Chapter 478: The Empress is Easy to Coax? The Prophecy is Fulfilled

"This isn’t your fault, Ah Wu."

Zhao Mingyan had been patting her back to comfort her, but it wasn’t long before his hand slid under her tunic and started to roam.

Ji Qingwu grabbed his hand and tossed it away.

She said sternly, "I’m not done asking my questions. No groping."

Zhao Mingyan chuckled. "My hand has a mind of its own. It just slipped up there all by itself."

Ji Qingwu shot him a sideways glance. "If it disobeys again, I’ll tie it up."

Zhao Mingyan pressed his hands together and held them out to her. "If Ah Wu wants to bind them, then bind them. Do as you please."

Ji Qingwu was no fool. Even if she tied him up, he could just use his Inner Strength to break free.

Her brow furrowed. Something felt a little off.

Zhao Mingyan shifted his hips, causing Ji Qingwu to bounce slightly. "Can’t you ask me tomorrow?" he said gently. "I’m getting sleepy."

’The thing pressing into her was plenty awake. How could *he* be sleepy?’

Ji Qingwu’s expression turned serious. "I have to ask now. What’s the story with the former princess in Anhua Palace?"

The room fell silent for a moment.

Feigning sleepiness, Zhao Mingyan rubbed his eyes. "Someone will come to explain it to Ah Wu tomorrow. Let’s just get some sleep for now."

As he spoke, he cupped her rear and rolled over, trying to simply hold her and go to sleep.

His attempt to evade the question was too obvious.

Ji Qingwu clamped her thighs around his waist, forcing him back onto his back. Straddling his hips, she grabbed the collar of his tunic and gave it a hard shake.

"Shouldn’t you be the one explaining this to me? Why is someone else coming to do it?"

Zhao Mingyan glanced at his now-open collar, then met her eyes. "It’s a complicated story. If I start now, we’ll be up all night. Besides, I’m doing this at someone’s request. It’s better to wait for him to arrive and explain."

Ji Qingwu sensed something unusual. "Who’s coming tomorrow?" she asked.

"It’s someone Ah Wu has met before," Zhao Mingyan said. "An acquaintance."

’Someone who can order the Emperor around, and for whom the Emperor would even keep a secret... There can’t be many people like that in the entire world.’

Ji Qingwu gasped. "Don’t tell me that Commandery Princess is..."

Zhao Mingyan raised an eyebrow. "Ah Wu figured it out that quickly?"

Ji Qingwu lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Is she Uncle-Grandpa Le Xi’s granddaughter?"

Zhao Mingyan flicked her on the forehead. "What are you thinking about?"

’If not Le Xi, who else could command so much respect from the Emperor?’

Ji Qingwu puzzled over it endlessly, thinking for half the night before she finally drifted off. During that time, she rejected a certain someone’s advances twice and used a pillow to create an uncrossable border down the middle of the bed.

「The next day.」

When Ji Qingwu woke up, she felt warm all over, as comfortable as if she were soaking in a thermal spring.

She nuzzled her cheek against her pillow.

’Why is it so firm?’

Ji Qingwu opened her eyes. The sound of breathing came from just above her head. Looking up, she gazed into a pair of eyes that held an uncanny gleam, much like a wild wolf’s.

Once Ji Qingwu fell asleep, she had completely disregarded the boundary she had so strictly enforced. Her body had automatically sought out a heat source, and she had pressed her face against his chest, her limbs tangled around his.

Zhao Mingyan, however, hadn’t slept a wink. The feeling of having a feast right in front of him that he couldn’t touch was pure torture. He had endured it all night long.

Just when he had finally waited for Ji Qingwu to wake, she nimbly untangled herself, hopped out of bed, and fled.

The Emperor decided to retract his judgment that the Empress was easy to placate.

Hearing the commotion inside, Li Yuzong and Fanghua, who were waiting outside, came in.

This was the first time Li Yuzong had ever seen the Emperor wake up so late. He had even skipped his unshakeable morning martial arts practice.

