n

n

nLong Xiaoyuan took Xu You back this day, dropping a bomb in the imperial palace.

nAll the imperial concubines turned livid, especially Lady Shan.

nShe planned to utilize the little prince to get closer to His Majesty again. When this was going to work, a teenager showed up. How could this happen?

n

n

nThere was already Shi Qingzhou, so why did another man appear?

nHer face was twisted with anger and hit two sets of teacups. Seeing this, a group of palace maids and eunuchs grasped with terror and shrank their heads to reduce their existences.

nOn the other side, Lady Rou’s palace was enveloped with a weird atmosphere.

nWhen His Majesty liked her, Lady Rou also acted domineeringly.

n

n

nHowever, since that palace maid was found dead in the dry well, she felt scared, laid on the bed ill for over half a month, and still couldn’t explain herself.

nFrom that day on, she had kept a low profile for some reason.

nNo, to be exact, she was extremely low-keyed. Perhaps, it was because she lost the love of His Majesty or something else. She even seldom left her palace!

nOf course, Long Xiaoyuan didn’t care about how those imperial concubines responded to it.

n

n

nTo him, Xu You was his younger brother and his fellow-townsman. That was all!

nXu You made him feel that he wasn’t alone in this world.

nHe couldn’t say some things to Shi Qingzhou, because he was scared that they would affect them.

nBut, he could talk to Xu You about them.

nTo be frank, he secretly tested Xu You to see if Xu You knew that all this was a story described in a novel. It turned out that Xu You knew nothing.

nIn Xu You’s knowledge, he only thought that he came to a parallel strange world that didn’t exist in history.

n

n

nSince Xu You knew nothing about this, Long Xiaoyuan wouldn’t say more.

nNo one wanted to say that the world he lived in was just a novel, didn’t he?

nNo one could accept this!

nThus, Long Xiaoyun decided not to tell Xu You the truth.

nMore importantly, his understandings might be wrong, because Xu You didn’t exist in the novel called The Empress’s Way to the Throne.

nBased on his knowledge of the novel, he didn’t know that there was a character like Xu You.

nFurthermore, the plots had actually gone off the track.

nThe character of him should have died in that book!

n

n

nInstead, he was still alive…

nThe plots had been derailed, so he didn’t need to care about Xu You…

nAfter dinner with Xu You, he arranged Xu You in the Yushang Palace.

nSituated near the Qiankun Palace, Yushang Palace was an independent palace but was different from the palaces where the imperial concubines lived.

nIt was the princes of other countries and the like who used to live in the Yushang Palace…

nApparently, Xu You wasn’t a prince, which everyone knew.

nIf Xu You was a real prince and lived there, His Majesty would have told all the ministers.

nHence, it was thought-provoking that Xu You lived there.

nIt was also why many imperial concubines got panicked.

nIf Xu You was only a toy-boy, then he wouldn’t be allowed to stay there.

nHowever, His Majesty indeed asked Xu You to live there. Did it mean that His Majesty wanted to grant the teenager a nobler identity?

nThis was prevailing speculation, so the imperial concubines turned scared.

nHis Majesty only loved His Grace already, but now another man showed up? Did His Majesty only like men? Then what about the women?

n

n

nEach imperial concubine was worried about herself.

nInterestingly, Long Xiaoyuan didn’t think that far. Xu You was a man who was improper to live in the Imperial Harem, so he simply made such an arrangement.

nAlthough he had no interest in the imperial concubines, he would feel embarrassed if Xu You got closer to them.

nHe didn’t expect that his action would make others indulgent in their fancies.

nXu You officially settled down in the imperial palace.

nMysterious and powerful, Sky Hermit Fort owned many strong martial artists whom Long Xiaoyuan was worried would sneak into the imperial palace.

nTherefore, Long Xiaoyuan secretly ordered three Shadow Guardians to protect Xu You, one of whom was Ying Qiu. Few other Shadow Guardians could compete with Ying Qi in the martial arts. Otherwise, Ying Qiu wouldn’t have been the deputy leader. Consequentially, Shi Qingzhou received a message sent by a flying pigeon.

nAs soon as he saw the content, his expression was slightly changed, and he crumbed a teacup into powders.

nShi Qingshan was there with Shi Qingzhou at that moment, so he was surprised at the drastically emotional change of his son, for he immediately sensed what from his son? Anger, the killing intent, and disappointment…

nIn a word, the mood of his son was rather complicated.

nStaring at Shi Qingzhou, Shi Qingshan asked after a pause, “What’s going on?”

nShi Qingzhou said with his lips curled, “Father, nothing happened.”

nShi Qingshan didn’t buy it.

n“Qingzhou, you can tell me everything. I’m your father.”

nShi Qingzhou fell into silence.

nShi Qingshan asked slowly with his eyes fixed on Shi Qingzhou, “Is the message from the imperial city?”

nIn order not to embarrass Shi Qingzhou, Shi Qingshan said the imperial city, not the imperial palace.

nHowever, who else could affect Shi Qingzhou except for His Majesty?

nShi Qingzhou took a deep breath and said with a nod, “Yeah. It comes from the imperial palace.”

nIt was about His Majesty as expected…Shi Qingshan asked seriously, “What happened?”

nShi Qingzhou said in an undertone with his head down, “A master lives in the Yushang Palace. His Majesty brought him back personally.”

nHearing this, Shi Qingshan was in a daze. “A master?”

nShi Qingzhou said with a nod, “Yes. You heard me right.”

