Chapter 15: Flying into a Rage out of Humiliation — “Let go of My Ankle!” part 1
Weiyang Palace Main Hall continued into the night from Hai hour.
In the distance of the palace complex, the sounds of palace gates locking rang out everywhere, drifting over as muffled hums.
The palace was closed. Even Su Xueyi was not free to exit the palace forbidden area.
Su Xueyi knelt alone outside the hall door, waiting.
Yu Jing chuckled secretly and left.
The little apprentice was eager to perform. Knowing there were other chambers where festive lanterns had been hung during the Lantern Festival in the past, he thought he would let the Emperor see the walled corridor hung with colored lights tomorrow morning. As for the bright lanterns taken down, they were temporarily hung outside the hall.
Thus, lantern after lantern carried out from the inner hall of Weiyang Palace shone glaringly before Su Xueyi’s eyes.
The more palace lanterns there were, the stronger the brightness.
Su Xueyi was illuminated late into the night, becoming more alert like a hawk being trained.
Intense light filled Su Xueyi’s eyes.
His knees were in pain. Maintaining a rigid posture was consuming his physical strength.
Su Xueyi wanted Yu Jing to announce him to the Emperor again.
However, no one outside the hall paid him any attention.
The physical burden and the mental blow made Weiyang Palace suddenly seem unattainable. The scene before him and the Emperor’s recent actions repeatedly fueled Ying Xi’s specialness and mystery.
Su Xueyi secretly thought the Emperor must be testing him.
And he wanted to see this Emperor who aroused his investigative interest as soon as possible.
Wait.
He could wait.
After all, Su Xueyi had truly never waited for anyone. This behavior was refreshingly stimulating.
Su Xueyi enjoyed this indescribable feeling. Harboring thoughts of challenge and proving himself, he knelt from dark until dawn.
…
When the birds chirped at Weiyang Palace in the early morning, Ying Xi opened his eyes. It was rare to have had a good dream at night. Ying Xi curled the corners of his mouth.
He dreamed again of the city breaking, and others cursing him as an incompetent tyrant.
This time, Ying Xi smiled at those fleeting shadows and said brightly, “So what if I am?”
The fleeting shadows were astonished, then cursed even louder.
But they were smashed one by one by Ying Xi waving his sleeve!
The shadows dissipated; the fire extinguished.
The city, once shrouded in deep and light reds, became refreshing and bright.
Ying Xi took a deep, long breath, rose from the dragon bed, washed, changed clothes, and went out decently. He found that colored lanterns had indeed been hung in the walled corridor.
Ying Xi praised, “Very good. Yu Jing, you and your apprentice both handled your duties well.”
Yu Jing and his apprentice thanked him for the grace.
The System reminded in his head: Charm +1500. Congratulations Host on passing the verification period. Compatible with the System.
Ying Xi: “One thousand five hundred?”
Using numbers as quantification, if five hundred was a base number, what he received now was three times that.
The System’s sluggishness and unclear evaluation criteria severely confused his cognition. Ying Xi reflected on what he had done last night. He couldn’t figure it out.
He asked to change the lanterns, then slept.
He added Charm points. Now the eyes of the people around him were filled with admiration and worship.
Sweet Tub: “Good morning! Congratulations Your Majesty! Today is another day as the beautiful and powerful Emperor Receiver (Shou), Your Majesty!”
Ying Xi actively ignored the nonsense and asked, “What is the verification period?”
“It’s the novice training stage!”
“I am not a novice now?”
Sweet Tub: “Yup, yup! Future mission push rules will be adjusted. Your Majesty is very suitable for this System!”
Ying Xi couldn’t understand why he would be suitable for a Dating System.
But it didn’t stop him from making do with it. He thought this might mean that if missions failed in the future, he wouldn’t die. That would be excellent.
Ying Xi secretly brewed more operational possibilities.
The power of these one thousand five hundred Charm points far exceeded the five hundred!
It wasn’t just the maids, eunuchs, and guards of Weiyang Palace looking at him as if injected with chicken blood (hyper-excited).
The Charm points struck through the mountain, hitting the Department of State Affairs.
