Ping Zhao Lu

Chapter 118 Easily Coaxed

Cining Palace

"What did you say!" Queen Mother Jiang stood up suddenly, her eyes wide open, her face full of astonishment, and even her voice unconsciously rose eight octaves.

The young eunuch who came to report the news was so frightened that he trembled and hurriedly repeated what he had just said, "It's true, Empress Dowager. The Emperor and Empress were assassinated in Donghu Lake and almost lost their lives. Fortunately, Prince Huai and General Pei rescued them in time..."

Queen Mother Jiang was shocked when she heard this. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. Someone was so bold as to openly attempt to assassinate the emperor right here in the capital. This was truly audacious!

At the same time, Queen Mother Jiang couldn't help but feel a little doubtful.

Why did Prince Huai appear at East Lake? Could this incident have something to do with him?

Seeing Queen Mother Jiang's puzzled expression, the eunuch below hurriedly explained, "Prince Huai went to the East Palace at dusk, and then left the palace with the Crown Prince not long after."

Queen Mother Jiang frowned slightly upon hearing this and fell into deep thought. After a moment, she raised her head and asked, "So what was it like when they returned to the palace?"

The eunuch did not dare to neglect the matter and replied respectfully, "Your Majesty, His Majesty does not look well. Upon returning, he summoned Prince Huai alone and had him stay in the Golden Palace to discuss matters. Up to now, Prince Huai seems to have not left yet..."

After hearing the eunuch's reply, Empress Dowager Jiang's frown relaxed slightly, as if this sentence confirmed a certain suspicion in her heart. After a brief silence, she slowly sat down and said, "It's almost an hour now, why hasn't Prince Huai come out of the Golden Palace yet?"

As he was speaking, a eunuch suddenly hurried in.

As soon as he rushed in, he fell to his knees with a thud, his face filled with fear, and said in a trembling voice: "Empress Dowager, His Majesty... His Majesty lost his temper and angrily drove Prince Huai out of the Golden Palace..."

Hearing this, Queen Mother Jiang was slightly stunned at first, but soon a smile broke out on her face. The smile grew wider and wider, and she almost laughed out loud, "How could this be true!"

Seeing the Empress Dowager's good mood, the eunuch gradually grew bolder and hurriedly added, "Yes, Empress Dowager, even the Empress was not favored by Your Majesty in the past... The Empress left the Golden Throne Hall in a huff shortly after entering."

"Okay, okay..." Queen Mother Jiang couldn't help but smile and nodded repeatedly, "It seems that my idea is not bad."

The assassination of the emperor must be related to Prince Huai.

Even if there is no relationship, given the emperor's suspicious nature, he would probably feel resentful towards Prince Huai.

It really is... it comes without any effort.

Originally, she had to rack her brains to try to alienate the brothers, but now she didn't even need to do anything, as a rift had already developed between the two of them.

At this moment, if she could strike while the iron is hot and use some tricks to win over Prince Huai to her side... then the situation in the court would be completely under her control in the future.

The more Queen Mother Jiang thought about it, the more complacent she became. The curve of her lips became more and more obvious, and a cunning light flashed in her eyes.

*

Fengluan Palace

Xu Zhouye walked out of the bathhouse slowly with bare feet. His handsome face was now covered with a layer of gloom, and he looked extremely bad.

"Your Highness, what's wrong with you? Did something unpleasant happen?" Qinghe, who was standing aside, saw his master in such a state and couldn't help feeling worried. He hurriedly stepped forward and reached out to wipe Xu Zhouye's wet hair.

However, Xu Zhouye simply waved his hand lightly and said in a slightly low voice, "It's okay, I can do it myself. Let everyone else leave first."

Upon hearing this, Qinghe knew that his master was in a bad mood at the moment, so he could not say anything more and could only nod silently.

Her gaze remained fixed on Xu Zhouye, her face filled with worry, but she still turned and left as she was told. However, before leaving, she paused for a moment, seemingly a little worried, before finally slowly exiting the bedroom.

