The Little Consort's
Eps. 75: The Queen Mother's Wishes
Two weeks had passed since Long Ji Man had brought Li Anlan to the Feiyun Mountain Guesthouse. However, Li Anlan's thoughts never stopped at such a strange place. Throughout the day, he kept thinking about all the possibilities. There was a desire to investigate, but he himself was at a loss where to start.
Feiyun Mountain filled with rare animals and plants that captivated a lot of his attention. His desire to climb is increasingly becoming, because two weeks ago Long Ji Man only brought him to the guesthouse, and it does not even include post one on the hiking trail. Just then, he was about to walk towards the top of the mountain, but Long Ji Man forbade him and brought him back to the palace.
The woman was about to go out to pamper herself in an ordinary place. However, as he was in the doorway, he saw Long Ji Man pacing around with Xiao Biqi. While walking to and fro, the man's hand moved rubbing his chin, then moved to the back of the body. Very obvious if the man is confused.
“Your Majesty, what's up? Why are you pacing around like an iron?”
Long Ji Man stopped his activities as soon as he heard Li Anlan's voice. The man turned his head, his body facing the entrance of Xingyue Palace. Li Anlan stood up with a frown, making Long Ji Man become misbehaved.
“I...I...”.
“Your Highness, if you want to visit, why stand there? Isn't my palace door wide open?”
Seeing his grand master bewildered and misbehaved, Xiao Biqi secretly smiled. His king was like a teenager caught peeping on his female friend. In order to help his beloved king, Xiao Biqi then raised his voice. He said,
“Your Majesty would like to stay at your palace, Madam.”
“Sorry? Did I not hear wrong?”
“No, Mistress.”
“What is your king's brain troubled?”
In fact, in front of her person, this woman dared to say carelessly.
“Mrs, Your Majesty really should stay here.”
“No! Your Majesty, you must not stay here!”
“I know. But I have to stay the night!”
An alarm of danger suddenly sounded from within Li Anlan. The woman walked back slowly. Long Ji Man who saw the strange gurgle from him became suspicious, his feet slowly stepping on the terrace of the shiny clean Xingyue Palace. Just as the woman's steps were a bit far away, Long Ji Man suddenly jumped up, along with the closing of the door of Xingyue Palace.
Long Ji Man banged on the door loudly, asking the owner to open it. He also shouted up to the two eunuchs and four matchmakers in Xingyue Palace in surprise. Their king shouted so loudly, it meant a bad omen. Their mistress seems to be making things difficult for her king again.
“Huang An, open the door!” yelled Long Ji Man.
“No. Your Highness, you better get out of here!”
“Huang An, you don't make things difficult for me!”
“Your Majesty, you also don't make things difficult for me!”
“Why do you keep repeating my words?”
“Why does His Majesty keep talking?”
Xiao Biqi watched the King and Grand Empress debate from the street court decorated with small rocks. The young eunuch shook his head. He already did not know what to do to make his two junctions get along and make peace. He's completely out of ways.
From a distance, Xie Roulan the personal servant Li Anlan ran from the direction of the gate. The faithful servant girl had just returned from the palace kitchen in order to get fresh fruits for her master. But, when the servant girl had just arrived at the doorstep, she heard that the royal lineage might be about to be born. Without even thinking on the fresh fruits again, he immediately rushed back to Xingyue Palace, informing her of what he had just heard from the palace maids.
Just as he was about to cross Houchi Lake, he saw several different ladies in uniform clustered together. The uniformed dayangs carried several trays containing clothing, flower petals, milk, perfumed powders, make-up, shoes, socks, and some jewelry. Unexpectedly, apparently the ladies were the ladies from the Harem Palace who were assigned by the Queen Mother to deliver the items to the Noble Empress. That was why, she ran ahead of the ladies towards Xingyue Palace.
“Your Highness, you are here?” he asked when he saw Long Ji Man standing in front of the main entrance.
“Roulan, is that you?” li Anlan's voice echoed through the air vents.
“Ya, Mistress. What happened?”
“Roulan, can you take His Majesty away?”
“Ap-What?”
The servant looked at Long Ji Man who was putting on an annoyed face with fear. Even if the sky collapsed, he would not dare to cast out a king forever.
“Ny-Mrs, you better listen to the news I brought!”
“What news?”
“Mistress, on the bridge of Lake Houchi, some of the ladies of Harem Palace are heading here!”
From behind the door, in the room within Xingyue Palace, Li Anlan could not hide her shock. Harem Palace? What did they come here for? Didn't the Royal Empress not deal with the palace in Her Majesty the King? Then what do they really want?
“What are they here for?”
There is no answer to that question. A while later, Li Anlan had just thought of something.
“Your Majesty, is this your mother?”
“You just understood? Now, open the door!”
It was good for Li Anlan to open the door. He can't find trouble with the king's birth mother. Although free from harem affairs, the fact is she is still a wife of the king. As long as the position was still there, then he could still fall into the harem.
Today, Empress Dowager Han Yuemei sent her ladies and arranged for Long Ji Man to stay at her palace. That means, he has attracted the attention of the woman so much that he intends to make himself as an experimental object to test his son. If he refused, then trouble would definitely come at a later date. Li Anlan did not yet know what kind of Empress Dowager Han Yuemei was.
On the day that the emissary of the Harem Palace arrived at Xingyue Palace. Seeing their king standing at the door, they inevitably asked what was going on. It was almost night time, the king they respected should have gone inside, not stood outside like a young master who was denied love by the woman he liked.
The door of Xingyue Palace opened, displaying the figure of the Noble Empress standing with an annoyed face. One by one, the messenger ladies he looked at from the head and toe.
“Good. Just one night, right?”
