Chapter 118: A World Apart

Chapter 118: A World Apart

Zhu Yan stayed long-term in the temporary palace.

The Emperor visited the temporary palace approximately every half a month, staying for a day or two. Sometimes he brought his son Ah Ji along, and Princess Xiangyang of the royal family was ordered to accompany them. Everything was as it was the previous year, only the Emperor visited more frequently, and more items were sent from the palace.

Every now and then, someone would come to deliver things.

Either dispatched by the Emperor or sent by Empress Liu.

Zhu Yan, finding it troublesome, left everything to Qu Gu and Lu Ping'an to handle. After September, the temporary palace unexpectedly welcomed her biological father Zhu Qingyun and stepmother Mo Shi.

The temporary palace was not as strictly regulated as the Forbidden City in the capital. Moreover, the Emperor had instructed Guo Li, who was in charge of the palace affairs, and Li Hao, the Centurion of the Left and Right Wei who guarded the palace, that everything within the palace was at Zhu Yan's discretion.

Zhu Yan first met her stepmother Mo Shi in the Lotus Garden and, learning of Zhu Qingyun's intentions from her, could only marvel at his audacity.

How dared he still come to her seeking an official position?

The last time they met, she had made her feelings clear.

To avoid making her stepmother's position difficult, Zhu Yan decided to meet with Zhu Qingyun.

She didn't choose a different location, but met him directly in the main hall of Han Dao Yuan, without dismissing any palace attendants or eunuchs, including Qu Gu and Lu Ping'an. Even Guo Li, who had led Zhu Qingyun in, remained in the hall.

When Zhu Qingyun entered the hall and saluted Zhu Yan, she subtly turned aside, not accepting the gesture. Lu Ping'an, perceptive of the situation, stepped forward and personally helped Zhu Qingyun to sit on a chair beside her.

"Yuan Niang, what happened with Er Niang was due to a lack of guidance from your mother and me..."

"Debts end with death. Father, let's not talk about her," Zhu Yan quickly interrupted Zhu Qingyun, who started by mentioning Zhu Er Niang. She didn't want to hear him condemn Zhu Er Niang. Zhu Qingyun was always ruthless and, now that Zhu Er Niang was dead and of no value to him, he would only be more harsh.

As for father-daughter affection...

It was a joke. Among the eight siblings in the family, how much affection could be allocated to each one? Besides, some fingers are longer than others. The eldest son, eldest daughter, and youngest child always got the lion's share. Just as Zhu Er Niang said, their father, mother, and stepmother were all biased.

"The Emperor, on the occasion of Aji's birthday, granted titles to my eldest and second brothers. I was unaware of this beforehand. If I had known, I would have stopped him. I remind Father again, before entering the palace, I told you that if you insist on sending me here, henceforth, our fates and honors are no longer intertwined."

Zhu Qingyun felt angry upon hearing this.

He had initially taken her words as mere anger and didn't take them seriously. What woman wouldn't care about her family? He had never seen someone as resolute as Zhu Yan, "Now that I am a commoner, does it bring glory to you and the fourth prince?"

"I never wanted you to bring me glory, and Aji doesn't need it either. Just don’t be a burden. You should carefully inquire about the fate of others who accepted bribes. The fact that you can stand here and talk to me now is already an exceptional grace from the Emperor."

"But everyone else accepted bribes. If I didn’t, it would have made me an outlier."

Zhu Qingyun tried to justify himself. Realizing he had spoken the truth in front of others, he felt embarrassed and finally gave up, "I don’t seek real power, just like your eldest brother, a nominal title for convenience is enough."

Ever since being stripped of his position and becoming a commoner due to bribery, he had been too ashamed to show his face, "You now enjoy immense imperial favor, the epitome of glory. I don't ask you to glorify our family, but I am your father. You should at least save face for me."

"If you weren’t my father, you would be in the Dali prison now."

"Don’t try to scare me." Zhu Qingyun was no longer as ignorant as when he first came to the capital. After nearly a year in the city, he had come to understand many things. His eldest daughter was much more favored than he had imagined, enjoying an exceptionally deep and exclusive favor from the Emperor.

