Chong Heng, holding his sword, squatted on the wall. There was a locust tree here that provided shade, and it just so happened to have a view of the main gate of Shoukang Palace.
He counted the seventh palace maid who had brought back new fabric. It looked like the kind of fabric that Tan Yishuang liked, and it would definitely be opened for inspection. So, seizing the opportunity, he flicked a small white flower from his hand into the basket of fabric. Watching the palace maid enter Shoukang Palace with the basket, he finally patted his hands in satisfaction, preparing to jump down from the wall.
But when he lowered his head, he met Liang Ye’s dark face and almost fell directly from the wall.
“Master, why are you here?” Chong Heng, holding his sword, squatted on the wall and looked down at him.
“Get down.” Liang Ye said.
So Chong Heng jumped down from the wall. As he was jumping down, he heard the sound of a zither coming from Shoukang Palace. He quickly turned his head to look, lost his balance, and stepped right on Liang Ye’s boot.
Chong Heng touched his nose and looked at him guiltily.
“…Ambitious.” Liang Ye glanced at him coolly.
Chong Heng nodded absentmindedly, pricking up his ears to listen to the zither music. Although he didn’t understand what the tune was, he found it fascinating.
Liang Ye walked forward with his hands behind his back, and Chong Heng hurriedly followed. “Master, let’s listen a little longer.”
“You don’t understand.” Liang Ye said.
“But my wife plays it nicely.” Chong Heng said.
Liang Ye said ruthlessly, “Tan Yishuang is my father’s concubine.”
“But Master, your father is dead.” Chong Heng said.
Liang Ye: “…..”
Chong Heng happily said, “Then she can be my wife.”
Liang Ye was annoyed and not very approving, “She is sixteen years older than you.”
“I know.” Chong Heng, holding his sword, his high ponytail drew a beautiful arc in the air, and his vibrant face was full of confidence. “I’m seventeen this year, eighteen next year, and in two years I will be of age, then I will be an adult. By then, Master, you will help me propose.”
Liang Ye turned his head to look at him with his hands behind his back, “Are you missing a screw in your head?”
“No.” Chong Heng casually plucked some grass and rolled it into a ball in his hand. “Master, weren’t you reviewing memorials with Wang Dian today? How do you have time to come here?”
Liang Ye glanced at him, “Even if Zhen told you, you wouldn’t understand.”
“How do you know I don’t understand if you don’t tell me?” Chong Heng threw the grass ball at his heel, “Master, tell me, I’ll give you advice. Is it that Wang Dian is being disobedient again?”
Liang Ye frowned, “Wang Dian, he…”
Chong Heng pricked up his ears curiously.
“Zhen and him…” Liang Ye looked at Chong Heng’s clear and naive eyes, and thought about his stupid behavior of only sending flowers so far, and silently closed his mouth, “Forget it, go play by yourself.”
Liang Ye only started speaking, and Chong Heng was curious and anxious, holding his sword like a little tail following behind him, “Master, Master, don’t stop halfway through your sentence, what happened to Wang Dian?”
If he had known, he would have gone with him last night, at least he could have heard something from the corner.
Liang Ye stopped, and said in a deep voice, “Wang Dian doesn’t like Zhen.”
“Isn’t that normal? Wang Dian didn’t like you, Master, from the start. He wanted to kill you.” Chong Heng said as a matter of course, “If it weren’t for the fact that keeping him is useful, Master, wouldn’t you also plan to kill him? What do you need him to like you for?”
Liang Ye tugged at the corner of his mouth, “Makes sense.”
Chong Heng nodded proudly.
“In the next two days, Yang Wujiu will go to the Black Armored Guards, you act according to plan, and stay out of my sight these few days.” Liang Ye said, “Get lost.”
“Oh.” Chong Heng said uncertainly, “Then the matter of proposing…”
“Wait until you are of age.” Liang Ye waved his hand impatiently.
So Chong Heng simply and neatly rolled away.
****
Without Liang Ye’s interference, Wang Dian read the memorials quickly, and even made a report. After he had seen Wei Wanlin, he finally had some free time.
Then he inevitably thought of Liang Ye.
“Yun Fu.” He called out, and Yun Fu ran in quickly, “Your Majesty, what are your orders?”
