Chapter Twenty-Three
The Emperor’s expression changed, his hearty and doting smile gradually receding. He closed his eyes and said: “Yu Zhao… That kid has always been solitary, and very few people can get him to do anything. Although I am the Emperor and can order him to teach you, I’m afraid that he might be displeased and neglect you.”
“He won’t.” Bo Chi smiled charmingly, her fair hand gently tucking her long hair behind her ear, like a shy and timid girl in love introducing her lover: “Brother Yu Zhao… is very gentle. No matter what I ask him to do, he will do it seriously without complaint. I, I think he is a good person.”
At this point, the Emperor finally sensed something unusual from her words and actions. He waved away the surrounding servants with a strange look in his eyes, and tentatively asked: “So, you and Yu Zhao get along quite well?”
Bo Chi nodded obediently.
The Emperor narrowed his eyes, and numerous thoughts and speculations flashed through his mind in that instant. Finally, he laughed again, as if teasing casually: “Seeing how highly you think of Yu Zhao, how about I make him your fuma?”
Bo Chi’s pretty face flushed slightly, perfectly concealing the upturned corners of her lips. She shyly stamped her foot and said: “Father, how can you say such embarrassing things to your daughter in public!”
The Emperor smiled and coaxed her, but his heart was somewhat settled.
The girl did not refuse immediately.
This attitude had already answered his question silently.
And between a poor Number One Scholar and a powerful Young General, it was obvious whose power should be weakened.
There was only one thing that made him hesitate.
What if Yu Zhao did not love his little princess…
“Your Majesty, the Young General requests an audience.” The eunuch’s voice suddenly sounded from outside. The Emperor came back to his senses, pondered for a moment, and told Bo Chi to withdraw first. Then he tapped the armrest lightly, and after a while, said: “Let him in, I happen to have something to ask him.”
**
After Bo Chi left the Imperial Study, she did not inquire about what Yu Zhao reported.
However, not long after, the Empress summoned her, and hugged her angrily and lovingly, coaxing her for a long time.
Only then did Bo Chi learn that Yu Zhao was so efficient that she not only exposed Ke Hui’s concealment of his wife and children, but also found out that Ke Hui’s name was impressively on the list of those involved in the examination fraud.
A large number of officials were brought down, and Yu Zhao’s reputation soared for a time, becoming even more prominent among the people.
Therefore, after scolding Ke Hui, the Empress changed the subject, held her hand, and said worriedly: “Your father asked me a few days ago what I thought of Yu Zhao. I thought about it carefully and said some good things about Yu Zhao. After thinking about it further, I’m afraid your father has already made up his mind and intends to make Yu Zhao your fuma.”
Bo Chi was immediately overjoyed: “Really? That’s great!”
The Empress, with a worried face: “…”
Staring at her silly, carefree daughter for a while, the Empress resigned herself: “Forget it, at this point, there’s no need to say anything else. Go back to your palace and prepare yourself. I’m sure your father will bestow the marriage within a few days.”
Bo Chi had long been thinking about bullying Yu Zhao after marriage and venting her anger. Now that she had received the good news, she was walking on air as she left.
Back in her palace, she flitted around like a butterfly, wanting to wear this tassel hairpin at one moment, and wanting to pack that thin silk dress at another, always ready to leave with her little bundle.
One or two days passed, the imperial edict of marriage did not come down, but Yu Zhao’s secret letter was delivered to Bo Chi by Chun Yuan again. Bo Chi was a little puzzled, but she still dressed up exquisitely and beautifully, with her smooth, black hair loose, and rushed out of the palace.
Yu Zhao’s appointed location this time was not the small teahouse, but the bank of the moat.
It was spring, and the willows on both sides of the lake were sprouting and branching, swaying their green branches in the wind. The calm surface of the lake was also rippled by the breeze, sparkling and extremely pleasing to the eye.
The scenery here was excellent, but it was too far from the palace, so there were not many people around, only the guards patrolling from time to time.
Yu Zhao had seemed to have issued some kind of order before setting the meeting place here, so that Bo Chi stood by the lake for a while without encountering anyone.
But just in case, she still put on a veil, covering the lower half of her face.
Not long after, Yu Zhao arrived in a hurry.
She was still dressed in brocade, her black hair neatly tied up, and her bright face was cold and stern, making people feel fear and dare not offend.
But Bo Chi didn’t have this concern. She stepped forward lightly and threw herself into Yu Zhao’s arms, happily and proudly saying: “You came just in time, I have a secret to tell you.”
Yu Zhao subconsciously wrapped her arms around her waist. After listening, she took a deep breath, held her shoulders, and said with a complicated look: “This minister also has a secret… to tell the princess.”
Bo Chi said arrogantly: “I’ll go first!”
Yu Zhao twitched the corners of her lips, wanting to laugh but unable to, and could only say softly: “Okay, the princess goes first.”
Bo Chi curved her eyes, leaned close to her ear, and whispered: “We’re getting married, are you surprised, are you shocked?”
Yu Zhao didn’t speak, but remained silent for a long time, so long that Bo Chi suspected that she had said the wrong thing, and was a little flustered and confused, when she finally said softly: “Princess, this minister… is actually a woman.”
It was a simple sentence, but she said it with difficulty and bitterness, her hands holding Bo Chi’s shoulders were unconsciously exerting force, as if she was afraid that Bo Chi would run away.
Bo Chi frowned slightly, feeling a little pain from her grip, but she could see that Yu Zhao’s mood was unstable, so she obediently didn’t move, and said: “The secret you want to tell me is this? Hah, I knew it all along.”
As soon as these words were spoken, Yu Zhao was immediately stunned and confused: “You knew I was a woman, why did you ask me to take responsibility when I touched your foot?”
Bo Chi looked at her suspiciously: “What, are you unwilling?”
Yu Zhao hurriedly said: “No, I just, I just don’t understand.”
Before she came, she had thought of thousands of reactions from Bo Chi, but she never expected that Bo Chi had known her secret all along. This made her stunned, and at the same time, inevitably gave rise to a secret joy.
——Could it be that she wasn’t the only one who fell in love at first sight?
“What’s there to not understand?” Bo Chi said frankly: “From the first moment I saw you, I knew you were the one. And besides this princess, who else could protect you after knowing your true identity?”
She raised her little head proudly, the pearls on her hairpin swaying slightly: “So I advise you to obediently marry me, don’t force me to kneel down and beg you.”
Yu Zhao wanted to laugh when she heard this, and as she laughed, tears welled up in her eyes.
She took Bo Chi into her arms, her voice trembling slightly, but also carrying a greedy possessiveness: “Princess, you bumped into this yourself.”
“From now on.” Yu Zhao intertwined her fingers with Bo Chi’s, and said hoarsely and stubbornly: “Even if this minister dies, I will never let go again.”
Leave a Reply