Chapter 68

 

Xuyu entered the palace through a side gate and made her way to the Ziyun Palace, where she noticed the palace eunuchs on duty tonight were all gathered outside, not daring to go in. Inside, her father, unable to sleep at this late hour, was pacing back and forth in the outer hall of the vihara, hands clasped behind his back, his brows knitted tightly in a look of deep frustration.

Zhao Zhongfang asked Yang Zai’en to drive everyone away and guard the palace gate. He did not even bother to wipe the sweat off his forehead and hurriedly reported: “Your Majesty, the princess is back!”

“Father!” Xuyu also followed him in, made a crisp sound, and went up to hold his arm.

“It’s all my fault! I made Father worried! I’m back, I’m fine!”

The emperor looked at her for a while, and his expression finally improved a little. He asked her where she went to spend the night last night and why she had returned late today.

Xuyu answered truthfully and said that she had stayed overnight at the home of a kind mountain villager in Xishan whom she had known before. She wanted to return early this morning, but unfortunately, heavy rain washed away the bridge and delayed her journey, that was why she only returned now.

“I really can’t help it. I didn’t mean to make you worry. But I’m really fine! It’s getting late. I’ll take you to rest!”

“It’s good, it’s good. You must be frightened.”

After hearing this, the emperor heaved a long sigh of relief, patted his daughter’s hand gently, and comforted her a few words. Then he turned to Zhao Zhongfang and his face changed immediately: “Where is Pei Er?”

“General Han has already called him over and will definitely reprimand him severely!” Zhao Zhongfang responded hurriedly.

“That Pei family bastard!”

The emperor cursed angrily, “Zhen wonder how Han Kerang can protect him this time! He’s so bold that he even dares to forge an imperial decree! Taking Hao’er away in front of everyone! What on earth does he want to do?”

“Your Majesty, please don’t be angry. Your Majesty’s health is the most important! Pei’s son has always been a steady person. If this old servant can boldly speculate, there must be other reasons for this matter, which is why he acted so rashly last night. It’s good that the princess returns safely. Your Majesty has been worried all day, why don’t you listen to the princess’s words and go to rest first, and see what the general has to says tomorrow?”

The emperor nodded: “Great! Even you, an old man, are making excuses for him?” His eyes darted around the hall and finally fell on the incense burner on the desk, his eyes began to become fierce.

“Zhen can’t sleep anyway, there’s no need for Han Kerang! Why not go and bring him here—let him personally explain to Zhen exactly what the reason is.” The emperor said sinisterly.

Zhao Zhongfang knelt down hurriedly and kowtowed: “Your Majesty, please calm down. Your Majesty has misunderstood! How dare this old servant make excuses for an outsider? It’s really too late tonight. If Pei’s son is summoned into the palace to be punish now, no matter how secretive it is, it will inevitably cause a stir. If the news spreads, afraid it won’t be good for the princess…”

Last night, Pei Xiaoyuan braved the rain to reach the Fan family’s villa outside the city and, in front of everyone, took away the young painter Ye Xuyu. After that, the two of them disappeared without a trace. Shizi Yuwen couldn’t catch up and, together with Zhang Dunyi, searched the area for most of the night, finding no sign of them. He was so angry that he almost vomited blood and cursed until dawn. Later, perhaps unwilling to let others know of his disgrace or simply because his anger had cooled down, he told Zhang Dunyi to keep the incident quiet, begrudgingly dropped the matter, and returned to Chang’an.

However, Zhang Dunyi’s situation was not as simple as Yuwen Zhi’s.

Han Kerang had repeatedly told him that the identity of the young painter surnamed Ye was extremely special and that he could not make any mistakes. He had to protect the young painter in the same way as he protected the emperor. So at that time, if Pei Xiaoyuan had not said that the emperor had summoned the young painter for something, he would never have let him to take him away. Later, he realized that something was wrong, but it was too late and he could not find the people. As day was approaching, he ordered Song Bokang and others from the painting department to keep everything they saw last night secret. He hurried back, not daring to conceal anything, and reported everything to Han Kerang.

When Han Kerang heard this, his head buzzed and he almost died of anger.

Although the emperor did not tell him who Ye Xuyu was, as a confidant who had participated in almost all of the emperor’s confidential matters, he had eyes and could see. The painting of Queen Mother of the West, the eunuchs in the palace were sent to Yongning Mansion to serve, Zhao Zhongfang returned to the palace, the little painter went in and out of Ziyun Palace as if it was a commonplace, and the emperor ordered to protect the little painter as they protected him. All these things added up, it could be seen that the little painter must have a close relationship with the late Empress Zhaode. Although he was not sure what the relationship was, Han Kerang knew very well what Empress Zhaode meant to the emperor.

This little painter might be the person the emperor had found who could bring him some comfort after the death of Empress Zhaode.

Now his subordinate was so bold as to touch this person?

Originally, he was hoping that Pei Xiaoyuan could send the young painter back as soon as possible so that he could pretend that nothing happened. He was willing to suppress last night’s incident, even if he was risking being punished by the emperor in the future.

