Chu Ya understood a principle very early on: showing weakness is also a strategy, especially against targets who respond better to softness than toughness. At the right moment, revealing one’s vulnerabilities can be extremely effective.
What he said last night was indeed true. Chu Shen is a scumbag, and it’s true that he was nearly abandoned at the hospital when he was seven years old. However, Chu Ya had long grown strong enough to no longer care about these childhood traumas. Rather than say he hates Chu Shen, it’s more accurate to say he has long since ignored him.
He deliberately chose this time to tell Bai Lu these things, merely to elicit his sympathy. At the same time, it would also subconsciously separate Chu Shen and himself in Bai Lu’s mind, no longer extending his hatred towards Chu Shen to himself.
Indeed, Chu Ya is such a sinister and dangerous figure, calculating and ruthless, with unfathomable depths of cunning.
During those three years, he was manipulated by Bai Lu, but it was because his mind was clouded by love, selectively ignoring certain things. Now, Chu Ya has learned how to maintain his rationality and vigilance while deeply in love with Bai Lu.
Love no longer blinds him. Once Chu Ya gets serious, Bai Lu simply cannot outplay him.
The morning sunlight spilled onto the golden canopy at the head of the bed, and the sound of the clock striking outside began.
It was half past six in the morning when Chu Ya got up. Without calling for the palace maids to serve him, he calmly dressed himself, washed up in the outer room, tied up his hair, and then sat back by the bed, gazing at Bai Lu’s sleeping face.
This man never sleeps honestly, always tossing and turning in bed, kicking the covers, pulling the pillows, changing directions in his dreams. Sometimes he even wakes up finding himself sleeping under the bed. So Chu Ya has developed a habit of holding him in his arms while sleeping.
Perhaps from being held too often, Bai Lu’s sleeping posture has improved somewhat. At least he can now sleep properly in bed.
Bending down, just like before, Chu Ya kissed Bai Lu’s forehead, tucked him in, and was about to leave.
But as he took a step, suddenly the hem of his clothes was pulled from behind. Chu Ya looked down and saw that Bai Lu had already woken up at some point, holding onto his clothes, his eyes half open, looking at him as if he were still very sleepy.
Chu Ya then held his hand, tucked it back under the covers, and whispered, “It’s still early, go back to sleep.”
Bai Lu blinked, pushed him away, sat up with a messy head of hair, and yawned, “I’m not sleeping anymore. I’m going out with you today.”
Chu Ya was somewhat surprised. “Is it because I complained last night that you never spend time with me?”
Bai Lu glanced up at him, unkindly saying, “Don’t flatter yourself.”
He got out of bed to change his clothes, tying up his hair casually.
In the dining hall, the maids had already prepared a delicate and sumptuous breakfast. The freshly brewed Xishan Tribute Tea emitted a swirling heat and bitter aroma. Bai Lu didn’t like bitter things, so the maids specially brewed milk tea for him using tea leaves and sweetened condensed milk.
Leaning on the table, Bai Lu stirred the hot milk tea in his cup with a spoon, boredly saying, “This stuff tastes good, but without pearls, it feels like something’s missing.”
Chu Ya smiled. “If you’re free, you can go to the palace kitchen and experiment. Maybe you’ll be able to make it.”
Bai Lu stopped stirring. “So, theoretically, you could also make cigarettes, since they’re both made from tobacco plants.”
“Unfortunately, your wish might not come true because tobacco isn’t cultivated in this era. It was introduced from abroad during the Ming Dynasty, and besides…”
Chu Ya glanced at Bai Lu indifferently, neither cold nor warm, and said, “With your current condition, you should focus on drinking milk to stay healthy.”
Bai Lu frowned displeasedly. “Are you mocking me?”
“Not at all.” Chu Ya reached out with his chopsticks and picked up a jade shrimp dumpling for him, calm and gentle. “I’m just concerned about you.”
…
The peaceful breakfast time wasn’t suitable for getting into a fight, especially since he might not win, and there were still many people outside.
Suppressing the restlessness in his heart, Bai Lu picked up the shrimp dumpling and stuffed it into his mouth, along with his own anger.
He didn’t know what day it was today. After breakfast, instead of heading to the Qingya Palace, Chu Ya went straight to the council chamber.
