Chapter 2 Zhao Zhen
The Xu family’s legitimate daughter performed plays terribly.
How could someone with such coarse manners embroider such beautiful plum blossoms?
But I still accepted it.
Because I saw the maid standing beside her.
Her eyes were shaped almost exactly like Xu Fengwan’s.
I caught a faint trace of something hidden.
But during the investigation my father found out.
He scanned what I discovered and tossed it to me.
The next day my father gave the marriage of Ling Anping to the Xu family legitimate daughter.
Mother told me the royal family did not need the daughter of a grand secretary to be Empress.
When one person has too much power they will lose control.
Ling Anping went to Shishuo. That Xu family legitimate daughter appeared arrogantly everywhere.
But I could always tell them apart at a glance.
Whether it was her or the maid named Xu Mei.
At the hunting ground I watched Xu Fengwan change into another person. Out of curiosity I invited her to hunt with me.
Her riding and archery was excellent, her manners perfect, like a true Xu family legitimate daughter.
But someone attacked me ruthlessly at the hunting ground.
I had golden armor but she had none. She was hurt worse than I was yet still forced herself to keep going.
I leaned gently against her back and looked at her profile. There was a scar on her left cheek.
I felt only amused inside. The Xu family even tormented a maid like this.
I shared the matter with Ling Anping who was at Shishuo.
Who knew he rushed back day and night.
I thought he came to see me but he turned straight to the Xu residence.
Tsk, he forgot his friend for a woman.
He was driven out by Xu Fengwan and sulked for a long time.
I carried wine to find him and comforted him.
To be honest, after my wound healed I visited the Xu residence a few times.
Each time watching Xu Fengwan perform was enjoyable.
Ling Anping seemed to know something huge. That very night he went back to the Xu residence.
The next day he told me the arrows on Xu Fengwan’s maid were only possible from Zhao Yuan’s curve.
I raised an eyebrow. I had not expected him to notice Xu Mei either.
Everything after that fell into place.
I reported everything I had investigated to my father.
He stared at the report for a long time before asking slowly:
“Do you truly like that woman so much?”
I did not know how to answer.
Because I did not know if that was what one should call liking.
My father subtly told Zhao Yuan that with the support of the grand secretary he could become Crown Prince.
That fool Zhao Yuan really was the perfect match for Xu Fengwan.
But I never expected the two of them to mix together.
Mother told me that ambition is a good thing.
Yet ambition without foresight will bury a person.
Indeed, as the wedding approached Xu Fengwan became pregnant.
The only one who could replace her in the marriage was one person.
I could not name the feeling I felt, only that my chest felt tightly blocked.
This game I played was enormous.
The only purpose was to completely eliminate anyone with ulterior motives.
Ling Anping and his wife worked together perfectly.
That woman called Xu Fengwan would never see daylight again.
A few days later I saw Xu Fengwan again in Juxiang Pavilion.
I sent people to rescue the woman at the western suburb villa and entered Juxiang Pavilion to help her escape the siege.
I did not lie.
Not a single word.
But I was still punished by Mother and knelt in Juxiang Pavilion for half an hour.
A monarch must never expose his own likes.
She went with Ling Anping to Shishuo.
I did not understand why a weak woman went to Shishuo.
Soon after I received Ling Anping’s letter.
It explained the situation at Shishuo and also contained a letter of retirement.
He said if he died I should take care of her.
The letter had been opened but I still knelt in the main hall.
My father asked why.
I said for the people of Shishuo and the thirty thousand soldiers.
I knelt in the main hall all night.
The next day my father gave me one hundred thousand troops. I marched straight to Shishuo.
At Shishuo I saw a scene like a hell.
Yet she remained calm and steady. The determination in her eyes I had never seen before.
The moment I saw her I wanted to reach out and touch her hair but I only patted her shoulder.
As a monarch I nearly lost composure again.
After we returned to the capital I do not know what my father said to her.
She took the name of the Noble Consort and became Liyang Commandery Princess Zhao Lengxiang.
It was fine.
Even with a different identity I could protect her openly.