klisemfg Chapter 162 is over; we've stumbled into a den of thieves.
Chapter 162 is over; we've stumbled into a den of thieves.
Inside the Xuanzheng Hall, Emperor Longyun lay quietly on the bed, while the eldest princess, who had followed him all the way and was unwilling to leave, was flustered and at a loss, weeping by the bedside.
Lin Shiming dismissed all the maids and eunuchs on duty in the palace, leaving only Lu Yuxi and Xiao Feng standing silently by.
The sound of the palace door opening and closing came from outside. Lin Shiming, who had finished directing the guards and others outside, calmly entered.
"Father, there are no outsiders here, please stop pretending." As soon as they entered the inner room, Lin Shiming, who had been puzzled for a long time, couldn't contain himself and directly exposed Emperor Longyun's pretense, "We didn't discuss this!"
Upon hearing this, Lu Yuxi and Xiao Feng did not react in any particular way, but Princess Heyou, who was already at a loss, stood up in anger.
"What kind of acting is this! Father has fainted, and Your Highness is not calling the imperial physician in right away, but instead making sarcastic remarks!" The usually gentle and kind eldest princess rarely lost her temper with Lin Shiming, crying and begging him to let the imperial physician in quickly.
Lin Shiming, who was innocently scolded, blinked but did not refute. He simply raised his finger and gestured for the bewildered Princess Heyou to look at Emperor Longyun's face.
Perhaps due to poor acting skills, when Princess Heyou looked down suspiciously, she happened to meet Emperor Longyun's eyes, which were darting around again.
"..."
Princess Heyou's long-lasting sobs stopped abruptly. Tears clung to her eyelashes, and after a moment of stunned silence, she suddenly turned her head and stared blankly at the other two people present.
Lu Yuxi and Xiao Feng remained calm and composed, clearly having already guessed what was going on.
The only audience member who was completely unaware of the situation was Princess Kazuyu.
The innocent Princess Kazuyo turned evil in anger.
"what--"
Emperor Longyun, whose two whiskers had been pulled, immediately sprang up.
Lin Shiming immediately became gloating and added fuel to the fire, shouting, "Father, keep your voice down. If the sound gets out, your performance will be for nothing."
"··· ···"
Emperor Longyun, having failed in his attempt to feign death, cleared his throat and gave Princess Heyou an awkward but polite smile.
Princess Heyou ignored the smile and wiped away her tears hastily. She stood up and bowed to Lin Shiming with some shame to apologize.
"It was my rudeness that led me to misunderstand the Crown Princess."
"Your Majesty, please don't feel guilty!" Princess Heyou was anxious to save her father, and General Lin, who knew the culprit was right and the debtor was right, naturally didn't take it to heart. He smoothly turned his attention to the culprit, Emperor Longyun, saying, "It's all Father's fault! It was Father who misled Your Majesty."
Princess Heyou's mind finally calmed down, and she instantly understood Lin Shiming's meaning.
The two exchanged a smile, and Princess Heyou quickly walked to the table, opened a teacup, applied more tea to her face, and then suddenly sobbed and ran out.
As she passed by Xiao Feng, she didn't forget to stomp on his foot.
Knowing this but not reporting it, just wait and see me make a fool of myself! Just as my well-behaved and sensible little cousin Lou Yunsu said, I should teach Xiao Feng a lesson.
But for now, let's take care of the important business first.
So when the Imperial Physician Li, who was waiting outside the palace, was dragged in by Princess Heyou, who was "in tears," he was caught off guard and saw the helpless Crown Prince, the gloating Crown Princess, the cold-faced but somewhat distorted-looking Grand Prince Consort, and the Emperor, who had just fainted, sitting silently on the dragon bed.
Turning her head, she saw Princess Heyou already casually wiping her face with a damp handkerchief.
Behind them came the sound of Li An slamming the palace door shut.
Oh no, we've stumbled into a den of thieves.
My life is over!
