Chapter 567 - Fortune Telling

Chapter 567 – Fortune Telling

Tang Zhen reckoned he should be the most aggrieved and helpless person in the world. It was fine if he couldn’t marry his beloved, but now, he had to help another man marry her. Could there be anything more tragic than this?

But he couldn’t refuse, because that person was the emperor.

He finally finished his work in the palace, and remembering the farce that came out from the Wu family today, wanted to go to the Lu family to inquire.

Lu Lingzhi was also at home, so they drank some wine and talked in the study.

“His Majesty doesn’t even want to see me now.” Lu Lingzhi smiled wryly at Tang Zhen. He thought that after he recovered, the emperor would assign him an important role again. Several days had passed and the emperor had yet to summon him.  Apparently, he didn’t intend to give him any work.

Tang Zhen didn’t know why Mo Rongzhan suddenly left Lu Lingzhi in the cold. Although Lu Guifei was favored in the past, the emperor was definitely not the kind to place someone in an important position just because he favored a noble concubine. Nor was he the type who would not punish a minister because of a concubine’s mistakes. Just like Prime Minister Xu, although Xu Xianfei was demoted*, the emperor still valued Prime Minister Xu.

(*demoted from noble concubine to normal concubine without any title)

“Perhaps His Majesty wants you to recuperate properly and not that he doesn’t want to see you,” Tang Zhen reassured his friend.

Lu Lingzhi shook his head and smiled wryly. Tang Zhen might be ignorant about it, but how could he not know? After all, he had played this game for a long while now. He knew how to discern the thoughts of the monarch, to a certain extent.  The emperor was suspicious of him. What’s more, he reckoned he might even have suspected that Wushuang was pretending to be a savior and had something to do with him.

“It’s not easy to find you for a drink recently off late. Are you busy?”

“I’m a little busy. The no-war pact with East Qing Country has almost been negotiated, and now I’m waiting for them to send people to the Jin Kingdom.” Tang Zhen nodded lightly and did not tell Lu Lingzhi all that the emperor asked him to do.

“Then… Do you know what’s going on about the emperor’s marriage proposal to Yaoyao?” Lu Lingzhi probed. He felt more and more strange these last two days. If the emperor really did not want to marry Yaoyao, why was Tang Zhen still quiet?  He could still see that Tang Zhen cared about his cousin, and now that he had such a good opportunity, why wasn’t he proposing marriage?

Tang Zhen’s hand holding the wine glass froze. “What else could be going on?”

“You clearly said earlier that the emperor wanted to make Yaoyao the empress.” Lu Lingzhi poured him another glass of wine. “Could it be that something happened in Zhao Jia Island that made the emperor change his mind?”

“I… When did I tell you that the emperor wants to make Yaoyao the empress?” Tang Zhen looked at Lu Lingzhi in shock, it was impossible for him to tell anyone about it casually.

Lu Lingzhi smiled and said, “That time when you were drunk and I took you back home, you accidentally mentioned it.”

“This matter… Don’t speak about it recklessly.” Tang Zhen remembered that time he was drunk, and wished he could slap himself twice. He could hold his liquor rather well,

but he drank way too much at that time because he was way too sad. He didn’t expect that he would become loose-lipped when inebriated but resolved never to get drunk, no matter what.

“Don’t worry, I haven’t told anyone,” Lu Lingzhi said lightly sensing the thoughts coursing through the other’s mind. “Now, can you tell me what the emperor is going to do?”

Tang Zhen smiled wryly and shook his head at Lu Lingzhi, “You have been with the emperor for so many years, don’t you know him? What the emperor does is always unexpected. In short, it is better not to inquire about this matter. His Majesty…  has his own ideas.”

Lu Lingzhi nodded lightly, didn’t say much, and just poured another glass of wine for Tang Zhen. ” I heard some rumors about the emperor—”

Is it the one about him being a wife-jinxer? Tang Zhen smiled in his heart and put down the wine glass in his hand, he didn’t dare to get drunk again. “It’s good to pretend that you didn’t hear anything even if you’ve heard something.”

