Chapter 24: Serve the Lord and Save the Country ( 9 )
After lunch the next day, Zhao Changyu pulled Ye Huai's hand to take a nap.
"Your Majesty, this servant is not sleepy." Ye Huai weak and feeble conscientiously said.
"Lie down." Zhao Changyu commanded all people to withdraw. Chin facing upward, his tall body is full of oppression.
Ye Huai: "Xiao Lingling, Zhao Changyu is so handsome. My legs are all soft!"
520: "……"
On one hand, Ye Huai went to bed. On the other hand, he thought about how Zhao Changyu wants to play today. He saw him take out a jade thing from beside the Dragon Bed.
(Megane: Ahem, it's a plug)
"Your Majesty…… don't……" Ye Huai hadn't finished talking when his mouth was blocked.
"Carefully lick it wet. Otherwise, it will hurt later." Zhao Changyu pressed him to the bed and said while towering above him.
"……Your Majesty…… Not that place……" Ye Huai's legs were pressed on both sides of his body, hanging powerlessly. He can clearly see that "thing" enter deeper into his body.
After completely plugging, Zhao Changyu personally arranged Ye Huai's clothes for him and patted his b.u.t.t. "Accompany Zhen to the Princess Palace."
Zhao Changyu lightly slapped twice. Ye Huai's legs went soft and he almost cried out. Zhao Changyu embraced him in his arms, "After a while, stay beside me outside and don't look around."
"Yes." Ye Huai said.
The Emperor himself rode. The Princess residence without exception raised their spirits all over to receive but the Princess herself was missing. Zhao Changyu wasn't surprised at all. He just asked the housekeeper: "Where is the Princess?"
"Replying to Your Majesty, the princess is practicing martial arts and comparing notes with Officer Fang." The housekeeper came from the palace as a eunuch. He watched the princess grow up when he was younger and he knows the temperament of the princess. However, because of her, he can't help but squeeze a sweat.
"En." Zhao Changyu nodded, holding Ye Huai's hand, "Let's go take a look."
Ye Huai followed beside him. The "thing" in his body moves a little along with his walking pace.
He looked at Zhao Changyu's expression. There's no trace of anger found on Zhao Changyu. It is reasonable to say that Fang Xu, on imperial orders, watched over the Princess Palace, not from the inside. Not to mention to compare notes with the princess in martial arts. However, looking at Zhao Changyu's indulgence for his daughter, He probably won't lose his temper, right?
Probably, he presumed…… Zhao Changyu had a taut face since entering the door. He hasn't even seen a smile. At the moment, even Ye Huai's mind is uncertain.
Zhao Changyu had already ordered everyone not to report. So when he came to the military field, Princess Yurong and Fang Xu were fighting. Ye Huai doesn't understand the military. He only saw that the Princess's offensive seemed to be very fierce and Fang Xu had been on the defensive.
"Official Gu, who do you think will win?" Zhao Changyu asked Ye Huai. When both of them are alone, Zhao Changyu always called him Xiao Qi. However, if there are other people around, he will call him Official Gu.
Fake! It's all fake! On the surface, Zhao Changyu is behaving in a proper manner but his hand under the wide sleeves never left Ye Huai's b.u.t.t. When he questioned him, he held the top of that thing.
"This servant guesses the princess……" Ye Huai complexion is a little red. He looked down to hide his eyes, afraid that they will be seen.
Zhao Changyu laughed and didn't answer him. He patted his Ye Huai's b.u.t.t and said: "Continue looking."
b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Ye Huai silently cursed. Zhao Changyu finally kindly stopped his hand. Ye Huai also recovered after a while. He followed the crowd and pretended to watch the match.
Ye Huai: "Xiao Lingling, you say, who will win?"
520: "I presume, Fang Xu."
Ye Huai: "Why?"
520: "The reasoning is simple: because you guessed the princess!"
Ye Huai: "……"
At this moment, Fang Xu found a gap and seized it. He skillfully caught up in one move. In an instant, his attack rhythm increase by a level. Zhao Yurong's accomplishment is not weak but she fell short in adjusting. In the end, Fang Xu won with a burst of energy.
"Princess, you let me win." Fang Xu pointed out in the end and said while cupping one's hands on the elevated stage.
Zhao Yurong's face doesn't have a trace of embarra.s.sment on losing. Rather, she raised her chin and said: "I'll definitely beat you next time."
