Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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“Qian Jieyu has a lover.” Li Yuebai said, “That lover should be somewhere far away.”
He infected Qian Jieyu with music, causing her to be unable to control herself for a moment. She then revealed a considerable amount of information through her facial expressions and actions and so he made such a bold guess.
“Is it really like this?” The system was very sceptical: “Your conclusion is too arbitrary.”
“Just a guess.” Li Yuebai said: “Our human way of thinking is sometimes… irrational, but useful.”
There were many different ways humans behaved when they fell in love, but there were always common points. As an observer, as long as you observed carefully enough and relied on years of life experience to judge, you could directly determine that someone was in love.
“If that’s the case,” the system said, “you can get rid of Concubine Qian directly.”
“This alone won’t get rid of her,” Li Yuebai said, “but if this is her weakness… then everything makes sense.”
“What makes sense?”
“System,” Li Yuebai said, “Who in the entire harem is most likely to have something on Concubine Qian?”
“Concubine Hui,” the system said, “Concubine Hui and Concubine Qian are sisters and grew up in the same family. Concubine Hui has been in a favorable position since she was a child. As long as she wants, she can grasp everything about Concubine Qian.”
“What will Concubine Hui do next?”
“Of course, she will threaten Concubine Qian and make her dependent on herself…” As the system spoke, it suddenly realized, “Then everything makes sense.”
“That’s generally the case, but the details may be complicated.” Li Yuebai yawned: “In short, it’s all speculation and cannot be used as evidence.”
In the next few days, Concubine Qian no longer stayed by Concubine Hui’s side all the time but frequently went to pay her respects to the Queen, helping her embroider and copy books, and seemed to be leaning towards the Queen.
When the concubines in the harem saw this, they all laughed at her privately for being too obvious – everyone knows that you, Concubine Qian, and Concubine Hui are a family. You have been bullied by Concubine Hui for so long and you never sided with the Queen. Why are you siding with the Queen now? There must be something fishy going on.
Moreover, Concubine Hui watched helplessly as her confidant ran away. Not only did she not try to win him back, she still continued to bully her. Wasn’t she afraid that her secrets would be leaked by her confidant?
Therefore, the entire harem did not believe that Concubine Qian was truly serving the Queen, and they all treated her as a joke.
Naturally, the Queen also understood some of this, so she never said a single word to Concubine Qian, nor did she keep her in the palace for too long. She only let her embroider and copy books.
However, Li Yuebai’s worries did not diminish in the slightest.
Others didn’t know, but he knew that Concubine Qian’s goal was to get the Queen’s handwriting to imitate it, not to get the Queen’s secrets and become the Queen’s confidant. No matter how careful the empress was, she could not seal up all of her writings. Even if she did not allow Concubine Qian to copy books, she would be able to find the empress’s edicts and scattered poems from other places.
It was hard to guard against.
Knowing that it was useless to remind her, Li Yuebai simply didn’t say a word.
Even when facing the Crown Prince with a curious face, he remained silent.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had been visiting his Qingxin Pavilion frequently recently, and his diligence was no less than that of Concubine Qian.
He could come if he wanted to, but he kept staring at Li Yuebai for the entire time of an incense stick, as if he could never get enough of staring at him.
Fortunately, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did not have much free time, and he went there only during the breaks between studying and practicing martial arts. When the time was up, no matter how reluctant he was, he had to leave in a hurry.
The coldest season had passed, the weather was gradually getting warmer, and just at the beginning of spring, good news came.
On that day, all the concubines were in the Queen’s Palace, discussing fundraising for the soldiers at the border. In recent years, there had been constant wars on the northwest border of the Duan Dynasty, and the Turks had frequently invaded. The emperor attached great importance to this and increased the military strength in the northwest. Wars of all sizes had been fought for many years, and a lot of military expenses had been spent.
In order to express the court’s support for the Northwest Army, the emperor increased military funding and instructed the harem to show its support as well. Therefore, the Queen led all the concubines to discuss and draw up a form, allocating the amount of donations according to the position, to show that the court was united inside and outside, and that the top and the bottom were of one mind.
The weather was gradually getting warmer, but it was not time to extinguish the stove and brazier. So the stove in the Queen’s Palace was still burning. With so many people, the concubines soon felt a little stuffy. In addition, discussing fundraising was tiring, and they gradually became a little uneasy.
So the queen sent someone to invite Li Yuebai over, and he played some soothing music, which not only made people feel relaxed and happy, but also did not hinder the discussion.
Just when the form was almost ready, a senior eunuch beside the emperor came in holding a scroll of silk. He first saluted to the queen and then announced – great victory in the northwest.
