Li Jinchen’s brow furrowed slightly, his face dark and gloomy.
Everyone could clearly sense that His Majesty was in a bad mood today.
Li Jinchen shot a glance at the eunuch beside him, and the eunuch understood.
“If there are matters to report, speak; if not, court is dismissed!”
The officials looked at one another, but no one spoke.
“If there’s nothing, then I’ll take my leave.” Li Jinchen’s eyes swept across the assembled officials.
Nangong Boyu glanced at Lu Yunzheng, then stepped forward and said:
“Your Majesty, the foundation of a nation lies in its heirs. The harem is currently empty, how can the imperial line be continued?”
“Your servant requests that Your Majesty hold a consort selection to fill the harem and secure the succession.”
The moment Nangong Boyu finished speaking, many officials stood up and chimed in.
“Your Majesty, the Left Chancellor is right. An empty harem simply won’t do.”
“Your Majesty, this official has a young daughter, accomplished in the qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Would Your Majesty care for her portrait?”
“Your Majesty, don’t listen to him. My daughter is refined and virtuous, with the bearing of an empress who could grace the whole realm.”
“Your Majesty.”
The court suddenly erupted into a hubbub, the chattering making Li Jinchen’s head ache even worse.
Lu Yunzheng smiled faintly, rubbing the memorial tablet in his hands.
That old scoundrel Nangong Boyu would only dare bring up this matter when the Regent Prince was absent.
Who in the realm didn’t know that the Regent Prince was in love with the Emperor?
Aolong Kingdom had liberal customs, and keeping male concubines was quite fashionable in the capital these days.
As long as it didn’t interfere with producing heirs, taking male concubines wasn’t considered anything worth fussing over.
It was only that the Regent Prince and the Emperor held such exalted positions, and the Regent Prince’s possessiveness prevented the Emperor from holding a consort selection, clearly an obstacle to the imperial family branching and spreading.
That was why Xie Anci drew so much public scorn.
Moreover, everyone knew Li Jinchen didn’t actually favor Xie Anci, so they cursed him all the more viciously.
A man who could not carry on the lineage, who wreaked havoc in court, and who monopolized the Emperor besides, many people spoke of Xie Anci through gritted teeth, utterly helpless to do anything about him.
Bang!
“Enough! This matter will be discussed later. Is there any other business?”
Li Jinchen slammed his hand on the armrest of the dragon throne. Their bickering was making his head hurt even more.
He suddenly thought having Xie Anci around was rather nice, he could block these people from pushing him to fill the harem.
He could barely hold his footing at court as it was. Where would he find the mind for taking an empress and fathering children?
Everyone immediately fell silent, glancing at one another, not daring to speak again.
They had never seen the Emperor this angry before.
“Then court is dismissed!” With that, Li Jinchen swept out in a flurry.
Seeing this, the officials dispersed in disgruntlement.
Lu Yunzheng smiled, straightened his back, lifted his chin, and walked right past Nangong Boyu.
So eager to push your precious daughter onto the Emperor? So eager to become the Emperor’s father-in-law?
What a pity,
It seemed His Majesty had no interest in romantic entanglements.
“Hmph!” Seeing Lu Yunzheng’s manner, Nangong Boyu snorted coldly in fury, flicked his sleeves, and stalked off.
Lu Yunzheng arrived at the palace gates. He was a little worried about Xie Anci too.
The Regent Prince never missed morning court, rain or shine, who knew what was wrong today?
“To the Regent Prince’s residence,” Lu Yunzheng instructed his driver.
The carriage slowly pulled away from the palace. Behind him, Nangong Boyu lifted his carriage curtain, his gaze brimming with murderous intent.
How much longer could Lu Yunzheng stay so arrogant?
Once Xie Anci fell from power, he would torture Lu Yunzheng to his heart’s content before killing him.
Daring to oppose him? He didn’t know his own place.
Lu Yunzheng had long been aware of Nangong Boyu’s constant desire to destroy him, he simply didn’t care.
The Regent was his benefactor, whatever the Regent wanted, Lu Yunzheng would make certain he obtained it for him.
