As soon as Liang Xinyue said the words, she immediately covered her mouth with her right hand, realizing that it was inappropriate. She then looked warily at Wen Fuyue, who was full of curiosity.
"It's nothing," Wen Fuyue said. She motioned for the maids to withdraw. Seeing only wariness in Liang Xinyue's eyes, she pretended to be extremely inquisitive and whispered, "Strange about what?"
Wen Fuyue actually didn't know?
Liang Xinyue scanned her suspiciously and found that her expression seemed genuine. Then she heaved a deep sigh.
Wen Fuyue was really a strange person, she thought.
Wen Fuyue realized that her eagerness to hear the gossip was too obvious and she almost blew her cover. Fortunately, she hadn't been idle recently. During the times when she was in a daze, she would think about countermeasures for various situations.
Facing Liang Xinyue's suspicious gaze, Wen Fuyue kept her expression unchanged. She gave a gentle smile, pointed to her chest and said, "I'm in poor health. I've been raised in seclusion since childhood and rarely heard about the affairs in the capital."
No wonder. The Wen family was a military family with few descendants. Maybe Wen Fuyue's relatives didn't like to discuss such things. And since Wen Fuyue was in poor health and rarely socialized, it was natural that she didn't know about these things.
Liang Xinyue dispelled her doubts. Looking at the empty hall, she still didn't feel at ease. So she got up, leaned over to Wen Fuyue's ear and whispered slowly.
"After the emperor ascended the throne, his temperament changed greatly. He also hates others mentioning the past. Many people who violated this taboo ended up in a very bad situation. But I heard from my boudoir friends about a person, the imperial concubine of the previous emperor. Since the current emperor ascended the throne, this person has disappeared without a trace, and her family has also declined."
"I only remember that it seems to be Concubine Chen. It's been so many years. In a blink of an eye, the emperor has been on the throne for three years."
Why? Wen Fuyue began to recall the plot of the original book and found that the story started after the male and female protagonists met. By then, Wei Sinian had been the emperor for several years. The whole book hardly mentioned the past, let alone the past of the second male character in detail. Wei Sinian was more like a standard villain in the story, with a flat and stereotyped image. His biggest role was to heat up the relationship between the male and female protagonists. And this Concubine Chen had never appeared before.
Why did he hate others mentioning the past? And who was Concubine Chen?
Wen Fuyue just regarded this as a piece of gossip. After all, she didn't have any feelings for Wei Sinian. She was just curious whether his strange character was the original setting of the book or there was a reason behind it. She subconsciously felt that this rumored Concubine Chen might be the key to everything. It was a pity that she had completely lost the news of her now.
Suddenly, Wen Fuyue felt a chill all over her body. Who could make an imperial concubine disappear so completely?
"Alas," Liang Xinyue sighed. She looked at Wen Fuyue and was silent for a moment. "It's probably related to the previous emperor. Your ladyship should remember not to violate the taboo. We concubines must never get involved in these major matters related to the previous dynasty."
"Thank you," Wen Fuyue said gratefully.
She knew that this kind of "well - known" small news was the most difficult for a time - traveler like herself to obtain.
Moreover, it was related to the emperor. If it weren't for a coincidence, Liang Xinyue would never have mentioned it, and even if she did, she wouldn't have told her.
Today, she regarded Wen Fuyue as one of her own and that's why she told her these things.
"Shall we go out for a walk to digest the food?" Liang Xinyue said a little sheepishly. She had eaten too much just now and now she felt bloated sitting on the reclining chair.
"Okay," Wen Fuyue replied.
Wen Fuyue got up. The two of them, accompanied by the maids, slowly walked towards the imperial garden.
Maybe it was because the female protagonist, An Ling'er, was punished by Wei Sinian yesterday. When Wen Fuyue went to the imperial garden today, no other concubines came up to get close to her.
The two of them chatted casually there.
Wen Fuyue analyzed Liang Xinyue's background from her words.
