Chapter 52: Not All Things Being Perfect

Translator: Peggyan

When Long Xiaoyuan reached the Qiankun Palace, s.h.i.+ Qingzhou was expecting him.

All the eunuchs and palace maids waited outside.

Long Xiaoyuan stepped inside and kissed his empress’s lips after holding his empress into his arms.

s.h.i.+ Qingzhou’s lips looked beautiful, neither too thick nor too thin, and weren’t that tempting, either. However, when you fell in love with someone, you would like everything about him or her.

Furthermore, s.h.i.+ Qingzhou looked elegant!

In that case, Long Xiaoyuan loved kissing s.h.i.+ Qingzhou, holding s.h.i.+ in his arms, and letting s.h.i.+ count on him.

When the kiss was over, both of them breathed heavily.

Long Xiaoyuan stroked the hair beside s.h.i.+’s ears and asked, “Wait for me?”

s.h.i.+ Qingzhou slightly nodded and said, “We can have breakfast.”

Long Xiaoyuan said waving his hand, “I’m in a good mood, so I may have one more bowl of congee.”

s.h.i.+ Qingzhou said with a smile after hearing this, “Really? That’s good.”

Afterward, Long Xiaoyuan kissed s.h.i.+ Qingzhou again.

After breakfast when the leftovers were removed, Long Xiaoyuan and s.h.i.+ Qingzhou went to the back study.

All the memorials to the throne were placed on the table, but Long Xiaoyuan was full and slouchingly laid down on the sling chair.

Instead, s.h.i.+ Qingzhou sat in front of the table and casually opened one.

Now, it was natural for s.h.i.+ Qingzhou to do these things. People’s habits were quite unfathomable and really worked their magic.

“Qingzhou, that numb minister is gelivable this time,” said Long Xiaoyuan with a smile.

“Gelivable?” s.h.i.+ Qingzhou was dazed.

“Well…I heard of this word when I was out of the palace last time. It means ‘well done’.” Long Xiaoyuan explained it to s.h.i.+ Qingzhou while scratching his nose.

s.h.i.+ Qingzhou said with a nod, “A quack has his advantages, but he isn’t what it looks like.”

“Ah?” Long Xiaoyuan’s curiosity was aroused. “He puts on an act?”

“It’s his camouflage.” s.h.i.+ Qingzhou added with a smile, “After all, if he is a real quack, he wouldn’t have gone this far.”

“Oh, he can put on different acts in different situations to achieve different goals…” Long Xiaoyuan smiled and said with his eyes brightened, “Qingzhou, you know a variety of interesting people. You deserve my admiration.”

s.h.i.+ Qingzhou was frozen for a moment and then smiled after glancing at Long Xiaoyuan.

Long Xiaoyuan stood up, walked up to s.h.i.+ Qingzhou, and put his arms around s.h.i.+’s waist from behind.

“The news about the unrest of the Northern Barbarians will be reported to me tomorrow in the morning session…”

“Eh.” s.h.i.+ Qingzhou nodded and twisted his head to look at Long Xiaoyuan with his brow c.o.c.ked. “Your Majesty, what do you want to say?”

Long Xiaoyuan stroked his chin and said, “Give me a guess how many people will come out to stop your father from being the command in chief.”

“En?” s.h.i.+ Qingzhou winked. “There must be some. What’s wrong?”

Long Xiaoyuan casually spoke a few names out and said, “They are usually intimate to Zhong Ming. But, Zhong Ming is in trouble, so what do you think they will do?”

s.h.i.+ Qingzhou said with a laugh, “I don’t think they’ll do something.”

“Ah?” Long Xiaoyuan felt surprised a bit. “Aren’t they nervous?”

s.h.i.+ Qingzhou said in an undertone, “Yes, they are. However, Zhong Ming is in trouble, so if they can’t see the situation clearly, there won’t have any good for them.”

Hearing this, Long Xiaoyuan said with a sigh, “Alas, well…What a pity.”

He really hoped they to continue their reckless actions…Otherwise, he had no excuses to deal with them, okay?

The next morning session-

As expected, the news about the unrest was reported.