The council chamber, as the name suggests, is a place for discussing state affairs, but there aren’t as many people here as in the grand hall. Only a few highly respected old ministers are present.
In their sixties or seventies, they still trembled and stood up to salute when they saw Chu Ya, who wasn’t even thirty yet. Bai Lu felt sorry for them. Wasn’t there a unified retirement age in the court? It seems they really want people to shine in their positions forever. It’s simply the evils of capitalism!
Bai Lu didn’t understand all this. As long as he wasn’t sitting next to the throne as the empress, he was happy. He moved a small stool to the side and sat down to listen to their deliberations.
It seemed that Chu Ya was discussing the opening of water channels for navigation in the summer and the transfer of officials from various places. Bai Lu couldn’t understand it and found it rather boring.
Last time in the Qingya Palace, there were melon seeds and storybooks. The noble concubine’s couch was comfortable too, but this time, there was only a cold stool, which was uncomfortable.
So Bai Lu stood up and interrupted the conversation of His Majesty the Emperor, “Boring, I’m going out.”
Chu Ya hadn’t said anything yet, but an old minister with deep wrinkles like trenches couldn’t hold back anymore. He stood up like a revitalized old man, as if his heart disease had suddenly acted up.
He angrily pointed at Bai Lu, “You, you, you rude child! You, without an official position, His Majesty graciously allowed you to attend the council, yet you not only refuse to listen humbly but also dare to speak arrogantly. This council hall is equivalent to the Qingya Palace, the court of the Emperor. Do you think you can just come and go as you please?!”
Bai Lu, inexplicably scolded, instinctively looked towards Chu Ya.
The latter, however, remained calm and seated, showing no intention of intervening, just watching him with interest, as if to see how he would handle it.
Bai Lu knew he couldn’t count on him and looked at the old minister in confusion for a few seconds. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, “Ah, why do you look so familiar? Aren’t you the one who wrote that little essay for me on the qin at the last banquet? You’re really good at improvising. Anyway, I won’t bother you anymore. I’ll play the qin for you another day when I have time. I have something to do now, goodbye.”
Without waiting for the old minister to react, he had already run out of the council chamber, leaving the old man standing there, his anger flaring.
Chu Ya shook his head helplessly. “Ignore him and continue with the business.”
Meanwhile, Bai Lu, alone, left the council chamber and walked down a secluded path.
He didn’t come out with Chu Ya on a whim today; he actually had something to do.
Bai Lu had noticed before that only when he and Chu Ya were together did the lingering Lingfeng not follow. For example, at this moment, as he walked alone on the path, he felt no familiar gaze.
Bai Lu cautiously looked around before turning into a secluded garden, squatting down behind a small patch of bamboo. From his pocket, he pulled out something.
It was unmistakably that dangerous sachet.
Bai Lu took out the tiny packet of poison from inside and dug a hole in the soft soil, burying the poison inside.
This wasn’t the safest method. Bai Lu originally wanted to burn it directly, but he was afraid the poison would vaporize, and he might end up poisoning himself. So he decided to bury it instead. Firstly, this place was rarely visited, and no one would notice these subtle traces. Even if it was dug up, he could deny it, as fingerprints couldn’t be traced in this era. Secondly, maybe he would need the poison again in the future, and he could come back to dig it up then.
Bai Lu patted the soil firmly, pulled out a stalk of dog-tail grass to mark it, and was about to get up when he suddenly heard a slight rustle behind him.
Someone?!
Bai Lu was startled and quickly turned his head, only to see a glimpse of a white figure swiftly passing by.
“Who’s there?!”
No one answered.
Bai Lu pushed aside the dense bamboo and, before he could see clearly, heard the sound of meowing under his feet.
Looking down, it turned out to be a white cat.
The cat was quite beautiful, a small Persian cat with yin-yang eyes, one a deep blue like a gem, the other a green as clear as a pond. Its fur was as white as snow, soft as cotton, with a slender body and long limbs. Its nose, lips, and paw pads were all pink and tender, completely living up to the description of exquisite beauty.
Bai Lu’s rogue disease relapsed, unable to resist whistling lightly, “You’re quite pretty, little miss cat.”
Dewy on BLPSG Chapter 86: The Emperor’s old illness: “I want QingCi to give this little wolf a big slap after healing him -__-” Oct 23, 13:18
