Looking up at the sky, the clouds were thick and oppressive.
Li Huaiyu: “…”
Squinting her eyes, she asked, “Are you hiding something from me?”
Jiang Xuanjin untied her loose knot and retied it into a beautiful bow, chuckling softly, “Why would you think that?”
Grabbing his hand, Huaiyu frowned, “A person’s intuition is very accurate, especially when I’m two people now.”
Letting her hold his hand, Jiang Xuanjin used his other hand to pat her head, then her belly, nodding, “There is something I’ve been hiding from you for a long time.”
“What?” Li Huaiyu’s face turned serious as she looked at him.
Jiang Xuanjin looked back at her, confessing softly, “Ever since you first jumped onto my carriage, I felt a bit moved.”
Oh, the first time she jumped onto his carriage…
Wait, what?!
Huaiyu was stunned, her eyes wide as saucers, staring blankly at the man in front of her, “You…”
How could he have been moved so early? At that time, all she could think about was how to kill him!
“I’ve hidden it from you for so long, I feel quite guilty,” Jiang Xuanjin said apologetically, “May I ask for your forgiveness, and let you decide my punishment?”
Li Huaiyu was dumbfounded, momentarily forgetting what she was initially suspicious about. Her mind and eyes were filled with his gentle and handsome face. Swallowing hard, she stammered, “I… I also feel guilty.”
Jiang Xuanjin looked at her deeply, tucking her stray hair behind her ear, his eyes half-closed, “I don’t blame you.”
Like a spring breeze brushing over a lake, causing ripples, Li Huaiyu felt a slight ache in her heart, followed by warmth. She held his hand tightly, looking at him for a long time, her tone softening, “I’ll embroider a robe for you.”
“Hmm?”
“I can’t do much else,” she scratched her head, “I’ve been watching Chuniang embroider and make knots, and I’ve learned a bit. I can make you a spring robe.”
His eyes glimmered, Jiang Xuanjin’s lips curled slightly before he quickly suppressed it.
“Alright,” he said gently.
Chengxu and Yufeng, crouching behind the rockery, watched with complex expressions.
“The master never used to say such things. How come he’s so fluent now?”
Yufeng sighed, shaking his head, “Proximity to cinnabar makes one red, proximity to ink makes one black.”
The lady probably never imagined that one day she would be deceived by the master. Look, with just a few words, she was completely taken in and even wanted to embroider a robe for him.
Outside, the world was in chaos, but here, it was as if the spring breeze had brought a hundred flowers into bloom!
Seeing Qingsi come to help the lady drink her medicine, Chengxu finally found a gap to report, “Master, letters have arrived from Lords Changlin, Pingling, and Nanping.”
Jiang Xuanjin turned back, his previously gentle face instantly reverting to coldness, “The replies are already in the study’s secret compartment. Send them out directly.”
Without even looking at what they said, he had already prepared replies. What could Chengxu say? He could only admire his master, bowing deeply before leaving to carry out the orders.
After so much groundwork, these three finally inclined to support him. Since they were willing to write to him, the next steps would be much easier.
Jiang Xuanjin smiled again.
Pingling Jun was most troubled by the emperor’s targeting, so he could protect him under his wing, even solve the salt shortage in Pingling; Changlin Jun was a cautious man who liked a smooth life, and his visit was likely to seek benefits. To secure him, he had to offer substantial profits and leverage; as for Nanping Jun… this person probably acted because of Huaiyu.
Li Huaiyu had received much criticism in the past, but truthfully, many people genuinely cared for her. Xu Xian and Yun Lanqing were now in Danyang’s main city, helping her seize power and consolidate Danyang’s influence. Juwu and others had risked their lives without complaint. And Nanping Jun, it was said, had been helped by the princess years ago and had since supported her many times, even sending gifts through Changlin Jun last time, and now offering righteous assistance.
Such a person deserved genuine repayment.
This time, Yixian City suffered no casualties. Jia Liang’s indulgence in his subordinates’ looting had already spread, giving Changlin Jun and the others ample reason to besiege the city. He and Huaiyu could sit back and reap the benefits.
“So generous?!” Changlin Jun exclaimed upon receiving the reply, sitting in a military camp thirty miles southeast of Yixian City, his eyes bright as he held the letter, “Thirty thousand arrows, six thousand sets of armor, three hundred fine horses… what a grand gesture!”
