usatvline Chapter 14 Threat
Chapter 14 Threat
Lu Qingqing was a little surprised. She didn't expect that Li Xuansheng would be so sensitive about her initiative to share the favor.
She was a little at a loss, standing there, not knowing whether to leave or not. The tears that had just stopped welling up in her eyes began to roll back again, and she sobbed slightly from time to time.
Li Xuansheng finally opened his eyes.
He just thought the little girl was interesting and wanted to tease her, but he didn't expect that she was not only bold, but also the first woman who dared to stay in the Qianqing Palace and refused to leave.
Looking at Lu Qingqing's wet face, he felt an inexplicable pain in his heart.
He deliberately suppressed the little emotion of pity in his heart, fearing that it would emerge. He cleared his throat and said in a deliberately low voice, "Why are you standing there crying?"
It was clearly her who asked her not to be too partial to him, but now she is turning the tables on him, making it seem like he was bullying her on purpose.
"I just feel that the sisters in the harem have the same idea as me, and they want the emperor to be their beloved husband. I miss the emperor so much every day I don't see him. I'm sure the other sisters in the palace have the same idea as me..."
Lu Qingqing stood there with her head slightly lowered, seeming to have endless grievances to express. Her voice was faint and weak, like a gardenia flower that was about to wither in late summer, making people want to hold it in their hands the next moment.
Li Xuansheng lay on the couch, covering his handsome face with a book, but secretly observing her reaction out of the corner of his eye.
Ugh--
He couldn't help but sigh in his heart that the young woman in front of him was too kind!
I guess it was because she only knew how to tend to flowers and plants in the palace before, and she didn't know the minds of the concubines in the harem.
Shu Guiren was born into a family of officials. Her scheming and planning were far superior to those of her, who was a maid in the flower room. Since she could say such words in front of her, she must be no pushover.
This little girl is so soft-hearted that she can't even see through these thoughts!
He was a little worried and had already started planning how to teach her the skills to judge people so that she could survive in the harem.
Finally, he spoke.
"come over."
Li Xuansheng stretched out his slender right hand with distinct joints and motioned Lu Qingqing to go to the side couch.
Seeing that Li Xuansheng's attitude was gentle and he was taking the initiative to show goodwill, she took small steps tentatively and moved closer to Li Xuansheng little by little.
"sit down."
The man in front of him spoke in a tone that left no room for doubt but contained a hint of command.
She sat obediently on the side couch and took the man's hand, like a kitten clinging to its owner and asking for his affection.
"Don't let others test my mind in the future, understand?"
Li Xuansheng's voice carried a hint of helpless doting.
"When I have time in the future, I will teach you how to judge people in the palace, so that you won't be used as a knife by others for no reason."
"actually……"
Lu Qingqing looked at Li Xuansheng with her beautiful, tender eyes.
"In fact, I came here today because I really miss the emperor."
Her voice was as charming as silk, lightly entangling Li Xuansheng's heart, and her pitiful and touching appearance made people want to love her fiercely.
A sudden heat rose in his heart. His originally cold eyes gradually became wandering, and the softest part of his body suddenly became hard.
Li Xuansheng's hand, which she was holding, also caressed her body along with his gaze. The heat from his large palm was so hot that it seemed to penetrate her palace dress.
"Stay tonight."
He leaned over and whispered in Lu Qingqing's ear, and his warm breath made her tremble.
She followed the strength of his grip on her slender waist and buried her delicate little face in the man's chest, using the most intimate contact instead of answering.
Then he bent his head and kissed her gently, his hands eager to break through the restrictions of the outer robe and reach the essence of her skin.
She was a young woman who looked like a willow in the wind, but her body was surprisingly plump and soft. Her soft and delicate skin seemed to have magic, making him not want to separate once he got close to her.
The tingling sensation gradually spread throughout Lu Qingqing's body. At this moment, all the precautions and calculations in her mind gave way, and she just wanted to let the man in front of her occupy her body.
……
More than an hour later, when she woke up from her intoxication again, she had moved from the side couch in the study of the Qianqing Palace to the bedroom.
Lu Qingqing was lying alone on the dragon bed in the bedroom. As for when and how she came here, her memory had become vague.
She sorted out her thoughts and was about to get up when she heard whispers of conversation in the study.
In the study room.
Eunuch Qing stood with his head bowed beside the desk.
Li Xuansheng was still bent over the desk, carefully reading the urgent report recently handed over by the Minister of Revenue Fang He, his face gradually becoming gloomy.
The deficit in the treasury budget in the first half of the year, coupled with the flood disaster in the south, had already made him extremely anxious. Now the content of this urgent report was adding fuel to the fire!
The urgent report was submitted because the national treasury was short of funds and could not advance the expenses of the second half of the year for the imperial palace. Several imperial merchants expressed their unwillingness to purchase supplies for the royal family. For a time, it was difficult to reach an agreement with them and it was impossible to quickly find a reliable supply channel.
However, what was even more outrageous was that along with the urgent report, there was also a letter of greeting from the imperial merchant Zhao family, pleading for the three-month house arrest of Concubine Zhao Rongyuan.
The interests involved here are self-evident!
"This Zhao family is too presumptuous! They even dare to use their status as imperial merchants to threaten me!"
The anger intensified, and the emperor's roar echoed in the study along with the sound of broken teacups.
In the three years since Li Xuansheng ascended the throne, he had experienced all kinds of constraints and restrictions, but this was the first time that he had openly threatened to cut off supplies to the imperial palace!
How can the emperor be challenged by others?
He Qing was also frightened by Li Xuansheng's rage.
He has served the emperor for many years, and in the past his anger was only revealed in his cold and gloomy face and his extremely low pressure. Today's outburst must have been because someone had touched the emperor's most inviolable reverse scale.
Hearing the words "Zhao family" and "imperial merchant" and considering the current situation of Concubine Shu in the palace, He Qing probably guessed the reason for the emperor's rage. He naturally couldn't speak to persuade him, so he just stepped forward silently and picked up the broken pieces of the teacup porcelain.
Li Xuansheng stared at the memorial on the desk and was silent for a long time.
The study room returned to its usual tranquility, with only the smoke from the burning ambergris floating in the air.
After about a quarter of an hour, Li Xuansheng's voice, so calm that no emotion could be detected, sounded again.
"He Qing, go to Xianfu Palace and announce the decree that Concubine Zhao Rongyuan does not need to be confined for three months, because the 20th of next month is the Emperor's birthday festival, and the whole country will celebrate it. Let her participate as well."
During the silence just now, Li Xuansheng had already planned in his mind the final fate of the imperial merchant Zhao family.
He was not unaware of what the Zhao family had done over the years, but because the Zhao family had been imperial merchants for generations and had a deep foundation, he had been waiting for the right opportunity and kept silent.
The Zhao family must be eradicated, but not now.
He Qing received the summons and immediately went to Xianfu Palace to announce the decree.
At this moment, only Li Xuansheng and Lu Qingqing, who was resting in the bedroom, were left in the huge Qianqing Palace.
He looked towards the bedroom with a complicated expression.