"I will wait for next time." Fang Xu once again cupped his hand. The smile on his face grew stronger along with Zhao Yurong's actions.
When Zhao Yurong turned around, she saw Zhao Changyu. Her face came crashing down in a moment. She reluctantly came over to greet him.
"You don't want to see your father so much?" Zhao Changyu said, with a touch of majesty in his shallow smile.
"I don't. Father Emperor had confined me in the palace for so many days. It's very suffocating for this daughter." Princess Yurong said while pouting.
Zhao Changyu's face softened a little, "Who told you to go to Shaoyao Pavillion, you even took Gu Cheng Qi along with you."
"This daughter has a reason!" Zhao Yurong said.
"Oh? What reason?" Zhao Changyu asked. Looking at her face, he didn't believe that his daughter has a serious reason.
"I won't tell you now." Zhao Yurong is rather courageous. She just turned her head and went to the next room to change her clothes.
Zhao Changyu was made a fool of by his daughter but he wasn't angry. He turned back his sight and saw Fang Xu kneeling by the side, "Your Majesty, this servant can't bear to see the Princess trapped in the palace and be bored, so proposed this fight. This servant is guilty. I ask Your Majesty to punish me."
"Stop it, get up. Zhen also wants Yurong to settle in the mansion for a few days. Zhen doesn't want to restrict her too much." Zhao Changyu raised his hand, motioning for Fang Xu to get up.
Fang Xu thanked him for his grace and stood up. Then he heard the Emperor whispered in a low voice to Gu Cheng Qi on the side: "Are you tired of standing up for a while? Do you want to sit down and have some refreshments?"
Fang Xu was still undisturbed standing in attendance by the side but he was secretly astonished. His Majesty had always been a person who keeps his word. Even with his two children, he rarely asks them in this kind of gentle manner. He stole a glance at Ye Huai only to see that this man doesn't read His Majesty's good intentions at all and even appears to be a little resistant: "This servant is not tired and doesn't need to sit."
It seems that the rumors are really true that Gu Yuanwai really gained His Majesty's heart. Fang Xu thought in his mind.
(Megane: Yuanwai(员外) means landlord in my Chinese Dictionary)
In Fang Xu's eyes, His Majesty the Emperor doted on his Minister Gu and even whispered a few words in his cherished minister's ears. But Ye Huai is the only one who knows that this old hooligan just bit his ears, "Xiao Qi, bear with it a little longer."
Bear with it, you demon! Ye Huai speechlessly clenched his teeth.
After a while, Zhao Yurong changed her clothes, ran to Zhao Changyu side and pulled his sleeves: "Father Emperor, come with me quickly."
Zhao Changyu's head was filled with confusion. Zhao Yurong also rushed to Ye Huai and beckoned to also come, "Gu xiansheng, you also come."
"What are you going to do?" Zhao Changyu asked.
"Secret." Zhao Yurong hooked onto Zhao Changyu while also hooking onto Ye Huai. She took them all the way to the small room at the back.
The moment they went in, there was already someone in the side room. It's a young woman. She was embroidering. When she someone enter the room, she stood up. With a face of vigilance, said: "Princess Your Highness, who are these two people?"
"Don't be afraid, Slave Nian, These two are people who can help you. You can tell your story for them to listen." Zhao Yurong said to her; then she said to both Ye Huai and Zhao Changyu, "Nian Nu was originally a girl bought by the Shaoyao Pavillion. Later, she saw something she shouldn't have. When she tried to escape, she met me and I saved her."
(Nu(奴) means slave. I was confused whether to put Nian Nu or Slave Nian but I ended up using Slave Nian.)
Slave Nian looked between the two men and then she looked down. Her pair of eyes seems to show distress as if there are a thousand words she wanted to say but contained all her sorrows in her glabella.
"Since the princess said that you can help this slave, then you must be a powerful person. Slave Nian first wants to greet the two Daren." Slave Nian slowly lowered her body, gripping her waist as if it was going to break at any moment.
"No need to do the superficial courtesy. Just say it directly." Zhao Changyu frowned. Before he became an emperor, most of his time was spent on the battlefield and in the barracks. This kind of feeble as willow type of woman who's holding her waist is the most useless. He's too impatient to accompany these people in doing courtesies.
"Yes." Slave Nian said. Afterward, she actively explained the matters she had come across in Shaoyao Pavillion.
