Chapter 370: Whoever Meets Him, Suffers
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation
Before dawn, General Lou personally entered the palace to request the appointment of Madam Ning as the Empress of the Western Palace.
The news caused an uproar throughout the palace.
General Lou, visibly emotional, tried to persuade the Emperor. “Your Majesty, Madam Ning has rendered great service and even bore an outstanding heir for the Southern Kingdom. She deserves to be named the Empress of the Western Palace!”
“Your Majesty… bestowing the title upon Madam Ning would be a blessing for the Southern Kingdom!”
General Lou was growing anxious, almost stomping his feet, yet he dared not speak the full truth.
Lu Chao Chao harbored an immense secret!
She could summon gods, effortlessly produce sacred artifacts, and even her swordsmanship was akin to divine techniques!
He did not dare to imagine it!
If such a prodigious child was truly of the Southern Kingdom’s bloodline, how formidable would their nation become?
Just thinking about it made General Lou flush red with excitement, his eyes brimming with tears!
Nan Feng Yu, her eyelids twitching, wondered what exactly had happened.
Had Lu Chao Chao truly succeeded in negotiating this?
“Father Emperor, why not grant General Lou’s request? The entire court and the world know of Madam Ning’s act of saving Your Majesty. To exchange such a great favor for the title of Empress of the Western Palace is a fair deal.”
“I do not wish for Father Emperor to bear the reputation of being ungrateful.”
The moment Nan Feng Yu spoke, the Emperor’s face darkened.
Though he was grateful for Madam Ning’s life-saving grace, if she sought to leverage it for power, it only bred resentment in his heart.
“Bang!” A teacup flew past Nan Feng Yu’s temple, smashing into the floor.
The palace servants knelt in fear, heads bowed, not daring to make a sound.
“If the court officials unanimously approve Madam Ning’s appointment, I shall agree! Do not bring this up again!” The aging Emperor coughed heavily, his hair streaked with white.
“Your Majesty, the Northern Zhao envoy, Lord Li Zi Xi, seeks an audience.”
The envoy from Northern Zhao, Li Zi Xi, had been visiting daily before dawn, inquiring about the Emperor’s health with great concern.
The Emperor lowered his gaze slightly. “General Lou, can you guess why Northern Zhao sends goodwill daily?”
General Lou shook his head. “This humble servant does not know.”
Nan Feng Yu stepped forward. “Father Emperor, I do. It is because the Southern Kingdom grows stronger while Northern Zhao weakens. They humble themselves before you, hoping you will show them leniency.”
The Emperor nodded in agreement.
“Summon Lord Li to enter.” The eunuch announced loudly.
Li Zi Xi entered with his head bowed in a subservient manner, immediately offering a deep bow.
“By the Emperor’s command, this humble servant greets Your Majesty daily, wishing you well. I apologize for the intrusion…” Li Zi Xi spoke softly.
“Northern Zhao is quite diligent,” the Emperor remarked, his mood lifting at the flattery.
“How has Your Majesty’s health been lately?” Li Zi Xi asked earnestly.
Nan Feng Yu lifted her chin. “Father Emperor has divine physicians attending him daily; naturally, he is in excellent condition.”
Li Zi Xi seemed delighted.
“Then… may I make a bold request?” Li Zi Xi hesitated before mustering the courage to continue.
“It is said that the Southern Kingdom’s royal family is blessed by High God Zong Bai, and that successive emperors are divinely ordained. Surely, the kingdom’s fortune is immense! This humble servant…”
“May I touch Your Majesty’s shoe, to share in the kingdom’s fortune?”
His posture was as humble as could be, placing the Southern Kingdom upon a pedestal.
What a mighty display—to have a Northern Zhao envoy reduced to boot-licking!
Feeling magnanimous, the Emperor lifted his foot. “Come.”
Without hesitation, Li Zi Xi clasped the Emperor’s shoe, gently pressing it before stepping back.
“Touching Your Majesty’s shoe is an honor.”
With that, he bid farewell and exited the hall.
