“But—”
Cheng Qu looked taken aback. Then he had the honest-faced farmer who had brought the message led forward.
“The messenger Your Majesty sent personally stated that Regent Xie Yun was harming Your Majesty and intended to rebel.”
Local troops had secured the entire street, and fifty Black Armor Guards were also present. The farmer had never witnessed anything on this scale. His voice shook with fear as he hurriedly looked at Song Liang.
“It… it’s true! He told me! I wasn’t lying—”
“Insolence!” Cen Huan rebuked him coldly. “You dare forge an imperial decree and slander the prince regent? Such a crime warrants the harshest punishment!”
The farmer’s knees buckled. He dropped to the ground with a thud and looked desperately at Song Liang.
“Your Imperial Majesty! Your Imperial Majesty! I delivered the message exactly as you told me! I didn’t make anything up! You told me to say all of it!”
“Outrageous! You dare implicate the reigning emperor—”
“Enough.” Song Liang gave Cen Huan an indifferent glance. “Is frightening an honest man entertaining? Those words were meant for me, weren’t they?”
Cen Huan lowered his eyes, assuming a posture of perfect deference.
“I would not dare.”
Everyone present knew whether he dared. Song Liang knew better than anyone. He looked directly at Xie Yun.
“What does the regent want?”
Xie Yun spoke leisurely.
“Your Majesty just promised to reward me. But I already hold the highest station a subject can attain. What more could Your Majesty possibly bestow upon me?”
Song Liang was momentarily at a loss.
In the original novel, all Xie Yun lacked was a dragon robe and a formal ascension to the throne. His everyday food, clothing, and comforts were more exquisite than even the Grand Empress Dowager’s. His gold, silver, and jade were more plentiful and precious than the imperial treasury’s.
His authority also encompassed more than half the capital region, and of the palace’s four guard divisions, two answered to him.
By comparison, Emperor Chen Min was practically penniless.
Throughout the original novel, the only thing that could still tempt Xie Yun was the imperial throne. Song Liang didn’t believe he would dare demand it outright.
So he simply asked, “What does Imperial Uncle want?”
“I want Your Majesty’s empress’s seat.”
“…”
Song Liang froze, wondering whether his ears had failed him.
“You want my… empress’s seat?”
Xie Yun raised his eyes coolly.
“Your Majesty is unwilling?”
“…”
Song Liang blinked in bewilderment.
“You’re sure you want to be my—”
“Your Majesty!”
Cheng Qu abruptly rose from where he had been kneeling.
“Absolutely not!”
“…”
Song Liang wet his lips and asked, puzzled, “Why not?”
He genuinely couldn’t see the problem. Although he didn’t know why Xie Yun had proposed such a condition, that handsome face identical to Xiao Yi’s hardly made this a losing bargain. And it would save two lives.
It was an excellent deal.
Cheng Qu stared at him in astonishment, as though he had said something outrageous.
“Your Majesty! You are the sovereign, entrusted with Heaven’s grace and the continuation of the ancestral line. How can the empress’s seat be treated so lightly?!”
Song Liang understood. In a feudal dynasty, marrying a male empress who couldn’t bear children was understandably difficult to accept.
But he wasn’t the real Chen Min. Even if he had a child, it wouldn’t be of the Chen bloodline. Chen Min had left no descendants in the original novel anyway, so Song Liang felt no burden whatsoever.
He waved a hand.
“Enough. There is no need to say more. It’s settled.”
Turning to Xie Yun, he asked with perfect composure, “Then when are we getting married?”
“…”
The surroundings suddenly fell silent.
Cheng Qu’s eyes widened in shock. Cen Huan, Ruan Chong, and the Black Armor Guards gaped at him, utterly dumbstruck.
Xie Yun’s noble, icily beautiful face darkened as well.
Song Liang: “…”
He cleared his throat and asked calmly, “When you said you wanted my empress’s seat, you meant you wanted to marry me, didn’t you?”
“…”
The entire street seemed to fall quiet. The atmosphere froze into something distinctly strange.
Xie Yun’s low voice was steeped in ice.
“I am to be your empress?”
Song Liang: “…Yes.”
Everyone: “…”
Xie Yun stared coldly at him, as though he were already dead.
