My Lord is A Stone Chapter 23

T/N: .( ̵˃﹏˂̵ ) this chapter took me a long time to do so there may not be an update in the middle of the week next week, my brain is fried and I need a break ヾ(@゜∇゜@)ノ

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Returning to the s.h.i.+p at night, Su Qing Chen had a dream, in the dream he returned to when he was a child, the memory of a child was hazy, every time he only remembered a bit, then in a blink of an eye he would vaguely feel he had nothing to look forward to, but this time he actually genuinely and eagerly experienced his past.

His father was the son of the Su family in Hangzhou, Xiaoshan, at twenty years old he was a candidate who came second in the examinations, when he was thirty-six he had already been promoted for his services to right censor official, honest and uncorrupted for the people, but exceptionally skilled, judging a case like a G.o.d, and was graceful and eminent, no matter what his reputation was outstanding amongst both the court and the people of Qingliu, only sadly the year he was forty years old everything was ruined…

Su Qing Chen still remembered how his coming to be was very difficult, his mother Lis.h.i.+ only gave birth to him at the age of thirty-two, he had three older sisters, so they treated him like a treasure, even his strict father when no one was around, would frequently allow him to sit on his shoulders to play.

It was also winter that year, father brought his wife and children home to visit his parents, they arrived at Qingzhou on an official s.h.i.+p…, stopping at the sh.o.r.e, the narrow pa.s.sageway on the sh.o.r.e was brightly lit, father lead him along, mother and older sisters stood to the side, the lights were hazy, a hubbub of voices, father bought a qianzi steamed bun placing it in his hand, the steamed bun was nice and warm, the steam rose with the smell of food in the winter air, changing father’s dignified appearance, mother’s gentle smile, older sisters innocent and unaffected appearances into a haze.

It would be great if time could stop at this moment.

When Su Qing Chen woke up, he only felt his face was damp, reaching out to touch it with his hand, traces of tears covered his hand…, his heart was empty, a pain like he lost a piece of his heart.

The moon hung high in the sky, a moist coldness filled the air, so cold it could pierce bones, making it impossible but to s.h.i.+ver.

When Su Qing Chen walked out covered in a cloak, right at that moment he saw Zhao Jin Yu gazing into the distance leaning against the parapet, the night wind moved her skirt to and fro, graceful, her hair lightly fluttering…, he silently walked over, when he approached her he then discovered he had actually held his breath in fear of scaring the other person.

“Jin girl.” Su Qing Chen called her by the nickname he usually deliberately used to get close to her, at this moment it held a lot of sincerity.

Zhao Jin Yu did not imagine she would still come across Su Qing Chen in the middle of the night, she said rather somewhat unexpectedly, “Uncle Su, why are you not asleep?”

Su Qing Chen suddenly felt this way of calling him uncle was a little bit unpleasant to hear, =.=, was he that old? He was still very young, right?

“I just woke up, what about you?”

Zhao Jin Yu turned her head glancing at Su Qing Chen before turning her head back, looking at the mountains far across from the sh.o.r.e shrouded in darkness, “I haven’t slept at all.” Speaking up to here her face showed a sort of hesitation, only very quickly she recovered her resolution, “Uncle Su, 

Auntie Chen and I plan to change s.h.i.+ps here.”

“Why?”

Zhao Jin Yu did not know how to tell Su Qing Chen that Auntie Chen’s complexion had paled when she saw the scene of the two of them practically holding each other, after she returned she had constantly and tactfully spoke to her about how important a woman’s reputation is, and fortunately this was outside, no one they knew had seen, otherwise what sort of rumour would have been spread around, Zhao Jin Yu naturally explained the situation, but still it did not rea.s.sure Chen Rong…, and since getting to know Chen Rong, Zhao Jin Yu knew she once had a child when she was younger, and was a female baby, but did not raise her by her side, this has always been a sore point for her, this time she was exceptionally worried for Zhao Jin Yu, and had unconsciously overlapped the two people together.

“Lady Zhao, you don’t understand how hard it is to be a woman in this world.” Chen Rong took in a deep breath, “It’s not that I think there is something going on between you and Lord Su, but there are thousands of mouths in the world, their spit can drown you, what’s more, Lady Zhao’s family business is unfinished…, even though Lord Su has never married, but would definitely not marry you currently.”

