Chapter 30

Early the next morning, Liu Li, under the service of Zhuqing and Qiao, finished dressing. Hearing Zhuqing say that it was snowing outside, she couldn't wait to run outside the sleeping palace. What met her eyes was a vast expanse of white snow, with a thick layer spread over the eaves and the ground.

Looking from afar, it seemed as if the whole world had become white.

"Wow, it snowed so heavily last night." Liu Li stood by the railing of the corridor and stretched out a finger to gently poke into the snow; her entire fingertip was covered by the snow.

Zhuqing hurriedly draped the fox fur over Liu Li and said casually: "Yes, it snowed all night, and it only stopped this morning. The Lady probably didn't sleep all night last night either."

Qiao hurriedly patted Zhuqing, signaling her not to speak nonsense. Zhuqing realized she had said the wrong thing and closed her mouth.

Liu Li still pursued the question: "What happened to Mother?" Yesterday, Liu Li had accompanied Liu Che to wait for A Jiao, but later she was really sleepy, so she went back to the sleeping palace to sleep.

Zhuqing thought that the Princess would know about last night's events sooner or later, so she told Liu Li everything: "Yesterday, the Emperor and the Lady quarreled, causing the Lady to almost have a miscarriage. Fortunately, the Imperial Physician came to see the Lady and saved the little Imperial Prince in the Lady's belly."

Liu Li clicked her tongue. She tightened the fox fur on her body and said: "Then I'll go see Mother."

Inside the Emperor and Empress's sleeping palace, the heater was burning very vigorously. Liu Li felt warm as soon as she walked in. She took off the fox fur she was wearing and walked inside cautiously: "Father, Mother."

Two palace maids were surrounding A Jiao to help her dress. Hearing her daughter's voice, she opened her eyes and looked at her with a gentle expression: "Why did A Li come?"

Liu Li looked at Liu Che, who was still lying on the bed with a pale face, and whispered: "I heard from the palace servants that Mother almost had a miscarriage last night?"

A Jiao comforted her: "Don't worry, it's already fine."

Liu Che on the bed slowly opened his eyes. He had had abdominal pain for almost the whole night and only felt a little better after drinking medicine not long ago. At this moment, he really had no energy to get up, so he simply lay on the bed and gave up.

Is pregnancy for women really this painful?

Liu Li walked over, climbed onto the bed, and lay by the side of the bed looking at Liu Che: "Mother, are you alright?"

Liu Che hummed: "No harm."

Liu Li lay here accompanying Liu Che for a while, then returned to wash up and went to have breakfast with A Jiao. Because Liu Che was not there, the mother and daughter were quite casual, sitting together to eat.

A Jiao said: "After breakfast, I will take you to see someone."

Liu Li was curious: "Who is it?"

"You'll know when you see him." At this moment, A Jiao didn't know how to explain this person to Liu Li; she would let A Li decide how to use Chen Fei later.

Why is it so mysterious?

Just after the mother and daughter finished breakfast, Su Wen from outside had already led Chen Fei over: "Your Majesty, Chen Fei is brought."

A Jiao nodded slightly: "Chen Fei, stay; everyone else, go down."

"Nuo."

After everyone had withdrawn, Chen Fei knelt straight before Liu Li: "This servant Chen Fei pays respects to the Jianling Chang Princess."

Liu Li was surprised and couldn't help but turn to look at A Jiao on the side.

This person actually performed a grand salute to her and ignored the "Son of Heaven" on the side. This... Liu Li was a bit confused.

A Jiao raised her eyebrows and did not explain anything.

Liu Li pursed her lips and couldn't help but seriously examine the youth in front of her. He was exceptionally thin and small, and the clothes he wore, although clean, were extremely ill-fitting; one look and one could tell they were not his own clothes.

However, he seemed to be very good-looking. With those rather exquisite features, if he were to be tidied up properly, he would definitely not lose to the young fresh meat idols on modern television. It was just that his face seemed a bit swollen, as if he had been beaten.

Liu Li stepped forward to him and reached out to help him up: "You may rise."

