The Scholar's Lady in the Monarch-Minister Novel 42

In the days that followed, Chen Yao sent Cheng Yue out almost daily to gather news about Shen Yunxiu.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before she heard that the matter had taken a major turn for the better.

First, Yuan Fuju argued passionately at court every day, sparring verbally with the other officials, and even brought in his father, Grand Tutor Yuan, to back him up. Second, the land policy Shen Yunxiu had implemented genuinely benefited the people, and many common folk had spontaneously signed a joint petition on her behalf. Some even knelt outside the palace gates, begging the emperor to pardon her.

Thus, after a bit more time, Shen Yunxiu not only walked free from the heavenly prison but was also restored to her former post by imperial decree.

When Chen Yao heard the news, she was sitting at the round table, slowly stirring the spoon in her bowl of lily bulb and lotus seed soup.

The imperial physician had said she was restless and troubled lately, so he had instructed the imperial kitchen to prepare calming, mind-soothing medicinal dishes for her.

Hearing this, her hand paused mid-stir, and she immediately looked up. "Really?"

"Yes, Your Highness, it's absolutely true. This servant heard it from Eunuch De, who attends His Majesty." Cheng Yue's face was bright with smiles.

She was genuinely happy as well, since the empress had been listless and barely touching her food these past days, and the whole Qifeng Palace had been on tenterhooks because of it.

The stone in Chen Yao's heart finally settled, and her brows, which had been faintly knit, relaxed.

After a moment's thought, she set her spoon down on the rim of the bowl and rose to her feet. "Where is His Majesty?"

Without waiting for Cheng Yue to answer, she glanced at the sun outside the window and murmured to herself, "At this hour, he should be in the Imperial Study."

After all, Xiao Mingting kept a very regular routine—almost like a robot running on a programmed schedule.

"Your Highness, do you wish to go now?" Cheng Yue asked.

Seeing that the young woman seemed ready to head out, she quickly took a gold-threaded phoenix-embroidered cloak from the clothing rack and draped it carefully over her outermost layer, speaking with concern, "The wind has been strong lately. Your Highness, do take care."

"Mm." Chen Yao replied softly.

She remained standing in place, even tilting her head up slightly in cooperation as Cheng Yue fastened the ties at her collar.

*

In the Imperial Study.

Chen Yao had intended to ask Xiao Mingting, the moment she walked in, to let her go wait outside the heavenly prison to receive Shen Yunxiu.

But seeing the man seated upright before the imperial desk, head bowed in serious perusal of memorials, she quietly stood at his side and waited.

Only after Xiao Mingting set his wolf-hair brush down on the brush rest did he—with practiced ease—reach out, draw the young woman at his side into his arms, and settle her on his lap.

"Why has Yao Yao come?" He leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead with his thin lips.

Eunuch De would only have dared to reveal news of Shen Yunxiu under his orders; and yet here he was, putting on a show of feigned ignorance.

Chen Yao's hands looped around the man's neck, and she tilted her pretty face up to cooperate obediently. At his words, she blinked.

Then she spoke in a soft voice, "Your Majesty, I heard Yunxiu can leave the heavenly prison today. Your consort wishes to go receive her."

Xiao Mingting's brow furrowed. He looked down at the young woman in his arms, disapproving. "You can summon her into the palace to keep you company another day. A place like the heavenly prison..."

Before he could finish, Chen Yao couldn't resist giving a little petulant sway of her small body, her voice going soft and coaxing. "But your consort wants to go."

As if unaccustomed to such a coy, charming posture, the young woman nervously lowered her eyelids, and a faint blush crept over her fair cheeks.

—It was a trick she'd learned from the heroine in a new storybook she'd been reading.

Xiao Mingting was momentarily startled.

He subtly lowered his gaze to conceal the flash of light that passed through his eyes, keeping his expression calm as he said flatly, "I can agree."

Hearing this, Chen Yao immediately raised her face again, eyes shining as she looked at him. "Really? Your consort thanks Your Majesty."

"Mm." Xiao Mingting gave a slight nod, one brow arched as he deliberately drew out his words. "But..."

Chen Yao instinctively tilted her head, her clear gaze fixed unblinkingly on his handsome face, as if a little confused.

Only then did Xiao Mingting continue unhurriedly, "I have one condition. In exchange."

Chen Yao felt a vague sense of foreboding. "What condition?"

Xiao Mingting curved his lips and suddenly leaned toward her.

The warm breath of his breathing instantly enveloped her, intimately brushing against the jade-white lobe of her ear, and then he pressed close to her ear and said in a low voice, "Tonight I want to..."

The more she heard, the hotter Chen Yao's ears grew, red as if they might bleed.

Especially since, as he spoke, the man's moist thin lips deliberately, as if by accident, brushed against her earlobe, sending a fine, dense shiver rippling through her whole body.

"If you agree, I'll permit you to go."

Finally, Xiao Mingting straightened up, pulling back a little to leisurely take in the sight of the young woman's flushed face. The smile in his eyes deepened.

Chen Yao bit her lip, her gaze shimmering, and in the end could only nod shyly.

*

When the carriage finally reached the outside of the heavenly prison.

Chen Yao gently patted the large hand Xiao Mingting had wrapped around her waist and reminded him in a low voice, "Your Majesty, we've arrived."

