The Tyrant's Beloved Empress

17

After acquiring the house under Mount Qingyun, An Chang Qing hired a craftsman to renovate and clean up the place. By the time the house was ready to be occupied, it was already the twelfth lunar month.

As the Laba Festival approaches, the Palace sent out a summon, requesting An Chang Qing and Xiao Zhige's presence in the Palace.

According to the royal customs, as a Wangfei, An Chang Qing was supposed to enter the Palace to express their gratitude the day after their wedding. But there weren't many that liked Xiao Zhige and with An Chang Qing being a male Wangfei, entering the Palace would only invoke discontent. And despite the fact that their marriage was favorable to the Emperor, he had crudely exempted them from this tradition.

This was why An Chang Qing had not been to the Palace even till now.

After seeing the eunuch off, a frown was stuck on An Chang Qing's face. At this time in his last life, there were no such summons. It was in the following year after their marriage that he and Xiao Zhige were invited to the Palace for the New Year banquet.

The Palace had countless rules. The days before entering it, he had had many sleepless nights, worrying that he would make a fool of himself and incur Xiao Zhige's wrath. In the Palace, he dared not let his eyes wander and had to spend the New Year's day in fear.

At that time, the Empress Dowager and Empress had also summoned him but he had only responded with nods and timidly kept his head down. Although he had managed to pull through, he did not even take a good look at their faces.

Now that he had been called to the Palace ahead of time, An Chang Qing was worried that something might have gone wrong. He combed through everything that had happened since his rebirth but still could not figure out what might have caused this.

Without any leads, An Chang Qing could only raise his vigilance. Thinking that there were only two days left, he should at least learn the proper etiquettes of the Palace. The Wang Manor did have a momo who had worked in the Palace but there was no lady in the manor which was why she hadn't been called forth. Now that An Chang Qing needed her expertise, he had requested her guidance.

"You don't have to learn all that." Xiao Zhige stopped Anfu who was about to call for the momo. He looked to An Chang Qing and said, "When the time comes, you can just follow me, they won't make things difficult for you."

An Chang Qing frowned, "But... Wouldn't this leave room for mockery?"

Xiao Zhige smiled and said indifferently, "The more faults I have, the worse my reputation becomes, and the happier they will be."

An Chang Qing was slightly dismayed. He thought of all the rumors outside that had been blown out of proportion and naturally understood.

A Wangye commandeering a powerful army but did not have any backing or the Emperor's support, if he were to become a hero with glorious achievements and a splendid reputation, what awaited him would be a swift death.

And the first to put a target on his back would be the current supreme ruler, Emperor An Qing.

Only by having his infamous reputation could Emperor An Qing relinquish any military power to Xiao Zhige and let him guard the Northern border for him.

This was also what the courtiers from different parties wanted to see.

An Chang Qing raised his head and looked at Xiao Zhige. The man was sitting upright and with his back straight as a spear. By just being there, even without speaking, An Chang Qing could feel a sense of dependency strong as a mountain, as though no amount of hardship could crush him.