Chapter 111.1 – Adding More Firewood
Lu Qipei was thoroughly taught a lesson after being dragged away by Qi Yang, but the two were already tired after tossing around all day. After the commotion, Lu Sheng was sent away, and after a simple wash, they laid down on their soft and comfortable big bed, quickly sinking into dreams.
As Qi Yang had expected, the Emperor couldn’t wait to start his ruler work again. The remaining leisure days left from the Autumn Hunt was cut down by two days out of nowhere. There were a lot of people who couldn’t muster up their spirits in the morning. After all, not only did they gain nothing from the Autumn Hunt, they also felt mentally and physically exhausted after all the surprises during those two days.
Fortunately, no one dared to express dissatisfaction in front of the Emperor, so this morning’s court remained as peaceful as ever.
After noon, the princess’s mansion received a reward from the Emperor. The reward was not actually gold or silver like Qi Yang initially thought; she was given a fiefdom with a size of one thousand households by the Emperor.
This reward was by no means stingy, especially since the Emperor favored Qi Yang, and she had the biggest fiefdom among all the princesses. Adding this one now made it so that all her sisters were left far behind, and it was no smaller than the ones that King Wei and the others had.
Qi Yang was quite satisfied with this, but her only regret was that Lu Qipei was a literary official and could not be promoted based on the Autumn Hunt performance. To appease her, the Emperor gave her a good bow, which was better than nothing.
Except for King Wei who was still in his mansion, unable to get up, and the Court of Judicial Review’s Head Minister who was left investigating in the hunting ground, the Autumn Hunt had come to an end. In the following period of time, Lu Qipei became busier as expected. Where would she find the time to get a vacation to take Qi Yang out to play?
After half a month, the Head Minister of the Court of Judicial Review returned, and as soon as he returned to the capital, he went directly to the palace to report to the Emperor. He kept his mouth shut after leaving the palace. No one knew what he found in the hunting ground, and no one even knew if he stayed in the hunting ground the whole time.
But after the incident, seeing that the Crown Prince was fine, no one forcibly asked, and the court’s situation remained stable.
As the Vice Minister, Lu Qipei was the closest person to the Head Minister, and this was before even taking into account the friendship they had before. Others thought that she would definitely inquire about this matter for the sake of the Crown Prince, but in reality, she didn’t ask a single word.
The Head Minister’s return did not seem to have a significant impact, and everything in the Court of Judicial Review continued on as usual. Lu Qipei only explained the office’s matter from the past half a month to him, without saying a single extra word.
During this time, she also managed the department well, making the Head Minister quite satisfied with her. When he met the Emperor again afterwards, he couldn’t help but give a few words of praise on her behalf.
The Emperor himself was critical about his son-in-law in every way possible, but when he heard someone else praising her, he naturally felt as happy as if his own son was being praised. Especially knowing that Lu Qipei had not inquired recklessly about things, he felt that she really understood propriety and was not selfish.
In the following days, Lu Qipei didn’t do anything but the Emperor’s perception of her improved quite a bit. Even the Crown Prince, maybe seeing that she didn’t make a move from the beginning to the end, gradually let go of his guard. But after helping the Eldest Grandson before, the connection between the Princess’s Mansion and the Eastern Palace seemed to have increased. The Eldest Grandson would occasionally go outside the palace to visit the Princess’s Mansion on behalf of his father.
The estrangement between the young couple and the Crown Prince seemed to have been bridged by the Eldest Grandson.
Time slowly passed as tranquility was maintained in the surface, but the undercurrent hidden under the calm was not something that ordinary people could see.
After autumn passed and winter came, as the first snow fell, Lu Qipei finally received news that there was something wrong in Rong in the north.
At that time, Qi Yang was sitting by the brazier warming up, with Lu Sheng and her little rabbit that had become several times bigger next to her. She had nothing to do, and was peeling an orange and feeing it around. Lu Sheng was first, and the white and chubby rabbit she raised was second. When she was going to feed Lu Qipei, she realized that the latter had a smile on her lips and that her eyes were full of energy. She was obviously very happy.
Qi Yang still fed the orange to Lu Qipei’s lips, and then she ate a slice herself before asking, “What are you looking at? Why are you so happy?”
Lu Qipei had a clear smile in her eyes, and without saying anything, she handed over the letter she had just finished reading.
Qi Yang took it and glanced at it casually, but after seeing what was written on the letter, her eyes immediately lit up. She threw down the half-eaten orange, grabbed Lu Qipei’s sleeves, and asked, “Is it finally “Is it finally happening?”
She concealed the subject, but they two of them had a tacit understanding about who she was referring to and what she was talking about.
Lu Qipei smiled, tapping the letter in her hand, “Doesn’t this save a lot of trouble?”
Of course it saved a lot of trouble to have someone act on your behalf. In the past few years, the two had developed very well, silently cultivating their force, both privately and in court. But no matter what, the foundation they managed to lay in such a short period of time was not that deep. Their target was Xie Yuan, but without even mentioning his identity and power, just the fact that he was in Rong in the north was enough to make them feel powerless.
Lu Qipei could only dispatch caravans to Rong State, gradually forming an information network, and even bribed some of Rong State’s officials. However, these forces were not enough to pose a threat to Xie Yuan, and even touching the hem of his clothes was difficult.
The young couple was confident that as long as they were given time to slowly do their work, Xie Yuan was not an insurmountable mountain. But time was precious, and they didn’t want to waste a lot of time just dealing with intrigues, so they simply diverted the trouble to someone else.
It wasn’t clear whether it was the Crown Prince or the Emperor who made the move, but in just a few months, the relationship between the Rong Emperor and Xie Yuan grew apart.
