Chapter 89: The Empress's Political Arts
“We are not putting you down. We are praising you. You are truly amazing.”
“Little Dragon is the best, so wonderful. We’re sleeping with you tonight.”
Xuan Yi and Qing Yue wriggled their waists with giggling smiles, looking outrageously seductive.
Long Chen muttered, “Who praises people like that?”
Those two little temptresses actually dared to flatter him this way; he would settle accounts with them sooner or later.
Yes, settle accounts in blood! He would make the battlefield run red!
Revenge is a dish best served cold. For now, he had to keep his identity hidden as a eunuch. The day he revealed the truth, he would give those two a merciless lesson.
But... something seemed off. His first time seemed to have been stolen by the Thumbelina.
What a waste of heaven’s gift, damn it...
Long Chen felt a wave of speechlessness.
“You two, be serious. We’re talking business!”
Di Luoxi said with obvious disdain.
Xuan Yi and Qing Yue restrained their sly grins and stood properly to the side.
Zhang Qian remained silent nearby. She felt as though her toy had been taken away by someone else, and she was very unhappy.
In the past, Long Chen had clearly been hers alone, hers to enjoy exclusively. Now she had to share him with others.
“Why did Mother agree to an investigation? Didn’t she say she didn’t want to touch the Jing family? If the inquiry ends up proving that Shui Han and Jing Heng were colluding with foreign enemies, wouldn’t the Grand General’s residence become the target of everyone’s wrath?” Di Luoxi still could not understand the Empress’s decision.
Long Chen said, “When the court discusses Shui Han’s cause of death, the matter will blow up and spread like wildfire. In just two days, the whole capital will know.”
“In the court, we opposed it, and so did His Majesty. It was Bai Qiulian who insisted on a thorough investigation.”
“Bai Qiulian is a man of Jing Tianlie’s faction; everyone knows that. Since he was the one who pushed for the inquiry, it has nothing to do with His Majesty, and nothing to do with us.”
“Even if the investigation finally proves that Jing Heng and Shui Han were traitors, it will only mean that Bai Qiulian has thrown a rock at Jing Tianlie’s own foot. No one will say we were targeting Jing Tianlie.”
“When Jing Heng is exposed as a traitor, the Grand General’s residence will lose all dignity, and Jing Tianlie will not be able to wash his hands of it either.”
After hearing Long Chen’s analysis, Di Luoxi seemed to understand a little.
“You mean Mother deliberately let Bai Qiulian stir things up so she could use the chance to weaken the Grand General’s residence?”
Just now in court, Di Luoxi had thought Bai Qiulian was forcing the throne and making the Empress reluctantly agree to an investigation.
So the Empress had actually been using Bai Qiulian, and she had held the initiative all along.
Long Chen nodded. “If His Majesty were to directly cut down Jing Tianlie’s military power, it would certainly stir unrest throughout court and country. Jing Tianlie would resist, and it might even trigger a military mutiny.”
“But this time Bai Qiulian played the role of the troublemaker. Once the investigation proves that Jing Heng secretly colluded with foreign enemies and caused the deaths of tens of thousands of soldiers, Jing Tianlie will have no way to escape responsibility.”
“At that point, His Majesty can strike. And colluding with foreign enemies is a grave crime. If the second young master of the Grand General’s residence is exposed as a traitor, the Jing family’s reputation will collapse, and the Grand General’s residence will no longer command awe.”
“So Bai Qiulian has done the court a good deed.”
When Long Chen finished, Di Luoxi suddenly woke as if from a dream.
“So that means if this matter is thoroughly investigated, Jing Tianlie will be caught in the fire too?”
Di Luoxi felt that, without a sound, the Empress had just made a brilliant move, and all the ministers in court had become her pieces.
“Not only that. Jing Heng is just a profligate and spoiled young master; he could never command Shui Han. He must have done it under Jing Tianlie’s name.”
“In other words, Jing Tianlie has been forming cliques and building his own private faction. That charge is no small matter,” Long Chen continued.
Di Luoxi sprang to her feet. “Right! Why didn’t I think of that? How could Jing Heng possibly command Shui Han? Shui Han is Jing Tianlie’s pawn.”
Long Chen said, “Once word that Jing Heng ordered Shui Han to collude with foreign enemies is exposed, everyone will know Shui Han was one of Jing Tianlie’s men. Jing Tianlie will become infamous.”
