Chapter 133: The Regent King is in Danger
A war was being fought on the border, the Research Institute was burning through money, and the Ministry of Industry was desperately pouring funds into it as well.
"Is Your Majesty perhaps worried about finances?"
Xiao Yang looked up from her plans at the approaching Meng Xuechen. "What, are you here to give me money?"
Meng Xuechen replied, "And why not?"
Xiao Yang was speechless. ’These days, everyone’s fighting for the privilege of paying to work.’
Meng Xuechen walked up to Xiao Yang. "The Ministry of Revenue is Your Majesty’s purse. Now that I have accepted this position, I would never allow Your Majesty to be left without funds."
"So I should thank you?" Xiao Yang asked.
"There’s no need for thanks," Meng Xuechen said. "But I wonder if I might ask Your Majesty for a cup of tea?"
Xiao Yang stared at him for a long moment, then suddenly smiled.
"You don’t have to sound so humble. Do you really think I wouldn’t have tea for you here?"
Her gaze shifted outside. "The weather is perfect today. Let’s go to the Imperial Garden."
In the Imperial Garden, the flowers were in full, vibrant bloom. The peonies, in particular, with their myriad colors and enormous blossoms, dominated the view with a tyrannical beauty that was impossible to ignore.
In the garden pavilion, fragrant tea, pastries, and dried fruits were laid out.
As Xiao Yang and Meng Xuechen walked over, they came to a pair of steps. Though the steps were perfectly ordinary, Meng Xuechen insisted on offering his hand. "Your Majesty, please be careful."
Xiao Yang dodged his hand, tapping the back of it as she pulled away. "Don’t get any funny ideas. I have no intention of sacrificing myself to provide for this nation."
Meng Xuechen’s expression shifted. The next moment, Xiao Yang grabbed his hand firmly. "You are special to me. My eleven years, your twenty-four... We were apart for far too long. We’ve grown from youths into adults, our personalities long since changed. But in my heart, you’re forever frozen in that time. You can think of me as frozen in that time, too. In court, we are sovereign and subject. But outside of it, you and I are still friends."
Meng Xuechen was moved. ’Go back to the past?’
But he knew they could never go back. Even if they could return to their youth, he had never wanted to be just her friend.
They had met when they were so young. She had been even younger, and he, in the throes of his first crush, had only wanted to see her, to do everything with her. He’d been so naive, thinking he’d hidden his feelings so well, too shy to even consider confessing.
It wasn’t until the brink of death that he’d had a sudden realization. But by then, it was too late. With his last ounce of strength, emboldened by his fading life, he had stolen a single kiss.
He had loved her then. It was the pure, first love of a young man. Even now, he could almost feel the flutter in his chest whenever he thought of it.
But the human heart is a complex thing. Twenty-four years had passed, and he had been through too much. For a moment, he couldn’t quite tell if his feelings were more adoration, or more a sense of unresolved longing.
But regardless, one thing was certain: he wanted to be with her.
"Xiao Yang, surely you can see that I don’t want to be just your friend."
He felt a sense of calm after saying the words.
After so many years as a merchant, he knew one couldn’t get this far by being naive.
He was full of schemes. Even now, his sincerity was laced with calculation, all to achieve his goal.
He could control everything else, but Xiao Yang was the one variable in his plans. She was beyond his control, and so, it seemed, was his own heart.
"I want to court you. I want to be with you."
He knew Xiao Yang understood, yet he feared she might not, so he made his words unequivocally clear.
As his voice faded, Xiao Yang released his hand.
Just as a hollow feeling bloomed in his chest, Xiao Yang turned to face him.
There was no displeasure, no disgust, no distance in her expression. She tilted her chin up slightly, looking proud and wanton, a brilliant smile playing on her lips.
"I’m not nearly this gentle with my suitors, you know."
A spark of wicked amusement glinted in her eyes.
Meng Xuechen’s heart skipped a beat. He had a bad feeling about this.
Her presence felt dangerous, yet he couldn’t stop his heart from pounding wildly.
When he first fell for Xiao Yang, she was only fifteen—a cool, reserved young girl whose features had yet to fully blossom.
He hadn’t been much older himself back then. It was a simple, innocent infatuation, devoid of desire. If his current self were to meet the Xiao Yang from that time, the feelings would surely still be there, but he was too worldly and shrewd now; he probably wouldn’t dare voice such thoughts aloud.
