Her guards

Chapter 84 Morning in the Palace
Before dawn, the Empress had already gotten up.

The palace maids were already used to it and filed in to serve the washing and grooming.

The Empress, dressed only in her everyday clothes, first went to the greenhouse to tend to the flowers and plants.

Her personal maidservant whispered to her what time Princess Heisei went to sleep last night, and how the Prince of Donghai's training went at the palace yesterday.

"The princess was determined to become the first female disciple of the chief priest, and she studied even harder."

"The King of the East Sea said that he must win the championship in this year's winter hunt and present it to His Majesty and the Empress."

Upon hearing this, a smile appeared on the Empress's slightly tense face.

"Both the King of the East Sea and the Princess are people who don't trouble Your Majesty at all," the palace maid said with a smile.

The Queen carefully examined a plant and said, "Having these two children is the greatest blessing of my life."

Marrying His Majesty is the greatest blessing of my life.

The palace maid did not correct her, pretending not to hear.

The Empress tended to the flowers and plants herself, and there was no one else in the greenhouse at this time.

"His Majesty stayed at Consort Li's place last night," the palace maid said in a low voice, adding, "It wasn't His Majesty who went there on his own initiative. Consort Li said she had prepared His Majesty's favorite dishes and personally invited him, so His Majesty went."

The Empress's gaze was fixed on the budding flowers, and she twitched her lips: "What's the difference between going voluntarily and being invited?"

The palace maid was about to say something when the Empress stopped her.

"Alright, there's no need to talk about these things anymore," she said. "I am the Empress, and he is the Emperor. We're not the couple who used to live in the Chai family's villa."

The palace maid responded with a "yes," then, as if remembering something, stepped forward. Although the greenhouse was empty, she still glanced left and right...

What could be more dangerous than trying to find out information about the emperor?

“Steward Qin went out in the middle of the night,” she said in a low voice, with an apologetic tone. “My people didn’t dare to follow him, for fear of being discovered by Steward Qin, so we don’t know what he went out to do yet.”

The Empress straightened up and looked out of the greenhouse: "The only people who could wake him in the middle of the night are my family members. It must be my father looking for him."

"My lord, you should just speak to the Empress directly if you have something to say," the palace maid complained with a smile.

The Empress said calmly, "He has nothing to say to me. He just needs to tell me what to do."

He glanced at the palace maid as he spoke.

“In my palace, you young people are the only ones who haven’t been assigned to anything by him.”

The palace maid didn't dare to reply.

A soft voice requesting permission came from outside the greenhouse. The palace maid recognized the voice and knew it was her informant, so she quickly let him in.

A young palace maid stepped forward and bowed: "Something must have happened last night. His Majesty got up in the middle of the night at Consort Li's place."

Something happened? What happened? The palace maid was slightly surprised, but saw that the Empress had already bent down and was focused on pruning the flower branches again.

"What could possibly happen?" she said calmly. "Unless the capital is captured, it's nothing."

……

.......
As dawn broke, Che Ji, the Commandant of the Imperial Guards, stood outside the Han Guang Hall of the Gui Palace, where Consort Li resided, and slightly adjusted his robes.

Che Ji didn't have to wait long. Soon, the chief eunuch came out and announced that he could enter. When he entered the hall, he saw Consort Li, dressed in a light purple dress, helping the emperor put on his outer robe. There was already a person standing in the hall, pointing and gesturing with a smile.

"...Empress Li gave His Majesty that lotus-patterned belt."

Consort Li did as she was told and had it brought, praising with a smile, "Ah Jiao knows how to dress better than me."

The emperor listened to their banter with a smile, letting them dress as they pleased.

Che Ji glanced at Wei Jiao.

"The Grand Commandant of Chariots has arrived," Wei Jiao said. "Your Majesty, please ask him quickly."

The emperor looked at Che Ji: "How many people died?"

The fact that the emperor directly inquired about the casualties shows that he already knew about the incident that occurred last night.

Che Ji was not surprised. Although the emperor lived in the imperial city, he did not rely solely on the Imperial Guards to relay messages.

There were embroidered robes, imperial guards, and palace attendants.

The matter at midnight was neither a big deal nor a small one; someone naturally reported it to the emperor.

Regardless of what others said or what Wei Jiao said, Che Ji only said what he knew after taking over: "Apart from the thieves, there were no casualties, only the young ladies of the Ding'an Duke's Mansion happened to pass by and were frightened."

