Fortunately, when Ji Yujin heard the news, he had already arrived in Jiangnan, so it shouldn’t take much time to reach the capital by water.
The moment he found Chu Feng, he already wanted to come back. He was very worried about his little young master. But no matter how eager he was to return home, God always went against him.
When he finished all his affairs and was about to return, he received a message from Li Yu.
Ji Yujin put the bookmark away in his arms, turned around, and walked into the cabin. “Zhao Li, go faster.”
Zhao Li hesitated, full of worry, but after meeting Ji Yujin’s eyes, he could not say anything. “Yes, Master.”
On the other side, some secret guards left by Ji Yujin have already started to act, but Zhao Yiyu has also made arrangements early on. The palace is like an iron barrel, so how could they succeed so easily?
After several rounds, several people were killed, but no one even saw Chu Fengqing.
On this day, Zhao Yiyu sat at the table and watched Chu Fengqing practicing calligraphy. This was the first time he saw Chu Fengqing’s handwriting. He didn’t know if it was true that the handwriting reflects the person in other people, but it was reflected in Chu Fengqing vividly.
He picked up a piece of calligraphy and said with a smile, “Qing’er, would you mind giving me this piece of calligraphy?”
Chu Fengqing glanced at the words above: ‘People cannot reach the bright moon, but the moon follows people as they move.’ He pursed his lips and said nothing.
He and Zhao Yiyu were often like this when they were together. One of them talked while the other remained silent. If he didn’t like Zhao Yiyu, he wouldn’t want to talk. It wasn’t known if it was because he had been with Ji Yujin for too long or something, but now he was so casual and unfocused. And it wasn’t known what the reason was either, Zhao Yiyu also didn’t punish him.
“What beautiful calligraphy.” Zhao Yiyu looked at his calligraphy carefully, seeming to love it very much.
However, before he had seen enough, the eunuch came in to report that a minister wanted to see him.
These days, Zhao Yiyu seems to be very busy. He only came to take a look at Chu Fengqing every day. He didn’t even have time for a cup of tea and had to leave in a hurry.
Chu Fengqing felt tired for him. It felt like he just came here to report for work every day. What was the point? He was locked in this palace and couldn’t even run away.
Hearing what the eunuch said, Zhao Yiyu’s face darkened. He put the calligraphy down and rested his hands on the table. After a moment, he looked up and smiled again: “Qing’er, then I’ll leave first. I’ll send someone to pick up the calligraphy later.”
……
Chu Fengqing was still wearing men’s clothes. After he found out that Zhao Yiyu had prepared women’s clothes for him last time, he did not change his clothes. The palace maids did not dare to force him to change, so they reported it to Zhao Yiyu. Later, he found out that this was not Zhao Yiyu’s intention, but the people around him did so to please him.
The person was dealt with immediately. He had been working for Zhao Yiyu for at least five years, if not ten years. But when the time came to deal with him, Zhao Yiyu didn’t even blink an eye.
All the servants who served Chu Fengqing realized how important Chu Fengqing was to Zhao Yiyu, and no one dared to treat him lightly from then on.
However, on this day, the chief eunuch beside Zhao Yiyu suddenly came, followed by several palace maids to do the hair and washing.
“Young Master Chu.” The chief eunuch bowed with a smile, “There is a palace banquet in the palace today, and His Majesty wants you to attend as well.”
This was the first palace banquet since Zhao Yiyu ascended the throne. It was extremely important. Even though he was in the deep palace and didn’t care about worldly affairs, he could hear the noise outside, which was completely different from the previous quiet atmosphere.
But why let him attend?
Chu Fengqing put down the brush and looked back with a light gaze. He saw a palace maid holding an expensive dress in her hands. He knew at a glance that it did not belong to a man.
People in the palace had more or less heard that there was a young master who should not be provoked living in the palace, but they had never seen him. They originally thought it was a lady, but today they saw that it was actually a man, and such an extraordinary man too at that…
The eyes of the several palace maids who followed behind had a glimmer of surprise. They had seen all kinds of beauties in the palace, but they were still shocked when they saw Chu Fengqing. However, they only took a quick glance and then lowered their eyes. This was not something they could look.
