Love You Day and Night – CH 070

☆, Chapter 70. Extra: If She Was Born an Empress (Part 2)

Noble Lord Lin De’s injuries were quite serious, and he had a high fever that lasted for several days, but he finally managed to survive.

The Empress had to visit Qingyun Terrace once or twice a day to feel at ease, and the Regent stopped picking on Noble Lord Lin De. While it seemed the situation was calming down, some people were inevitably guilty.

For example, some people criticized Noble Lord Lin De to curry favor with the Regent.

And so, before Noble Lord Lin De’s injuries had healed, someone else resurfaced. A book with an irrelevant title was presented to the Empress in front of Noble Lord Lin De. When she opened it, her face paled.

But the next moment, she figured out the whole story. She immediately ordered the palace servants to arrest Her Lord Tang, the complainant. Then, dismissing everyone, she stood up and threw the book into the charcoal brazier, setting it ablaze.

The charcoal flames quickly caught fire as they touched the pages. The Empress turned to look at Noble Lord Lin De, who lay recuperating on the couch. Frowning, she said, “Why would you take such a risk? It’s a good thing Her Lord Tang came to me to pick a fight. If he had reported it directly to my aunt, it would have been a huge mess!”

Noble Lord Lin De stared at the flames in the charcoal brazier without saying a word. Then, the Empress said, “There’s more than just this one book, right? Clean up the rest yourself. I’ll help you silence Her Lord Tang!”

Noble Lord Lin De’s eyes trembled slightly. He remained silent for a moment as he stared at the book, which was gradually becoming obscured by the flames. Suddenly, he lifted himself off the couch and knelt on one knee.

The Empress was startled by his action. The two were already too familiar with each other. They only observed the formalities of ruler and subject in front of outsiders, but in private, they were like siblings. She was stunned for a long moment before reacting: “What are you doing?!”

Noble Lord Lin De seemed a little nervous. He pursed his lips and said, “I have something to say. Your Majesty may punish me after hearing it, but please listen to me first.”

It was rare for him to be so serious. The Empress was stunned again: “You said…”

Noble Lord Lin De sighed: “I believe that selecting talented people should not discriminate based on gender. Men with ambition should be able to serve their country. There were dynasties in ancient times where men held official positions. Why can’t this dynasty?”

He was able to finish his words smoothly, mainly because the Empress was so surprised that she was speechless.

Then, a moment of silence fell, and the Empress panicked, “You… I’m assuming you never said that!”

“But I can’t pretend I didn’t say it.” He suddenly became very firm, then, after a breath, softened again. “I don’t want to force Your Majesty to do anything, but I want to argue with you to the end.”

The Empress’s head swelled, and then, amidst the discomfort, she suddenly felt a surge of irritation. She snapped, “What’s there to argue about? You’re truly rebellious!”

This was the first time in ten years that Her Majesty had stormed out of Noble Lord Lin De’s residence in such a rage. The palace attendants were unaware of the reason, and Noble Lord Lin De wouldn’t go around spreading the news. However, in the Imperial Palace, where honor and disgrace change overnight, the rise and fall of the rich and powerful are always present, and others might not care to delve into the reasons; simply knowing that Her Majesty was angry was enough.

After Her Majesty hadn’t seen Noble Lord Lin De for a month, the palace attendants’ attitudes had somewhat changed. It was true that Noble Lord Lin De had served Her Majesty for ten years. In the past, they wouldn’t have easily considered him losing power over a single argument. But now, Her Majesty seemed more concerned with Her Lord Yuwen, which made things difficult to say.

However, at the end of September, Her Lord Yuwen came to visit.

He and Noble Lord Lin De had similar personalities in some respects, such as neither liking to interact with others in the palace. Consequently, they weren’t particularly close and rarely took the initiative to interact.

Therefore, Noble Lady Lin De was somewhat surprised by Her Lord Yuwen’s arrival. When he asked him what was going on, he dismissed the palace attendants and then asked, “Noble Lord, if you have time, please go see Her Majesty.”

“?” Noble Lord Lin De was puzzled. “Why do you say that?”

Her Lord Yuwen was direct: “Do you think Her Majesty is angry with you?”

Noble Lady Lin De nodded, then Yuwen continued, “Actually, not really. She just didn’t know what to do and didn’t dare come to see you. I don’t know what exactly went on between you that day, but she’s argued with the Regent seven or eight times in the past month. Today, I leaned over and overheard a few words, and it seemed to be about Your Lordship.”

About him?

Noble Lord Lin De was puzzled, and Yuwen Ke spoke frankly, “I don’t mean to confront you, Noble Lord. But to be honest, Her Majesty has kept nothing from me for the past three years, except this time, she refuses to speak, and I don’t know how to persuade her. Noble Lord, you hold a different weight in Her Majesty’s heart than anyone else. Her Majesty often says she wishes you well, so you probably don’t want anything to happen to her, right?”

