TFSRITA Chapter 79

Ji Yezhen was nearly on the brink of death, but he still managed to nod. As he was about to leave, he called the person back and pointed to the blanket. “Take this to the empress.”

Jiang Wende was speechless.

This was true love!

As soon as Yan Qing stepped out of the dilapidated palace, she saw Mama Qian and others who had come looking for her. They held clothing in their hands and quickly wrapped her up.

Zhu Yin was on vacation, allowing her to go out and play with friends during the New Year, so she was temporarily absent from the palace.

It was only when Jiang Wende saw her coming out that he hurried inside. He quickly came out with the blanket, calling out, “Your Highness, you forgot this.”

Yan Qing, wrapped in a thick cloak, glanced at the blanket in his hands and said in disgust, “No, throw it away.”

After saying that, she quickly walked ahead.

Watching her retreating figure, Jiang Wende sighed deeply. He then yelled at the little eunuch he had sent to fetch the doctor, “Run faster! The emperor is waiting!”

After this incident, Yan Qing didn’t give Ji Yezhen a good look for several days. Even on the first day of the New Year, when Ji Yezhen sent over a pile of various good things, she still didn’t go to see him for several days. It wasn’t until she calmed down that she went to the study in the Taiji Palace, but she completely ignored Ji Yezhen.

After this incident, many matters didn’t require her daily review anymore, allowing Yan Qing to relax a lot. Winter was cold, and getting up became a challenge; sometimes, she wouldn’t get up at all, so her visits went from daily to once every few days. She would just instruct Ji Yezhen and Fu Rong to leave the important documents for her to handle.

Ji Yezhen, quietly recuperating, didn’t resist and stayed silently by her side, thinking he was ingratiating himself without her noticing.

Fu Rong and Jiang Wende were both worried.

Fu Rong was afraid the imperial concubine and the emperor would fall into conflict, dragging him, the poor secretary, down with them. Although he no longer had to review the morning court reports, the imperial concubine had recognized his ability as a secretary and kept assigning him some minor tasks.

Jiang Wende felt sorry for his master.

On that day, the imperial concubine left angrily, and after the emperor returned to the Taiji Palace, he had to nurse his injuries for quite a while. The wood splinters had embedded themselves into his flesh, and just that alone took a long time to deal with. Not to mention that the imperial concubine had exerted such force that he couldn’t straighten his back for quite some time, and his back was red and swollen.

Fortunately, a newly made gold and jade ointment was just barely effective, allowing his injuries to heal a bit faster, but he had visibly lost a lot of weight.

However, seeing the emperor in such a miserable state while the imperial concubine was still angry was quite distressing.

Yan Qing acted as if she didn’t see anything, calmly doing her own thing, and working hard to outsmart those wealthy ministers.

Just as the conflict between Yan Qing and the noble clans deepened, a memorial from the Northern Wilderness reached Chang’an. Immersed in handling various government affairs, Yan Qing suddenly realized that half a year had already passed.

Winter had passed quickly; she hardly felt much cold before it was already spring.

In March, there were still occasional light snowfalls, and it was during this time that the memorial arrived in Yan Qing’s hands.

The memorial still used classical Chinese, and especially as a top scholar, it took Yan Qing a while to comprehend its contents. When she finally understood, she was bewildered and shocked, asking, “What does this mean? What do you mean by suspecting Song Yu of plotting rebellion?”

A hint of panic arose in Yan Qing, and she felt even more confused.

She had sent Jia Heng to the Northern Wilderness, which was a city separated from the North by the Great Qian, a place often plagued by war. Song Yu happened to be there, which allowed her to contact him. Yan Qing hoped he would be convinced by Song Yu and then team up to overthrow Ji Yezhen.

But what was happening now?

According to the original novel, after the original protagonist died, Jia Heng was exiled but later returned as a strong right-hand man beside Song Yu. However, this person eventually met a tragic end because when Song Yu became emperor and married Yan Zhen, Jia Heng encountered a past flower candidate who was down on his luck and drunkenly revealed secrets about Yan Zhen, exposing him to certain truths.

To avenge Yan Qing, he united with other ministers to try to bring Yan Zhen down but ended up being brutally killed by Song Yu.

Yan Qing always thought that these two had a cooperative relationship. Even if it changed for some reason in the future, it shouldn’t have changed so drastically. In the original text, she clearly remembered Jia Heng expressing admiration for Song Yu’s talents and dissatisfaction with Ji Yezhen’s cruelty. How could Jia Heng report Song Yu for plotting rebellion now?

Fu Rong didn’t dare to speak.

Ji Yezhen’s gaze sparkled, and he seemed calm as he said, “I don’t know. I just read his request for a reward memorial. There are countless refugees in the Northern Wilderness, and he has organized that area. Now the Northern Wilderness is much better than before; these achievements are his due. As for this… I’ll send an overseer.”

Yan Qing felt her mind in turmoil, not noticing his change in demeanor. Instead, she heard his words and wanted to say, “What are you sending? Isn’t that a waste of manpower? How could Song Yu possibly rebel?”

However, feeling guilty, she didn’t dare to speak, only remaining silent as she casually tossed the memorial to Ji Yezhen, pretending to be impatient as she said, “Fine, you send it. Since Jia Heng is doing so well, then bring him back and promote him.”

“That’s not possible; the people of the Northern Wilderness need him,” Ji Yezhen replied.

Yan Qing’s breath hitched as she picked up another memorial. “Oh.”

Ji Yezhen looked at her inquiringly, but Yan Qing didn’t look at him. She just lowered her head and focused on the memorial in her hands, seriously reviewing it as if there were no issues.

But this only raised more suspicion.

In normal circumstances, this woman would definitely be shouting at him: “What are you looking at!” or would have thrown a memorial at him.

…

The imperial concubine’s involvement in politics had strained her relationship with the court officials. However, the appearance of Jia Heng’s memorial eased this situation.

The person Yan Qing assigned to the Northern Wilderness solved issues that several governors had failed to resolve. Although the step taken was quite bold, the imperial concubine had indeed chosen the right person.