The ministers felt uproarious and then were divided into three groups.

One group of ministers advocated waiting and seeing.

One group of ministers stood on dispatching troops promptly.

The last group of them suggested dialogue first and sending messengers later.

The last group consisted of five or six people, two of whom worked at the Ministry of War.

Long Xiaoyuan looked at those five or six ministers coldly and quickly got an idea.

A lot of ministers took the side of dispatching troops. Thus, Long Xiaoyuan appointed the command in chief right away.

When he appointed s.h.i.+ Qingshan as the command in chief, silence reigned the Throne Room at first, and then all the ministers kowtowed and exclaimed, “Your Majesty, you’re intelligent.”

Long Xiaoyuan felt a little disappointed, for no one stood up to object him, so he got no excuses to handle them.

Since there was no objection, s.h.i.+ Qingshan was the command in chief.

After the morning session, s.h.i.+ Qingshan followed Long Xiaoyuan to the Imperial Study and left after a 15-minute-talk with Long Xiaoyuan.

Out of the Imperial Study, Long Xiaoyuan went to see s.h.i.+ Qingzhou.

After breakfast, Long Xiaoyuan asked, “Your father is going to the battlefront. Do you want to see him?”

s.h.i.+ Qingzhou suddenly said after a pause, “No need.”

Long Xiaoyuan stared at s.h.i.+ Qingzhou who then walked up to the window and look outside.

Not until this moment did Long Xiaoyuan realize that s.h.i.+ Qingzhou was once a general…

s.h.i.+ Qingzhou definitely preferred the battlefronts to the imperial place where he was imprisoned, didn’t he?

Every man was ambitious and didn’t like to be the wife of another man…

Long Xiaoyuan’s heart did a flip as he thought of this and understood why he always felt that he neglected something.

The original emperor treated s.h.i.+ Qingzhou ill, so s.h.i.+ Qingzhou born into a loyal family was forced to conduct a coup in that book, which left s.h.i.+ Qingzhou no other choice but didn’t mean that s.h.i.+ Qingzhou wasn’t ambitious.

s.h.i.+ Qingzhou wasn’t pedantic, so when the original emperor treated him ill, he chose to silently live with that but stood up with resistance ensuing.

But now? Long Xiaoyuan time-traveled into this world and tried every means to treat s.h.i.+ Qingzhou well to survive. He changed himself and even made a future for them, so s.h.i.+ Qingzhou wouldn’t kill him anymore.

Even so, did it mean s.h.i.+ Qingzhou was no longer an ambitious person?

It still didn’t indicate that s.h.i.+ Qingzhou loved being caged in the imperial palace!

“Qingzhou.” Long Xiaoyuan suddenly tugged at s.h.i.+’s wrist and pulled s.h.i.+ to face him. “Look at me.”

s.h.i.+ Qingzhou felt stunned first and then asked with his brows arched, “What?”

“Would you like to go to the battlefront with your father?”

s.h.i.+ Qingzhou felt stunned again and fixed his eyes on Long Xiaoyuan with a smile. “How so? How can I…”

“Yes, you would.” Long Xiaoyuan interrupted him.

s.h.i.+ Qingzhou slightly lowered his head and said lightly after a long time, “It’s impossible…”

Long Xiaoyuan puckered his lips and took a deep breath. “Everything is possible.”

s.h.i.+ Qingzhou suddenly looked up and unbelievably looked at Long Xiaoyuan.

Long Xiaoyuan said with a smile, “To you, the imperial palace is a cage, isn’t it?”

With his heart s.h.i.+vering, s.h.i.+ Qingzhou wanted to deny it but couldn’t speak it out loud.

Long Xiaoyuan said with a laugh, “The Northern Barbarians act oddly this time and have shown their ambition to invade us for many times. We definitely won’t let go of them. Otherwise, it feels like we’re too weak.”

s.h.i.+ Qingzhou silently pursed his lips, and Long Xiaoyuan continued, “The emperor can’t go to the battlefront, but it’s likely my empress can go to the battlefront on the behalf of me. At the times of my great-grandfather, Empress Wen Yuan already set an example, didn’t he? I’ve said I want you to be the second General Wen Yuan. I really mean it, and this is a good chance.”

s.h.i.+ Qingzhou couldn’t remove his eyes off Long Xiaoyuan.

