Because he was frightened awake early in the morning and had not slept enough or well, the eighteen-year-old emperor sat in the court with a very sour face.
The Regent stood up from the first seat on the right and asked, "Do you have any memorial to report today?"
The young man raised his eyelids and corrected: "There is a report in the Huainan area."
Duan Jing'an's face darkened visibly, and he repeated, "Is there any report from the Huainan area?"
The officials looked at each other. An elderly official was about to take a step forward hesitantly, but was interrupted by another one.
"Your Majesty, the Huainan area has been functioning normally since Lord Chen went there to inspect. The local officials were busy, but fortunately Lord Chen went there to inspect in person, and finally the people had a good winter. I heard that Lord Chen rode so fast that several horses died on the way. The rumor spread to the streets of the capital, saying that when Lord Chen returned to the capital, the people of Huainan lined the streets to see him off."
It's all exaggerated.
Duan Changchuan raised his eyebrows in pretended confusion: "Oh? With such a great contribution, why didn't I receive any memorial requesting credit? The people in Huainan are very enthusiastic, but I haven't heard of anything while I'm in the palace."
"Your Majesty, maybe... maybe Lord Chen wants to give Your Majesty a surprise..."
The young man's expression remained unchanged, and he said calmly, "Such a big news can be concealed easily. I am really surprised."
In one sentence, the ministers below the stairs immediately began to sweat.
He immediately prostrated himself on the ground, trembling and begging for forgiveness: "Your Majesty, please forgive me..."
For a moment, the court, which was filled with more than a hundred people, fell silent.
The atmosphere was extremely depressing, and everyone's breathing began to become short.
The young man sitting in the first seat had his back straight, his lips tightly pursed, and he didn't move at all.
The feeling of oppression is getting heavier.
The regent looked around for a long time... He finally stood up hesitantly, knelt on one knee and said: "Your Majesty, the memorial that Lord Chen sent by horseback arrived early this morning. I wanted to present it to you, but the attendant was negligent and did not bring it to the court. Your Majesty... Please forgive me."
As soon as he knelt, all the officials in the hall knelt as well: "Your Majesty, we beg you to forgive us."
The young emperor raised his lips, and in an instant his expression changed. He said, "I just said it casually. My dear, there is no need to be so nervous."
Then he turned to look at Changle who was serving beside him: "Announce my order, Lord Chen has made great contributions to quelling the disaster. I am very pleased, and I have specially ordered General Rongwu to go and provide support."
After the decree was announced, he pretended to be wooden and asked Duan Jing'an: "What do you think, uncle?"
The other party gnashed his teeth and said, "Very good."
"Do you have anything else to say? If not, please leave the court."
…
-
After finalizing an important matter, Duan Changchuan walked with a much easier pace.
He made an appointment with Yun Xie to have tea by the lake. When they arrived at the pavilion, a young man in a black robe had already made the tea and was drinking it.
The young man gathered his clothes and walked over, smiling and sitting down: "Guess what happened today? Uncle Wang actually knelt down before me in front of all the officials, it's really strange."
The young man chuckled and filled the cup in front of him. "Isn't it strange? A nobleman made him bow his head for half an hour at a banquet. After the banquet, he summoned a royal doctor to his house for a diagnosis. I heard that he was old and his neck was not good, so he was not allowed to bow his head recently."
Duan Changchuan picked up the cup, his eyes curved like a little fox: "If I had known this would cure him, I would have used it long ago."
Yun Xie: "That's why they say the queen is such a quick-witted person. Hey, I heard that it was the queen herself who ordered Duan Jing'an to kneel down? In fact, if you want to break up, then do it. How can you, a high-ranking official, let yourself live in such a miserable state?"
The young man leaned back lazily, turned his head and looked towards the archery field in the south, and said, "Why are you in such a hurry? It's not time yet. If you are impatient, you may ruin your big plan."
Yun Xie was helpless: "Well, you have the final say in everything. Anyway, there is suddenly a person who doesn't play by the rules in this palace, so it's a good thing to stir up trouble. These days, whenever I think about it, it's funny that this person who stirred up trouble was sent in by Duan Jing'an and Old Man Bai himself."
"Oh, yes. Bai Xiang got so drunk by you the other day that he vomited before he even got home. He also vomited a lot of stomach fluid in the second half of the night and didn't fall asleep until dawn. Hahaha, it's really satisfying."
Yun Xie finished his conversation, but there was no response from the other party.
Only then did he realize that Duan Changchuan was still looking over there and had no intention of paying any attention to him.
As the young man looked, he saw: in the almost empty archery field, a woman in red was riding a horse against the wind, waving a whip.
The clattering of horse hooves became more and more rapid.
He is full of heroism, yet has a kind of unruly nature that is difficult to discipline.
"That's... our queen?" Yun Xie asked hesitantly.
Duan Changchuan rolled his eyes and said, "We?"
I quickly changed my words: "It's yours, it belongs to your family."
The young man then slowly withdrew his gaze and said, "I have something unclear recently and would like to hear your opinion."
Yun Xie: "Oh? Tell me about it."
Duan Changchuan hooked his finger at him, and then lowered his voice and said, "Is there a kind of spice in this world that is only suitable for certain people? Or in other words, a specific target."
Hearing the question, the young man slowly sat back and fell into thought.