“That’s right… It’s better to pretend that you didn’t hear anything.” Lu Lingzhi smiled, but he was sure in his heart that many things the emperor did were for Yaoyao. If his conjecture was correct, the decree that he would bestow a marriage for Yaoyao was fake, and he was putting on an act for the world to see.

“Did Yaoyao go to Wu’s house today?” Tang Zhen asked with a smile.

At the mention of the Wu family, Lu Lingzhi’s face turned a little gloomy. “It’s just a clown that is delusional and dreams of getting Yaoyao.”

Sensing the tinge of viciousness in his friend’s tone, Tang Zhen looked up at him in surprise. He chuckled and said, “You are the big brother who loves Yaoyao. Fortunately, she is fine, but what about your other sister?”

When Lu Jing was mentioned, Lu Lingzhi only said lightly, “Grandmother is in charge, so it’s inconvenient for me to ask.”

The two chatted for a long time. Seeing that it was getting late, Tang Zhen expressed his desire to take leave. Lu Lingzhi didn’t keep him longer and walked him to the door. Just as he was about to say goodbye, he saw Chen Wei, his grandmother’s trusted servant, coming.

“This servant greets Lord Marquis and Marquis Jing Ning.” Aunt Chen bowed and looked at Lu Lingzhi with a smile. “Old Madam knows that Marquis Jing Ning is here, so she specially asked the servant to come over and ask Marquis Jing Ning to say a few words.”

Lu Lingzhi froze for a moment, why is Grandmother looking for Tang Zhen?

“It’s been a long time since I greeted Old Madam,” Tang Zhen said with a smile, indicating his compliance to meet the matriarch.

“I’ll go with you,” Lu Lingzhi said. He was also curious as to why his grandmother was looking for his friend.

Old Madam Lu had just finished discussing going to find the abbot of Huguo Temple with Pei Shi. After a while, she heard that Tang Zhen was visiting. She remembered that Marquis Jing Ning seemed to be quite acquainted with the abbot given the number of opportunities he had to visit Huguo Temple and decided to ask him for help.

Tang Zhen arrived at the upper hall and exchanged pleasantries with Old Madam Lu before learning about what the latter was seeking from him.

“Old Madam, do you wish to see the abbot of Huguo Temple… to read Yaoyao’s fortune?” Tang Zhen couldn’t hide his surprise. What a coincidence!

The emperor had just tasked him with finding a way to take Yaoyao to Huguo Temple to meet with the abbot, and just nice, Old Madam Lu asked him for help over the same matter. If he didn’t know that Old Madam Lu was completely oblivious to the emperor’s arrangement, he really would think that this was intentional.

Old Madam Lu nodded and said with a smile, “It’s not just for Yaoyao, but also for Lingzhi and the rest. I heard that the calculations of the abbot of Huguo Temple are very accurate, so… I want to ask.”

Tang Zhen was rejoicing over the fact that this would really save him a lot of work. “Old Madam, I will arrange it for you. When the time is confirmed, I will send word.”

“Marquis Jing Ning, I’ll have to trouble you then.” Old Madam Lu didn’t expect him to agree this quickly, regardless, she was so happy that she was beaming brightly. In reality, it wasn’t that she needed to look for Tang Zhen, but… She had wanted Yaoyao to marry him* previously… had the emperor not stepped in… It was useless to say these things now, but if possible, she hoped that he* could bring up the marriage of the two families again.

(*Tang Zhen)

Since I am going to do the same thing anyway, it was not troublesome at all.  Although that was what Tang Zhen thought to himself, he in fact said, “Old Madam, you are welcome.”

Lu Lingzhi frowned and said, “Grandmother, why did you think of reading Yaoyao’s fortune?”

“Of course, I have my reasons!” Old Madam Lu shot him an angry look. How could she say in front of Tang Zhen that she was worried that Yaoyao’s marriage would be hindered?!

It was only now that Tang Zhen came to the realization that once Yaoyao visited the temple, the emperor would find the first opportunity to decree to abolish her as a princess; his mood soured.

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