(TN:  Warning, this is a rated chapter!  Do not read if you are uncomfortable with rated scenes.)

Chapter 53

Hua Yue Yin

By the time Princess Min An got married, Prince Qing Jun was already one year old.  He had only started to talk.  He could blabber three to four words at one time and was really loved by everyone.

However, she as his aunt only got to meet him once, over the past one year.  That one time was when she was sent away for marriage.  She saw that jade-like child being carried by the empress when they were sending her off.  Only then did she realized how fast time had flown.

It had been one year since she was imprisoned in her own palace.

Last year, the Great Qi had flattened the barbarians in Xibei.  They surrendered and begged for a marriage alliance.  Feng Zhao Wen promised her to the chief of the tribe.

The chief, Cha Mu Han could be considered to have lived an ill.u.s.trious life.  Unfortunately, he suffered a big loss in a war when he was 56 years old.  He almost ruined his previous achievements with his own hands; though he had consolation with this arranged marriage, it must had been hard for him to swallow that anger.  He was injured during the war and so had to recuperate for a full year until he was well enough to travel to the Great Qi to bring home this bride of his.

Cha Mu Han sat in Tai He Palace, stroking his beard while looking at his new bride in satisfaction.  This was his first time meeting his young bride who was also the emperor of the Great Qi's younger sister.

This bride of his was the primary princess; her position was high and esteemed.  He was old and frequently sick, but this marriage's main purpose was for peace and stability.

n.o.body knew what Princess Min An was thinking at the moment.

The huge and tall him was 40 years older than Princess Min An, they couldn't be any more mismatched.

Time was merciless.

The tears at the corner of her eyes slowly slid down as she forced herself to stay strong.

After she was saved after attempting to commit suicide, what Feng Zhao Wen said to her made her admit defeat.

Back then, he told Princess Min An who had just been saved from trying to hang herself, "It is better for imperial sister to quietly prepare for your marriage.  If you continue to make a fuss, imperial mother who is in Bao Ji Temple might receive a shock.  What if she loses her mind or something?"

Princess Min An who was originally closing her eyes without a single thread of desire to live snapped her eyes open, "How dare you!"  Though her tone was fierce, she was actually really scared on the inside.

Feng Zhao Wen smiled lightly, his phoenix eyes as calm as ever, "Would you like to see if zhen dares to or not?  If you get married obediently, zhen will naturally take good care of the empress dowager."

There were things out there that you could not change even if you were willing to lose your life over it.  Sometimes, you just had to admit defeat.

She once requested to meet the empress dowager, but the emperor gave her a simple reply, "The empress dowager is currently meditating, she cannot meet anyone.  Just get married in peace, stop hanging on to her."

How could she not hang onto her?

She was her birth mother!

Brocade clothes and the color red stretched over the road for miles.  She had no idea whose arrangement it was, but during the journey to her new home, they pa.s.sed through the Bao Ji Temple.

Bao Ji Temple was situated in a hill.  If one look from above, they could see the trains and trains of wedding entourage and the princess' phoenix carriage.  But no matter how hard one tried, one could not catch a glimpse of Princess Min An's face.

Qin Yu Zheng was helping the empress dowager stand and she could feel the empress dowager's hand gripping her's tight.  But she knew, the pain she felt in her arm was nothing compared to the anguish in the empress dowager's heart.

The pain in the empress dowager's heart must had been hard to endure.

It had almost been a year since she left the palace for Bao Ji Temple.  The empress dowager used to be so powerful, but right now, she was just an ailing old woman.  She had fallen tragically from her peak, she was basically powerless at the moment.

Once she fell, all the connections she used to have became cold.  People only grew close to her for their own interest.

The people in the temple all knew that the empress dowager was just an old woman whom the current emperor had banished.  The empress dowager's maiden family had perished.  She originally had a little princess in the palace whom she could count on, but now, they heard that the princess had been married off to an old chief of a barbarian tribe.  The prospect of the empress dowager's future in here was not very positive.

Qin Yu Zheng herself, was raised in a very n.o.ble household.  She never experienced hards.h.i.+p before, but now, the monastery had arranged her to clean everyday.

Before she came to the monastery, she thought that since An Yi managed to survive poverty for three years, she could too.  Now that she had experienced hards.h.i.+p, she was overwhelmed in regret when she realized how hard life was.

She now, got along really well with the empress dowager.

In the past, the empress dowager appeared virtuous in front of others, but secretly looked down on her for being a consort offered by a small official.

She patted the empress dowager's stiff shoulders and tried to console her, "If the princess knew how you are doing here, she wouldn't be able to sleep at night.  The wind is big here, you better go in."

The empress dowager gripped her arm, "Tell me….. Do you think Min An will be able to get that chief's favor?"

Without waiting for Qin Yu Zheng to answer, she laughed bitterly, "So what if she gets that old man's favor?  He is older than I am….  He has so many children, Min An will be a mere display over there."