Zhao Jin Yu could not deny it, Chen Rong’s point was right.

In fact Zhao Jin Yu also thought about making their way separate from Su Qing Chen, however what made her decide was not the issue Chen Rong was worried about, rather stopping at each port like this for an entire day, her letter would only be delivered after a long time! Before when she was seasick she still persevered to stay on the s.h.i.+p, mainly because going by s.h.i.+p was a lot quicker than land transport, she could deliver the letter sooner, but with Su Qing Chen’s appearance her plan was completely in disorder.

When she thought of her adoptive father still in the damp and cold prison cell, she felt so anxious it burned.

“Nothing, only we don’t dare to delay Uncle Su’s official business.”

Even though Su Qing Chen was confused for a moment, but recovered his rationality very quickly, he had previously heard Zhao Jin Yu ask many times, why did they need to stop for such a long time anyway, could it be she was in a rush?

Since he had come here, naturally he had thoroughly made discreet inquiries about matters, he knew Zhao Jin Yu had made a trip to the prison cells of the Ministry of Justice to see her adoptive father Zhao Chang Chun before she left, and the armed escort with Zhao Jin Yu was the famous head armed escort of Xing Tian bodyguards establishment, young but still very skilled, she rarely went on jobs in recent years, this time she actually took the initiative to follow Zhao Jin Yu…, this matter was thoroughly uncommon.

He thought of Zhao Chang Chun’s implication case, and with a frown, he thought…, could this be Zhao Chang Chun’s escape route he found for himself?

Su Qing Chen’s gaze again stopped on the stone resting around Zhao Jin Yu’s neck, he couldn’t help silently curse, why did this stone just had to be on her?

The emperor’s decree appeared to still be in his ear, “The errand we are asking you to do today is somewhat different, it’s to protect a stone, that stone has a spirit, it is an extremely importantly thing, you must treat it with all your effort like you would us, it has just come into this world, it’s very curious about the world, you need to take it to see more of the outside, fine food, fun things must not be forgotten even more, as for Lady Zhao, naturally you must spare no effort to help her, you cannot be negligent.” Soon after he called Rui Fu over with a brocade small box, two yuxue pills were inside, he said, “It’s the first time that Lady Zhao is on a s.h.i.+p, her body is unwell, you need to bring the two pills to her.”

At that time even though Su Qing Chen’s face was calm, his heart however was incomparably shocked, leaving aside the fact it was the first time he heard a stone has a spirit, this was unheard of, very rare, moreover these were yuxue pills, even though it was still very precious in the palace, because the ingredients were hard to find, at most ten pills in a year, the price of one pill outside had already been risen to a thousand golds, granted it was still a priceless market, who would have imagined the emperor would so easily take them out to give to a common woman to use, if this woman was seriously ill, fine if she urgently needed it to save her life, but she was only seasick! How could it not astound people? This generosity of the emperor was also rather too grand.

As an official subject you must always try to fathom the thoughts of the person above, only in this way can you live for a long time, he reckoned that stone was the one that the emperor made them look for before…, but even though they obviously found it why didn’t they bring it back, he naturally did not ask, after interacting with her for the last few days, he then had a rough understanding, he reckoned this stone had to be raised like this outside, unable to be shut inside the home, and Zhao Jin Yu nevertheless had a very important relations.h.i.+p with the stone, therefore she was the carrier.

Who would have imagined, he beat his brains out, but was moved a little by Zhao Jin Yu, his mood again changed somewhat, the stone, the emperor’s decree, Zhao Chang Chun’s case, his adoptive daughter Zhao Jin Yu, and the purpose of going south, now thinking about it so many things were twisted together, it was somewhat unclear.

But with unclear matters, so long as he was given the time he could always make out the clues right?

Su Qing Chen again thought of her current situation, he pitied her even more, since young Su Qing Chen had gotten used to the coldness and warmth of human emotions, he was completely indifferent towards people, today however he felt his feelings soften unimaginably, he said, “If it’s so you can reach Hangzhou earlier, I can actually help you.” In any case the emperor had said, he needed to look after her as much as possible right?

