Chapter 240 - 240: New Home (2)
The empress dowager didn’t think so. After hesitating for a moment, she whispered, “Even if he had no alternative, I still have to ask clearly about what he’s done, right? When he knocked me out, Your Majesty wasn’t present. There were only the two of us in the room. If he did anything to me, no one would know… He even dared to knock me out. What if he kissed and touched me…”
The more the empress dowager spoke, the more aggrieved she became.
The empress had been asleep at the time, so she actually didn’t know if Ye Jingtang had done anything. But judging from Ye Jingtang’s attitude toward her, he wouldn’t do anything treacherous and unethical. She explained gently, “I came back just as he knocked you unconscious. He didn’t have time to offend you.”
The empress dowager raised her hand and tapped the empress’s collarbone twice. “Isn’t this offensive? Is this a place that a man can touch? And he covered my mouth so tightly…”
The empress tied the sash of her red dress and compromised helplessly. “It was my lack of consideration that frightened you. How are you going to punish him?”
The empress dowager’s red lips opened and closed slightly. She really wanted to vent her anger. But when she thought of how Ye Jingtang had brought her to explore the underground tunnel the day before yesterday and protected her with all his might, she couldn’t bring herself to punish him…
“He is Your Majesty’s… No, he’s Liren’s that. Your Majesty called him over in the middle of the night…”
The empress raised her hand slightly with a solemn gaze. “This matter concerns the fate of Great Wei. Empress Dowager, you mustn’t spread it. If I’m interested in Ye Jingtang, I can openly ask him to enter the palace to accompany me. 1 could confer Liren as the highest-ranking prince of the blood. How could I make my sister sad?”
The empress dowager thought for a moment. With the empress’s personality, there was indeed no need to be sneaky if she wanted to sleep with Ye Jingtang. She continued, “He is Your Majesty’s favorite minister. If I punish him, won’t 1 put Your Majesty in a difficult position? This matter… I won’t quibble with him over it, but Your Majesty has to let him know that it was I who didn’t punish him, not Your Majesty protecting him, and tell him not to do it again.”
The empress nodded slightly. “1 will inform him that he is not allowed to set foot in the Longevity Palace in the future. If he sees you, he will avoid you in advance so that you won’t be angry.”
?
The empress dowager felt that if the empress said this, she wouldn’t be able to see Ye Jingtang for the rest of her life. She didn’t have this meaning, so there was no need for it. “There’s no need. I’ll just pretend that this matter never happened.”
The empress dowager’s expression softened a little as she changed the topic. “By the way, when is Daoist Xuanji coming? Your Majesty has been busy with government affairs, and recently, Liren can’t wait to follow Ye Jingtang from morning to night. Yesterday, she promised to pick me up, but she turned around and forgot. She didn’t even tell me…”
“Daoist Xuanji comes in autumn every year. It’s already June, so it will be soon. When Daoist Xuanji comes, I will ask her to accompany you to have fun for a while. You can even visit Parasol Street incognito in the middle of the night.”
The empress dowager looked forward to this happy time with her best friend every year. When she heard this, even her anger from yesterday dissipated a little. “Your Majesty, please urge her. She has been cultivating immortality on Void Jade Mountain for many years, but I haven’t seen her cultivate anything special. She shouldn’t still meditate when she comes to the capital.”
“I know.”
It was noon, and the hot midsummer sun of June turned Yun’an City into an oven. There were almost no pedestrians on the streets.
Ye Jingtang rode his horse along the shade of the trees on the street. He put his hand in front of the bird’s eyes and continued to study the Wind Listening Palm.
The Wind Listening Palm used the sense of touch to sense extremely subtle fluctuations. It wasn’t only useful toward humans.
In the past, when the bird’s eyes were covered, it would shake its head. But today, it found that no matter how it shook, Tangtang’s hand would follow.
After the bird failed to shake the hand off several times, its fighting spirit was aroused!
At first, the bird didn’t move at all. Then it suddenly stuck its head out and even chirped to release fake information about an enemy attack to distract Ye Jingtang’s attention before it launched a sneak attack. It could be said that its comprehension ability was extremely high.
Ye Jingtang played with the bird and arrived at Dye Workshop Street.
The reconstruction of Dye Workshop Street was quite fast, and it could be considered brand new now. But it was still being renovated, and no merchants had opened shop here.
Ye Jingtang went to the depths of Double Osmanthus Alley. He hadn’t been back for a few days, and the courtyard hadn’t changed much.
Although they were about to move to a bigger house, Heroine Luo hoped to keep the place where the two of them met for the first time, as well as where they had their first time. Ye Jingtang had bought this courtyard. The items inside were untouched so that he and Luo Ning could come here to reminisce about the past in the future.
Ye Jingtang opened the door of the main room and took down the ‘Vendor Selling Chickens Painting’ hanging on the wall. Thinking of the painter, whom he had just offended yesterday, he felt pressured. After carefully rolling it up, he took a few daily items and returned to Heavenly Water Bridge.
Third Lady must have some selfishness for helping him buy a house. The new residence was only half a street away from the Pei family’s mansion. It was very close to the Southern Breeze River. To the east was a viewing gallery facing the river, and in front was a sidewalk that led to the stone bridge. Willow trees surrounded the residence, offering shade. The environment was extremely elegant.
Ye Jingtang led the horse to the front door. He saw many workers from Heavenly Water Bridge working back and forth inside, cleaning or placing furniture.
In order to satisfy Heroine Luo, the residence was in the style of Jiang Province. There was a garden on the east side, and most of the buildings were on the west side. The layout was compact. There were four small courtyards in the back residence. There was also a two-story embroidery building where the young lady lived on the east side. From the looks of it, it wouldn’t be a problem for the owners and dozens of maidservants to live here.
It was Ye Jingtang’s first time here. He really didn’t expect Third Lady to buy such a big house in the capital where every inch of land was so valuable. He walked around the residence before finding Third Lady in the big garden in the east..