The emperor breathed a slight sigh of relief, then frowned and asked, "Have you found out who it was?"

Che Ji nodded: "We've found out. It's remnants of the Sun family who plotted the rebellion in Yizhou." The emperor frowned, seemingly surprised yet not surprised. Before he could say anything, Wei Jiao clapped his hands and said, "Good!"

"My credit is here," Wei Jiao said with a smile. "Your Majesty, I shall take my leave now. I will go and capture the rebels for you."

After saying that, he got up and ran away.

Although it seemed inexplicable, it meant that there was no objection to what Che Ji said. The emperor no longer called out to Wei Jiao, but only scolded him in annoyance: "This kid..." Then he looked at Che Ji and said, "The thieves have already infiltrated the capital and are almost outside the imperial city. This is the fault of your Commander of the Imperial Guards."

Upon hearing this, Che Ji immediately knelt on one knee: "Your subject deserves to die ten thousand times over."

He lowered his head and breathed a sigh of relief.

Wei Jiao didn't say much.

Marquis Yichun was absolutely right.

The emperor's voice continued, nothing more than a strict investigation and arrest of the remnants of the Sun family. Che Ji solemnly replied that it was true. Just as he was about to take his leave, he heard Consort Li's voice suddenly come from above.

"Which young lady from the Duke of Ding'an's mansion has encountered thieves?"

Che Ji was startled and subconsciously looked up.

Why would you ask that?

This was not mentioned in the Marquis of Yichun's account.

Marquis Yichun said that His Majesty would not ask the young ladies of the Duke of Ding'an's mansion too many questions; knowing that there were no casualties was enough for him.

The remnants of the Sun family are the most important.

However, Marquis Yichun was unaware that His Majesty was resting with the Imperial Concubine, who might be more concerned with trivial matters.

……

.......
"Just now you told me that the young lady of the Ding'an Duke's Mansion encountered thieves and was frightened."

Consort Li presented the emperor with a cup of hot tea, her expression worried.

“Princess Wuyang’s new tutor is a young lady from the Duke of Ding’an’s mansion. I don’t know which one she is, but she seems to like her a lot. I’m thinking of telling her.”

These attendants were all sent here to appease the Duke of Ding'an. The emperor thought to himself, "But my daughter is so happy. I feel a little ashamed as her father."

He had heard that the young lady from the Duke of Ding'an's mansion had been frightened, but it was also said that there were no casualties, so he didn't bother with it.

If something really happened, the Duke of Ding'an, with his tendency to overreact, would have already made a scene.

However, since Consort Li had asked, and both mother and daughter were concerned about this companion, he couldn't ignore it.

"What's going on? It's so late, which young lady of theirs is still wandering around outside? So unruly!" the emperor frowned and shouted.

I really don't know this car.

He didn't see anyone from the Duke of Ding'an's mansion either.

But now he can't say he doesn't know, otherwise the case would be investigated too carelessly.

"Your Majesty, I did not dare to inquire too much," Che Ji said with his head bowed. "I only know that the young lady is unharmed, and the Duke of Ding'an personally took her back."

Is this because they're afraid of losing face and don't want people to ask? The emperor sighed: "You may leave. If you're investigating a case, just ask what you need to ask."

Che Ji breathed a sigh of relief and agreed to leave, then heard the emperor calling for someone inside.

"...Go to the Duke of Ding'an's house and ask if the person is alright."

.......
……

"Where's the Emperor?"

Princess Wuyang stepped into the palace and looked around happily, only to find Consort Li eating breakfast by herself.

Consort Li said, "Your father had a lot of things to do. He woke up in the middle of the night yesterday and started seeing people before dawn. He left a long time ago."

Princess Wuyang looked disappointed: "You don't even need breakfast? I got up early to show Father the calligraphy I wrote."

After saying that, he sat down lazily and threw the calligraphy copybook in his hand on the ground.

"Mother, after all these years, you still can't win Father over to have a meal with you."

“Not eating doesn’t affect my status as a Noble Consort,” said Consort Li. “It also didn’t stop me from giving birth to you and Prince Linhuai.”

Princess Wuyang pouted: "Princess Heping and the Prince of Donghai are his real eyes and ears; the two of us are just extras."

“That’s not necessarily true,” said Consort Li, stirring a bowl of soup with her head down.

(End of this chapter)