CH 95.2

Chapter 95.2 – Away From Her

After a relaxing rest day, she was back to work the next day.

Lu Qipei left early in the morning and attended the court meeting in the palace. After the meeting was over, she went to work at the Court of Judicial Review. The servants of the princess’s mansion calculated the time and brought two baskets of grapes there at noon, letting Lu Qipei’s colleagues have a taste.

Qi Yang went out a bit later after the two baskets of grapes were sent out of the mansion. She knew that there would be a big court meeting today – news of the flood in Mingzhou had only been received yesterday, so it had to be discussed at the court meeting today.

Yesterday, King Wei and King Wu even fought against each other, and they would definitely not give up on the disaster relief. If she left early before the morning court was over, she would not be able to see King Wu anyways.

So, it was not until nearly noon that Qi Yang calmly walked out of the door. Although the gift she prepared for the visit was not as shabby as what she said last night, she really brought a basket of grapes to King Wu’s Mansion.

However, Qi Yang still couldn’t see King Wu when she got there – she had thought that she had arrived late enough, but only when she arrived at King Wu’s mansion did she learn that King Wu attended the court meeting this morning and still hadn’t returned.

The person who came to receive Qi Yang was naturally Consort Wu. Qi Yang asked her a bit, and learnt that King Wu had indeed returned with a bloody head yesterday. Fortunately, the injury was not serious, but Consort Wu clearly had a lot of resentment towards King Wei who had hurt King Wu.

She even ignored the fact that Qi Yang and King Wu were not close, and poured her complaints to her, implicitly and explicitly talking bad about King Wei.

It was really… not only were her brothers not that smart, even their consorts didn’t seem to be any better. What about her nephews? Was it pointless to even have any hope for them!?

Forced to listen to her nagging, Qi Yang finally gave up the idea of waiting for King Wu to return and inquire about the news.

When Qi Yang was about to leave, Consort Princess Wu seemed as if she still had things she wanted to say, but she didn’t want to keep her. She stood up and saw her off in person. When Qi Yang saw her react like this, she suddenly understood something and realized that the other person was not as dull as she had imagined.

As she thought about that, the two walked out as Qi Yang was being sent off. Just as they walked out the front gates, they heard a series of announcements outside saying that King Wu had returned to his residence.

Soon, the two of them saw King Wu striding forward. He was wearing a wide-sleeved robe, and gauze was wrapped around his forehead, but he walked with a brisk and windy pace, his every move clearly tinged with joy.

Qi Yang naturally stopped and looked at the King of Wu with a smile, saying, “I heard that Royal Brother was injured last night and came to visit today. Unexpectedly, it seems that Royal Brother have encountered a happy occasion.”

King Wu didn’t seem to expect Qi Yang to be at his residence, and his footsteps stalled a bit.

Immediately, a servant came next to his ears and whispered, “Your Highness, Her Highness Qi Yang came half an hour ago. She said that she came to visit Your Highness due to your injury, and the Consort has been accompanying him.” King Wu had walked too fast before, and he had not been able to inform him.

Upon hearing this, King Wu gave the servant a stern look, then immediately recovered his expression. He approached with a smile and said, “Thank you, Royal Sister, for your concern. My injury is nothing serious, I just accidentally bumped my head.”

Hearing this, Qi Yang said, “Then Royal Brother should rest carefully, so you wouldn’t get any sequelae.”

Hearing Qi Yang speak of resting, the corners King Wu’s lips couldn’t help but curl up. He held his head high with puffed up chest, but pretended to be modest and embarrassed, saying, “Thank you for your kindness, Royal Sister, but I’m afraid it’s impossible for me to rest. There was a flood in Mingzhou, and Royal Father have ordered me to go help with the disaster relief this morning. I have to immediately pack up and leave, so how can I have the time to rest?'”

After finishing those words, King Wu turned to the Consort and said, “The disaster relief is urgent, I have to leave immediately. Help me pack some luggage, no need to bring too much, it’s better to travel light.”

Consort Wu did not expect that the topic would suddenly turn like this, and was startled for a while before retreating.

Qi Yang was even more surprised than Consort Wu when she listened to King Wu’s words – she certainly knew that the King Wu did not simply bump his head, but was beaten by King Wei, and it was in front of the Emperor!

The two brothers made such a fuss – normally, the Emperor must have been very annoyed with them both. They fought over the disaster relief job, but the Emperor probably wouldn’t hand it to either of them.

Qi Yang had thought this way before, but the Emperor’s decision completely surprised her. This made her want to ask – how did King Wu persuade the Emperor to had this task over to him?

But it was difficult to talk about serious matters with people you’re not close with, and their sibling relationship was not as close as what normal people would have. Therefore, it was not easy for Qi Yang to ask. Right now, she didn’t even want to stay for long, so she just said, “Then, congratulations, Royal Brother.”

King Wu slightly raised his chin in pride, saying, “I am just working for Royal Father and the people, what is there to congratulate?”

Qi Yang looked at his proud posture and felt a little amused to hear that. Back then, there was a group of older brothers towering above his head. King Wu was just a pitiful little boy who didn’t have a bright future, and it wasn’t his turn to do anything.

Now that King Chu and King Qi got into trouble one after the other, King Wu finally found the chance to take the lead. But even though he hadn’t accomplished anything yet, he already learned how to speak like a politician.

But anyways, King Wu had nothing to do with Qi Yang. Because the disaster relief task ultimately fell on him, his previous fight with King Wei seemed no longer so important.

Qi Yang smiled and didn’t continue further, only saying, “What Royal Brother said is true, Qi Yang made a slip of the tongue. The disaster relief work is urgent, and Royal Brother is in a hurry to travel far away. I will not bother you any longer, I wish Royal Brother a smooth trip.”

King Wu also didn’t want to keep her. Everyone knew that Qi Yang was in the Crown Prince’s camp, and King Wu was somewhat afraid of her. “In that case, I will accept Royal Sister’s good wishes. Things are very urgent right now, and I cannot show you enough hospitality. Once I return, I will hold a banquet to apologize to Royal Sister.”

Qi Yang didn’t take his words to heart, and after exchanging some casual greetings, King Wu personally sent her out of his mansion.

As she sat on the carriage returning to her mansion, Qi Yang thought that it was strange. She tapped on the table with one hand and thought for a while, the unexpected situation rousing her curiosity. She couldn’t wait for Lu Qipei to come home from work to ask her about what happened on today’s morning court, so she said aloud, “Go and investigate what happened in the morning court today, and how King Wu got this job.”

There was an acknowledging grunt from somewhere in the empty carriage, then it seemed as if something had quietly left.

Afterwards, both the inside and outside of the carriage returned to calm, and the only sound left was the noise of the horses’ hooves clacking outside the carriage.
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