Chapter 297: Edict of Divorce, Wait a Little Longer
Ji Qingwu looked at the Emperor, a playful smile on her face as she raised an eyebrow. "Mom, with the True Dragon Emperor himself in the room, I’m not afraid of any evil spirits. Nothing will happen to me."
At her words, the icy aura surrounding the True Dragon Emperor himself seemed to thaw considerably.
Mrs. Qiao noticed this change and sighed inwardly before curtsying and taking her leave.
Ji Qingwu walked Mrs. Qiao to the door, where she whispered, "Mom, don’t worry about me. Go play with Jiu Jiu for now. I’ll be over in a bit."
Duan Mingfeng was still standing by the window, so she couldn’t say much more.
Ji Qingwu went back into the room. Just as she closed the door...
A familiar scent of agarwood enveloped her from behind. Before she could even flash the smile she had prepared, a hand seized her waist, pressing her against the dark gold trim of the doorframe.
Luckily, the door opened inward. Otherwise, the force would have surely shoved Ji Qingwu right back outside.
"Your Majesty..."
She parted her lips to speak, but her expression suddenly froze.
Through a piece of translucent glass set in the door, Ji Qingwu’s eyes met Duan Mingfeng’s, who was still standing by the window.
With a look of sheer terror, Duan Mingfeng vanished in a flash, the very picture of a startled bird.
’That Lord Xiao Duan is surprisingly considerate,’ Ji Qingwu thought.
What she didn’t know was that Duan Mingfeng had only scrambled aside in heart-pounding terror after catching Emperor Wu Su’s half-lidded, darkening gaze.
Ji Qingwu tried to turn and speak to him, but she was pinned in place.
Her cheek was pressed against the amber-colored glass. In contrast to its cool surface, her waist tingled and burned where his palm held her.
"Feeling all better?" Zhao Mingyan asked, his lips near her ear, one hand still pressing against her waist.
Ji Qingwu’s gaze flickered as she tried to think of how to answer.
But before she could reply, he had already decided she was perfectly fine.
’Seeing her curtsy and walk around, he knew it was nothing serious. And to think he’d actually felt sorry for her. If he had known, he wouldn’t have exercised such restraint and would have eaten his fill.’
Zhao Mingyan tightened his grip on her. "Ah Wu, you’ve certainly gotten bolder. You even managed to fool me."
’But I really hadn’t lied to him,’ she thought. ’I truly hadn’t been able to take any more.’
’It was only thanks to my system’s recovery function that the internal swelling and pain had subsided. My legs, however, are still weak and aching.’
Ji Qingwu didn’t dare say she was fine, terrified she’d be dragged back for another tormenting session.
She turned her face toward him, eyelashes fluttering, and said in a soft voice, "I’m not. It still hurts. I’m just putting on a brave face."
Zhao Mingyan lowered his head. His left hand lifted her delicate chin, as if trying to determine whether she was lying.
Ji Qingwu was one step short of forcing out a tear to prove her case.
Zhao Mingyan felt that with just a little more pressure, he could really make her cry. Not wanting to see her in tears right now, he relaxed the hand gripping her waist.
Ji Qingwu hadn’t expected him to suddenly let go. With the support at her back gone, she stumbled backward, landing right against his warm, solid chest.
With her having "thrown herself" into his arms, Zhao Mingyan stood perfectly steady. A smile crept into his voice as he said, "Hm, it seems Ah Wu wasn’t lying after all."
Ji Qingwu had no choice but to keep leaning against him to prove her legs were still weak.
He wrapped his arms around her from behind, holding her close. "Why did you sneak away, Ah Wu? Why leave without a word?"
’If I didn’t leave, was I supposed to stay in the Emperor’s bedchamber and be a decoration for the Dragon Bed?’
"I saw that Your Majesty seemed to have recovered, so I left. Jiu Jiu is still waiting for me at the clinic."
Zhao Mingyan asked, "And how would you know that I’ve fully recovered?"
