Chapter 38 - Sleepless

 Pei Xiuyan was at a loss for a moment, so he could only say faintly, "It's okay, I'll take you back to the mansion. Bai Zhi is still waiting for you in the mansion."

Ye Chuyan took the opportunity to look around and took note of this place, thinking that she must come here to find out if she has the chance one day.

After the three returned to the mansion, Bai Zhi had been waiting in Jianjia Garden for a long time. Seeing that Ye Chuyan was safe and sound, she cried with joy. Pei Xiuyan took Yan Xue to the palace again to investigate the matter of Xuanyou Palace.

Bai Zhi blamed herself a little, "Princess, I... I have caused trouble for you again..."

Ye Chuyan patted her head and said, "It's okay, it's a false alarm; I'm tired."

Seeing that Ye Chuyan looked tired, Bai Zhi blamed herself while preparing a fragrant bath for her.

After Ye Chuyan packed up, she lay on the bed, unable to calm down. She couldn't let anyone know about her and Wu Mu's stay in Xuanyou Palace. Today's events were too strange, and she still didn't understand how she was drugged.

The person who came obviously wanted to bring Wu Mu and her together and eventually ruin her reputation. But her identity as the daughter of a guilty minister and the barefoot incident were already terrible, and it couldn't be any worse. Since he could drug her, why didn't he just poison her to death? Why could Wu Mu's heart blood dispel the drug she had planted? What happened to Wu Mu's heart injury? He never liked people to serve him personally. With such a serious injury, who was taking care of him? What on earth did Pei Xiuyan want to do by taking her to the suburbs?

The messy thoughts were tangled in her mind, giving her a splitting headache. No matter how difficult these things were, they were not as sad as Wu Mu's injury.

How could she find a chance to see Wu Mu without letting anyone know? She really wanted to see that fool. Ye Chuyan stared at the bed curtain above her head, unable to fall asleep.

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Zhao Yujiao also couldn't fall asleep tonight. Her leg injury had almost healed, and now, except for walking a little slowly, there was almost no problem. That day, Li Fu said that he was willing to die for her and get rid of Ye Chuyan.

He had an aphrodisiac that could be applied to men and women separately. It was colourless, tasteless, and non-toxic. If a man and a woman were within one foot of each other, the drug would take effect, and both men and women would go crazy. After the two separated, the drug would be completely ineffective, and no one could find out why.

Li Fu had been running the Qing Palace for many years. He had several acquaintances in the palace, and the daughter of a distant confidant was a maid in the palace who happened to be responsible for serving the nobles at this palace banquet. It was a golden opportunity.

He said that if Ye Chuyan and Wu Mu were discovered at the palace banquet tonight, it would not only be a disgrace to the Qing Palace but also a disgrace to Dafeng.

At that time, even if the gods came down to earth, it would be useless. The emperor and the Qing King would definitely secretly execute Ye Chuyan to protect Dafeng's reputation. Once Pei Xiuyan personally executed Ye Chuyan, no one would ever know the truth.

At the time of the first hour, Zhao Yujiao did not wait for the news that Ye Chuyan and Wu Mu were in trouble, but waited for the news that Pei Xiuyan personally sent Ye Chuyan back to Jianjia Garden, and Ye Chuyan was unharmed. She was anxious at once.

It was already late at night, and it was inconvenient to inquire at this time. She could only wait until dawn and call Li Fu to ask. She lay on the bed like a pancake, waiting for dawn in agony.

 

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Dafeng Palace, Yunqian Hall, three quarters of the first hour.

Pei Ye was sitting on a golden nanmu armchair, closing his eyes to rest. What happened tonight was really interesting. He thought Beirong was sincere in seeking peace and establishing diplomatic relations. First, his words were sincere, and he offered jewels. Although he asked Ye Chuyan to dance, he exchanged Licheng for her. This move was full of sincerity.

However, just after the banquet, Na Sheng came to him privately to ask for someone: Princess Qing Ye Chuyan!

Na Sheng actually said without hesitation that he had taken a fancy to the dancing Princess Qing and was willing to exchange Ye Chuyan for ten cities on the border of Beirong. Na Sheng said that he planned to leave in three days and hoped to take Ye Chuyan with him when he left. He really couldn't understand why Na Sheng, such a tyrannical, arbitrary, and bloodthirsty person, would exchange ten cities for a woman.

