Which young master would need to be sent all the way to his military camp to gain experience, given their connection to the Guan family?
Narrowing his eyes, Yin Gezhi tapped the table. “What’s his name?”
Niu Zicang didn’t understand why His Majesty suddenly showed interest in a common soldier, but since he had arranged the placement, he naturally knew the details. He immediately replied, “He’s someone personally assigned by the Second Young Master of the Guan family, named Guan Qing. He’s been serving under you for several months. Has there been any issue?”
Guan Qing? Yin Gezhi’s face changed slightly as he closed his eyes briefly.
It wasn’t just Guan Qing, but Guan Qingyue! He had found it strange – Guan Qingyue had no connection with him, except for that half-month of intimacy three years ago. She shouldn’t have understood his habits and thoughts so well! To think she had been infiltrating his ranks for several months, and he hadn’t even noticed?
Well, well – no wonder he’d felt a strange familiarity whenever he saw her eat three bowls of rice. It was her!
“Your Majesty, regarding the northwestern border defense…”
“You all discuss it first.” Putting down the map in his hand, Yin Gezhi smiled gently and nodded. “I need to return to the palace briefly.”
Shocked by this sudden smile, everyone in the tent was dumbfounded as Yin Gezhi strode out, mounted his horse, and galloped toward the palace.
“Your Majesty!” The imperial guards behind him were terrified. “Please slow down!”
Since when did emperors gallop on horseback by themselves? What if there were assassins?
Hmm? Wait, assassins?
With this thought, the imperial guards became less worried. After all, assassins were useless against this emperor!
And so Yin Gezhi gallantly rode back to the palace alone.
Feng Yue was standing on tiptoes, trying to reach a jar of preserved plums placed on top of a cabinet. The cabinet was neither too tall nor too short – using a stool seemed unnecessary, but reaching it herself was proving difficult.
After failing to grasp the jar despite several attempts, the Empress grew frustrated. She stamped her foot and turned around, only to see the Emperor bursting in.
“Oh, you’ve come at just the right time.” She pointed at the jar on the cabinet, looking at him with starry eyes. “Could you get that for your humble consort?”
Still catching his breath, Yin Gezhi glanced at her, easily reached for the jar, and placed it in her arms. “I have something to ask you.”
Opening the lid and popping a preserved plum in her mouth, Feng Yue asked while chewing, “What is it?”
“Did you serve as a soldier under my command?”
Nearly choking on the plum, Feng Yue nervously looked away. “What nonsense are you speaking? Your humble consort doesn’t understand.”
Then she tried to escape with the jar!
Yin Gezhi narrowed his eyes, snatched the plum jar from her hands, and placed it back on top of the cabinet. He then leaned against the cabinet with his arms crossed, giving off the clear message that “you won’t get these plums back until you answer my question.”
Both amused and exasperated, Feng Yue asked, “How old are you anyway?”
Looking at her deeply, Yin Gezhi said, “I always feel there are many things you’re still keeping from me.”
“Your Majesty, you are the emperor now. Please refer to yourself as ‘Zhen.’ Using informal terms isn’t appropriate,” Feng Yue teased.
“Using ‘Zhen’ is for emperors to show their distinctiveness and superiority,” he said, taking her hand and pulling her into his embrace. “But I am no different from you, nor do I intend to be superior.”
Feng Yue paused briefly, opening her eyes and pressing her ear against his chest, clearly hearing his heartbeat.
“I just want to know why Guan Qingyue from three years ago would come to serve under me as a common soldier,” he said in a muffled voice. “What were you thinking back then?”
Feng Yue fell silent, clutching his robes as she seriously recalled those memories.
What had she been thinking then? She probably hadn’t thought much at all, just clung to Guan Qingmu’s back, throwing a tantrum: “No! I want to go serve under the Crown Prince!”
“Silly girl, you’re a general,” Guan Qingmu had said with resignation, shaking his head. “Father won’t agree to you becoming an internal guard.”
“Second Brother can just keep it from him!” Guan Qingyue had pleaded with clasped hands. “Help me out, please?”
Unable to refuse her, Guan Qingmu had fondly patted her head and, taking advantage of the army’s rest period, sent her to the Crown Prince’s forces nearby.
She hadn’t thought much when she went. She’d just heard people say how impressive the Crown Prince was at such a young age, and feeling both skeptical and curious, she’d decided to go see for herself. But when she arrived at his side, Guan Qingyue was stunned.
She’d never known someone could be so handsome – in silver armor with a long blade, commanding such presence, invincible on the battlefield, yet carrying himself with such grace when out of armor. His features carried an otherworldly clarity.
Falling in love with someone might just happen in an instant. At that moment, when Yin Gezhi’s arrow pierced through the enemy general’s head and the Wei army’s ten thousand men roared in unison, she, standing beside his horse, suddenly felt her heart skip a beat.
A young woman’s first love didn’t bloom before flowers or under the moon, but on that dusty battlefield, among the blood dripping from the crescent blade, in that man’s expressionless features.
