Liu Xian hesitated for a while but finally decided to give him another chance.
“If you like His Majesty, why are you marrying me?”
Xiao Fang’s eyes widened. “Injustice! Who likes His Majesty? Don’t frame me!”
Seeing how he recoiled as if avoiding a plague, Liu Xian couldn’t help bursting into laughter.
“Behave properly. Be serious.”
Only then did Xiao Fang realize she had misunderstood.
“I swear to Heaven—you’ve seen His Majesty before. You lived in the capital. Don’t you know what the people around her are like?” He looked as though recalling something frightening.
Liu Xian wiped her tears casually. Her anger faded, replaced by curiosity.
“What are they like?”
“You really don’t know?” Xiao Fang looked at her as if she were ignorant.
“I wasn’t one of His Majesty’s confidants back then,” she snapped. (And she still wasn’t.) She had just started her official career when she was dispatched to Jinmen to resettle civilians. She could count on one hand the number of times she had seen the Emperor.
“Hey! Why are you kicking me again?”
“If you’re broken, will you support me?” Liu Xian stood with hands on hips, grinding her teeth. “Speak properly.”
“Alright, alright!”
“Those who serve beside His Majesty either have no tongues—or aren’t considered men. Which one do you want me to be?”
Liu Xian raised a brow. What did he mean?
Xiao Fang patiently explained, “You know Cheng Zheng and Sang Guo?”
Of course she did. The imperial attendants—everyone in Great Zhou knew of them.
Xiao Fang opened his mouth and pointed to his tongue. “They don’t have tongues.”
Liu Xian was stunned.
With a conspiratorial air, Xiao Fang continued, “Of course I admire His Majesty. As for the feelings you mentioned—maybe there was a bit at first. I won’t lie.”
“But then there was Wei Dongzhu. So I pulled back immediately.”
“And later, after Wei Dongzhu… left, I still couldn’t see clearly. It was Che Mingyuan who guessed His Majesty’s intentions and sent Cheng Zheng and Sang Guo over.”
“After that, I slowly figured something out.”
“I’m only telling you this—don’t tell anyone else.”
Liu Xian’s curiosity was fully ignited. “Say it!”
“I realized His Majesty truly deserves to be Emperor. Anyone who can be Emperor has an extraordinary heart.”
“How extraordinary?”
“Exceptionally ruthless!” Xiao Fang said—and immediately received two fierce eye-rolls.
“Later, I understood something else.”
“When His Majesty saved those scholars from Qinglan Academy in Jinmen whose tongues had been cut off—there was meaning behind it.”
“To serve our Emperor, you cannot have anything in your mouth!” After saying this, Xiao Fang rubbed his arms; goosebumps rose on his skin.
“Tell me, with that—who would dare fall in love with her? Didn’t you see that even Liu Yanhui got married?”
Liu Xian was speechless for a long time.
Finally, she managed, “Doesn’t His Majesty get lonely?”
Xiao Fang shrugged casually. “Who knows? No one can guess her thoughts.”
“You can admire her, respect her, even revere her. But you can’t love her. Even if you do, there’s no outcome.”
He had long since accepted that.
The more Liu Xian thought about it, the more unfathomable the Emperor seemed.
“What do you think His Majesty’s future will be like?”
Xiao Fang shook his head. “No idea. I just know that as she is now, it’s good. She lets the people eat their fill and dress warmly. She ended the border wars and keeps foreign enemies at bay.”
“She also… well, just don’t treat her like an ordinary person.”
She was like the sun, moon, and stars hanging in the sky—not something ordinary mortals could touch.
“Still angry?”
“Yes,” Liu Xian replied curtly. “Don’t want to talk to you.”
“Still angry? I’ve already received word from the capital—my future father-in-law is on his way here. If you stay angry at me, won’t he beat me up when he arrives?”
Laughing, Xiao Fang chased after her.
A Farewell Between Sovereign and Minister
Before the day of Empress Dowager Minrou’s entry into the palace arrived, news came that the Grand Tutor was departing the capital.
“Today,” Shen Lanxi declared, “I grant the Grand Tutor half the ceremonial guard of the Son of Heaven. Whoever dares show him disrespect shows disrespect to me. The Grand Tutor may punish as he sees fit!”
The Grand Tutor beamed at the farewell procession.
When Liu Mingxin departed, the scene had not been so grand.
“This old minister will not fail Your Majesty.”
“I am willing to shatter my bones to repay Your Majesty!”
Shen Lanxi personally led the civil and military officials to escort him out of the city. She bestowed a dragon carriage upon him, personally helped him aboard, and watched as he departed the capital.
Not far away, painters from the Ministry of Rites worked swiftly, capturing the moving scene.
“Did you draw it? His Majesty honoring her teacher, personally lifting the carriage curtain.”
“Drawn! Even the concern in her expression.”
“Write it down—His Majesty personally lifted the curtain, spoke with heartfelt concern. The Grand Tutor, deeply moved, secretly wiped tears. A wise sovereign and loyal minister—profoundly touching!”
“Make sure it appears in tomorrow’s bulletin—no mistakes!”
“Understood!”
After seeing the Grand Tutor off, Shen Lanxi visited the largest apothecary in the capital.
“Shopkeeper, any news of rare medicine?”
“Your Majesty has come in person many times. Truly none yet. If there were, we would immediately deliver it to the palace.”
“We know how devoted you are to your family, especially Her Majesty the Empress Dowager. We wouldn’t dare deceive you!”
The Ministry of Rites scribes whispered:
“Write it down—His Majesty humbles herself to seek rare medicine for her family. Such filial devotion moves Heaven!”
“Since the exile to Dongchuan,” Shen Lanxi said casually as if chatting, “my mother’s health has been poor. Insomnia, frequent illness. The thousand-year ginseng I sent from Dongchuan was intercepted by Zhou Ruyuan. Even now, I wish I could kill him eight hundred more times.”
The Ministry scribes:
“Record it—His Majesty once sought a thousand-year ginseng for the Empress Dowager, but the villain Zhou stole it. Tragic!”
Shen Lanxi continued calmly as she walked:
“My father, for certain reasons, has grown fond of wine. Excess harms the body. I cannot accompany him often and feel deeply guilty.”
The Ministry scribes:
“Write—His Majesty cares for her father, worries over his fondness for wine, regrets being unable to attend him due to state affairs!”
“My second and third uncles manage the household diligently. I am grateful and wish to share their burdens.”
The Ministry:
“His Majesty governs the nation yet never forgets each family member. Not only an eternal sage ruler, but one of deep loyalty and affection. What virtue has Great Zhou to be blessed with a True Dragon descended from Heaven!”
The next day, the tale of sovereign and minister’s moving farewell was printed in the bulletins and sent across the realm. Carefully illustrated with multiple farewell scenes, the illustrated editions sold like wildfire—unmatched in popularity.
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