The Empress's No.1 Lackey-Chapter 495 - 388. Love Letter to the Empress (6,000 words)_2

"Your Majesty, I have made a military pledge, and before the end of the year, I still need to capture Zhuang Xiaocheng..."

"You have suffered grave injuries for the sake of our country, so I will grant you some additional time; there's no rush at the moment."

"...Uh." Zhao Douan lost his temper, wilting down, looking as pitiful as an abandoned puppy (feigning).

The Empress scoffed, making as if to stand up and leave, saying:

"Seeing that you're in good spirits reassures me. Stay in the palace tonight. If you can move by tomorrow morning, then you're free to head home."

"Your Majesty..." Zhao Douan, in panic, reached out and grabbed the Empress's wrist, which felt smooth and warm to the touch.

"Hm?" Xu Zhenguan turned her head back with a displeased look in her eyes.

Zhao Douan weakly said, "Your Majesty, I feel a bit unwell, I need to be looked after."

Saying so, he feigned grasping at his chest but accidentally touched his wound, letting out a miserable scream, gritting his teeth in pain.

Xu Zhenguan panicked, subconsciously moved closer, and bent over to check on him, but when she caught sight of Zhao Douan's triumphant expression beneath his wails, she immediately realized she had been played.

Angrily, she stretched out her hand and pinched the excess flesh around his waist, employing the innate female talent of the "Twist" technique.

"Ah— it hurts, it hurts... Have mercy, Your Majesty!" Zhao Douan howled.

Xu Zhenguan sneered, "Are you going to behave or not?"

"I will behave."

"Are you capable or not?"

"I'm not... ah I am, I am, I am!"

"Do you want me to take care of you?"

"...I feel that my injury has suddenly healed. Your Majesty, you are burdened with the governance of a myriad of state affairs. Do not delay, I respectfully bid you farewell!"

Ha!

Can't I cure you?

Xu Zhenguan's lips curved up in a slight smile, pride shining in her eyes as she withdrew her hand and turned to walk towards the door.

Zhao Douan, grimacing with pain, lay in bed, watching the Empress's figure leave the room, feeling reluctant to see her go.

But as an emperor, especially after the recent big commotion at the Divine Dragon Temple, one could imagine that all the court officials in the Capital were probably hastening towards the Imperial Palace to inquire about the situation.

The Empress needed to go and stabilize the aftermath.

"Sigh, left on my own in this empty bedchamber," Zhao Douan lay in the bright and warm room, now remembering Eunuch Hai and the others who had been left on the road back to the Capital.

"Hmm, I wonder if Hai and the others know I've been teleported back? Probably not... uh, but after being stabbed by Da Jing Monk, he would have been eager to flee and facing the attack of the crowd, Hai and the others shouldn't have been hurt..."

"Tsck, speaking of which, that letter I sent back from Hu Ting, I wonder if it has arrived..."

...

Outside the room.

Xu Zhenguan stepped out for the second time, the sky outside growing increasingly dim, a cold wind brushing her face. She looked at the group of court ladies waiting neatly outside the door and noticed that their gazes were somewhat strange.

Hmm…

These women who had witnessed Mr. Zhao's injury, the Empress's visit, and then the upheaval at the Divine Dragon Temple, though they didn't voice it, clearly speculated that the Empress's anger was because of Mr. Zhao…

So, were the rumors true? Did the Empress really have something with Mr. Zhao…

"What are you all sticking around for? Disperse," sighed Xu Zhenguan with a hint of exasperation. "Oh, and send out an order to release those who were confined earlier."

At first, she had sealed off the news of Zhao Douan's injury because she hadn't figured out what had happened.

Now that things had been laid bare with the Divine Dragon Temple, there was no longer a need for secrecy.

"Yes!"

A group of servants bowed in salutation, but then they saw the "female chancellor," dressed in a cotton gown with plum blossom makeup on her forehead, hurrying over with her skirt lifted.

Mo Chou looked at the Empress with a complex look of sorrow in her eyes and said in a low voice:

"Your Majesty, a secret letter has been delivered."

"A letter?"

"It's from Mr. Zhao, sent from Hu Ting. The delivery was delayed due to bad weather."

In fact, it wasn't late, but Zhao Douan had used "teleportation," cutting the journey by half, and to everyone's surprise, he arrived back in the Capital sooner than the letter.

Xu Zhenguan raised an eyebrow and took the letter.

She tore open the envelope and unfolded the letter, which indeed detailed Zhao Douan's experience after arriving at Hu Ting… but these had already been verbally recounted to her before. The Empress quickly scanned to the end and suddenly froze.

"Additionally, while appreciating the scenery of Jiangnan at Zhuozheng Garden, distinctly different from the Capital, I was lost in reverie. My thoughts wandered, and I yearned for Your Majesty, perhaps at this very moment, also appreciating the garden scenery.

As if witnessing a secluded valley filled with countless gold, and beyond the pure white reeds, there stood a beauty.

I ask myself if my heart has been stirred?

I say to myself: Stirred, stirred, stirred, stirred, stirred, stirred, stirred, stirred..."

Xu Zhenguan stared blankly at the long string of "stirred" on the latter half of the secret letter, her cheeks suddenly flushing red.

Her expression shifting, she suddenly clenched her teeth and furiously turned around, kicking open the door and storming back in.

Leaving Mo Chou and the others with baffled faces, unable to comprehend what had transpired.

"Eh, Your Majesty? Why have you returned?" Zhao Douan was lost in thought when he suddenly saw Zhenguan coming back, overjoyed, but then his smile froze as he saw the letter in her hand.

The Empress, flustered and enraged, reached out with both hands and once again employed the "Twist" technique:

"I told you to stir, so stir, go ahead and stir, why aren't you stirring now?"

"Ah... I've stopped stirring, I dare not stir... I will not stir any longer..."

Outside.

A group of court ladies silently listened to the fierce words coming through the crack of the door, whispering among themselves. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

Only Mo Chou stood there like struck by an arrow, dejectedly looking up at the sky, only to feel a sudden cool touch on her forehead, slowly dissolving.

Startled, she extended her hand and saw a snowflake settling in her palm.

It was snowing.

...

...

To the west of the Capital, was Xiping Road.

At this moment, the bitter wind churned, sharp as a knife.

Slow snowflakes began to fall from the cloudy sky, heralding the first snow of the third year of Tianfeng in the Great Yu Dynasty.

To take shelter from the snow, a long caravan hurriedly reached an abandoned temple near the official road.

With shouts and commands, monks known as "Esoteric Practitioners" started to lead their horses and dismount from the wagons.