The Empress’ Livestream

Noticing that someone was watching her, Shangguan Wan looked in the direction of the gaze and found out that the person was a very handsome young man.

Li Yun nodded almost imperceptibly to show his satisfaction. Her alertness was not bad. Shangguan Wan was perplexed.

Shangguan Wan and Jiang Nongqin had already eaten a little. She initially thought that she should not eat a lot, but the grilled meat, which was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, was coated with all kinds of spices. The aroma of food had enticed their sense of taste, constantly stimulating the production of saliva in their mouths… Erm, perhaps they were actually not that full…

With such thoughts, how could she restrain herself? Meat should be grilled when it should be grilled. One should eat when he should.

“Brother Lanting… No, I should call you the lord now… You’re living such a comfortable life…”

Shangguan Wan’s diet had always been a combination of meat and vegetables. It was rare for her to just have meat. She initially thought that having another two mouthfuls of meat would make her feel greasy. However, by dipping the meat into the unfamiliar sauces, she ended up having two plates of sliced meat. If it was not for the insufficient capacity of her stomach, she could have eaten still more.

“Eat your grilled meat. The huge amount of meat can’t even keep you quiet.”

Jiang Pengji carefully flipped the meat slices onto the barbecue grill. Her eyebrows raised a little and there was a hint of lovingness in her clear voice.

Shangguan Wan said with a sigh, “Growing up is really overrated…”

Jiang Pengji looked askance at her out of the corner of her eye and asked, “What’s the matter with you?”

Shangguan Wan replied, “If I was still young, would you say that I’m eating too much? You’d probably ask me to eat more.”

Jiang Pengji sighed and refilled half of the plate with meat by using the clean serving chopsticks.

She said helplessly, “You’re taking my goodwill for ill intent. You shouldn’t eat too much meat so that it won’t be accumulated in your stomach and cause indigestion, but you misunderstand me for feeling sorry for the grilled meat instead. You really have no conscience. Here you go. This grilled meat is all for you…”

Seeing the interaction between Shangguan Wan and Jiang Pengji, Qiguan Rang raised his eyebrows and made eye contact with Xu Ke. They looked like they were sitting back and watching a show.

“What a couple of sweethearts… It’s good to be young…” Qiguan Rang mumbled teasingly. Upon hearing what he said, Xu Ke gave him an understanding look.

By rights, their lord was 16 years old that year. However, apart from his first fiancée, who was the current Mrs. Feng, Wei Jingxian, they seemed to not have heard of any other of their lord’s female intimates.

Their lord was still young, so they were not too anxious. Moreover, their lord had such a tender heart for women. Would women not have a strong affinity for him?

The two of them had the same perception in regards to this matter. A man should first start his career. There was no need to rush to get married.

Speaking of marriage, Xu Ke and Qiguan Rang were secretly worried about the relationship between Feng Jin and their lord.

Feng Jin was the incumbent husband of the lord’s ex-fiancée. Would these two really be okay together?

Facts had proven that Feng Jin was really an open minded gentleman. He did not care about rumors.

He even magnanimously attended the New Year’s banquet the year before together with his wife and child.

Now, Shangguan Wan who had a very close relationship with their lord had appeared. They felt that… a marriage might happen soon.

In fact, when Qiguan Rang said that they were a couple of sweethearts, Wei Ci’s hand which was holding a cup trembled. The liquor in the cup splattered.

Feng Jin looked torn.

It was really difficult for him to guard a secret that only a few people knew about, watch his teammates being lost in various fancies and conjectures and be unable to explain it to them.

“Just let them guess wildly. It won’t come true anyway.” Wei Ci took out a balsam green handkerchief, wiping the liquor from his hand calmly.

He could join in the gossip if his lord was eagerly attentive towards a man. He was not worried about Shangguan Wan.

Feng Jin smiled upon hearing what Wei Ci said. “I think so too.”

The two of them tacitly made eye contact and raised their glasses to drink.

