Chapter 575

Chapter 575 – The Emperor is Going to Appoint an Empress

The following day, Lu Lingzhi came over to pay his respects to the empress dowager.

The Lu family’s zhuangzi* had been bestowed by the emperor and wasn’t far from Chengde Mountain Villa. Since Lu Lingzhi was here for a short stay, naturally, he had to come over to pay his respects to the empress dowager.

*hot springs

Even though the empress dowager didn’t like Lu Wushuang and was infuriated at Lu Shifeng because of what happened to Ye Yaoyao, she still had a good impression of Lu Lingzhi. After all, this marquis had followed Mo Rongzhan in his conquest for the throne back then and had suffered severe injuries in order to suppress the rebels.

“Aijia was extremely happy when aijia heard that Marquis of Anyang has been cured of your illness. Have you recovered fully?” The empress dowager smiled and looked at Lu Lingzhi as she thought to herself, ‘Such a handsome and suave man. If only he weren’t dragged down by his sister, Lu Wushuang, perhaps His Majesty would place even more importance on him.’

“Thanks Your Imperial Highness for your concern. Even though the poison from this subject’s body has been expelled, my health is not as good as before,” Lu Lingzhi replied softly as he stole a furtive glance at Ye Zhen from the corner of his eyes.

Ye Zhen was standing beside the empress dowager, her gaze lowered and posture respectful, looking as though she hadn’t heard what Lu Lingzhi was saying. She knew that he would definitely come over, and true enough, here he was.

The empress dowager nodded her head. “You should recuperate properly at the zhuangzi then.”

Lu Lingzhi acknowledged her words and didn’t stay for too long before requesting to take his leave.

“Yaoyao, you should see your brother off.” The empress dowager thought that the cousins would certainly have things to say to each other, so she asked Ye Zhen to send Lu Lingzhi off.

Ye Zhen frowned, forcefully stopping herself from saying that she didn’t want to send the man off.

“How long are you intending to stay in the zhuangzi?” Ye Zhen stood more than five steps away from Lu Lingzhi. She stopped walking after reaching the door, refusing to take an additional step further.

Lu Lingzhi turned around and smiled at her. “Do you really wish for me to return to the capital?”

“I’m just worried that there are too many things to handle at home and Grandmother might be tired out,” Ye Zhen replied plainly. Leaving all the matters back home in Old Madam Lu’s hands, Lu Lingzhi was indeed self-centred.

“Naturally, I won’t let Grandmother know what is happening outside. As for things within the manor, Grandmother has her own thoughts, and she won’t let me interfere anyway,” Lu Lingzhi replied.

Ye Zhen’s lips curled up into a sneer. “If that’s the case, I have nothing to say.”

“Yaoyao…” Lu Lingzhi walked towards her and grabbed her arm. “Do you know that the emperor is going to appoint an empress?”

“What has it got to do with me… Wait, what did you say?” Ye Zhen was shocked, wondering if she had heard him wrongly. Mo Rongzhan is going to appoint an empress?

Lu Lingzhi’s warm gaze fell upon Ye Zhen, and he said softly, “She’s the eldest di daughter of the Bai family of Dinghai, a lady of a truly prestigious family. The Interior Ministry has already prepared the decree, and they will be announcing the decree at the Bai residence today.”

The Bai family of Dinghai?

A memory flashed in Ye Zhen’s mind. She suddenly recalled that when she was still a wandering spirit, Mo Rongzhan was also planning to appoint an empress, and it seemed to have been from the Bai family too. However, she didn’t know if the lady from the Bai family eventually became the empress because, by the time the imperial decree was penned, she had already been reborn in her younger sister’s body.

Mo Rongzhan is really going to appoint an empress? This turn of events was beyond her expectation, she was absolutely baffled. “That’s impossible!”

Lu Lingzhi looked at her with pity. “This matter is absolutely true, Yaoyao. The emperor can fall in love easily, but the position of the empress is too important. He can’t possibly—”

“Shut up!” Ye Zhen coldly eyed the man before her. “What does this matter have to do with me? You can go.”

“I know that it has nothing to do with you.” Lu Lingzhi nodded his head lightly. All he wanted was for her to completely give up. “I’ll be going now. Take good care of yourself.”

Ye Zhen recalled that during the journey back from Zhao Jia Island, Mo Rongzhan had personally asked her to wait for him and that he would definitely make her his empress upon their return. But now that they were back, he seemed to have disappeared. She hadn’t even seen a trace of his shadow after that day and could only learn from others what he had been doing.

He wants to betroth me to someone while he is going to appoint the di daughter of the Bai family as the empress!

Is this his way of completely drawing the line with me? Or, could it be that after he returned, he realised that there would always be Ye Zhen between the two of us, so he decided to just give up, stopped pestering me, and used another marriage to end this entire matter?

That damned Mo Rongzhan!

Ye Zhen was cursing and swearing at the man in her heart when another voice suddenly rose in her mind and reminded her….

Isn’t this what I wanted?

Haven’t I always hoped that I could draw a clean line with Mo Rongzhan? Now that he is no longer bothering me and going to appoint another woman as the empress, I should be happy! Once that happens, wouldn’t it be even easier for me to treat him like a brother?

Even as these thoughts filled her mind, her heart was still uncontrollably upset.

“Yaoyao, why are you standing here in a daze?” Mo Rongyi came over to pay his respects to the empress dowager but found Ye Zhen at the entrance, so he walked over. When he saw her in a stupor, her eyes turning red, he couldn’t help but call her.

Ye Zhen snapped out of her thoughts, and when she saw Mo Rongyi walking over, she forced a smile. “It’s nothing. Why are you here?”

“I came over to look for you. The weather is extremely good today, let’s go riding!” Mo Rongyi was like a horse that couldn’t be tamed. Without the emperor’s supervision at Chengde Mountain Villa, he could play all he liked.

“All right.” Ye Zhen nodded her head in agreement. All she wanted to do now was vent the frustration she was feeling within.

The two of them left the villa on their horses and rode around in the nearby woods for over half a day. What’s more, they even caught quite a few wild animals. All the unhappiness in Ye Zhen’s heart gradually dissipated in Mo Rongyi’s company. They got people to send the wild animals back to the villa as they grilled their meat in the woods.

It was only when the sky was veiled in a layer of darkness that the two of them returned.

The empress dowager reprimanded them and forbade them from staying out for as long in the future. She was worried that there would be wild beasts in the forest at night. It was only then that the duo, who was covered in dirt from their adventure, obediently conceded.

“Yaoyao is usually quite obedient, but today, you actually followed Ah Yi’s crazy antics,” the empress dowager commented, before sending the two of them down to clean themselves up.

Ye Zhen too didn’t exactly know why she chose to play to her heart’s content, however,  she felt that she would be plagued by the things that made her unhappy if she hadn’t done so.

What had Mo Rongzhan’s appointment as an empress got to do with her? He could choose whoever he wanted, she wasn’t concerned.

After returning to her own room, Ye Zhen put her hair down and went to the hot springs. Just as her entire body was relaxing in the water, she heard soft wails coming from a corner. Frightened, she hopped out of the water immediately, before looking around to find the source of the cries.

The hot spring was right behind her yard, and she recalled that Ye Yaoyao lived in the yard beside hers.

Could the person who was crying be Ye Yaoyao? It sounded just like her!

Ye Zhen took a few steps closer, then asked softly, “Miss Ye, is that you?”

The sobs suddenly stopped. The person hiding in the corner slowly walked out, and looked timidly at Ye Zhen, before saying softly, “Your Highness, what are you doing here?”

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