CH 42.1

Chapter 42.1 – This Minister Is Sincere (1)

Lu Qipei knew that with Qi Yang’s mediation, she would be summoned by the Emperor again, but she didn’t expect that she would meet him again so quickly.

In the morning, she handled the affairs that had piled up during her leave. At noon, she was listening to the gossips. When afternoon came, she was going to continue reviewing manuscripts when the summons came. Her colleagues gossiping eyes immediately focused on Lu Qipei, but she had not time to pay attention to them.

Lu Qipei put down what she was doing and hurriedly went to the palace with the palace attendant that delivered the summons.

They walked through the palace gate and went straight to Xuanshi Hall.

On the way there, she saw the majestic and imposing palace guards and the orderly palace maids, everyone acting no different than they usually did. Seeing the majestic Xuanshi Hall getting closer, only Lu Qipei secretly breathed out, feeling a little nervous.

Waiting outside Xuanshi Hall was Zhang Jian, who greeted her personally and said while smiling, “His Majesty is dealing with some governmental affairs. Lord Lu can wait in the side hall for a while, His Majesty will summon you after he is done.”

From the looks of it, she was going to be left hanging again.

What could she say? Of course, all she could do was obey and follow the palace attendant to the side hall. The side hall didn’t lack anything; tea had been prepared earlier, and there were even several plates of pastries.

But there was no one else in the huge side hall, even the palace attendant who led the way left after taking her there.

Lu Qipei stood in the hall for a while. Finally, she endured her anxiety and found a chair to sit down, then poured herself a cup of tea.

The tea was warm and tasted just right, and the pastries next to it also let out a tempting aroma. If it weren’t the wrong place and the wrong time, enjoying tea and snacks right now would’ve been much more pleasant than doing the boring work in Hanlin Academy.

But this comfort wasn’t destined for Lu Qipei today, and the fragrance of the tea couldn’t hide her tension at this moment.

But the Emperor wanted to leave someone hanging, so the wait wouldn’t be something short. Lu Qipei entered the palace in the afternoon when the sun was still high, and she watched as the hot summer sun gradually set and the rays slowly spilled to the palace through the doors and windows. Yet, the summons still had not arrived.

After almost an afternoon of waiting, no matter how much patience someone had, it should start running out. But Lu Qipei was different. She was really flustered when she was summoned to the palace, afraid of leaving a bad impression on the Emperor, making her marriage with Qi Yang more difficult.

But after being left hanging for an entire afternoon, she started to calm down instead. The tea had cooled down, but she became able to enjoy the taste more.

While she was drinking the herbal tea quietly, faint sounds of footsteps came from outside the hall, which had been empty and quiet the whole afternoon.

Lu Qipei instantly came back to her senses. She thought that a palace attendant had finally came with the summons, but when she listened carefully, it didn’t seem to be it. Most of the attendants in Xuanshi Hall were eunuchs, and the palace attendant who delivered the summons and led the way earlier was also a eunuch. But the footsteps this time were different – they were light and soft, like a woman’s.

As she thought about it, Lu Qipei turned her head to look at the source of the sound and saw the corner of someone’s clothes flash past the hall.

It was bright colored and had exquisite embroidery on it – it was a palace dress.

Lu Qipei immediately thought of Qi Yang. She suddenly stood up and unconsciously walked towards the gate, but stopped after taking only two steps. After thinking a moment of her current situation, she returned to her seat, but her heart had become much calmer.

This was but a small interlude. As time went on, the Emperor couldn’t leave someone waiting in the palace overnight after all.

So after sunset, Zhang Jian eventually came. He was still smiling, and his shrewd eyes swept across the hall and Lu Qipei. “Lord Lu, His Majesty has called for you. Please follow me.”

Hearing this, Lu Qipei got up and straightened her clothes, then followed Zhang Jian to leave. She looked more relaxed than when she first entered the palace.

Zhang Jiang saw all of this and was secretly shocked by the youth’s temperament, but his face didn’t show any rudeness. He was a smart man, and he naturally knew why the Emperor left Lu Qipei hanging. He also knew that she was probably going to be the Prince Consort.

Princess Qi Yang was different from the other princesses. The Emperor had many daughters, but Qi Yang was the only one that he favored. At least, Zhang Jiang had never seen the Emperor worrying about the other princesses’ marriage, only Princess Qi Yang’s.

He was very nitpicky towards the Prince Consort she chose herself, but it wasn’t because the Prince Consort wasn’t good enough. It was simply because the Emperor was very reluctant to marry off his daughter.

When Zhang Jiang saw this, he knew that Her Royal Highness Qi Yang alone was favored by the Emperor, and she was incomparable to the others. That was why he had always been cordial and never acted rudely towards her from the very beginning.

There were a lot of governmental affairs that the Emperor had to deal with everyday, but he had been sitting on the throne for more than ten years, and he did not just sit in his desk all the time without rest. In fact, he had already finished the governmental affairs he had to deal with today. He spent the afternoon chatting with Qi Yang, but he did not call Lu Qipei who was waiting in the side hall.

When he couldn’t stretch it any longer, the Emperor waved at Qi Yang and said, “Go, go. If you really don’t want to leave, then just go behind the screen and wait.”

Of course, Qiyang refused to leave. She had received the Crown Prince’s reminder and made up her mind to have the wedding decided on today. She handed a teacup to the Emperor personally to curry his favor, then said spoiledly, “Royal Father, This Daughter is really set on her to be the Prince Consort. Harass her if you want to, but don’t bully her too much. If you scare her away, I’m going to hold you accountable!”