Wei Ci’s body was still weak, so what he drank was the health-preserving, medicinal liquor which had been approved by a few physicians. The liquor could slowly fend off the cold.

“Jingxian is in Xiangyang too. Changsheng whom she has given birth to last year can also talk and walk now. Do you want to visit her?”

Shangguan Wan’s eyes lit up upon hearing what she said.

“I definitely have to. I haven’t seen Sister Jingxian for a long time.”

When she met Wei Jingxian, the two of them sighed incessantly and poured out what they had gone through in the past few years.

Having learned that Shangguan Wan had finally broken free from the Zhang family, Wei Jingxian could not help but feel happy for her sister-like friend.

In Shangguan Wan’s letter from a while before, she had told Wei Jingxian that she was going to marry a dead man. The Four Self-accomplishment Classics for Women was even included in the bride price given by the bridegroom’s side. Her future mother-in-law humiliated her in public, asking Shangguan Wan to study the Four Self-accomplishment Classics for Women properly and hide her filthy habits that she had prior to marriage… Wei Jingxian had boiled with anger.

How could the daughter born of the legal wife of the distinguished and aristocratic Shangguan family tolerate the shrew’s humiliation and belittlement?

However, every family had a skeleton in the closet. Wei Jingxian and Feng Jin were still detained as hostages in Shangjing at that time. Her own life was in danger.

The only thing that she could do was to comfort Shangguan Wan. She could not really help with her with anything.

Wei Jingxian was carrying Chansheng. “Everything is alright now. You don’t have to worry anymore.”

Shangguan Wan replied emotionally, “Yeah. I used to be Shangguan Wan of the Shangguan family, but now I’m just Shangguan Wan.”

“Aunty…”

Changsheng liked to remember people lately. She would repeat it non-stop whenever she saw someone.

Looking at Changsheng’s appearance, Shangguan Wan could not help but have a bold idea.

“Do you stay home and take care of Changsheng now?”

Wei Jingxian was startled. “Yeah. Changsheng is still little and she doesn’t like to cling onto the wet nurse or the servant girl…”

Changsheng was little and hot-tempered. The servants really could not keep her under control, so she could only raise her herself.

“Sister Jingxian, have you ever thought of looking for a job?”

Dumfounded, Wei Jingxian glanced at Shangguan Wan with an inexplicable gaze.

“Why would you suddenly ask me such a question?”

Shangguan Wan could not explain why. She just felt that Wei Jingxian had also read the Confucian Classics thoroughly when she was still at home and knew the morality of the sage. In terms of talent, she was not as good as Feng Jin, but she was a lot better than those who were ignorant and illiterate.

It was a waste that she was trapped in a small inner courtyard.

Shangguan Wan always felt insecure on the inside because of her own experience.

If this was in the past, she felt that an aristocratic lady should just fulfill her responsibilities, but now she felt that a life like that was somewhat dangerous.

She thought it over and expressed her words truthfully. Wei Jingxian did not look angry. Instead, she looked as if she was deep in thought.

Wei Jingxian sighed. “Everyone has their own way of living… Changsheng is still little. I can’t be at ease.”

Before the couple went to bed that night, Wei Jingxian told Feng Jin about it.

Feng Jin stopped halfway when he was about to take off his clothes. He said, “You can give it a try when Changsheng has grown up some more.”

Wei Jingxian was surprised, as if she no longer knew who her husband was.

Feng Jin continued with a smile, “Lanting has established a female battalion and even dressed up as a woman to train the new recruits. She has hired women for the government office and has appointed Jiang Nongqin as the person in charge. What do you think she’s going to do? Her identity can’t be kept secret forever. According to her temperament, she’ll never do that too. Everything now is done to pave the way. I think we should have a proper female lord when everyone has adapted well. It’s inevitable to feel bored when you stay in the courtyard alone to take care of Changsheng… Give it a try. The world is far wider than the inner courtyard.”