Novel Full Chapter 1354: Chapter 1349: Opposing Zhuo Junli
Chapter 1354: Chapter 1349: Opposing Zhuo Junli
The towering city gate was shut tight, not even leaving a crack for him.
Standing atop the gate, the guard shouted down, “Lord Zhuo, Lord Lu has ordered that after nightfall, the city gates are to be closed. Unless the emperor himself arrives, they must not be opened without authorization.”
Zhuo Junli disembarked from the carriage, a chill forcing him to draw his cloak tighter, “Since when did the city gate fall under the management of Lord Lu, a mere civil official?”
Even if Lu Mian were to be promoted to Grand Tutor, he still wouldn’t have authority over the city gate.
Clearly, this was a deliberate obstruction against him.
The gate guard’s voice was robust, “Lord Lu has paperwork on this, and we soldiers are merely following orders. Lord Zhuo should return and rest early; you can enter the city tomorrow.”
Zhuo Junli curled his lips into a smile; so be it! Lu Mian’s talents were vast indeed, timing his schemes perfectly to trap him outside the city walls and counting on the fact that the round trip would be too much for him. In fact, forget resting; he probably wouldn’t be able to enter the city gates even by tomorrow.
“Lu Mian, oh Lu Mian, seizing the chance to firmly step on me,” Zhuo Junli laughed coldly.
He didn’t bother arguing with the gatekeepers any further since it was futile; they wouldn’t let him in. He simply instructed the coachman to find a sheltered spot to stop the carriage and decided to rest inside. After three hours, it would be time for the gates to reopen.
However, on this autumn night, as the dew fell heavily and the cold wind howled, donning only a cloak, he ultimately awoke to the sound of his own coughing, dizzy as he entered the city.
Chu Jinling had indeed allowed him to return to court, but he had stripped him of his power, permitting him only to handle trivial paperwork. Aware of his grudge with Lu Mian, Chu Jinling had purposely placed him under Lu Mian’s watch, allowing Lu Mian to make final decisions on the documents he processed. If there were any mistakes, Lu Mian could have him redo everything.
It had to be said that Chu Jinling was truly a nephew trained by Chu Yihan; their ruthless methods were strikingly similar.
As a result, Zhuo Junli’s daily tasks were not only mountains of paperwork but also enduring Lu Mian’s temper.
Although Lu Mian wouldn’t let personal grudges interfere with state affairs, he definitely wouldn’t make life easy for Zhuo Junli. For three consecutive days, Zhuo Junli hadn’t slept for more than four hours, either having his memorials rejected by Lu Mian or on his way to deal with rejections.
It wasn’t until Mo Qi quietly sought him out that Lu Mian finally let him leave.
Zhuo Junli rubbed his temples and, taking advantage of a passing palace maid with a mirror, he took a look at his own face.
Dark circles beneath his eyes, and his under-eyes were a shade of blackish purple.
“Tch,” Zhuo Junli sighed slightly, saying that his wife at home would certainly disdain him if she saw his appearance, claiming Lu Mian to be better looking than him.
“Prime Minister, I went to see Ling’er yesterday; she refused to see me and even said… she wants to cancel our engagement, she won’t marry me,” Mo Qi worriedly confessed. The simple words ‘I won’t marry you’ from Leng Muling had thrown his whole being into disarray.
Zhuo Junli waved his hand dismissively, “Those are words spoken in anger; just listen and forget them. Girls have their little tempers, just be patient and coax her. But what exactly happened between you and Hong Lian? Have you recalled anything?”
He looked into Mo Qi’s eyes with an inquisitive gaze. As Leng Muling’s uncle, he most certainly cared for her in every conceivable way.
From the moment she took an interest in Mo Qi, he had spared no effort to understand who Mo Qi was.
A confidant of Chu Yihan for twenty years, a loyal servant, upright in character, skilled in martial arts, Mo Qi had been almost faultless except for his obsessive entanglement with Hong Lian.
But Hong Lian was precisely his Achilles’ heel.
