Chapter 82.2 – You Should Know Where The Wind Blows

Most of Liang’s officials started work around 5-7 am, and got off work around 3-5 pm. Some of the more leisurely government offices would get off work earlier, and some would return home in the afternoon.

Of course, the Court of Judicial Review wasn’t one of the leisurely offices, but King Chu thought that Lu Qipei would be in a panic and would definitely come to the appointment at 3-5 pm.

So to leave her dry a little and make her more afraid, King Chu waited until it was near 5 pm before he went to the House of Happiness.

But when he got there and asked around, it turned out that no one came yet!

King Chu’s face didn’t look good, but he still went to the private room and patiently waited. Unexpectedly, the wait lasted for half an hour, and the tea in front of him had been replaced twice before that person finally came.

Since the place was not far from the Court of Judicial Review, Lu Qipei was able to enter the House of happiness by sunset.

When she met King Chu at the private room, she greeted him and said apologetic words, but there wasn’t much apology in her face. “This little official forgot the time when handling the files and came late. I hope Your Highness will forgive me.”

King Chu’s eyes squinted at her for a long time, secretly feeling shocked, suspicious and angry inside. Suspicious was because Lu Qipei was so calm and relaxed! Were there any mistakes in his guess? Meanwhile, anger was naturally because of her indifferent attitude.

All kinds of thoughts flashed through his mind, but he quickly came to a conclusion; he couldn’t have guessed wrong. Otherwise, why would Lu Qipei come to this meeting? Since she came, she must’ve felt guilty. This calm gesture was just for her own sake.

Thinking about it this way, King Chu’s mind settled down again, all his previous emotions eased. He stood up naturally and invited Lu Qipei to take a seat. “Don’t worry. Vice Minister Lu is busy with official duties, isn’t it also for the sake of my Great Liang? How can I blame you?”

Lu Qipei raised her eyebrows slightly when she heard those words, noticing that King Chu called her by her official position, not her prince consort position.

After the two sat down, they exchanged a few greetings. Lu Qipei came here today just to find out what King Chu was planning, and did not intend to get entangled with him. Plus, she was still thinking about going home quickly, so she asked first, “Your Highness invited me today, I wonder for what purpose?”

As she spoke, Lu Qipei took out the letter sent by King Chu from her sleeves and gently placed it on the table between them.

King Chu raised his eyebrows slightly and said with a smile, “Prince Consort is a wise man. You should know what you should choose.” He tapped his fingertips on the letter and continued. “You should also understand that what This King has in my grasp is more than just this piece of paper that can be written anytime.”

Lu Qipei heard the threat between his words, but she really wanted to ask what King Chu had in his grasp, and why he thought Lu Sheng would be her weakness? However, she still wanted to wait for King Chu to reveal the real purpose of today’s invitation. So in the end, she swallowed those words, and just held the teacup and turned it over gently. Then, she asked the following words, “Then, what does Your Highness want?”

King Chu thought that she was compromising, and he immediately felt happy. He opened his mouth and said, “I want you to join my camp.”

Lu Qipei refused without even thinking. She put down her teacup and loudly said, “Impossible!”

King Chu was not surprised by Lu Qipei’s resolute attitude. After all, Lu Qipei had no foundation in the court. She had always relied on Qi Yang, but Qi Yang relied on the Crown Prince.

Even King Chu understood that although the Crown Prince was not as powerful as before, as long as he still lived, his power was not something his brothers could compare to. It King Chu expected one word from him would make Lu Qipei dig out her own foundation, she would definitely refuse.

Maybe she would go back and just kill the child, rather than cutting off her future and wealth.

He only said this to test Lu Qipei’s bottom line. Since she refused, he did not insist. He casually said a few words to ease the atmosphere, and then the two started their verbal spar again.

Lu Qipei refilled her tea, starting to feel impatient. Only then did King Chu say, “This King heard that Qingzhou governor’s case has been transferred to the Court of Judicial Review for trial. With Vice Minister Lu’s position, you must have the right to intervene, right?”

The Court of Judicial Review was in charge of prisons all over the kingdom. When there were cases involving officials, most of them would be directly transferred to the Court of Judicial Review. As King Chu mentioned the Qingzhou governor’s case, Lu Qipei lowered her eyes and thought about it.

She recalled that the governor of Qingzhou occupied fertile land there illegally, and allowed his family members to oppress and kill the commoners. Finally, he was reported to the Emperor, and now his case file had indeed been handed to the Court of Judicial Review.

Lu Qipei instantly realized that Qingzhou’s governor was probably a member of King Chu’s camp, and he had gone through all this today just to save him. After knowing this, Lu Qipei immediately lost most of her interest and indifferently said, “The evidence in this case is conclusive. What does Your Highness want?”

Seeing her like this, King Chu’s temper rose again. Of course he knew that the evidence was conclusive. If it hadn’t, would the guy have been transferred to the Court of Judicial Review? You should know that it was the most inhumane place there was!

After taking a deep breath, King Chu said with an ugly face, “This King wants you to protect him. Vice Minister Lu won’t be unable to do something like this, right?”

Lu Qipei remained silent while staring at the white porcelain tea cup in front of her, as if she could see a flower in it.

Seeing this, King Chu became even angrier, and finally he couldn’t help clenching his fist and slamming it on the table. He glared at Lu Qipei, “Prince Consort should think clearly, This King is not trying to bargain with you! You should understand that if Qi Yang knew about the ridiculous thing you’ve done, that will be the end of you. Do you think after betraying Qi Yang and making His Majesty and the Crown Prince upset, you will still have any future?”

Lu Qipei finally raised her eyes, staring at King Chu silently for a long time. In the end, she brushed her sleeves and stood up, “Let’s stop here today. The evidence in this case is conclusive. Your Highness should let me think about it.”

Her words seemed filled with disrespect from start to end, but there seemed to be a compromise on the very last sentence.

King Chu was still feeling angry inside, but his face slightly cleared up. He snorted and said, “You better know how to read where the wind blows.”

Author notes:

Lu Qipei (cracking her knuckles): Your Highness, he dares to threaten me! Let’s dig a hole and bury him!

Qi Yang (smiles and hands her the shovel): Prince Consort can do whatever you want.

King Chu (terrified): No, are you not afraid that the Princess will know your secret!?

Qi Bo (rejoicing): Finally, someone is following in my footsteps.

Servant (saw through everything): Heh, did you really think that the Prince Consort kept any secret from the Princess!?