32 - Meeting the Emperor

Chapter 32 – Meeting the Emperor

Just as Consort An and Ling Wangfei were in a stalemate over ShangguanYan’s matter, Lu Gonggong arrived with two eunuchs.

From afar, Lu Gonggong could already hear women’s voices arguing and when he arrived, he saw two palace ladies restraining a woman while two other maidservants were confronting them.

His pair of old eyes swept one round over the place to finally rest on the woman being restrained and he knew that the woman must be Miss Shangguan Yan.

He studied the other person and saw that she was neither frightened nor fearful, neither servile nor overbearing, with an indifferent expression as though she had seen the world.

She is a fortunate one, for she had attracted the Emperor’s attention the moment she entered the palace and the Emperor had ordered him to come and look for her. Now even Ling Wangfei is fighting with Consort An for her which shows that this girl is not someone ordinary.

When Ran Momo saw the Emperor’s Lu Gonggong had arrived, she hurriedly tugged her Mistress. At the same time, she stepped forward to show goodwill and asked politely.

“Why is Lu Gonggong here? Did the Emperor give an order?”

When Consort An heard that Lu Gonggong had arrived, she stopped quarreling with Ling Wangfei and walked towards Lu Gonggong to complain angrily. “Lu Gonggong , you came at the right time to help and reason this out! While I am trying to discipline a commoner, Ling Wangfei is so daring to interfere in my palace!”

When Bai Yuxiao heard that the other party is the Emperor’s Head Eunuch, Lu Gonggong , she recalled the Wangye had once told her that the Emperor has a high opinion of his Head Eunuch, Lu Gonggong who has a perceptive insight. So instead of complaining, she walked to Shangguan Yan’s side and pushed away the two palace ladies who were restraining her. Then Bai Yuxiao placed her hands around Shangguan Yan’s arm and stood with her to watch the changes unfold.

To any maid or Momo in the palace, Lu Gonggong had always been straightforward and would not deliberately cater to others. Whenever he sees an imperial concubine, he would at most perform ceremonial greetings and show an attitude that is neither cold nor warm.

In a rigorous tone, he said. “This slave was ordered by the Emperor to bring Miss Shangguan Yan to the Imperial Study to meet the Emperor.”

The Emperor summoned for her?

Not only was Consort An shocked but even Shangguan Yan was shocked.

What day is today? First, she is summoned by Consort An and now the Emperor. This is the first time she entered the palace and she can wander from the inner palace to the Imperial Study……..how lucky!

She and Bai Yuxiao exchanged surprised looks.

“Eldest Senior Sister, why is the Emperor looking for you?”

“How do I know? You’re more familiar in the palace and I wanted to ask you!”

“Why did Consort An look for you?”

“Her son wanted to take me as a concubine but I didn’t agree.”

“Can it be that the Emperor is looking for you because he wants to matchmake for you?”

“It can’t be…….don’t scare me.”

“Don’t be scared. If that is the case, then I’ll ask Wangye to take you as a concubine first, so no one can have ideas on you.”

“Hey, apart from this, can’t you think of other ideas?”

Both of them were talking in ventriloquism and their voices were very soft. People who were standing far away would not know that they were talking as their lips were not moving.

At present, the one hardest hit was Consort An. She could still brush off Ling Wangfei but now even the Emperor had spoken and if she does not comply, it means she is disobeying the decree. Although she felt angry, the feeling of surprise and suspicion was stronger and she wanted to probe for more information from Lu Gonggong to understand the reason why the Emperor summoned Shangguan Yan. However, Lu Gonggong only said that he was acting on orders, did not know anything else and his lips were shut as tight as clams.

She was unwilling to accept it and felt it was weird for the Emperor to interfere in her palace but at the same time, she dared not disobey the Emperor’s order. So even though she was reluctant she had to release Shangguan Yan.

