Princess and the General

With the Empress’ Seat as the Prize

Yu Fu finally looked up toward the head seat.

He was wearing a set of bright-yellow dragon-embroidered robes and had a golden crown with nine sets of beads on his head.
He sat on a tall golden throne, and the glamor made it hard to see his expression.

He was faintly smiling and looking in her direction, “If not for you your timely actions, how could Ximen Chuang and Mo HuangSha have managed to quell the chaos in the capital? We wished to reward you, and that is how they conveniently got rewarded.”

Another person stood up below.
It was Mo HuangSha, the other person who was “conveniently” rewarded.
He and Ximen Chuang stood together and gave their thanks to Ning ChengZhi and to Yu Fu.

Yu Fu slightly furrowed her brow, and her eyes became cloudy.

Ning ChengZhi had elevated and praised her in front of military and civil officials, but what was he planning?

Seeing that Yu Fu did not speak, he motioned for Ximen Chuang and Mo HuangSha to return to their seats.

The fireworks were still being set off outside, their loud explosions made her feel uneasy.
She glanced at the seats across from her, and a number of older officials wore worried expressions.

Though she was young, she could understand why they were worried.

The sound of strings and woodwinds rose, as two groups of performers entered the hall.
In the cold of the twelfth month, they wore thin and revealing clothes, as the silver bells around their ankles rang with their every move.

“Your Majesty…”

Yu Fu opened her mouth, and the sound of the instruments immediately stopped.
The two groups of dancers froze in place, not daring to move carelessly.

Everyone turned to look at her.

Yu Fu suddenly stood up, “The three-month mourning period for the late emperor has not yet ended.
Though the new year should be celebrated, it would not be good to celebrate too much.
The fireworks, the merrymaking, the music and dancing, the fragrant wine… All of these are useless for mourning the late emperor.
Your Majesty, please reconsider.”

She gave voice to what a number of the older officials were thinking.
Senior cabinet minister Chen looked at her in shock but could not help but sigh in admiration.
Who knew that this pampered princess would be so understanding.

The rumors of her exceptional qualities were well-earned.

While this was happening, the hall fell completely silent.
Nobody dared to do anything before Ning ChengZhi spoke.

It was not as if nobody else had said what Yu Fu had just said.

Before the Board of Rites arranged the banquet, senior cabinet minister Chen led a group of cabinet ministers in jointly signing a petition to Ning ChengZhi to keep the banquet more modest during the mourning period; however, that petition was completely ignored.

After that, they heard from a eunuch that Ning ChengZhi had slammed their petition to the ground.
He even said that if the petition had not been jointly signed, he would have sentenced the person to submit the petition to 50 strikes.

With such wanton tyranny, the officials were already exhausted from the assassination of the late emperor, and now they were unable to control their new ruler.

That was until Yu Fu spoke up, and she had done it in front of both military and civil officials…

Ji DaoGong looked at Gu HuaiJiang, while Gu HuaiJiang and Gu ShuBai exchanged a glance.
They were all worried that Ning ChengZhi would do something bad to Yu Fu.

“Hahaha!”

The sound of laughter broke the silence, as Ning ChengZhi waved his hand, “Yu Fu is right.
Let’s get rid of the performances.
Tell the people outside to stop setting off the fireworks!”

Saying this, he lifted his wine kettle.
Suddenly realizing something, he poured the wine out behind himself, “Come, swap out the wine in the hall for tea.
We shall offer a toast of tea to Princess ZhenJiang!”

He did not get angry.
Instead, he did as Yu Fu suggested.

The way in which the officials looked at Yu Fu instantly changed.
Could it really be as the rumors said, and His Majesty truly wanted to take Princess ZhenJiang as his empress, and that was why he listened to everything that she said?

In truth, if there was such a wise empress to assist and guide His Majesty, Eastern Ling’s situation in court might be salvageable.

Unfortunately…

Ji DaoGong and senior cabinet minister Chen looked toward Gu ShuBai at the same time.
At the bottom of their eyes, there was an emotion that was hard to describe.

This princess had been engaged to the heir to Marquis Gu’s Manor, and the two were in love.
After His Majesty ascended the throne, he had made many moves to suppress Marquis Gu’s Manor.
If he then took this subject’s wife, would it not be criticized by everyone?

Senior cabinet minister Chen let out a long sigh.

He had never felt as much regret over something that he had done as he did today.
But even if he regretted it now, if he had allowed the eldest prince to muddle his way to the throne, would the result have been any better than it was now?

The officials stared blankly, as the cups of wine in front of them were swapped out for tea.
Nobody dared to voice any objections.
Ning ChengZhi raised his cup and offered it to Yu Fu, and Yu Fu expressionlessly drank it.

Ning ChengZhi said: “In order to express our condolences to the late emperor, there shall be no performances today.
However, there are quite a few young misses from prominent families that have come in today.
When the late emperor was still alive, he loved allowing the young misses to perform.
For today, let’s act as if the late emperor is still here, and let us use that to express our grief for his passing.
How does that sound?”