Zhao Jin Yu looked distracted, “…”

Su Qing Chen laughed brightly, eyes gentle, very much handsome, saying, “Tomorrow we’ll switch to a government official s.h.i.+p, we won’t stop for the whole journey, recovering the time we lost from the last few days of stop overs. Do you think that’s good?”

Her heart thumped…, why did it feel like Su Qing Chen’s eyes were luring her, such a handsome and mature man, at moments his body had a charm gathered over a long time, if he used enough power, she would truly not have a bit of resistance, what did she say before to Chen Rong? She said she could resist him?

Zhao Jin Yu blushed across her face, even though in her mind she knew nothing could happen between the two of them, she also did not have feelings of like for him, but the other person luring her in such way, teasing, she as an ordinary woman, would always have some impulsive thoughts.

At Su Qing Chen’s age, he could be considered to have experienced a lot of things, being able to last in his position up until now, he naturally invested a lot of effort normal people could not see, after the tides have washed sands away the giant amongst men emerges, a person rarely seen, capable of causing such feelings from Zhao Jin Yu was also very common.

An ambiguity rippled in the air, Zhao Jin Yu in any case felt Su Qing Chen’s last words were too gentle, gentle like the whispers between lovers.

It was at this moment, Zhao Jin Yu felt a pain in her neck, it turns out the stone was jumping about right now unhappily, using all his strength to pull on the red rope, hurting her so much she almost cried.

Even though Su Qing Chen knew this stone wasn’t simple, but still seeing it move like this he was astonished, extremely amazed he stared at the stone.

Zhao Jin Yu jumped in fright, because she was afraid of people discovering, the stone very rarely moved like this in front of other people, she hurriedly held the stone saying, “It’s late, I’m going back.”

Having returned to the room, Zhao Jin Yu asked somewhat amazed, “Little thing, what are you doing?”

The emperor looked at Zhao Jin Yu out of the corner of his eyes, feeling an unquestionable stuffiness in the pit of his stomach, Zhao Jin Yu blus.h.i.+ng face incessantly came into his mind, over and over irritating his heart, making him simply impossible to maintain his reasoning, he said, “Your stupidity really is incurable, such a person as Su Qing Chen, even if he has not been married, he has numerous beautiful concubines at home, regardless that he is a frequent visitor to the pleasure quarters, he understands women the most, wouldn’t it be easy for him to coax a woman who was brought up at home? With merely a few flatteries you are affected?”

Zhao Jin Yu was stunned, both shy and angry, she said, “What are you saying?”

“I’m just afraid such a stupid woman like you will be swindled that’s all.” The stone speaking such harsh words, simply invisibly injured people, “You really should take a mirror and look at yourself, you frequent forget what your own value is.”

Zhao Jin Yu chest moved up and down, the rim of her eyes red, it seemed like tears were to fall right away.

***

Inside Wuling palace early morning the emperor stared at the rich breakfast for a while, however he didn’t eat a bite, ordering people to take it away, he sat on the kang beneath the window with a gloomy expression, appearing as if he had a lot of pent up frustrations.

Rui Fu couldn’t help be astonished, thinking about it the emperor’s mood had been good for the last few days, last time he even asked him if the injuries from his previous beatings were better? If it hurts he can recuperate for two days, it simply made him feel overwhelmed by favour from his superior, feeling like the sun rose from the west, how could His Majesty the emperor’s mood suddenly change like this, who would have imagined early this morning there would be something not right again, he seemed to have returned quite a bit to his previous temperament.

This appearance only made Rui Fu sigh, he thought to himself, when will enough be enough?

First the emperor had pa.s.sed away, the eldest prince also pa.s.sed, only the Empress Dowager was left half alive, but was already handicapped, the entire past had vanished like smoke in thin air, His Majesty also ought to move forward.

After morning court finished, Rui Fu served the afternoon meal early, he still had not drank the early morning water, this was not a good thing, but as far as the eye can see, the emperor’s current meals were actually substantially different from before, rice b.a.l.l.s wrapped around marinated beef, potatoes stewed with dried meats, meat wedged in steamed buns, mung bean noodles, sheep intestines…, sugar-coated tangerines on a stick were added today, = . =

Rui Fu also did not know how the emperor knew so many commoner dishes, in any case the chefs in the imperial kitchen were terribly tired, in order to give an authentic flavour, they urgently recruited several chefs who cooked regional dishes from outside the palace, the lack of great disorder was due to the imperial kitchen’s proper management.

