Volume 3 Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Can't Get Fat With Only One Mouthful

"Aren't the imperial physicians precisely in the palace to freeload? Old General, don't worry and just leave this to Jing Xin. Jing Xin guarantees that your darling daughter will be able to stay in the palace safely." Yao Mowan lips hooked in a slight curve. Since she now knew what Ye Hongyi intended, she naturally had ways to deal with it.

"Lady, can this old man trust your words?" Huan Heng looked towards Yao Mowan seriously. He still couldn't help but worry.

"Since Jing Xin has said it, Jing Xin will definitely do it." The firm and convicted sound of her voice made Huan Heng's nervous heart finally calm down.

Yao Mowan knew that this matter couldn't be delayed, so the moment she got back to Guan Osprey Palace, she had Yin Xue visit Moon Crossing Pavilion.

At breakfast the next day, Yao Mowan looked at Ye Junqing who was sitting next to her and slowly started to speak.

"I hear that Prince is about to head to Loulan as an ambassador?" Yao Mowan's gaze moved away from Ye Junqing as she reached out with her chopsticks for some food.

"How did you find out?" Ye Junqing looked towards Yao Mowan in shock.

"Then it must be true. It's so sad. Mowan views Prince as a friend so with everything, Mowan does not hide anything she knows and does not stop until she has said it through, but what place does Mowan hold in Prince's heart?" Yao Mowan sighed lightly as the light in her eyes dimmed. She set down her chopsticks with a very disappointed expression.

"Ahem… I don't think you actually go to the length of not hiding anything you know and not stopping until you said it through…" refuted Ye Junqing weakly due to his guilty conscience. When Yao Mowan heard this, she got up to leave, but Ye Junqing managed to stop her with some better sounding words.

"This prince had intended to tell you, but His Majesty said that this trip was top secret so the less people that knew, the better." Ever since Ye Junqing had found out that Yao Mowan had entered the palace to get revenge for Moxin, his attitude towards her gradually changed from being forced to compromise to taking the initiative to express goodwill.

"Why?" Yao Mowan's eyes narrowed as she looked towards Ye Junqing in confusion.

"This…" Ye Junqing hesitated.

"If you don't want to talk about it, then just forget it!" Yao Mowan immediately made to leave again angrily.

"Have you ever heard of Wake Mountain?" Ye Junqing deliberately lowered his voice as he asked this.

"Wake Mountain… That's on the border of the nation of Loulan. Why are you suddenly bringing it up?" Yao Mowan slowly moved to sit back down as she looked towards Ye Junqing with a confused frown.

"According to the report of His Majesty's secret envoy, Wake Mountain contains a huge number of iron mines. The number is so large there's no way to estimate how many there are. And this mountain spans several thousand meters and faces the border between Shu, Chu, and Qi. According to intel, Chu Mobei and Feng Yihan have already started rushing towards Loulan, so they must've obtained this news as well and wanted to discuss this matter with the king of Loulan. His Majesty intends for this prince to head to Loulan as an ambassador and secure rights to the iron mines that lay between Wake Mountain and the border of great Chu," replied Ye Junqing seriously.

"Iron mines…" Yao Mowan's eyes lit up and her lips reflexively hooked in a greedy smile. Wake Mountain was several hundred thousand times bigger than Linxi. If there really were iron mines there, she'd be able to strike it rich!

"You can't get fat with only one mouthful, so drop that idea before you choke yourself! King Loulan is known for how shrewd he is. He's nowhere as generous as Feng Yihan, alright?" reminded Ye Junqing.

"But Mowan loves people who are shrewd!" replied Yao Mowan with a bright smile.

"Even if you like them, it's no use. His Majesty doesn't plan to let you go with this prince this time. Forget trying to get a piece of the pie, you probably won't even get to see King Loulan's face."

"His Majesty intends to have Huan Caier go with Prince?" Yao Mowan lifted her brows with an interested expression.

"Is there anything in this world that you don't know about?" Ye Junqing looked towards Yao Mowan in stunned surprise.

"Don't worry, Huan Caier's caught an infectious disease so it'll probably be hard for her to even step foot outside of Moon Crossing Pavilion." Yao Mowan looked towards Ye Junqing meaningfully, her eyes shining brightly.