Unexpectedly, after waiting and waiting, and the time for the young painter to return had long passed, there was still no sign of them. When the Emperor personally inquired, how could Song Bokang dare to hide anything? Terrified, he revealed everything from the previous night—the details of how Shizi Yuwen went out hunting and stayed with them, how he hosted a banquet and performed a sword dance, offering flowers, and finally, how Chief Pei appeared and took the painter away.

The emperor was so angry that he almost fell backwards. He called Han Kerang and gave him a severe scolding. This led to the scene where Zhao Zhongfang and Han Kerang were waiting anxiously tonight.

One of the reasons why the emperor suppressed his anger and did not make a big fuss was that he did not want this to be known to others. At this moment, Zhao Zhongfang reminded him again, and he was so angry that he swept away the incense burner on the table and said, “This is outrageous! Go tell Han Kerang that the Pei family bastard is not needed for the trip to Cangshan! If Zhen sees him again, Zhen will not forgive him!”

“Father! I want him to go!”

On the way here just now, Zhao Zhongfang repeatedly warned Xuyu not to say too much when she met the emperor later, so as not to make the emperor more angry.

Just now Xuyu had been following Zhao Zhongfang’s instructions and kept silent, but when she heard this, she could no longer hold back and went up to speak.

Zhao Zhongfang was stunned, while the emperor’s face turned pale: “What did you say?”

With a smile on her face, Xuyu walked to the emperor’s side and helped him to sit on the bed.

“Father, sit down!”

The emperor had a gloomy face and did not move.

“Father, please sit down!” Xuyu pulled the emperor’s sleeve and pressed hard.

How could the emperor resist his daughter’s coquettish behavior? Finally, he reluctantly sat down.

“What exactly is Father angry about last night?”

The emperor snorted coldly: “What do you mean?”

“Are you angry that Pei Er took me away with fake imperial decree, or are you angry that your daughter spending the night alone with him?”

“All of them! If it weren’t for…”

The emperor paused, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He jumped over and gnashed his teeth, “Even if he has ten head, Zhen would have chopped them all!”

“Father, don’t just think about chopping off his head. Pei Er only has one head, and it’s not made of copper or iron.”

She glanced at the messy incense burner on the ground, “Father, you just smash him with the incense burner, and there’s still a wound on his forehead. If you really wanted to chop him, would you have waited until now? He would have been dead long ago. But not only is he very much alive, he’s also managing to anger you to this extent. No matter what reasons you may have, it shows that you don’t want to kill him, that you can’t bear to do it. In that case, what’s the point of being so angry, except for making yourself upset?”

The emperor paused for a moment, turned his neck stiffly, looked at Zhao Zhongfang who was still kneeling on the ground, raised his finger and pointed at Xuyu, as if he couldn’t believe it, and laughed dryly twice: “Did you hear what she said? Did Zhen hear it correctly?”

Zhao Zhongfang wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve and said, “This old servant thinks what the princess said makes sense.”

The emperor snorted coldly: “Zhao Zhongfang, you are her person! Even if she says that Zhen is a fool, you think she is right!”

Zhao Zhongfang kowtowed hurriedly: “This old servant doesn’t dare! This old servant doesn’t dare!”

“So.”

Xuyu stood up, patting the emperor’s shoulders and said with a smile, “Father, if you really can’t figure out what happened last night, then order him to be killed, right now! If you still don’t want to kill him, then forget it, what’s the point of getting angry? Anyway, I’m not angry at all.”

The vihara fell silent.

The emperor slowly closed his eyes and sat there motionless. Zhao Zhongfang waited for a while, then got up from the ground, walked over, took off the emperor’s boots, gently moved his legs to the sitting position, and then carefully helped him lie down. After settling the emperor, he glanced at Xuyu, nodded to her secretly, and then tiptoed out.

Only the father and daughter were left in the vihara.

Xuyu stopped talking and continued to kneel beside her emperor father, massaging his shoulders and arms.

“How did you spend last night? Was he disrespectful to you?”

After a moment, Xuyu suddenly heard the emperor ask in a muffled voice.

She glanced at him quickly and saw that his face was expressionless and his eyes were still closed.

“Father, what are you thinking about?” Xuyu complained.

“How could Master Pei Er be that kind of person? The family we stayed with didn’t have extra room. I wanted him to sleep indoors since it wasn’t possible to stay outside overnight, but he went out on his own and kept watch for me all night.

“He is the most honest gentleman I have ever met. Father, you shouldn’t think of him like that.”

“He is just trying to win your favor! All men in the world are the same, even Zhen knows that!” The emperor snorted coldly.

“Fine, fine, Father, everything you say is right!” Xuyu urged the emperor, “Let him go too! Please! Don’t be angry! It’s wrong for him to falsely convey the imperial edict. You scolded him rightly just now, he’s so bold!! Next time, make him apologize to you, and if it comes to it, smash him with the incense burner again! Smash ten, a hundred of them if you like! And if he dares to dodge, I won’t let him get away with it!”

“Zhen thinks he’s just lustful!” muttered the emperor.

“Father, what did you say?” Xuyu didn’t hear clearly and asked.

“Nothing.”

“Once we go over there, you are not allowed to meet him privately again!”

After a moment’s silence, the emperor suddenly spoke.

“You are Father’s only daughter. Before Father chosen the right person, no one can get close to you!”

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