The day before Feng Yanzhou returned to the capital, Ying Yi and the others captured the traitor, Ying Five. As the saying goes, even a hero finds it hard to resist the charms of a beauty; the woman Ying Five loved had been poisoned by Feng Yu, and the antidote was only held by King Li. He had been left with no choice but to help King Li.
In a way, Ying Five had betrayed his master, yet not entirely. He had not told King Li that Feng Yanzhou suffered from mania, nor did he reveal the existence of the secret chamber, nor that Ying San had recently been impersonating the Emperor.
Ying Yi, as the leader of the secret guards, had the authority to deal with traitors and prepared to execute him directly to grant him a complete corpse. Before his death, Ying Five begged Ying Yi to protect the woman he loved. He asked that if the antidote could be found, she be given the money he had left behind so she could leave the capital and live a good life. After all, they were comrades who had trained together since childhood, and Ying Yi agreed.
When King Li learned that Ying Five’s operation had failed, he began packing his belongings to flee. He had hoarded a significant number of private troops in his fiefdom; as long as he could reach it safely, he would be able to kill his way back.
Unfortunately, Ying San did not give him the chance. He had been guarding the perimeter of King Li’s manor early on. When the father and son tried to slip away, Ying San pinned them down directly. He couldn’t even be bothered to invent a reason; he simply had them thrown into the imperial prison.
The first thing Feng Yanzhou did upon returning to the capital was go to the imperial prison to behead King Li, cutting off all future trouble.
Li Qing watched the events unfold like a spectator. As expected of the grand villain; his actions are crisp and decisive.
In the adjacent cell, Feng Yu was so enraged that he pounded on the door, roaring with fury: “Feng Yanzhou, you are despicable! Without a trial or a verdict, you dare to secretly execute a prince of the realm! You are nothing but a sinister villain, unworthy of being Emperor!”
Feng Yanzhou pressed his sword against Feng Yu’s chest. “Whether I am a gentleman or a villain is not for a loser like you to judge! As long as the history books record that the Ning Kingdom’s King Li attempted treason and failed, I will forever stand on the side of justice. Who would bother questioning how that justice came to be? Feng Yu, oh Feng Yu, the reason you and your father lost is because you lacked courage. I’ve only been on the throne for two years; my foundation is unstable, I have little support in the court, and my reputation for brutality has spread far and wide. Why didn’t you know how to strike earlier? What are you shouting about now? Planning a rebellion for so many years you’re both losers!”
“Ah—I’ll kill you!”
Feng Yu was driven nearly insane by Feng Yanzhou’s words. He desperately wanted to pounce and tear him apart, but the prison bars stood in his way, rendering him helpless.
Li Qing frowned slightly. “Feng Yanzhou, villains die because they talk too much. Speak less.”
Feng Yanzhou was very obedient to Li Qing’s warning. He retracted his sword, performed a flourish with the blade, and stared intensely at the raving Feng Yu with a wild, arrogant smile. “For the sake of our cousinhood, I’ll grant you a complete corpse. Guards, bring the poisoned wine!”
Only after resolving the matter of the father and son did Feng Yanzhou release the evidence, declaring with a show of formality: “King Li and the Heir apparent attempted treason; have them beheaded in the autumn. As for their family members, exile them to Lingnan. Send those private troops to General Wu’s command execute anyone who refuses to obey!”
Treason is a grave sin, and no court official dared to plead for mercy. The matter was settled smoothly. They did not know that King Li and his son had already met the King of Hell; if they had dared to plead, they would only have been dragged away as accomplices. Fortunately, these people were smart enough to preserve themselves…
Once the King Li affair was settled, the court officials walked on eggshells for a time. Finding that the Emperor did not vent his anger on the innocent and that his temper had improved significantly, everyone gradually relaxed.
They finally dared to bring up a question they had previously ignored: Li Qing’s identity.