Liang Xinyue's background was not low. Her father was the vice - minister of the Ministry of Rites. Unfortunately, her mother died early, her stepmother was hard to deal with, and her father was muddle - headed.
The Liang family was also a big family. Liang Xinyue happened to reach the age for the imperial consort selection and was sent into the palace to compete for the emperor's favor. Fortunately, she was very sober. Only the honest concubines could survive in Wei Sinian's harem, so she calmed down and no longer considered competing for favor.
In this regard, the two of them unexpectedly agreed. Wen Fuyue watched Liang Xinyue, who looked relaxed, complaining to her, "It's good enough to keep our lives. Why compete for favor? Concubine An yesterday was really..."
Liang Xinyue gritted her teeth. Seeing that there were maids everywhere, she swallowed the swear words in her mouth. She took a deep breath to calm herself down. "I really didn't expect that. Who could have thought that although she usually looked weak, she was actually a tough character. She almost made me suffer a loss."
"Fortunately, sister was here to help me once."
Wen Fuyue felt a little embarrassed. Liang Xinyue used to look cold, but unexpectedly she was a chatterbox. She hadn't stopped talking since she sat down. And when facing Wen Fuyue, she was like a little fan girl. The lively seventeen - or eighteen - year - old girl was really too enthusiastic to handle.
She didn't hide anything from Wen Fuyue and didn't try to cover up her desire to cling to a powerful person instead of competing for favor at all.
Throughout the day, Wen Fuyue heard a lot of useful information from her. When she sat in front of Wei Sinian, she still felt as if someone was chattering in her ear and subconsciously rubbed the space between her eyebrows.
Wei Sinian frowned and said to Wen Fuyue indifferently, "The imperial concubine seems to be especially tired today. I heard that Concubine Lan seemed to have a very pleasant conversation with the imperial concubine today."
Wen Fuyue was immediately awakened by Wei Sinian's slightly cold voice. Seeing the lack of emotion in his eyes, she immediately said, "Your Majesty, Concubine Lan came to see me today because of what happened yesterday. Maybe it's because the weather is too hot, so I'm a little tired."
[Damn it! You really scared me. What does Wei Sinian mean? Why does he seem to blame Concubine Lan? Anyway, she is also his concubine. No wonder Liang Xinyue has no intention of competing for favor at all. She is really a smart person. If someone tries to play tricks under his nose, they will definitely be the first to be finished.]
Hearing this, Wei Sinian raised his eyebrows. There was a trace of mild displeasure in the bottom of his eyes as he looked at Wen Fuyue. He said coldly, "It seems that the imperial concubine is dissatisfied with me?"
Wen Fuyue simply couldn't understand what he was thinking. Wei Sinian usually didn't seem to care about any of the concubines. When talking to her, he always half - said and half - concealed. But as long as Wen Fuyue gave a definite answer, he would stop probing.
What was going on today? Why did Wei Sinian continue to probe her? Was it because she was getting too close to Concubine Lan and he was worried that they would form a clique?
Hearing Wen Fuyue's inner thoughts, Wei Sinian didn't know how to react. He reached out and rubbed the space between his eyebrows, which were aching. There was a trace of confusion in his eyes as he looked at Wen Fuyue.
Although the clues she got were correct, she deduced a totally absurd wrong answer.
He was really curious about how the imperial concubine's brain was structured. Why were her thoughts always so different?
He didn't realize that he seemed to have an extraordinary curiosity about the woman in front of him.
"How could it be? Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven..." Wen Fuyue maintained her expression and began to slowly give the answer she had fabricated.
"Got it," Wei Sinian waved his hand, too lazy to listen to her repeat her inner thoughts. His eyes returned to the memorials on the table.
Wen Fuyue wiped the cold sweat from her forehead: Sure enough, Wei Sinian was moody and unpredictable!
Hearing her inner thoughts, Wei Sinian flipped through the memorials in his hand and felt that time passed quickly.
When Wen Fuyue shrank to the corner of the bed as usual, she heard a cold voice behind her.
"Why is the imperial concubine always so far away from me? Are you worried that I'll do something to you?"