The advisor smiled, bowing, “I wasn’t wrong. Ziyang Jun is a man who repays kindness. You helped him, and he repays you generously. It’s a win-win.”
Changlin lacked weapons and armor, and Ziyang happened to have abundant iron mines, with many cities producing blades and armor. Changlin Jun had considered buying them but hadn’t found the right opportunity to ask. Now, Ziyang Jun had directly sent him such a large batch.
Feeling warm inside, Changlin Jun slapped the table, “What’s there to say? We must seek justice for Ziyang Jun in Yixian City!”
“Yes!” the advisor replied with a smile.
By the time the capital received the news, Jia Liang was already in dire straits.
“Isn’t this rebellion?!” Qi Han shouted angrily in court, “Yixian City is a small city, neither belonging to Ziyang nor Danyang. What right do they have to obstruct the court’s control?”
“The Prime Minister is right,” Liu Yunlie frowned, “Last time, the lords petitioned to coerce the emperor into reducing taxes, which was already extremely disrespectful. The emperor was lenient and didn’t pursue it, hoping they would change. Who knew they would become even more outrageous? If the court doesn’t act, the Northern Wei dynasty might become unstable!”
Li Huailin’s face was grim as he scanned the officials, his gaze landing on Bai Dezhong, “What does the Censor think?”
Bai Dezhong, now doing nothing but attending court, his position as Censor almost a sinecure, still stood straight, his demeanor full of righteous spirit, “Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, Ziyang Jun and the Lord of Danyang have not shown themselves. It’s the other lords who have objections about Yixian City. Perhaps Your Majesty should first investigate the situation before making a decision.”
“What more is there to ask? The fief’s soldiers have already trapped the imperial envoy in Yixian City!” Situ Jing shouted angrily, “The envoy represents the emperor. Disrespecting the envoy is disrespecting the emperor, a clear crime!”
Bai Dezhong fell silent.
Li Huailin frowned at Situ Jing, suddenly feeling annoyed, “Can’t you let people finish speaking? If you decide everything in a few words, should I send troops to the fiefs to demand accountability now?”
“Your Majesty, I believe that’s exactly what should be done,” Situ Jing bowed, “Pingling Jun refused the imperial edict, and Changlin Jun and Nanping Jun besieged the envoy. If Your Majesty tolerates these actions, they will become even more arrogant, disregarding imperial authority!”
“Situ is right,” Qi Han agreed, “They need to be punished.”
Liu Yunlie also said, “I agree with Situ.”
Li Huailin sat high on the dragon throne, his expression icy.
After court, he went to the harem.
Consort Ning was waiting with hot soup in the palace. Seeing him return, she smiled, greeted him, and led him inside, ladling the soup into a bowl and offering it to him.
“Is Your Majesty upset again?” she asked softly.
With the palace doors closed and no one else around, Li Huailin’s face was full of anger, which he didn’t bother to hide. He swept the soup bowl to the ground with a “crash.”
Any other concubine would have been terrified, but Consort Ning was used to it. She took a spare bowl, refilled it, and placed it before him, “You can only break one more. I only made enough for three bowls.”
Glaring at her, Li Huailin said, “Am I destined to be manipulated by others?!”
Her pale, soft fingers held the spoon, offering him a sip, Consort Ning smiled, “Your Majesty is wise and strategic, having seized power from the princess at a young age. You are remarkable.”
“You didn’t see!” Li Huailin growled, “Situ Jing and those old foxes act like the court is their domain. Now, the voices I hear are fewer and fewer, and they still aren’t satisfied, wanting me to listen only to them!”
“I want to be a good emperor who listens to advice, but I can’t change the current court…”
His eyes reddened, Li Huailin looked at Consort Ning, “Was I wrong from the start?”
Seeing him like this, Consort Ning felt a pang of sympathy, coaxing him to drink two spoonfuls of soup, sighing, “Royalty is often powerless. Every decision you make has its reasons, beyond right or wrong.”
Li Huailin pursed his lips stubbornly, but there was still some guilt in his eyes.
After a while, he came to his senses, wanting to say something, but noticed Consort Ning’s swollen hand.
“What happened?” His face darkened as he grabbed her hand.
Consort Ning chuckled, “I accidentally burned myself while making soup.”