"If you say it's only for certain people, then it's possible. Some incense is only for women, some is only for men, some is for children, and some is for pregnant women. Incense can be used in many ways. I know a perfumer. What's going on? Did someone use incense on you?"
The young man frowned and said, "Since the Queen entered the palace, I often smell a fragrance on her. This morning, it was especially obvious, and the whole bedroom was filled with it. But I asked Changle and Yiman, and they didn't smell it."
After finishing his words, the person on the other side fell into deep thought again.
"If it is true that certain people do have it, for example, Changle and Yiman are eunuchs, if this fragrance only works on men, they will naturally not be affected. But everyone's nose is the same, and it doesn't make sense that only you can smell it."
Duan Changchuan murmured in agreement: "I also think it's unreasonable."
"How about... you claim to be sick and ask the imperial physician to come over, and I'll have the perfumer disguise himself as a medicine boy and go over with Imperial Physician Fang to take a look? You and I don't know much about perfume making, nor do we know much about pharmacology, so it's no use just guessing here. There are so many strange things in this world, what if there is one?"
Duan Changchuan turned his head and looked back at the horse riding and archery field.
It happened that Bai Su had just dismounted from her horse and glanced over here from a distance.
The woman was startled when she saw him, then she gave him a slight salute from a distance.
His movements were neither fast nor slow, and he had an air of indifference.
Duan Changchuan suddenly remembered his dream this morning.
The low laugh when I was held in the air seemed to return to my ears.
He quickly averted his eyes in panic.
Yun Xie on the other side saw that he didn't say anything, so he thought he disagreed and said, "Or you can describe the characteristics of this incense and the effect it has on you, and I'll go ask."
The boy's eyelashes trembled, and this time even his ears turned red: "Uh... it's a floral scent, it smells like peony to me. When I smell it... my heart beats faster..."
Yun Xie: "Your heartbeat is accelerating? Haha, isn't that an aphrodisiac? Do you still feel your blood boiling?"
Duan Changchuan: …
He immediately took out the plum blossoms from the vase and threw them across the street with a crackling sound.
Well, if you ignore the pink face and ears, it looks very expressionless.
The young man hurriedly spread out his fan to dodge: "Hey! The plum blossoms are working hard to bloom, so don't throw things at me. I'm just asking for a simple consultation, don't be afraid to see a doctor."
Duan Changchuan: "You are just here to watch the fun."
"Okay, let's get serious. It smells like peony, right? It makes my heart beat faster. Anything else?"
"Uh... my blood is boiling."
Yun Xie suppressed his laughter: "Anything else?"
The red-eared boy glared at him: "Aphrodisiac, just one aphrodisiac! And very little, nothing else!"
Baring fangs and claws.
…
After some laughter and chatter, the two of them drank their tea quietly.
The flame in the stove was dancing, making people feel warm.
Yun Xie suddenly spoke up: "In fact... it's not surprising for a queen, a daughter without any power or background, to want to climb into the dragon's bed or get pregnant with a dragon heir."
Duan Changchuan paused.
Yun Xie: "Have you read the letter I wrote to you last time?"
The boy nodded: "I have seen it."
"Having lived in the cannibalistic place of the Prime Minister's Mansion for so many years, Bai Su is definitely not a little white lotus. After entering the palace, there are only more cannibalistic places, and her identity is so embarrassing. If she wants to survive, she can only win the heart of the emperor and conceive a dragon heir."
"But..." Duan Changchuan retorted softly.
Yun Xie interrupted: "There is no but. If a person wants to live well, he will do anything. Your Majesty should have known this long ago. Look at the essence of everything and don't be confused by any appearance. This is what the Master taught your Majesty, isn't it?"
Duan Changchuan lowered his eyes and did not respond.
Reason told him that Yun Xie was right.
But there was another voice, a small voice telling him: She won't.
She won’t…
Because she didn't want to live in the first place, right
-
After sitting with Yun Xie by the lake for a while, Duan Changchuan went back.
Changle brought over clean uniforms and he changed slowly, distracted.
"If you don't believe it, it's actually very easy to test it. At worst, you can just call her to the dragon bed and see her reaction. If she is really obsessed with her lover, she will naturally resist."
"If she goes along with it... at worst I can give her a bowl of contraceptive soup. You are the emperor and she is your first wife. It is natural for husband and wife to have sex together."
"Your Majesty, you are the emperor, so live a carefree life. You need to be ruthless to conquer this vast country."
Everything Yun Xie had said to him kept repeating in his mind.
He didn't even notice that Yi Man's message just came from outside the door...
I also didn't hear the woman's footsteps outside the bedroom.
When the door creaked open and the sound of metal clanging entered my ears, I saw a man in dark red riding clothes pushing the door open.
The sound of metal colliding was caused by the armor plates on her wrist guards and knee pads.
"You... When did you come back?"
"Uh... sorry..."
They both spoke at the same time.
Duan Changchuan was a little confused at first, but when he saw Bai Su turned around immediately, he realized that he had just taken off his heavy court robes and was now only wearing a set of undergarments.
The tie at the collar of his undergarment was unknowingly pulled off by him, revealing a large area of his chest.
Two voices started fighting in my mind.
One said, "Quick, test her now!"
Another said, "Stop! No, no! If you get rejected, you will lose all your face!"
The boy looked at the person who had his back to him and was trying to avoid suspicion, and put on his clothes silently.
[Forget it, I still think... face is more important. ]