Side Story Chapter 4: Danger! (1/2)

Side Story Chapter 4: Danger!

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

The carriage rolled past red palace walls, bringing Li Taiyi back to Jade Dragon Palace.

But Li Taiyi had just stepped into Jade Dragon Palace when a familiar figure dressed in luxurious clothes came up to welcome him.

“Xuan’er, didn’t I tell you not to go to the military examination? Why don’t you listen!?”

This noble woman worriedly looked him over to see if he had any injuries. Although she wore clothes that were simple in design and had a few wrinkles around her eyes, none of this concealed her breathtaking beauty, and with that graceful and noble aura that she radiated, she appeared all the more dignified and solemn.

This was none other than Li Taiyi’s mother, Virtuous Empress Dou.

“Mother, why are you here?” Li Taiyi exclaimed in shock. But as his gaze passed over the sandalwood table that depicted five dragons playing in the water, he immediately understood.

There was a tray of white jade on the table, a bowl of pitch-black medicinal fluid that was now completely cold, a small dish of candied plums, and a tea pot that had been completely emptied.

It was clear that Virtuous Empress Dou, upon realizing that he wasn’t here, had been waiting here for some time.

“If I hadn’t come personally to deliver your medicine, I would have had no idea that you had taken part in the military examination!” Virtuous Empress Dou grumbled in response to Li Taiyi’s question, her face turning cold.

“Mother, you’re not well. Please sit.”

Li Taiyi saw that Virtuous Empress Dou’s face was pale from worry, and his heart ached as he helped her sit down.

“I cannot defy Imperial Father’s orders, and am I not better now?”

Virtuous Empress Dou was the first person in this world that Li Taiyi had seen, and besides Qing Luo, she was the only person to have worried about him and treated him well.

Although ‘he’ had made many mistakes in the past, and he had known nothing about this world upon his arrival and was unwilling to accept it, Virtuous Empress Dou had patiently and compassionately guided him.

Moreover, Virtuous Empress Dou was so concerned about ‘Prince Xuan’ that her body had been in no better shape than that of Li Taiyi, who had had his talent crippled, yet she still personally delivered his medicine every day.

The warmth from Virtuous Empress Dou had gradually made Li Taiyi drop his guard and accept his mother.

Virtuous Empress Dou also found it hard to remain angry after seeing Li Taiyi’s affectionate smile, and she helplessly shook her head.

“Xuan’er, you’ve changed a lot since that incident and have become much more reserved. Mother is very happy, but the imperial household is fraught with dangers. You might have been able to avoid one this time, but it won’t be guaranteed the next.

“Why not withdraw from the imperial struggle for power and live quietly for the rest of your life?”

Virtuous Empress Dou worriedly grabbed Li Taiyi’s hand and gently patted it.

“Mother, do not worry. Everything has its solution. They want to hurt me, and I will not let them do as they please.

“Moreover… I am no longer the person I once was.”

Li Taiyi’s face was brimming with energy, and he confidently smiled, an aura like never before radiating from his body.

Virtuous Empress Dou was startled by the look of resolve on Li Taiyi’s face.

But she quickly got ahold of herself.

“This boy… Servant, come and heat the medicine.”

Creeak! The door opened, but rather than a maid, it was a solemn-faced old eunuch coming inside.

“Empress, Your Highness.”

Eunuch Fu waved his horsetail whisk, bowed to Virtuous Empress Dou and Li Taiyi, and then began to speak.

“His Majesty has decreed that His Third Highness is to head to Taihe Palace at once.”

“What?!”

Virtuous Empress Dou was stunned.

The Emperor had always refused to see her son, and he was in the middle of a court session and discussing state affairs, so he should have been even less inclined to summon him, unless… Virtuous Empress Dou’s eyes flickered as she glanced at her son.

She still did not know what had happened on the imperial horse track.

“Mother, be at ease. Your child understands what to do,” Li Taiyi softly soothed, his expression composed and unflustered as if he had already predicted the outcome.

“Eunuch Fu, lead the way!”

……

Outside the resplendent Taihe Palace, Li Taiyi was led by the eunuch over a bridge and onto the white jade steps leading into the hall.

As he stepped into Taihe Palace, he was greeted by the sight of twelve coiling dragon pillars, majestic and imposing, and the gleaming roof only added to the grandeur and solemnity of Taihe Palace.

This was Li Taiyi’s first audience at court.

Because of ‘his’ past brutality and hedonism, the Emperor had stripped him of the right to enter the court. It was clear that the Emperor had not summoned Li Taiyi for no good reason.

Li Taiyi’s eyes turned sharp as he looked around.

Within the august space of Taihe Palace, all of the officials had respectful expressions as they looked to that gilded dragon throne atop the cinnabar platform, towering ten feet above the floor. But Li Taiyi could clearly sense them occasionally shooting glances at him, and quite a few of them had hostility and distaste in their gazes.

As for that majestic figure seated upon the throne, attired in golden dragon robes, his eyes were shut, his brow slightly creased, his expression difficult to read.