The Splendor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 154 Picking up people
The wind was cold in front of the Vermilion Bird Gate of the Daning Palace.

After waiting for half an hour, Li Chongjin couldn't stand it any longer and muttered, "Uncle won't really blame me, will he?"

Xiao Yi said, "This matter is due to my poor handling of the situation. If there is any blame, I should bear it all."

"Look at what you're saying. I'm the one who killed him, how could I let you take the blame?" Li Chongjin patted his chest and said, "But I'll remember your loyalty."

Xiao Yi thought to himself, "I just hope he won't kill me without warning one day."

As they were talking, Wang Jun came out of the palace, glanced at the two of them with a cold face, and said to Xiao Yi, "Come with me."

"Yes."

"what about me?"

"Take care of yourself."

Xiao Yi then rode his horse and followed Wang Jun's carriage to the Privy Council and entered the office.

"You instigated Li Chongjin to kill Bai Zairong?"

"While not entirely, they are roughly the same."

"Nonsense! This is outrageous!"

"Yes."

Xiao Yi thought to himself, in terms of being unscrupulous, Li Chongjin was clearly even more so. What Wang Jun or Guo Wei disliked was probably his own shrewdness.

Fortunately, he is young and inexperienced, and his shrewdness does not pose a threat.

“Lord Wang, Bai Zairong is greedy and a scourge to the country and its people. It’s time to deal with him as well.”

"Investigate it first as a 'private fight,' and we'll deal with the rest later."

"understood."

Wang Jun sat down behind the desk, took out an imperial edict from his sleeve, and stamped it with the seal of the Privy Council.

"Take it. Do you know what the duties of a translator are?"

“The so-called ‘interpreter’ was responsible for conveying imperial edicts and introducing officials, similar to Wang Pu’s previous position as the Zhongmen Shi.”

"After receiving the token, go and order a set of court robes. Five days later, at the Grand Court in Guangzheng Hall, His Majesty will issue an edict to have Yan Jinqing teach you the etiquette of the Grand Court."

"Has the suppression of Buddhism been accomplished?"

“How could I fail to do what I promised?” Wang Jun said displeased. “In such a hurry? You acted before receiving orders and almost angered His Majesty.”

"Fortunately, Prime Minister Wang was in charge of the overall situation."

Xiao Yi knew that Guo Wei had used Bai Zairong's wealth to solve his immediate problem, so there was nothing to be angry about. He just felt that he had been forced to take this step.

It's alright, once you see even greater benefits, your anger will quickly subside.

Wang Jun instructed, "Go and investigate which other temples are committing crimes."

Xiao Yi handed over Yin Cheng's statement and said, "These have all been verified."

Wang Jun frowned and said, "You didn't wait for my instructions before making your own decisions."

"I was too anxious."

"for you."

Wang Jun handed over another document.

Upon taking a look, he saw only the words "Yun Xiaoyi appointed to oversee Taiping Palace" on it, stamped with the seal of the Secretariat-Chancellery.

"Thank you, Prime Minister Wang."

"His Majesty will summon you at the court session in three days. You may leave now."

Xiao Yi knew he needed to give Guo Wei a final preparation time.

He left the Privy Council, went to collect his official document and credentials as a scribe, bought new court clothes, went to Fanlou alone to eat, and discovered that Fanlou also had a bathhouse, so he took a bath.

As evening fell, the elderly nuns at Taiping Palace were conducting their evening prayers. The sound of chanting accompanied the evening drum, carrying a solemn atmosphere.

As he walked into the guest courtyard, a palace maid saw him from afar and immediately ran to announce his arrival. He could faintly hear her shouting, "Madam, that lecherous man is here."

Xiao Yi walked to the courtyard gate and was stopped by two palace maids.

"General Xiao, the Empress does not wish to see you."

"In that case, I shall take my leave."

"wait!"

They probably hadn't figured out how to respond to that answer, and one of them hurriedly ran back into the house.

"Well... this servant will go and persuade the Empress. General Xiao, please wait a moment."

