Time travel, quick transmigration

As the music began, An Lushan spread his arms and began to dance. Shi Yan had first come to this alternate dimension in the Pear Garden and had seen the ladies-in-waiting dance the Hu Xuan dance to the music of the small troupe. The Hu Xuan dance was a Western Region dance style, and the women's dance was very charming. Now, looking at An Lushan, even if she disliked him, from her perspective as a skilled dancer, An Lushan's Hu Xuan dance was extremely bold and powerful. Although he was strong and slightly fat, his dance was still quite pleasing to the eye.

Shi Yan watched intently, and Li Longji beside her clearly admired An Lushan's dance moves, his eyes occasionally revealing a look of appreciation.

Some of the courtiers in the hall, who had initially been dismissive, became completely captivated by the sight.

When the music stopped and the dance ended, An Lushan faced Shi Yan, and Li Longji bowed in respect.

"I hope my dance has not offended Your Majesty's or the Imperial Concubine's eyes."

Li Longji smiled warmly.

"You are too modest, my dear minister. I had only heard of your great bravery on the battlefield, but now I know that you are also a very good Hu Xuan dancer."

"I suppose you are also a lover of music and dance. If so, you should come to the palace often to enjoy songs and dances with me. There is a Pear Garden in my palace, where there are many palace ladies, palace servants, and zither players who are skilled in music and dance. You can have a chance to exchange skills with each other."

Upon hearing this, An Lushan was overjoyed and immediately seized the opportunity to kneel down and express his gratitude.

"Your Majesty, I have always admired Your Majesty's majesty and have vowed to repay Your Majesty's kindness and be loyal to you."

"Your Majesty, I am willing to go through fire and water for you, even unto death."

An Lushan was also quick-witted. After thanking the emperor, he immediately seized the opportunity to express his loyalty.

The key point is that Li Longji, who was coaxed into being happy, was quite moved.

"Good, good. You are a good minister."

"Get up, don't kneel. I believe you will be a pillar of our Tang Dynasty."

After pledging his loyalty, An Lushan had no intention of stopping there. He looked at the man on the throne, who was already in his sixties but had the power to control the Tang Dynasty simply because he was born into the royal family and had a peerless beauty by his side. His ambition began to swell.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness, I have a request that you would be grateful for."

As she spoke, she looked at Li Longji with a devout expression and smiled.

Seeing the wild, yearning look in An Lushan's eyes, Shi Yan guessed his intentions. However, she knew she couldn't let him have his way.

Li Longji was in a good mood and still in high spirits, so he readily agreed.

"Please speak your mind, my dear minister."

An Lushan adopted a show of filial piety.

"Your Majesty, I have had a difficult life. I felt a great sense of kinship with the Imperial Concubine when I first met her. She is gentle and noble. I wish to recognize her as my mother. I wonder if Your Majesty would agree?"

An Lushan's bold words sparked much discussion among the court officials.

Shi Yan thought to herself, "I don't have a son as good as you. I don't care for or want the good fortune of becoming a mother. Bah! An Lushan, where's your shame? You've really figured out how to climb the social ladder. You've really abandoned all sense of shame."

Li Longji, however, was deep in thought. He neither got angry nor reacted. At this moment, he was weighing the pros and cons in his heart. If he could have his concubine recognize An Lushan as her adopted son, then he would also become An Lushan's godfather. With this relationship, he could gain a loyal and devoted minister and also win over An Lushan, a military governor who held power in a region.

After some thought, Li Longji suddenly burst into a few hearty laughs.

"Since you are willing to have the Imperial Concubine as your mother, doesn't that mean you've also become related to me? You good-for-nothing An Lushan, what can I say to you?"

Upon hearing that there was a chance, An Lushan cleverly uttered some flattering words, making the arrogant emperor feel extremely pleased.

The two men, one obsequious and the other smug, were so distasteful that Shi Yan found them utterly repulsive.

“Your Majesty, you haven’t asked for my opinion yet. Minister An looks to be older than me, how could I possibly take advantage of your subject?”

"In my humble opinion, if Your Majesty truly favors Minister An, why not adopt him as your godson? As for me, I am still young and do not wish to have a son as old as Minister An calling me 'mother,' would that be shortening my lifespan?"

Shi Yan frowned slightly, looking quite distressed.

Upon hearing this, Li Longji felt a tightness in his chest, as if something was blocking his heart. The age gap between him and Shi Yan was something he had always deliberately ignored, but now that Shi Yan had brought it up, it felt like a thorn in his heart, and his previous interest vanished instantly.

It's not impossible to adopt a subject as a son; it's just a favor, a title. But his beloved concubine's rejection and her comments about the age difference made him, despite his imperial pride keeping him calm and composed, feel a surge of irritation.

He couldn't bear to scold his beloved concubine, so he could only look at An Lushan with a gloomy expression and a slightly nervous look in his eyes.

"It is indeed inappropriate for the Imperial Concubine to be your mother. So, considering your sincerity, I will reward you with a thousand taels of gold, a hundred bolts of silk, and a mansion in the most prosperous area of ​​Chang'an."

An Lushan hadn't expected to be humiliated by the emperor and his concubine. Knowing the emperor was displeased, he wisely withdrew and thanked them. Raising his wolf-like eyes, he gazed at the proud, elegantly dressed woman on the throne, as if he were as insignificant as dust or mud in her eyes. A strong sense of resentment made him feel utterly humiliated.

From his uprising in Fanyang to becoming a regional military governor, An Lushan enjoyed unparalleled power and influence, with no one daring to disobey him. Now, having reached Chang'an and met the Emperor, he swallowed his pride and offered to acknowledge the Emperor's woman as his mother, only to be rejected. No, he was rather disliked.

In front of the entire court, An Lushan had become a laughing stock.

“Yan Yan, you publicly rejected An Lushan’s request to be your son, so he must hate you.”

"Why don't you keep some of it? You can openly call him An Lushan's mother and take advantage of him. What's wrong with that?"

0804 is somewhat puzzled.

Shi Yan said dismissively.

“Traitors and rebels deserve to be killed by everyone. I’m already being lenient by not taking his life and strangling him here. Although I am not the real Yang Yuhuan, I don’t want to have anything to do with him. I still need him to hate me. He’s not the only one who wants Yang Yuhuan dead.”

0804 shook his head and sighed.

“But Yan Yan, history won’t change because of your wishes. Even if you refuse this time, next time An Lushan will still get his way after he pleases the emperor. The emperor will become more and more muddleheaded and eventually agree to recognize him as his godson.”

Shi Yan glanced sideways at Li Longji beside her.

"That's his business, it has nothing to do with me. If this dynasty is destined to be destroyed by An Lushan, it's the result of Li Longji's own indulgence. He misjudged people..."

Xiao Huanling sat among the court officials in the quietest corner of the main hall. Although he tried his best to avoid looking at the woman on the throne, he could not suppress his feelings.

"Xiao Huanling! It's been a long time!"

Perhaps it was because Xiao Huanling's gaze was too intense and too present that Shi Yan followed the gaze from afar and finally fixed it on the corner of the inner hall. Looking at that familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar face, and his deep and beautiful eyes, she suddenly could no longer hear the surrounding noise, and her eyes and heart were filled with only one person.

It turns out she missed him a little.