"None of them will end well..." Yong Yaxuan sat by the desk, looking at the memorials in his hand with a cold expression.
It was already the second day after Ji Feiyu and Yong Yaxuan secretly left the palace.
The previous day, after eavesdropping on the conversation, Ji Feiyu and Yong Yaxuan had no more interest in their outing. Seeing that Yong Yaxuan was in a bad mood, Ji Feiyu suggested they return to the palace. However, Yong Yaxuan took her to a bookstore instead and bought her quite a few popular novels.
Ji Feiyu looked at the things in her hands in bewilderment and asked, "What's the meaning of this?"
Yong Yaxuan sighed and said, "I guess you lack nothing in the palace. When coming to the civilian world, I really don't know what to buy for you. Only these popular novels are not available in the palace. If I'm not around you, you can read them to pass the time."
Hearing this, Ji Feiyu burst out laughing. "Do you think I'm very idle in the palace? There are quite a few things to manage in the harem. I know you're going to handle state affairs next and may not have time to accompany me. But it doesn't matter. As long as you're not discussing matters with others, I can accompany you whenever I'm free."
Yong Yaxuan was extremely gratified. His mood had been gloomy since he overheard the conspiracy, but the clouds on his face dissipated because of Ji Feiyu's words. Unable to hold back, he kissed Ji Feiyu directly in public. Before she could react, he grabbed a bundle of books and dragged her away.
But he probably forgot that Ji Feiyu was dressed in men's clothing at that time.
"Alas, the moral standards are declining day by day..." The old man's sigh was carried by the wind into Ji Feiyu's ears. Ji Feiyu blushed and quickly followed Yong Yaxuan away. Oh my god, wasn't this the kind of love that only belonged to one's youth?
Time returned to the second day.
Ji Feiyu was brewing cedar tea while looking up at him with a faint smile. "They say so just because they're afraid of you. Why don't you just fulfill their wishes?"
Yong Yaxuan put down the memorial, slowly got up, and said, "My dear consort, I didn't expect that sometimes you're even more ruthless than I am."
Ji Feiyu raised her eyebrows and smiled at him, then walked towards him with the brewed cedar tea in her hand.
After the two had their intimate moment, Yong Yaxuan had moved the place where he read memorials from the imperial study to Ji Feiyu's palace. So today, when he was free, Ji Feiyu imitated the behavior of a virtuous wife and burned incense and brewed tea for him while he was reading.
"The cedar tea is ready. Why don't you take a sip?" Ji Feiyu avoided the serious topic and looked at him with a smiling face, holding the tea.
Yong Yaxuan happily took it.
At this moment, both of them were calm, but they didn't know that a secret and intense court battle was about to unfold.
...
In November of the fourth year of Tianhe in the Great Yong Dynasty, Li Nianrui, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, submitted a memorial to impeach the Minister of the Ministry of Works, saying that the latter had embezzled money while building the Hall of Cultivation for the Empress Dowager some time ago, privately conscripted militiamen, and disturbed the people's livelihood, so he should be severely punished. The Minister of the Ministry of Works argued that this was ordered by the emperor, that he had not disturbed the people, and that all the appropriations from the national treasury were recorded and he had not embezzled any money. The Ministry of Revenue organized people to check the accounts in front of the emperor, but found that the amounts were incorrect, so they suspected that the emperor had privately withheld the pay and filled his own treasury. This caused an uproar in the court.
In the same month, the General of Zhenyuan impeached the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of War, saying that during the national war, the latter had privately withheld military supplies, which led to the defeat of the army. The Deputy Minister of the Ministry of War counter - attacked, saying that it was really because there was no money in the national treasury and he was just following orders. However, the Grand Tutor came out to testify that there was actually money at that time, but the emperor had allocated a large amount of food and supplies to his trusted general, the Great General of Weiwu. Once this statement was spread, the emperor lost his dignity again.
In December, the vassal kings from all over the country raised their troops in the name of "cleansing the emperor's side and getting rid of the traitors", believing that the emperor's actions were mostly because he had listened to the slander of some people, so these people should be executed.
In the same month, the Great General of Weiwu returned to the capital to protect the emperor and angrily scolded the vassal kings for taking the opportunity to start a rebellion.
All of a sudden, all the conspiracies were unearthed, and the whole capital was in turmoil.
Ji Feiyu and Yong Yaxuan stood side by side, looking at this confusing situation in the world. This situation had been carefully planned, covering everything from filial piety to the crisis, leaving Yong Yaxuan with no way to avoid it and not giving him a chance to defend himself.
Because several important court officials had collectively gone on strike, the whole court was immediately in a panic. Although there was a group of loyal officials led by the Grand Tutor Zhang who remained loyal, it was ultimately a drop in the bucket.
Actually, it wasn't difficult to break this situation. The trouble was that important officials had defected and powerful officials had covered the sky.
Most of these important officials had served the previous emperor. They were very good at flattering. Since the new emperor ascended the throne, they had not been reused, so they were unhappy. Coincidentally, a national war broke out shortly after the new emperor ascended the throne, and he had not been able to completely stabilize his foundation. Coupled with the fact that the East Palace was empty and the emperor had gone to the North Cold Region, they had taken this opportunity.
Ji Feiyu silently stood behind Yong Yaxuan, grabbed his hand from behind, and said, "Don't worry. No matter what, I'll go through this with you."
At this time, he was already exhausted because of the court turmoil, and all Ji Feiyu could do was to stay by his side.
Yong Yaxuan turned his head and smiled at Ji Feiyu, whispering, "I know. Otherwise, you wouldn't have come back when they used you to create a stir."
Ji Feiyu lowered her head and smiled, then gently leaned her head on his back and hugged his waist from behind.
Such quiet and alone opportunities were already rare, so she should cherish them well.
...
Every day, Yong Yaxuan either discussed state affairs with the officials or accompanied Ji Feiyu. Ji Feiyu knew that the harem was in chaos because of the court coup, so she went to various places every day to comfort the concubines.
One day, on her way to Lixiang Garden, suddenly her vision blurred, and she saw a green figure. Immediately afterwards, a silk scarf stained with ink fluttered over.
The maids behind Ji Feiyu were all startled, but Ji Feiyu said it was okay. She grabbed the silk scarf and unfolded it. It was a letter written on the silk scarf.
She was extremely familiar with the handwriting on it. There were eight small characters written in a very elegant style: "Picking stars on the tower, drunken bones with charm."
Ji Feiyu thought for a moment and immediately understood. She ordered the group of palace servants behind her, "You go back to Qiwu Palace first. I'm going to discuss something with the Consort Li alone."
Although the people behind were curious, they didn't dare to ask more questions and all returned the way they came.
Seeing them leave, Ji Feiyu's figure flashed, and she stepped onto the path leading to the Star - Picking Tower.
Actually, the Consort Li was just a pretext. The person she really wanted to meet was probably the Flower Butterfly on the Star - Picking Tower.
Ji Feiyu wondered what important matter the Flower Butterfly would have when she suddenly came at this time.
Ji Feiyu quickly walked towards the Star - Picking Tower, trying to avoid people as much as possible on the way. Now, because of the court coup, the security in the palace was even stricter. She didn't know how the Flower Butterfly had got in.
Actually, Ji Feiyu went to comfort the concubines every day. On the one hand, it was to stabilize the hearts of the harem, and on the other hand, it was to order people to secretly monitor the movements of these people. Since most of the people in the harem had court backgrounds, if Ji Feiyu could control these people in the harem, it would be the first step to victory in the counter - attack.