Upon hearing the news of the great victory, the empress and concubines were all filled with joy.
From the northwest to Shangjing, the distance was at least 5,000 miles, and it would take at least ten days for the news to arrive.
This battle was actually won two months ago. The news had already reached the court previously, and the empress and concubines had also heard about it, but this was the first time they received an official notice.
However, the chief eunuch announced another good news – General Shan had already set out to return to the capital to report and would arrive in a few days.
General Shan referred to Shan Hengxin, the elder brother of Concubine Hui and Concubine Qian. Because he won battles and made military achievements, his official position was promoted from garrison commander to assistant commander, and his title was also promoted from General Wujie to General Mingwei. He returned to Beijing this time as the leader and reported the battle situation in the northwest to the emperor.
Of course, since he was back in Beijing, he would naturally go back home and reunite with his family.
The chief eunuch then announced the emperor’s decree, which allowed Concubine Hui and Concubine Qian to return home and reunite with General Shan.
When the news came out, the concubines felt mixed emotions, along with envy and jealousy.
After entering the palace, it was very difficult to go home to visit relatives. One must have a relatively high status and one’s family members must have made great contributions to get such an opportunity. Now, Concubine Hui had both of these conditions. Concubine Qian’s status was not high enough. According to the ancestral system, she was not qualified to visit relatives, but she was Concubine Hui’s shu[1] sister, and it would be inhumane to abandon her. Therefore, she was allowed to benefit from it.
Li Yuebai cast his gaze towards Concubine Qian and discovered that although her eyes were lowered, there was an extremely dazzling look in them, as if they were full of hope. But upon closer inspection, there was also some… shyness?
“System.” Li Yuebai said: “Have you ever seen Concubine Qian so happy?”
“No.” said the system.
“Could it be that the person she loves is Shan Hengxin?” Li Yuebai guessed secretly.
The chief eunuch took out a list and handed it to the queen. After the queen looked at it, she ordered someone to pass it to Concubine Hui.
The list listed the names of the generals who returned this time. Shan Hengxin’s name was naturally at the top, followed by Shan Hengxin’s right-hand men. These people would follow Shan Hengxin back to the Shan family to attend the celebration banquet and meet Concubine Hui. Therefore, the list had to be shown to Concubine Hui.
After reading it, Concubine Hui handed the list to Concubine Qian.
After reading the list, Concubine Qian’s joy and shyness disappeared instantly, and she returned to her previous pale and indifferent appearance.
“What’s going on?” Li Yuebai was secretly puzzled.
Concubine Qian handed the list back, forced a pale smile, then she stood up and saluted, saying: “I am overjoyed at the great victory in the northwest. I am even more grateful for the extra grace shown by His Majesty and Her Majesty. However, according to the ancestral system, I am not qualified to visit my parents. How can I presumptuously accept the grace of His Majesty and Her Majesty? I am willing to stay in the palace to serve His Majesty, and I will be satisfied if Sister Concubine Hui goes home alone to visit her parents.”
She spoke humbly and reasonably, and every word she said was self-aware. She did not dare to violate the ancestral system, so the queen naturally agreed.
After returning to Qingxin Pavilion, Li Yuebai was still thinking about this matter over and over again.
When she just received the news, Concubine Qian was clearly filled with joy, and she was thinking of going home to visit her parents and meet her lover. However, after reading the list, she became discouraged and refused to go home to visit her parents.
The only reason could only be that her lover was not on that list.
In this way, Shan Hengxin could be ruled out.
The most likely possibility was that Concubine Qian’s lover was one of Shan Hengxin’s right-hand men, who was now being kept by Shan Hengxin in the northwest garrison camp.
However, Li Yuebai did not know the Shan family well enough, and it was impossible for him to guess who this lover was from among countless people.
So, when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince came to Qingxin Pavilion to see him again, Li Yuebai boldly made a request, saying that he wanted to attend the Shan family’s celebration banquet.
As long as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wanted to attend this celebratory banquet, he could of course attend. At that time, there would be no problem as long as he asked him to take him with him.
“Why?” Murong Nan was a little surprised.
“I have been writing a song to break a trapping formation recently. It’s a pity that I have never met a famous general on the battlefield and cannot experience the mighty killing spirit.” Li Yuebai said: “If I could meet General Shan, I could make up for the regret.”
Murong Nan’s face immediately darkened.
Was that… jealousy?
Li Yuebai secretly thought that something was wrong.
After a while, Murong Nan smiled with a serious face.
“As long as you are willing to follow me closely, sir.” Murong Nan smiled with a bit of the arrogance of a young man: “Of course it’s possible.”
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[1] Concubine born daughter.