When she touched Chen Fei, there was no system prompt sound, which meant that this Chen Fei was not a famous historical figure. Liu Li thought carefully; in the Han Dynasty history she knew, there was indeed no one named Chen Fei.

Chen Fei stood up but was a bit stunned.

The master of this Weiyang Palace had always been noble, but the Jianling Chang Princess

actually helped him up personally.

A Jiao then spoke: "A Li, from now on, Chen Fei will be used by you; he will only listen to your orders."

Liu Li understood A Jiao's meaning. Although on the surface, they, mother and daughter, were one the Son of Heaven and one the Chang Princess, and could mobilize the Feathered Forest Guard of the Weiyang Palace and even order anyone.

But in reality, these people only listened to the Son of Heaven.

If A Jiao and Liu Che were to swap back in the future, they, mother and daughter, would definitely fall into a situation of being isolated and helpless. At this time, they needed confidants who belonged to them.

This Chen Fei was the one chosen by A Jiao.

"Your name is Chen Fei?" Thinking this through, Liu Li looked up at the youth in front of her, her gaze clear and full of kindness.

Chen Fei nodded: "Yes."

"How old are you? How did you enter the palace, and what can you do?"

Hearing the Princess's question, Chen Fei answered seriously.

Chen Fei was from Lantian County, Weinan Commandery. His mother passed away after giving birth to him, and he was raised by the people in the village taking turns feeding him. When he was in his teens, he heard that Chang'an was very wealthy, so he left his hometown and came to Chang'an alone.

After arriving in Chang'an, he discovered that Chang'an was indeed prosperous, but everything had nothing to do with him.

Later, he didn't know which passerby he heard from that they were recruiting soldiers in front of the Zhangcheng Gate of the Weiyang Palace. He followed them to sign up for the army, not for meritorious service, but only to be able to eat his fill every day.

Who knew the squad leader thought he was too young and too short, and didn't want to accept him at all. Then he muddled his way into the other team recruiting eunuchs, and from then on, he entered the Weiyang Palace.

Hearing this, Liu Li was speechless for a while.

Such a handsome little brother actually sent himself on the path of a eunuch like this; it's a pity.

Chen Fei said: "This servant has great strength and can plow the land and farm." However, it seemed there was no need to plow the land and farm in the Weiyang Palace, so Chen Fei added: "This servant also knows a little martial arts. My master is the Youxia Guo Jie. In the future, this servant will definitely be able to protect the Princess well."

Upon hearing the Youxia Guo Jie, Liu Li couldn't help but widen her eyes.

In ancient times, especially during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, there were many people with straightforward personalities who were happy to help others; these people were called Youxia. And the Youxia Guo Jie was also famous in history.

At least, in Sima Qian's "Shiji Youxia Liezhuan," Guo Jie was the model of contemporary Youxia, praised by later generations. However, Liu Li didn't know much about the specific things about Guo Jie.

Chen Fei saying his master was Guo Jie was actually not lying. When Guo Jie traveled to the village where Chen Fei was, he was already a famous Youxia. Many children in the village grew up listening to Guo Jie's stories of robbing the rich to help the poor, and Chen Fei was the same.

During the time Guo Jie was in the village, Chen Fei pestered Guo Jie to teach him some martial arts. After Guo Jie left the village, Chen Fei continued to exercise whenever he had time, so he unilaterally declared Guo Jie his master.

Hearing him say he knew martial arts, Liu Li couldn't help but stare at his small frame for two glances, when suddenly she heard a "gurgling" sound.

Chen Fei covered his stomach.

Liu Li chuckled. She turned and took the unfinished steamed bun on the table and handed it to Chen Fei: "You eat it."

Chen Fei took the steamed bun with both hands: "Thank you, Princess." Saying this, he began to wolf it down.

Liu Li walked back to A Jiao's side. A Jiao asked her: "How is it? Are you satisfied with this Chen Fei? Do you want to keep him by your side?"

"Not bad." Referring to his appearance.

Liu Li pursed her lips and added: "Let him stay by my side for now. It's just that he feels too thin; he needs to be raised well."