Qin Yu Zheng helped her walk, "Your Ladys.h.i.+p thinks too much.  No matter what, the princess is a primary princess, her status is higher above everyone else.  The chief's power is really brittle at the moment, he wouldn't dare to mistreat her."

The empress dowager said, "You have a good heart, my child.  But you didn't know how things work in the Yi tribe.  There is an unspeakable custom; once the father dies, the son takes control.  I have no idea which son of his will Min An be stuck with, after this."

The Great Qi had been neighboring the tribe for a very long time and thus was very accustomed to their custom.

Qin Yu Zheng was raised in the refined North and didn't know much about the Yi tribe.  She was so surprised that she couldn't walk, "There is such a thing?"

The empress dowager sighed bitterly, "I spent the better part of my life fighting over power, I wanted glory but ended up sacrificing my own daughter's happiness."

At that moment, Princess Min An did not know that her life had only started.

Cha Mu Han's eldest son, Te Mu Er who was 38 years old came with him to welcome the bride.

Te Mu Er eyed his new step-mother; she looked lovely.

That night, Prince Qing Jun climbed on top of his parents, rubbing his saliva on An Yi's face.

His imperial father picked him up and lifted him high using the cuff of his collar.  The little Crown Prince laughed in joy, happy beyond words.  Two years later, when he grew up a little, that silly smile disappeared from his face and he no longer rubbed saliva on his mother's face

Later on, his most favorite person would be his imperial father.  He liked watching his father in court.

He would be the small tail that followed the emperor everywhere.  The ministers secretly criticized the emperor, "Now that the empress no longer listened to the morning court, her one year old child replaced her.  He is just a child, what is the point?"

They were scared that they would become too emotional when discussing about big matters and scared the prince to tears.

The ministers all entered the morning court with the bloodthirst of someone going to the battlefield.  Talking almost always results in quarreling.

Unexpectedly, the prince's mental state was really strong.  He would watch them with curious large eyes; he had gotten a lot braver as well.

The best part of all, he had started to learn to argue with the empress, trying to reason with her while a.s.suming the confrontational posture.  The empress was almost angered to death by him.

This senseless empress would clamor in front of the emperor, "Had I known this would happen, I would have raised Qing Jun that brat as a girl.  At least, he wouldn't anger me to death!"

The emperor's eyes would sparkle and he would push away the mountains of memorials burying him.  Lucky the imperial desk was large, "It is not too late to get a girl!"   He would outstretch his long arm and placed An Yi on top of the table.

E Huang who was waiting after them inside the hall could only retreat away with a red face.

At the moment, An Yi was facing Feng Zhao Wen.  She felt very excited that this workaholic man was actually listening to her ramble.   She immediately put Feng Qing Jun that little fella at the back of her mind.  Before she even got to open her mouth, he covered it with his lips.

Whenever the emperor act, it was bound to bear some fruits.  Seeing the person on top of the desk struggling, clearly having something to say, he pulled back, giving her nose a kiss at that, "Zhen's empress should concentrate a little when serving in bed."

An Yi looked up to the sky, "Your Majesty, the sun is still up!" Your Majesty, did you become muddle-headed from reading too much memorials.

Unfortunately, the emperor had already unfastened her belt.  He took off her robe and her inner wear, revealing a fair, glistening shoulder.  He gave that shoulder a kiss before untying her red, peony-embroidered singlet, the remaining obstruction for him to get to An Yi.  The emperor gave her a compliment, "I raised you for so many years, it finally got a little bigger."

An Yi lowered her head to look at the mounds on her chest before muttering in discontent, "Haven't you ever seen lean meat?"  The moment her undergarment was untied, a sight of snowy mounds and red plum blossom reached his eyes.  They were in plain daylight, so she quickly covered her chest.  She was too late.  One of the mounds was already in the emperor's palm.

"Your Majesty, are you robbing in broad daylight?" An Yi's cheeks were tinted red.  It was one thing to fool around on the dragon bed at night, but to do it in broad daylight inside a locked hall……  She was already notorious for being solely favored by the emperor, the word 'jealous' followed her everywhere.  Though she didn't really mind it, it wasn't really pleasant to hear all that.  And now?  They were being immoral in broad daylight.  The emperor had become a beast who no longer wanted to do his work.  If those nosy ministers find out, what would they say…..

"If zhen is a robber, the empress is a robber's wife!" The emperor could not stop himself from laughing a little.

For the past few years, though he appeared solemn and majestic in front of others, he was completely gentle and unrestrained in front of An Yi.  He sighed:  she was so thin back then, she finally had a little more meat now.

Being undressed by the emperor while sitting on the dragon desk, and having her chest groped at that, An Yi felt so embarra.s.sed that her entire body turned red.  What if someone accidentally saw them?