After waiting for quite a while, candlelight was lit in the room, and through the paper window, one could vaguely see someone doing their makeup.

Then the palace maid came out.

"Ahem, the Empress has finally agreed to see the General, so please don't upset her again."

"Yes, thank you so much for persuading her."

"It's my duty."

Upon entering the room, An Yuanzhen sat upright with a solemn and superior demeanor, exuding the aura of an empress.

In the past, Xiao Yi had never seen her perform the role of Empress so diligently in the palace.

He didn't speak, his gaze fixed on her lips.

She gave a slight snort and said unhappily, "General Xiao, what business do you have with me?"

"Your Majesty, this humble general was merely on the way to conduct an inspection."

An Yuanzhen was even more displeased. She glared at him and said, "On the Lantern Festival, I was drunk. Did you do anything to me?"

Xiao Yi did not answer, but took a few steps forward.

At first, she dared to look him in the eye, but when he walked up to her, she turned her head away.

"I'm asking you a question, do you dare not answer?"

"This humble general is guilty; that night, I kissed the Empress."

"How dare you be so disrespectful to me! Aren't you afraid I'll castrate you?"

"afraid."

"Then what are you laughing at? Am I that funny?"

"The lip rouge wasn't applied properly."

"Huh?! Where? Is that so strange? Go away, you're drooling."

Xiao Yi felt An Yuanzhen's hand push against his chest, soft and weak.

She told him to leave, but he turned away. She didn't get up and whispered, "This lip rouge is sweet."

"Shall I try it?"

"..."

It is indeed sweet.

Finally, I took a breath and smelled a faint fragrance.

An Yuanzhen finally managed to get the bronze mirror and take a look.

"You greedy cat, you've eaten all the lip rouge."

"Will it be poisonous?"

"Yes, I'll poison you to make you bully me." An Yuanzhen said reproachfully, "I thought you forgot, saying you were drunk and didn't remember anything."

"I have a high alcohol tolerance."

"I can't hold my liquor. If I get drunk and act crazy, I'll beat you to death, you lecherous scoundrel, you greedy cat."

Why the fighting and killing?

"Why haven't you come to see me for several days? You must be trying to appease Li Youniang and that Guo Wuniang."

"So you were angry because you were jealous?"

"No."

I do not know how long it has been.

Through several layers of cloth, the hard, iron-like material touched the soft, smooth, watery texture.

An Yuanzhen was startled and suddenly pushed Xiao Yi away. She straightened her clothes, snorted twice, and said, "You probably think I'm easy to bully, right?"

"Why?"

"You're afraid of betraying their sincerity, but you can play around with me at will. Tch, you have no sincerity at all."

Xiao Yi smiled, offering no explanation, and asked, "Do you want to leave Taiping Palace?"

"of course."

"Shall we leave now?"

"Hmph, who knows what wicked scheme you're plotting."

"I mean, do you want to move to a different place right away?"

"Where?"

"It's obvious at a glance..."

The moonlight is quite beautiful tonight.

The two men covered their faces with veils, rode together on one horse, and arrived at a house in the east of the city.

Looking up, lanterns hung from the eaves, illuminating the two characters "Songyuan" on the lintel.

Helping An Yuanzhen dismount, they went forward and knocked on the door. A maid with a simple and elegant demeanor opened the door, carrying a lantern.

"May I ask, are you General Xiao?"

"Yes."

"General, my lady, please come with me."

Upon entering, one is greeted by strong women tethering their horses. Lights illuminate the way through the halls, where the long corridors are brightly lit. In the backyard, the plants and trees are elegant, and the bamboo shadows sway gently, creating a quiet yet warm atmosphere.

The residence that Yan Jinqing offered up was naturally of high quality.

It can only be described as quite good.

"Let the General and his wife know that outside is Tangfangkou Alley, to the west is the Confucian Temple, and two more alleys away is Fanlou. Whatever the wife wishes to eat, the kitchen can prepare it on the spot, or Fanlou can deliver it. To the north is the East Market. If the wife wishes to go to the market, she can simply tell me to prepare a carriage. To the south is Guanyin Temple, and to the east is Huiji River. The scenery is quite nice."