It was natural. Although he never dared to address her by name due to the etiquette between ruler and subject, she had called him brother for ten years, and the bond was already etched in his heart.

“Her Majesty has lost her appetite lately and has lost weight. Please go see her. If you have anything to say, speak it out in person. Don’t upset her.”

Yuwen Ke’s attitude was clear: he didn’t care about his own condition, but he was deeply worried about the Empress.

Noble Lord Lin De was also worried about the Empress, so he followed Yuwen Ke’s advice and went to Zhiming Pavilion.

For days, he had felt the Empress must be angry with him. Now that Yuwen Ke had said no, he felt relieved, yet at the same time, he felt even worse than her being angry with him.

—Her current condition showed that he had caused her so much trouble. She’d lost her appetite because of him, argued with the Regent so many times over him, and even been too afraid to come see him. It was his impulsiveness that had caused her such trouble.

Noble Lord Lin De entered Zhiming Pavilion, walked around the room, and saw the Empress sitting listlessly on a large rock by the pool.

He hesitated for a long time but finally decided not to speak and silently sat down beside her. As if disturbed, she frowned and looked up at him. Seeing it was him, she was startled for a moment.

Noble Lord Lin De nodded. “I’m sorry. Her Lord Tang irritated me that day, and my blood boiled. Your Majesty, please pretend I didn’t say those words.”

The Empress’s gaze returned to the water, and after a moment’s pause, she said, “I’ll convince my aunt to grant you an official position. You can go ahead and take up your post.”

“Huh?” Noble Lord Lin De was taken aback. “I never thought of taking up an official position myself. I just thought…”

“If you hadn’t thought of it, you wouldn’t have said those words,” the Empress said calmly. She twisted her skirt ribbon around her fingers twice and added, “I shouldn’t have lost my temper with you. After returning home, I’ve thought about it, and I think you’re right.”

Or rather, she thought about it over and over again but couldn’t find any fault with Brother Xuan’s words.

Since selecting talented people was for the sake of the country and the people, why should they differentiate between men and women? If a man was truly more talented than a woman, why shouldn’t he also be allowed to serve the country?

She asked herself this question over and over again.

Furthermore, she thought, Brother Xuan must be very concerned about this matter. Although he had never mentioned it before, he had shown an unusually strong attitude about it.

If he didn’t care so much, he wouldn’t be like this.

Since he cared, she cared too. She wanted to make him happy, but she was even more afraid of creating a rift between them.

The Empress lowered her head and whispered, “Your martial arts are so good, I think you might want to go to the Ministry of War. But my aunt won’t give you military power. Don’t worry, I will…”

“I’m sorry,” he suddenly repeated. She looked over and saw that his eyes were truly filled with regret.

Wen Xuan’s mind was in a state of confusion, and he fumbled to explain, “I didn’t mean to cause you so much trouble. That day I just…” He paused, a little hesitantly, “I’ve just been having these thoughts, and I felt I could tell you.”

Though his behavior that day was unusually respectful, he ultimately said such daring words because he felt he had nothing to hide from her.

The Empress suddenly laughed, and he looked at her intently. She chuckled again, stunned. Perhaps because of her mental state, her smile seemed a little hazy.

Then she turned her head, looking at him sweetly. “I want you to stay like this, alright?”

Wen Xuan didn’t react. “What?”

“If there’s anything you want to tell me, just tell me.” The Empress stretched lazily, gazing at the pond. “When you become an official, you might encounter official intrigues and schemes and face difficult problems. But don’t assume that I, as the Empress, won’t trust you… If anything happens, tell me!”

“…” Wen Xuan looked at her with a smile. “Do you really want me to be an official?”

“Go ahead, if you want to, and you have real talent.” The Empress shrugged. “I’ll try, uh… convince my aunt within three months? Alas, she’s already backed off. She said you can go to the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of Justice, but she’s worried about the Ministry of War.”

“…Ministry of Revenue?” Wen Xuan paused for a moment. The Empress looked at him again because of his tone. He said, “I’d actually rather go to the Ministry of Revenue. Household registration, finance, disaster relief, and taxation can better benefit the people of the world.”

“Really?” The Empress looked at him. Wen Xuan nodded and chuckled. “What’s the point of the Ministry of War? They haven’t fought a war in years.”

That’s quite right!

The Empress sighed heavily, stood up, and brushed off her skirts. “Then I’ll talk to my aunt and get you a position in the Ministry of Revenue. As for the imperial title… save it for now! If you fall in love with a colleague after you become an official, we’ll talk!”

She looked extremely happy.

Wen Xuan chuckled at her. But until then, he still thought her talk of him getting married was a joke.

Until a few months later, he was busy working late at the Ministry of Revenue on disaster relief, causing the secret guard she had assigned him to resent him and throw him a box of cooling oil.

—End of full text—