306 Untitled (1/2)
Meng Fuayo smiled at the Second Prince and pushed the gift towards him. ”Will you receive it?”
The Second Prince immediately stood up and stepped back. ”I don't dare to, I don't dare to.”
Thus, Meng Fuyao pushed the gift towards the Ninth Princess. ”How about you?”
The Ninth Princess stood up and bowed. ”I do not dare to overstep my boundaries.”
Even before Meng Fuyao could pass the gift towards the Prime Minister, the old man had already put his chopsticks down and retreated far away.
”Then I have no other choice.” Meng Fuyao placed the box down, and she asked for a pen and paper. As she wrote, she recited, ”Tomorrow's schedule will be canceled. The Crown Prince and I will enter the palace to meet the Emperor and the Empress, and the robbing incident shall become the main focus of our state-level discussion. This is all.”
When she walked to the door, she looked back and smiled. ”Quickly inform your Emperor to be well-prepared. If not, when I enter the palace, he might not even have his pajamas on yet.”
Right before nighttime, under the bright crystal lamp located in the West Wind Building, many people sat for the welcome banquet, which had tumultuous undercurrents. Inside the Xuanji palace, however, the Emperor's palace was dimly-lit. The dim rays of yellowish light were hidden behind layers of curtains, and they flickered slowly and silently under the hazy night sky. They resembled fireflies waiting to be set free from the bottle, but there was an invisible barrier in front of them.
Deep in the palace, there was almost no one at all. Since the Emperor had fallen very ill, it was said that he had been frustrated by hearing chatters. Hence, he had chased his close attendants away. Currently, most matters were personally settled and attended to by the Empress.
Behind the curtains, there were sounds of cutlery clashing with each other and silhouettes of two people facing each other. From the shape of the silhouettes, one seemed to be lying in bed, while the other person sat and fed the former with a ceramic bowl.
It was very quiet, and only the heavy and muffled breaths of the sick could be heard.
Moments later, the person who was sitting by the bed set the bowl down heavily on a nearby table. ”You're not willing to eat again! I wasted my efforts in getting the kitchen to take three days to boil this for you!”
It sounded like a woman who seemed neither young nor old.
The person behind the curtain seemed to have said something, and the woman silently listened. She replied with an impatient tone, ”You're indeed worrying about that matter. I said I'm not seeing them!”
Then, there was another string of muttering. Afterward, she still stood by her stand. ”I'm not seeing them! Both of them are bastards! One retracted from Lotus's marriage unreasonably, while the other embarrassed Lotus in front of everyone else. They even joined forces to harm Lotus! They dare to come to Xuanji? They can come, but they're not leaving so easily!”
The person on the bed coughed for a while, and it seemed as though he was a bit angry, as he suddenly raised his voice and shouted, ”You're making that mistake again! What can you do to not let them leave!” After that, he coughed violently again.
There was a moment of silence before the woman spoke. ”You're so ill right now, so why care about those matters? And why must you wait until April? You can just abdicate your throne too…”
”Xuanji's throne was always passed down in April. If I go against my ancestors' traditions, I will be punished by the Heavens. What do you know!?”
The woman seemed unwilling to back down, and she wanted to retort back. However, when she looked towards the inner part of the palace, she stopped herself. In a cold tone, she made her remarks. ”How impressive and authoritative she is to use the so-called robbery as a threat, and even change our court's proceedings at her own will! And we have to be at her beck and call!”
Coldly, she stood up and waved her sleeves, sweeping the bowls and chopsticks to the floor, and they smashed into pieces upon coming into contact with the golden tiled floor.
Her voice was even sharper and colder than the sound of the ceramic shattering.
…
”Comrades, we're now sitting on the same boat, but there are ways out for us.” Meng Fuyao drank her tea casually as she looked at Hua Yan and Feng Wu. The two of them had mixed amongst the guards and entered their accommodation area. Right now, they stared at each other uncomfortably as they sat opposite her.
”It's up to the both of you, whether we will fight and survive at least another season, or we will give up and resign to fate.” Meng Fuyao crossed one leg over the other and grinned. ”So, come, tell me all the inside information that you know, even if it seems insignificant.”
Though she faced both of them, her eyes were focused only on Hua Yan. It was obvious that the line was targeted at him.
Hua Yan hesitated for a few moments, and his expression kept changing, as though he was thinking deeply about a very important and sticky issue. Meng Fuyao chose not to hurry him, and she waited patiently. After a while, Hua Yan seemed to have made up his mind. He slowly stood up, took out a small pouch from his robes, and respectfully held it with both hands. Raising the pouch above his head, he handed the item over to Meng Fuyao and Zhangsun Wuji.
Meng Fuyao observed his extremely solemn and respectful attitude, and she saw traces of blood on the bright golden pouch, although she did not know whose blood it was. Then, she saw that the pouch was holding something very square, and the shape made her think of something very frightening. Her heart skipped a beat, and she screamed internally. 'It cannot be that, right?'
With doubts in her mind, she reached out and opened the pouch. Layers of silk fabric were securely wrapped around the content, and when the last dark-red layer of fabric was removed, a flawless and exquisite piece of white jade was revealed. It was a beautiful chop that had a solemn and impressive golden dragon carved on top of it. At the bottom of the chop, there were very obvious words carved on the chop, and the words were 'Emperor's Imperial Seal.'
It was the Jade Seal!