"Mm, you can arrange it yourself." A Jiao smiled: "After all, this is just the beginning."

The clothes on Chen Fei were really ill-fitting; Liu Li felt awkward just looking at them. A Jiao also felt awkward, so she turned and summoned the Great Changqiu, telling him to take Chen Fei to the Shaofu Office to collect suitable clothes and gear.

Liu Che lay on the bed recuperating for four or five days and was finally able to get out of bed and move around. The first thing he did after getting out of bed was to find A Jiao and talk to her about "founding the Imperial Academy."

During these days lying on the bed, Liu Che's brain hadn't been idle, and he increasingly felt that the concept of the Imperial Academy proposed by A Li was a very feasible suggestion.

So, after being able to get out of bed, Liu Che found A Jiao and asked her to summon the Inner Court Attendants to the Xuanshi Hall to discuss the matter of establishing the Imperial Academy.

Liu Li rested her chin on her hand, lying on the soft couch on the side, swinging her little feet.

The longer she stayed in this era, the more she felt that Liu Che was truly a natural material for an emperor. She had only mentioned the Imperial Academy casually at the time, but in just a few days, he could think of so much content, and even the personnel setup was already thought out.

In history, it was the fifth year of Yuanshuo that Emperor Wu of Han adopted Dong Zhongshu's "Three Strategies of Heaven and Man," the suggestion of "wishing Your Majesty to establish an Imperial Academy, place famous teachers, to nurture the scholars of the world," and established the Imperial Academy in Chang'an.

Now, if the Imperial Academy were to be established, it would be considered six years ahead of history. Liu Li was a bit worried for a moment; was it good or bad to let history happen ahead of time like this, and what kind of impact would it have on the future?

Forget it, don't think so much; let's live in the present. Anyway, this space-time is already in a mess.

Could there be anything more chaotic than Emperor Wu of Han and Chen Ajiao swapping bodies?

The matter of the Son of Heaven establishing an Imperial Academy in Chang'an received the support of many Confucian scholars and scholar-officials, so the matter was settled like this.

The Shaofu Office and the Grand Minister of Agriculture, however, had some headaches. After all, once the Imperial Academy was established, they had to allocate funds to arrange for people to build the Imperial Academy, which was another large financial expenditure.

The currency reform policy proposed by Sang Hongyang the previous month had not been fully implemented, and now money had to be spent again.

Sang Hongyang was also worried. Although the Emperor agreed with several of his suggestions, he didn't attach enough importance to them, only telling him to handle it himself. He wanted to handle it, but others wouldn't listen to him.

In the final analysis, it was because the Emperor was not short of money now; when it hadn't reached the point of burning his eyebrows, he wasn't in a hurry.

A Jiao narrowed her eyes and scolded coldly: "Someone, take these two people down and bring them into the room for interrogation."

A Jiao did not even need to ask much; Su Wen had already interrogated the result. This He Yide was considered the highest official in Yongxiang, managing all the palace maids and beauties within Yongxiang. However, he had a penchant for boys, and every new eunuch entering the palace had to pass through his hands. This was how he had taken a fancy to the little eunuch just now.

It just so happened that this little eunuch had some backbone and would rather die than submit.

Having offended his superior, the little eunuch's life in Yongxiang was naturally not easy. He had

been bullied by his colleagues many times, and today he had been punished by being forbidden to eat.

At night, the little eunuch was truly hungry, and when he stole a steamed bun and intended to hide to eat it, he was bumped into by A Jiao.

He was also quite clever, knowing to ask A Jiao for help.

After knowing the ins and outs of the matter, the look in A Jiao's eyes when she looked at He Yide changed. He Yide could only kneel and beg for mercy.

A Jiao directly ordered the guards to send him to the Tingwei Office to be handled by the Tingwei. Turning back to look at the little eunuch who was shrinking his head and shivering, she narrowed her eyes, dismissed everyone, and left only that little eunuch.

"What is your name, and how old are you this year?"

The little eunuch knelt on the ground and said: "This servant is called Chen Fei, and I am sixteen years old this year."

