Chapter 12 Chip Chip Chip Chip Chip Chip Chip Chip
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After seeing off the Prime Minister, Li Jinyu invited Huo Caiyu to stay for a meal.
Feeling like he hadn’t earned enough hatred points today, Li Jinyu instructed his eunuch, “Bring out more dishes this time.”
He wanted to show off his extravagance, and waste as much as possible to make Huo Caiyu hate him!
The eunuch cautiously asked, “Should it be according to the precedent set by Your Majesty previously?”
Li Jinyu remembered the terrifying scene of dozens of dishes at the previous dinner and shrunk back, “That’s too much… just double my current portion.”
The eunuch responded, “This slave understands.”
Li Jinyu returned to his seat and met Huo Caiyu’s complicated gaze.
He froze for a moment, then realized. “Are you hungry? Don’t worry, you can eat whatever you want later! Zhen has a lot of money!”
The quantity of dishes served by the wealthy Emperor to the future Emperor successfully provoked Huo Caiyu’s anger, which Li Jinyu could feel even across the red jujube wood round table.
The main reason why Huo Caiyu stood up in anger at the Reed Flowers Festival was due to the shortage of military supplies caused by the deficit in border army rations. Naturally, he was extremely sensitive to this issue.
Li Jinyu could envision the thoughts of Huo Caiyu, which were likely centered around the idea that the wealthy benefitted from the labor of the less privileged while the impoverished were left to suffer and perish without aid.
This played right into his hands, and not satisfied with that, Li Jinyu deliberately added fuel to the fire, “No one in the palace eats better than Zhen does. Zhen eats this stuff every day that Zhen is almost sick of it.”
Crash!
Huo Caiyu’s angry eyes swept unreservedly towards Li Jinyu. At the same time, the imperial Ziwei aura that had been swirling around him was also aroused.
Li Jinyu’s face turned red under the pressure of Ziwei imperial aura, and he couldn’t say anything else.
In Huo Caiyu’s eyes, the current Emperor turned red by his glare.
Huo Caiyu’s anger subsided slightly, but his face remained incredibly dark. He gritted his teeth and said, “Your Majesty, this humble commoner is feeling unwell and must take his leave.”
Li Jinyu was so shaken by the imperial Ziwei aura that he just wanted to crawl back into bed. When he heard that Huo Caiyu wanted to leave, he nodded in agreement without thinking.
Oh, it’s so uncomfortable to try increasing Huo Caiyu’s hostility!
………
After Huo Caiyu left the Emperor in anger, he received an invitation from Consort Xian the next day.
“Consort Xian?” Huo Caiyu looked down with a frown as he considered rejecting the invitation outright.
He had no reason to deal with the Emperor’s favored consort.
“Rest assured, Young Master Huo.” The palace maid delivering the message smiled. “Consort Xian is worried that Young Master may not adapt to life in the palace, so Her Highness has prepared a feast for him. Her Highness is a popular figure both inside and outside the palace. Even if Young Master doesn’t have any issues, he should still consider his family’s future.”
Huo Caiyu’s gaze narrowed as he detected the underlying threat in the palace maid’s words. “Why does Her Highness have to clash with a commoner like me?”
The maid covered her mouth and chuckled. “Young Master Huo is currently favored by His Majesty. Who knows, he may be granted a noble title or even become a minister in the future. Consort Xian just wants to build a good relationship with Young Master.”
She then took out a slightly faded handkerchief from her sleeve and shook it lightly.
Huo Caiyu’s expression changed. A hint of anger flashed in his eyes, but in the end, he gritted his teeth and said, “Please, lead the way.”
………
Although Consort Xian was under house arrest and couldn’t leave her palace, she could still invite others to her Hexin Palace.
When Huo Caiyu entered the main hall of Hexin Palace, he saw Consort Xian sitting at the jujube wood round table, with palace maids constantly preparing food beside her.
The scale of this banquet was several times more luxurious than the one he attended at Li Jinyu’s place last night!
Huo Caiyu’s anger accumulated once again, along with a slight trace of doubt. He clenched his fists inside his sleeves and stood at the door without taking a seat. “What brings Your Highness to summon me? Please speak plainly.”
Consort Xian looked extremely well, sipping her tea leisurely and smiling. “There’s no need to be so polite, Young Master Huo. Although without an official position, since Young Master have entered the palace, we are all family now. This mistress has prepared a small banquet to teach Young Master Huo about the rules of the harem. Please sit down.”
Consort Xian blatantly and disdainfully regarded Huo Caiyu as Li Jinyu’s male pet.
Huo Caiyu gritted his teeth. “How can this humble commoner dare to call himself part of Your Highness’s family?”
How could he become the male pet of that tyrant!
It was clear that this Consort Xian did not have a friendly intention. Huo Caiyu had no patience to talk to her any longer. He raised the handkerchief in his hand and asked in a deep voice, “Where did this item come from, Your Highness?”
Consort Xian took a gentle sip of Cloud Fairy tea and then smiled. “It’s just something Miss Huo dropped when she entered the palace last time. Now it can be considered as returning to its rightful owner.”
Huo Caiyu’s eyes narrowed. “My sister has been in the palace?”
“His Majesty intended to give a favor to the Huo family and summoned Miss Huo to the palace, intending to bestow her with a title,” Consort Xian paused shortly, successfully seeing anger on Huo Caiyu’s face, before continuing with a smile, “But for some reason, His Majesty later gave up on it.”
She deliberately glanced at Huo Caiyu and chuckled. “Perhaps it was because His Majesty was deeply in love with Young Master Huo.”
Of course, this statement was purely intended to disgust him.
Huo Caiyu took a deep breath and clenched the handkerchief in his hand. He was about to say something when suddenly a loud cry came from outside, “His Majesty has arrived!”
