Chapter 1215: Taking Only a Sip

A king of a nation, with three thousand beauties in the harem, yet he only drinks from one cup.

Zhao Junyao could not remember how long it had been since he last favored another woman.

No matter if she was by his side or not, he never had such thoughts.

When she was by his side, it seemed he was used to it and didn’t think much of it.

And now...

After all this time, his heart still held her.

Thinking it over carefully, he found it incredible himself.

Is he truly... keeping his chastity?

Don’t mention an emperor keeping chastity for a woman.

Even ordinary men don’t have this awareness.

Zhao Junyao particularly wanted to set up a monument for himself.

Ahem!

Pulling back his thoughts, Zhao Junyao carefully called out once more.

"Qingqing..."

Seeing his cautious appearance, Xia Ruqing couldn’t help but laugh.

"Alright, this time I’ll forgive you!"

"But..."

Her beautiful eyes were enchanting with a hint of mischief, soon rolling in a playful eye roll as she glared at him.

"If there’s a next time, I won’t let it go easily!!"

Zhao Junyao relaxed and quickly said,

"There won’t be a next time! Absolutely not!"

Xia Ruqing felt something was off and stared at him intently.

"Not what?"

Not sending me away but leaving me behind while you escape alone?

(Sure enough, women’s hearts are unfathomable, and no matter what he said, it seemed she was dissatisfied! o(╯□╰)o)

Zhao Junyao’s eyes were resolute and firm.

"I will never let you face danger again!"

A wise person, no matter how cautious, is bound to make a mistake; he was not a deity and couldn’t ensure everything would be foolproof.

But if he fell into the same trap twice, he would definitely be a fool!

Zhao Junyao believed he wasn’t foolish to that extent.

"This time, I was careless!"

"I never expected Zhao Junqi to collude with Portland Country, even bringing gunpowder!"

Next time...

Zhao Junyao suddenly recalled something.

His eyes sparkled as he looked at Xia Ruqing.

"Qingqing, I think you’re right!"

"Ah?" Xia Ruqing was a bit puzzled.

"What’s the matter?"

Zhao Junyao’s lips curved slightly, reminiscing about the past with narrowed eyes.

"The first time we came to Guangnan!"

"I remember you were very interested in these foreign things!"

"At that time, you thought we should learn from their things, ideally knowing both ourselves and the enemy!"

"Unfortunately, I didn’t understand then, always thinking that we were thousands of miles apart, and it would be best if everyone just minded their own business, so why bother spending that effort?"

"Looking back now, you were right indeed! I am ashamed of my inferiority!"

He was not like some narrow-minded emperors who were jealous of talent and couldn’t accept seeing others, especially women, surpass them.

On the contrary.

He openly admitted his shortcomings and praised her merits.

And he openly accepted her suggestion.

Not to mention anything else, just this broad-mindedness alone was enough to earn admiration.

Xia Ruqing felt quite proud in her heart.

The ancients always had a tendency to close off the country, a fixed mindset passed down through the ages, and Zhao Junyao could not be blamed for it.

But for him to realize this problem immediately through such an event was already commendable.

"Your Majesty, for you to notice these things, I think you’re already very excellent!"

Xia Ruqing sincerely praised.

Zhao Junyao nodded with a smile.

"You’re not angry anymore?"

Xia Ruqing’s bright eyes twinkled, her red lips pouted.

"Anger is anger, praise is praise!"

"..."

Zhao Junyao was at a loss for words.

But as long as Qingqing was with him, he felt everything was fine.

Ah!

The sun is really nice, the leaves are really green, the flowers really fragrant.

He felt his world had finally turned from black and white to a spectrum of colors.

This is all so wonderful!

...

Xia Ruqing no longer wanted to stay in Guangnan, nor did she want to come again in the future; it had become a nightmare for her.

She initially wished to return at once.

But she was shocked and had multiple injuries on her body.

The Imperial Physician said long-distance travel was inadvisable.

So Xia Ruqing reluctantly stayed to recuperate.

During this time.

Zhao Junyao took decisive and swift actions to deal with the remaining remnants.

Unimportant people were eliminated.

Important ones were all detained and sent back to the capital.

Once everything was sorted, Xia Ruqing’s health improved considerably.

The main entourage set off for the capital.

...

Due to her condition, the convoy could not move swiftly, making slow progress on the journey.

Thus, the journey back to the capital took a full month.

It was not until the beginning of December that the party returned to the capital city.

Duanning Palace had already received news.

They knew something had happened to Zi Su, and the Empress almost perished as well.

Everyone knelt down with red-rimmed eyes.

As Xia Ruqing entered and saw this scene, her eyes instantly reddened too.

"Get up, everyone!" Her voice trembled a bit,

"Thank you, Empress!"

Zi Yue and Zi Ning immediately rose to assist her.

Zi Su was gone.

Zi Ning, who had always been responsible for guarding the storeroom, had to step up because the Empress couldn’t lack people by her side.

Xia Ruqing changed her attire and lay down on the beautiful couch by the window.

She looked at Zi Yue, then at Zi Ning.

Without speaking, her eyes reddened again.

Zi Yue quickly comforted her.

"Your Highness, don’t be sad; Sister Zi Su wouldn’t want to see you like this either!"

Xia Ruqing shook her head with a bitter smile.

"No need to comfort me!"

"Zi Su followed me for so long!"

"I cannot treat her poorly!"

"Xiao Xizi, go out of the palace later to find her family, so I can give some rewards!"

"Also... I sent people to search for her but didn’t find anything!"

"Take some of her clothes from when she was alive and find a good feng shui spot to set up a clothes grave for her!"

"Yes!"

Xiao Xizi rubbed his sore eyes and knelt to obey.

Xia Ruqing nodded and looked at Zi Yue again.

"Everything okay in the palace these last few months?"

"Did Yue Er cause any trouble?"

Zi Yue promptly reported back.

"Rest assured, Your Highness!"

"Everything in the palace is good!"

"The Princes and Princesses are also fine, all these things... the young masters do not know yet!"

Xia Ruqing let out a sigh of relief.

"That’s good!"

"It’s best they don’t know!"

"Keep your mouths tight, don’t mention it in the future either!"

"Yes!" Zi Yue nodded.

After delegating the tasks, Xia Ruqing was also tired.

She ate something to cushion her stomach and then went to bed to rest.

...

After returning to the palace, Zhao Junyao didn’t enter the harem.

Instead, he first went to the Ningshou Palace to greet the Empress Dowager.

Then, he directly went to the Imperial Study Room to summon the ministers.

In Ningshou Palace.

Watching Zhao Junyao’s resolute departing figure, the Empress Dowager’s fingertips holding the prayer beads turned slightly white.

’He actually returned!’

’Did the plan fail?’

’It seems Junqi’s life is in danger!’

The Empress Dowager’s figure kneeling before the Buddha trembled violently, then her eyes went black, and she fainted.

"Empress Dowager?!"

"Empress Dowager! What’s wrong with you?"

The palace maids, eunuchs, and Old Sister were in a flurry, quickly carrying the Empress Dowager to the couch.

Following was a busy round of seeking physicians and asking for medicine.

After some acupuncture, medicine feeding, and pinching her philtrum.

The Empress Dowager finally awoke from the darkness of her dreams.

Upon opening her eyes, she saw the Empress leading the concubines diligently attending to her in the hall.

Seeing Xia Ruqing completely unharmed, her heart was stricken, and she fainted again.