It had been raining for the past few days without a trace of sunshine. There was a vapor in the air, which made Chu Fengqing feel very uncomfortable. His asthma had not yet recurred, all thanks to the medicine sent by Imperial Physician Li.
Despite this, his features were somewhat listless, the original coldness was somewhat covered up, and there was more hint of laziness and weakness.
Chu Fengqing retracted his gaze, lowered his eyes to look at the words on the table, and asked softly, “What if I don’t want to go?”
“Uh…”
“This…” The eunuch showed a trace of embarrassment on his face, and it was unclear whether it was fake or real. He said awkwardly, “Young Master, please don’t give the servant such a difficult problem. The servant is terrified.”
That eunuch hesitated for a moment, then took out an object from his sleeve pocket. “Young Master, someone handed this item to His Majesty yesterday. The servant thought you might not know about it, so the servant took the initiative to bring it to you for you to take a look. Perhaps you will recognize it?”
Chu Fengqing’s pupils shrank slightly, and he reached out to take the object, which was a sachet with the word “Chu” embroidered on it.
He looked inside the sachet and saw a small plum blossom, which was Yinyin’s special mark.
Chu Fengqing tightened his grip on the sachet. “Where are they now?”
The chief eunuch said, “Don’t worry, My Lord. Since they are your family members, His Majesty will not neglect them.”
“It’s just…” He paused and forced a smile on his old face. “Please cooperate with us, Young Master, and don’t make things difficult for His Majesty.”
Chu Fengqing closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he whispered, “I won’t wear women’s clothes.”
He didn’t want to appear as Yinyin. Yinyin had been “married” once before. If she was involved with Zhao Yiyu again this time, she would never be able to wash off these multiple identities.
The chief eunuch’s eyes turned slightly, and no one knew what he was thinking, but he still followed his wishes and asked Zhao Yiyu. Chu Fengqing was now being pampered by everyone in the palace, and no one dared to neglect him for fear of making a mistake and losing their lives.
Everyone didn’t expect that the person who came was not the eunuch who delivered the message, but Zhao Yiyu himself. There was a group of people kneeling in the room. He waved his hand, and they all retreated.
Chu Fengqing and him were the only ones left in the room.
Zhao Yiyu touched the woman’s skirt and sighed softly, “Qing’er, I’m sorry.”
He loosened his grip. He had just ascended the throne, and the country was in chaos. None of the uncles and aunts on the border had pure thoughts. Moreover, they had a large number of troops under his command and faced internal and external troubles, which meant that he could not make any mistakes.
If the matter of the “male concubine” were to get out at this time, it would be like handing them a knife to kill him.
Even making “Chu Yinyin” his concubine was already a risky move. The reason he took such a risk was that he didn’t want Chu Fengqing to have no status in this palace, fearing that he would be wronged.
Zhao Yiyu’s tone even had a hint of flattery: “I’ll ask you to put up with it for now, but I’ll return your identity to you one day. I promise, is that alright?”
Chu Fengqing frowned. He didn’t understand why Zhao Yiyu always looked so affectionate. Everything he was enduring now was imposed on him by him. He imprisoned him here just to satisfy his own shameful thoughts.
Such a person considers himself to be affectionate…
It’s so disgusting.
He didn’t even give Chu Fengqing a chance to choose. Chu Fengqing smiled and said in a clear voice, “Zhao Yiyu, you are such a mean person.”
Zhao Yiyu’s body stiffened slightly, a trace of pain flashed across his eyes, and he also laughed twice, saying softly, “Maybe.”
He wanted Chu Fengqing to make an official appearance, he wanted the rumors to spread throughout the capital, he wanted everyone to know that he was his person so that he would not be able to escape anymore.
The servants waiting outside had no idea what the two masters were talking about inside. Anyway, when they were called again, the immortal-like young master agreed to dress up as a woman, while the emperor, who had clearly achieved his goal, had a face as black as ink.