Because the sugar-coated tangerines on a stick was especially ordered by the emperor, Rui Fu placed 

the sugar-coated stick closer to the emperor.

As expected, the emperor seemed to have a lot of feelings for the sugar-coated fruit, waving his hand he made the palace maids who served the food to withdraw, he personally held the sugar-coated stick, scrutinising the tangerine segments for quite a while, afterwards he took a bite, who would have thought after eating half of it he would throw it on the plate, producing a clattering noise.

The palace maids and eunuchs waiting at the side were shocked that they threw themselves onto their kneels all together, Rui Fu lowered his head saying, “Your Majesty, is the flavour of this sugar-coated stick not good? Do you need to punish the chef?”

The emperor’s gaze was gloomy however he did not speak, yesterday night, the weather was cold, everywhere was covered in snow, nevertheless people surged like the tide through the narrow roads, under hazy lighting, young ladies smiled like flowers, but it wasn’t towards him…, layers of gloominess filled his heart, he halted, looking at the distant window, as if he was remembering last night she also sat under the window, tearfully asking him, “Am I really that unappealing to you? So long as a man is amiable to me I would just throw myself at him immediately? Am I like this in your eyes? Since you so easily look down on me, from now on you go your way, I will go mine, we should part ways.”

Those tears were sparking and translucent, tumbling down from her cheeks, as if scalding his heart.

The emperor’s gaze again fell on the sugar-coated tangerine stick on the plate, the syrup’s colour rich and transparent, every segments of tangerines were almost identical, and the whites had been carefully peeled off, the stick it was skewered on was top-notch sandalwood, it truly could be said very luxurious, but like this, the flavour was still not as good as the five copper coin per stick at the night market, the sugar-coated tangerine stick that Zhao Jin Yu had pa.s.sed him at that time was sweet, with a hint of sourness, the syrup was sweet but not soft, promptly melting in the mouth.

“Take them away.” The emperor impatiently said.

Rui Fu rose, somewhat reluctantly asked, “Your Majesty, at least have a little more, Your Majesty must indeed take care of the imperial body”

The emperor saw Rui Fu bowing, with a face full of concern, in his mind it unconsciously changed to another face with the same worry, “Little thing, you eat so much, what are you going to do if you can’t digest it?”

Rui Fu was still thinking would the emperor be enraged by his own boldness, he was rather scared witless, who would have imagined the emperor saying, “Serve us rice.”

The potatoes had been stewed soft and tasty, the emperor ladled a scoop of potatoes, and mixed it with rice, eating it bite by bite.

Rui Fu jaw was about to drop…, what is this way of eating? How would he have known the emperor had seen Zhao Jin Yu eat like this several times, that’s why he wanted to try it that’s all.

Even though it wasn’t as tasty as when he changed into a stone, but the emperor still ate half a bowl of food, this made Rui Fu very pleased, his gaze looking at the emperor contained happiness, he was even happier than when he was eating.

The emperor couldn’t help think, he actually wanted to make them happy…, it was very, very simple, just as he remembered everytime he did what he was told, Zhao Jin Yu would also expose such a happy expression.

***

At noon it started snowing again, in just a short time the palace was again enveloped in snow, this year it snowed particularly more, accounts of snow disasters were reported in all parts of the country, the emperor also gave a disaster relief decree, opening the granaries to give relief aid to the common people, regarding those rich families who voluntarily donated, the emperor also gave commendations.

However to the ordinary people, the days were nevertheless extremely challenging, the great mistress of the house of the Tao family Lu s.h.i.+ sat in a carriage on her journey, she saw many people begging, the maid who served her Bao Er said, “Mistress, these are all refugees from Lincheng, ai, so pitiful.”

Lu s.h.i.+ lowered her head without speaking, the Bao Er beside her again spoke, “They all say this is the Heaven’s punishment, the eldest prince at that time was kind-hearted and lenient, outstanding, but was…”

“Shut up!” Lu s.h.i.+ shouted, “Are you tired of living?”