She wasn’t someone who would carelessly give herself away. It was only because she truly, deeply loved him that she had fled to him the night before her arranged marriage. But she wasn’t skilled at expressing herself either – she never managed to speak of her feelings, neither during that night before the army’s return nor during their last intimate encounter four years ago.
“You still haven’t answered my question,” Yin Gezhi’s voice cut through those rust-scented memories.
Feng Yue looked up at him, his features unchanged though his demeanor had grown more intimate. She smiled mischievously, “Just because you ask, I have to answer?”
Looking at her with displeasure, Yin Gezhi said, “You don’t have to answer, but if you don’t, I’ll assume you’re shy.”
“What’s wrong with being shy?” Feng Yue raised an eyebrow. “Someone with skin as thin as mine would naturally be shy!”
His irritation instantly vanished as Yin Gezhi’s expression softened, gazing at her with flowing tenderness in his eyes.
Dazzled by his boundless beauty, Feng Yue’s face reddened, and she grew angry from embarrassment: “What are you thinking about!”
He reached for the preserved plum jar on the cabinet and placed it in her arms, saying quietly, “Nothing much, just thinking this answer is perfect.”
Though his Empress was rough, cunning, and difficult, when she became shy, the sparkling in her eyes as they darted about was truly captivating. Actually, with a little thought, he could guess the reason – he just wanted to hear her say it herself. If she didn’t want to speak of it, that was fine too; this shy appearance was enough.
His finger traced along her chin as he straightened up and said casually, “Come with me to see off General Yin’s expedition.”
What an abrupt change of topic! Feng Yue frowned, chewing on a plum: “Now that you’re Emperor, you don’t want to fight yourself anymore?”
His gaze traveled from her face down to her still-flat belly, and Yin Gezhi said heavily, “You never cease to worry people. I need to see you win this battle before I dare go to the real battlefield.”
“What do you mean I worry people?” Feng Yue grew angry. “The troops I’ve led have never known defeat!”
“But the day before yesterday you broke a bowl while eating, yesterday you nearly fell off the bed while sleeping,” Yin Gezhi’s face darkened as he narrowed his eyes at her, “And this morning you tried to steal wine!”
Her accumulated anger instantly dissipated as Feng Yue shrank her neck timidly, “Those were all accidents…”
“No more accidents. Just do as I say,” he said coldly. “If you disobey, you’ll face military law.”
After a thought, he added, “If we can’t punish you, Ling Shu will take the punishment in your place.”
Her face fell as Feng Yue covered her eyes with a handkerchief and began to cry, “Your Majesty! You weren’t like this before! You said you would dote on your humble consort, but General Yin hasn’t even departed yet and you’re already casting me aside?”
“When the birds are shot, the bow is put away; when the rabbits are caught, the hounds are cooked,” he glared at her fiercely, pretending to be angry as he gritted out, “You better behave yourself!”
With that, he turned away and took some documents to review on the couch.
Ling Shu and Guan Zhi stood outside when suddenly they heard the Empress open the window and sing to the courtyard: “Autumn ends and trees wither, oh how desolate! My heartless, unfaithful love makes me grieve! Such sweet words he once spoke of endless love! Now with my growing belly, I’m cast aside!”
The palace was shocked as people who heard rushed over to see what was happening. How could the Empress of the Inner Palace take on such a scorned woman’s appearance after such a short time?
Seeing more and more people gathering, Feng Yue grew excited. She covered her face and fake-cried even more dramatically: “Oh my heart, oh my liver! Meeting the wrong person, my gut fills with regret!”
The voice was so miserable it brought tears to all who heard. The young palace maids couldn’t help but whisper, “What’s happening? The Empress is still with child, how could His Majesty treat her this way?”
“What do you know?” An older palace maid snorted. “They say our new Emperor is quite the romantic, surely he won’t keep the palace empty with just one Empress. He must be planning to take concubines, that’s why the Empress is so heartbroken.”
“Taking concubines is normal, is it worth crying like this? With our Emperor’s outstanding appearance, women would fight to become imperial concubines. When the court officials pressure him, won’t new people naturally be added to the palace?”
“I think His Majesty dotes on the Empress, he probably won’t take concubines so soon?”
The crowd’s chatter grew so loud it drowned out Feng Yue’s wailing, frightening her into shrinking her shoulders.
The man who had been reviewing documents inside finally stood up, walked to the window, and asked expressionlessly, “Want to come down?”
“Yes!” Nodding obediently, Feng Yue wrapped her arms around his neck, grinning as she used his support to climb down from the windowsill.
Yin Gezhi’s cold gaze swept across the courtyard before he lowered his head to place a gentle kiss on the crown of her head.
“I will not take any concubines,” he said. “And you will never become a scorned woman.”
His voice was neither loud nor soft, but just enough for everyone outside to hear clearly. Feng Yue blinked, glancing at the crowd hurriedly kneeling outside, and tilted her head to ask him, “Your Majesty, are you… standing up for your humble consort?”