Chapter 192
Chapter 192
Chu Ying was given a fright when he saw a black-clad figure inside his room, but he quickly snapped out of his daze.
“Is it her?” Chu Ying asked as he pointed upward.
Shadow Three nodded in response.
“When?”
“Tonight at midnight. I’ll take you there, so be ready.”
“Okay.”
Afterward, Shadow Three left silently like a gust of wind.
Meanwhile, Chu Ying sat down at the tea table and idly stared at the teapot before him.
…
Yue Mingsheng was helping Jun Zishu process documents to lighten her workload.
Meanwhile, Jun Zishu was inspecting a document on army rations and calculating how much should actually be sent to the battlefield. In addition, she also needed to arrange a reliable security detail to guard and transport the rations. Otherwise, if the rations somehow failed to reach the frontlines, it’d be incredibly easy for Chu Meng to incite the empire’s troops and shake their faith.
The worst of winter had already passed, and it had already stopped snowing outside. Even so, the bedchamber’s windows were shut, and the stove inside the room was lit.
The charcoal used in the imperial palace was naturally of the highest quality. The smoke it produced was faint, and it burned for a long time.
After staying in the warm and cozy room for some time, Jun Zishu started feeling a little drowsy.
“What’s wrong, Big Sister?” Yue Mingsheng asked in concern.
However, Jun Zishu simply shook her head and massaged her forehead.
Yue Mingsheng put down her brush and grabbed her handkerchief to wipe her fingers. Then, she got out of her seat and walked over to Jun Zishu to massage her head.
Feeling the tension in her head loosening, Jun Zishu closed her eyes and rested her arms on the armrests.
After Yue Mingsheng continued the massage for a minute, Jun Zishu raised a hand and signaled for her to stop. Then, she got out of her seat, approached a nearby window, and opened it.
When Jun Zishu felt the cold wind outside hitting her face, her mind instantly woke up.
“You’re going to get a headache again if you do that, Big Sister,” Yue Mingsheng said disapprovingly as she closed the windows and held Jun Zishu’s hands.
“It feels a little stuffy to stay inside this room all the time,” Jun Zishu said with a helpless smile. As she had just returned to the room’s cozy environment after having cold air blow at her face, a faint layer of red appeared on her cheeks.
“But you’re going to get a headache again,” Yue Mingsheng repeated herself before pulling Jun Zishu back to her seat and sitting her down. Then, she said, “You’ve been overworking yourself recently.”
Jun Zishu had been busy with a lot of things recently. Although Yue Mingsheng had done her best to help, Jun Zishu still needed to personally take care of the division of forces and the secret mobilization plan. Meanwhile, making these arrangements required a lot of effort on Jun Zishu’s part.
To make matters worse, Jun Zishu had a hobby of enjoying the cold breeze of this freezing weather. It’d be strange if she didn’t feel uncomfortable after doing all of these things.
“I’ll take a good rest once I’m done dealing with everything,” Jun Zishu said as she pressed her face against the back of Yue Mingsheng’s hands. She needed to make sure that she made no mistakes in every step. She also needed to ensure that she had everyone’s weaknesses in her grasp. After all, the situation where the empress regnant designating a woman as her consort would definitely cause an uproar.
However, Jun Zishu felt that Yue Mingsheng was worth every effort and sacrifice she made.
Meanwhile, after giving Jun Zishu a shoulder massage, Yue Mingsheng resumed handling her share of documents.
…
When midnight arrived, Chu Ying entered the imperial palace through a secret passage.
Jun Zishu sat in the bedchamber with Yue Mingsheng by her side.
Originally, Jun Zishu had thought of having Yue Mingsheng go to bed first while she met Chu Ying in another palace, but Yue Mingsheng adamantly refused.
It went without saying that Yue Mingsheng wouldn’t agree to Jun Zishu’s request. After all, her wife was meeting with a man late at night instead of going to bed. How could she not keep a close eye on such a situation?