Bai Qiulian had stirred up trouble intending to target Long Chen, but in the end he had poured the flood upon Jing Tianlie instead. Cleverness had outwitted itself.
“Little Dragon, you’re amazing. You can guess the Emperor’s intentions in a flash,” Qing Yue praised sincerely.
Di Luoxi patted the seat beside her, and Long Chen sat down.
She put her arms around Long Chen’s neck and said with a grin, “Your brain works well. You’ve got plenty of rotten ideas in there.”
Long Chen looked innocent. “Your Highness, to be fair, my rotten ideas all come from you.”
Pfft...
Xuan Yi and the others burst out laughing.
Di Luoxi was furious. She grabbed Long Chen by the ear and demanded, “My rotten ideas? Where on me are there rotten ideas?”
Long Chen took the opportunity to press Di Luoxi beneath him and smiled. “Your Highness is water-soft and tender. There’s rotten water all over you.”
Di Luoxi tugged at Long Chen’s ear, and Long Chen reached down to tug at her own hidden treasure, one for one.
Inside the bedchamber, Di Luoxi had no reason to be shy. Her hand slipped beneath Long Chen, groped around for a while, and then she let out a small sigh. “What a pity. You don’t have it anymore.”
Long Chen laughed. “Even if I did, it would be useless. You’d just cut it off.”
Di Luoxi sniffed. “Then grow it back first.”
At that, Qing Yue suddenly said, “Your Highness, I seem to remember there’s a kind of pill that can make eunuchs grow again.”
Long Chen laughed. “And you believe nonsense like that?”
He took it as a joke, but Di Luoxi released him and asked, “What kind of medicine?”
Qing Yue thought for a moment. “I saw it once in the Sutra Library. I’ve forgotten.”
Xuan Yi teased her, “Why were you reading such indecent books?”
Qing Yue laughed and scolded back, “I happened to come across it. You’re the indecent one.”
Long Chen found it amusing. He was already a fake eunuch; he did not need any pill at all.
“Don’t waste the effort. Being a eunuch is actually fine by me.”
Long Chen rose from Di Luoxi’s embrace, gave her another quick caress while he could, and then stood up. “Enough fooling around. I need to go to the Ministry of Works for something.”
After putting on his shoes, Long Chen took Zhang Qian with him out of the Western Palace and went to the Ministry of Works.
Vice Minister Xu Ming came over carrying two items and said, “My lord, the things you asked for have been made. Please see whether they are like this.”
Long Chen took Xu Ming with him into the main hall and sat down.
One object was about the thickness of a finger, with a copper casing. When the casing was pulled out, there was a waxy, white stick inside.
Zhang Qian asked, “What is this?”
Late autumn had passed, and winter had arrived. The winters of the Eastern Zhou were very dry, and most people’s lips were chapped and peeling.
What Long Chen had made was lip balm.
“This can moisturize the lips and keep them from cracking.”
Long Chen picked up the balm, applied it to his own lips, and then handed it to Zhang Qian.
Zhang Qian looked at it strangely. “Aren’t chapped lips caused by internal heat?”
Long Chen smiled. “Internal heat is one reason, but dry weather is another important cause. In the summer, when the weather is humid and hot, your lips wouldn’t crack from internal heat alone.”
Zhang Qian copied him and applied it to her lips.
“And this.”
Xu Ming presented another round box, about the size of a palm.
Long Chen opened it. Inside was a white ointment, and a light fragrance immediately drifted out.
“Come here.”
Long Chen pulled Zhang Qian closer, then used a fingertip to scoop up a little ointment and spread it on Zhang Qian’s face, rubbing it in slowly and evenly.
“What is this, my lord?”
Zhang Qian only felt that she smelled wonderfully sweet.
“This is Moonlight Cream. After using it, the skin on your face will be as white and smooth as moonlight.”
Long Chen applied some to himself as well.
“Does this thing really work?” Zhang Qian cherished her skin, especially her face.
Long Chen smiled. “Of course it works.”
“Vice Minister Xu, pack the finished ones into the boxes.”
Xu Ming hurried off to do so. Long Chen picked up the boxes and headed to the Ministry of Revenue.
He had made an appointment today to negotiate with Hong Qi, the master of the Four Sides Tower.
This negotiation was not only about business; it also concerned the Heaven’s Alliance’s attitude toward the Eastern Zhou.