Chapter 34: Chapter 34

Chapter 34

At the entrance of Fuzhou Prefecture, commoners were crowded together. By the time Fang Zhihe and his entourage arrived, Yunzheng was already clearing a path through the crowd to welcome them, followed by two officials in blue robes, one in a cyan robe, and a retinue of guards and soldiers.

Fang Zhihe gazed at the commoners, slightly furrowing his brows.

Lu Wuyou reached out and reined in both his own horse and Fang Zhihe's, his cold gaze fixed on one of the blue-robed men who was looking up at Fang Zhihe. The moment their eyes met, the man quickly lowered his head.

Yunzheng stepped forward, his red official robe embroidered with golden-edged cloud brocade glinting faintly as he bowed slightly.

Yunzheng knelt, offering a steady bow to Fang Zhihe, and announced in a clear voice, "Your servant, Left Vice Censor-in-Chief Yunzheng, humbly welcomes Your Majesty!"

The surrounding commoners gasped in surprise and knelt one after another. The officials in their robes followed suit, prostrating in unison and echoing Yunzheng's words in loud voices—

"Your servant, Prefect of Fuzhou, Chen Bingquan, humbly welcomes Your Majesty!"

"Your servant, Chief of Waters and Canals, Gu Zhining, humbly welcomes Your Majesty!"

"Your servant, Magistrate of Luoyi County, Lin Biqing, humbly welcomes Your Majesty!"

A few scattered voices joined in. Fang Zhihe stared expressionlessly at the two blue-robed men, a wave of disgust rising in him. He glanced at them only briefly before shifting his gaze to the man in the cyan robe.

Magistrate of Luoyi County, Lin Biqing.

After observing for a moment, Fang Zhihe said in a deep voice, "Rise, everyone."

A rustle of movement followed as the crowd stood, heads lowered.

Still mounted, Fang Zhihe asked Yunzheng, "Why are there so many commoners gathered before the prefecture?"

Yunzheng, who had been standing with a slight bow, looked up and reported, "In reply to Your Majesty, these are farmers here to collect payment from Prefect Chen for last year's dike repairs."

Fang Zhihe frowned. "Why haven't last year's labor wages been paid yet this year?" He finished speaking and glanced at the trembling Prefect Chen before adding in a warm tone, "Lord Chen, explain this to me."

At those words, Chen Bingquan immediately fell to his knees with a thud and said in a trembling voice, "In reply to Your Majesty, the local water conservancy projects exhausted most of the treasury allocation. To cover the relief funds for the city and the counties, I had no choice but to put off these payments. Today, I was about to hand out the money to them..."

Fang Zhihe thought to himself, the imperial treasury allocation wasn't sufficient—but wasn't the local treasury enough either? He glanced at the tall, jade-like man beside him and feigned a look of sudden understanding. "I see," he said warmly. "Then let the commoners collect their silver and return home for now."

Chen Bingquan kept nodding in agreement and hurriedly turned to find the accountant.

Lu Wuyou glanced around and noticed that the gathered commoners were all gazing up at Fang Zhihe with admiration, some even praising the wise emperor out loud!

Lu Wuyou lowered his eyes slightly, sizing up Fang Zhihe. The man was wearing a white belted robe today, with golden dragon patterns embroidered at the waist and hem. A bright pearl adorned his waistband, shimmering brilliantly.

And the hair today—he had been the one to comb it.

As if sensing something, Fang Zhihe turned back to glance at him and secretly squeezed his hand from behind.

Lu Wuyou thought to himself, this man is being capricious again.

Others stared intently at their clasped hands.

Soon after, Yunzheng led the two of them into the prefectural office, while Ruan Li took his men to lodge at the nearby official inn.

Fang Zhihe chatted cheerfully with Lu Wuyou the whole way, with Yunzheng chiming in occasionally. At that point, the accompanying Chief Gu spoke up, "Your Majesty, and you two esteemed lords, today the prefecture has prepared some Jiangnan-style dishes. May I ask if there are any dietary restrictions? I will have the kitchen make adjustments immediately."

Fang Zhihe glanced at Lu Wuyou and murmured, "Yuntai?"

Lu Wuyou said, "Anything with alcohol—replace it. His Majesty's health hasn't fully recovered yet."

Yunzheng added, "Also remove anything spicy or pungent, and anything with a strong flavor. Dr. Qi has banned His Majesty from having those."

Lu Wuyou shot a glance at Yunzheng, who in turn looked at Fang Zhihe. Fang Zhihe, in contrast, smiled warmly at Gu Zhining and said, "Lord Gu, since arriving in Jiangnan, you've become even more handsome."

Fang Zhihe was a lover of men—addicted to male beauty, as the whole realm knew.

Gu Zhining's handsome face immediately stiffened, and he bowed respectfully, saying, "I am honored by Your Majesty's concern."

Fang Zhihe was laughing so hard inside he could barely keep a straight face. He forced a few light coughs and said, "You're too polite, my dear minister. You may take your leave now. I still have some matters to discuss with these two."

Gu Zhining immediately withdrew respectfully.

Only then did Fang Zhihe lean on Lu Wuyou's shoulder and chuckle softly. Yunzheng, seeing him laugh so happily, teased, "Your Majesty, you play the fool so well it's like you really are one."

Fang Zhihe stopped laughing and shot him a glare. "You're the fool here. How dare you speak to your emperor like that?"

Yunzheng burst into laughter.

Lu Wuyou pinched Fang Zhihe's waist expressionlessly and said coldly, "Is flirting with others that amusing?"

Sniffling, Fang Zhihe blinked and grinned sheepishly at him. "What? That way he'll think I'm just a fool obsessed with good looks, right?"

Lu Wuyou noticed that his voice was a bit hoarse, and his laughter carried a stuffy nasal tone. He frowned slightly and said in a deep voice, "You're always doing things that lower your dignity."

Fang Zhihe rubbed his nose and blurted out for no apparent reason, "You've been really good to me lately."

Yunzheng, standing nearby, coughed violently, made an excuse to slip away, and fled.

Lu Wuyou was stunned for a few seconds before snapping back. He looked closely at Fang Zhihe's face, then reached out and rubbed it, feeling something.

"What's all over your face?" he asked while wiping at it a few times, transferring some red onto the back of his hand. When he looked at the man's complexion again, it seemed even paler than before—pale enough to be almost translucent.

Fang Zhihe was startled, but since most of it had been wiped off, he simply admitted it, lowering his head slightly. "I bled from yesterday's injury, so my complexion looked terrible—I applied some rouge to cover it. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to assert my authority..."

Lu Wuyou stared at the red on his hand and thought, Even after applying that much rouge... his complexion still doesn't look great.

Fang Zhihe let out a soft "Hey," pulled a handkerchief from his chest, took Lu Wuyou's hand, and carefully wiped it clean, saying, "Now you know—next time, don't expose me. I still need to put on a front to intimidate others."

Who could you possibly intimidate? Lu Wuyou thought to himself.

Fang Zhihe smiled, then pursed his lips and said casually, "In a while, when the disaster has passed, we'll go back to the capital... take Xiaoyuan to fly kites, shall we? And stop by that bridgehead rice noodle shop. You probably haven't eaten there—it opened two years after you left on campaign."

Lu Wuyou reached out and gently rubbed the corner of his eye, murmuring, "Why are your eyes always so red? As if everyone in the world has bullied you."

Fang Zhihe looked up.

Lu Wuyou stroked his earlobe and said quietly, "Just like Xiaobai." That was the cat they had raised as children.

He paused for two seconds, then murmured, "So adorable."