Chapter 40 – My observation diary after drinking
Facing Li Chisu’s amorous intentions, Zhao Qi remained completely unaffected, even finding it somewhat amusing.
”It seems like King Zhaonan’s eyesight isn’t very good,” Zhao Qi said with mock concern, “with so many people following behind me, you still can’t see. Should I summon the imperial physician to check on you?”
Li Chisu, not offended by the teasing, smiled and replied, “That won’t be necessary. My condition, I fear, only Your Majesty can cure.”
Zhao Qi turned his head aside and let out a fake retch into the air. Seeing this, Jiayan asked, “Is Your Majesty feeling unwell?”
”Mm, I’m a bit nauseous,” Zhao Qi joked, “Jiayan, you should return to Xuchun Garden. I won’t accompany you.”
Jiayan glanced swiftly at Li Chisu and said reluctantly, “Yes.”
Li Chisu smiled and said, “Princess, take care.”
Li Chisu watched Jiayan leave. Zhao Qi glanced at him sideways and asked, “Do you think Princess Jiayan is attractive?”
”The princess is elegant and beautiful, a rare beauty indeed.”
Zhao Qi snorted, “Too bad, it’s too late.”
Li Chisu replied, “Please decree, Your Majesty.”
Zhao Qi gloated, “I suddenly find Princess Jiayan quite adorable. I can’t bear to see her marry so far away to Nanzhou, so I’ve decided not to betroth her to you.”
”Haha, didn’t expect that, did you? Back then you were indifferent, now you can’t reach, and I won’t even give you a chance to pursue her to the grave!”
Li Chisu suppressed a laugh and said regretfully, “What should I do then? I did mention last time, returning to Nanzhou from the capital this time, I must bring back a consort.”
”That’s too bad, but it’s none of my concern.”
”I think, without the princess, having a county princess wouldn’t be bad either.”
Zhao Qi’s eyelids twitched, “How are you still thinking about…” Zhao Qi quickly swallowed the word “I” back, “thinking about the county princess!”
Li Chisu was utterly surprised, “How did Your Majesty find out about this?”
“Oops,” he slipped up. But experience told him not to panic in such situations; the more flustered he got, the more likely he’d reveal his hand. Gathering himself, he said, “It’s what my cousin Zhao Qiao mentioned.”
Li Chisu responded with an “Oh,” nodding, “I’ve heard that Your Majesty and Lord Zhao Qiao have a deep brotherly bond. Surely Lord Zhao Qiao wouldn’t keep anything from Your Majesty.”
Zhao Qi couldn’t relax his guard. “That’s right.”
Li Chisu smiled leisurely. “In that case, Lord Zhao Qiao must have already informed Your Majesty that I deeply cherish Lady Zhao and have no regrets. I will marry no one else in this life.”
Zhao Qi roared inwardly: Brother, no, Uncle, can I call you Uncle? Please, pursue someone else and let the little mute girl be beautiful on her own.
Seeing Zhao Qi’s speechless expression, Li Chisu’s eyes twinkled with more amusement. “Your Majesty, do you think Lady Zhao and I make a good match?”
Zhao Qi forced a smile, “Lady Zhao is of lowly birth and suffers from a speech impediment. Perhaps she is not suitable for Your Highness.”
Li Chisu replied, “It doesn’t matter. I do not mind.”
But I mind you!
“On this visit to the palace, I wish to request a decree from Your Majesty to marry Lady Zhao. Oh, and by the way, the Ninth Prince and Princess have already agreed to this. I could have gone directly to their residence to propose, but knowing Your Majesty and the Empress Dowager have always been concerned about my marriage, I wanted Lady Zhao to have a grand wedding, so I requested Your Majesty’s blessing.”
Zhao Qi almost choked, “I do not consent. Zhao Qiao said Lady Zhao has no interest in you; I do not force anyone.”
Li Chisu smiled faintly, “But, Your Majesty, Lady Zhao and I have already had intimate…”
Zhao Qi exploded on the spot, “Both of you shut up!”
Li Chisu paused, “Both of us?”
“Do you have to marry her just because you have been intimate? Then Jiang Dehai has seen every inch of me; should I appoint him as Consort Jiang?”
Innocently hit, Jiang Dehai was greatly shocked. “Y-Your Majesty…”
Li Chisu finally couldn’t hold it in and burst into laughter, uncontrollable laughter. “Your Majesty, you’re truly… Hahaha.”