Lucky all the servants here were really perceptive.  They rarely come forward to bother them whenever the two of them got together.  Even important memorials would have to wait.

The emperor had gotten more creative for the past few years.  For example, there would be a couple of soft lounging couch in his bathing chamber that were so out of place.  At first, she didn't understand their purpose, but after being forced to bath with the emperor for a couple of times, she finally realized what they were for.

It was a tool of immorality.

She heard, those lounging couch was something that the emperor had ordered the palace's craftsmen to quickly make.  Ever since she was dragged there by the emperor during bath, she always thought that the eyes E Huang looked at her with appeared a little odd.

As her mind drifted away, she could feel something cool entering her lower region.  She lowered her head to look and ended being so embarra.s.sed at what she saw.

It was a green object.  She had never seen this before but it was not different from all those must-have objects in bed that the emperor had sent her.  She heard a lot of married madams liked to use this thing to curb loneliness.  Something that came from the palace was indeed different; it was in the colour of jade.  It was beautiful and exquisite.

Just….. The emperor had always been energetic so she never really needed this before…

"Y— You can't get it up anymore?"

The emperor's phoenix eyes swept over her dangerously, "At this moment and time, you actually believed that zhen-can't-get-it-up?" Every single word he said seemed to be said with gritted teeth.

The object that was stuffed into An Yi's lower region was coated with something that smelled like medicine.  The emperor slowly opened his dragon robe while smiling at her dangerously, "Xiao Yi will soon know if zhen can or not." He toyed with the handle of that object twice.

Being teased by him like that caused An Yi to turn red, like a shrimp.  She struggled, trying to take that embarra.s.sing object out of her.  Who would have known that the emperor had already planned how to tease her, today.  He took the belt that he had taken off earlier and used it to tie her hands behind her.

The belt was made of high-quality brocade.  Though there were embroideries on top of it, it would not inflict her pain.

Seeing this, An Yi realized that him tying her here would not lead to anything good.  She could only lower her voice to plead, "Your Majesty, I was wrong.  I would not speak nonsense anymore, please spare me."

She had known this man for so long, she was very familiar on his tactics when it came to her body.  He had so many tricks that evolved over time.  Everyone in the palace knew that the empress was the emperor's lifeline, they did not dare to gossip about her.  None of them knew that once the door was closed, she didn't dare to disobey him.  The result would be disastrous.

An Yi who had a knack of avoiding trouble stared at him anxiously, waiting for him to untie her.  Unfortunately, Feng Zhao Wen who had a rise out of this would not let go.  Feng Zhao Wen toyed with the object a couple more times.  He smiled, "Zhen was only afraid you would not be able to stand it, later."

Perhaps it was because the situation was too embarra.s.sing or maybe it was other reasons, but as the object left and entered her lower region ten times, her lower region became very moist and wet.  It felt itchy too, it was a feeling she never felt before.  She could not stand it and really wanted to bury herself against him.

"Y… Feng Zhao Wen, you actually dared to slip some medicine into me?"

Although the pair had rolled on top of the dragon bed so many times, the feeling in her body could fool no one.  An Yi's face turned red, feeling completely shamed.

The thick-skinned emperor had frequently teased her on bed for the past few years.  He seemed to have considered it as one of his great pleasures in life.  Seeing the impatient and angry look on her face at the moment, a bundle of emotions could be seen in his eyes.  She was clearly trying to give him a fierce look, but she ended up looking so pampered that his heart itched to tease her.  He wanted to make fun of her even more.

And so, he untied her wrist and gave her a look of pure remorse, "Yi Er, I will not do this anymore.  It is really your husband's fault this time.  I only wanted to play a little, I didn't mean to anger you…."  He toyed with the object a couple more times, satisfied at the way she unconsciously moaned before pulling it out and casting it aside.

Things like anger still had to depend on the situation.

An Yi's body was burning at the moment.  The sight of his naked chest was so tempting.

After admitting fault, the emperor picked up the dragon robe and purposely put it on slowly.  "There are still a lot of memorials zhen needed to review.  Zhen is still busy.  Engaging in immoral activity in broad daylight is not very good, go and play outside, Yi Er."

Feng Zhao Wen, did you take me as the 3 year old Feng Qing Jun?

She glared at him.  As his taut skin was about to be covered with his dragon robe, she yelled at him, "Don't you dare!"

The empress pounced on him like a warrior and pressed against him on top of the dragon chair.  The emperor s.h.i.+fted a little, trying to find a comfortable position.  After she climbed on top of him, their lower regions met each other.

As she moved energetically, the emperor secretly acc.u.mulate his strengths to counter-attack.

It was a room of spring view, warm and soul-melting.

Outside Zhong Hua Palace, thick trees blocked the sunlight while swallows flew high.  Willows lined the ground while flowers blossomed beautifully.

Serene: This chapter was brought to you by Meropi.