Chapter 249 - The Woman From His Dreams (1/2)
“Then… how do you share the money you’ve earned?” Mahal’s eyes lit up.
Tarico gave him a vague reply, “I don’t know the details. We have someone responsible for calculating our earnings. Let’s just make do with it and talk about it later”
Mahal suddenly felt that he was a false leader. He could do nothing except for deploying manpower.
When he was about to leave, he thought maliciously:
In the capital.
The highest-ranking eunuch minced into the palace and came up to Li Chengkun who was busy reading and checking memorials. Afraid of bothering the emperor, he stood to one side and remained silent.
It had been less than a year since Li Chengkun came to the throne. He either had imperial meetings or reading memorials almost every day. He was so occupied that he seldom took a walk in his back garden. Being an emperor, he had an important task; to spread his genes widely. But he didn’t take it seriously. To get this supreme position, he and his brothers had fought against each other furiously. By then, many ministers had got involved and many had died in the farce. Li Chengkun didn’t want such a b.l.o.o.d.y tragedy to be repeated among his sons. He had had three sons, among whom the eldest would succeed him if everything went smoothly.
With a glance at the eunuch’s anxiously puckered face, Li Chengkun stopped writing and asked, “Speak if you have anything to tell me!”
The eunuch said in a low voice, “Your Majesty, a eunuch from the rear palace reported that…”
“Reported what? Speak up!” Li Chengkun became impatient.
“He said… that the state preceptor entered the empress dowager’s bedroom again.” The eunuch was abashed. He felt that this was too shameful to be spoken out.
Li Chengkun paused for a second and then just nodded. “I see.”
“Do I need to write down the times?”
“Yes!”
The eunuch then left the palace, took out a notebook and made a stroke on a page.
In the empress dowager’s bedroom at the rear of the palace.
On a canopy bed filled with warm breath, two figures were entangled with each other.
“You’ve come here three times this month. The others may gossip about us,” the empress dowager said shyly.
“Is it too much? Do you want me to only come here every six months? I’m afraid that you can’t hold yourself for that long.” The state preceptor stroked her face which was slightly blus.h.i.+ng.
She pushed away his hand softly and pretended to be angry. “Don’t you dare!”
“It was you who complained. In such a boring palace, you’ll be very lonely without me.”
The empress dowager revealed a serious look. “I’m afraid that the emperor might be suspicious of us. Besides, too many people out there are watching our behavior, but you’re so reckless every time you come here. The ministers will know about this sooner or later.”
“Don’t worry. The emperor indeed has a suspicious nature. But it was I who helped him to get his position, so he will turn a blind eye to whatever I do. Otherwise, he would have said it explicitly to me. Besides, the ministers can do nothing more than report this to the emperor. But who has the courage to say it in the imperial court? As I see it, I deserve to be envied. You’re still so beautiful and I’m still vigorous. We’re a perfect match for each other!”
“You’re not young anymore. Why don’t you feel ashamed to say that?”
“Not young anymore? You mean I’m old? All right, let me show you how energetic I am!”
“You… Ah, be gentler with me…”
“Then tell me – am I young and strong or not?”
The state preceptor thought no one would condemn him for his misdemeanor. But in the imperial meeting the next day, the prime minister stood out to report what he was up to. He looked as upright as before.
Bluntly, he said, “Your Majesty, it has been recently heard that a minister enters the rear of the palace frequently. Although the reason is unknown, I guess he’s dating an imperial concubine. Please look into it.”
The other officials had also heard about this, but they hadn’t expected the prime minister to be so outspoken.
But Li Chengkun appeared as if it was his first time hearing about this. “How do you know?”
Naturally, the prime minister couldn’t divulge the informant’s name. “I heard from someone.”
“The affairs in the rear palace shouldn’t become a topic to be gossiped about. If this man has any evil intention, he may tarnish the reputation of the royal family. So please get to know his motive first. If he has an ulterior motive, please be careful not to be used.”
The prime minister was rendered wordless.
Li Chengkun went on, “Next issue. It’s now midsummer and floods are frequent in the south. Let’s focus our discussion on this problem.”
As such, the prime minister’s words were ignored again. He let out a deep sigh.
Near Longmen Inn in the desert.
There was a sand dune not far away from the inn. For some geographic reason, it had become more compacted and taller than years ago. Sitting on the dune, one could see much farther. But in the distance was still desert. Every morning, Xiao Baoshan sat on top of the dune for half an hour and gazed at the sand in the distance. Two questions had been troubling him: Who was he? Where was he from? He had spent half a year trying in vain to find the answers. His memory seemed to have been cut by someone. He could merely remember the part after he came to the inn, while everything before that was a total blank in his mind.
The only clue to his past was a vague female figure in his dreams.
While he was lost in thought, Jin Xiaoyu leaped up to the roof of the inn and gazed at him affectionately. After feeding the horses, Idiot looked up at her and asked aloud, “Miss Jin, why are you looking at Dumb again? When will you get bored with this?”
She held her chin with one hand and simpered. “I’ll never get bored of him. Oh, you don’t understand.”