As the biological father of the Empress, Zhu Qingyun was accustomed to respect and flattery from others, except for the straightforward Qiu Yuyang, who had only intimidated him but never actually harmed him.

Observing Zhu Qingyun's defiant attitude, as if he was not afraid of any consequences, Zhu Yan coldly laughed and removed the jade hairpin from her head, "Rest assured, Father, I am not merely threatening you."

"What are you going to do?" Zhu Qingyun looked at Zhu Yan with apprehension.

Zhu Yan called for Guo Li, "Bind him and send him back to the capital, to Qianyuan Hall, to the Emperor. Tell him it’s my instruction and that everything should be handled according to the law." She then broke the jade hairpin in her hand and handed it to Qu Gu, "His bribery cases are not limited to just one. Let the Emperor have him thoroughly investigated. And give this to the Emperor as well."

Her breaking of the jade signified her resolve.

Better to be broken jade than an intact tile.

Zhu Qingyun, both shocked and furious, stared at Zhu Yan, "You unfilial and cursed daughter," he exclaimed as the eunuchs surrounded him with ropes. Realizing they were serious, fear crept into him. He knew his daughter’s ruthless and unemotional nature, and that she would show no familial loyalty, "Yuan Niang, I am your father. You can't do this. Your mother is pregnant..."

"Don't worry, Mother is taken care of by Stepmother," Zhu Yan replied coldly, gesturing for Guo Li to take him away. She had learned from Zhu Er Niang that her stepmother, Lu Shi, was pregnant with a brother, who would be born safely but should not expect any titles.

She was indifferent to Zhu Qingyun's cries of being an unfilial daughter.

Zhu Qingyun was quickly dragged away.

Guo Li, hearing Zhu Qingyun's curses, felt it was unbecoming.

He dared not gag Zhu Qingyun, as the Empress had only ordered him to be bound, not silenced. After all, this man was the Empress's biological father. Once outside the hall, Guo Li warned, "Master Zhu, cursing the Empress like this will displease the Emperor."

Hearing this, Zhu Qingyun suddenly fell silent, as if choked.

He quickly regained his composure.

Every time he confronted his daughter, he would become enraged, losing all sense of proportion.

The next day at noon, the Emperor unexpectedly visited the temporary palace.

Zhu Yan was both surprised and not by his appearance. Surprised because it had been less than half a month since his last departure, but not surprised, as she had ordered Zhu Qingyun to be bound and sent back to the capital for the Emperor, which would inevitably prompt his visit.

Zhu Yan preempted, "We agreed, you brought him to the capital, and if anything happens, you deal with it."

Hearing this, the Emperor immediately wore a bitter smile, "Zhu Yan, now every time we meet, you reprimand me, making me afraid to even speak in your presence."

He added, "I've been traveling all morning. Can you let me rest for a bit?" Saying so, he took the teacup from Zhu Yan's hand to quench his thirst. Considering Zhu Yan's fondness for cleanliness, he refrained from embracing her and went to the restroom to freshen up and change his clothes. Only then did he come back to Zhu Yan and sat down with her.

"I've imprisoned him in the Dali Prison and spoken to Qiu Zijin. After he confesses everything, he'll be confined for a while and then sent home under house arrest with two teams guarding him. He won't bother you or cause trouble for Ah Ji anymore."

The Emperor paused slightly, looking at Zhu Yan, "After all, he is your father, Ah Ji's grandfather… Alright, alright, I won’t say anymore." Seeing Zhu Yan's displeased expression as he started speaking, he quickly changed the subject.

Every time the Emperor visited the imperial lodge, he couldn't get enough of Zhu Yan, wishing every moment of the twelve hours could be spent with her. This sudden visit ended the next morning when he, annoyed by time's brevity, asked Zhu Yan if she wanted to return to the capital with him.

Zhu Yan, initially too exhausted to even keep her eyes open, instantly became alert upon hearing this and flatly refused. The Emperor, frustrated, bit her face hard and cursed her as heartless, believing that Ayi was deliberately tormenting him.