"No way? This prince had encountered Consort Chen in the imperial garden just yesterday. Although she looked a little dispirited, she showed no signs of being ill?" replied Ye Junqing, confused.

"That's because Mowan only got the news last night." Yao Mowan straightforwardly stated the reason.

Ye Junqing was made completely speechless and his lips twitched uncontrollably as black lines dropped down from his forehead. There was no need for doubt, Yao Mowan had definitely been behind this. However, this meant that he would have Yao Mowan's company for this trip. A faint trace of happiness flashed through Ye Junqing's heart, but he himself was unaware of it.

Inside the imperial palace, Ye Hongyi's brows were tightly furrowed as he glared at An Bingshan.

"Consort Chen has caught an infectious disease? This suddenly? Have you sent an imperial physician to take a look at her?" asked Ye Hongyi coldly.

"Replying Your Majesty, Imperial Physician Li who had been sent to treat Her Highness Consort Chen had been infected from just being in there for an hour. His entire body is covered with red swellings, it's an alarming sight. They're also showing fever symptoms so all the imperial physicians in the imperial hospital have their hands tied!" reported An Bingshan honestly.

"Why now of all times!? What do we do now?" Ye Hongyi collapsed onto the dragon throne in exhaustion and sighed hard.

"Forgive this old servant for being impudent, but why not let Noble Consort Yao go? Then…" suggested An Bingshan cautiously.

"Audacious! How could you possibly not know what our intentions were in having Huan Caier go with the esteemed prince? You actually dare to suggest that our Wan er go? Preposterous!" roared Ye Hongyi angrily.

"Your Majesty, please quell your anger. That's definitely not this old servant's intention. This old servant just thought that since the situation has changed, let's just adapt to it. If Noble Consort Yao is able to successfully get permission to mine the iron mines of Loulan, then it'd be a miraculous achievement. At that time, if Your Majesty wishes to make Noble Consort Yao empress, the ministers of court wouldn't be able to say anything." An Bingshan was frightened and hastily explained himself.

"How's that possible? Wan er, she… Even if this deal is successful, no one would accredit this achievement to Wan er." Even though Ye Hongyi did have plans to make Yao Mowan empress, he knew very well that there was no way the court ministers would allow a fool to become the empress of great Chu.

"Your Majesty, you shouldn't forget that King Loulan's favorite daughter, the sunshine princess, has a similar condition to Noble Consort Yao. At that time, Your Majesty can say it was Noble Consort Yao's innocent kindness that touched King Loulan and le hdim to agree to this deal with great Chu," suggested An Bingshan cautiously.

"That's right! How could we have forgotten that King Loulan had a fool daughter? Very well! Let's proceed with that plan! As for Ye Junqing… Since this method won't work, we'll think of something else." Ye Hongyi's eyes narrowed slightly with a thought.

When Ye Hongyi suggested having Yao Mowan head to Loulan with Ye Junqing, Yao Mowan had to press her hands against her excited heart hard. She had been worrying about how to convince Ye Hongyi, but unexpectedly Ye Hongyi had actually taken the initiative to suggest this.

"What is it? Wan er's not willing?" Only the Heavens knew how hard it was for Yao Mowan to make such a sad and unhappy expression when her heart was about to jump out of her chest from joy!

"You're making Wan er leave again? But Wan er will miss Your Majesty…" Yao Mowan threw herself into Ye Hongyi's arms with a pout as her eyes teared up.

"We will miss you too, Wan er. Don't worry, this is the last time. Once Wan er accomplishes this huge achievement and comes back safely, we will name you empress! So one last time, for us, alright?" Ye Hongyi carefully lifted Yao Mowan's beautiful face. As he looked into her eyes, his eyes were filled with cherishing love. This was the first time in his life that he had sincerely treated a woman well without any plans or schemes. His only desire was for this woman to be with him this entire lifetime.

Yao Mowan's heart suddenly clenched in pain. It felt like cold, sharp wind blades were slicing at her heart, leaving countless thin, bloody lines.

Empress? At that time, Ye Hongyi had used the most ruthless means to push her down from the position of empress into hell, and as of now, he was doing all he could to push her back into that position? Yao Mowan suddenly felt like the Heavens were playing a huge joke on her. She didn't know whether to laugh or to cry at this.

__________Credits: Translated by Chiyomira

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