Now that the Right Prime Minister was absent and Feng Yong was useless, ministers of various ministries bypassed Feng Yong, holding memorials of important matters directly to request an audience.
A long dragon formed at the entrance of the Weiyang Palace study.
The officials were orderly, each drafting their speeches outside the door, eager to try.
After entering the hall, the officials reported appropriately.
They would even propose their own envisioned solutions for the Emperor’s reference after finishing the report.
Added to his foundation from the past life, handling court affairs was like having divine help. One batch of ministers came, then switched to another. Work was done quickly.
However, Charm points being too high also had side effects:
“Your Majesty, regarding the Yellow River flood prevention appropriation this year…” After finishing, they just had to add, “This subject has no parents at home and has not yet married.”
What connection did this have with the Yellow River?
“Regarding the major case handled by the Ministry of Justice recently, those dissatisfied with official corruption in Chang’an vented their anger by rushing into the West Market and beheading twenty women and children. This subject serves as the Vice Minister of Justice, is emotionally stable, insists on avoiding brothels, and has no bad habits.”
Was the second half relevant to the case?
“The Ministry of Rites has drafted twenty-eight regulations to guide the words and deeds of the imperial clan. I beg Your Majesty to review.”
“Additionally, these regulations were led solely by this subject. This subject is good at writing, understands music, and has wide interests!”
I have no interest in knowing your interests.
Dealing with these officials behaving strangely, although not time-consuming, left Ying Xi quite speechless.
Then, the ministers withdrew from Weiyang Palace, lingering as if reluctant to leave.
At this moment, the man kneeling in front of the main hall of Weiyang Palace attracted everyone’s gaze again.
Even after a day and a night of torment, Su Xueyi looked straight ahead, his demeanor unchanged.
His robust physical strength allowed him to maintain an upright back. Although his spirit wasn’t as high as initially, his eyes were still bright. This was a state that civil officials who sat in offices for a long time could hardly achieve.
The civil officials exclaimed in admiration: The Universal Talent of Chang’an lives up to his reputation.
But Su Xueyi’s appearance also shattered his lie about being sick.
The court officials thought to themselves, This time, Prime Minister Su must be punished for deceiving the Sovereign.
Unfortunately, Su Xueyi wasn’t good at managing relationships. No one was willing to announce him, let alone plead for him.
What little pity the ministers had turned entirely into awe for the Emperor’s methods. After all, to make Su Xueyi bow his head to this extent, His Majesty was truly not simple.
The officials left, keeping their thoughts deep and secretive.
And the act of using himself as a target to deter the officials, falling into Su Xueyi’s eyes, became another strong posture of the Emperor’s skilled personnel management. Su Xueyi felt another indescribable joy.
The Emperor couldn’t just stay in Weiyang Palace without going out.
He would wait!
He had to see the Little Emperor.
There were times when handling court affairs alone had such speed.
Thanks to the Charm points, the afternoon was entirely Ying Xi’s free time. The Emperor didn’t intend to go out.
But sitting in the study was uncomfortable. Ying Xi left the study, hands behind his back, strolling in the palace.
The warm sun was just right; the spring day was long.
Leaves on the willow trees had grown two or three fingers long. The branches turned from tender yellow to goose yellow, drifting softly and leisurely with the wind.
The little eunuchs and maids in the palace, thinking the Emperor was napping, secretly kicked a shuttlecock in the courtyard.
The maids and eunuchs passed the shuttlecock to each other.
The grey-brown feathers of the shuttlecock stood out like a flag, flipping up and down like a nimble shadow. Games for amusement were scarce in the palace; rare toys could be played with great variety.
But when one little eunuch received the shuttlecock, the angle of his foot wasn’t slanted enough.
The shuttlecock flew low. A little maid hurried a few steps, lifting her foot to kick hard.
The shuttlecock was scooped up from low air and flew out diagonally! Drawing a grey-brown arc, it smashed right into someone’s thin chest. The impact jarred the person’s steps to a halt. Ying Xi leaned forward slightly, coughing violently.
“Cough… cough cough cough… cough.”
The eunuchs and maids were scared half to death!
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