Shangguan Yan and Bai Yuxiao left together and followed Lu Gonggong out of Lotus Palace. Shangguan Yan sat on the soft sedan and headed towards the Imperial Study while Bai Yuxiao’s sedan chair could only follow and stop outside the Imperial Study, unable to enter.

She watched her Eldest Senior Sister with a worried look on her face and Shangguan Yan turned to look back at her with a comforting smile. Then Shangguan Yan followed Lu Gonggong into the Imperial Study on foot.

Meeting the Emperor is different from meeting Consort An. This is the first time she is meeting the Emperor and could not help but feel a little nervous.

Perhaps the atmosphere here is different from Lotus Palace which is a woman’s palace filled with flowers, pavilions, and a display of richness and nobility everywhere. However, in the Emperor’s imperial study, there is an air of majesty showing solemnness and severity. The closer she got, the more serious she became, and unconsciously, the feeling of awe rose within her.

With her head bowed, she walked into the Imperial Study then knelt in front of the Emperor.

“This commoner greets the Emperor. Long live the Emperor.”

“Constable Shangguan.” A low and steady voice sounded. It was the voice of the Dragon……the Emperor…….

When she heard the Emperor called her by her title, Shangguan Yan immediately reverted to her status. She was no longer a businesswoman or a commoner but a secret constable of the Daxing Dynasty.

“This humble one is here.”

“Raise your head.”

She lifted her face cautiously with her eyes still lowered respectfully, not daring to look at the holy face.

The Emperor knew a lot about her deeds and now he is seeing her in person. She looks upright and beautiful but not gorgeous and there was a heroic air in her gentleness. She looked exactly as he thought and recalled that this woman had taken the name list from Di Jing and made Di Jing unable to forget her for more than two years. He could not help but glance over at Di Jing.

Di Jing ignored the Emperor’s inquisitive gaze and still stood there solemnly with an unpredictable expression on his face as though nothing could affect his mood.

The Emperor smiled and said. “Rise.”

“Thanks to the Emperor.” Shangguan Yan stood up and from the corner of her eyes, she caught sight of a familiar figure. She glanced over involuntarily and immediately froze.

Di Jing? He is here as well?

“Constable Shangguan, this Officer has reported to the Emperor that we have found clues about Lord Tian. You’re the important witness in charge of the investigation, so now you can report all the things you know to the Emperor, understand?”

The words revealed the vital implications and were very vague, but when Shangguan Yan heard, she had immediately picked up the meaning and understood the hint.

So that’s it! No wonder the Emperor suddenly summoned her and rescued her from Consort An. It turned out that Di Jing had used this excuse.

Instantly, something seemed to brush over her heart, giving her a warm feeling and brought on an indescribable throbbing in her heart.

Her reaction was also very quick. As soon as Di Jing finished speaking, she immediately cooperated perfectly and began to report to the Emperor seriously.

In fact, she did not know what clues were recently gathered about Lord Tian but even if she did not know, she was still able to talk about the matter. She put together the clues she knew and then added a little information she had gathered from here and there. Anyway, after working with Di Jing for some time, both of them had developed a tacit understanding and she could infer some information from the one-sided information he gave her and his attitude towards the case.

When it came to the key points, Di Jing would interrupt with one or two sentences which seemed like he was reminding her of the important points to report. But in actual fact, he was revealing to her the direction to avoid making mistakes that could lead to exposing the truth.

As Di Jing listened to her eloquently reporting to the Emperor, his eyes were full of approval.

It was only last night that Di Jing received the clues regarding Lord Tian but because Shangguan Yan had returned home to recuperate, so he did not have time to tell her.

Unexpectedly, Consort An had summoned her into the palace.

To save her, he had immediately rushed to the Imperial Study. He believed that even if he did not have time to tell her about his plan, she would still be able to understand his meaning with her ingenuity.

As expected, she was able to understand with just a hint and was also able to fully cooperate with him. She could narrate the case vividly and after he prompted something, she was able to talk about the advantages which made him very pleased.

There was a gentle and sweet smile hidden in his deep eyes.