Bao Er had been serving Lu s.h.i.+ since young, with a lively and restless temperament, clever and quick-witted, well-liked by Lu s.h.i.+, so she was slightly arrogant and wilful, making her speak in front of Lu s.h.i.+ without apprehension.

“Mistress, at that time you had the eldest prince’s favour, if it wasn’t for…, at least you married into the Tao family, now even that great aunt from the poor and humble family has to give mistress respect.” Bao Er said without resignation.

Lu s.h.i.+ heard Bao Er mention the eldest prince, the rim of her eyes reddened, unable to say a word.

Arriving at the palace gate, Guo s.h.i.+ the Lady of Duke Cheng Guo who had been waiting, this was an extremely beautiful woman, snow jaded skin, peach cheeks, remarkable manners, just looking at her it made people think she was like a picturesque beauty, he saw Lu s.h.i.+, nodding her head pleasingly, she said, “Follow me.”

Lu s.h.i.+ however was slightly hesitant, saying, “Is this really okay?”

Guo s.h.i.+ raised her head slightly, with arrogance, she said, “Your husband is now on the brink of a crisis, you however still think of pa.s.sing your days effortlessly, that’s really funny.”

The more high official Yan’s case was investigated there were even more implications, Tao s.h.i.+’s husband belonged to the Ministry of Revenue, and had been dragged into it, even if he still hadn’t been arrested and put into a prison cell, but everything pointed to disaster.

Lu s.h.i.+ hesitated before finally nodding her head, saying, “I’ll follow you.”

“Exactly, before you and me, as well as His Majesty the eldest prince…, and His Majesty the emperor grew up together, I don’t believe, could he really be so heartless?” Guo s.h.i.+ clenched her teeth as she spoke.

The two people entered the palace, originally the emperor did not have audiences with women, but the Lady of Duke Cheng Guo actually had a hasty audience tablet on her, which made her able to directly see the emperor, in this way the two people were very quickly received into the Wuling palace.

After sitting for a short time they saw the emperor dressed in a bright yellow robe walk over surrounded by a crowd of people, the two people hastened to carry out the great greeting of sankoujiubai, saying, “Love live Emperor Wu.”

The windows inside the palace hall were shut, dimly lit, but it still couldn’t hold back the emperor’s handsome like a mountain range appearance, a luxurious and out of the ordinary manner, Guo s.h.i.+ somewhat absentmindedly thought, he is still as incomparably handsome as before, and no wonder he was so graceful back then, superior to the jade like eldest prince, known as Hanzhen’s number one handsome man.

“Lady Hui, it really has been a long time.” The emperor had just sat down when he said this to Lady Guo s.h.i.+ of Duke Cheng Guo neither warm nor cold, Lady Hui is Guo s.h.i.+’s childhood name, when they were children, they had studied and played together in the palace, and could be considered as childhood playmates.

Guo s.h.i.+ did not rise, kneeling she said, “Your Majesty, if you are truly concerned with our friends.h.i.+p of the past, then release my husband and Mei Zhen’s husband.”

The emperor did not move a thread, saying, “Duke Cheng Guo and Minister Tao Yuan Wai are suspected of corruption, even though we are the monarch, we cannot abuse the laws.” The emperor finished speaking and got up, with an expression showing he was not willing to say anymore, soon he was about to disappear, Guo s.h.i.+ very much not resigned, couldn’t help yelling, “Back then what did the eldest prince say to you?”

The emperor stopped, turning his head to look at Guo s.h.i.+, seeing tears at the corner of her eyes, her dark gaze did not diminish her beauty, instead it made her even more lovely and touching, truly a beauty, if the eldest prince was still alive, Guo s.h.i.+ would be the imperial concubine of the eldest prince…, thinking about it he would have to call her sister-in-law, but now things have remained the same but people have changed, many things have already become fuzzy.

Guo s.h.i.+ saw the emperor halt his steps, some hope burst forth in her eyes, she said, “Your Majesty, you haven’t forgotten right? Otherwise you wouldn’t have ordered people to give me this tablet, I’m begging you.” Guo s.h.i.+ finally couldn’t help cry, “my husband truly is innocent.” She knew the so-called corruption case was just an excuse, the emperor was looking for a reason to eliminate those who opposed him that’s all.

The emperor smiled, nevertheless the coldness did not reach his eyes, saying to Rui Fu, “Take back that hasty audience tablet back.”