………
When Li Jinyu arrived at the Hexin Palace, he was greeted by Huo Caiyu’s angry expression.
Feeling the overwhelming pressure of the imperial Ziwei aura, Li Jinyu’s body trembled, his face turning red. “What’s going on?”
Consort Xian saw the Emperor’s blushing face for the first time and felt a little jealous. She said with some grievances, “Your Majesty, this concubine just invited Young Master Huo to dine with good intentions, but he was disrespectful to this concubine!”
Li Jinyu instinctively looked at Huo Caiyu and saw a hint of coldness and ridicule on his face.
…Needless to say, it was obvious at a glance who was causing trouble.
If it was someone else, Li Jinyu might have gone along with stoking Huo Caiyu’s hostility, but he didn’t dare team up with the trouble-making expert, Consort Xian.
So he tried to keep a straight face and said, “Zhen forbade you from leaving your quarters to give you some peace and quiet. Why are you causing trouble again?”
Consort Xian looked incredulous. “Your Majesty!”
Ignoring her, Li Jinyu turned to Hao Caiyu. Under the pressure of his strong imperial aura, his face turned even redder, and his voice became much quieter. “You… should also go back.”
Huo Caiyu remained silent. He wanted to say something, but he couldn’t speak to the blushing Emperor.
After leaving Hexin Palace, Li Jinyu found an excuse to slip away from Huo Caiyu’s imposing presence. Finally, Huo Caiyu asked, “Your Majesty, this humble commoner heard from Consort Xian that Elder Sister has been summoned to the palace.”
Li Jinyu was momentarily stunned, realizing that it was an incident where Consort Xian had taken matters into her own hands.
He thought for a moment before admitting, “Yes, it was Zhen’s doing.”
When Huo Caiyu pressed further, he claimed that he coveted Miss Huo’s beauty but found her not as beautiful as he had hoped, so he sent her back.
It was a perfect image of a foolish, lustful ruler!
Huo Caiyu nodded without expression and bowed before leaving, “This humble commoner understands.”
Li Jinyu was at a loss for words.
Why is this hatred leveling so easy today?
………
On the way back to Jiaolan Palace, Huo Caiyu remained expressionless, making the eunuch serving him feel nervous and frightened.
He had been serving Huo Caiyu for a while now. He had to admit that it was much easier to serve by his side. Huo Caiyu had a good temper and didn’t look down on his subordinates.
Therefore, the eunuch had developed some feelings of affection towards Huo Caiyu and couldn’t help but advise him, “Why doesn’t Young Master stop being angry with His Majesty?”
Huo Caiyu gave him a cold look but didn’t say anything.
The eunuch knew that Huo Caiyu had a good temper, so he continued to persuade him, “As the Son of Heaven, His Majesty naturally does as he pleases. It’s better for Young Master to take a step back. If Young Master really angers the Emperor, there won’t be any good consequences.”
Huo Caiyu tilted his head slightly and asked, “Do you know what I’m angry about?”
“The palace is still fighting for those things,” the eunuch sighed softly, looking around to make sure no one was listening. “Even if Consort Xian has the support of Prime Minister Ye, there are still times when she is unhappy.”
Huo Caiyu was slightly startled, “Consort Xian is related to Prime Minister Ye?”
“Consort Xian is Prime Minister Ye’s niece,” the eunuch whispered. “Otherwise, how dare she be so presumptuous?”
Huo Caiyu remembered the lavish feast at Consort Xian’s palace, which was even more abundant than Li Jinyu’s. He also recalled Prime Minister Ye’s attitude on that day.
The eunuch thought that Huo Caiyu was still worrying about his sister entering the palace. “His Majesty hasn’t really brought Miss Huo into the palace, why not just turn a blind eye to it?”
“Do you also think that His Majesty ordered my sister to be brought into the harem?”
The eunuch was taken aback by his response. “Isn’t it so?”
Huo Caiyu didn’t answer, his gaze as heavy as the thick clouds on the horizon.
He had actually woken up when the Emperor came to visit him at the Jinxiu Pavilion, but he pretended to be unconscious.
Later, when the Emperor talked about it with the palace servants, he used his inner strength to eavesdrop and clearly heard the words “ordered by Consort Xian.”
His loss of control in Consort Xian’s palace just now was partly due to suspecting that Consort Xian was controlling his family members, and partly to pretending to be clueless.
However, he still didn’t understand why His Majesty had to admit that it was his own idea.
Had the power of the Prime Minister and Consort Xian grown so great that they had forced even the Emperor to pinch his nose and admit it?
Huo Caiyu pursed his lips slightly as he thought of Li Jinyu, who was supposed to have been on the throne for two years and still couldn’t read.
When he was outside the palace, the people’s complaints and grievances were almost all directed at Emperor Jingchang alone. But now that he had been in the palace and spent some time with Li Jinyu, he found that this “tyrant” was very different from the rumors on the streets.
Compared to the Emperor who was rumored to be cruel, incompetent, extravagant, and wasteful, he seemed more like a deliberately uneducated, ignorant child.
And this child was now using that layer of dragon robe splashed with dirty water to cover himself, guarding himself vigilantly.
Huo Caiyu had noticed more than once that when Li Jinyu talked to others, he hid his hands behind his back. Moreover, the fingertips that were inadvertently exposed also trembled slightly, as if he was afraid of communicating with people.
Either the disguise of this tyrant was so vivid that he couldn’t see his true nature in various details…
Or…
Huo Caiyu closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath.
He must observe more carefully.
If His Majesty was still that tyrant, he would definitely find a way to escape from the palace.
But if His Majesty was really just a target set up forcibly by the Prime Minister, what should he do for His Majesty and for Di Dynasty?
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