Chapter 57: I Only Want to Kiss You Part 1

In the end, Shen Yuezhuang left with the Princess. After all, she was a guest. Neither the Old Marquis nor Ruixue could reasonably argue with a guest.

When the news was reported to Liu Yun, she didn’t say anything. She just ordered the meal to be brought in and then asked another question.

“How are things going with the Empress’s side?”

Ruixue’s expression became serious. “Your Grace, people started clearing out the Changle Hall this morning. Miss Yang should be arriving in five days. It should be ready in time.”

The Changle Hall. Liu Yun pondered for a moment. “It’s close to the Imperial Study. It’s a good location.”

Ruixue snorted derisively. “During the imperial consort selection earlier, the Governor Yang didn’t send anyone. Now that the ranks in the rear palace are all decided, he sends someone out of the blue. Isn’t he aiming for the only empty Consort position?”

Liu Yun’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. A cold glint shimmered in her gaze.

Ruixue looked worried. “Your Grace, could the Empress’s arrangement mean that the Left Chancellor and Governor Yang have already… then our…”

Ruixue trailed off, but the implication was clear.

Right now, the Empress Dowager and the Empress were locked in a power struggle in the palace. This ‘quasi-Consort’ that Governor Yang was forcing into the palace was his own grand-niece. And since the Empress Dowager had a blood feud with Governor Yang over her father’s death, they were naturally on opposite sides.

If the Empress gained this Consort as a powerful ally, the Empress Dowager’s influence would wane, and their position would become much more precarious.

But Liu Yun didn’t look worried. On the contrary, she let out a soft laugh, seemingly intrigued. “Tell me this. Governor Yang has been acting like a tyrant in Jinzhou for so many years. Why didn’t he try to send someone to the palace during the Xuanwu or Jiande reigns? Why now?”

Was it just to flaunt his power and humiliate the royal family?

No. The Xuanwu era was the height of his power.

So, why now?