Su Yingxue had once given him a drug to cause amnesia, but knowing her abilities as an empress in medicine and her kindheartedness, she surely wouldn’t have been willing to administer a harmful heavy dose to Mo Qi. Thus, it was impossible to predict when he might begin to remember something.
Mo Qi didn’t know why Zhuo Junli asked this question, but he told the truth, “I indeed remembered some things about Hong Lian. There must have been something between us before… Yesterday, she tried to commit suicide, and I saved her, placing her temporarily outside the dungeon.”
Zhuo Junli’s brows suddenly furrowed, “The emperor ordered her to be imprisoned for life, and yet you released her on your own?”
“Given the urgency yesterday, I did it to save her. Today, I have already ordered her to be locked back up, except that the Doctor needs to change her bandages daily,” Mo Qi said with a deep voice.
If Hong Lian died, the doubts in his heart would remain unresolved.
He indeed harbored personal reasons.
“That woman would be better off dead,” Zhuo Junli’s gaze turned icy, “Have you thought about how you will beg for the emperor’s forgiveness?”
Mo Qi bowed and said, “I have already requested from the emperor to set off for Ruo Shui Pass immediately. The Crown Prince and the princess are accompanied by the Silver Moon Pavilion’s West Pavilion Master personally appointed by the eighth prince.”
Zhuo Junli raised his eyebrows, “That woman Hong Lian, you needn’t visit her again. If you do, don’t blame this Prime Minister for not allowing your marriage with Mu Ling.”
“But I might still recall some of the past…” Zhuo Junli could see through people’s thoughts. Indeed, Mo Qi wanted to see Hong Lian again, to ask her about their previous relationship and why she kept appearing in his dreams lately.
“Don’t go see her again,” Zhuo Junli insisted sternly, not one to be swayed.
He could be jocular at times, but when it came to the lifelong affairs of his niece, he would not yield at all, issuing a severe warning to Mo Qi, “If you see that woman again, I will immediately take Mu Ling back to the Prime Minister’s Estate, and you can forget about seeing her for the rest of your life.”
“Please don’t, Prime Minister Lord!” Mo Qi said with great anxiety, “I will set off for Ruo Shui Pass right away, and I ask that you please not send Mu Ling back to the Prime Minister’s Estate.”
Both the old Prime Minister and Lord Leng Mu firmly disagreed with his marriage to Mu Ling, and if Mu Ling were sent back, not even an imperial edict from the emperor would easily allow him to marry Mu Ling.
Zhuo Junli stopped talking to him, but Lu Mian heard the conversation between the two men.
His grudge with Zhuo Junli wasn’t a matter of just one or two days. The person Zhuo Junli forbade Mo Qi from seeing was precisely the person Lu Mian would ensure that Mo Qi saw.
Mo Qi had already packed and was ready to head for Ruo Shui Pass, but Lu Mian found him and asked to see him, which led him to Ninth Prince’s Mansion.
When Mo Qi saw the red dress under the moonlight, with its skirt blooming with lotus flowers, his eyes were immediately drawn to it. As if possessed, he drew closer, and when Hong Lian turned around, he found himself gazing into her affectionate eyes.
“Mo Qi.”
With a gentle call from Hong Lian, his steps involuntarily moved towards her.
Leng Mu Ling stood alone in the temple courtyard, her face red from the cold, refusing to enter the house to rest.
Yun Sijin, seeing her foolishly waiting, stoked a charcoal brazier in her room so that at least she would be warm when she returned to rest.
But as Yun Sijin waited with Leng Mu Ling until dawn, Leng Mu Ling, her frozen legs barely able to move, still had not seen Mo Qi.
Yun Sijin, holding a hand warmer, approached Leng Mu Ling, intending to place the warmer in her hands. Upon touching them, she suddenly widened her eyes, “Mu Ling, you foolish child!”
Her hands were as cold as ice!
She quickly tried to help Leng Mu Ling inside, but on Leng Mu Ling’s pallid face, two streams of tears suddenly fell, “Auntie, didn’t he promise to come and see me, to explain everything? Why… didn’t he come?”