bookrebus Chapter 769 The Princess's Marriage (13)
Chapter 769 The Princess's Marriage (13)
"Outrageous!! The Regent is far too presumptuous. I am the Emperor, yet he so blatantly bypasses my authority to bestow gifts upon the various palaces."
Wang Dehou stood to the side, not daring to look up at the emperor's face; one could easily imagine how ugly and angry it must be.
Lately, the regent has been increasingly disrespectful to the emperor, and it's unclear how much longer the emperor can remain on the throne.
"It was just a small favor. I never knew that my uncle, such an arrogant person, would start to win people's hearts for the sake of the throne, making everyone ignore me, the emperor."
Shangguan Xi sat slumped on the dragon throne, his anger causing him a headache, which he could only relieve by pressing his temples tightly.
Upon seeing this, Wang De hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, are you alright? This servant will go and fetch the imperial physician immediately."
"What use is the imperial physician? Can he remove this major threat to my heart?"
Wang De dared not speak. The emperor's greatest concern was the regent. Which imperial physician had the ability to help the emperor?
But he dared not do nothing, so he stepped forward and suggested, "Your Majesty, let this servant massage your head."
Shangguan Xi closed his eyes in acquiescence, and Wang De carefully went over to massage the emperor.
Regent's House
Shangguan Xi sat in his study, listening to the report from the secret guards that came back from the Zichen Palace.
Upon hearing Shangguan Xi's sarcastic remarks about him trying to win people over, he merely scoffed and said nothing, simply dismissing the person from the room.
"Your Highness, now everyone in the palace is probably thanking you." Lin Han was also somewhat surprised by this, not expecting the prince's style of doing things to have changed.
Previously, the prince was used to acting decisively, and his accumulated power made people fear him. This time, however, he actually started to adopt a conciliatory policy.
Shangguan Xi hummed in agreement, seemingly unconcerned; the whole thing was a complete accident.
A few days ago, he went to Jinglan Palace to talk to Xue Chanyi and heard her mutter a sentence.
Her exact words were that there were no benefits to spending the New Year in the palace.
At the time, he didn't say much, only thinking in his heart about increasing the allowances and rewards for each palace.
Other palaces offered double the benefits, but no one knew about the situation in Jinglan Palace.
Xue Chanyi was naturally different from others; she also had lavish New Year's gifts delivered to her in advance.
In return, she sent herself a gift, saying it was a token of their collaboration.
Shangguan Xi took out a rare jade pendant from his sleeve and rubbed it in his hand.
When a man and a woman exchange jade pendants, it signifies a commitment of love. He gazed at the jade pendant quietly for a moment.
She took off the jade pendant she was wearing and placed it on the table, then hung the one Xue Chanyi had given her around her waist.
"Lin Han, put that jade pendant away."
Lin Han felt that he couldn't understand the prince's actions lately: "Your Highness, why did you take off the jade pendant that you wear all the time?"
Shangguan Xi casually said, "Now that I have a new one, I'd like to change into a different one."
Lin Han looked at his waist and blurted out, "This jade pendant, could it be a gift from someone to Your Highness?"
After he finished speaking, he realized that he shouldn't have asked so many questions. When did the prince's affairs become something for others to joke about?
"Your Highness, please forgive me. It was my oversight."
"It's nothing. You guessed right. This was a gift from my future queen." It should be said that it was from my future empress and wife.
"Your Highness, you are going to marry the Princess!!" Lin Han was shocked to hear this.
I've always been by the prince's side, but I've never seen him interact with any young ladies.
Could it be that the prince deliberately kept it from him that he was no longer the prince's chief bodyguard?
Not now, but...
Shangguan Xi looked through the window toward the palace, his unspoken meaning clear.
Seeing this, Lin Han also looked over there. He understood what the prince meant; he wanted to take that position before getting married.
However, he still dared to ask, "I wonder if Your Highness could tell us which family's daughter she is, so that our subordinates can be prepared and avoid any accidental offense."
"A thousand pieces of gold?" Shangguan Xi smiled enigmatically.
If she were a rich girl, things would be much simpler, but even if she were a princess, it wouldn't matter. As for her status as a concubine, he simply ignored it.
"What does Your Highness mean by this?" Lin Han said, confused.
“You don’t need to know for now, and you can’t offend them,” Shangguan Xi said directly.
She was no match for him, let alone them. How could they possibly provoke her? She was not one to suffer a loss.
Upon hearing this, no matter how curious Lin Han was, he could only refrain from asking any more questions.
At that moment, An Er appeared out of thin air in the study.
Shangguan Xi looked over: "How is it?"
An Yi and An Er had been secretly following him.
Only two people consistently addressed themselves as "Master," while everyone else referred to themselves as "Your Highness."
The first time I went to see Xue Chanyi, I only brought An Yi with me. After that, I never brought any more guards with me.
However, after that, An Er was sent to the palace to keep watch, and to personally return and report if anything happened.
"Your Majesty, the Emperor is going to Jinglan Palace tonight."
An Er's expressionless face was filled with confusion. He couldn't understand why the prince cared about which concubine's palace the emperor visited every night.
Upon hearing this, Shangguan Xi stood up and walked out: "An Er, go back to the palace. Lin Han, come with me to the palace."
Seeing the people walk away, Lin Han strode after them: "Your Highness, the palace gates are about to be locked, why do we still need to enter the palace?"
"I have something to discuss with Your Majesty." He hadn't been to the palace for several nights, and tonight seemed like a good time.
"Understood, sir." He didn't dare ask what the urgent matter was.
I'm just curious, the prince seemed perfectly fine just now, how did he suddenly have an urgent matter to attend to?
*
In the palace, Jinglan Hall
Liuli walked to Xue Chanyi's side and whispered, "Your Majesty, a eunuch from Zichen Palace came to deliver a message saying that His Majesty has something to discuss with the Regent tonight and will not be coming."
"Yes, I understand," Xue Chanyi said casually.
Seeing that she didn't care, Liuli said anxiously, "Ever since Your Majesty has been frequently ill, the Emperor has only visited Jinglan Palace a handful of times. Your Majesty, why aren't you worried?"
The last time the Empress served the Emperor was when she had just entered the palace.
After that, the Emperor only came to visit during the day, because the Empress was always unwell and unable to attend to him in bed.
Finally, the Empress was perfectly fine tonight, and the Emperor had decided to come to Jinglan Palace. How could another accident have happened?
"Alright, you can serve me until I retire for the night, then go out and keep watch."
She was too lazy to talk to the maids who were only thinking about helping their masters win favor.
Although she was very loyal, it was difficult to change Liuli's original mindset, and she was too lazy to put in the effort to change her.
Upon hearing this, Liuli could only suppress her anxiety and dared not refute, "Yes, Your Majesty."
After Xue Chanyi lay down, all the candles in the hall were extinguished, leaving only a dim oil lamp in the outer hall.
It's only early morning, which is 7 PM, so of course she wouldn't go to sleep that early.