Ji Qingwu asked, slightly surprised, "You haven’t? But how..." ’I already... did all that for him, and he’s still not better? Just how strong was that aphrodisiac?’
She turned in his embrace to look at his face carefully. The moment she saw the smile playing on his lips, she knew he had been teasing her.
Ji Qingwu couldn’t stand seeing Emperor Wu Su joke about his health, and she immediately balled her fist and hit him.
Zhao Mingyan chuckled at the blow, which felt like a kitten batting at him, his chest vibrating with the sound.
Ji Qingwu frowned, her tone serious. "Does Your Majesty think this is a laughing matter?"
Seeing that she was genuinely about to get angry, Zhao Mingyan took her hand and placed it over the left side of his chest.
He whispered, "The wound here... it hasn’t fully healed."
The mention of it only made Ji Qingwu more frustrated.
’If he didn’t keep making such... vigorous movements, the wound wouldn’t have kept reopening.’
Ji Qingwu huffed, poking his chest with her finger.
"This wound has nothing to do with me. Your Majesty did this to himself. If it refuses to heal, there’s nothing more I can do. You should hurry back to the Imperial Palace and have an Imperial Physician take a look."
Zhao Mingyan caught her prodding finger, giving her wrist a gentle shake. His voice was low and steady.
"The Imperial Physicians at the Imperial Hospital have their limits. Besides, I don’t know how many of them can be trusted right now. You’re the only one I can trust, Ah Wu."
Though Ji Qingwu said nothing in response to Emperor Wu Su’s high praise, her eyes brightened.
She said with a touch of pride, "Isn’t Doctor Le still around? It’s not as if I’m your only option."
Zhao Mingyan replied, "You know what Le Xi is like. He’s already left the Imperial Palace, and now he’s completely disappeared."
After giving the formula for the ointment to Li Yuzong, Le Xi had found the right moment to make a clean getaway. He wanted nothing more to do with the mess at court and had long since taken off to roam freely.
The only reason Ji Qingwu had left so decisively was that she’d thought Le Xi was still in the Imperial Palace.
"So Doctor Le really left?"
Zhao Mingyan nodded. "He left even before you did."
’I was just slow to recover,’ Ji Qingwu thought. ’If my legs had been stronger, I would have been long gone.’
Zhao Mingyan pressed her head against his chest. "Don’t go running off for the next few days. Just stay with the Ji Family."
Ji Qingwu struggled to lift her head. "I can’t stay with the Ji Family."
’Stay with the Ji Family? What would that even look like?’
She continued, "I’m a married woman. I should return to the Wei Family."
Seeing Emperor Wu Su’s expression darken again, Ji Qingwu fought back the chill that crept up the back of her neck and insisted, "My official status is still as a new bride of the Wei Family. I don’t want to cause trouble for my mother."
’Even if Mrs. Qiao could bear the shame, I don’t want my mother to be ridiculed because of me.’
Zhao Mingyan toyed with her chin. "Just wait a few more days for me. Once I’ve finished cleaning out the treacherous remnants of the previous dynasty, I will send a man to the Northern Border with a decree of annulment for Wei Ting."
Ji Qingwu grabbed his playful hand, her expression turning serious. "Your Majesty, this is a critical time when you need every man you can get. What will you do if this causes Wei Ting to rebel?"
Zhao Mingyan chuckled. "And what if he does? If worst comes to worst, I’ll don my own armor and lead the army myself."
His tone was light, but Ji Qingwu could see from his expression that he wasn’t joking. An emperor would only lead his army into battle himself as a last resort.
Ji Qingwu said gently, "Your Majesty, can’t we wait a little longer?"
"Why wait any longer?"
Zhao Mingyan had developed a strong aversion to the very word "wait." He had waited too long before, which was precisely what allowed Wei Ting to exploit the opening.
’If the Emperor personally leads a campaign, chaos is sure to erupt in the Imperial City with no one to hold down the fort. It would be just like the turmoil of the past few weeks, and I have no desire to live through that again.’