Chapter: 154.1 out of 171
Wei Luo had originally thought that Zhao Liuli and Yang Zhen’s matter would be thus settled. However, there was an unforeseen event two days later.
Emperor Chong Zhen was in a very good mood because Yang Zhen had ended the revolt and captured the rebel army’s leader alive. He summoned Yang Zhen and personally asked what he wanted as his reward. Yang Zhen audaciously said he wanted to marry sixth princess Zhao Liuli in front of the emperor and the entire imperial court. Although this request went against everyone’s expectations, it wasn’t too outrageous. If the emperor agreed, this matter might even become a great, praiseworthy conversational topic.
However, the emperor surprisingly not only didn’t agree, he also suddenly flew into a terrible rage and ordered for Yang Zhen to beaten by a military rod thirty times!
When a group of people brought Yang Zhen into Prince Jing’s residences through a corner gate, Wei Luo was currently eating an orange dessert that Jin Lu had just finished preparing. Hearing Yang Zhen’s news, her first reaction was shock. Soon after, she left the orange desert behind to go over there to look.
Yang Zhen’s face had become deathly pale and his mind wasn’t clear. Those thirty strikes wasn’t much to him, but his chest wound had been reopened during the beating and a lot of blood had bled out. Steward Wang hurriedly ordered a servant to bring a doctor over to examine Yang Zhen’s wounds.
Wei Luo pulled Zhao Jie’s sleeve. Confused, she asked, “Why did you bring Yang Zhen to our home?”
Zhao Jie used his thumb to wipe away the orange dessert from the corner of her mouth and said, “Yang Zhen doesn’t have a home, so Liuli asked me to bring him here. It’ll be more convenient for him to recuperate from his injury staying here.”
Wei Luo understood.
On the southwest part of Prince Jing’s residence, there was a courtyard called Zheng Rong Courtyard. It was a quiet and secluded place with a good environment and would be a suitable place for recuperating, so Wei Luo arranged for Yang Zhen to stay in that courtyard.
The doctor soon arrived and went inside the room to treat Yang Zhen’s injuries.
Wei Luo and Zhao Jie were standing in the outside courtyard. Wei Luo asked, “Why did His Majesty become angry?”
Zhao Jie leaned against the verandah’s pillar with his arms crossed and thoughtfully said, “Someone must have said something to him.”
Wei Luo couldn’t stop herself from pondering after hearing his answer. Very few people knew about Yang Zhen and Zhao Liuli’s relationship. Who could have told Emperor Chong Zhen?
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On the next day, Zhao Jie got to the bottom of this matter.
As it turns out, an imperial doctor had seen Zhao Liuli went she went to look for Yang Zhen at the barracks a few days ago. The doctor’s name was Zhou Hang and worked for the Ministry of Appointments. Zhou Hang had seen Zhao Liuli at palace banquets, so he was able to recognize her identity. When he returned home, he had mentioned this matter to his wife. He said Princess Tianji seemed to know a man from the barracks. That madam wasn’t an easy person to deal with. When she went to the palace, she spoke of this matter in front of everyone. The people there didn’t believe her words. After all, Empress Chen treated Zhao Liuli like a precious treasure. Princess Tianji wasn’t even allowed to the leave the palace, how could she have met a man from the outside?
Zhao Lin Lang was the only one that kept these words at the back of her mind.
Her brother, Zhao Zhang, had been confined and her mother, Noble Consort Ning, had died. Zhao Lin Lang hated Empress Chen to the core of her bones. But, she was only a princess and she didn’t have the power to change anything. Seeing this tiny opportunity, she had to seize it and not let it go. She was very lucky. She was able to find out that when Yang Zhen was Zhao Liuli’s guard, they had a secret relationship. Zhao Lin Lang wrote letters to Zhao Zhang to discuss the matter and decided to tell Emperor Chong Zhen this information to gain the initiative by striking first.
Harboring selfish motives, Zhao Lin Lan described their relationship with rather extreme words such as “illicit relations before marriage” and “pledging to marry without parents’ approval”.
After Emperor Chong Zhen heard these words, his expression immediately changed. Shocked, he hastily ordered people to secretly investigate this matter. However, before the matter could be clearly investigated, Yang Zhen had said those words in the imperial court and unintentionally confirmed that there was something between him and Zhao Liuli.
