The Night Before Leaving the Palace, Reduced to the Tyrant's Plaything - Chapter 36

The next afternoon, Sun Liangyan came to the Lateral Courts, saying he was there to retrieve his cloak.

Wu Shuzhen and Lai Sanchun accompanied him attentively, their smiles nearly frozen on their faces.

Wanyu returned the freshly washed cloak, folded neatly, and thanked him once again.

Sun Liangyan took the cloak, looked Wanyu up and down, and asked gently, “Miss Wanyu, have you been well these past few days? Have you encountered any trouble?”

Wanyu glanced at Lai Sanchun.

Lai Sanchun’s heart skipped a beat, but he quickly regained his composure.

He had leverage over Jiang Wanyu-what was there to fear?

If Jiang Wanyu dared to complain about him to Chief Steward Sun, he would expose her secret.

They would see who would suffer then.

Wanyu calmly withdrew her gaze, shook her head at Sun Liangyan, and gestured that she was doing well here and that everyone took good care of her.

Sun Liangyan said, “That’s good. If anyone bullies you, you must tell me. Don’t have any concerns.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Lai Sanchun, then turned his gaze to Wu Shuzhen: “I heard about the Laundry Office ruining Consort Shu’s clothes the other day. You’re an old hand in the palace-how could you not handle such a trivial matter?

Let me give you some advice: don’t think that just because you’re in the Lateral Courts you can neglect your duties and muddle through. If you cause a major disaster, no matter how senior you are, even if you have a Pardon Token, you’ll lose your head all the same.”

He was clearly reprimanding Wu Shuzhen, but Lai Sanchun felt he was being singled out and could only force a laugh.

Sun Liangyan stopped at the right moment, gave Wanyu a few more words of advice, and left with his cloak.

After walking a long way, he looked back and saw Wanyu still standing there, watching him.

Sun Liangyan felt a strange discomfort in his heart. Returning to his room in Qianqing Palace, he locked the door, opened the cloak, and fished out a slip of paper. After reading it, he was lost in thought for a long time.

“Master, His Majesty is looking for you!” Fuzi called from outside.

Sun Liangyan hurriedly tossed the slip of paper into the brazier, composed himself, and went to the South Study to see Qi Rang.

He had asked Qi Rang for permission to retrieve the cloak. When Qi Rang saw him return, he frowned, “The Lateral Courts aren’t far, yet you took so long. It seems your old bones are getting more useless by the day.”

Sun Liangyan choked, thinking to himself that he was only thirty-eight, how could he be called old?

Clearly, His Majesty was impatient to hear about a certain someone, which made the time seem to drag.

He thought of the note Wanyu had tucked into the cloak and hesitated.

Qi Rang impatiently tapped his desk, “Have you turned Mute now?”

Sun Liangyan quickly composed himself and bowed, “Your Majesty, forgive me. I was distracted by my thoughts.”

“What is it?” Qi Rang asked casually, continuing to review his memorials.

Sun Liangyan said, “It’s about Miss Wanyu. I was afraid Your Majesty wouldn’t want to hear it.”

Qi Rang looked up and sneered, “Well, Chief Steward Sun, are you playing hard to get with me?”

“I wouldn’t dare.” Sun Liangyan knelt, “Your Majesty, forgive me. I wasn’t trying to tease Your Majesty. It’s just that what I heard concerns Lai Sanchun.”

“Lai Sanchun?” Qi Rang frowned. “What about him?”

Sun Liangyan crawled forward two steps and whispered, “He has his eye on Miss Wanyu and says he wants to consummate the marriage with her tonight.”

Qi Rang’s hand trembled, and a drop of cinnabar fell onto the memorial.

The bright red color stung his eyes.

The study was silent for a long time. Sun Liangyan knelt motionless on the floor.

After a while, a mocking laugh came from above: “Very good. Didn’t she want to find a suitable husband? I think Lai Sanchun is quite fitting.”

Sun Liangyan was startled and, gathering his courage, looked up at Qi Rang, “Your-Your Majesty, do you mean that?”

Qi Rang’s expression had returned to normal. He tossed the memorial aside and picked up another, opening it: “Leave. From now on, don’t mention her to me again. I don’t want to know anything about her.”

“But-”

“No buts. Get out!” Qi Rang barked.
Sun Liangyan had no choice but to get up and withdraw.