Of course, that wasn’t to say that Yue Mingsheng didn’t trust Jun Zishu. On the contrary, she trusted Jun Zishu fully. The person she didn’t trust was Chu Ying. What would happen if Chu Ying harbored malicious thoughts against Jun Zishu?
“Why did Your Majesty invite me here this late at night?” Chu Ying asked when he saw Jun Zishu. Although he tried to smile, he failed to do so, and it only looked like he was tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Chu Ying didn’t know why Jun Zishu had summoned him today, but he felt that it might be something he wouldn’t want to hear.
“Don’t you have a rough idea already? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have come here,” Jun Zishu said nonchalantly.
Chu Ying remained silent. In reality, he had already noticed the arrangements his father was making. There was no way he wouldn’t notice his mother and his father’s concubines secretly packing their belongings.
Although his father did not clearly state his intentions, what he planned to do was clear as day.
Chu Ying felt very conflicted over this situation. Previously, he felt that he wouldn’t mind rebelling against the current dynasty if someone like the debauched empress was sitting on the throne. However, even then, he only ever dared to harbor those thoughts in his mind. He had never thought of carrying them out in reality.
Of course, if his father had planned to rebel at the time, he might have eagerly supported it. But now…
Chu Ying concealed his complicated emotions as he looked at Jun Zishu. This person before him had changed already. While she couldn’t be considered an excellent ruler, she was still a qualified one.
In that case, was there still a need to rebel against the dynasty? Was there a need to shoulder the curses of millions and set the Chu family’s reputation aflame?
More importantly, there was no guarantee they could win a war against the empire. There was also the fact that his life remained in Jun Zishu’s hands.
Chu Ying still hadn’t told his father about the parasite. Instead, he had secretly asked one of his friends to seek the help of famous doctors in the world of martial artists.
However, every doctor who had diagnosed him said that there was no way to retrieve the bug out forcibly. The only way to get it out was if the person with the master bug willed for the servant bug to come out.
When Chu Ying learned that this was his only option, he had briefly thought of using force against Jun Zishu. However, he quickly gave up on this idea.
The imperial palace was heavily guarded, and Jun Zishu had powerful shadow guards protecting her at all times. Moreover, Jun Zishu herself practiced martial arts. There was no way he could capture her. Not to mention, Jun Zishu could easily kill him using the servant bug.
Jun Zishu might have said she wanted to use him, but she definitely didn’t lack him.
“What does Your Majesty want me to do?”
“It depends on what you can do.”
“I will try to dissuade him.”
“Yet, you cannot stop him.”
After this brief conversation, Chu Ying understood that Jun Zishu already knew everything. Yet, since she already knew everything, why was she still letting his father roam freely?
Just thinking of the conspiracies behind the scenes gave Chu Ying a headache.
When Jun Zishu looked at the young man before him, she felt that he had matured quite a lot since she last saw him. Unfortunately, while the young man might become an excellent general in his current state, he definitely wasn’t suited for the court. At the very least, he wasn’t suited for it currently.
“Does Your Majesty plan on eradicating the Chu family?”
“How can that be? I still need you by my side. As for the others, that will depend on how they behave.”
“Is Your Majesty not afraid I will tell my father about this?”
“You are free to tell him everything and let him make more elaborate preparations. I will defeat him nevertheless and make him understand his ineptitude,” Jun Zishu said in a lightly mocking tone. Although she behaved arrogantly, she had the qualifications to be arrogant.
Meanwhile, Yue Mingsheng focused her gaze on Jun Zishu. No matter how this person behaved, whether it was this person’s indifferent side or arrogant side, she couldn’t help but love her all the same.
“Is Your Majesty so confident?”
Chu Ying grew a little angry at how lightly Jun Zishu treated the Chu family.
“Rather than consider these things, why don’t you think about what decision General Chu will make when I threaten him with your life instead?” Jun Zishu asked with an unruffled voice, her heart full of evil intentions.
Chu Ying’s face grew even darker when he heard Jun Zishu’s words. Honestly, he couldn’t say what decision his father would make.