Guo s.h.i.+ heart and spirit broke, her only hope had been destroyed, how could she resign herself to it? A sudden unbounded bitterness rushed into her heart, she said, “What exactly do you want? How do you want to retaliate against us? Is it not enough for someone to die? Is it still not enough to get rid of your resentfulness?”

“You have been tyrannical since young, very ruthless, everyone was scared of you, however the eldest prince was different, he was kind and cultured, making people feel comfortable, an outstanding person, everyone naturally liked him…, when it comes to who should have the throne, naturally it was him they hoped for, after all he was the eldest son of the first wife, regardless of his personality or his background he surpa.s.ses you a lot, what else are you not content with?” Guo s.h.i.+ spitefully said, recalling the eldest prince’s jade like elegant manner, she still felt heartache.

The corner of the emperor’s mouth lifted, showing a ridiculing smile, eyes however as ice-cold as a thousand years of snow, he said, “You are right, we are this brutal, so why did you come to beg us? 

It’s more important for you to return to prepare funeral arrangements.”

Once Lady of Duke Cheng Guo heard these words, it was like her life had been pulled apart, immediately she sat on the ground paralysed, tears falling like rain, saying, “You tyrant! You will have a painful death! You can’t even compare with a fingernail of the eldest prince!”

The emperor felt these words were somewhat familiar, carefully she thought about it and recalled, Ningguo princess had also said these words before, he sneered, “Ah.” As if he was regarding Guo s.h.i.+ as an ant, waving his hand impatiently…, these people were merely failures, to him they were nothing.

Very soon the Imperial bodyguards came rus.h.i.+ng in, pus.h.i.+ng the two people onto the floor.

Rui Fu retrieved the hasty audience tablet watching the two upper-cla.s.s ladies immediately becoming prisoners, his heart stirred considerably, Guo s.h.i.+ and Lu s.h.i.+ had previously been well liked by the empress, having been chosen into the palace to be companions to the princess, and could be considered fine people, one was almost the imperial princess of the eldest prince, one almost became an imperial concubine, now however the phoenixes had become inferior to chickens. The eldest prince truly is a famous person, he had pa.s.sed away for so many years, yet so many people are dead set on…, thinking up to here Rui Fu was again refused to submit, they said the emperor is brutal, but who is naturally like this?

His Majesty the emperor’s nature is forceful, when he was young he did not know how to control his power, once he carelessly beat a puppy the empress raised to death, the empress turned pale with fright, since then the empress was determined he had a brutal nature, treating him even harsher, so much so that even the eyes she looked at him with were filled with fear…, when he was younger the emperor even once asked him with a puzzled expression, was he actually the empress’s child? It was seriously somewhat unbelievable speaking about it, that harshly cruel empress was indeed His Majesty’s birth mother, and the eldest prince who the empress treated like her own child gently and considerately was actually born from the original empress.

Even now he couldn’t understand this matter, who actually treated their own child in such a harsh manner?

Returning to the Qin palace hall, the sky had just darkened, the emperor had washed his face and rinsed his mouth early then got into bed, Rui Fu had originally thought the emperor was in a bad mood…, he was very cautious, who would have imagined the emperor actually looked like he had forgotten about what just happened, instead he had an eager expression, trying to sleep, = . =

He stood outside the netting which reached the ground, he saw the emperor now turn over, now turn the other way, finally he couldn’t help say, “Your Majesty, you should dine first, your stomach is hungry, naturally it is hard to sleep.”

The emperor then sat up hearing these words, somewhat defeated he said, “Order food.”

Just as he was going to eat, Qin Hong entered the palace to have an audience with the emperor, he had been recuperating the last few days at home, today he immediately entered the palace to thank the emperor for his favour after feeling more or less better.

The emperor indifferently drag his soup, asking, “Minister, tell me, if there is someone, who you always think about when you don’t see them, but when you see them you again can’t help…”

Qin Hong sat having a meal with the emperor for the first time, he was very nervous, hearing such a question from the emperor, he immediately put his chopsticks down, a listening with respectful attention manner.

“Can’t help but look at them repeatedly?” The flames of Qin Hong’s gossipy heart ignited, instinctively he recalled the time when the emperor had even asked him how to get a woman’s fondness. Could it be the His Majesty likes someone? Which lucky girl is this?