*
Despite the insistence of the Crown Princess and Princess Heyou, and the disregard of the Crown Prince and the Grand Prince Consort, the white-haired Imperial Physician Li trembled as he inserted several acupuncture points to strengthen Emperor Longyun's body.
Emperor Longyun hid his face behind his back, wincing in pain.
Although it's just for improving health, it takes time for acupuncture to be effective.
Unable to advance or retreat, Physician Li could only silently hide himself in another corner amidst the throng of nobles and dignitaries.
"So why did Father pretend to be sick just now? Doesn't Father know how worried I was just now?"
This time, Princess Kazuyu couldn't help but question her.
Emperor Longyun was quite embarrassed by the stares of several people. He would raise his hand to wipe the black powder under his eyes, and then tidy up the strands of hair that he had deliberately pulled out. After a long while, he finally spoke up to explain under Princess Heyou's angry glare.
"I was thinking of changing into a loose-fitting robe, as we had agreed, to make myself look even more slender. But I didn't expect that when I got up, I would lose my balance and trip over... the rather long robe."
Then, in order to hide the embarrassing truth, he simply went along with it and pretended to faint, but he never expected things to develop like this.
The whole thing is too dramatic.
Lin Shiming almost laughed himself silly.
Xiao Feng, who was quietly waiting behind Princess Heyou, seemed to be deep in thought, as if he had realized something from Emperor Longyun's words. However, he was always cautious, and after exchanging a glance with Lu Yuxi, who was also standing behind him, he did not want to investigate further.
The two people behind were calm and peaceful, while the three in front were still arguing and shouting.
Princess Heyou, still shaken, kept questioning him, while Lin Shiming, always eager for drama, would occasionally kick him while he was down. The powerless Emperor Longyun was repeatedly defeated by the onslaught of his beloved daughter and the annoying Crown Princess, and could only offer feeble excuses.
The entire interior room suddenly felt like a bustling market, extremely lively.
The farce only came to a temporary end when Emperor Longyun, unable to defeat two opponents alone, had no choice but to swallow his pride and ask the Crown Prince and the Grand Prince Consort, who were watching the show from behind, for help.
The dignified Crown Prince took away his Crown Princess, and Princess Heyou also gracefully sat down on the couch under Xiao Feng's careful service.
The hall fell silent, and Lu Yuxi spoke slowly and deliberately.
"Father, you have no fear that I will lose control of the situation. As you just heard, Prince Ping is always ready to cause trouble."
Once off the “battlefield,” Emperor Longyun quickly regained his composed demeanor and confidently replied, “What’s there to be afraid of? I thought of this when I fell. Lin Shihe is here, so you can just push any problems onto him.”
Lin Shihe, who was still in Jing'an Palace comforting Princess Heyou's child, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine and his whole body went cold.
"Uncle Lin, did Mother and Father really not abandon Ze'an on purpose?"
Lin Shihe sighed wearily, putting aside the feeling of being schemed against, and dealt with the clingy child first. "Really. Uncle Lin will take you to find your mother and father now, so you can ask them in person."
Xiao Ze'an nodded obediently, and Lin Shihe picked him up and carried him towards Xuanzheng Hall.
*
Let's return our perspective to the Xuanzheng Hall.
Lu Yuxi suddenly felt that what Emperor Longyun said made a lot of sense.
So he immediately gave up questioning and pressed Lin Shiming, who was about to stand up for his brother, and moved on to the next stage.
"So what does Father Emperor plan to do next?"
Their original plan was for Emperor Longyun to appear somewhat distressed, and then use this as an excuse to swiftly and decisively implement the new laws that Lin Shiming and the Ministry of Justice had worked overtime to develop.
The new law affects the interests of many people, and its implementation will inevitably be hindered. But it would be different if the Empress passed away and His Majesty was in grief.
After all, no one dared to go against Emperor Longyun when he had lost his first wife and was emotionally unstable, as that would save a lot of trouble.
But now things have gone too far, completely disrupting the original plan.