Chapter 22: Coincide Meeting
22 Coincide Meeting
The emperor had never expected that the next court session would be filled with the officials' complaints. Their daughters have been daydreaming the day before because of one person's appearance in the academy.
The emperor rubbed his forehead. This scene felt very familiar to him as every time an outstanding person appeared on the academy, those young girls would discuss about him excitedly.
"Your majesty, please redress this matter."
The emperor felt defeated. Just a few months before, they complained profusely because Nanglong Soujin came to watch the advancement test of the students in the academy. In the end, nothing could be done.
Luckily, there were still some other more important matters to attend to, so these officials could only let it go. After the morning court was over, one official stayed behind and asked for an audience with the emperor. Normally, the emperor won't allow it, but seeing the one who asked was Prime Minister Lin Tang, he agreed to it.
They met in the emperor's study room.
"Is there anything you want to say, Lin Tang?"
"Replying to the emperor, forgive this subject's impudence, but this subject needs to know about Your Highness' view of the Jun family."
Jun family? The emperor definitely loathed them, but he never said it out loud. Originally, he wanted them to just disappear, but the appearance of Jun Min changed his plan completely. He never expected to see two highly talented generals to emerge at such a very close time frame.
Seeing how Jun Min fared in the test, he was feeling a bit complicated. While he wanted to let Jun Min to grow up, he also wanted to destroy the boy before he could become a huge threat to him. After discussing about this matter, he finally decided to let the boy be.
"I will leave him be."
Lin Tang noticed the way the emperor said his words. He addressed 'him,' instead of 'them,' which made him understand that the emperor must have realized his reasons for coming here. Lin Tang sighed, had his plan been found out?
The emperor stared at Lin Tang. "You can do whatever you want. But, I need him alive."
With that, the emperor turned around, leaving the stunned Lin Tang. Lin Tang thought that the emperor would instead feel threatened with the appearance of Jun Min. But now it seemed that there was something holding him back. Lin Tang didn't understand what made the emperor change his mind.
Whatever it was, it wasn't Lin Tang's place to know. However, it didn't matter to him because that one sentence alone had given him confidence to proceed with his plan.
…
Jun family residence
Jun Hua woke up early and gotten another lecture from Madam Mu. Today was her last day staying here, so she won't give as many lessons as before and only a short one.
"Thank you very much for your teaching, Madam Mu."
Madam Mu stared at the girl in front of her. Jun Hua was dressed as Jun Min today because he was planning to go to the city. She would miss him, but she knew that it would take her a long time before they could meet again.
"Practice hard young lady."
"Yes Madam Mu."
After exchanging a few more words, Madam Mu left. Jun Hua stayed in the hall for a few more minutes before meeting her grandfather.
"Grandpa, I will be going to the city."
"Now? Isn't your promise with Soujin in the afternoon?" Jun Zhenxian asked.
Jun Hua nodded. "I'm not going to meet him now. There's another place I need to go."
"Just go then."
"Thanks Grandpa."
"If you want to say thanks then…"
Before Jun Zhenxian finished talking, Jun Hua had already closed the door. Jun Zhenxian sighed and continued to read the report in front of him.
Jun Hua strolled around. Xia obviously could not follow her, so only Yamin was following her inconspicuously. Because of her face, whenever she walked on the streets, she was catching the attention of many girls. They all blushed when they saw her extremely handsome face.
'Should I change the face mask?' Jun Hua didn't really like the attention given to her, but there's nothing she could do unless she used an unremarkable disguise.
Jun Hua went inside a jewelry store. When the girl who was watching for the store went up to welcome him, she stopped in her tracks. She was stunned to see a young man with outstanding features looking around.
Finally, Jun Hua had to cough up lightly to gain the girl's attention.
"Wel... Welcome Young Master. Is there any specific jewelry you're looking for?"
"I need a hairpin for a woman," Jun Hua answered.
The girl nodded and showed him around the place. Jun Hua's eyes were almost blinded because of the brilliance radiating from those stones. She had never seen so much jewelry, and it made her confused. She was about to search for a good one when she heard a familiar voice.
"Jun Min, right?"
Jun Hua turned around and saw Prince Yan walking with an unknown girl. He smiled widely. "Yup, I'm correct to guess that it's you. But I would never expect to see you here."
"Me too, and this is?" Jun Hua eyed the girl behind Yan. The girl was only 15-16 years old with a slim and tall body, nearly the same with Yan. She was wearing a veil and her clothes showed that she came from a high ranking family. In fact, her way of walking was so graceful that no one in the academy could match her.
"This is my sister, Princess Ming Hui. And Hui'er, this is Young General Jun Min."
Ming Hui greeted Jun Hua gracefully. Jun Hua almost blanked for a moment before greeting her back. This time she felt really envious, with the imperial tutor as her teacher, there was no way she lacked in demeanor.
At the same time, Ming Hui stared at Jun Hua's face in surprise. She never expected to meet such a handsome young man. Even her brother might lose if they wanted to compete in terms of appearance.
"What brings you here, Yan?" Jun Hua shifted her gaze back, then her brows furrowed. "Have you gotten into a fight recently?"
Yan smiled wryly. "That Soujin boy beat me up. But I should have recovered, how did you notice it?"
"Your breathing is a bit irregular and your position is a bit unbalance," Jun Hua answered. She had long been familiar with human posture in the military, so she would usually know whenever there's something unnatural with a person's bearing.
"I see. You're amazing. Oh yeah, I came here to help my sister pick a few jewelry for her birthday. What about you?"
"I want to give a present for Jun Hua."
"Let me help you then."
"Okay."