Chapter 19:
Bo Chi spoke with great conviction. The Empress, with a stern face, pondered for a long time, but in the end, she couldn’t resist her little daughter’s coquettishness and took a step back, reluctantly agreeing: “This palace will send someone to thoroughly investigate the Young General’s character. If he is truly as good as you say, this palace will go to the Emperor and fulfill your wishes.”
Bo Chi was overjoyed, she threw herself into the Empress’s arms, and happily said: “Thank you, Mother!”
After resolving the major concern in her heart, Bo Chi stayed peacefully in the palace to recuperate, no longer running around.
And Yu Zhao, contrary to her usual solitary and cold demeanor, frequently appeared in teahouses and taverns in recent days.
Others only thought that she had finally come to her senses, and was no longer as unfeeling as before, spending all day in the mansion practicing martial arts. However, no one noticed that every time Yu Zhao appeared, the new Number One Scholar, Ke Hui, was also present.
After several times, Yu Zhao had already understood Ke Hui’s true nature.
This person’s calligraphy was ordinary, he was not proficient in qin or chess, and his poetry was even more mediocre. Only his face was somewhat passable. He didn’t have the scholarly foundation of someone who had studied hard for years.
Yu Zhao had long ago ordered someone to secretly investigate the matter of favoritism and corruption in the imperial examination. Now that her subordinates had sent a secret letter, and after comparing it with Ke Hui, she was immediately certain of her guess.
However, before she could continue to investigate deeply and gather conclusive evidence and clues, she first received news that Ke Hui had gone to a brothel.
Brothels were places of entertainment for men. Even if they were cloaked in the elegant guise of burning incense and adding ink, they couldn’t hide the essence of money and sex transactions.
And Ke Hui was now the new Number One Scholar, and outsiders speculated that he was about to become the fuma. Going to a brothel at this juncture was not only a stain on his own character, but also a sign of disrespect and humiliation towards the princess!
Yu Zhao’s face was gloomy. Just thinking that the sweet-smiling princess would marry such a person, she couldn’t suppress the restlessness and anger in her heart.
She took a deep breath, trying to calm down rationally.
But the princess’s appearance repeatedly appeared in her mind, whether it was her black hair adorned with pink peach blossoms, her thin and close-fitting silk dress, or the sentence “You touched my foot, you must marry me,” all made her thoughts waver, and she couldn’t help but recall them over and over again.
Yu Zhao had never admired anyone, but she vaguely felt that something was wrong with her.
The best way to solve this problem was probably to return to the frontier, leave behind all the things and people that disturbed her mind, and gradually forget.
However, Yu Zhao couldn’t do it.
Her instincts craved to stay, to stay in the capital forever, to see the little princess day and night.
Her chaotic thoughts were like a tangled ball of yarn. Yu Zhao’s heart was restless, so she simply stopped thinking, picked up her sword, and walked out the door, intending to, as usual, beat something up to calm down.
After a while.
She returned expressionlessly, exchanged the sharp sword for a wooden stick as thick as her arm, weighed it a few times, and only left again after showing a satisfied expression.
This night was destined to be an uneasy one.
Ke Hui was now riding high on the success of the imperial examination, and his mentality was floating. He came to the brothel amid the flattery of the crowd, and just as he had chosen two or three delicate beauties to spend the long night with, a blunt blow knocked him senseless.
It wasn’t until the sky was slightly bright that the girls who had fainted in the room discovered that he was missing. Everyone searched everywhere, and finally found him in a small alley behind the brothel, with a bruised and swollen face.
After this incident, the capital would cite it as a joke for a long time.
Bo Chi also learned about this from Chun Yuan’s indignation.
But she didn’t care at all, and only asked: “Yu Zhao invited me to meet at the teahouse? When? What does she want with me?”
Chun Yuan was chased by her questions, and could only put down her anger towards Ke Hui, and instead took out a letter from her sleeve: “The Young General only said to invite the princess to come out for a chat, and did not mention anything else. In this servant’s opinion, it is indeed absurd for a man and a woman to be alone in a room. The princess should directly refuse and warn him…”
Bo Chi glanced at the letter a few times, perfunctorily hummed twice, not listening to what Chun Yuan said at all, and directly said excitedly: “Change clothes, change clothes, let’s go find him(her) now!”
Chun Yuan stomped her foot, frustrated: “Princess!”
Bo Chi had already entered the palace as lightly as a swallow, happily saying: “Which set of clothes do you think I should wear? Yu Zhao is a general now, will he(she) dislike clothes that are too pink…”
The facts proved.
Preferences could vary from person to person.
The same flowing cloud and light gauze dress, worn on other women, was ordinary. Worn on the princess with curved eyebrows and eyes, it made Yu Zhao look at her a few more times without changing her expression.
“What did you call me here for?” Bo Chi saw that Yu Zhao did not show any displeasure, and couldn’t help but relax slightly: “Is it because the army’s rations are not enough and you need to allocate silver, or are those people from your family bothering you again?”
Yu Zhao was the Young General in this world, and her father was the founding general who accompanied the previous emperor on expeditions. This family was originally a branch of the Yu family. Due to a stroke of luck, they had their current status. The main family had always wanted to connect with them and enter the court, but Yu Zhao’s family completely ignored them, always remembering the shame and anger of being driven out of the main family back then.
After the previous emperor and the Great General passed away one after another, the main family finally couldn’t resist moving to the capital, and from time to time, they used their seniority to bully and try to control Yu Zhao, this junior.
——If it weren’t for Yu Zhao’s mother’s foresight, who lied that she was a boy when Yu Zhao was born, this hard-earned General’s Mansion would probably have already become the capital for the main family to live a carefree life.
Bo Chi knew that Yu Zhao, due to the current dynasty’s etiquette, could not openly fall out with the main family, so she leaned closer to her slightly, hinting wildly: “This princess has always hated greedy people. If you agree, I can—”
Before she could finish speaking, a hand pressed down on her head.
Yu Zhao leaned back slightly, turned her face away, and said calmly: “You’re too close.”
Bo Chi sat back sullenly, sulking unhappily.
Yu Zhao didn’t see it, but secretly clenched her fist, suppressing some of the heat on her face, and asked softly: “How do you know about the private affairs between us and the main family?”
Bo Chi said righteously: “I’m a princess, there’s nothing in the world that I don’t know!”
Yu Zhao raised an eyebrow.
The main family had always done a good job of maintaining appearances. Every time they came, it was under the guise of caring. In the early years, the current emperor even praised the Yu family, obviously unaware of the open and secret struggles between them.
Even the emperor didn’t know, but the pampered little princess in the deep palace knew it clearly.
This made it hard for Yu Zhao not to have other thoughts – could it be that the other party, without her knowing, had been silently paying attention to her every move?
“What are you thinking about?” Bo Chi was naturally simple-minded, and every time she sulked, it wouldn’t last more than a few minutes before she reconciled with her depression. And this time was no exception. She sulked for a while, and seeing that Yu Zhao didn’t speak, she approached again like nothing had happened, and asked curiously.
Yu Zhao didn’t overthink it, and answered frankly: “I was thinking about you.”