Chapter 476 — Taboo

He recalled how, that day, the Emperor had held the Prince of Liao's greeting memorial and read it for a long while, then sighed and gone to see the Imperial Grandson.

Fine beads of sweat broke out on Wang Yuan's forehead.

Seeing that the fire had burned about as far as it would, Song Yan rose with a smile. "I have troubled you today, Magistrate Wang. Shi Chuan has lately been making things hard for my brother-in-law. I feared that if he and I came to blows, it would put you in an awkward spot, so I took this chance to speak with you." He laughed heartily, his manner light. "If it comes before the Emperor, you might want to put in a good word or two for me!"

Come to blows...

Wang Yuan's face turned black as ink.

The Yingzhenguo Manor might whitewash the peace, but it could not hide the truth from him, the man who oversaw the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

What burglary? Those guards were killed by his own hand. Not only did he kill them, he arranged the bodies neatly in the middle of the courtyard to await the Duke of Ying's return.

Was that the work of an ordinary man?

Damn it!

To look at him, one would take him for a proper gentleman. But after long acquaintance, Wang Yuan had let the matter slip from his mind.

The cursed part was that he had known nothing at the time, and when the Emperor asked, he had still been deceived. Later, when he learned the truth, he had not spoken plainly to the Emperor. He had watched helplessly as Song Yan dragged down a third-rank civil official and a third-rank military officer.

At these thoughts, unease stirred in Wang Yuan's heart.

Song Yan always planned before he acted. What exactly did he mean by this?

Wang Yuan did not sleep well all night.

When he returned to the palace, the skin beneath his eyes was still dark.

The Emperor teased him: "What did you get up to yesterday? Don't tell me you've got a beauty hidden away in a golden house?"

Wang Ge, who was attending the Emperor at his washing, was the first to laugh.

Wang Yuan hastily knelt with a fawning grin. "What sort of man your slave is—does the Emperor not know? Even if your slave had the heart, he wouldn't have the nerve!"

"Get up, quickly!" The Emperor kicked him with a laugh. "Today let Wang Ge attend me in the study. You go and catch up on your sleep!" With that, he strode out of the side hall.

Wang Ge and the others hurried after him.

Only Wang Yuan was left, kneeling alone in the vast side hall.

He climbed slowly to his feet and stood on the steps, staring blankly after the Emperor's retreating figure.

A young eunuch was peeking this way and that from a distance.

Wang Yuan frowned.

At once a lesser eunuch dragged the young one over.

Wang Yuan saw at a glance that he was from the Empress's palace.

He said mildly, "What are you doing? Be glad the Emperor isn't here, or a beating would have been the least of it."

The young eunuch begged for mercy again and again.

Wang Yuan asked him, "Why did you come here?"

The young eunuch said, "Your slave was merely passing by."

Wang Yuan said, "Oh," and had the young eunuch released.

The young eunuch flew out of the palace as if on wings.

Wang Yuan's face darkened, and he ordered those beside him: "Go and see what he's about."

Before long, a lesser eunuch returned respectfully with his report: "It was Empress Yi who sent him to find Supervisor Wang."

Supervisor Wang—that meant Wang Ge.

Wang Yuan's face turned darker still.

How could he have forgotten? There was still Wang Ge here at the Qianqing Palace!

Wang Yuan clasped his hands behind his back and slowly made his way to the side rooms behind the Qianqing Palace.

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Dou Yan said doubtfully, "Do you really think Wang Yuan will talk, the way you have gone about it?"

"He is the most suspicious of men. Even if he says nothing, a thorn will have been planted in his heart," Song Yan said coolly. "He has served the Emperor for years and knows the Dragon Body better than anyone. With the Emperor gone to heaven, where he himself should go is a choice we have conveniently placed before him."

In his former life, Wang Yuan had remained at Empress Wan's side.

That alone showed Wang Yuan was no man to keep quietly to his place. Otherwise he might simply have washed his hands of everything and gone off to guard the imperial tombs after the Emperor's death.

Zhao Liangbi returned from Huguang.

He could scarcely conceal his delight: "Champa rice is grown in Huguang, two crops a year, and it has already supplanted Jiangnan as the land of fish and rice. Uncle helped purchase nine estates, great and small—the largest six thousand mu, the smallest two thousand—so that when the time comes our own estates alone will supply enough to meet the sales of our rice shops. We need no longer buy grain from men in Jiangxi and elsewhere." He also told Dou Yan that Zhao Zhangru had given birth to a plump baby boy weighing eight jin.

All this was but a drop in the ocean of Dou Yan's holdings, yet Zhao Zhangru's safe delivery gladdened her even more.

She instructed Zhao Liangbi: "You were away from home the whole New Year, and Suxin was terribly worried. Hurry back and rest now; we can talk of these matters in a couple of days." Then she added, "Look at my cousin's husband—your cousin has already become a mother, and still there is no news from the two of you."

Zhao Liangbi withdrew, flushing with embarrassment.

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Sisters and brothers, here is today's update.

ps: These past few days have been a little hectic. I will do my best to update at the promised time, and I beg your pardon if I am late!