Daqian Night Emperor

Chapter 76: Your Majesty’s “answer”, is the boss satisfied?
When An Shoudao came out of the palace, he returned to the Treasure Pavilion in the west market town.

Zhao Qi'an was still waiting for him on the terrace on the fifth floor. When he saw him come back, he stood up to greet him.

The two men sat down, and An Shoudao told Zhao Qi'an everything about what happened in the palace today.

"I wonder if the host is satisfied with the 'answer' given by Your Majesty?"

He shifted his gaze slightly and looked at Zhao Qian'an.

He thought he would see disappointment or resentment on Zhao Qian'an's face.

But it didn't.

Zhao Qi'an looked calm, as if he was not surprised by this, and said calmly: "I am not satisfied or dissatisfied, but since Your Majesty has chosen this, I also know what to do in the future."

An Shoudao's gaze lingered on him for a while, and when he saw that he couldn't tell what he was thinking, he looked away: "After the incident in Jingzhou, the court must have taken action. Princess Yuzhen is involved, and even if Your Majesty loves her, you know that this matter should be stopped. Even if there are people in the capital who want to investigate, they will stop when they find out about me..."

"Things have come to this point, and it's time to stop here. The boss doesn't need to worry about these mundane matters anymore, and can continue to keep a low profile."

That's it?

Zhao Qi'an shook his head: "This is just the beginning."

An Shoudao looked at him in surprise.

Although Zhao Qi'an was still the same Zhao Qi'an, in An Shoudao's eyes, he was a little different.

It's like a sword that has been nurtured for many years and has been covered in dust for a long time, and is about to show some of its edge.

Zhao Dongjia's silent heart seemed to become a little more active.

This change in him was the result of him using Princess Yuzhen and his own hand to test the current emperor.

It seems that the "answer" given by the current emperor has finally changed Zhao Dongjia's mind a little.

An Shoudao smiled bitterly and said, "It seems that the salary I asked for from Mr. Zhao is too little."

Zhao Qi'an smiled, stood up, bowed to An Shoudao, then turned and walked towards the inner room.

An Shoudao asked behind him, "This game of chess is not over yet, won't you stay with me until it's over before you leave?"

"No need."

Zhao Qi'an didn't look back, but walked into the inner room, leaving only a calm sentence: "The outcome is determined."

An Shoudao was startled, then he looked down at the chessboard, and his pupils suddenly shrank.

On the chessboard, all the places originally covered with white pieces were replaced by black pieces, and the black pieces were connected together to form a "dragon-slaying" momentum.

but……

An Shoudao clearly remembered that the chessboard was not like this before he entered the palace.

Zhao Qi'an, this lousy chess player, actually secretly changed the pieces while he was away? !
No wonder it runs so fast!

……

"The Imperial Edict to the Prince Consort Zhao Qi'an..."

"I want to hold a family banquet today. I want you to come to the palace immediately to enjoy the family banquet together. I hope you will not refuse and come quickly."

"Appreciate this."

At noon the next day, a eunuch from the palace came to the princess's residence to read out the imperial edict.

After reading the imperial eunuch, Eunuch Li, finished reading the decree, he looked at the prince consort who was bowing opposite him.

It was the first time he had seen the Third Prince Consort. Having heard some rumors in the capital, he had thought that he looked unbearable, but he turned out to be an eight-foot tall man dressed in a simple blue Confucian robe. He was a handsome and elegant man with a scholarly air.

But the prince consort did not look in good spirits. His face was a little pale, his eyes were bloodshot, and he had deep bags under his eyes. It seemed that he had not had a good rest for some time.

Although he didn't know why the ancestor specifically asked him to check on the Prince Consort's condition, Eunuch Li still took good note of the Prince Consort's current appearance and prepared to report back after returning to the palace.

"My Lord, please accept my order." "I accept your order."

Zhao Qi'an stepped forward politely and took the imperial edict respectfully.

A maidservant of ordinary appearance followed behind him and secretly stuffed a purse into Eunuch Li's arms.

"It's just a little money for tea. Father-in-law, you've worked hard. Go and have some tea with the brothers."

Eunuch Li didn't need to weigh it. Just by feeling the weight, the smile on his face deepened and he became more enthusiastic towards Zhao Qian'an.

Unexpectedly, the third prince consort is more generous than imagined.

That’s true, after all, he is from the Zhao family of Donghai.

Eunuch Li looked around, approached Zhao Qi'an, and said in a low voice: "Although this is a family dinner, His Majesty has only invited you, the Prince Consort. We dare not speculate on His Majesty's intentions. Your Majesty, please be careful."

Zhao Qi'an thanked him and said, "Thank you for your advice, eunuch."

"Remember to enter the palace before the twelfth hour, so don't miss the time, my Lord."

"sure."

After some greetings, Eunuch Li and his men left satisfied.

After the eunuch who read the imperial edict left, Zhao Qi'an stood up and told the person beside him, "Bring a basin of water."

Soon a servant came with a copper basin of clean water.

Zhao Qi'an took a clean towel and washed her face, removing the makeup on her face.

The maidservant beside him asked, "Foster father, are you going to the banquet?"

"Your Majesty is hosting a banquet, so why shouldn't I go?"

After Zhao Qi'an washed his face, he no longer looked as haggard as before.

He wiped the water off his hands with a towel, threw the towel into the copper basin, and waved his hand for the servants to take it away.

Then, he looked at the maid beside him and asked, "You came to see me in a hurry today, but what happened?"

The maid who could serve Zhao Qi'an and was a stranger to him, there was no need to guess, nine out of ten times she was Zhao Nishang.

Zhao Nishang frowned and said, "Fourth brother is still in prison and has not been released yet."

Zhao Qi'an smiled and said, "It's normal. The officials in the court have already made a decision on the Jingzhou case, and this difficult task has fallen on General Ling Fang. Although the general will not say much, some people in the Astronomical Observatory may be angry at the observation of the astronomical observation for meddling in other people's business."

"The Astronomical Observatory didn't go to arrest him, the three officials didn't dare to interrogate him, and the imperial guards didn't dare to release him... but he's still being held captive, isn't he?"

Seeing Zhao Nishang's worry, he consoled her, "It's okay. There are plenty of people in the Astronomical Observatory protecting the astronomical observers. They will be released in two days. The drum for reporting the incident was sounded by someone. The Jingzhou case is true, and the astronomical observers may even be rewarded."

But destroying the Dengwen drum... this is considered damaging public property. Will the Guanxiang official still be fined?
Zhao Qi'an was wondering whether he should give Zhao Nishang a subtle hint and ask her to secretly give some money to her brother?

Zhao Nishang shook her head and said, "I'm not worried about that, it's just that something is wrong."

"what?"

"Logically, the person who should have come to the capital to report the news should have been a small flag officer who was instigated by our people stationed in Jingzhou. But that small flag officer only entered the capital today, and the Jingzhou guards who died in East City yesterday were not ours."

A trace of confusion appeared on Zhao Nishang's face.

According to the original plan, there was no need for Zhao Guanxiang to enter the palace to beat the drum to report the news. The purpose of asking Zhao Guanxiang to wait there was just to see if there would be anyone in Kyoto City who would prevent the news from entering the capital.

But in the end, Zhao Guanxiang became the person who sent the news into the palace, and now he is still imprisoned in prison.

Zhao Nishang felt something was wrong, so she sent people to investigate. During the investigation, they were shocked to find that the person who rushed to Beijing from Jingzhou to report the news was not the person they arranged at all.

That was why she hurried to the princess's residence tonight to meet Zhao Qi'an.

(End of this chapter)