The Emperor laughed heartily. “Look! Look! To Northern Zhao, we are so mighty that their envoy is reduced to groveling!”
Nan Feng Yu echoed his sentiment, “Of course Northern Zhao must humble itself before the strength of the Southern Kingdom… Why else would they send Lord Li to fawn over Father Emperor?”
The Emperor beamed as Nan Feng Yu assisted him outside the hall.
These steps—he had walked them for decades!
Even blindfolded, he could descend them with ease.
Yet, in broad daylight, he felt something trip him. Losing his footing, he tumbled downward!
Given his old age, such a fall could mean instant death.
“Your Majesty, be careful!” The eunuchs and guards cried out in alarm.
Countless secret guards surrounded the Emperor, one of them diving to cushion the fall. Thus, the Emperor was spared a fatal injury.
However, while he escaped death, pain could not be avoided.
With a sickening “crack,” his ankle twisted sharply, sending waves of agony through him. The Emperor paled, drenched in cold sweat.
“Quick, summon the imperial physician!” The eunuchs panicked.
Even Nan Feng Yu was dumbstruck.
“Father Emperor!” She rushed forward to help.
Yet the Emperor shoved her away, gripping a servant’s arm for support. His ankle throbbed so fiercely he could not stand on it.
“Just now—you tripped me!” The Emperor was certain he had felt something obstructing his foot.
Nan Feng Yu fell to her knees with a loud “thud,” repeatedly bowing against the cold jade tiles.
Her heart was filled with grievance and sorrow.
“Father Emperor, I did not! I swear, I would never dare to harm you!”
“The palace servants can testify for me!” Nan Feng Yu turned toward the chief eunuch.
But, fearing the Emperor’s fury, the servants only lowered their heads, refusing to speak.
Suddenly, realization struck Nan Feng Yu, and she cried, “Your Majesty, it must be Lord Li’s doing! He touched your shoe, and now you’ve fallen. This must be Northern Zhao’s plot!”
“Northern Zhao harbors ill intent! They must be scheming something!”
The Emperor, his fury mounting, thought back. Li Zi Xi had merely touched his shoe under the eyes of all.
Could he really have caused this?
Could he truly make the Emperor fall and bring misfortune?
“Nonsense!”
“What, do you think I’ve lived too long, blocking your path?” The Emperor’s voice carried a frosty edge. Nan Feng Yu, now teary-eyed, felt utterly wronged.
“I would never dare! I have never had such thoughts…” She no longer defended herself against the tripping accusation. The Emperor, already paranoid and aged, would only grow more suspicious if she did.
Today was truly cursed!
The Emperor’s wary gaze sent shivers down her spine.
As he was carried away for treatment, General Lou and the officials waited outside the chamber.
Only after the Emperor’s ankle was bandaged did they leave the palace.
“How coincidental,” General Lou muttered, shaking his head. “His injury is precisely where Lord Li touched… That envoy… truly a walking disaster.”
Whoever he meets, suffers!
Upon returning home, General Lou’s attendant reported, “General, Old Master Sang requests you visit his estate at once.”
“What happened?”
“The old couple is quarreling again, and Old Madam Sang is threatening to leave home. He requests your intervention.”
As Old Madam Sang was General Lou’s aunt, their families were close.
General Lou’s eyelids twitched. The old couple argued seven or eight hundred times a year—there was no need to meddle!
Just then, Lu Chao Chao burst in like a tiny cannonball.
“I go! I go!”
“Chao Chao is pretty and sweet-talking! Chao Chao has reconciled many couples! Chao Chao is expert!”
General Lou, too exhausted to deal with it, figured it was harmless. The elderly pair always just needed someone to give them an excuse to make up.
“Fine, Chao Chao, you go on my behalf.”
Since Lu Chao Chao could summon gods, perhaps she would bring Sang’s household a stroke of fortune.
Surely, Old Master Sang would be grateful.
As for the quarrel, General Lou hardly cared—by tomorrow morning, the old couple would surely be back to their usual selves.