The Noble Woman's Guide On How to Tease One's Husband

Chapter 74 - False alarm

The moonlight illuminated the earth like white silk. Amidst the silence and stillness of the night, vaguely infrequent voices were heard in a corner of Yuntai Palace.

"What? Lost track of them?"

"Reporting to Niang-niang[1], there were too, too many people on the street. Once those two people turned around the corner, they just, just disappeared ..." The black-clad man stammered in reply with slightly trembling beads of sweat suspending on his entire forehead.

"Trash! Can't even keep your eyes on two people, what use does Bengong[2] want all of you for?" The Empress was extremely furious that merely the wide sleeve embroidered with golden phoenix wings was seen unfolded as it swept over the fine china tea set, followed closely by an ear-splitting shattering sound. Surrounded by a cadre of servants who either related or not to this matter, all knelt down uniformly, wishing they could bury their bodies in the ground.

The grand court lady, Jinxiu, who had been listening silently by the side now lifted her head and spoke softly, "Please calm down, Niang-niang. If there is a way to prove that these two persons are King Kook and Wangfei Kook, then it will be considered a lost cause."

Hearing what was said, the Empress narrowed her eyes slowly then turned to ask the black- clad man, "Did you see the face of one of them?"

"No." The black-clad man's voice became even lower, nearly plummeting to the dust, "There is a ghost festival parade in Fengdu tonight. Everyone was wearing a mask but just by looking at the body shape, they do resemble ..."

"Absurd! There are plenty of people with similar body shapes in this world. How can Bengong know if you had not trailed the wrong person? What if this is spread out and counter charged by Chu Jungkook, do Bengong and the Emperor still want our prestige!" Over and over again, the Empress rebuked angrily while her sharp slender finger almost poked the black-clad man's face yet in the interval of a few seconds, she suddenly thought of something and halted her movement, "Bengong asks you, when did you lost track of them?"

"Half quarter past haishi (9pm-11pm)."

As the gong resounded whenever it was haishi (9pm-11pm) in the city, the black-clad man remembered it very clearly. They entered the alley shortly after the gong sounded, only to realize that the two persons had disappeared.

Sweeping her gaze towards the water clock, the Empress seemed to be calculating when her eyes unexpectedly brightened a moment later.

"If those two people are really Chu Jungkook and Ye Lisa, their journey by foot cannot be as swift as yours and might not have returned to Kook Hall at this moment. Go immediately to Spring Courtyard to look for the Emperor's father-in-law and tell him to falsely claim that there are burglaries in the courtyard then ask Zhang Chi, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guards to search the palace. Also send people to guard the foot of the mountain. Once their whereabouts are found, bring the persons immediately to Yuntai Palace for Bengong!"

"Yes, this subordinate obeys your command!"

With quick steps, the black-clad man went out and disappeared in a flash meanwhile the hall fell into silence. Jinxiu looked down and contemplated for a moment before speaking softly again.

"Niang-niang, the Emperor there, do you need to ..."

It was fine if this was not mentioned but once it was brought up, the Empress' face sank and she coldly interrupted her words, "Wait until there is definite evidence so as to avoid Bengong from being blamed for disturbing his pleasure!"

As the saying goes, the delicate flowers all over the palace can be kept off but not the overgrown weeds outside of the palace. Sehun has not visited Yuntai Palace for quite a few days. At this very moment, he is probably entangling and finding heavenly pleasure with the Shu[3] daughter of a prominent family whom he recently fancies, not knowing how happy he is now. No matter how intolerable the Empress felt about this, she would still be unlikely to disturb his joyous occasion at this moment. Not only will she receive a reputation for being envious, she might also attract the wrath of thunder.