As a result, Emperor Chong Zhen became extremely furious.
Actually, if he had heard Yang Zhen and Zhao Liuli’s explanation first, he might not have been as angry. Unfortunately, he had heard Zhao Lin Lang’s provoking words first. The first impression was naturally the strongest, so his frame of mind was different when he looked at these two children.
As a guard, Yang Zhen’s duty was to ensure the princess’s safety. But, he had used his position and proximity to induce Zhao Liuli into having feelings for him. From this, the emperor could see that he was a two-faced, vile person that harbored evil intentions. He definitely couldn’t entrust the rest of Liuli’s life to him.
Not only did Emperor Chong Zhen penalize Yang Zhen, he also forbid Zhao Liuli from taking a step out of Chen Hua Hall.
Consequently, it was an extremely difficult task for Zhao Liuli to meet with Yang Zhen. She could only secretly write a letter to ask Wei Luo to persuade Yang Zhen to focus on recuperating from his injuries.
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Several days later, Emperor Chong’s anger still hadn’t dissipated yet and he wasn’t willing to forgive Zhao Liuli or Yang Zhen.
As for Yang Zhen, he hadn’t spoken a single word since entering Prince Jing’s residence.
Today, the servant girls brought over Yang Zhen’s medicine as usual. After Wei Luo witnessed him drinking down the medicine, she couldn’t resist sighing and saying, “Yang Zhen, are you planning on staying like this and doing nothing?”
Yang Zhen finally showed a reaction. He put down the brightly colored bowl that had a pattern of lingzhi mushrooms and narcissus flowers and looked at Wei Luo with his calm, dark eyes.
During the past several days, he always had this expression. He frequently looked out the window with an indifferent expression as if he had lost the will to live.
It was good as long as he showed some reaction. Wei Luo let out a sigh in relief. She was worried that he would be unable to recover after this setback. “Don’t you have other methods if His Majesty won’t agree to let you marry Liuli? I heard that His Majesty has been looking for a husband for Liuli recently and has chosen Duke Ding’s family’s Gao Cong Xun. Are you just going to watch as she marries someone else?”
Yang Zhen’s pupils shrank and the hand underneath the quilt gradually clenched into a fist. He hoarsely said, “Liuli belongs to me.”
He was finally willing to speak. Wei Luo stood by his bed with her lips slightly curved as she overlooked him. “Oh, on what basis can you use to say that Liuli belongs to you?” Her hands were behind her back as she straightforwardly said, “What have you done for Liuli? From the beginning to the end, I’ve only seen Liuli trying her best by herself while you stay here with your remorse. Even though Liuli is confined, she still wrote a letter to me to ask me to care of you. What about you? Are you going to continue to cowardly avoid taking action?”
Yang Zhen fiercely raised his head and looked at her with a burning gaze.
Wei Luo didn’t avoid his gaze.
A long time later, Yang Zhen said in a quiet voice, “There’s no need for you to say words to incite me.”
Her intention had been discovered. Wei Luo touched her nose. She seemed rather embarrassed that her scheme had been exposed.
Actually, Yang Zhen wasn’t as cowardly as she had said. He had been properly recuperating from his injuries during the past several days. She heard from the servant girls that he would practice martial arts every morning, then he would ride a horse to visit the barracks. Although Emperor Chong Zhen was angry, he didn’t take away his official position. Yang Zhen was still a second-ranked commander.
Wei Luo asked, “What are your plans for the future?”
Yang Zhen sat up on the bed, leaned over to put on his shoes, and gave an answer that was beside the point. “I won’t give up.” He paused before saying, “Your Highness, thank you for the care you and the prince have given me during the past several days. Yang Zhen will remember your kindness as long as I live.”
Wei Luo said, “As long as you don’t disappoint Liuli’s hopes, I wouldn’t mind saving you another hundred times.”
Yang Zhen said, “I won’t.” After saying this, he left the room in large strides.
Really, the amount of words he said was pitifully small. She really didn’t understand why Liuli liked him. Wei Luo held onto the doorframe for a long time while she puzzled over this question, until she heard Zhao Jie’s voice.
“Ah Luo, if you keep looking in that direction, this prince will have him leave the residence by tomorrow.”