……
At the dinner, Chu Fengqing and Zhao Yiyu attended together, attracting everyone’s attention.
This dinner was very grand. In addition to the imperial concubines, there were also important officials and their families. Chu Fengqing’s appearance was like a huge rock falling into a lake, stirring up a thousand waves.
Before the two people walked in, people were already whispering downstairs. Those who didn’t know the inside story were shocked by his appearance and were discussing who he was and when such a person appeared in the palace. Those who knew the inside story were all surprised by Zhao Yiyu’s actions. Isn’t this Ji Yujin’s wife?
However, this was not the most outrageous thing. The most outrageous thing was that Zhao Yiyu held that person’s hand and walked straight to the highest position.
Zhao Yiyu’s original wife was a dignified and generous woman, the legitimate daughter of the former general who defended the country.
Not long after breaking off his engagement with Chu Yinyin, he married her at the order of the late emperor.
She was originally standing in front of the hall, and when she saw Zhao Yiyu coming with someone, she went to greet him. Now, when she saw Zhao Yiyu’s actions, she was slightly stunned but still had a dignified smile on her face.
“Your Majesty.” She bowed to Zhao Yiyu.
Zhao Yiyu smiled, let go of Chu Fengqing, walked up to her, and patted her hands. “The Empress is in charge of everything, thank you for your hard work.”
“It is not hard for Chenqie1I, your servant (self-appellation of a lower-rank female).. It is Chenqie’s honor to share Your Majesty’s worries.”
She spoke in a delicate tone, which did not seem to match the traditional image of a daughter of a general.
She raised her eyes to look behind Zhao Yiyu and asked, “Your Majesty, who is this sister?”
Everyone in the palace knew that there was someone locked up in the Chen Palace, but now everyone had to pretend to be ignorant.
Zhao Yiyu pulled Chu Fengqing over and said to the empress, “She is Chu Yinyin, Zhen’s new concubine.”
The emperor is always different from ordinary people. It is possible to take a concubine first and then perform the ceremony. What’s more, the emperor does not need to perform the ceremony at all when taking a concubine. Only when marrying an empress does the so-called “proposing marriage” come into being.
But Zhao Yiyu cared about Chu Fengqing, so he set aside that day to worship heaven and earth.
The empress made a surprised expression and said, “It’s actually little Sister Chu. I finally got to see the first beauty in the capital today. I must take a good look at her.”
She walked around Zhao Yiyu and went towards Chu Fengqing, as if she wanted to say something. However, before she could get close, Zhao Yiyu pulled him behind him, with a hint of cruelty and abnormality in his eyes.
But he quickly reacted. Facing the empress’s surprised look, he curled his lips and said in a gentle tone, “She has some problems with her throat and can’t speak for the time being.”
It wasn’t known if the empress was frightened by Zhao Yiyu or not. She smiled awkwardly and said, “Then let’s call the Imperial Physician to treat her. Sorry, Chenqie was rude.”
Zhao Yiyu: “No problem.”
Several people walked upstairs. The eunuch was quick-eyed and quick-witted and added a chair next to Zhao Yiyu.
Chu Fengqing was led by Zhao Yiyu to sit down, and the empress sat on the other side of Zhao Yiyu. He looked down with a pair of clear eyes, and there were many gazes on him, some probing, some amazed, and even some disgusted. He sat there quietly, like a beautiful and exquisite doll, as if all this had nothing to do with him.
Zhao Yiyu put a piece of cake on his plate and asked softly, “Is it not to your liking?”
Chu Fengqing glanced at him and turned away, as if he didn’t exist. Zhao Yiyu was not annoyed, but the people serving beside him were terrified.
The empress’s eyes flashed, and she suddenly felt that even if that person asked Zhao Yiyu for the position of empress, he would give it to her without hesitation, which made her feel a little sense of crisis.
He was so disrespectful to the empress in the first palace banquet. The empress could tolerate it, but her family could not. They did not dare to get angry at Zhao Yiyu, so they could only transfer all their anger to Chu Fengqing.
The general stood up with a glass of wine in his hand and said, “Your Majesty, the minister has never seen this lady before. May I ask who her family is?”