“Throw that table away.” Wang Dian pointed to the large table not far away, and said annoyedly, “It’s in the way here.”
Yun Fu, observing his words and expressions, decisively didn’t ask any more questions, and called a few eunuchs to move the table out of the study. Only then did the breath in Wang Dian’s heart reluctantly smooth out a bit.
Dinner was somewhat tasteless. Even though the dishes were much richer than at noon, and there were no annoying things trying to poison him openly or secretly, he just didn’t eat happily.
Yu Ying was standing by his side, “Your Majesty, do you have something on your mind?”
Wang Dian put down his chopsticks, was about to speak, but then remembered that Yu Ying was a person Liang Ye had placed by his side, and suddenly lost the desire to speak, “Go to the Imperial Garden.”
The Imperial Garden was vast, with numerous pavilions, winding corridors, artificial mountains, ponds, lakes, and garden landscapes. Wang Dian had been wandering around for so long, and he still hadn’t seen it all. He quite liked taking walks here at night.
Today, his mood was not very good, so he walked a bit further. Unconsciously, he arrived at a waterside pavilion. Not far away was a large bamboo forest. He watched the fish in the moonlight for a while, then followed the winding corridor down into the bamboo forest. Yu Ying and Yun Fu, along with a dozen palace maids, followed at a safe distance.
The moonlight was cold, the bamboo shadows were swaying, and the evening breeze came through the forest, rustling the leaves. There was a faint sound of a flute, ancient and heavy, with a hint of solemnity. Wang Dian stopped and saw a young man in white sitting in a wheelchair. His eyebrows and eyes were clear and indifferent, looking colder than the moonlight. He looked up at him with a clear and cold gaze.
The sound of the flute abruptly stopped.
The little eunuch standing next to him was startled when he saw Wang Dian and knelt down with a thud, “This slave has seen Your Majesty.”
The young man in white was stunned for a moment, then lowered his eyes and bowed his head. His voice was very cold, “This commoner Cui Qi has seen Your Majesty. The commoner’s legs are inconvenient, and the etiquette is not complete. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me.”
Wang Dian raised his hand, “No harm, it is Zhen who disturbed Young Master Cui’s elegance. But I don’t know why Young Master Cui is in the palace?”
Cui Qi said, “This commoner came to visit the Grand Empress Dowager.”
After saying that, he lowered his eyes and stopped talking. It was the little eunuch next to him who continued, “Your Majesty, the Grand Empress Dowager is ill. Young Master Cui came to visit specially. It’s late, and Young Master Cui is weak. The Grand Empress Dowager couldn’t bear to see him running back and forth, so she let him stay in the palace for a few more days.”
“I see.” Wang Dian sat down on a stone bench nearby, not at all out of place, “That day at the Ancestor Worship Ceremony, Zhen caught a glimpse of Young Master Cui and found him extraordinary. However, due to busy official duties, Zhen had no time to summon him. Today, Zhen happened to meet him here, which shows that Zhen and Young Master Cui are destined.”
Cui Qi, with his eyes downcast, said lightly, “This commoner dares not.”
“There’s no need to be so restrained.” Wang Dian didn’t mind his coldness, “Zhen heard that Young Master Cui participated in this year’s imperial examination?”
“Yes.” Cui Qi replied, but he didn’t say another word.
Wang Dian laughed, “Then what does Young Master Cui think of this year’s questions?”
“This commoner is just a scholar, and dares not make rash comments.” Cui Qi said.
“Young Master Cui is being too modest.” Wang Dian looked at the swaying bamboo shadows in the distance, “You recognized characters at three, wrote poems at five, and at ten you wrote the ‘Liyang Fu’ which made you famous. People all say that you and Baili Cheng’an are the two pearls of our Great Liang. How can you call yourself a mere scholar?”
Cui Qi, with his eyes downcast, said, “This commoner is of shallow learning and has broken legs. How can he be compared with Baili Cheng’an Daren? The world is just spreading rumors.”
Wang Dian had indeed looked into his leg injury. For a family as big as the Cui family, it was nothing more than the private affairs of the previous dynasty’s power struggle and harem favoritism. Moreover, Cui Qi had an elder brother from the same father but a different mother above him. Cui Qi’s legs were crushed when he fell from a horse at the age of twelve. How much of it was an accident and how much was man-made was hard to say.
