Quickly Abandon Your Ideas

　　The pork shoulder in the Emperor’s bowl was stolen. It was stolen by the tiger…

　　The Emperor thought that if he was younger, and this had happened 20 years earlier, he should have been able to go at it with the tiger. What if he could steal it back? But now, he did not dare do it. With his old arms and old legs, how could he overcome a tiger? What if he hurt himself? That would result in not just him being hurt, as the entirety of Da Shun would be hurt. The world had not yet been settled for old ninth. He could not just leave things as they were and ignore them. There were many things that needed to be resolved while he was still around. He could not just foist them on his son.

　　The Emperor swallowed his saliva and watched the white tiger happily eat the remainder of his pork shoulder. He felt very miserable. Looking back down at his bowl… alright, in any case, there were still some ribs and meatballs. He would make do! Just as he shoveled some more food into his mouth, he heard Imperial Concubine Yun say to Zhang Yuan: “Go and tell the imperial kitchen that they are no longer permitted to prepare food for His Majesty. His Majesty’s meals will be prepared by Winter Moon Palace.” As she spoke, she glanced at the Emperor, “If you really like eating the food made by the imperial kitchens, just eat them in your own territory. Don’t come back to my place.”

　　“No, no, no!” The Emperor repeatedly shook his head, “I won’t eat anymore, I won’t another bite.” As he said this, he put down his bowl and really did not look at it again. What a joke, he had waited for Yun Pianpian for over 20 years. Now that he had finally managed to wait things out, how could he be tripped up by a pork shoulder?

　　Imperial Concubine Yun nodded, “That’s good. A-Heng said it. You have the three highs. Although I can’t quite clearly explain what the three highs mean, I still remember that she said it would be best if you ate vegetarian and touch meat a little less often.”

　　The Emperor felt his head go numb from listening to this, and he could not help but mutter: “There are times when that girl is not particularly cute… I recall that the thing she likes eating the most is pork shoulder, right? Also fried pigeon, so why is it that she can eat those, but I can’t?”

　　Imperial Concubine Yun ignored him; however, Zhang Yuan said: “How old is she? How old are you? Can you two be compared?”

　　The old emperor became even more dejected. This damn eunuch was not cute either. He would need to find a chance to replace this eunuch.

　　“Alright.” Imperial Concubine Yun waved her hand but did not turn back around. While patting the tiger’s head, she said: “I heard that another Bodhisattva has appeared in the capital? It’s your eighth son’s cousin? And she’s done many great deeds, receiving the praise of the people in the capital.”

　　The Emperor naturally knew about this, and he had even praised old eighth many days in a row, thus he nodded and said: “There is such a matter, but since it’s a good thing, just let them go ahead and do it. The citizens receiving benefits is better than anything. It also saves the court the need to provide assistance.”

　　“But this One also heard that as a result of her son’s reputation improving, the mother felt unreconciled and ran to your head wife to gain some benefits. She wants to return to her position as Imperial Concubine Shu.”

　　The Emperor felt his head begin to ache from listening to this, and he could not help but negotiate with Imperial Concubine Yun: “Can we speak properly? What’s with this head wife. Empress, just call her the Empress.” After saying this, he continued without waiting for Imperial Concubine Yun to reply: “Whether or not she feels reconciled is her problem. Whether or not it is approved, is that not up Us to decide? Don’t worry! She won’t get anything good.”

　　“Tsk.” Imperial Concubine Yun rolled her eyes, “I don’t care if you give anyone any benefits. Either way, it’s a matter of your inner courtyard. I just want to remind you that Ming’er and A-Heng are newlyweds. Don’t go and cause them any trouble. Let the two of them enjoy some peaceful time together. As for your sons, it would be best if they could show some promise. That shitty throne of yours, Ming’er does not like it, and A-Heng does not covet it. In the future, just give it to whoever looks best. That would be what I like the most.”

