After that talk to the monarch, Ning Fu started to pay more attention to His Majesty during the morning assembly. He realised that while odd in some aspects, His Majesty was a truly kind soul but in no way was he benign.
The monarch never made things unnecessarily difficult for anyone who didn't deserve it but he never let go of someone who tried to muddy the waters.
The Son of Heaven's might not know inner strength or much about martial arts. Nonetheless, he seemed to possess a cunning mind that was far above others and an inner well of relentless courage and that was what Ning Fu thought was more important and essential to rule a dynasty.
A week later, The Ministry of Rites once again entreated the emperor to pray for rain and His Majesty agreed. Afterwards, the preparations for the ceremony were commenced at high speed and a decree was issued that all first and second rank court officials would go along with His Majesty to perform the rites.
Just as preparations were underway, a new decree was passed down by The Empress Dowager that all the legitimate daughters of the first and second rank officials could accompany their fathers on the journey.
The court officials wondered if this was a subtle sign that maybe a harem draft would be issued this year and Ning Fu wondered if this decree was somehow related to what he had heard the other day.
Maybe the mama-bear in The Inner Palace couldn't wait long enough to hold a grandchild?
However, had she thought of what His Majesty's reaction to her blatant scheme might be?
Ah!
Whatever.
Why was he even thinking about His Majesty's bedroom matters?
Who His Majesty spent his life with had nothing to do with Ning Fu. Shaking his head, he tried to disperse these unrelated thoughts from his mind.
He and the other military officials were standing at attention while waiting for His Majesty to join them for the journey ahead. In contrast, the civil court officials were all clustered in groups opposite them and there didn't seem to be any order to their groups except that they were standing in cliques with people they worked with on a regular basis.
Suddenly the head eunuch shouted, "Your Majesty" and everyone turned to see as the proud Son of Heaven's walked towards them.
Today, the monarch had forgone his Black and Golden dragon robes, instead, he was wearing a Red robe with Blue coloured patterns at the sides and the sleeves and a white jade cornet adorned his head along with the corresponding waist ornament. His Majesty seemed to practice frugality in his day to day lifestyle.
All the officials and the girls present bowed their heads to their sovereign and with a slight tilt to his lips, the monarch gave them leave to rise and without wasting time on frivolous pleasantries, ordered everyone to start on the journey.
This journey would take around two weeks to reach The Kumbh Mountains where the ceremony was to be conducted so without further ado, everyone started forward at the command.
It had been a week since they left The Imperial Capital and the group was making good time and everyone expected to reach The Kumbh Mountains well before the day of the ceremony.
Along the way, Su Li had noticed how a few of the braver girls in the group seemed to always meet him accidentally during her walks or at night during the campfire. She really didn't want to raise a fuss about it. Though their coy glances and flirty eyes were wearing thin on her patience fast.
Every night some of the other officials would praise their offspring to high heavens before her and the girls would showcase their mastery in the four talents - Qin (a stringed instrument), Qi (strategy game of Go), Shu (calligraphy) and Hua (painting).
Today, another girl from The Left Prime Minister's clan was showing off her superb dancing skills but Su Li wasn't in the mood to appreciate either the beauty or the dance and was lost in her own thoughts.
When the girl finished her dance, she received a few praises from the nearby people but she wanted to hear His Majesty's praise for her skills.
Without giving it much thought, the girl curtsied towards the monarch and said in a soft whisper, "Your Majesty, did this lowly girl's dance please you?"
Nobody had thought that the girl would be so bold as to speak to the monarch without his express permission and ask something like this.
Even though their daughters and sisters had showcased their performances but no one had dared to ask for the monarch's opinion so blatantly and bluntly.
Everyone had only tried to gauge the monarch's appreciation through the visual clues or tried to probe him in an indirect manner.
The ministers still remembered the emperor's darkened visage when he had told them to not interfere in his personal matters in The Heavenly Haal a few weeks ago.
All the court officials stilled for a second, their hearts fiercely pounding, worried if that thoughtless girl would invoke the imperial wrath and drag all of them to hell along with her.
However, everyone still instinctively turned towards the monarch to hear his response but were dumbstruck when they saw that His Majesty seemed to be lost in his own world. It was apparent from the look on his face that he hadn't even paid attention to what was going on around him.
Most officials turned awkward at that juncture and the lady in question seemed to be unable to move or say anything and her face had turned somewhat stiff.
Nobody could scold the emperor to his face but everyone was scolding him fiercely in their hearts. The monarch was being too disrespectful to a girl from a noble lineage. To not even pay attention when the other person was trying to please him.