On the eighth day of the eleventh month, joyful news arrived from the Zhu residence in the capital.

Her mother, Lady Lu, had given birth to a baby boy, and both mother and child were safe.

In mid-December, the Emperor chose a sunny day to visit the imperial lodge and take Zhu Yan back to the capital. Having learned from a previous setback, he left no room for negotiation and didn't promise to let her stay there for another half year next time, forcibly taking Zhu Yan back.

The Emperor noticed that Zhu Yan seemed much healthier staying at the lodge compared to the oppressive atmosphere of the Forbidden Palace, where she seemed stifled and discontent.

Consequently, the following spring, the Emperor ordered the renovation of the Nanshan Garden on the outskirts of the capital. To the west of Nanshan Garden, a new Seven Stars Palace was constructed. The project lasted two years, and upon its completion, the Emperor, along with Zhu Yan and their son, Aji, moved out of the Forbidden Palace and into the Seven Stars Palace.

Because the Emperor resided permanently in the Seven Stars Palace.

Henceforth, the center of the state's power gradually shifted from the Dayu Palace to the Seven Stars Palace in Nanshan Garden.

During this time, in the autumn of the third year of Jingbian, Su Yiquan annihilated the Gaochang Kingdom, establishing the Beiting Protectorate. From then on, the lands south of the desert came under imperial control. When the news of the victory reached, the Emperor was overjoyed and declared a new era, Changping.

Historically, this year was known as the first year of Changping.

When Su Yiquan conquered Gaochang, there was an emergency on the western front. The Uyghurs and tribal forces, amassing a hundred thousand troops, launched an attack.

In Lanzhou, the Governor and Defense Commander Zhang Yao, along with the Left Dragon Guard General Zhang Su, defended the Lanzhou frontline with fifty thousand troops. Ren Fashan particularly distinguished himself in this battle, leading ten thousand cavalry in a successful surprise attack from the rear, defeating the allied forces.

Over the next three years, by the fourth year of Changping, Ren Fashan successfully recaptured Shanzhou, Liangzhou, Ganzhou, and Suzhou. Since the third year of Xingzong's Xianghua reign, it took eleven years for the Emperor to reign and a total of fifty-three years to regain control over the Hexi Corridor, the lost route to the Western Regions.

The fourth year of Changping.

With the Hexi Corridor reclaimed, news came from the Anxi Protectorate, isolated from Dayu for fifty-three years. Chen Yu, the son of the former Protector Chen Zhong, born in the Anxi Protectorate, continued his father's legacy, steadfastly guarding the fortress city of Qiuci.

Of the original five thousand troops stationed at Qiuci City, less than two hundred remained.

The news caused a national sensation.

The loyalty and righteousness of Chen and his son moved everyone.

The Emperor sent Ren Fashan to lead an army to the Western Regions to bring back all the people and their remains.

Chen Zhong was posthumously titled Marquis of Song and given the honorific title of Wu Zhong (Martially Loyal). He was buried with state honors, and the Emperor personally attended the funeral with offerings. Chen Yu was granted the title Marquis of Zhongyi, given a mansion, fertile lands, and a one-time reward of one hundred thousand guan. The rest were rewarded according to the new military merit system of the dynasty.

It was also in this year.

In the southern borders, Ling Yue, the Governor of Yongzhou, led five thousand troops to capture Liangshan and advanced to Jiaozhou. The Kingdom of Annam submitted and sent envoys to the court.

Suddenly, it was the fifth year of Changping.

On the New Year's Day Grand Court Meeting, Su Yiquan, the Marquis of Dingbei, submitted a proposal, suggesting that the Emperor should soon send the princes to their respective fiefs.

This caused a great stir.

It was well understood that in recent years, the fourth prince, closely nurtured by the Emperor without the title of Crown Prince, already possessed the de facto status. Moreover, for the past five years, his mother, Empress Zhu Yuanfei, enjoyed exclusive favor, with no other princes or princesses born in the palace.

The Emperor was preparing to establish his heir.

Author's note:

Today's update, kisses~~~