nShi Qingshan felt somewhat surprised and murmured, “A master? Does His Majesty like men now?”

nSpeaking of which, he stopped.

nHis son was a man, too. But, Shi Qingzhou was appointed as the empress for some political reasons.

nBesides, His Majesty didn’t get into men…so why…

nShi Qingzhou said calmly, “I don’t know.”

nShi Qingshan couldn’t help but say upon seeing that Shi Qingzhou held back his anger, “Qingzhou, you’re already the empress. You should have stayed in the imperial palace.”

nHearing this, Shi Qingzhou slightly clenched his fists and took a deep breath. “Father, I got it. But, I’m here, so I won’t regret.”

nShi Qingshan said after a pause, “Yushang Palace is special. If His Majesty only wants a toy-boy, he won’t let that a toy-boy live there. It seems His Majesty cares about the toy-boy very much and may promote his ranking in the future…”

nShi Qingzhou looked calm but said with cold eyes, “I don’t know the details yet.”

nShi Qingshan asked gently while gazing at his son, “Qingzhou, do you like His Majesty?”

nShi Qingzhou slightly shivered without knowing how to deny it or how to answer it.

nUnderstanding his son so well, Shi Qingshan knew that Shi Qingzhou fell for His Majesty.

nHaving bitterly smiled in his heart, Shi Qingshan turned serious and enjoined Shi Qingzhou, “Qingzhou, I’ve told you what it meant when you entered the imperial palace. You should know His Majesty can’t just love one person. As the empress, you can’t be as jealous as women and can’t hurt others because of the love of His Majesty. The people in our family can’t do these things. Do you understand?”

nShi Qingzhou was frozen for an instant and looked up at Shi Qingshan whose eyes were rather strict.

nAfter a long time, Shi Qingzhou said with a nod, “Father, I know that.”

nShi Qingzhou got relaxed with relief and patted Shi Qingzhou on his shoulder. “I know you’re sad, but it’s your fate. Besides, His Majesty has loved you so much lately. If you want to stay here, I won’t stop you. His Majesty will value you more when you bring victorious news back.”

nShi Qingzhou didn’t say a word.

nShi Qingshan sighed and silently stepped out of the tent.

nWhen Shi Qingshan left, Shi Qingzhou instantly turned gloomy with a hint of blankness in his eyes.

nIt was like yesterday when Long Xiaoyuan said that he only loved Shi Qingzhou! But how could Long Xiaoyuan fall in love with someone else so soon?

nWas this the kind of love Long Xiaoyuan meant?

nCould the heart of His Majesty not be trusted?

nShi Qingzhou slowly closed his eyes with a broken heart.

nIn the imperial palace far away from the border, Long Xiaoyuan didn’t know that his empress thought he loved someone else.

nNow, he was dazedly staring at a memorial to the throne.

nThere was nothing wrong with the memorial. Instead, he was thinking of Shi Qingzhou who had left over a month.

nExcept for the victorious news sent from the border, he hadn’t contacted Shi Qingzhou during this period.

nShi Qingzhou sent nothing back.

nHe didn’t pass anything on.

nSuddenly, a thought crossed his mind! Were they having a “cold war”?

nIt felt like so…

nSince he promised that Shi Qingzhou could go to the battlefront, things between them seemed odd.

nHe didn’t show up on the day Shi Qingzhou left until Shi Qingzhou went a long distance.

nWhen he stood on the top of the city wall alone and watched the residual shadow of the troops, how did he feel?

nHe had a mixed feeling.

nAfter a long time, he sighed and stopped reading it since he got distracted…

nAt the moment, the voice of “Here Master Xu comes” arose.

nMaster Xu namely meant Xu You.

nLong Xiaoyuan was upset, so he naturally invited Xu You inside.

nBy coincidence, Xu You felt upset, too. The longer he parted with Fang Shuoyang, the panicked he felt.

nBoth of them felt gloomy.

nXu You said, “Elder brother, let’s go have a walk outside.”

nLong Xiaoyuan nodded and said after glancing at the sky outside, “It’s afternoon, so we can’t get out. How about going to the Imperial Garden?”

nXu You said with a nod, “It doesn’t matter anywhere.”

nThey had a chit-chat on the way to the Imperial Garden and found a pavilion to sit down.

nIn the eyes of others, they intimately had a stroll.

nXu You said, “Elder brother, I wanna drink.”

nLong Xiaoyuan wanted to drink, so. After some thoughts, he decided to overindulge himself and ordered the eunuchs to bring some liquors over.

nThe eunuchs immediately went to fetch the liquors.

nWhen two jars of Imperial Liquor were brought over, Xu You took a sip of it and said, “Tut tut, it tastes good.”

nLong Xiaoyuan said with a nod, “Yeah, it does. But you’ll be drunk if you drink more.”

n“Be drunk…” Having glanced the liquor in front of him, Xu You said in an undertone, “I haven’t been drunk for a long time and even forget how it feels…Elder brother, let’s get drunk today.”

nLong Xiaoyuan thought that he shouldn’t be so capricious, but he wanted to get drunk.

nNo worries, he had made up his mind to overindulge himself.

nHe said with a laugh, “Okay, let’s drink.”

nSubsequently, they started drinking without any dishes that went with liquor!

nAs a result, the rumor that His Majesty and Master Xu drunk and merrily chatted spread over the entire imperial palace.

nAll the imperial concubines were angry and twisted their faces…

nLady Shan was the most furious one among those. She was almost out of her mind to rush to the Imperial Garden, but she finally restrained herself…

n