She changed the subject, “Since you have work to do, I’ll go back and pack for leaving the palace.”
Though Li Zhaoting didn’t fully understand all her thoughts, he grasped enough. He had made up his mind that when the day came, whether through soft or hard means, he would definitely establish their relationship. But for now, he couldn’t push too hard, so he let her go.
Suzhen nodded to leave, but he remembered something and called her back, “We can’t go to that place anymore.”
“What did you say?” Suzhen turned around in shock, “You promised me…”
Li Zhaoting’s eyes became deep, “If Lian Jie and the others receive word and bring people to attack, with our long journey there, the consequences would be unthinkable. But I can take you out to have fun. We’ll go to the imperial hunting grounds in the outskirts of the capital. With hundreds of thousands of garrison troops in the capital, they can be mobilized for emergencies at any time. You wouldn’t want me to lose my life, would you?”
With him putting it this way, Suzhen couldn’t argue. Her mind went blank, and after a long while, she quietly said “alright.”
Li Zhaoting watched her leave with disappointment written all over her face, thinking that once he captured the remaining Murong forces, he would definitely take her there. He also wanted to visit that place and see where she had once toiled and sweated for him.
But he didn’t make this promise to her. She wouldn’t be happy to hear about Lian Jie and the others being captured. When he found where the Murong army was hiding and annihilated the enemy, he would only announce publicly that those surnamed Lian had already escaped.
…
Suzhen returned to the side palace completely dejected—performing for Li Zhaoting was too exhausting, and now there were new complications.
Little Zhou saw something was wrong and anxiously inquired. She smiled bitterly and told him what had happened. Little Zhou’s face immediately turned ugly, “Are you saying we need to change our plans? But if we don’t escape now, I’m afraid we’ll never find another chance…”
“We must escape.” Suzhen’s eyes showed more fatigue, but her resolve was firm, “There’s no more time, and opportunities like this won’t come again. We must give it our all.”
Soon after, Wuqing arrived with maps of the counties where Suzhen had once mined jade, and upon hearing the news, he frowned tightly. They were completely unfamiliar with the imperial hunting grounds, and they were too close to the capital. Once people discovered they were missing, they would be caught in a pincer movement with nowhere to flee. But later he brought hunting ground maps into the palace, and after the three discussed in secret, they still decided to proceed according to plan and take the risk.
That evening, Li Zhaoting had a detailed nighttime discussion with the Prince of Jin’s consort.
The next day, Li Zhaoting announced in court that with his birthday approaching, he planned to go to Huguo Temple to fast and pray for several days. Court would be temporarily suspended, and state affairs would be jointly managed by Wei, Quan, and others.
That evening, Si Lanfeng led elite troops to escort Li Zhaoting out of the palace.
For the next several days, the palace remained peaceful. After the previous incident, A Luo temporarily stopped troubling Suzhen, and Wei Wulei remained inactive. Suzhen, however, sent multiple gifts to Miaoyin, but Miaoyin didn’t respond. Suzhen knew that while the other woman sympathized with her, she had also developed some reservations. She wanted to write a letter explaining that she had long since lost any love for Li Zhaoting and now only felt hatred. But how could she say such things to Miaoyin at a time like this? She had no choice but to let it be.
On this day, following Li Zhaoting’s instructions, she reported to A Luo that she felt unwell and wished to recuperate at an imperial villa outside the palace. A Luo approved. Subsequently, she was escorted out of the palace by heavy palace guards arranged by Chief Eunuch Liang Song.
However, this contingent of guards actually delivered her to the imperial hunting grounds to join the Emperor.
Meanwhile, the following evening, five black-clothed figures infiltrated the imperial villa under cover of darkness. After the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the black-clothed figures departed. An hour later, they appeared at the gates of the Wei family mansion.
Shortly after, a carriage raced out of the Wei family mansion toward the imperial city.
Another half hour later, Wei Wulei’s palace received two visitors.
“What? Feng Suzhen isn’t at the imperial villa?” Wei Wulei stood up in shock, looking at her father and brother.
Wei Chenghui sneered coldly, “I originally wanted to take this opportunity to have someone kill this girl. Even if the Emperor suspected something, lacking evidence and though he might harbor resentment, he wouldn’t do anything to your father. That would be better than watching their relationship deepen day by day. But who would have thought this Emperor… hehe.”
“Father means—”
“Father suspects she must have left the palace with the Emperor.” Wei Wujun replied to her, his eyes filled with sinister coldness.
“The Emperor actually did this for her…” Wei Wulei murmured.
“This cannot be allowed!” Thinking of Li Zhaoting’s attitude toward the other woman that day, and now with them traveling together, inevitably spending nights in tender intimacy… she suddenly cried out.
“Of course it cannot be allowed.” Wei Chenghui said coldly, “The Emperor still has no heir. If they spend day and night together and she becomes pregnant with an imperial heir first, what then!”
The next day, news spread from Noble Consort Wei’s palace that Her Ladyship was feeling unwell. An imperial physician was summoned for diagnosis. Unexpectedly, this examination revealed a pregnancy. The joyful news immediately spread throughout the entire palace. Hearing the eunuchs announcing the good news outside, both A Luo and Miaoyin were shocked and personally came out to verify. The Prince of Jin’s consort was extremely pleased and immediately sent someone to Huguo Temple to inform the Emperor.
However, the eunuch returned with word that the Emperor was not at Huguo Temple.
In the hall, the Prince of Jin’s consort was both shocked and angry upon hearing this, slamming the table and rising, “What’s going on?”