　　The Emperor rubbed his hands together: “That… Pianpian! You clearly know that of my children, the one that I favor the most is Ming’er. In addition to this, he has A-Heng supporting him. Once the world is given to them, just how brilliant will that era of peace and prosperity be?! Just thinking about it is making me a bit emotional! Also! Aren’t you always listening to the stories from the Board of Astronomy? Then you will have definitely heard that A-Heng is the star of the phoenix. The position of empress is destined to belong to her. As long as she is around, Da Shun will definitely prosper!”

　　“Hmph!” Imperial Concubine Yun coldly snorted, “What damn star of the phoenix? Bullshit! Xuan Zhan, I’m telling you that no matter what, you need to let my Ming’er have a good life. If he suffers the slightest grievance, I will set this imperial palace on fire!”

　　The Emperor shuddered in fear and repeatedly said: “Of course, of course, everything will be done as you say! Everything will be done as you say!”

　　In General Ping Nan’s manor saw an unexpected guest. It was the current left prime minister, Lu Song. General Ping Nan did not really pay much attention to what happened in court. Even appearing in court was something that he only did occasionally. He never really got along with the left prime minister, regardless of whether it was the previous Feng Jinyuan or the current Lu Song. While it was not to the point of arguing and fighting upon seeing them, he never treated them particularly well.

　　But ever since Lu Yan’s passing, Lu Song’s thoughts had begun to change. In addition to this, he had been eager on this matter with Ren Xitao, thus he was very polite when meeting with General Ping Nan. But that politeness was limited to when they met in court, as they did not meet in private. When it came to Lu Song visiting, this was the first time.

　　General Ping Nan very properly received him in the front hall, and his attitude was rather official and distant. This made it clear that he did not want to interact with him too much, but Lu Song had come to send a gift. It was nothing particularly valuable, as it was composed of small items that he had bought. There were food, fabrics, tea sets and some calligraphy.

　　In truth, these things were not worth much money, and the paintings were the only things that were worthy of being presented, as he described in his own words: “The Lu manor’s situation is worse than it was in the past, and it’s unable to provide anything great. These works of calligraphy are ones that I collected in the past. Even if the family fell to ruin, I had been unwilling to sell them.”

　　General Ping Nan frowned while looking at this: “What is Lord Left Prime Minister doing? Not to mention that we are not close enough to give each other gifts, but just given the Lu manor’s recent situation, even if we had reached that stage, what would you expect a general’s family like mine would do with some calligraphy? For you to give these to me, is this not intentionally disgracing me?”

　　Lu Song froze and quickly explained: “It was my mistake. Old general, you must not take it the wrong way. I really did not think of such a thing before coming out. I was just thinking of what items of value the Lu manor had. If old general does not like them, just have someone sell them off at a later time. They are worth quite a decent amount of money.” As Lu Song spoke, he looked at the works once more and felt a bit of heartache.

　　General Ping Nan could see his sincerity and became even more puzzled, “What exactly is left prime minister’s intention? It would be better to just say it directly! There’s not much point in going around in circles between us. The need for guessing games should be left in court. Don’t mess around with these things that may or may not be there in private. It’s tiring.”

　　Lu Song nodded before saying: “Old general must not overthink it. I came today to thank the manor’s young general. It would be for the young general’s kindness in saving my life.” After saying this, he saw that General Ping Nan continued to look confused, thus he explained how Ren Xitao had saved his life until General Ping Nan appeared to understand. It was only then that he relaxed slightly. “If it was not for the young general helping to bring me to Hundred Herb Hall, even if I did not pass away, I would have fainted on the street. It would have been very shameful!”

　　General Ping Nan nodded, “I really had not heard about this matter. It’s possible that little one did not feel that it was particularly important. As for Prime Minister Lu, you’re taking it too seriously.”

　　“No, no, no.” Lu Song repeatedly waved his hands, “Having received such a lifesaving grace, it must be repaid in earnest. It’s just that my Lu family currently does not have much of a foundation and can only give some common items. I hope that old general does not dislike them.”