"Mm." Xiao Mingting gave a light hum, though he still didn't let go. His tone lifted slightly. "Are you sure you want to go down now?"

Chen Yao blinked, not quite understanding his meaning, but she followed the man's gaze to the curtain beside them, which the wind had lifted slightly at one corner.

At the prison gate at that moment, Shen Yunxiu had just walked out slowly when Yuan Fuju, who had been waiting for some time, rushed up to her excitedly.

Without sparing a thought for the eyes around them, he pulled her into a tight embrace, his face full of the lingering fear of having regained something lost. Even his shoulders trembled uncontrollably.

Chen Yao's almond-shaped eyes flew wide. She looked a little dazed. "This... they..."

She had assumed their bond was simply one of deep friendship, but now that Shen Yunxiu's identity as a woman had been exposed, to embrace so tightly in public like this... wasn't it a little too intimate?

Xiao Mingting's gaze also drifted calmly toward the pair in the distance, a thoughtful look crossing his brow.

Before he had learned of Shen Yunxiu's identity, he hadn't thought much of it, simply taking Yuan Fuju for the kind of man who was utterly devoted to his friends, loyal through and through.

But now, thinking it over carefully, Yuan Fuju's attention to Shen Yunxiu was indeed excessive. Many of his actions clearly went beyond the bounds of friendship. Perhaps even he himself had only just now realized...

He shook his head inwardly and tightened his arm around the young woman in his embrace, asking gently, "You can rest easy now, can't you? But seeing the two of them like this, do you still want to go down and interrupt?"

Chen Yao's cheeks flushed slightly. She quickly averted her gaze and said in a small voice, "No. Let's go down a little later."

Meanwhile, Shen Yunxiu, who had been taken by surprise and pulled into Yuan Fuju's arms, stiffened almost reflexively.

But she thought that he was merely overcome with emotion, and she also clearly understood that, since entering the heavenly prison, she hadn't suffered a single hardship, and had been released so smoothly—behind it all, Yuan Fuju must have been running around on her behalf and quietly greasing palms.

Despite feeling a little awkward, she stayed put and let him hold her tightly.

Only after a moment did she gently push at him, her voice tinged with embarrassment. "Xu Zhi, let me go first. I've been in the heavenly prison for days and haven't bathed in a long time. I'm afraid I'm not exactly clean."

Yuan Fuju pretended not to hear, even hugging her tighter as he immediately retorted, "Xi Lan still smells sweet, not dirty at all."

That said, when he felt the slight struggle from the person in his arms, he reluctantly let go.

Shen Yunxiu took another step back and lowered her head to tidy her clothes carefully, then glared at him disapprovingly. "Don't talk nonsense."

*

Years flew by in the blink of an eye, and before long, the beginning of summer was approaching again.

The bright moon hung high, and the night was spilled like ink across the rolling mountain shadows behind Baohua Temple, deepening the undulating outlines.

On the open ground not far away, Qu Zhujun, dressed in a dark purple riding outfit, was dancing with her sword.

As her sleeves fluttered, the light of her blade shone in harmony with the bright moonlight. Flecks of firefly light drifted around her, making her sword-dancing figure all the more graceful and lively.

From a distance, it looked like a flowing ink-wash painting.

"Sister Zhujun is in a very good mood today?" Chen Yao asked softly.

She was sitting with her knees drawn up, her chin resting lightly on them, perched obediently on a large stone padded with an outer robe.

"Mm." Yuan Wangshu, seated to her left, nodded with a smile.

Her gaze rested on Qu Zhujun in the distance, her tone full of gratification. "She begged Lady Qu for a long time, and only recently got her wish—allowed to follow the Qu family army to gain experience on the battlefield."

"Speaking of which, this is all thanks to Yunxiu. If not for you making a name for yourself at court as a woman, she probably wouldn't have had the courage."

Hearing this, Chen Yao unconsciously turned her gaze to Shen Yunxiu, who sat on her other side.

Today she wore a moon-white long robe, her long ink-black hair tied up high with a single wooden hairpin. One glance made it clear she was a woman, yet she still looked so spirited that one could hardly tell her gender at a glance.

Shen Yunxiu merely smiled gently at the words, her smile clean and bright. "That's her own ability and courage. Even without me, Zhujun has always had great ambitions. She carries Old General Qu's fighting spirit in her blood. How could she ever be content to stay stagnant in the manor, wasting away?"

"But your existence still gave her tremendous courage." Yuan Wangshu insisted.

After saying this, however, her tone shifted quickly, and she deliberately winked. "Speaking of which, Yunxiu, when are you planning to accept my useless little brother into your household? If you ask me, as long as he can get into the Shen manor—even just as a lowly attendant—he'd pack his bags and come knocking immediately."

"Sister Wangshu, don't tease me. Xu Zhi may be a bit unserious, but he wouldn't go that far." Shen Yunxiu said helplessly.

"I'm not just making this up." Yuan Wangshu pursed her lips, a hint of mischief clear in her brows and eyes. "He hasn't said it out loud, but just look at how utterly smitten he acts—isn't that exactly what he means?"

The two chatted and laughed, and Chen Yao didn't interject, simply resting her chin in her hand, listening with a focused expression.

The night breeze drifted over gently, carrying the faint fragrance of grass and trees from the mountain, softly brushing the strands of hair at the young woman's temples and gently lifting the hems of their robes.