A few of the young misses present revealed looks of joy.
Initially, they thought that after Yu Fu had spoken, there would be no chance for them to display the talents that they had worked so hard on.
They did not think that this could happen.

By using the late emperor’s love for entertainment in banquets as a reason, it became impossible to object.

Ning ChengZhi then continued: “Since we are expressing our condolences to the late emperor, all of the unmarried young misses that have come today must perform.
We will reward you with glory.”

Saying this, he clapped his hands, and four to five eunuchs carried a tall seat in.
It had the same golden base as the imperial throne, and the only difference was that the base of this throne had a phoenix engraved on it.

It was the empress’ seat!

A discussion broke out among the officials, and looks of desire were visible in the eyes of the young misses.
They were eager to put forth their full effort in the upcoming performances.

Ning ChengZhi smiled and said: “It has been two months since We were enthroned, yet the empress’ seat has remained vacant.
While the late emperor was still alive, the late empress passed away early from illness, thus it has been decades since the empress’ seat has been brought out.
Today, We will use this as the reward, and one of the young misses will be allowed to sit in the throne.”

Once this was said, not to mention the young misses, even the officials became excited.

The empress’ seat could not be filled so casually.
It was related to the country’s foundation.
The officials with daughters in the hall were filled with expectation, while Ji DaoGong and the other senior ministers were filled with apprehension.

Gu ShuBai looked toward Yu Fu, and the latter looked back at him and nodded.

There was a hint of a smile in her bright eyes, as she tried to reassure him.
Regardless of why Ning ChengZhi brought out the empress’ seat today, she would not want it.

“Your Majesty, would this consort be permitted to participate?”

A member of the imperial harem below stood up.
Yu Fu recognized her.
It was one of Ning ChengZhi’s consorts from before he had ascended the throne.

After Ning ChengZhi ascended, the empress’ seat remained vacant, and she fully believed that there was some hope.
She did not think that he would just confer her the title of Imperial Consort Li and just leave things at that.
Naturally, Imperial Consort Li could not accept this.

Ning ChengZhi glanced at her, “You are an imperial consort and not some unmarried young girl.
Why are you trying to join in on the excitement?”

Imperial Consort Li puffed up her cheeks and pouted, but it was all pointless.
When she sat down, she angrily looked at Yu Fu.

What nonsense about using the empress’ seat as a reward, and what nonsense about selecting one of the young misses present to be the empress, Ning ChengZhi might be able to deceive others, but he could not deceive her!

She knew that the only one he wanted to make empress was Yu Fu.

Ning ChengZhi looked down below.
He was not too familiar with the officials’ daughters.
In previous banquets, things like the order in which the young misses performed were managed by Imperial Consort Xian.

Imperial Consort Xian had passed away long ago, and Imperial Consort Li was the only member of his inner palace that had some name recognition.
The other concubines from the second prince’s manor did not have particularly high standings.

As a result, he said to Imperial Consort Li: “Forget it, We will give you some glory.
Come and pick the order in which they shall perform.”

Imperial Consort Li thought quickly and looked down at the various young misses.
Suddenly seeing someone whom she had not seen in a long time, she immediately came up with an idea.

She pointed at one person, the gems on her golden fingernail protector glimmering, “Let’s have young miss Liu go first!”

A slender girl stood up from the crowd.
Wearing a dazzling dress made of Hangzhou silk embroidered with pomegranate flowers, it was Liu RuYi, the daughter of Liu Zhen, a senior minister in the Board of Civil Office.

Yu Fu found her to look familiar and suddenly remembered that she was the one who had previously been rude to her at another palace banquet.
After that, Liu RuYi had been restricted from entering the palace by the late emperor.

How did she get into the palace today?

Yin Shuo, who had been quietly sitting below her, suddenly leaned over, “After His Majesty ascended the throne, he granted amnesty to many.
As a senior minister of the Board of Civil Office, His Majesty naturally pardoned something like his darling daughter not being allowed to enter the palace.”

Gu ShuBai saw him lean close to Yu Fu, and his brows slightly furrowed.
In the end, he managed to calm himself down.

Yu Fu’s seat was so far away from Marquis Gu’s Manor’s seats.
It was clear that Ning ChengZhi did not hope for them to be together.
He could not oppose him in public.

Fortunately, Yu Fu managed to create some distance between her and Yin Shuo without anyone noticing.

“Oh? So it was like that, but His Majesty seems to be quite ignorant of these young misses.
It looks as if he doesn’t recognize any of them.
How could he remember to pardon a young miss who could not enter the palace? Prime Minister Yin should be the one responsible for daily matters.
You must be the one who reminded His Majesty, right?”

Yin Shuo was unable to suppress a smile.
He felt that Yu Fu’s extremely confrontational way of speaking with him was very entertaining.
No matter how vicious she was, he could not get angry at her.

“That’s right.
As prime minister, should I not try to get along with all officials?”

Whether it was getting along well or winning them over, everyone knew the truth.
Yu Fu rolled her eyes at him and did not say anything else.