Zhao Yiyu frowned, and the chief eunuch next to him explained it, which also made the identity of Concubine Chu public.
“Then isn’t she that former eunuch Ji Yujin’s wife?”
The General Guarding the Nation is very confident in holding military power, and coupled with his relationship with Zhao Yiyu, it is inevitable that he sometimes does not pay attention to the rules when speaking.
The huge palace fell silent in an instant, and Chu Fengqing felt that the gazes directed at him were about to materialize.
Zhao Yiyu’s face darkened instantly, and even the empress’s hand holding the handkerchief tightened. The eunuch next to him was sweating profusely on his forehead. Only Chu Fengqing still had a calm expression, as if he were not the one being talked about.
At this moment, the general suddenly laughed twice, “Your Majesty, please pardon the offense. The minister was just a rough man with straightforwardness and spoke bad words. Please forgive the minister.”
As he spoke, he took the pot of wine and poured it into the cup. He felt that the flow rate from the spout was too slow, so he simply threw away the lid, picked up the whole pot, and raised his hand towards Chu Fengqing. “Niangniang, please don’t blame me, a rough man either. I heard that Niangniang can drink a lot, so I’d like to offer Niangniang a glass of wine to express my apology.”
Chu Fengqing slowly raised his eyes to look at the general but did not pick up the glass of wine on the table. Drink? In his current condition, if he drank a sip, they would have to call the imperial physician, and whether he could be saved or not was another matter.
Once again, one could hear a pin drop in the hall, and everyone’s eyes were shifting between the general guarding the country, Chu Fengqing, and Zhao Yiyu.
Seeing him like this, the general dropped the wine jug in his hand heavily on the table and sneered: “It seems that Niangniang disdains the respect of the old minister.”
As he spoke, he walked to the front of the hall, kneeled down with his hands clasped, and said, “Your Majesty, the old minister has worked day and night for decades, working hard with my brothers to guard the border for the sake of peace in the court and the well-being of the people. I have never let the people or Your Majesty down, but now even a divorced woman looks down on the minister. The minister is deeply disappointed!”
As soon as he said this, several ministers came out and said almost the same thing, which was nothing more than trying to frame Chu Fengqing.
Zhao Yiyu tapped on the table with his fingers, and every tap seemed to be knocking on everyone’s heart. The officials without real power had already lowered their heads, not daring to breathe.
Zhao Yiyu lowered his eyes and looked at the glass of wine in front of him and suddenly smiled again, “What is Aiqing2A form that the emperor addresses his minister, it’s like dear minister. talking about? It’s just that Concubine Chu can’t speak, and her ears are not very good. Maybe she misunderstood dear minister’s meaning.”
Zhao Yiyu wanted to protect him, but he couldn’t really go against these ministers. He remembered that Chu Fengqing had a good alcohol tolerance. Once at a palace banquet, he even helped Ji Yujin block the wine. Thinking of this, his eyes darkened a little, he didn’t even want to touch a drop of alcohol.
He smiled and turned to Chu Fengqing, “Chu Fei3Concubine Chu, right?”
At this time, he had an extra object in his hand. Chu Fengqing saw the sachet in his hand and sighed softly. Looking at the glass of wine, he felt that he couldn’t escape it no matter what.
Chu Fengqing didn’t make any unnecessary movements. He reached out, picked up the wine, raised his head, and drank it all in one gulp.
The general’s eyes darkened slightly. He didn’t expect that the matter would be so trivialized. He opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but Zhao Yiyu smiled and spoke first: “Aiqing should be satisfied now, right?”
He said this lightly, but the people around him knew that the emperor was angry, and the empress also shook her head at him, so he gave up and returned to his seat.
They thought the palace banquet would be over now, but before everyone could concentrate, a violent coughing sound suddenly came from the hall.
People only saw a large amount of blood flowing out of the lips of the beauty in a gorgeous palace dress. The blood stained the glass of wine on the table, and the light-colored dress was also dotted with blood, like red plum blossoms, slowly blooming.