Long Xiaoyuan patted him on his shoulder with a smile. “The decision is made.”

“Long Xiaoyuan.” s.h.i.+ Qingzhou said in a m.u.f.fled voice, “Are you serious?”

Long Xiaoyuan replied to him with a helpless smile, “How can I joke about this?”

s.h.i.+ Qingzhou’s heart couldn’t help jolting.

Long Xiaoyuan held s.h.i.+’s hand and then loosened the hold. “I’m serious! I know you want to go. I’ll wait here for the good news you and your father send to me.”

s.h.i.+ Qingzou gazed at Long Xiaoyuan with complicated eyes.

Long Xiaoyuan didn’t talk nonsense and only said to the point, “I’ll go draw up an imperial edict. You get yourself prepared.”

Two days later when the troop was about to set out, s.h.i.+ Qingzhou was among the soldiers. Over the last two days, many ministers had tried to revoke this imperial edict.

However, Long Xiaoyuan used three words to shut them down: Empress Wen Yuan.

Ridding on the horse, s.h.i.+ Qingzhou turned around his head to see but didn’t saw the person he wanted to see on the top of the city walls.

He slowly lowered his eyelids with his fists tightly clenched.

Since two days ago when the imperial edict was announced, it seemed normal as before between them, but he knew that things were different.

Long Xiaoyuan still handled national affairs in the Qiankun Palace, but they talked less.

In the evening, they still slept on one bed, but…Long Xiaoyuan didn’t touch him.

Yesterday, he approached Long Xiaoyuan on his own initiative and originally thought that Long Xiaoyuan would make love to him, but Long Xiaoyuan only gently hugged him.

“Qingzhou, the troops are setting out tomorrow. You’ll ride on a horse for a long time, so we won’t have s.e.x tonight.”

It was the first time that he had mustered his courage to seek intercourse with Long Xiaoyuan. Although he was treated softly, he felt unhappy.

Eyes on the forward, he told himself that this was the freedom and life he wanted. Gradually, he turned determined.

He won’t regret…

Although he knew he had chances to regret before today…

Although he had countless excuses to say no,…he didn’t want to do that.

This was his expectation and dream…Now, his dream came true, so how could he flinch!

Please wait for him…When he realized his dream, he would stand together with Long Xiaoyuan forever, being Long Xiaoyuan’s real wife. Right, he would only be Long Xiaoyuan’s empress.

When the troop gradually left away, Long Xiaoyuan showed up on the top of the city walls and sighed.

s.h.i.+ Qingzhou just left, but Long Xiaoyuan already missed him.

It turned out that it just took little time for Long Xiaoyuan to fall in love with s.h.i.+ Qingzhou.

If Long Xiaoyuan liked women, he wouldn’t have been so vexed.

However, s.h.i.+ Qingzhou was a man.

Long Xiaoyuan really understood s.h.i.+ Qingzhou, for to him, the imperial palace was also a cage.

However, he was destined to stay in the imperial palace as the emperor of this country.

His reason told him to set s.h.i.+ Qingzhou free, which could show that he really loved s.h.i.+ Qingzhou. Therefore, he announced the imperial edict when he was rational.

However, he already felt lonely, so he had some regrets…

In the cage, he was dying to have a company…

But, not all things were perfect in the world.

The first night after s.h.i.+ Qingzhou left, Long Xiaoyuan slept in his sleeping chamber.

Perhaps, there was something wrong with the place or the bed, so he couldn’t sleep until after midnight.

Naturally, he was late for the morning session. Although he was late, he still appeared at the Throne Room.

The same situation lasted for another three days. He always felt that he lacked something, so he couldn’t sleep.

On the fifth evening, he kinda got used to it and fell into sleep before midnight. However, he woke up before dawn.

On the sixth day…

He seemed more accustomed to it, but when n.o.body was around, he instinctively spoke as if s.h.i.+ Qingzhou was still with him.

