Chapter 586 - Gao Zhijian
Bai Lingmiao took the food box outside.
Chun Xiaoman sighed at the sight. She had no idea why Miaomiao loved Senior Li so much.
However, Chun Xiaoman soon recovered and returned to her cheerful self. As long as Miaomiao and Senior Li were fine, she'd be fine, too. She hoped that the two would live happily ever after.
Miaomiao was fine, Senior Li was still alive, and Gao Zhijian even became the Emperor of the Liang Kingdom. Everything had turned out to be fine. Chun Xiaoman felt like a stone weighing down on her chest had just been removed, allowing her to breathe properly, which cleared up her mind.
“Bird’s Nest Congee? I wonder what that tastes like?” Chun Xiaoman said to herself while staring at the congee in the pot. The next moment, she scooped some for herself and tasted it. “It tastes like nothing. Very bland, too.”
Just then, someone entered the kitchen. It was Gao Zhijian, and he was alone.
Chun Xiaoman became nervous when she saw Gao Zhijian walking toward her in his dragon robe. Gao Zhijian's dragon robe was so wide that it blocked the sunlight coming into the kitchen.
Cun Xiaoman took a moment to compose herself before tugging at his robes.
“Your robes suit you. What is it made of?”
“Gold and cloth.”
“You can wear gold?” Chun Xiaoman was intrigued.
“Do you want something like this, Xiaoman? I can give it to you.”
"No, thanks," Chun Xiaoman said, shaking her head. “It must be heavy wearing so much gold.”
“X-X-Xiaoman.” Gao Zhijian stuttered as he stared at the girl with black hair all over her. Gao Zhijian's gaze became complicated. He had no idea when he started liking her, and he also had no idea why he liked someone with long hair all over their figure. Regardless, it was a fact that he hadn't been able to forget her.
Gao Zhijian clenched his callused hands as his heart started beating wildly against his chest. Gao Zhijian opened his arms and hugged her.
“The eunuchs and the Imperial Preceptor have been telling me to choose an Empress so that I can give birth to a son. My first thought was you, but…” Gao Zhijian trailed off. Then, he started sobbing as he hugged her even tighter. “I can’t choose you. Our children will eventually have to kill each other to decide the next emperor. I’m sure you will be devastated then, and I don’t want you to feel that way because I like you! I don’t want to make you feel any pain at all.”
Meanwhile, Chun Xiaoman struggled to get out of Gao Zhijian's embrace. “Why are you treating my words as thin air? Did I not tell you that I will not die even if I don't end up getting married? You've become the Emperor of the Liang Kingdom, but my mind hasn't changed! My words are final, and I will keep my word. You have to stop doing this, or I will have to stop being friends with you!” Chun Xiaoman exclaimed. Then, she stomped her way out of the kitchen.
Chun Xiaoman ran for quite a while before she stopped and leaned against a wall. Her expression turned solemn as she slid down the wall and placed her head between her knees.
After a while, she looked up with her bloodshot eyes. She took a deep breath to compose herself before running toward where Bai Lingmiao had disappeared.
Meanwhile, there were three people relaxing in a distant gazebo, but they found themselves unable to relax due to what they had discovered.
Zhao Wu looked at Puppy and asked, “Hey, did Xiaoman just turn down an offer to become the empress? Doesn't that mean that she likes me?”
“Huh?” Puppy's expression turned ugly as if he had just eaten a fly. “That's none of your business.”
“Why?”
Lu Xiucai chimed in just then, saying, “I think it's your business. Hurry up and get married to Xiaoman. I'll help you hold the horses once you're married.”
Zhao Wu's mouth fluttered, but no words came out of his mouth.
Just then, Gao Zhijian walked out of the kitchen. He stared at where Chun Xiaoman had disappeared before walking toward a distant gazebo.
“Shh! Simpleton is coming over here! Quick! Pretend like you're doing something! We can’t let him know that we've been following him!”
"What..." Gao Zhijian muttered upon seeing the three squatting down and looking at the same leaf on the ground. “...are you guys doing?”
“Aaah... Ahem. Your house is so big, so we wanted to look around, but we ended up getting lost.”
Gao Zhijian nodded. “Let me find… a eunuch to guide you. You can walk around anywhere in the palace... but there are some restricted areas, so please forgive me for not allowing you to go into such places.”
A eunuch floated down from above the gazebo's pillars, and he kneeled in front of Gao Zhijian. “Your Majesty, I'm available. I can guide them”
Clearly, the eunuch had heard the trio's words earlier.
“Ah… Hahaha, then we would have to thank you for your help.” Puppy chuckled to cover his embarrassment. The three then followed the eunuch on a tour of the palace.
After just a few steps, Puppy took out some silver and shoved it into the eunuch’s hands, despite the latter's reluctant look.
Left all alone, Gao Zhijian stared at the ground, cutting a sorry figure. He sat on the stairs of the gazebo and looked at the neat brick path before him.
Fifteen minutes later, Gao Zhijian's mouth opened as he said into the air before him, “I will follow your suggestion… I will choose an Empress… to continue the lineage. Prepare the consort candidates.”
Gao Zhijian was the Emperor of the Liang Kingdom, and he needed children who would succeed him. The more children he had, the better it would be for the kingdom. At first, he had no intentions of willing anyone except for Chun Xiaoman, but he realized that his marriage affected not just himself but the entire Liang Kingdom as well.
“Understood. I heed your orders.” The Imperial Preceptor appeared out of nowhere and bowed to Gao Zhijian before leaving.
He had just turned around when he saw the Chief of the Surveillance Bureau walking toward them in red robes. The two merely nodded as they walked past each other.
“Your Majesty,” the Chief said, sitting down next to Gao Zhijian. Surprisingly, he was still taller than Gao Zhijian despite being in a sitting position.
“As the emperor, you must focus on the pressing affairs of the nation. The people of the Liang Kingdom barely survived the recent Natural Disasters. I’ve made a divination and found out that things are going to remain difficult for us next year. It’s time for you to get familiar with an emperor's job.”
Gao Zhijian rubbed his face with his callused hands before standing up. “I understand.”
“Xuan Pin, am I really… cured? Is it true that Shai Zi... cannot control me anymore?”
His job as the emperor could wait. This was more important. The fact that a Shai Zi could control him whenever they wished was too scary for Gao Zhijian. He'd still tremble in fear whenever he remembered how the Shai Zi had taken over his body and had ordered the army to kill his allies.
The Chief didn’t nod nor shake his head as he said, “I’m afraid we have to ask Li Huowang about that. He got rid of Shai Zi by himself. I actually don’t know whether Shai Zi is dead or alive.”
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