Chapter 216 – Your Majesty, Please Calm Down! (1)
Going back to the little prince’s residence, Ye Zhen saw Mo Rongzhan stepping out.
Ye Zhen composed herself, stood aside with her head hanging low, not wanting to see the gloomy, handsome face. Her instincts said that this man was in a foul mood: she must not provoke him this time, so as not to incur his wrath.
Dressed in a dark blue, royal robe, Mo Rongzhan’s manly figure came to a pause right in front of Ye Zhen. He looked at her calm jade-like face beneath him. Apparently, every time he saw her, her face had always been like this.
No need to be afraid. Steady now. This is just… nothing!
Even as his icy gazed intensified the pressure in the air, Ye Zhen tried to calm her taut nerves.
“Where have you been?” he coldly asked.
“Replying to the emperor, this official’s daughter is returning from the Cining Palace.”
Indeed, as expected he is in a bad mood. Ah, this tone of his invokes fear.
Mo Rongzhan’s cold eyes fixated on her. “What do you want?” He demanded.
At that, Ye Zhen raised her head, her doe-eyes evincing her confusion.
“Your Majesty, I do not quite understand what you mean.”
“Now that Little Prince’s illness has improved, I shall give you one wish,” Mo Rongzhan said flatly. How could this girl have forgotten?
“Really?”
As soon as Ye Zhen’s eyes lit up, the rigid and calm expression on her face immediately became vivid. Her eyes were as clear as the stars of the midnight.
Mo Rongzhan froze for a moment. It was the first time he had seen her look so happy. An involuntary upward curl appeared on the corner of his mouth. “Zhen does not go back on his word.”
Surprisingly, he was not miffed by her skepticism.
“Your Majesty, I can wish for anything?” Her voice dropped to a whisper.
“As long as I can do it, naturally, there will be no problem.” Mo Rongzhan looked at her, quite looking forward to what kind of wish she would have.
Then, Ye Zhen’s fair hands pointed to a distant place. “Your Majesty, can I go and study there?”
Mo Rongzhan was baffled. Of all the things she could ask for…
“Your wish is to go to the library pagoda?” he asked shocked.
“Can I not…?” Her shoulders drooped in visible disappointment, the light in her eyes faded. How she longed to go in and have a look.
Initially, she was only curious, but perhaps the conversation with Qi Jin this morning, heightened her interest and before she knew it, the curiosity had transformed into a yearning.
“Do you not have other wishes?” Mo Rongzhan asked with stern eyes. Why was she unlike the normal girls? Why were her interests and wishes so stark?
Ye Zhen shook her head gently. She could not think of any other wish. In fact, at this moment she did not want anything else. She wanted nothing else… but did he want… ?
She abruptly looked at Mo Rongzhan and noticed his livid face; her eyebrows suddenly creased.
She looked him right in the eye and asked, “Your Majesty, do you want this official’s daughter to wish to intercede for the wang fei?”
The man and the woman looked squarely at each other, neither party wanting to avert their gaze. However, the air around the former had turned somewhat sullen, while the latter was, obviously, oblivious to it. One looked sombre, the other vacant. Ah, such were the matters between men and women it seems; one would seldom understand the other.
There was one other who wished he were invisible, if not, at least be able to bury his head in sand so as to be exempted from such a nerve wracking situation: The able Eunuch Fu, who could perpetually think on his feet, standing right behind his master now, for the first time ever, failed to come up with the right response in the moment.
“Lu… Yaoyao!” Mo Rongzhan’s perplexed voice squeezed out from thin, pursed lips. “Are you a fool?” He barked.
He was so miffed that he wanted to wring this darted lass’ neck! He admitted, she did have the gall and the knack to tempt fate itself!
Ye Zhen’s eyes widened. “Of course not!”
How could he say that? What a conceited man!
“Then how did you come to think I wanted you to intercede for Lu Wushuang?” Mo Rongzhan demanded, suppressing his growling heart over the darn, dubious woman.
“This official’s daughter merely conjectured. Your Majesty, please calm down!” Ye Zhen forced a smile. She had to quell the beast before her lest she end up in a spot.
Truth be told, she was really afraid that Mo Rongzhan would regret punishing Lu Wushuang. Just then, she was only testing the waters is all. Why would she help Lu Wushuang with this regard anyway? She was no fool!
It took immense determination for Mo Rongzhan to rein in this temper albeit looking exasperated. Looking at the petite young lady, he felt that he could lose his patience any time now.
“Leave at once!” He took a deep breath. If Ye Zhen stayed any longer, he was not sure if he could hold out his anger.
Before she left, Ye Zhen wanted to clarify if she could go to the library pagoda. He hadn’t given an explicit answer after all. However, when she caught sight of the rage in his eyes, she reluctantly swallowed her words.
“Your Majesty, this official’s daughter will take her leave,” she said as politely as possible.
And yet, with a frosty face, Mo Rongzhan stormed out.
And with that…
Eunuch Fu was handed a new lease of life, he was able to breathe again, and immediately sprinted to catch up with his master.
*
When night came, the news about Lu Wushuang being confined finally made its way to the Lu Family, shrouding the entire household in a dismal air.
“Mother, what is the matter? How could Lu Wushuang be confined?” Madam Lu’s distraught, incredulous voice demanded.
Needless to say, as much as this was a shock to all, the most discomfited was Madam Lu. As soon as she had heard the news, she had run to find the old madam. She was at her wit’s end, still coming to terms with the abrupt turn of events.
It was no secret that the emperor doted on the wang fei. For long she had solely ruled his heart and with that the roost. And this year was especially critical for her position. The entire capital was aware of the upcoming Xiunu selection in the palace.
Yet, at this crucial occurrence, how could the wang fei be confined?
Agitated by the matter, Madam Lu couldn’t be at ease.
“Mother, what should we do? Should we send a letter to extend our thoughts on this matter? Our family must not sit by idly.” Madam Lu persuaded.
Old Madam Lu turned cold. She could not believe that her daughter-in-law had just spouted such nonsense.
“When the rebellion is being suppressed in the Western Buffer Region, at a life and death crisis, you dare meddle with the emperor’s decision in his Inner Palace?”
“Should we not be concerned about Wang Fei?” Madam Lu reasoned in a sharp voice.
What rebellion! What life and death crisis! To her, right now, nothing was more important than her daughter’s situation.