“Alright, I’ve said my piece. This will be the last time we meet before you set out for the battlefield. I wish you a triumphant return, and I hope you will return in the manner I desire. Goodbye.”
Chu Ying did not make a response.
Meanwhile, after finishing her words, Jun Zishu got up from her seat and had Shadow Three take the young man away.
…
“Do you think that father and son will turn against each other, Big Sister?”
“Whether it happens or not, the outcome will not change,” Jun Zishu said with a faint smile as she pulled Yue Mingsheng towards the bed.
“It’s late; get some rest.”
Jun Zishu would never underestimate the power of the human heart, be it a good or bad heart.
Sometimes, people could be incredibly kind to a point where even they themselves couldn’t believe it. However, there were also times when people could be bad to a point where they were even more disgusting than rotten garbage.
There was no perfectly solid relationship in the world. When one party decided to take a step back, there was no saying what reaction the other party would make.
Jun Zishu tended toward the outcome where the Chu father and son would turn against each other. Chu Meng wasn’t the type of person who would halt his ambitions because of his children. Not to mention, Chu Ying wasn’t his only son.
However, if the father and son kept their relationship strong, Jun Zishu wouldn’t mind letting them continue their happy family in the afterlife, either.
…
Several days after the rations departed for the northwestern border, the army also got ready to depart.
Jun Zishu ascended the city walls to see the army off, and this was the first time the Liang Empire’s citizens got to see their heavenly empress.
“Although Her Majesty is a woman, she looks so admirable.”
“Most likely, this is the body of a celestial being.”
Public opinion that was deeply rooted could be changed overnight. Thus, Yue Mingsheng had long since secretly tasked people with spreading positive information about Jun Zishu. Thus, the citizens were exclaiming as such right now.
To the common citizens, nothing was more important than living a stable life. They didn’t care who sat on the throne. They would be satisfied so long as the dynasty did not change, and they could continue living a stable life.
Although the original owner acted absurdly during her rule, her actions were targeted toward handsome men. She had never issued any decrees to earn the general populace’s complaints. After Jun Zishu took over, the situation in the empire even turned for the better. Combined with Yue Mingsheng’s covert propaganda, the citizens no longer had any opinions about the empire’s ruler being a woman.
It was especially true for the empire’s female population. Women in the empire had always been in a disadvantageous position, so they couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride knowing that a woman was sitting on the throne.
…
The war with the Rong tribe lasted for a month. It was a relatively short war as the Rong tribe suffered defeat after defeat.
Those aware of the situation knew something was amiss about this incredibly successful war. However, those ignorant celebrated Chu Meng as a talented general.
Around this time, Jun Zishu also faced an attempt at her life.
The assassins this time came fiercely, and twelve out of the thirteen shadow guards were mobilized.
Jun Zishu had sent Yue Mingsheng on an errand somewhere else. By the time Yue Mingsheng learned of the assassination attempt and returned in a hurry, she saw Jun Zishu resting on the bed with a wound on her shoulder.
“Big Sister,” Yue Mingsheng called out, remorse coloring her face. She hated herself for not being by her beloved’s side when this attack happened.
“Don’t cry. It’s not your fault. It’s only a small wound. Chu Meng has also invested quite heavily into the attack this time.”
The attackers consisted of 20 well-known assassins this time. Although all of them laid dead outside the palace right now, many of Jun Zishu’s shadow guards had suffered injuries in the process of defeating them.
Fortunately, Jun Zishu had never stopped practicing her martial arts. So, when one of the assassins slipped past the shadow guards and was about to land a fatal blow on her, she evaded the deadly attack and got away with only a sword through her shoulder.
“I’m not crying,” Yue Mingsheng said with reddened eyes. Her heart hurt immensely when she looked at Jun Zishu’s bandaged wound, and she couldn’t help but wish she was the one who had received this stab wound. “Does it hurt?”
“It won’t hurt if you kiss it,” Jun Zishu said with a teasing smile.