split up to search nearby, but there was no trace of her anywhere.

Late at night, Pei Xiaoyuan had just returned to his residence and lay down when he heard someone banging on the door. He quickly got dressed and went out to open the door. He saw that it was someone from the palace who said that the emperor had summoned him urgently.

Pei Xiaoyuan was wondering what was going on, why the emperor summoned him so late at night again. He did not dare to pause and rushed into Ziyun Palace. Just as he walked into the hall and before he could stand firm, he saw the emperor shouting at him: “Where did you hide Zhen’s daughter?” Then, the emperor grabbed another hot incense burner on the table and smashed it at him.

With the lesson learned from last time, Pei Xiaoyuan dodged it. The incense burner flew past him and landed with a thud, with incense ash and sparks flying everywhere, covering the ground.

His heart also hung up with the emperor’s scolding. After he stood still, he hesitated for a moment, bowed and asked, “What does Your Majesty mean by this?”

Zhao Zhongfang, who followed him in, told him what had happened, explaining that after the princess left the palace tonight, she dismissed her attendants but did not return to Yongning’s residence. She disappeared on her own, and despite searching everywhere, no one could find her. The emperor had ordered Han Kerang to look for her. He just thought of him again and summoned him as well.

At this moment, perhaps due to his anger, the emperor suddenly began coughing violently, doubling over in pain, his face looked very painful.

Zhao Zhongfang hurriedly went up to support him and whispered to persuade him, but the emperor pushed him away. He held back his cough and slowly stood up. He stared at Pei Xiaoyuan again with a fierce light in his eyes and said with a sullen face:

“Zhen ordered you not to get involved with her, ordered you to stay away, but Zhen never told you to take it this far! Discussing marriage with multiple families? Still meeting with some daughter of the Wang family? You’ve caused her such heartbreak—if anything happens to her, if she loses even a single strand of hair, Zhen will tell you this, Yuan Zhi’s cauldron hasn’t seen fire in a long time! Each and every one of you, get ready to jump into it yourselves!”

T/N: Ckckck this guy is really unreasonable!

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