　　That was what it meant to not strike someone after they had admitted their mistakes. General Ping Nan could see that he was being sincere. After thinking a bit, if his son really had saved him, coming to give thanks was quite normal. It was only thanks to this that he accepted the gifts and asked about Lu Song’s condition.

　　Lu Song let out a sigh of relief when this topic was brought up. He told General Ping Nan: “In the past, my thoughts would always go to the worst-case scenario and felt as though I would not be able to live for much longer. To even be coughing up blood, what sort of light illness could it be? Later on, after I went to Hundred Herb Hall, and Princess Yu personally provided treatment, she sent someone to the manor to tell me that there were no major problems. She gave me some medicine, and I began to get better after taking it, which allowed me to feel at ease. With this ease, the illness parted even quicker.”

　　General Ping Nan nodded along while listening. Feng Yuheng’s medical ability was not something that had been exaggerated. He had also been the beneficiary quite a few times, especially for his legs, which had been injured from the many battles he fought in while younger. It was with Feng Yuheng’s miraculous abilities that they had healed. Now, they did not hurt in the slightest. They were even fine when it rained.

　　The two chatted politely for a while before Lu Song bid farewell and left. Just after he left, in the inner courtyards of General Ping Nan’s manor, Ren Xifeng was standing with a hand on her hip while forcing a confession out of her older brother.

　　Ren Xitao could only recount the events of that day to his younger sister while asking something that he had been troubled with this entire time, saying: “Younger sister, have you heard of the Lu family having an extremely beautiful daughter?”

　　Ren Xifeng frowned from hearing this, “Elder brother, what do you mean?”

　　“It’s just that I met a young miss in the Lu family’s home, and she was a goddess. Prime Minister Lu said that she was his eldest daughter.” Ren Xitao still had a puzzled expression when he brought this up, thus he added: “But the strange thing is that young miss used some sort of pungent fragrance on her body. It smelled so bad that it was unbearable. Even if she looked like a beauty, the smell made me want to flee as soon as possible.”

　　“Fleeing as soon as possible is correct!” Ren Xifeng warned with a heavy expression: “Elder brother must understand that when the family receives a guest, especially a male guest, there is no logic in having a girl come out to take care of them. You just went to send Prime Minister Lu back and saw his daughter, and she was beautiful like a goddess. Do you not feel that there’s something strange about that? Also…” Ren Xifeng remembered something, “That Lu Ping jumped into the water to save the Yao family’s eldest madam and ended up with half of her face ruined.”

　　Ren Xitao waved his hand and said: “What ruined face? Younger sister must have remembered it incorrectly, or the wound has already been healed. There is not the slightest sign of it. Also, Prime Minister Lu’s meaning was to say that the Lu family’s head madam had gone to the temple, and for the grace of saving his life, receiving me as a guest on his own was truly improper, thus he had that young miss come out and give thanks to me. Younger sister, this is not what I’m asking about. I want to ask you, is that girl really the Lu family’s daughter? Why is it that I’ve never heard of her for so many years? It must be known that her beauty is many times greater than that beauty from the Feng family!”

　　“So what?” Ren Xifeng stared at her brother and solemnly reminded him once more: “Since ancient times, beauties have never had good endings. Think of Feng Chenyu and the beauties that could destroy countries. If elder brother wants to protect your life and wants to protect the peace of everyone in the manor, stay a bit further away from the Lu family!”

　　After Ren Xifeng finished speaking, she left with a flick of her sleeves, leaving Ren Xitao helplessly shaking his head. His younger sister was too short-tempered. He had not said that he had taken an interest in her. He was just curious and wanted to inquire; however, who knew that it would be met with such a resolute attitude from his younger sister.

　　After visiting General Ping Nan’s manor, Lu Song did not return home. Instead, he sat in his carriage and headed to the next destination- the Yu Palace!