Sitting in the carriage, Lu Yunzheng’s gaze grew tender, as if reaching across time, deep and distant.
That was eight years ago.
Rain had fallen on and off in the capital for two or three months, and the plum-rain season left everyone restless and irritable.
Lu Yunzheng was even more harried. His family had never been wealthy his father was a xiucai scholar, but he had died of illness when Lu Yunzheng was twelve.
He had brought his mother to the capital for the imperial examinations, but just before the exams, she fell ill.
Her illness nearly ruined Lu Yunzheng’s prospects entirely.
Madam Lu was skilled at needlework and usually supplemented the household income with it, while Lu Yunzheng earned a little money copying books.
Though the two of them didn’t earn much in the capital, they could barely scrape by.
But once Madam Lu took to her bed, the whole household nearly collapsed. Lu Yunzheng spent every day caring for his mother.
His mother grew weaker by the day, and the family’s savings were drained to the last coin. Lu Yunzheng drifted through each day in a daze.
On one side was his mother; on the other, his own future.
Madam Lu wept every day, urging Lu Yunzheng to give up on her. But how could Lu Yunzheng, a man who was no selfish wretch, ever abandon his mother’s treatment?
That day, he was on his way to sell his books for money. Feeling that his future was hopeless, he wandered the streets like a walking corpse.
The rain soaked his patched robes. Just as he reached a street corner, he slammed with a “thud” into a wall of flesh.
Having not eaten for two days, he tumbled to the ground at once, his books scattering everywhere.
Rain slid down his handsome face, blurring his eyes.
“How dare you! Do you know whom you’ve bumped into?” The angry shout snapped Lu Yunzheng back to his senses.
A pair of black boots trimmed with gold appeared before his eyes.
Lu Yunzheng slowly raised his head. What met his gaze was an exceedingly handsome face a high, straight nose, thin cherry-pink lips, and a teardrop mole beneath one eye that lent him a touch of melancholy.
The misty air veiled the breathtakingly beautiful man before him.
Xie Anci’s phoenix eyes held a smile as he looked Lu Yunzheng over.
“My apologies, I wasn’t watching where I was going,” Lu Yunzheng said dazedly.
“It’s no matter, but I’m afraid the books are ruined.” Xie Anci pointed at the books scattered on the ground, his expression full of regret.
Lu Yunzheng gave a bitter smile. “They were only going to be sold for money anyway.”
Hearing this, Xie Anci paused. The scholar before him wore robes covered in patches, his bearing one of utter destitution.
Xie Anci understood, this man must have run into some hardship.
“Why sell your books?” Xie Anci asked.
Lu Yunzheng lowered his head, his voice low. “My mother is gravely ill, and I have no money for her treatment.”
Xie Anci nodded and had the servant beside him hand Lu Yunzheng a pouch of silver.
Lu Yunzheng waved his hands repeatedly. “I cannot accept this. One must not take reward without merit. Besides, it was I who bumped into you, sir by rights, I should be compensating you.”
“Can you afford to?” the servant laughed. “Do you know who this gentleman is?”
Lu Yunzheng shook his head, deflated.
“Enough, take it. Study hard, and don’t give up.” Xie Anci cut off the servant before he could say more, and clapped Lu Yunzheng encouragingly on the shoulder.
At Xie Anci’s words, Lu Yunzheng’s eyes instantly reddened. Helplessness, gratitude, bitterness.
All the grievances of these past days seemed to surge up in his heart at once, reddening the eyes of this frail young man.
After dropping the money pouch, Xie Anci left with his servant, vanishing into the curtain of rain.
Lu Yunzheng rubbed his eyes, feeling as if he had just woken from a dream.
The sum of silver in that pouch was an amount Lu Yunzheng could never have dreamed of. Later, with the money Xie Anci had given him, he cured his mother’s illness and successfully became the top scholar of the year.
Only afterward did he learn that Xie Anci was the Regent the “treacherous minister” who had given him his chance and saved him yet again.
“Lord Chancellor, we’ve arrived at the Regent’s residence.”
The driver’s words interrupted Lu Yunzheng’s reminiscence. He lifted the carriage curtain and stepped out.