“I meant the authority to choose who occupies the empress’s seat.”
Song Liang: “…”
He swallowed, doing his best to remain composed.
“…Next time, remember to make yourself clear.”
Xie Yun gave a cold laugh, swept his sleeve, and walked away.
Ruan Chong and Cen Huan hurried after him with the Black Armor Guard. Even from a distance, Cen Huan’s agitated voice could still be heard.
“I said there was something wrong with him! Asking out of nowhere whether our prince likes men—he’s clearly lusting after His Highness’s bo—mmph! Mmph mmph mmph mmph mmph mmph? Mmph mmph!”
“…”
Song Liang turned to face everyone’s speechless expressions and explained serenely, “My leg is injured. I couldn’t hear properly.”
Everyone: “…”
Cheng Qu heaved a long sigh.
“You might have been better off agreeing to take him as empress.”
Song Liang: “?”
My good minister, what inspires such audacious words?
Seeing his astonishment, Cheng Qu was puzzled.
“Didn’t Your Majesty flee the palace in the first place because you didn’t want to marry the woman the regent had chosen?”
Song Liang paused. He hadn’t read much of the plot, so he genuinely hadn’t known.
“Your Majesty has only just begun ruling personally. The Grand Empress Dowager intended to arrange a marriage with a powerful family to counter the Xie faction. But for his own interests, the regent eliminated every candidate for the empress’s seat and intends to give it to the Grand Preceptor’s granddaughter.”
“Although the Grand Preceptor ranks among the Three Excellencies, his title carries no real authority. The marriage would do Your Majesty no good.”
Cheng Qu frowned deeply and sighed.
“By comparison, you might as well marry the regent. At least he cannot bear children, so you needn’t worry about him using an heir to throw the court into chaos.”
Song Liang: “…”
“Is it too late to change my mind?”
“An emperor’s word is no jest. How could you go back on it? Besides…”
Cheng Qu lowered his voice.
“That is Regent Xie Yun. If you anger him, he really will kill you!”
Song Liang: “?”
Am I that worthless as an emperor?
He looked at Cheng Qu.
“You insulted him just now too. You accused him of treason.”
He had heard it very clearly.
Cheng Qu looked exasperated by his failure to understand.
“How is that the same? I have the chancellor, my father-in-law, backing me. You don’t!”
Song Liang: “…”
His fault for not having a good father-in-law.
“I know Your Majesty has suffered. But the road back to the capital is still long. If the regent truly acts against you, there is nothing I can do. Better to humble yourself for now and settle every score once we return.”
“…”
Song Liang knew this man was Chancellor Yin’s confidant. He also knew Cheng Qu was brushing him off and didn’t take him seriously at all. But for now, Cheng Qu was the only person he could rely on against Xie Yun.
So he nodded as though convinced.
“Then I must rely on you throughout the journey, my good minister. Once we reach the capital, I shall reward you generously.”
Cheng Qu answered absently, taking none of it to heart. Everyone knew the young emperor was merely a puppet. The real power lay with the Grand Empress Dowager, Chancellor Yin, and the regent.
After this display of insincere affection between ruler and subject, Hanshui’s prefect, Song Chengyan, brought his subordinates forward to pay their respects. With great deference and enthusiasm, he invited Song Liang to stay at the prefect’s residence.
Naturally, Song Liang accepted.
The honest-faced farmer and his wife had been frightened out of their wits. No matter what Song Liang said, the man refused to accept any generalship. His wife, feeling deeply indebted because Song Liang had risked himself to secure her safety that day, adamantly refused the title of general’s lady as well.
Helpless, Song Liang could only give them some money and send them home.
On the day they left, he made a special trip to see them off. Watching their retreating figures, he sighed repeatedly, as though he had lost two valiant generals. The Black Armor Guards behind him began to wonder about the couple’s true identities.
3085 was equally puzzled. It had assumed its host had merely made empty promises to persuade two honest people to help him escape.
He had actually intended to promote them?
“Why shouldn’t I?” Song Liang said unconcernedly. “They’ve already given me the most important thing. Of course I hate to see them leave.”
【What thing?】3085 asked curiously.
“Loyalty.”
【Loyalty is certainly important, but what about courage and intelligence?】
Song Liang said, “I have both.”
【…】
Fuck.
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