A few days earlier, Consort Xian and her son, Li Qing, had moved into the newly renovated Huiyu Palace with much fanfare. Although Li Qing had changed his name to He Qing, his resemblance to the late Sixth Prince of the Yun Kingdom still sparked much discussion. Furthermore, rumors of a romance between the late Yun Kingdom Prince and the Emperor had circulated in the past, leading the officials to invent all sorts of dramatic stories in their heads.
The Grand Tutor deliberated for a moment before deciding to approach from a different angle. “Your Majesty, at your current age, it is time to fill the harem. In my humble opinion, the selection of consorts should be presided over by the Empress Dowager.”
Feng Yanzhou leaned lazily on the dragon throne. “The Grand Tutor is right. Pass on my decree: appoint my savior, He Qing, as the Empress, to share the world with me!”
The officials knelt in unison. “Your Majesty, this must not happen!”
The announcement of an Empress caused an uproar in the court. The number of memorials in the past few days had doubled, most of them opposing the appointment of a male Empress. The Prime Minister, however, was a bit different; his sentiment was essentially: Your Majesty, if you like men, I can find you many more, but the position of Mother of the Nation must be filled by a woman!
Feng Yanzhou tossed the pile of memorials on the table aside and looked at Gao Yuan. “Do they have something wrong with their brains? Is it up to these people to decide my private affairs?”
Gao Yuan opened his mouth, unsure how to reply, and could only offer an awkward smile. Suddenly remembering something, he hurriedly said: “Your Majesty, I heard that several officials sent people to the Imperial Mausoleum. They fear… they will inform the Empress Dowager. Shall we send men to intercept them?”
The late Emperor and Empress Jingde had been deeply in love, a couple for their entire lifetime. After the late Emperor passed away, Empress Jingde willingly spent the rest of her life guarding the imperial mausoleum to pray for his blessings.
Feng Yanzhou rubbed his temples in irritation. “Those old fools, why bother disturbing Mother? No need to intercept them; she will know sooner or later.”
Li Qing happened to walk in from the doorway of the Imperial Study. Seeing his state, he asked with concern, “What is wrong?”
Gao Yuan retreated discreetly, not wishing to disturb their world. Feng Yanzhou looked at Li Qing, unsure how to put it. He pulled him to sit on the dragon throne while he stood to the side, looking down with a submissive expression as he admitted his mistake: “I… a few days ago… mentioned in court that I wanted to make you Empress, and the officials are all scolding you for… ‘harming the nation and the people.’ Qingqing, don’t be angry; I just wanted to marry you sooner. Who knew they would react so fiercely? What is so strange about this? Many of them have male lovers in private—why shouldn’t they allow me to love a man!”
Li Qing was not angry at all. He popped a piece of pastry into his mouth and nodded in agreement. ‘Harming the nation and the people’ that wasn’t wrong either, as he was a fox spirit, after all. “Do you have a way to make them agree?”
Feng Yanzhou lowered his head and kissed his earlobe. “There are naturally ways, but they went to see Mother. I don’t know what she thinks of you, and I am a little worried.”
“If she doesn’t like me, will you stop liking me too?”
Feng Yanzhou couldn’t keep his hands to himself; he leaned an arm on the table and pinched Li Qing’s cheek. “How could that be! No matter what, I will never leave you, and don’t you think about leaving me! It’s just that Mother was spoiled by Father and can be a bit willful. If she doesn’t like you… sigh, I am in urgent need of a foolproof plan for you two to get along well.”
Li Qing did not share this worry. If she doesn’t like me, then she doesn’t like me. I’m not gold—I don’t need everyone to like me.
However, Feng Yanzhou was clearly very anxious. For several days straight, he had been reading storybooks, trying to find ways to resolve “mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflicts.”
Li Qing looked at the book on the table, The Little Embroiderer’s Wits Against the Wicked Mother-in-Law, and was rendered speechless. “Your Majesty, your reading… ah… interests are quite broad.”
Feng Yanzhou let out a mournful sigh. “It’s not because I’m afraid you’ll be wronged; otherwise, I wouldn’t be reading such sappy things!”
With that, he tossed The Hunter’s Little Sweetheart, which he had been holding, onto the table. It was an eyesore.