When no one responded to him, he suddenly realized that s.h.i.+ Qingzhou had already left.

As time flew, a month pa.s.sed since s.h.i.+ Qingzhou left.

It took the troops 16 days to reach the border, which clearly showed how vast the country was in the territory.

When s.h.i.+ Qingshan and s.h.i.+ Qingzhou arrived at the border, they obtained a victory. Now, what was unfolded in front of Long Xiaoyuan was the victorious report.

Here were the details: s.h.i.+ Qingzhou led a small group of soldiers to break the besiege of the Barbarians and killed two generals.

The morale of the troop was tremendously improved.

Sitting at the Imperial Study, Long Xiaoyuan used his fingers to gently slide past the name of “s.h.i.+ Qingzhou”.

s.h.i.+ Qingzhou had a well-deserved reputation.

After a long time, Long Xiaoyuan sighed and felt uncomfortable.

It proved that s.h.i.+ Qingzhou was born for the battlefields.

As soon as the troop arrived at the battlefront, s.h.i.+ Qingzhou fought on the battlefield and got a victory.

s.h.i.+ Qingzhou was indeed awesome…

Did his empress really feel happy on the battlefields?

The cold and suffocating imperial palace was like a tiger that ate people…

He finished his work till the afternoon.

After some thoughts, he decided to take a look at the little prince.

The little prince naturally lived in the Qiankun Palace. Although he slept in his sleeping chamber, he would come every day to play with the little prince.

Aged four months, the little prince looked good and had learned to crawl.

It was hot out there, so Long Xiaoyuan watched the little prince in the unlined clothes crawl on a blanket.

The kid used to be intimate with Long Xiaoyuan. Each time Long Xiaoyuan approached him, he would giggle.

This also happened today. The little prince just woke up from his nap when Long Xiaoyuan reached there and was drinking milk.

Although the little prince was able to crawl, he couldn’t crawl as well as the eight-month-old babies and only crept forward with his short legs shrunk.

Fortunately, he slept in a small baby’s cot. Otherwise, he might have fallen off.

Seeing Long Xiaoyuan, the little kid giggled with his eyes seemingly brightened.

Long Xiaoyuan picked him up and asked, “Little thing, do you miss me?”

Of course, the little prince couldn’t speak a word but giggled and kissed Long Xiaoyuan, leaving his saliva on Long Xiaoyuan’s face.

“You’re so little, but you already try to please me?”

Long Xiaoyuan also kissed him with a smile. The latter turned joyful and pulled Long Xiaoyuan’s hair to play.

Long Xiaoyuan touched the nose of the little prince. “Unluckily, s.h.i.+ Qingzhou isn’t here…”

Long Xiaoyuan felt upset at the thought of s.h.i.+ Qingzhou and sighed in his heart.

The little prince seemed to feel it and pulled the hair to make Long Xiaoyuan in pain.

Long Xiaoyuan regained his consciousness and said, “I take you out for the sun.”

The little prince giggled as if he understood Long Xiaoyuan.

Subsequently, Long Xiaoyuan walked outside with the little prince in his arms and slowly walked toward the Imperial Garden.

In the Imperial Garden, he selected a pavilion to sit down with the little prince in his arms, followed by the wet nurse and the others.

The little prince was interested in colorful things, for he always stared at colorful things.

Long Xiaoyuan picked up a peony, with which the little prince then played.

The red peony looked beautiful. The little prince fixed his eyes on it and even stretched his hands to s.n.a.t.c.h it.

Long Xiaoyuan picked up one petal and tantalized the little prince with it.

The kid hesitated at first and surprisingly stretched out his tongue to swallow the petal.

Long Xiaoyuan was frightened. “Ho! You little thing, you can’t eat it.”

The little prince didn’t understand it, of course, but the petal tasted bad, so he vomited it out and swirled his tongue.

Long Xiaoyuan couldn’t help bursting out laughing.

Right on the time, the voice of “Here comes Lady Shan” arouse, making the smile frozen on Long Xiaoyuan’s face.