A Jiao raised an eyebrow. She couldn't tell that this little eunuch was sixteen; his build looked like that of an eleven or twelve-year-old.

Chen Fei kowtowed: "This servant kowtows to thank Your Majesty for saving my life. I beg Your Majesty to keep me by your side to serve." If today's matter spread, he would have even less of a foothold in Yongxiang. For him now, this was an opportunity.

"I am not lacking people to serve by my side. What advantages do you have that would make me keep you?" A Jiao looked at him calmly.

Chen Fei paused, and finally, with a determination to face death, said: "This servant is willing to be loyal only to Your Majesty, to be your hound and minion."

A Jiao did not speak, but followed the candlelight in the room, staring at the youth before her. His appearance was indeed handsome, and his eyes were especially beautiful; it was no wonder that He Yide had taken a fancy to him. But the reason A Jiao decided to keep him was his eyes.

There was a ruthlessness in his eyes that one could not ignore. A Jiao thought that even if she hadn't met him today, He Yide probably wouldn't have lived much longer. If one showed kindness to such a person, it wouldn't be a bad thing.

Thinking this, A Jiao said: "I do not need you to be loyal to me." She was Liu Che now; there was no need to add more confidants for Liu Che.

Chen Fei was stunned, thinking he had missed the opportunity, when he heard the Emperor say: "I want you to be loyal to the Jianling Princess."

Jianling Princess?

As a eunuch in Weiyang Palace, Chen Fei naturally knew who the Jianling Princess was—the daughter of the Emperor and the Empress. This made no difference to Chen Fei; in any case, it was all loyalty to the Emperor.

"Yes, this servant swears to be loyal to the Emperor and the Jianling Princess until death."

"No." A Jiao stood up and looked down at him: "I mean, you only need to be loyal to the Jianling Princess; you do not need to be loyal to me."

She said faintly: "If one day my opinion and the Jianling Princess's opinion are at odds, you only need to take the Princess's will as the standard. Even if she tells you to kill me, you must do it without fail. Can you do this?"

Chen Fei raised his head in astonishment, unable to understand why the Emperor would issue such an order to him.

Be loyal only to the Jianling Princess, even if the Jianling Princess told him to commit regicide?

The hall was silent. Chen Fei was unsure if this was the Emperor's test or if he really intended this. After a long time, gambling on it, he said: "This servant accepts the decree and swears to be loyal to the Jianling Princess until death."

A Jiao was very satisfied with Chen Fei's answer. She said: "You may rise. I will arrange for someone to prepare clothes and food for you. Wash up and rest well for the night; go see the Princess tomorrow."

"Yes."

Just as these words fell, Su Wen's voice came from outside: "Your Majesty."

A Jiao signaled for Chen Fei to rise first, and she let Su Wen in.

Along with Su Wen came a eunuch from Jiaofang Hall. The eunuch knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, the Empress... the Empress urges you to return to Jiaofang Hall as soon as possible, otherwise she will come to Yongxiang herself to find, to find you."

Cold sweat streamed down the eunuch's back. As a eunuch by the Empress's side, he had witnessed the intensity of the Emperor and Empress's arguments. In the entire Weiyang Palace, only the Empress dared to give the Emperor a hard time to his face.

If the Empress said she would come to Yongxiang herself, she would probably really come.

A Jiao also knew she had been out for a long time. She responded: "Hmm, let us go." As she walked, she told Su Wen to take Chen Fei away as well.

When they returned to Jiaofang Hall, it was already very late, as the night had been quite a toss-up. Tomorrow she would tell A Li that she had arranged a hound and minion for her.

The palace lanterns in Jiaofang Hall were still burning. The Empress sat with a cold face

in the hall, waiting for the Emperor to return. Only when she heard the sound of the carriage at the door did the Empress let out a soft hum.

The palace maids in the hall remained silent, not daring to breathe, waiting for the coming storm.

Things in Jiaofang Hall had not been smashed for a long time.

