Chapter 26

This chapter was sponsored by WillieCoyote!

Taiji Palace, Liangyi Hall.

In just a few decades, the capital had changed hands several times. The palace halls and pavilions had been in disrepair for a long time, with several burned down. It no longer had its original imposing magnificence; the palace walls were patchy, the corridors and pillars everywhere had visible traces left from being burned.

Li Xuanzhen followed behind the little eunuch, slowly stepping up the long steps.

The first rays of sunlight poured through the thin clouds on the empty corridors and halls, vermillion wooden brackets, painted flying eaves and turquoise glazed tiles glimmering with sparkling light.

Li De was in the inner hall having a private talk with the high officials of the Hall of Political Affairs.

The rulers and ministers deliberated official business so all the inner attendants retired to the corridor of the outer hall. A dozen people stood in front of the window threshold for quite a while, but not even a cough was heard.

Li Xuanzhen waited for a moment before the sound of heavy footsteps came from the inner hall.

Although you could not see the person, Commander-in-Chief Pei’s loud voice transmitted out first: “His Majesty risked attacking the Arun clan in order to deter the other nine tribes through military force, not to send the princess to marry! If she wants to marry, marry! The farther she marries away, the better! Three thousand Wei troops were buried in the ice river to get a chance to negotiate with those barbarians, and she ruined it all!”

A few old and gentle voices interrupted Commander-in-Chief Pei’s complaints and whispered to him to calm down.

Soon after, several elderly men in purple official robes came out, each with a grave face.

The one walking in the front was Prime Minister Zheng Yu.

He saw Li Xuanzhen at first glance with eyes that were black and blue. He sighed and stopped, gesturing for the others to go first.

Commander-in-Chief Pei cursed as he stepped out of the threshold, and noticed Li Xuanzhen out of the corner of his eye. Seeing his haggard face and wrinkled clothes, he knew that he had been locked up all night for Zhu Luyun before being released, and opened his mouth.

”Dalang, you-“

Just before he could curse a few words, the bystanders guessed his intention and immediately grasped his arm and dragged him away.

Prime Minister Zheng stood in front of the corridor, waiting for Commander-in-Chief Pei and his group to go far away, then glanced at Li Xuanzhen, his eyes gentle and deep.

”Your Highness, Princess Fukang is arrogant and willful. You are the crown prince, you should not have any more involvement with her in the future.”

He spoke in a mild tone, as if chatting about domestic family matters, but had a kind of solemn imposingness that has been honed by the years.

Li Xuanzhen did not speak.

The minister shook his head with a smile that wasn’t a smile, and stepped down the steps unhurriedly.

The inner attendant invited Li Xuanzhen to enter the hall.

The brilliant sunlight shone into the inner hall from the half-opened vibrant green row of windows. The gap between the casually gathered brocade curtains sprinkled half-light and half-dark shadows. A gilt mythical beast head incense burner sat in front of the dragon table, puffing clouds of mist, diffusing a faint green silk tulip fragrance into the air.

Li Xuanzhen entered the hall and walked to the dragon table.

Documents and memorial were stacked like a mountain on the table. The vermilion brush, ink stone, brush holder, paperweight, and water pot were messily crowded in the corner, the book box haphazardly heaped in a pile. A disorderly mess.

Li De held in his hand a memorandum scroll.

The minister’s handwriting was elegant and neat, the calligraphy so small that he had to squint his phoenix eyes and hold it closer to read, making the corners of his eyes creased.

A beam of light cut diagonally across his long-weathered face. His temple under the black headwrap was as white as the first snow.

At first glance, the founding emperor of the Great Wei was like an ordinary elderly man: gentle and benevolent, gradually becoming old.

When he finished reading the memorandum, he slowly raised his eyes. For a split second, all of the light in the entire inner hall seemed to have focused on his body.

He sat there, quietly looking at Li Xuanzhen, not saying a word, the black phoenix eyes so deep that one couldn’t see that the bottom had a surging glow, making even the brave dare not look too long.

Li Xuanzhen looked at his father and couldn’t help but recall the things that Aniang often reminisced about before she died.

Li De was the son of a concubine in the Li family. His mother was a maidservant, and his childhood was rough and difficult, but he was born with a heavenly blessed face, his appearance like a painting, temperate and refined.

The people at the time had a saying: Li lang of Wei County is unrivaled.

The year Li De was twenty four years old, he accompanied the elders of his clan to go out to a banquet in an ordinary white robe. On others, it would be unpresentable and shabby; when he wore it, it was exquisite and gorgeous, refreshing and handsome.

The Tang family matriarch happened to be present at the banquet. Just one look at Li De, and she couldn’t look away.

A few years later, Li De’s army had been defeated like a landslide and he went to the Xie family’s door. Riding across the trestle bridge in Jingnan City, he was in a half-old unworn plain robe, wretched and thin, his appearance withered, but still able to make the di daughter of the Xie family fall in love with him at first sight.

Li Xuanzhen and Li Zhongqian both inherited Li De’s phoenix eyes, but in terms of bearing, they were no match for the young Li De.

Li De’s cousin once said that her two nephews’ looks somewhat resemble Li De, but Li Xuanzhen was reserved and somber, losing a bit of Li De’s heroic spirit. Li Zhongqian was temperamental and ruthless, without Li De’s gentle calmness under the straighforwardness.

She also said that among the Li family’s children, only Li Yaoying alone did not have phoenix eyes. She looked the least like the Li family, but had the most heavenly beauty. In fact, she was the most like Li De when he was young, having a kind of incomparable peerless magnificence.

The young Li De made countless noble girls fall in love with him.

Time had passed quickly and nearly twenty years had gone by. The years had left traces of hardship on his face, but had not damaged his appearance in the slightest, only giving him a more polished gentleness and softness.

The disposition and good looks that others hated they could not have, but he was the most unfeeling and indifferent.

The two father and son looked at each other for a moment.

Li De asked, “Gotten over it?”

Li Xuanzhen asked instead of answering, “Has His Majesty given the decree to marry?”

A trace of disappointment flashed in Li De’s eyes, and he lowered his head to unfold another pile of scrolls: “Zhen can’t break my promise with the world. Since Zhu Luyun insists on marrying, zhen will let her get what she wants.”

Li Xuanzhen clenched his hands into fists: “What if I don’t agree?”

Li De didn’t even raise his head: “Zhang Nu, this matter is a national affair. You must not be willful.”

Li Xuanzhen said, “It is a national affair, but also a family affair.”

Li De raised his head. His phoenix eyes were serene, his gaze concealing reproach: “State affairs, family affairs, world affairs, which is the most important? What is unimportant? A mere woman is worth you acting like this?”

Li Xuanzhen was silent for a moment, and a sarcastic smile floated on his face.

”A mere woman.”

He repeated, every word crying for blood.

Li De looked away.

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I wanted to say another humongous thank you to CoyoteWillie for sponsoring five chapters!!!!!!!

I also wanted to mention that TMBM has other extras besides the one included in this novel (only like 7 chapters or so). For everyone MTL, do give those a read too because I had one I really really enjoyed.