If he yielded to her wishes and allowed her to establish a harem filled with handsome men, he would thereafter lose the legitimacy of his governance. Everyone would know that the Queen had many royal consorts who could be replaced at will—by what right could Fu Lingchuan continue to hold power? If he refused to yield to her wishes, she would use that as an opportunity to break with him, letting the world witness the divide between Queen and State Preceptor.
His current justification for wielding authority was “governing on behalf of the monarch.” If even commoners knew that the Queen had no desire for him to govern, his position and power would be questioned.
Even if he held sway over the court, he still couldn’t silence the endless gossip of the world. Moreover, the present royal court was not unified. Wusei’er gathered many powerful figures, mostly nobility and prestigious families who had rushed back from various regions. They would certainly be delighted to stand on the Queen’s side.
The people of New Xia were conservative and stubbornly traditional. In their hearts, the Queen who possessed the royal bloodline of An Xia should hold supreme power. No matter how meritorious his service, he was merely a supporting minister.
Everything he did was expected; if he opposed the Queen, all his achievements would vanish like bubbles.
If Feiyuan were still alive, he would never have fallen into his current predicament, but fate was cruel… alas!
Wang Qian calmly asked: “That being the case, why hasn’t my lord taken action yet?”
Fu Lingchuan heaved a long sigh: “I promised her I would never obstruct or interfere with her marriage.”
“This is not about the Queen’s marriage, but about your authority being diverted,” Wang Qian stepped forward. “You may choose not to marry the Queen, which wouldn’t break your promise. But you cannot allow her to continue being willful like this. The great enterprise of New Xia’s thousand generations cannot be destroyed by your fondness for the Queen.”
“What do you suggest?”
“The Queen resides in the inner palace, surrounded by your people. She has the confidence to contend with you solely based on her cultivation,” Wang Qian said emphatically. “Cultivation breeds ambition, and cultivators have always been the most difficult to control. Currently, the situation in Wusei’er City is delicate. You truly should not continue to indulge her!”
This was the second time he had made such a suggestion, and along with another confidant’s identical advice, Fu Lingchuan had heard it three times. What was different this time was that Fu Lingchuan didn’t rebuke him, but instead pondered very carefully for quite some time.
“Perhaps she is trying to force me to act,” Fu Lingchuan mused. “She openly defies me, possibly just to provoke me. Changle is far more cunning than Feiyuan, and lately, it’s become increasingly difficult to gauge her depths.”
“You should have acted earlier. Delaying until now has caused all these troubles,” Wang Qian advised. “The royal court is full of fence-sitters. Once the Queen makes her stance clear, people will quickly shift to her side. When her power grows, it will be difficult for you to take action even if you want to. She has rejected you multiple times; perhaps she already has someone in mind. If she elevates that person to power, your position will become passive. Moreover, the numerous prestigious families in Wusei’er City all hope their sons will catch the Queen’s favor. Only by firmly controlling the Queen can you prevent them from harboring second thoughts!”
Upon hearing the words “already has someone in mind,” Fu Lingchuan’s heart stirred, and he suddenly thought of Yun Ya!
This man was handsome and talented. Had Changle already given her heart to him during their time together? Women become particularly blind when in love. Yun Ya was especially crafty—what if she was bewitched by him and did something detrimental to the Kingdom of New Xia?
Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but strike the table heavily: “We cannot allow this to continue!”
Feng Miaojun had quietly waited for several days without seeing Fu Lingchuan make a move, and couldn’t help but secretly admire his patience. Chen Dachang also brought her news that all the servants stationed at Flying Waterfall Villa that day had been completely killed the next day!
Fu Lingchuan had silenced them, ensuring not a word about the Flying Waterfall Villa incident would leak out.
However, everyone has their limits, and this incident revealed his rising killing intent.
She hadn’t been idle these days either, receiving and pacifying many aristocratic families, and showing a pleasant demeanor toward the younger generation they brought.
She had even summoned three or four promising young officials’ sons in succession, with the primary condition being that they were handsome. Some dined with her, some accompanied her for walks in the garden, and others joined her by the lake to feed fish. Of course, the most frequent visitor to the palace was Yu Linlang, who, under the pretext of painting and revising paintings, had met the Queen as many as three times, truly enviable to others.
He even brought a young servant with him.
Among the upper aristocracy of Wusei’er City, word had spread that the Queen favored the Yu family’s youngest son. If Yu Shi Zhang were present, he would surely be grinning from ear to ear by now.
The one who accompanied Queen Changle to feed fish was Zhu Lihe, son of General Pingye. Just after it had snowed, as he waited by the lake and looked up, he saw a beautiful woman approaching from the opposite side. Her crimson dress was like fire, her beauty surpassing immortals, resembling a red plum blossom blooming defiantly in the snow, captivating the eye.
That companionship was merely the Queen engaging him in conversation. He remembered that the Queen was beautiful, even more so when she smiled, and she even asked him many questions about military tactics, battlefield matters, and his views on various aspects of the world situation.
He answered everything. After leaving the palace, the first thing he did was drive to find Yu Linlang, pointing at his nose and accusing him of talking nonsense. This time he had examined carefully—the Queen was flawless like fine jade, perfect in both face and figure, yet this fellow had fabricated claims that her beauty relied entirely on makeup, that imperfections were all covered by powder, clearly unfounded lies!
Finally, he gritted his teeth and asked: “Are you afraid that if we enter the palace to serve, we’ll divide her favor?”
Instead of answering, Yu Linlang asked: “What did she want from you?”
Zhu Lihe snorted with laughter: “She showed concern and care, extremely gentle!”
Yu Linlang: “Oh.”
So indifferent? Zhu Lihe glanced at him a few times, smugly: “You’ve only had a few more opportunities to paint for her, nothing remarkable about that.”
Yu Linlang repeated the same word: “Oh.” Interesting—it seemed that news of the Queen taking him out of the palace to Flying Waterfall Villa hadn’t spread among Wusei’er’s elite circles yet. Otherwise, news like “Yu Linlang became the Queen’s intimate companion” would have exploded throughout Wusei’er City.
It must be that Fu Lingchuan had deliberately blocked the news, unwilling to let the matter leak out.
This man truly cared for the Queen, and so far he had maintained his composure.
Zhu Lihe sighed lightly: “Do you think the Queen’s summoning of us indicates her favor, intending to select a royal consort from among us?”
“It’s possible.” Yu Linlang secretly frowned, feeling that this sentence sounded as disgusting as eating a fly. “Do you like her very much?”
At that moment, Zhu Lihe was gazing at a painting on the wall and didn’t notice the flash of murderous intent in his eyes: “Such a beauty, such a status—who wouldn’t like her? But she might not choose either of us. The Huyan family had an audience today, and Huyan Long will be going too. That young man is more handsome than either of us. Which young woman doesn’t judge by appearance?”
“Huyan Long.” Yu Linlang’s gaze flickered. “When will he have his audience?”
“Calculating the time, it should be right about now.”