Chapter 120: Who Were Taking Risks (II)
Translator: Storm in a Teacup
Then, Long said simply, âHave a good rest.â
âYes.â Xu nodded.
Long and s.h.i.+ left with the jade pendant and the special letter.
Fang looked at Xu and said slowly, âThe emperor treats you so well. He cares about you a lot.â
Xu was slightly stunned. Then, he smiled and said, âOf course. I see him as my elder brother.â
Fang smiled. âYouâre so happy to have such an elder brother?â
âOf course.â Xu jumped towards the bed with one foot and sat down at the edge of the bed.
âFate brought us together. I think the emperor and I are born to be brothers,â Xu said firmly.
Fang was a little jealous. âIâll be jealous if you keep saying that.â
Xu laughed. âYouâre really jealous?â
âYes.â Fang pretended to be serious. âOf course I am really jealous!â
Xu laughed again.
Long and s.h.i.+ went back to Qiankun Palace with the imperial carriage.
When they got to the bedroom, Long led s.h.i.+ to the table and poured a cup of hot water for him. âItâs a little cold outside. Drink some hot water.â
s.h.i.+ nodded. âMhmm.â
Long and s.h.i.+ both drank a cup of hot tea. Then, Long said, âGo to sleep. We wonât talk about anything today.â
âGood.â s.h.i.+ agreed with him, but⦠âThe jade pendant and the letter must be hidden well.â
Long thought s.h.i.+âs words made sense, so he immediately handed over the jade pendant and the letter to s.h.i.+. âQingzhou, put them away. With you keeping them, Iâll feel at ease.â
s.h.i.+ slightly raised his eyebrows. After watching Long for a moment, s.h.i.+ smiled. âOkay.â
Long didnât go to see where s.h.i.+ put those things, but went to the bedroom.
Just after Long took off his coat and went to bed, s.h.i.+ came back.
Long left the other half of the bed for s.h.i.+. âQingzhou, come here.â
s.h.i.+ sat on the edge of the bed to take off his coat, and then, he also went to bed.
After both of them lay down, Long immediately held s.h.i.+ into his arms.
s.h.i.+ turned his head. Long pecked s.h.i.+ on the lips. âLetâs sleep.â
âMhmm.â s.h.i.+ nodded.
Although it wasnât long before dawn, s.h.i.+ and Long still slept for a while.
Unsurprisingly, in the morning court meeting of the next day, the ministers began to discuss what happened the previous night that Qiu Ming led his troops to fight against the a.s.sa.s.sins outside the imperial city, but suffered heavy casualties.
Some ministers angrily said the a.s.sa.s.sins must be arrested.
Some blamed Qiu Ming for failing to lead the troops.
Some said the a.s.sa.s.sins were so bold and the court must investigate who the mastermind wasâ¦
In short, most people thought that what happened outside the imperial city was a deliberate provocation to the court, which should not be tolerated!
It was rare that the ministersâ thought was the same as Longâs. At last, Long ordered the Ministry of Punishments to thoroughly investigate the matter and the person who was responsible for that was Minister Hu Qingyuan, who was appreciated by s.h.i.+.
After the meeting, Long met with two other ministers and ordered something. One of the ministers was Sun Youjing, one of s.h.i.+ Qingshanâs students.
s.h.i.+ and Long trusted Sun very much at the moment.
After giving the orders, Long went to Qiankun Palace, but he was surprised to see that s.h.i.+ was about to go out.
âHmm? Are you going out?â Long asked as he walked to s.h.i.+.
s.h.i.+ nodded. âYes. I suddenly thought of some clues that might have something to do with the jade pendant and the letter. So I wanted to go to have a check.â
âWhat?â Long was more surprised. âWhat do you mean?â
s.h.i.+ smiled. âIâm not quite sure about it. Yesterday, I thought the jade pendant was a little familiar, but I was not sure if Iâd seen it anywhere. I didnât think of anything until this morning. So I wanted to go out and verify it with my own eyes.â
âThen Iâll go with you,â Long said at once.
âButâ¦â Hearing Longâs words, s.h.i.+ was a little hesitant.
Long narrowed his eyes. âIs it a secret?â
âNo.â s.h.i.+ smiled bitterly. âThere are a lot of a.s.sa.s.sins outside now. Iâm not afraid of anything if Iâm alone, but if youâre with meâ¦â
s.h.i.+ didnât finish his words, but Long understood what s.h.i.+ meant.
They had fights before over whether s.h.i.+ actually saw Long as a âburdenâ. Although s.h.i.+ told the truth this time, he was afraid that heâd hurt Longâs pride.
Seeing s.h.i.+âs reaction, Long felt very sorry. He knew that s.h.i.+ still remembered last time when they fought over this and he also knew that s.h.i.+ was afraid of hurting him.
Long didnât like s.h.i.+ being that, so he said with a smile, âQingzhou, youâre right. Well, I wonât go with you this time.â
However, Long didnât expect that his easy compromise made s.h.i.+ fall silent.
âWhatâs the matter? Arenât you happy if I donât go out?â Long was confused.
s.h.i.+ slightly lowered his head, and then suddenly said, âLetâs go out together.â
âWhy?â Long was shocked when he heard that.
s.h.i.+ raised his head and said seriously, âLetâs go out together and lure the snake out of the hole, see if those people really want to die. I really want to know how many a.s.sa.s.sins have been hiding in the imperial city!â
Long kept silent for a second and then smiled. âQingzhou, youâre willing to take risks?â
s.h.i.+ smiled. âThe people who are taking risks arenât us, but them.â
Long laughed. Seeing s.h.i.+ was so confident, Long was very happy. Long always thought that s.h.i.+ was overcautious when he was dealing with thing in the past because s.h.i.+ was worried about him. And due to that, Long got angry and said that he was a burden to s.h.i.+ last time.
Back then, Long said those things without thinking carefully. But now, Long found the confident empress was so charming and attractive!
So, Long smiled and held s.h.i.+ in his arms. âYes! Youâre right! In fact, theyâre taking risks, not us!â
s.h.i.+ smiled. âYour Majesty, letâs leave after breakfast.â
âGood!â Long looked forward to it, not because he wasnât afraid of death and had to leave the palace at this moment. Instead, he thought that if he was still afraid when being protected by so many people, he had better be a dead man!
Long didnât think he was a weak and incompetent person! He didnât want to live under other peopleâs wings forever!