Ye Huai listened to her, only to know the importance of dragging Zhao Changyu to come over here today. According to the original plotline, Zhao Yurong also went to visit Shaoyao Pavillion but there was no such thing as Jiang Hao's and his matter. It's just that after Zhao Changyu knew that she had been punished and there was nothing after that.
In the original plotline, Zhao Changyu didn't come to see his daughter. Naturally, he missed the information brought by Slave Nian.
Slave Nian's family live in the south. Later, she was human-trafficked to Jiu'an. Due to her beautiful appearance, she fell into the Shaoyao Pavillion. Originally, she was just a common popular person in Shaoyao Pavillion but one day, she discovered Shaoyao Pavillion's secret pa.s.sage mechanism.
In fact, most pleasure quarters in the capital have this kind of secret pa.s.sage. The majority of them are for the convenience of managers to monitor the female and male prost.i.tutes and the guests on the floor below. Due to Slave Nian's curiosity, she walked into it but she happened to hear Prince Qin and the Madam's dialogue. It actually turned out that the big boss behind the Shaoyao Pavillion is unexpectedly Prince Qin. (Madam here is the female brothel keeper)
"When Slave Nian was at home, I skimmed through some books and becoming aware of this…… it's not good. So I tried to find a way to escape." Slave Nian stated, "Fortunately, the princess came to save. Otherwise, it is probably difficult to escape death."
After Zhao Changyu heard all the things she said, he didn't even lift his eyebrows. He called out for Fang Xu to come in and instructed him: "Find a separate yard in the Princess Palace to guard her. Look for a reliable person that won't divulge these things."
Slave Nian yelled for being treated unjustly and was taken away.
"Yurong, have you ever told anyone about these things?" Zhao Changyu asked.
"I haven't. She wasn't allowed to walk around here as she pleases. It was my personal servant who takes care of her. The mouth is very tight." Zhao Yurong said.
Zhao Changyu nodded, "Zhen will first release your prohibition to go out. If you're bored, let Fang Xu accompany you to practice martial arts. Don't worry about this matter and also don't tell about this to anyone, including your brother."
"This daughter understands." Although Zhao Yurong is spoiled into arrogance and willfulness, she's old enough to understand this.
(I'm not sure with this line "但大是大非面前还是很明白的")
Zhao Changyu smiled in gratification and left the Princess Palace together with Ye Huai.
Ye Huai: "Xiao Lingling, how much is the mission accomplished?"
520: "Forty-eight percent."
Ye Huai: "Finally almost 50%. This brother's behind still……"
520: "Stop, Stop! Don't speak!"
Back in the carriage, Zhao Changyu pulled out the thing in Ye Huai's b.u.t.t and let him lean in his arms.
"Your Majesty, do you believe what that woman said?" Ye Huai rested for a while and tentatively asked. But Zhao Changyu doesn't have to explain these kinds of things to him. He didn't have so much hope that he would answer.
Who would have thought Zhao Changyu will close his eyes to think for a while then say: "Half-believing. Shaoyao Pavillion's origin is unusual. Zhen has heard of it a long time ago and originally thought that it's an imperial clan's member's branch business but didn't expect……"
"In fact, opening a brothel is very profitable. He probably didn't have enough money so he walked this devious path?" Ye Huai said.
Zhao Changyu chuckled and pressed against his forehead, saying: "Do you believe what you just said?"
"……" Ye Huai has nothing to say. These words, as long as their IQ is normal, they wouldn't believe it.
"Xiao Qi." Zhao Changyu suddenly released him. He grimly said, "Did you know something a long time ago?"
Ye Huai stared blankly. This time, he really didn't have the benefit of 520's bright omniscient perspective. He didn't know about it in advance. However, he did have a purpose for Zhao Changyu to come here, "This servant didn't know about this but this servant had a bold suggestion."
"Tell me about it." Zhao Changyu put the thing that he took out (from YH) into a small box as if the episode just now did not exist in general.
"This servant thinks that Fang Xu is good. He seems to get along with the princess well. I wonder if Your Majesty has thought over it?" Ye Huai refused to look at Zhao Changyu's hand but he looked straight into his eyes when he spoke.
Ye Huai was also scared when he spoke. After all, this is the emperor's family affairs. He's a favored external state official but he shouldn't talk too much. However, his later plans must be built on this marriage.
But he had no other choice. He just hopes that Zhao Changyu doesn't cut him off on a whim.
Megane: I'm dropping this novel since I'm not even making any progress. I'm posting Chapter 25 later. Please find a new translator for the next chapters. I'm very sorry.