Chapter 203 - Imperial Examinations And Royal Threats 5
Chapter 203 – Imperial Examinations And Royal Threats 5
Su Liya's pavilion
"Good, Sister-in-law should be careful as should you. You still haven't given birth to a grandchild yet!"
Su Liya dropped the cup of tea with a loud noise, bent at her side and glared at him, "And whose fault is that? It takes two to tangle! You must be out to fight today!"
"Wait, hold on! Please don't get mad, I do not mean any trouble. I was only kidding! I like how things are right now, I am not in a hurry to change things at all. I like that it is just the two of us and we have time for ourselves, but just don't let mother hear that. I will no end well if she does".
"Sure, I won't do that! I won't like to get you in trouble, it is okay if I am the one your mother holds responsible for the lack of grandchildren," she smirked at him.
A chill ran down his spine as he watched her smile down at him coldly. "You know what don't bother hiding that little slip from mother. Just let it out" he said in a low tone.
Her lips tugged up as she replied, "okay!"
Lu Yaozhu glanced at the maids standing around and back at Su Liya, "have you eaten?"
"Oh, not yet" she looked out the window and as expected the initially harsh sun rays had gotten milder. "It has gotten late, I will just have dinner".
"Okay, but let's eat some fruit while you wait," he glanced at the maids as he said that. As soon as Su Liya gave her approval, the two girls retreated and left to get the fruit tray.
Su Liya could tell that he sent the maids away because he wanted to have a private word with her without fear of anyone listening in. She waited for the two maids to put some distance away from the living room before asking calmly, "has your retirement request been approved?"
"Not yet, it might never be approved. I was called in by the Emperor and he was not pleased with my request" Lu Yaozhu leaned backwards on the seat as the Emperor's strange response played out vividly in his mind.
"He rejected your request? How odd, here I was thinking that he would be overjoyed since you will be getting out of his head. I mean hasn't that been his dream?"
"Well not anymore it seems, I guess getting betrayed by his son and his favourite concubine changed his perspective. He must have decided to make good use of me"
"We should have suspected that after he jump promoted you up by four ranks. Do you think that maybe be was possessed by a spirit or something?"
A laugh bursts out of Lu Yaozhu suddenly as he heard that, "don't let anyone here you sat that! The Emperor's strange behaviour although odd isn't that surprising. Every once in a while he gets a phase for a few weeks or months where he grows a conscience. After some time he goes back to his old ways, it has happened a few times and honestly, I don't care anymore.
"I will wait a few months and then submit another request, he would have gotten over this phase by then. Forget about him let's focus on A'Yong's future, we're you able to get a wedding date?"
"Oh no we weren't", the mention of getting a wedding date reminded her of the real reason they had gone to the temple and the aftermath of the fire. Although she was a little suspicious of the Crown Prince based on what had happened at the end of the first volume of the original book.
Since nothing was confirmed, Su Liya felt the need to scratch one of her many suspicions off her ever-growing list. Su Liya set down the cup of tea in her hand and placed both hands on her lap. She glanced up at Lu Yaozhu, wishing to maintain eye contact.
"How was your visit to the Jiang family?"
"The visit went well, we will send down the bride price and the other requirements in a few days".
"I guess madam Jiang didn't make things difficult for you"
"She wouldn't dare do that, madam Jiang like most likes to get closer to people with power. Thanks to the sixth prince, she was in a little bit of a bind is this marriage is a lot more beneficial to her and her family than it is to us. She understands that better than most and was smart enough to know not to make trouble for us".
"And her Goddaughter? Did she bring up her initial plans to make her a concubine?"
"No she didn't even mention the young Miss Chen at all and when mother asked about the two young mistresses. Madam Jiang replied that Juang Hua was taking a music class with a retired palace Momo. However, she was pretty tight-lipped about Miss Chen. She said ten miles long sentences all of whom gave a rundown of what her daughter was activities but only a few words were said when it came to Miss Chen".
"Just a handful? What did she say about her and did you see Miss Chen?"
Lu Yaozhu felt a little suspicious of her questions but decided to ignore her, she would tell him once she was ready for him. He replied, "I didn't meet her but that was because madam Jiang informed us that Miss Chen had fallen ill. Since she wasn't connected to the marriage, we didn't dwell on that".
"Okay, I thought she would try to get her in here again"
Lu Yaozhu chuckled, "I doubt she would try that again, she is not so shameless".
"Ha! That is what you think because you haven't met enough shameless people. Trust when I tell you that anything is possible, she may have already made a plan to keep pushing her goddaughter in your face after the marriage until you bite the bone"
Lu Yaozhu tilted his head to the side, "that is one very graphic thought, no that it matters. I am a one-woman man, I won't bite that bone ever".
Su Liya blushed feeling got like she was on fire as he kept his eyes on her. She looked down at her hands and said in a voice close to a whisper, "okay".
Lu Yaozhu held her chin, leaned closer and kissed her softly on the lips. He whispered a breath away from her lips, "Don't worry about any of those ambitious women, you are the only woman that will ever have a place in my heart."
***********
The next day.
Lu Yaozhu was summoned into the palace by Cuihong early the next morning. Cuihong escorted him to the palace after he got dressed, the Emperor wouldn't have it any other way. He was led straight to the Emperor's palace as soon as he arrived at the palace. He stood at the door for a few seconds, Po while Cuihong went in to report his arrival to the Emperor.
A few seconds later he was allowed into the Emperor's living room. Emperor Zhong was seated at the smaller replica of the dragon throne, Lu Yaozhu fell on one knee and bowed his head.
"This prince greets, His Majesty! Long live the Emperor! Long Live the Emperor!"
"Raise, have a seat", Emperor Zhong said gesturing to the seat by his right.
Lu Yaozhu stop and sat on the seat, the door was pushed open as he was seated. He watched as a long line of palace maids carried trays of well-balanced palace breakfasts into the room. He was shocked as a table was set in front of him, he stole a glance at Emperor Zhong then Cuihong. Both men wore calm expressions as did the palace maids like it was every day the Emperor had breakfast with one of his least favourite officials.
He never saw Emperor Zhong as someone kind so this sort of treatment was out of character for him. He waited for the Emperor's food raster to taste for poison and for the Emperor to take his first two bites before he picked up his chopstick and took his first bite. Emperor Zhong smiled as he watched him lower his head and eat, he felt at ease at the sight.
Since this was the first time he was eating with his second son, the various royal banquets they had both attended was nothing compared to this. They ate silently until they were done and the plates were all cleared.
Emperor Zhong pulled out a rolled-up Imperial decree and passed it to Cuihong, who handed it to Lu Yaozhu and returned to stand behind the Emperor.
"Your Majesty this_" Lu Yaozhu said as he unrolled the decree, he paused as he read who was writing on the high-quality royal paper used for drafting Imperial decrees.
Emperor Zhong looked down at him and said, "Your younger brother has been writing the Imperial examination for close to eight years. This year is his last chance or he could let go of any dreams of becoming a government official. With his upcoming wedding, he has a lot to lose.. Drop that foolish dreams of retirement and remain in the capital or your brother can forget about the Imperial Exams and look into starting a business".