“Why make it yourself? There are so many people in the palace not just for show!” he snapped, “If this happens again, I’ll have all your maids kneel on Yellow Springs Road!”
His shout was loud, scaring the maids outside the hall into kneeling, some even crying quietly.
Consort Ning stopped smiling, tugging at his robe, frowning slightly.
He was always so fierce, and since the princess left, his temper had worsened, often taking lives without reason, seemingly indifferent to human life.
Seeing her expression, Li Huailin raised his chin, “Do you have a problem with me?”
She always supported him, like the princess, protecting and being kind to him, which was why the emperor favored her most, making her the most beloved in the harem, elevating the Ning family.
But she didn’t necessarily want wealth and glory; she feared he would fall beyond redemption.
“Not speaking?” Feeling anxious, Li Huailin clenched his robe, “Even you don’t want to talk to me anymore.”
“Your Majesty…”
Waving his sleeve, Li Huailin, as if sulking, said coldly, “If you don’t want to talk, then don’t. If you think I’m wrong, I’ll go elsewhere.”
With that, he left He Xi Palace.
Ning Wanwei sat on the couch, staring blankly at his back for a long time, suddenly remembering etiquette, she gathered her skirt and knelt at the door.
At the end of the year, the capital, under the guise of selecting imperial guards, sent thirty thousand troops to press on Pingling. Jiang Xuanjin had anticipated this, and with Lords Changlin and Nanping, gathered forty thousand troops to defend Pingling’s border.
Jia Liang quickly retreated from Yixian City, but before leaving Pingling, he was killed by an unknown assassin. A major conflict erupted between the fiefs and the court.
Changlin Jun only wanted to help reclaim Yixian City, but Ziyang Jun’s attitude was so favorable, coupled with substantial benefits, that after hesitating for half a month, he chose a side, delaying the taxes owed to the court and the year-end duty of reporting to the capital.
If he didn’t go, Pingling Jun couldn’t go, and Nanping Jun also claimed illness to avoid the capital. Ziyang and Danyang were out of the question, and the other lords watched from the sidelines. Thus, at the end of the year, only two or three lords reported to the capital as scheduled.
“How did it suddenly come to this?” Li Huaiyu asked upon receiving the news, resting her seven-month-pregnant belly on the soft couch, her almond eyes wide as she looked at Jiang Xuanjin, “What did you do?”
She had expected another round of maneuvering at the year-end in the capital, but the lords didn’t even want to go. She was peacefully nurturing her pregnancy, completely unaware of what had happened.
Jiang Xuanjin innocently replied, “I’ve been idling with you all along, when did I do anything?”
Thinking about it, it made sense. He was with her every day, more concerned about her belly than she was, so he probably didn’t have time to deal with Huailin. But…
“We’ve been in Ziyang Border City for a month, right? When can we return to Yixian City?” she asked suspiciously, “If it were just a day or two, fine, but I’ve been away for so long, and there’s no news from Yixian City?”
Jiang Xuanjin calmly said, “If you want to return, I’ll have the carriage prepared this afternoon.”
The court’s people had already withdrawn from Yixian City, and Pingling Jun, trying to curry favor, had compensated with a lot of silver. The citizens were gradually returning to the city to receive the government’s repair funds. If she returned now, she wouldn’t notice anything.
“Alright,” Huaiyu pouted, “I want to go back and see. Chuniang has been talking about it, saying her knot is finally done, and she wants to find a shop to exchange it for something.”
“Can a knot be exchanged for something?” Jiang Xuanjin was puzzled.
Li Huaiyu nodded, sighing, “She made it so intricate, spending a lot of effort. I think the shopkeeper should give her a treasure in return.”
Thinking for a moment, Jiang Xuanjin asked, “How’s your robe embroidery coming along?”
Embarrassed, Li Huaiyu scratched the back of her head, “It’s still early. I chose the simplest pattern and am having Chuniang teach me.”
“Good,” the person in front of her nodded, speaking seriously, “When you’re done, bring it to me, and I’ll exchange it for a treasure.”
Hmm? Huaiyu was surprised, looking at him, “Chuniang’s work is skillful, so the shopkeeper exchanges it. Why would you exchange mine?”
This was a serious question. Jiang Xuanjin thought carefully, then said, “Let’s just say I’m blinded by beauty.”