Lai Sanchun was the savior of the Holy Empress Dowager. Years ago, he had cut his own blood and given it to the Holy Empress Dowager to drink. The Emperor did not wish to make this public, so he privately granted him a Pardon Token. Very few in the palace knew of this, yet Lai Sanchun had wielded the Pardon Token as a shield, lording it over others for years.

From time to time, someone would report him to the Emperor. But the Emperor, remembering that Lai Sanchun was someone the Holy Empress Dowager had entrusted to him on her deathbed, always let him off with a mere slap on the wrist, never truly punishing him.

But now he wanted to move against Jiang Wanyu, and even this the Emperor could tolerate.

Was it possible that the innocence of a young woman who had served him for five years was still not worth as much as that bit of blood?

If he truly didn’t care, why go to such lengths to keep her in the palace?

Sun Liangyan shook his head and sighed, his heart raced as if ants were crawling on a hot pan.

How was it that Hu Jinzhong could charm the Emperor into the Lateral Courts with nothing more than a single plum blossom, and yet he himself could not?

No wonder the Emperor wanted to give the post of Chief Steward to Hu Jinzhong; clearly, he himself wasn’t as clever as that brat.

Inside the study, Qi Rang was silent for a long while. Not until night fell did he finally emerge, have a meager supper, and return to his sleeping quarters to rest.

While he was dining, the Office of Imperial Affairs presented the Green Head Plaque (the token used to choose a woman for the night). For some reason, this only further annoyed him, and he barely touched his meal.

Back in his sleeping quarters, just as he was about to find fault with the dragon bed, he noticed that the Palace Maid making the bed looked familiar. Looking closely, he realized it was Xue Ying, who had been absent from duty for days due to illness.

Qi Rang was rarely attentive to the Palace Maids at his side, but knowing that Xue Ying and Wanyu were always close, he paid her a bit more mind.

Seeing her now, he uncharacteristically softened his expression. Sitting by the bed, he asked, “Are you feeling better?”

“Thank you for Your Majesty’s concern, I am much improved,” Xue Ying replied, kneeling. “It has been many days since I last saw Your Majesty. Is Your Majesty in good health?”

Qi Rang gave no answer. His gaze fell on a silver hairpin inlaid with a plain pearl in her hair.

“This hairpin doesn’t seem to be yours,” he remarked offhandedly.

Xue Ying quickly removed the hairpin and presented it with both hands. “Your Majesty has a keen eye. This hairpin belonged to Wanyu. Before she left the palace, she entrusted all her things to me, telling me to keep them as a memento. I just never thought…”

She broke off, her face now tinged with fear.

Qi Rang’s expression also cooled. He picked up the hairpin between two fingers and said in a low voice, “You may go.”

Xue Ying obeyed and withdrew.

Sun Liangyan was waiting outside. Seeing her come out, he whispered, “Well? How did the Emperor react when he saw you?”

“The Emperor took the hairpin and said nothing-just told me to leave,” said Xue Ying.

Sun Liangyan couldn’t help but look disappointed. Hugging his Horsetail Whisk, he said, “Let’s wait a little longer. Perhaps he’s still working himself up.”

He had barely finished speaking when the lamps in the sleeping quarters went out.

The Emperor had actually gone to bed, just like that.

“Sun Liangyan, what should we do now?” Xue Ying asked anxiously.

Sun Liangyan had no answer either.

Fuzi hesitated nearby and said, “Maybe… we should seek advice from Deputy Chief Steward Hu?”

Sun Liangyan shot him a glare.

Fuzi, realizing he’d made his master lose face, shrank back in silence.

But Sun Liangyan glared again. “Well, what are you waiting for? Go find him!”

Fuzi was speechless. He thought to himself that his master’s mind was becoming as unfathomable as the Emperor’s.

Inside the sleeping quarters, Qi Rang lay on his bed, turning the hairpin over and over in his fingers, as though it were not a hairpin at all, but the slender, delicate fingers of a beauty.

All around him, darkness reigned, but in his mind’s eye he saw ten fingers, numb and shriveled like frozen carrots.

Those ten fingers had caressed the softest silk under heaven, and unfastened the noblest dragon robe in the world.

And now, they were to touch the body of an old man without virility.

The thought was like a spark, setting his blood alight.

A seething anger rose in his chest. He threw off the covers and got out of bed, meaning to call for someone to help him change, only to discover he had not even taken off his clothes.

He pulled on his shoes, felt his way through the darkness, and suddenly flung open the palace doors.