He bowed, stepping forward to help the Emperor dress. "Holy Emperor," he said respectfully, "the Master is already in the Diligent Governance Hall. He has been waiting for Your Majesty for some time."

"I know," Zhao Mingyan replied.

When Fanghua entered, she saw the Empress was nowhere to be found in the bedchamber, leaving Li Yuzong to attend to the Emperor’s dressing and washing.

She hurried to the washroom to find Ji Qingwu had already washed her face. Handing her a towel, Fanghua ventured, "Your Grace, please don’t mind this servant for overstepping, but the Emperor is still out there. It would be best if you went to assist him."

Ji Qingwu took the towel and dabbed the water from her face.

"Never mind him."

Fanghua immediately fell silent, not daring to speak further.

By the time they came out, the Emperor had already left on urgent business. However, he had deliberately left Li Yuzong behind to keep Ji Qingwu company during breakfast.

Fanghua could tell her two masters were having a spat. She sidled up to Li Yuzong and said discreetly, "Eunuch Li, the Empress is very frank by nature. She doesn’t mean to be disrespectful to His Majesty. I hope you’ll put in a few good words for her."

Li Yuzong gestured with his lips and shook his head. "Don’t you worry about that."

’Based on what I saw at the Northern Border Camp, the two of them are long past the point of worrying about respect.’

’If the Empress weren’t still angry and ignoring the Emperor, our Holy Emperor would have gone in to attend to Her Majesty’s morning routine himself.’

*

「Diligent Governance Hall.」

The scent of ambergris, mingled with another sweet fragrance, drifted through the hall.

Emperor Wu Su placed a black stone on the board, but the man in the slate-gray robe hesitated, his white stone hovering over the board.

At last, the man placed his white stone. "A brilliant move, Your Majesty."

"Should I call you Master Liao Ran," Zhao Mingyan said, "or..."

"Shen Wei."

The man in the slate-gray robe was indeed Master Liao Ran, though he wasn’t wearing his usual monastic robes. He smiled. "Whichever you prefer. The Buddha resides in one’s heart, not in such worldly possessions."

"Your Majesty has just been wed, yet you were so anxious that you ordered Mr. Duan to find me. Surely it wasn’t just for a game of Go?"

"Of course, it’s about an important matter," Zhao Mingyan said.

Master Liao Ran began gathering the white stones back into their porcelain bowl. "Does it concern the Empress?"

"What have you divined now?" Zhao Mingyan asked.

A smile played on Master Liao Ran’s lips. "I was once worried that if Your Majesty were to develop feelings for someone, it would be detrimental to the nation’s fortune. It seems my vision was too narrow."

"Before Your Majesty left for the campaign, I observed the stars and cast a divination. Both pointed to a most auspicious outcome, with the lucky star falling upon the Ji Family."

He sighed in admiration. "It seems what Your Majesty said has come to pass. The union of yin and yang is indeed the way of Heaven. The more harmoniously the Emperor and Empress’s yin and yang are balanced, the more prosperous and peaceful Beili will become."

This matched the special ability Ji Qingwu had spoken of.

"Your divination was accurate," Zhao Mingyan said.

In the past, Master Liao Ran had read his destiny and foretold several events for him, all of which had come to pass.

For instance, he had predicted the exact time a woman would appear to break the curse of him being without an heir.

"Your Majesty’s trials have finally turned to triumph," Master Liao Ran said with deep feeling. "The woman of destiny may seem to have appeared for the sake of bearing an heir, but in truth, she was born from your own fate."

The black Go stone was still pinched between Zhao Mingyan’s fingers. "But that’s not why I summoned you."

"Then for what reason?" Master Liao Ran asked in surprise.

He could divine the fate of anyone in the world, but his own remained a mystery to him.

"It’s about the one in Anhua Palace," Zhao Mingyan said softly.

The porcelain bowl in Master Liao Ran’s hand clattered to the floor.

From a distance, Little Dongzi spotted a figure approaching the Diligent Governance Hall and announced loudly, "Her Majesty the Empress has arrived!"