Ruixue suddenly understood. “It’s because of the Princess?”

~~~

“You don’t have to be a peace offering anymore?” Shen Yuezhuang looked up from her plate in surprise. “What happened? Did the negotiations fall through? Are we going to war?”

“Don’t get in a tizzy!” The Princess was calmly sipping tea. Seeing Shen Yuezhuang getting more and more agitated, she spoke unhurriedly. “I just found out. News arrived from home this morning. I’m not needed at the palace anymore… for now.”

Shen Yuezhuang breathed a sigh of relief. “Good, no war!”

She still felt that the money for the war against the Xiongnu had come from the debts she’d collected. If another war started with Nanchu, she seriously doubted the court could find enough money again.

“And it’s good that you don’t have to enter the palace right away either. What’s so great about being an emperor’s consort anyway? Locked away in the palace with nothing to do. It’s much freer out here!”

The Princess lifted her chin with an air of superiority. “Of course it’s good. Why else do you think I came looking for you at your office first thing in the morning?”

Hearing this, Shen Yuezhuang grinned, raising her tea in a toast to the Princess.

Mu Huaqiong could see that Shen Yuezhuang was genuinely happy for her. A flicker of something crossed her eyes. She thought for a moment, then lowered her voice. “Don’t you want to know why I suddenly don’t have to enter the palace?”

This piqued Shen Yuezhuang’s curiosity. “Why?”

The Princess gave a light snort. “It’s a secret. Not many people know. But, telling you won’t hurt. It’ll be common knowledge soon enough anyway.”

She leaned in and whispered in Shen Yuezhuang’s ear. “Governor Yang is sending a daughter of the Yang family to be the Emperor’s consort.”

“A consort?” Shen Yuezhuang was stunned, then frowned. “But the imperial selection is over. Why is he sending someone now?”

The Princess pointed her slender finger at herself. “Because of me, of course!”

“Governor Yang has been entrenched between our two countries for years. Seeing the peace talks getting more and more serious, wouldn’t the Governor, whose job is to defend against our Chu, be worried? In the letter he sent me, it said this Yang family daughter is entering the palace to deal with me. She’s also after my Consort title.”

As she spoke, the Princess started laughing so hard she doubled over.

Shen Yuezhuang was already used to the Princess’s bell-like laughter. She grabbed her arm to keep her from falling off her stool.

The Princess continued. “As if I care about that stupid position! My father said I shouldn’t get involved in this mess. With the Yang girl entering the palace, your Great Liang Emperor has a headache coming. He told me to just stall for time.”

The Princess was happy. But Shen Yuezhuang’s thoughts drifted to Liu Yun.

The Yang family and the Liu family were sworn enemies. Once this Yang girl entered the palace, Liu Yun’s situation might get difficult.

She was thinking of going to the palace at dusk when the Princess suddenly grabbed her arm and called out to the waiter. “Today’s a good day! Let’s drink until we drop! Waiter, another two jars of wine!”

Even Shen Yuezhuang, with her history of profligacy, couldn’t handle drinking two days in a row.

She grabbed the Princess’s hand and the menu, pointing at the half-eaten food on the table. “I have work this afternoon! And there’s plenty of food here. Isn’t it enough for you?”

The Princess looked at her in disbelief. “Who was it yesterday, slapping their chest and saying I could order whatever I wanted? And as soon as I treat you like a friend, this is how you treat me?”

“Please!” Shen Yuezhuang snatched the menu from her hand and gave it back to the waiter. “Yesterday, I was treating the Princess. Now that you call me a friend, you have to start thinking like a friend. A friend just needs enough to eat. Why all the fuss?”

The Princess was dumbfounded. Then she looked like she was laughing in anger.

She took a deep breath, sizing up Shen Yuezhuang. She remembered her earlier words at the office door about “whoever pays more,” and watching her pull out a few pieces of loose silver from her scanty money pouch.

The pouch was even flatter now, practically empty.

“You’re broke?” The Princess was shocked. “Then why don’t you ask your boss for a refund? You treated the Princess of Nanchu. That’s official business, reimbursable! Why are you using your own money? Are you an idiot?”

Shen Yuezhuang pursed her lips and didn’t answer.

She could have it reimbursed. She could even just put it on the Marquis Manor’s tab. But…

She wasn’t being honest with the Princess. The only thing she could do was find the money herself.

Seeing her embarrassment, Mu Huaqiong seemed to guess something.

“Didn’t you say you won a bet once, and won half a street of shops?”

But then she seemed to remember something, a flash of regret and cautiousness in her eyes. “Those shops… aren’t in your name?”

“No.” Shen Yuezhuang didn’t notice her expression. She called the owner over to settle the bill. “They were managed by my stepmother before. Then they were given to my brother.”

Shen Yuezhuang was the type to spend every penny she had, with no restraint.

After all, being poor and being a spendthrift aren’t mutually exclusive. In fact, they often go hand in hand.

The Old Marquis naturally wouldn’t trust her with those shops. And since Shen Qingjue, who was hopeless at both literature and martial arts, had a talent for business, the shops were gradually put under his management.

Shen Yuezhuang didn’t see this as a bad thing. She usually just put her expenses on the Marquis Manor’s account. The items were approved without needing to go through her father, and she had more money than she could spend without having to worry about anything. It was actually great!

Mu Huaqiong took a sharp breath. That confirmed it!

The rewards she had received over the years had also ended up in her aunt’s—now her stepmother’s—hands. She felt even more sympathy for Shen Yuezhuang.

After settling the bill, they left the restaurant. The Princess gave Shen Yuezhuang a firm slap on the shoulder.

The streets were crowded, so the Princess reverted to her quiet, reserved demeanor. She just looked at Shen Yuezhuang with deep meaning.

As she herself had said, Shen Yuezhuang hosting her was an official duty. Her trip to the North Liang was also an official duty. The expenses were all reimbursed by the court.

Chu was very serious about the peace talks. They wouldn’t let her worry about money here.

Just before she got into her carriage, the Princess lifted the curtain and looked at her companion. “Don’t worry, I’ll support you from now on!”

A puzzled Shen Yuezhuang was left wondering, “?”

What was that all about? The tearful look? Was she just bored at the post house and didn’t want to go back?

Shen Yuezhuang looked at the sky. There was still some time before she had to return to the office. She proposed, “Maybe… we could go for a walk?”

The kind of walk where you don’t spend any money?

