At that moment.
Even the slowest person would have caught on by then, and Liu Yexi, standing nearby, looked puzzled!
Two pairs of beautiful eyes stared straight at Gu Lan.
“Cough. In books there are houses of gold; in books there are beauties like jade… The matter of the refugees is not something to tell outsiders. It is enough that our family knows. Remember, do not spread it.”
Seeing their shock, Gu Lan knew he had leaked a little of the “heavenly secrets.”
But there was nothing wrong with his excuse.
After all, the “book” that described this world also counted as a book he had read!
The reason he gave that warning was to prevent outsiders from becoming suspicious… It did not matter if the family knew, but it would be bad if it attracted some cheat-wielding monsters.
Mu Yuyan’s eyes flickered. After a long while, she finally suppressed the urge to keep asking and nodded slightly.
Since Liu Yexi saw that the Empress did not ask, as a maid, she could only lower her head and eat.
Instead, Old Yang wiped his mouth at that moment and said with a face full of indignation:
“Alas, when the Son of Heaven lacks virtue, Heaven sends down its wrath!”
“If you ask me, our current Empress was dealt a fine hand and played it to utter ruin. Every minister in court is a capable official fit to govern an age of peace, yet they ended up stuck with a foolish ruler who only knows how to seek immortality and cultivate the Dao every day!”
As soon as those words came out, Liu Yexi, beside him, nearly dropped the chopsticks she had just picked up in fright!
She hurriedly glanced at Mu Yuyan, only to see that she was still eating the dishes in small bites as before, with a kind smile on her delicate, lovely face and no change in her expression at all.
Only her knuckles were gradually turning somewhat white…
“Ahem!”
Liu Yexi coughed, wanting to change the subject.
But at that moment, Gu Lan patted Old Yang on the shoulder. “Didn’t I tell you not to drink fake liquor, Old Yang? Why slander the reigning monarch? This superstitious talk is fine if we only say it at home, but if it reaches the Empress’s ears, how many heads do you have for her to chop off?”
Mu Yuyan: “…”
Liu Yexi: “…”
“Then let her chop it off. I’m not afraid of that foolish ruler!”
Old Yang came from a life of hardship and was clearly full of long-held resentment toward the current dynasty. Fueled by alcohol, he said angrily, “After the Empress ascended the throne, she hid away in the depths of the palace to cultivate the Dao and ignored government affairs. This is something even us common folk know, so how can it count as slander?”
“If not for the team of ministers left behind by the late emperor holding things up, who knows what state the realm would be in now!”
After hearing that speech, Mu Yuyan’s expression became somewhat unpleasant.
Although she knew Old Yang was only a commoner at the bottom and did not understand the truth of the court, let alone how much she had sacrificed to prolong the national fortune, bearing such infamy and being condemned by everyone would inevitably make anyone feel wronged!
Liu Yexi looked at the Empress with heartache, then turned around and glared fiercely at Old Yang!
Old Yang had no idea what was going on.
At that moment,
Gu Lan suddenly spoke, breaking the silence in the room. “Old Yang, rumors among the common folk cannot be trusted. In truth, the current Empress is not as you imagine.”
“If… even Jiaqing counts as a foolish ruler, then since the founding of Great Jing, there probably have not been many wise rulers at all.”
After Gu Lan finished speaking, he leisurely took a sip of tea.
Old Yang’s face was full of confusion.
However, the pair of beautiful eyes beside him suddenly brightened!
“Why is dear husband defending that Empress?” Mu Yuyan pretended to be puzzled, but the corners of her lips lifted slightly, and threads of sweetness flowed through her heart.
Everyone said scholars liked to criticize monarchs to gain fame, yet only dear husband emerged unstained from the mud!
He was filled with vast righteous qi, without the slightest pedantic sourness of a scholar!
Fortunately, fortunately, Young Master is different from the rest… Liu Yexi also breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.
However!
Gu Lan’s next explanation made their smiles freeze outright!
“Natural and man-made disasters are not because the Son of Heaven lacks virtue, but because Great Jing’s national fortune is already gradually withering.”