“Mistress, you're wrong. The Queen Mother arranged ten days for Her Majesty at Xinyue Palace,”, Xiao Biqi said.
“Wait! Ten days? No, oh that's right!”
Li Anlan's entire body suddenly went limp. Ten days, isn't that too long? Li Anlan did not even know if he would remain sane until the tenth day! Empress Dowager Han Yuemei seemed to really want to test it out. The old lady would definitely like to see how far the Noble Empress can go with the king.
With an eye gesture, Xiao Biqi made the messenger ladies-in-waiting move forward. Their small feet climbed onto the terrace of Xingyue Palace, then arrived in front of the Noble Empress. With the permission of His Majesty the King, they brought the helpless Li Anlan inside, to a special room to bathe and cleanse themselves. Meanwhile, Long Ji Man was waiting for him at the edge of the bed.
Li Anlan was forced to bathe in milk with a sprinkling of fragrant red rose petals. It's autumn, where do these ladies get that many petals? If you buy, it will be very expensive. Sly traders usually act in seasons like this.
Forget about the origin of the flower petals. Li Anlan no longer thought of the attractive Feiyun Mountain, but his mind focused on how to safely pass this night. These dayangs came at the behest of the Queen Mother, they would definitely not leave before their task was completed. Li Anlan had absolutely no chance of escaping.
The woman finished her bath after an estimated time of half-eightpm. Now, her clothes were replaced with soft and fragrant white hanfu, a gift from the Queen Mother who came with the ladies. Hanfu was very fitting, until her tiny body was clearly visible.
“My body will definitely be shrouded in ants! Why should they use milk? Wouldn't the cows not be able to breastfeed their young? What if the calf came to me because all of his mother's milk was spent on bathing?” grumbled Li Anlan while looking at her appearance.
The ladies in charge came out, until in the Xingyue Palace room only Li Anlan and Long Ji Man remained. The candle lights dimmed slightly. Li Anlan only realized that the light candle was not a candle in his palace, but a candle from somewhere else. I don't know since when the messenger ladies replaced him. The smell of this candle is a little strange. Li Anlan's nose was not used to it until the woman sneezed many times.
“Your Majesty? Isn't this outfit so embarrassing?” li Anlan asked as she looked at the hanfu she was wearing.
Long Ji Man instantly pulled Li Anlan's hand until the woman lay on the bed. Li Anlan was strangled, she shouted out in protest at Long Ji Man's rude behavior. But the man seemed to care about his hearing. With the strength he had, his body slightly overstretched Li Anlan's tiny body and began to bow his head to Li Anlan's neck. The woman screamed back in rebellion to be released. All swearing and harsh words leaped out of his mouth.
“King crazy! Evil king! Ji Man, you bastard! Quickly let go of me! Damn guy, you hear me? Quickly let go of me!”
“Connect with me if you want to get through tonight safely!”
Li Anlan bit Long Ji Man's shoulder strongly. The man grimaced, but continued his activities. His heart was worried between fear and pity. However, he had to do this for Li Anlan's own safety.
Outside, a tall cloaked figure stood in front of the door of Xingyue Palace with a few people. The figure was in the dimness of the light, but its shadow remained translucent all the way to the interior of Xingyue Palace.
“My son is really a great man!”
The figure was Empress Dowager Han Yuemei, who had deliberately come all the way from Shiyue Palace to Xingyue Palace just to see if everything was going well or not. He was very satisfied as his son directly pounced on his Royal Empress without warming up first.
“It seems, you will soon be fondling grandchildren. Congratulations, Your Grace. First Prince will definitely be born soon,” said the waiter by his side. Hearing this, the Queen Mother was very happy. The woman then left after making sure everything went smoothly.
Realizing that his mother was gone, Long Ji Man released Li Anlan. The man lay on his back after a long sigh. Meanwhile, Li Anlan was still breathing in annoyance and anger. It was very desirable for him to hit the man's face with his mountain backpack.
“Tenace. I won't do anything to you.”
Li Anlan was still breathing.
“Your Majesty, why didn't you tell me earlier?”
“What should I tell you?”
“Didn't your mother just stand in front of my palace entrance?”
“It turns out you realized it. If I had told you earlier, he wouldn't have believed.”
Long Ji Man certainly would not do anything indecent to this woman. Although she was his wife, but her chastity should not be taken for granted. She knew, for a woman, chastity was a very precious thing that could not be replaced with anything.
If a woman loses her chastity by a stranger or a person she does not love, then her life will be ruined. Many stories from case reports he read, many women prefer suicide rather than living life as a dirty woman. Long Ji Man did not want Li Anlan to lose her sanity and become devastated. It's too horrible to imagine.
“Your Highness, your mother is terrible! He could have arranged something like this!”
“Just because you're his favorite son-in-law, he dares to do that.”
“Hey, what son-in-law? Your mother's favorite daughter-in-law is Empress Jin, not me!”
Stupid woman, how could she not realize that her in-laws were so attracted to her? Ah, Long Ji Man had yet to tell Li Anlan how worried Empress Dowager Han Yuemei was when she fell asleep after being kidnapped by Fort Duanrou bandits the other day. It was only natural that the woman did not realize anything.
“Your Majesty, how now?”
“How is what? The door was locked from the outside. We have no choice but to sleep together.”
“Sleep with what? It's called sharing a bed!”
“As far as you are.”
The momentary silent atmosphere. Then, Long Ji Man asked,
“Your world, what is it like?”
“You want to hear my story?”
“Ya.”
The night that should be used to do ‘something’ is actually used by both to tell stories. Throughout the night, Long Ji Man listened to Li Anlan's story enthusiastically. Li Anlan is like a good storyteller and good at telling fictitious stories. But, deep inside Long Ji Man's heart, he believed every word that came out of his Royal Empress's mouth was real.
...***...