Zhao Qi’s gaze was like he was looking at a fool, “Prince Zhaonan, be careful not to laugh your head off.”
Li Chisu looked at him with a smile, “Your Majesty is so likable that I can’t bear to return to Nanzhou.”
Zhao Qi felt that if he said one more word to Li Chisu, there would be a sudden heart attack risk. True love of life, away from slag men. “I am going to deal with government affairs now. Prince Zhaonan.”
“What else is there?” asked Zhao Qi.
“I have something, I want to give it to Your Majesty.”
Zhao Qixi suspiciously asked, “What?”
Li Chisu took out a delicately small cork box, “Your Majesty.”
Zhao Qi took the cork box and opened it, “What’s this strange thing, it’s so ugly.”
It was a jade sculpture of a four-legged beast, with a crooked well cover on its back. Jiang Dehai approached and looked, “Your Majesty, this seems to be a turtle?”
“A turtle?” Zhao Qi angrily said, “Li Chisu, what do you mean by this?”
Li Chisu smiled, “This was painted by Miss Zhao for me. I had skilled craftsmen create this jade according to her painting.”
Zhao Qi held it like a hot potato, “Then… why are you giving it to me?”
“What does Your Majesty think?”
Zhao Qi: “…” Why does he feel so chilly all of a sudden? Where’s his padded vest? He wore such a thick layer of padded vest!
Li Chisu took a step forward, “Please tell Miss Zhao that I sincerely admire her, not seeking longevity, but seeking every sunrise and sunset.”
Zhao Qi met his eyes that seemed to contain autumn water, calmly saying, “Just talk, don’t come so close.”
Li Chisu chuckled softly, “I take my leave.”
Zhao Qi watched Li Chisu’s departing figure, then looked down at the four-legged beast in his hand, unsure what Li Chisu was up to. Had he truly seen through the identity of the mute girl, or was he just playing mysterious?
In the Government Hall of Diligence, Zhao Qi was still thinking about Li Chisu. Xiao Shiqing immediately noticed his distraction and asked, “What are you thinking about?”
Zhao Qi said, “Brother, if someone said to you, ‘not seeking longevity, but seeking every sunrise and sunset,’ what would it mean?”
Xiao Shiqing’s gaze sharpened.
“Not to me,” Zhao Qi added, “He asked me to pass it on to a girl.”
Xiao Shiqing indifferently said, “It means he doesn’t want to grow old with someone, just wants to enjoy the fleeting moments.”
“Fleeting moments?” No wonder it’s Li Chisu; even hooking up, he could make it sound so poetic. Ugh—
“The decline of morals these days, Brother, look at the men now, none of them think of proper marriage, talking about fleeting moments, and the brothels in the capital are spreading like wildfire! It’s simply disgraceful!”
Xiao Shiqing lightly coughed, “Even if it’s just fleeting moments, as long as it’s consensual, it’s not as bad as you say.”
Zhao Qi was still upset, not paying attention to Xiao Shiqing’s words, “Moreover, the trend of men being eunuchs is prevalent in the capital, causing other cities to follow suit. This is not a good thing at all! Brother, as the current prime minister, you must set an example and establish a standard for the officials.”
Xiao Shiqing fell silent for a moment, “Is this not an important matter?”
“Isn’t this an important matter?” Zhao Qi said, “Every word I just said concerns the livelihood of the people…”
Xiao Shiqing interrupted him, “What about Princess Jiayan?”
Zhao Qi recounted Jiayan’s words to Xiao Shiqing verbatim. Xiao Shiqing pondered for a moment and said, “Hangover tea.”
“Huh?”
“Princess Jiayan did not give the hangover tea to Prince Huai, did he ask for it from another palace maid or eunuch?”
Zhao Qi shook his head, saying, “I don’t know.”
Xiao Shiqing instructed the attendant beside him, “Immediately send someone to investigate.”
Zhao Qi asked, “Brother, do you suspect Zhao Tong?”
“Feng Guilu must be consumed for the poison to take effect, and the Prince of Western Xia was poisoned only in the Imperial Garden.”
Zhao Qi was puzzled, “But the Wake-up Tea was for Huai Wang and Rong Tang. What does it have to do with the Prince of Western Xia?”
“I’m afraid we’ll need to ask Rong Tang about this.”
“In that case—”
“I’ll have Chen Li ask about it.”
Zhao Qi shrugged, “Alright. There’s another thing—Brother, did Huai Wang visit you at the mansion after entering the capital?”