“The Empress seems not to handle court affairs, but in truth, every order is issued by her through the hands of certain grand secretaries and dukes. It is just that everyone does not know.”
“The Empress cultivating the Dao in the depths of the palace is also only a false appearance. Her true self has long since stopped being in the palace… Instead, she is outside, searching for a way to save the national fortune!”
Gu Lan crossed one leg over the other, finished speaking with a smile, and casually set the teacup on the table.
The room instantly fell so silent one could hear a pin drop!
When Mu Yuyan first heard “the national fortune is withering,” she only felt slightly shocked.
But by the end, when she heard Gu Lan say the Empress had long since stopped being in the palace, she was completely dumbfounded!
Liu Yexi was even more stunned!
If Gu Lan knowing about the great drought in the Southern Frontier before could still be considered a coincidence, this time definitely was not!
Because the “Empress enters the mortal world” spoken of by the old Chief Astrologer was something only the Empress herself and two personal female officials knew!
The ministers of the court knew nothing about it!
It could be called the number one secret of Great Jing today!
How did dear husband know? Could reading really reveal such a thing?!
No, if he knows all this, could it be that he actually knew my identity long ago and simply never exposed me…? Mu Yuyan grew nervous, her heart in complete turmoil.
At that moment, the more she looked at Gu Lan’s handsome face, the more she felt that he already knew her depths, while she had not fathomed the extent of him at all!
A long while passed.
Mu Yuyan spoke tentatively. “Dear husband… then do you know where the Empress went to search for a solution?”
Gu Lan turned his face and looked into her bright, moonlike eyes.
He shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Gu Lan knew quite a bit about the character settings of this world because the novel had explained them at the beginning.
As for later developments like the Empress’s whereabouts… that eunuch novel had not written that far yet.
Phew~
Seeing him answer with a serious expression, Mu Yuyan gradually loosened the jade hand clutching her sleeve.
So he still doesn’t know my identity. That scared me to death…
Fortunately, Her Majesty’s identity has not been exposed. Otherwise, the half year spent entering the mortal world would have been wasted effort… Liu Yexi followed suit and clutched her chest.
“Hehe, Young Master, the story you told is even better than the storyteller hired by the teahouse. You said it just like it was true. Hehe…”
Old Yang came back to his senses and laughed honestly.
Of course he did not think it was true. How could his Young Master possibly know so much!
He only took it as Young Master making up a story to cheer Madam up.
“Old Yang, you… sigh. Go light some charcoal and rest early.” Gu Lan was speechless for a while. He waved his hand, not intending to keep this old ox around to listen to the zither.
After he left,
Mu Yuyan pondered for a moment, then asked with eyes full of curiosity, “Dear husband, since you know so much about court affairs, do you know how to save our Great Jing?”
“If dear husband were the emperor, what would you do next?”
She propped her fragrant cheek on her jade hand. When she said this, the urgency in her heart added a somewhat coquettish tone.
On the surface, it seemed she simply wanted to hear Gu Lan tell a story.
But in truth, a trace of slyness vanished into those bright eyes, like the waters of Peach Blossom Pond!
With the Empress’s peerlessly beautiful face paired with her charming voice, who could withstand it?
Listen to that. As expected of my wife, she really knows how to play along… Gu Lan felt delighted inside and could not help sighing at how wonderful this other world was!
So what if he was a supporting character?
If he did not go flex in front of those important figures and instead flexed a little for his wife at home, was that not pretty satisfying too?
To the side, Liu Yexi, who was seeing the Empress act coquettishly toward a man for the first time, directly had an earthquake in her pupils!
I’m numb. She even has to feed me dog food right in front of my face… Is this still the dignified, decisive Empress of the court?
If those noble family sons who admired Mu Yuyan saw this scene, who knew how many pieces their hearts would shatter into!
Liu Yexi stared blankly for a long while.
But over there, under the Empress’s expectant gaze, Gu Lan had already begun speaking in a calm, unhurried voice. “Since wife wants to hear it, let’s start with this great drought in the Southern Frontier…”