But the woman before him now... her age was perfect, her experience was perfect. This version of her was one he had never seen before—radiant and assertive, brimming with vitality. She was both familiar and foreign, exuding a fatal attraction that left his more sordid thoughts with nowhere to hide.
He was, after all, no longer that young man from all those years ago.
Meng Xuechen put on a serious expression, though his eyes twinkled with amusement. "Your Majesty can rest assured. Though I may look lean, I’ve trained in martial arts since I was a child. I can take a punch."
At his words, Xiao Yang let out a snort of laughter. "Hahaha!"
Her laugh broke the tense, ambiguous atmosphere, and the two of them walked into the pavilion together.
Rong Yin and several other ministers, arriving to see the Emperor, found her instead in the Imperial Garden, deep in pleasant conversation with Meng Xuechen.
Everyone instinctively glanced at the Regent King. Anyone who wasn’t blind could see the Regent King’s feelings for Her Majesty.
The Regent King was an exceptional man, but his status was somewhat... special. Meng Xuechen, on the other hand, though from a merchant background, was both handsome and capable. He was clearly high in the Emperor’s favor and a very strong competitor.
’The Regent King is in trouble!’
"Your Majesty."
Rong Yin, seemingly oblivious to their scrutiny, stepped forward with a placid expression.
Xiao Yang looked up, saw Rong Yin, and then glanced at the other officials. Her smile faded slightly. "What is it?"
Rong Yin replied, "My business is not urgent. Please hear them out first."
With that, he naturally took a seat on Xiao Yang’s other side.
The other ministers didn’t dare to stare. They dutifully stated their business, received their answers, and promptly took their leave.
In no time, only the three of them remained.
Rong Yin lifted his teacup and spoke slowly, his words directed at Meng Xuechen. "I’ve seen that the Ministry of Revenue is swamped with work. Shouldn’t you be getting back to oversee things, Mr. Meng?"
Meng Xuechen replied, "I have already made all the necessary arrangements. I would never delay Her Majesty’s affairs."
Rong Yin, having failed to chase him off, said bluntly, "I have an important matter to discuss with Her Majesty. Mr. Meng, please excuse yourself."
Meng Xuechen countered, "The Prince just said it wasn’t urgent, so I imagine it can’t be that important. Besides, I was here first today."
The two went back and forth, the tension between them as thick as gunpowder smoke, with swords all but drawn.
Xiao Yang rose nonchalantly. "It seems you two have much to discuss. I’ll leave you to it."
’They can fight over me all they want,’ she thought, ’but they’d better not make a scene in my presence. I don’t mediate squabbles between men.’
Xiao Yang left without a moment’s hesitation, giving neither of them a chance to explain.
Both men stood and took a step to follow, only to be blocked by the guards. Their expressions darkened simultaneously.
’Even though they had both set their sights on the Emperor, she didn’t seem to feel she needed either of them. It was already going to be difficult enough to win an official title. If she grew to resent them, their futures would be even bleaker.’
Still, it was a bitter pill to swallow.
Rong Yin’s eyes turned dark and cold. "I considered you a friend. I was the one who recommended you for a position at court. It seems I merely invited an enemy."
Meng Xuechen retorted, "An enemy? I have never done anything to wrong you, my lord Prince. If you are referring to my admiration for Her Majesty... well, Her Majesty does not belong to you."
"She is the Emperor. Let’s not even speak of harems—at the very least, she has the right to choose her own consort. It all comes down to our own merits, doesn’t it?"
Rong Yin was momentarily speechless. But Meng Xuechen twisted the knife. "By rank and relation, Her Majesty must call you her ’uncle’. Does the Regent King truly wish for Her Majesty to bear the infamy of ages just to be with you?"
Meng Xuechen had just voiced Rong Yin’s deepest fear. The color drained from Rong Yin’s face in an instant, and his eyes became terrifyingly vicious.
If he had merely been hostile to Meng Xuechen before, now, he was filled with outright murderous intent.
Meng Xuechen remained coolly unconcerned from start to finish. In any other matter, he would have gladly deferred to Rong Yin. But when it came to Xiao Yang, he would not yield an inch.
’In the contest to become the Imperial Consort, Rong Yin was out of the running from the very start.’