~~~

A short while later, both of them, thinking they were looking out for each other, ended up at Pei Shangyu’s house.

Pei Shangyu and Shen Yuezhuang were the two people the Princess knew best here. The three of them chatted for a while. Then Shen Yuezhuang remembered Rui Niang and Ninth Lady and asked how their injuries were.

Since the capture of the traffickers, the situation of Rui Niang and Ninth Lady hadn’t been made public. Pei Shangyu just said, “They’re mostly recovered. A Jiu (Ninth Lady) said she wants to go home. A Rui (Rui Niang) said she has no family anymore, so she’ll stay here instead.”

So, Ninth Lady was leaving the capital, and Rui Niang was returning to the Ten Thousand Flowers Pavilion.

Shen Yuezhuang noted this, planning to tell Liu Yun when she entered the palace that night. She pulled out her light money pouch in front of the Princess.

It was indeed light. But from inside, she pulled out two banknotes of one thousand taels each.

“Sister Pei, could you give these to them, one each? After what happened…” She sighed. “A Jiu is going home, and the journey will be hard. It’s good to have some money for the road.”

Mu Huaqiong was practically fuming at the sight of those two thousand taels.

She had money to give away for traveling expenses, but she was miserly about ordering an extra dish at dinner?

What kind of friend was that? No, she had clearly baited the fish and was now unwilling to waste any bait!

Bah! That shameless woman! If Mu Huaqiong ever felt sorry for her again, she’d be a dog!

Fuming, the Princess cursed under her breath and was about to leave, when she was frozen in place by the big black dog in the courtyard.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment. Then the Princess said, grumpily, “Shen Yuezhuang, escort this Princess out!”

~~~

After seeing off the inexplicably angry Princess, Shen Yuezhuang said goodbye to Pei Shangyu and wandered back home.

The moment she entered the gate, she ran right into a face full of misery. It was Shen Qingjue.

Shen Yuezhuang recoiled, disgusted, and pushed him away.

“What’s wrong with you now?”

Her father had been acting strange. Pei Shangyu had seemed like she wanted to say something when she left. The Princess had gotten inexplicably angry. And now Shen Qingjue was looking at her as if she had wronged him.

Tired in both body and mind, Shen Yuezhuang ignored him. But Shen Qingjue followed her, refusing to give up.

“What did you do?! Father scolded me last night, then went to find you. Then he came back and scolded me again. And just now, he caught me and gave me another earful!”

He pushed her towards the study. “Go apologize to him now! I don’t want to take the fall for you anymore!”

Hearing this, Shen Yuezhuang started walking towards the study. “Is he in there now?”

“Yes.” Seeing her cooperation, Shen Qingjue looked suspicious. “You’re… actually going to apologize?”

“Nope!” Shen Yuezhuang said righteously, turning back to give him a kind look. “I’m going to tell him that if he’s already scolded you, he can’t scold me too!”

Shen Qingjue was speechless.

~~~

In the afternoon, Shen Yuezhuang returned to the office.

When the workday ended, she found she still couldn’t enter the palace. She had to ask Ruixue to pass on a message, and then she was personally escorted home by her father.

In the carriage, the Old Marquis casually asked about her day. Shen Yuezhuang answered honestly.

“I had lunch with the Princess. Then I went to Sister Pei’s house and chatted with A Sang and the others. I was going to see Rui Niang and Ninth Lady, but Sister Pei said they didn’t want to see anyone, so I didn’t. Then I went home, changed into my official robe, and went to the office in the afternoon.”