"This is wonderful. Xiao Yi, I love this house. Is this your new home?"

"No, I borrowed it from a friend."

"Then I'll buy it. I'll take all the servants too. Name your price."

"Okay, I'll ask later."

After taking off my shoes at the bottom of the wooden steps, I entered the main house, which was spotless and fully furnished with all the necessary items, including candles, charcoal, incense sticks, and hot water.

After the servants left, An Yuanzhen happily looked around, sometimes looking at the candlesticks, sometimes moving the ornaments, sometimes flipping through the books, and sometimes stepping on the carpet.

"Strange, the same objects look better here, even more elegant than in the palace."

“Palaces are actually harder to furnish, but this house was designed from layout to decoration.”

Xiao Yi found her long skirt swaying pleasing to the eye, so he watched patiently. When she noticed his gaze, she snorted, sat down on the low mat, and covered her stockings with her skirt.

At this point, she became timid and dared not ask him to massage her feet.

They probably really sensed the danger.

Xiao Yi then looked away and said, "If you are satisfied, I will arrange the next step."

"How should we arrange it?"

"Put the Empress on the grounds that she is ill. From now on, you will live here and may come and go freely, but you may not leave the capital."

“Then what about my maids and my clothes?”

"I'll go get it."

"come here."

An Yuanzhen beckoned Xiao Yi to sit down next to her, and then shyly took his arm.

"You've been quite attentive to me."

"Aren't you going to say I bullied you?"

The atmosphere here is indeed more comfortable than at Taiping Palace.

Even the candlelight was just the right brightness, making people unconsciously a little bolder.

An Yuanzhen leaned close to his ear and whispered, "I'm going to bully you."

"you dare?"

"Provoke me? What wouldn't I dare? I'm the daughter of a military governor; I can just take what I want."

Xiao Yi was unconvinced; this wasn't the first or second time she'd bluffed.

An Yuanzhen was in a good mood and began to flirt with him.

"You looked quite good when you took your clothes off in the woods last time. It's been a long time since I've seen that."

"Want to see?"

"..."

The candlelight flickered, and the moon's shadow shifted westward.

An Yuanzhen suddenly gripped his collar nervously, appearing unusually uneasy and clumsy.

"Don't."

"how?"

"No...nothing."

"can not you do it?"

"Of course I know how to do it, I've seen plenty."

"Ok?"

“You look down on me? It’s because… because I despise Liu Chengyou. He spends all his time with those male lovers, so naturally I look down on him.”

"Oh, I thought he was in love with Madam Geng and was determined to bury her with the rites due to an empress."

"Idiot, he strangled Geng Shi with his own hands, just to go against Yang Bin."

"I see."

"I'm just not used to it, cough, I'm not ready."

"No rush, wait until you're not nervous anymore."

"I'm not nervous at all, I... I know what I'm doing."

Xiao Yi said, "Shall I go and bring you the palace maid and clothes?"

"No, I don't want to stay here alone at night, and I don't want to go back to Taiping Palace. Wouldn't it be better if you left during the day?"

"it is good."

An Yuanzhen pretended to be calm and said, "Don't worry, I will treat you very well."

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

"Xiao Yi".

"Ok?"

"I feel so good when I kiss."

……

I slept for a night, feeling both comfortable and uncomfortable.

When I woke up the next day, it was still dark, and An Yuanzhen was sleeping soundly in my arms, her body soft and sweet.

He rose quietly, rode his horse alone away from Songyuan, and passed through the quiet streets and alleys of Kaifeng.

When they returned to camp, it was just before dawn.

Zhang Mantun was standing at the gate, peeking out. He stepped forward and said, "General, you are truly remarkable."

"What's the matter?"

"Chen Guanghui waited in the camp all night, he must be here to cause trouble because his superior was killed. How did the general know he was coming, and why did he deliberately not return to the camp?"

Xiao Yi was at a loss for words, and said calmly, "I know what I'm doing."

(End of this chapter)