“Young Master Cui need not be discouraged. A pearl may have a dusty day,” Wang Dian said, “But as long as someone gently wipes it, it will still shine brightly.”
Cui Qi finally couldn’t help but look up at him. Wang Dian gave him a gentle smile, but when he saw the figure standing in the bamboo forest not far behind him, that bit of smile froze at the corner of his mouth.
“This subject has been looking for Your Majesty everywhere, and it turns out that Your Majesty is here enjoying the moon with Young Master Cui.” Liang Ye, dressed in a wide black robe, strolled out of the bamboo forest. Even with his changed appearance, one could clearly see his face, which was even darker than his clothes. He glanced at the thin but stunningly beautiful invalid in the wheelchair and smirked, “It seems that Your Majesty doesn’t really want to see me?”
Wang Dian watched him sit down on the stone bench next to Cui Qi. This guy was still holding a fan, knocking on the armrest of the wheelchair with a smirk, and directly poking at people’s lungs, “Young Master Cui, your leg hasn’t healed yet?”
Cui Qi’s hand, hidden in his sleeve, suddenly clenched, and he looked at him, “Who are you?”
“My surname is Wang, and my single name is Dian.” Liang Ye knocked on his palm with his fan and smiled, “I am Your Majesty’s future em—”
“Assistant Councilor.” Wang Dian interrupted him in time and gave him a warning look, “Wang Dian is a hermit whom Zhen has invited out of the mountains. Zhen plans to let him enter officialdom.”
Cui Qi probably felt that this had nothing to do with him and said indifferently, “I have seen Wang Daren.”
Liang Ye raised an eyebrow, but didn’t cling to the title of “future empress” anymore. He smiled and said, “No need for formalities. In the future, we will be colleagues. I will have to ask Young Master Cui to take care of me.”
Cui Qi’s tone became even colder, and he lowered his eyes and said, “Cui Qi dares not.”
Wang Dian kicked Liang Ye’s calf across the stone table, and Liang Ye squinted at him with a grimace. Wang Dian gave him a warning look and smiled at Cui Qi, “This bamboo forest is damp and cold at night. Young Master Cui should go back and rest early to take care of his health.”
“Yes, thank you, Your Majesty, this commoner will retire.” After Cui Qi finished speaking, the little eunuch next to him wanted to help him push the wheelchair, but he raised his hand to refuse. He turned the wheels himself and slowly moved forward into the depths of the bamboo forest.
Wang Dian watched his figure disappear into the night, sighed with some regret, and then heard a disdainful snort.
“What’s so interesting about a self-righteous invalid?” Liang Ye spun the fan in his hand twice and looked at Wang Dian with slanted eyes.
Wang Dian ignored him, got up to leave, but was tripped by someone. He frowned, and Liang Ye immediately let go, knocking on the stone table discontentedly with his fan.
Wang Dian looked at him somewhat annoyed.
Like a magician, Liang Ye pulled out a parchment, “The defense map of the Northern Army and Loufan.”
Wang Dian raised his eyebrows in surprise. Before his hand could touch the parchment, Liang Ye took it back. This guy shook the defense map in his hand, “If you don’t talk, Zhen won’t let you see it.”
“Childish.” Wang Dian sneered and got up to leave.
Liang Ye’s eyes lit up, and he happily stuck to him, proudly saying, “You’re talking to Zhen.”
“No, I’m talking to a dog.” Wang Dian said with a wooden face.
Liang Ye chuckled and shook the map in front of him, “Zhen went to a lot of trouble to get this. Don’t you want to see it?”
Wang Dian reached out to grab it, and Liang Ye dodged with extremely fast reflexes. Wang Dian punched him in the stomach, and Liang Ye was caught off guard and felt pained. The parchment in his hand was snatched away. He groaned and held his stomach. In the shadow where Wang Dian couldn’t see, he hooked the corner of his mouth.
Wang Dian roughly scanned the parchment in the moonlight, made sure that Liang Ye hadn’t fooled him, and then tucked the parchment into his sleeve. Looking at the person who was still pretending to hold his stomach, he was so annoyed that his teeth itched, but he couldn’t help but want to laugh. He said with a straight face, “Serves you right.”
Liang Ye grinned at him with a radiant smile.