“No…” The emperor pursed his lips, pulling a face he said, “We always want to scold her.”

Qin Hong, “…”

“Your Majesty, women are ying, similar to water, in other words must be treated gently, being too aggressive will instead make them cower in fear.” Qin Hong thought about it for a while, before stuttering, offering to the emperor tactfully this method of getting a woman’s fondness.

For a while the emperor’s voice was not heard, Qin Hong didn’t even dare to breath heavily, about a quarter of an hour pa.s.sed, the emperor then said, “What is considered to be gentle?” The emperor recalled Zhao Jin Yu’s bashful appearance in front of Su Qing Chen, only feeling hatred rush into his heart, ever more irritable.

Her brain must be filled with straw, unable to see that Su Qing Chen’s interest in her was only fleeting?

Men are fickle in love affairs, this was what empress mother had said to him before, at that time he did not understand.

When the previous emperor favoured a new person to visit, empress mother would kindly bestow things to those new people, but he could tell, empress mother was not all happy. One day, a favoured imperial concubine miscarried, when she madly stated to the empress mother a debt of blood must be paid in blood, he suddenly understood.

As an official, Su Qing Chen naturally held a high standard, however as a man…, the emperor recalled Qin Hong teasing Su Qing Chen attracting the famous courtesan, in his heart he had labelled him a loose man.

He found it difficult to imagine one day, the one who appeared to him, so naïve that she was somewhat stupid Zhao Jin Yu would turn into such a woman like empress mother, gentle and considerate was merely the surface layer of a beautiful flower, hidden behind was a poison capable of causing people to meet a violent death.

Seeing the emperor finally speak Qin Hong hurriedly said, “Scolding someone is definitely not good.” Following which he somewhat probed, secretly glancing at the emperor, saying, “The only women Your Majesty has met in the past were imperial concubines in the palace, they had been trained by their wet nurses, even if they are beaten and scolded by Your Majesty, they would still grin and bear it, but…”

The emperor thought of those imperial concubines who had been picked, they truly were compliant, even if they were a bit brazen, they still kept it in their heart no daring to show it, their words would be carefully considered, then acknowledge their mistakes first.

“But what?”

“May this humble servant be so bold as to ask, does that person not know of Your Majesty’s ident.i.ty?” Qin Hong felt an immense aura from the emperor, so unless you’re blind, who would recklessly rush head first? It was only if they did not know the emperor’s ident.i.ty, that would be why they would resist, resistance would naturally make the emperor unhappy, because the emperor had long ago gotten used to women complying with him, therefore this was the contradictory reason.

The emperor made an oh sound, considered to be a reply.

Qin Hong knew he had guessed correctly, very happy, his courage also somewhat grew, he said, 

“Before the imperial concubines of the palace become the emperor’s women, they are firstly the emperor’s subject, and as a subject they must see, hear and obey their master…, but if that girl doesn’t know the emperor’s ident.i.ty?”

All of a sudden the emperor stood resolutely, showing a manner of talking all night.

In the end Zhao Jin Yu still decided to stay away from Su Qing Chen a bit, therefore on the same day at night she had secretly gone on sh.o.r.e with Chen Rong, and found a tavern to stay in, wanting to wait until Su Qing Chen left, then switch to another s.h.i.+p.

At that time Chen Rong was extremely happy with Zhao Jin Yu’s decision, saying, “Such a good child.” That sort of loving gaze made the rings of Zhao Jin Yu’s eyes a little red, because it was too similar…to her former adoptive mother.

During the day, Zhao Jin Yu hold up in the tavern, Chen Rong went to check out the sh.o.r.e, only returning late at night, so when the emperor woke up, he suddenly found the perplex issue was resolved in such a way.

The obnoxious, Su Qing Chen who had caused him indescribable distraught was left behind by Zhao Jin Yu in such a way, when he thought of Su Qing Chen’s defeated appearance, he felt so good, in one breath he ate two bowls of rice.

At that moment he simply forgot, Su Qing Chen had been ordered by him to serve him as an attendant, = . =

A formal way of greeting. It involves putting your hands together, bowing your head, then kneeling before kowtowing.