After everyone left, Xu Zhouye walked to a soft couch next to him with a restless mood and sat down a little irritably.

He frowned, and kept recalling the scene when he just met Chu Yunxiao.

He really couldn't understand why the emperor, who was always calm and composed, would be so angry today, and even implicated himself.

If he had known this would happen, he should not have gone to see him. Now, he was upset for no reason.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Xu Zhouye finally couldn't bear it anymore. He suddenly raised his hand and swung it hard, sweeping a thick book on the table beside him to the ground.

There was a dull "bang" sound, and the fallen book happened to hit Chu Yunxiao who was quietly walking into the palace.

Chu Yunxiao was slightly stunned, then bent down and picked up the book that fell at his feet.

Xu Zhouye, who was sitting on the couch, was also startled when he heard the sound.

When he saw that the person coming was Chu Yunxiao, he was stunned for a moment, with a look of astonishment on his face.

Chu Yunxiao stood up straight, looked up at Xu Zhouye's dazed expression, and raised the corners of his mouth slightly, saying with a half-smile: "Why does the Queen have to make trouble with these dead things?"

It would have been fine if he hadn't mentioned it, because once he did, he felt even more upset.

"Isn't the mess in the Golden Palace also a pile of dead things?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the emperor, who had been pretending to be calm, couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

He was slightly startled, and his hand stopped moving. After a moment's hesitation, he slowly put the book back in its place. Then, he picked up the towel beside him and stretched it out to the person in front of him, wanting to wipe his wet hair.

However, Xu Zhouye did not appreciate his kindness and ruthlessly slapped his outstretched hand away.

Chu Yunxiao's face froze instantly, and he stood there in a daze.

He lowered his eyes and stared quietly at the angry man in front of him. His eyes inadvertently swept over the other person's bare feet. His heart tightened and his eyes became deeper.

Xu Zhouye felt a little uneasy when he saw someone staring at him with a gloomy gaze, but he turned his head away in annoyance and didn't look at the emperor's expression.

Chu Yunxiao remained silent. He slowly raised his hand with a soft towel in it and continued to gently wipe Xu Zhouye's hair.

He completely ignored whether Xu Zhouye was willing to accept such service. He pressed one hand firmly on Xu Zhouye's shoulder to prevent him from breaking free. The other hand skillfully held the towel and wiped it back and forth on Xu Zhouye's wet hair, carefully wiping away every crystal clear water droplet.

Under the pressure of the person in front of him, Xu Zhouye had no choice but to sit there obediently, motionless, with his lips tightly closed, not saying a word.

Time passed minute by minute, and the whole room was silent except for the occasional sound of water and each other's breathing.

After a long time of wiping, Xu Zhouye's hair was finally dry.

Chu Yunxiao put down the towel and didn't give Xu Zhouye a chance to react. Without saying a word, he picked him up and strode towards the inner room.

When Xu Zhouye came to his senses, he found himself on the bed. Chu Yunxiao held her bare feet in his hands, kneading them gently and forcefully.

In just that instant, all resistance and dissatisfaction receded quickly like the tide. Not only did Xu Zhouye no longer have the heart to be angry, he couldn't help but indulge in it, and felt an indescribable sense of comfort in his heart.

Chu Yunxiao had been observing the changes in the expression of the person in front of him. When he saw the other person's frown gradually relax, his heart, which had been hanging in the air, finally settled down a little, and the corners of his mouth also quietly rose slightly.

After an unknown amount of time, the hands that had been gently kneading the bare feet began to slowly loosen their grip, bit by bit.

Xu Zhouye, who had been enjoying himself, opened his eyes in confusion and looked at him bewilderedly when the emperor stopped moving.

The emperor slowly stood up and leisurely untied the belt of his gorgeous clothes, taking off his outer clothes one by one, until only a thin layer of inner clothes remained on his body. Then he said, "I will go to bathe."

"Oh……"

Xu Zhouye responded subconsciously, and then became a little dazed.

Wasn't he really angry? How could he be so easily appeased...