Even if Ye Chuyan had a fairy-like temperament and amazing sword dance, she was just a married woman, and she was also the daughter of a guilty minister. However, no matter what the reason was for Na Sheng to do this, he didn't care. Just a Ye Chuyan, Pei Xiuyan must agree. He must take the ten cities on the border of Beirong, no matter what!

The more he thought about it, the more ridiculous it was. He thought that since Na Sheng had become the new emperor of Beirong, Dafeng would have one more powerful enemy. Unexpectedly, Na Sheng was just a tyrant obsessed with beauty.

Pei Ye had a faint smile on his lips, and the cinnabar mole on his forehead made him look like an evil god, indescribably weird.

When Pei Xiuyan came in, he saw such a scene. As soon as he entered the palace, he met an eunuch who said that Pei Ye summoned him to discuss something.

"Your Majesty!" Pei Xiuyan bowed.

Pei Ye slowly opened his eyes and said, "Sit..."

After saying that, he glanced at the personal eunuch.

The eunuch understood, and after showing Pei Xiuyan a seat, he served him a cup of tea. Pei Xiuyan had long been accustomed to such treatment and did not refuse.

After sitting down, he asked, "The emperor summoned me so urgently; is there something urgent?"

Pei Ye suddenly sighed, "It's hard for you to let the princess dance with a sword today."

Pei Xiuyan couldn't help laughing at himself. Pei Ye was still so good at winning people's hearts. It was obviously the result he wanted, but now he comforted himself.

He was thinking about it, but he said respectfully, "It is an honour for me and my wife to fight for a city for Dafeng."

Pei Ye liked Pei Xiuyan's transparency.

"Ye Chuyan is barefoot today, which damages your reputation. Although she fought for a city for Dafeng, she is no longer qualified to be the princess of Qing. The ninth princess will be married next month, and I plan to give her to you as my wife."

The ninth princess is not a member of the Pei family royal family, nor is she a real princess. Her original name was Liu Qionglan, and she was the daughter of the Liu family in Jinzhou.

The Liu family is a century-old family with an amazing foundation. When the Queen Mother went to Jinzhou for a visit, she took the three-year-old Liu Qionglan back to Kyoto out of selfishness, raised her in the palace, gave her the surname Pei, and let her enjoy the treatment of a princess. After she changed her name to Pei Qionglan, everyone used to call her the Ninth Princess.

The Queen Mother originally planned to marry her to Pei Ye when she was old enough, so as to stabilise the court and control the Liu family. However, the Queen Mother passed away, and Pei Ye had no good feelings for the people left by the Queen Mother and never mentioned this matter.

Today, he suddenly wanted to marry the Ninth Princess to Pei Xiuyan, which surprised Pei Xiuyan. If he married the Ninth Princess, it would be equivalent to climbing up the Liu family. Pei Ye was really ruthless this time to win him over.

He immediately kneeled down and said, "Your Majesty, since Ye Chuyan is barefoot for Dafeng, I cannot divorce her; otherwise, I would be a heartless and ungrateful person. I hope Your Majesty will understand."

He promised Ye Chuyan today that he would protect her in the future. How could he divorce his wife and marry the Ninth Princess at this time? No matter how powerful the Liu family is, he can't let Ye Chuyan down again.

Pei Ye thought that Pei Xiuyan was forced to marry Ye Chuyan, and he should hate Ye Chuyan. He didn't expect him to give up the Ninth Princess for Ye Chuyan, and he was a little unhappy.

"Prince Qing, if you don't want to divorce your wife for the sake of friendship and reputation, I can allow it. If it's for the ten cities of Beirong, are you willing to give up Ye Chuyan?"

Pei Xiuyan was a little surprised. "Your Majesty, what do you mean by this?"

Pei Ye curled his lips and sneered, and he told Pei Xiuyan that Na Sheng was willing to exchange Ye Chuyan for ten cities.

After that, he said coldly, "I will give you three days to consider. If you let Na Sheng take Ye Chuyan away, you can not only exchange ten cities for Dafeng but also marry the Ninth Princess as your concubine. Otherwise, you will go to Yancheng to fight against the Japanese pirates and never return to Beijing!"