A Jiao returned with exhaustion and the smell of alcohol. Raising her eyes to look at Liu Che, who was still sitting in the main seat, she merely said: "Why have you not gone to rest yet?"

Liu Che said sarcastically: "You still know how to come back?"

A Jiao glanced at the palace maids on both sides and said: "You all may withdraw."

The palace maids curtsied and left one after another, leaving the space for the Emperor and Empress to argue slowly, and waiting to come back in and clean up after it was over. This had always been the process; they were very familiar with it.

A Jiao walked over and caught sight of a cup of tea on the table. Without asking, she picked it up and drank it in one gulp, then said: "Why are you angry? Wasn't I visiting Lady Wei and the child in her belly on your behalf?"

"After you went to Pixiang Hall, why did you go to Yongxiang again?" Liu Che gritted his teeth: "Does Yongxiang also have my children?"

"Who knows?" A Jiao raised an eyebrow: "Didn't Wei Zifu move out of Yongxiang only after she was pregnant?"

"Chen Jiao!" Liu Che took a deep breath: "Do not evade the important and dwell on the trivial. What did you do in Yongxiang?" He had been waiting in Jiaofang Hall until now, and thinking of A Jiao using his body to be with those beauties, he felt very uncomfortable.

Even though he knew in his heart that A Jiao wouldn't really mess around, he still felt uncomfortable; this emotion came very strangely.

A Jiao thought of the charming Beauty Yin, and a dryness rose in her throat. She subconsciously licked her lips and smiled: "I didn't do anything, just remembered that Beauty Yin sings very well, so I went to listen to a song."

Finally, she asked: "By the way, what is Beauty Yin's name? Or what do you usually call Beauty Yin? Tell me about it, so that next time I am with her, I won't give myself away."

Liu Che: "?"

Looking at the expectant expression on her own face, Liu Che finally realized the key to the problem. He narrowed his eyes and questioned: "Don't you hate those beauties? You once even asked me to send them all away. Why do you seem so happy now?"

"The 'once' you speak of was five years ago." A Jiao reminded: "In recent years, when have I ever asked you to do that? Liu Che, why are you always wronging people?"

Liu Che: "..." Yes, he always remembered how she used to argue with him, but forgot that these things were already five years ago.

Ever since they had A Li, she had become non-competitive over these five years, and now she could even replace him to visit Wei Zifu, whom she once hated the most.

A Jiao caught sight of her own face turning pale, and for once, she reached out with pity to stroke her own cheek, leaning closer: "Liu Che, rest assured, I will try my best to play you in front of your beauties. So when you have time, remember to tell me all the names of those beauties."

Liu Che brushed her hand away irritably: "There are so many people, how could I possibly remember them all?"

"Then Beauty Yin's name, you should at least remember that, right?"

Liu Che said coldly: "I only call them Beauty. As for what their specific names are, why should I remember?"

A Jiao: "... Scumbag!"

"What did you say?" Liu Che did not understand what the word A Jiao said meant.

This word was told to her by Liu Li, and A Jiao felt it was very appropriate to describe Liu Che. She smiled: "Nothing, it is getting late, let us sleep."

Just as Liu Che was about to stand up, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his lower abdomen. He gasped and instinctively clutched his stomach.

Hearing his voice, A Jiao turned her head and saw him clutching his stomach. Her heart tightened, and she hurriedly reached out to support him: "Liu Che, what is wrong?"

Liu Che's face turned another shade paler. He leaned against A Jiao and said hoarsely: "I don't know, my stomach suddenly hurt."

A Jiao was also nervous; after all, it was the child in her own belly. She raised her voice: "Someone, summon the Imperial Physician."

Hearing this, the palace servants outside hurriedly ran to fetch the Imperial Physician. A Jiao bent down slightly and carried Liu Che horizontally, turning to walk toward the rest area in the side hall.

Liu Che tilted his head

and leaned into A Jiao's embrace. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of her tightly pursed lips, which had almost become a straight line. He watched the panic and tension appear on his own face, which he had never seen before, and for a moment, he wanted to laugh.

But the pain in his abdomen reminded him that now was not the time to laugh.