How could one return the people sent by the emperor?
It's okay to ignore the hierarchical differences in private, but these people were sent by imperial edict. How could one refuse them? Unless one didn't want to live anymore.
Especially since this imperial edict specifically named Yi Qing as the recipient.
In the end, Yi Qing had someone lead the two beauties away and temporarily settle them down.
Yi Qing sat on the couch, tapping her fingers on the small rosewood carved square table. She squinted at Xiao Tian and asked, "Did I offend him? How did I offend him?"
The emperor was so petty, childish and ridiculous.
"I don't know," Xiao Tian replied. "You don't have to care about him."
"He's even sending women to you. How can I bear it? No, I have to go to the palace and reason with him!"
There seemed to be a flash of amusement in Xiao Tian's eyes, but when Yi Qing stared closely, there was nothing there.
"Phony," she thought silently. Clearly he enjoyed being "claimed" by her, yet he still pretended.
"Maybe it's because Baozi helped the King of Zhen," Xiao Tian cleared his throat and said.
Yi Qing snorted. "I didn't expect him to be such a person! He probably doesn't really think the King of Zhen is guilty. He just doesn't feel at ease with his brothers still alive."
Why didn't he die from a mango allergy!
He wore a cuckold himself and now wanted to give her one too?
Refuse!
"The emperor is not a person who can't tolerate others. There must be some other inside story about this," Xiao Tian said firmly.
Yi Qing said, "Anyway, you think everything he does is good."
These two were a pair of good buddies.
At night, Xiao Tian's good buddy came again.
He still came through the tunnel, but this time Yi Qing wasn't as scared. She even called Xiao Tian as soon as she heard the noise. Then she stood up and stared at the exit. She didn't let the emperor lift the floor tile. She just waited to see him scramble to move the tile and crawl out awkwardly.
As soon as the emperor came out, he met two pairs of bright eyes. He was so angry that he started scolding, "You two bastards, you've ruined my good deed and still dare to look at me like this? Wait until I get out—"
When he finally climbed out disheveled with the help of Little Dezi, Yi Qing reached out to help Little Dezi on her own initiative. This made the emperor even angrier.
Xiao Tian quietly blocked Yi Qing behind him and said, "Let me do it."
The emperor thought this life was unbearable.
The two of them were vying to help the eunuch beside him, but they were completely indifferent to his awkward climb out.
"Do you know," the emperor pointed at Yi Qing and scolded, "you've ruined my whole plan!"
"I'm so capable then," Yi Qing said expressionlessly.
"Xiao Tian, control her."
"Sorry, I'm a first-rank imperial lady, and he has no official rank. He can't control me," Yi Qing said bluntly.
The emperor said angrily, "I'll issue an imperial edict tomorrow to deprive you of your title."
Xiao Tian changed the subject. "Your Majesty, the King of Zhen should really be innocent."
He told the situation of that day one by one.
The anger on the emperor's face was replaced by surprise. "Really? What you said is true? Is Baozi really that amazing? Where's Baozi? Call him quickly and let him perform for me."
Yi Qing rolled her eyes so hard they almost went to the back of her head. "He's asleep."
Her son wasn't a pet for the emperor to play with. Dream on!
She had long seen that this dog emperor was a masochist. There was no need to be polite to him.
Actually, if Xiao Jinghan were still alive, he should feel very happy—being trusted unreservedly by the emperor was what many high-ranking military generals and provincial governors dreamed of.
To be fair, the emperor was really not a jealous and incompetent tyrant.
Seeing that the emperor was about to get angry again, Xiao Tian continued, "Baozi's ability is real, so Qiao Ye should really have said that. Your Majesty, why don't you investigate if Qiao Ye did something?"
Unexpectedly, the emperor waved his hand. "It has nothing to do with him. It's just that I can't eat mangoes."
Yi Qing: "..."
Did the emperor mean that he clearly knew the reason for this matter?
"The King of Zhen is a good man, but his personality is too impulsive. Sooner or later, he'll cause trouble. Do you know that the memorials impeaching him that I've received are piled up higher than me? If I don't teach him a lesson, he'll be killed by those people in Fujian sooner or later," the emperor said impatiently.
He originally had a good plan. First, let the King of Zhen suffer a bit, then he would "be discerning". The King of Zhen would not only remember the lesson but also respect and be more loyal to him.
By the way, he could also root out and clean up those who hoped for chaos in Fujian.
But what happened?
The first half of the plan went smoothly, but in the second half, Yi Qing and her son showed up like a bolt from the blue.
Now, the good deed was done by them, and the emperor had become a tyrant in the King of Zhen's heart. It almost made him angry to death.
The emperor paced around the room angrily. "Now do you think I should humble myself and tell the King of Zhen that I didn't mean to harm him but wanted to give him some advice?"
Yi Qing couldn't help laughing.
"All you do is laugh. You still have the nerve to laugh."
"If he doesn't understand that the emperor wants to release him, then such a stupid person shouldn't be used," Yi Qing said. "It's true that we didn't know the inside story and interrupted the emperor's good deed. But it's just such a coincidence. There's nothing we can do. Now, the emperor can still have a heart-to-heart talk with the King of Zhen..."
Although the effect wouldn't be as good as before, but since the emperor had condescended, the King of Zhen would be touched anyway.
"If there's chaos in Fujian," the emperor pointed at Yi Qing, "I'll send Xiao Tian there to quell it."
"Go then. I'm not his mother," Yi Qing said.
The emperor and Xiao Tian: "..."
Yi Qing said proudly, "What's my relationship with him? When a man goes to war, shouldn't those two beauties cry? What does it have to do with me? Does the emperor want to match us up? I'll cry after we're matched up."
The emperor said, "What on earth is your face made of? It's even thicker than a drumhead."
"Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty," Yi Qing said slowly.
The emperor was so angry that he ignored her and said to Xiao Tian, "What do you think we should do about the King of Zhen?"
Xiao Tian said, "I'll go to see him."
The emperor clearly didn't expect Xiao Tian to say this. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Yi Qing, go out and make tea for me! Didn't you hear that I'm thirsty?"
Fine, you're the boss.
Yi Qing knew that he had something to say to Xiao Tian alone, and she also felt a bit guilty. So she went out.
"If I reveal my identity in front of the King of Zhen, he should know the emperor's sincerity towards him," Xiao Tian said.
If a "dead man" like him could come back to life and speak for the emperor, the King of Zhen should understand that the emperor treated him differently.
Seeing that the emperor was still a bit hesitant, Xiao Tian added, "This matter has nothing to do with Yi Qing. It was I who encouraged Baozi to go."
"Even if it had something to do with her, you'd probably protect her tightly," the emperor snorted. "I don't mind that she has a child. I mind that she still hasn't told you the truth."
Xiao Tian thought silently that it was really ironic that they were both worried about whose child the other's was.