Xiao Shiqing paused, “He sent a greeting card.”
“So you’ve met privately?” Zhao Qi’s mood became complicated. In the original story, Zhao Tong had preemptively improved his relationship with Xiao Shiqing under the moonlight, laying the groundwork for future changes.
“I can’t control who Xiao Shiqing meets in the mansion, but thinking that he might have talked and laughed with Zhao Tong as in the original, Zhao Qi felt a sense of betrayal.
Xiao Shiqing said, “I’ve almost been staying in the palace these days and don’t have time to meet Huai Wang privately.”
“Really?” Zhao Qi said happily, “That’s good.”
Xiao Shiqing looked interested, “It seems the Emperor doesn’t want me and Huai Wang to get too close.”
“Yes, I’m afraid Huai Wang will kidnap Brother.”
Xiao Shiqing smiled, “Don’t worry, he won’t. But I do plan to meet Zhao Tong alone soon, to test his true intentions.”
Zhao Qi nodded, “Brother, go ahead.”
“Just now you asked me to keep my distance from him.”
Zhao Qi smiled, “Brother informed me.”
“So in the future, do I have to report to the Emperor whenever I want to meet someone privately?”
“Well, that’s not what I meant.”
Xiao Shiqing chuckled, “Is the Emperor trying to be the wife of a prime minister, being so controlling?”
“So I’ve said it’s not what I meant…”
“Following this logic, Brother also manages everything about me, even when I go to bed, it’s like he wants to be my empress.”
Xiao Shiqing casually said, “Yes.”
Zhao Qi: “???”
Confused on the tree, confused under the tree, only I.
“The Emperor looks at the memorial sent by the Huai River,” Xiao Shiqing threw the memorial to Zhao Qi as if nothing had happened. “Since the spring, the Huai River has been rainy, and the Yellow River has broken its dikes in many places, causing tens of thousands of refugees to be homeless. The matter of flood control is urgent, otherwise it may cause a peasant uprising.”
At this point, Zhao Qi was worried, “But the national treasury has so little silver, and if there are any more problems from Western Xia… Brother, if you have to go begging in the future, remember to take me with you.”
“Okay,” Xiao Shiqing chuckled softly, “I’ll take you begging.”
Zhao Qi devoted his whole day to the country, and finally had time to attend to his own affairs at night. Jiang Dehai prepared several jars of palace jade liquor as he had instructed.
Jiang Dehai said, “Your Majesty, do you really want to drink?”
Zhao Qi rolled up his sleeves, “Without entering the tiger’s den, how can one catch the tiger’s cub!” He wanted to speak with actions, proving that he was not an animal in heat after drinking.
Jiang Dehai advised, “But, Your Majesty, excessive drinking harms the body.”
“Right.” Zhao Qi thought for a moment, “Xiao Jinzi, you go find the imperial physician for some stomach and liver tonic, and prepare some sobering tea. When I wake up, I’ll drink it. Lao Jiang, you go outside and guard, don’t let anyone in.”
Jiang Dehai sighed directly, when the emperor was going to be impulsive, except for the prime minister Shiqing, no one could persuade him. Everything was ready, and only Zhao Qi and Xiao Jinzi, who had just been removed from the egg, were left in the sleeping palace. Zhao Qi ordered, “Little Jinzi, you look good by the side, and write down the reaction after the drink.”
Xiao Jinzi took the pen, seriously said, “Your Majesty, rest assured.”
Zhao Qi poured the wine into the cup and drank a big gulp directly.
Xiao Jinzi immediately began to record:
[Emperor’s Observational Diary After Drinking]
After one cup, the Emperor was as usual;
After three cups, the Emperor began to float;
After five cups, the Emperor’s cheeks flushed, he began to cry loudly, crying while shouting “dog man” three times;
The Emperor cried and burped, picked up the sixth cup of wine, and a black shadow entered through the window and threw me out.
T/N: There is plenty more where that came from, so stay tuned! And stay healthy! Straighten your posture, so some stretches and drink some water before continuing hehe~
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Also, check out the other series we have on HoH!
If you like cats, check out Revenge of the Garfield
If you like dragons, check out I’m Pregnant with the Hope of the Entire Planet and The Dragon and the ‘Princess’
How about some mystery or showbiz? Check out Morbid Addiction & Perfection
What about the perfect, most non-toxic male lead ever? Laws of Love
How about MC nursing ML back to health? Forced into the Deep
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