“The Emperor and Concubine Shu left the palace one after the other. Could they be…” At this point, a guest in the hall spoke up—it was Wei Wulei’s brother Wei Wujun.
The Wei father and son had been summoned into the palace by the Dowager Empress to celebrate the joyful occasion.
“Nonsense! How could the Emperor be so foolish!” Wei Chenghui immediately scolded upon hearing this.
“No, Second Young Master speaks reasonably.” The Prince of Jin’s consort said slowly, her heart sinking. Li Zhaoting had discussed the matters of the Wei and Feng families with her. From when Wei Chenghui killed the military officer Li Zhaoting had planned to promote, she had begun to agree with her son’s judgment—this Wei family must be guarded against. However, regarding Li Zhaoting’s feelings for Feng Suzhen, she disagreed. What if someday Feng Suzhen learned that Li Zhaoting actually knew it was Wei Chenghui who leaked her whereabouts, leading to the extermination of the Feng family? How would she react? Moreover, she was a woman, and she didn’t believe Feng Suzhen’s feelings for Lian Yu would easily fade. Perhaps she even cared more for Quan Feitong than for Li Zhaoting…
Her son was intelligent in all matters, but only in this affair had he developed inappropriate feelings, blinded by a single leaf.
If these two were traveling together now, the Emperor was at the peak of his vigor and would inevitably enjoy nightly pleasures. If Feng Suzhen became pregnant with an heir… Among all the women in the harem, she would be happy for any of them to bear an imperial heir, except for Feng Suzhen! Now, the one she most hoped would bear an imperial heir was… Miaoyin!
“Marquis of First Rank, you understand my intentions. Let us take Noble Consort Wei and go find the Emperor to personally deliver this joyful news.” Her voice was stern and severe.
Wei Chenghui smiled inwardly but respectfully replied, “Thank you for the Dowager Empress’s gracious favor. This minister will naturally spare no effort to repay the imperial kindness.”
Li and Su arrived at the hunting grounds on the evening of the day Suzhen left the palace. After making camp, Suzhen feigned exhaustion and went to sleep, with Li Zhaoting unobtrusively lying down beside her. The next morning, when Wuqing came to discuss matters with Li Zhaoting, Suzhen complained of boredom and wanted to take Little Zhou out for a stroll.
Li Zhaoting knew she couldn’t sit still, so he let her go, instructing Si Lanfeng to assign troops for protection.
“Yes.” Si Lanfeng smiled, “There are over ten thousand imperial guards stationed around this area, and my two deputies will also lead elite troops to accompany her. Your Majesty can rest assured.”
Li Zhaoting nodded, patted Suzhen’s head, and Suzhen let him touch her briefly before smiling and walking away. Wuqing, seeing Li Zhaoting and his sister interact so intimately for the first time, chuckled.
Seeing his meaningful laughter, Li Zhaoting asked, “What?”
Wuqing replied, “I just find it unusual. I never thought Your Majesty would treat my foolish sister so tenderly.”
Li Zhaoting could certainly hear the mockery in his words but didn’t get angry. He just sighed softly and said, “Shaoying, in the past I did wrong by you in many ways. Toward you I can face my conscience, but toward your sister… But rest assured, from now on I will treat her well. She’s very important to me—I cannot lose her.”
Wuqing gave a noncommittal smile.
Suzhen and Little Zhou came out, pretending not to notice the contingent of elite troops behind them. Suzhen laughed, “Yesterday when we came, I think I saw a lake over there. Shall we go play in the water to cool off?”
“Excellent idea,” Little Zhou laughed heartily.
The two walked hand in hand, laughing and chatting, while Si Lanfeng’s two deputies quickly followed with their troops.
Arriving at the lakeside, they saw the lake water was clear as jade, surrounded by green trees and drooping flowers—very tranquil and pleasant. Suzhen brushed off her clothes and said, “I want to go in for a few laps.”
“Mistress!” Little Zhou cried out and stopped her, then turned to the two deputies, “Her Ladyship wants to swim. What are you still standing here for? Withdraw immediately!”
“This—” The two were startled, and one hesitantly said, “Perhaps Her Ladyship shouldn’t go into the water. If we’re not here and something happens that we can’t attend to…”
Suzhen’s brow darkened, and Little Zhou was already frowning coldly, “This servant came from the Six Doors Bureau. Though my martial arts may not compare to you two gentlemen, I dare say my swimming skills are adequate. If something happens, I can call for help. Or do you two think my martial arts are so poor that I can’t even call for help?”
“We wouldn’t dare.” Hearing this, the two quickly smiled apologetically, “We still admire the skills of Six Doors Bureau.”
Six Doors Bureau aside, this Concubine Shu was currently the Emperor’s treasure and couldn’t be easily offended. After giving a few more instructions and seeing Suzhen’s impatient expression, they didn’t dare linger and immediately withdrew with their troops to the forest edge.
Suzhen and Little Zhou exchanged glances. The latter clapped softly, and immediately a man and woman emerged from the bushes ahead. The woman was the nameless female constable, and the man was Leng Xue, whom they hadn’t seen for many days. He looked deeply at Suzhen, said nothing, threw the bundle in his hands to her, and leaped into the lake himself.
With a splash, water scattered everywhere. The nameless woman laughed loudly, sending the sound far. Meanwhile, Suzhen and Little Zhou opened the bundle.
Inside were two sets of Six Doors Bureau clothing, along with two sets of imperial guard uniforms. The two quickly changed into the Six Doors clothing, packed away the remaining two emergency uniforms for Little Zhou to carry, then disappeared in the direction from which Leng Xue and his companion had come.