Ning Fu smiled to himself at this farce before him. He didn't know or understand much about his liege but he could still grasp that His Majesty was ignoring all these daily activities deliberately.
It was just that no one had dared to ask for their sovereign's opinion in the last seven days but this girl had really put herself in front of an enraged bull in her impatience and excitement to be noticed by the emperor.
How naive!
How pitiful!
She sure was in for a rude awakening and with a schadenfreude smile, Nung Fu decided to be helpful to The Left Prime Minister, add fuel to the fire on the side and watch the drama unfold.
Ning Fu spoke, "Your Majesty?"
His Majesty seemed to come back to his senses at the call and looked at the person who had called her.
Su Li wondered why The Unit Commander was looking at her with a questioning look on his face and from the corner of her eyes, she noticed how all the courtiers seemed to be on edge as well.
Damn!
Had she missed something of importance again?
Otherwise, why would these pedants try to pry open her mouth?
She didn't even know what topic they were discussing and didn't have a thick enough face to ask Ning Fu or anyone else to repeat their words.
A person might question: How did His Majesty solve this small crisis?
The answer to that would be that Su Li decided to fall back on an age-old tried and proven method that always helped her in similar circumstances whenever she lost the thread of a conversation.
Su Li turned her face blank and her expression dark, not saying a single word.
A person might question: Are you sure this is a foolproof method?
The answer would be that yes, it's foolproof because everyone will make of it what they feared the worst in such a situation due to Su Li's position as their sovereign.
True to Su Li's prediction everyone present exchanged glances at the monarch's angry visage and the surroundings became even quieter.
The idiotic girl still didn't seem to understand the precarious position she was in and curtsied to the monarch once again and said, "Your Majesty, did this female subject's dance upset Your Excellency?"
Hearing the girl's words, it dawned on Su Li what she had missed and what most likely had happened.
It seemed that The Left Prime Minister couldn't wait to stuff one of his own in The Imperial Palace and this girl wanted to attract her by being bold and shy.
An interesting combination to attract the opposite sex but the girl had really gotten the wrong person.
The girl seemed to give off a spirited and heroic feeling with a hint of naivety.
However, Su Li couldn't let this faux-pas go without a reprimand or the other girls waiting in the wings would become even bolder and their attacking power would increase.
His Majesty looked at the girl with a frosted layer in his eyes and then dismissively said, "Zhen never learnt or paid attention to such things while Zhen was held hostage. It would be more prudent to discuss civil and military matters and not waste time on such frivolous entertainment."
Su Li hoped she didn't break the fragile heart of the beauty she didn't even know the name of with her mild words.
The beauties in these times seemed to start with their waterworks at a moment's notice and Su Li as the emperor didn't want people to gossip that she was heartless enough to make a girl cry.
Meanwhile, the girl seemed shocked that the monarch would say such callous and dismissive words to her. No one had ever spoken to her in a raised voice ever and the monarch had carelessly said those words as if her reputation didn't matter.
This ignited The Left Prime Minister's daughter's heart and she vowed to make the monarch fall in love with her and one day make him eat back his words that had derided her today.
With a stiff smile on her face, the girl again curtsied and replied, "This female subject will remember Your Majesty's teachings."
Su Li felt that the other girl was akin to a dog with a bone that it didn't want to leave behind. This frustrated her even more and with a wave of her hand, she said, "Dismissed" and left the gathering on her own as well.
Everyone could hear the coldness in His Majesty's voice and saw how he had left them with a flick of his sleeves.
Hai...
It seemed that it wouldn't be easy for The Left Prime Minister in the court for the next few weeks, at least until the emperor's anger lessened.
Meanwhile, Ning Fu tried not to let his smile show on his face.
These civil officials always seemed to talk about state matters and carelessly comment upon the border matters without giving a thought to the soldiers who were stationed there. Their corruption and greed used to make the military provision either not arrive at the time of need or the provisions would be of the lowest quality.
Hump!
Since they dared to play with the lives of the military men for their gains, he'll get back at them using these indirect methods.
That Left Prime Minister had tried to caution the Late Emperor to cut the army provisions in half a few years back and Ning Fu had marked down his words in his heart all these years.
Today, he got back at him without anybody being the wiser.
As for the daughter - why should it matter to him what happened to her from herein out due to the monarch's words?
It wasn't as if the monarch was going to marry her. His Majesty hadn't even looked once at the girl while she was dancing.
Hump!
Ning Fu took another look at the said maiden and thought scornfully, just these looks and she wants to seduce The Emperor.
Did she even know she was akin to a clown jumping around in front of the monarch?
Which girl ever talked to an outside male in front of everyone?
Did she really think that everyone present was ignorant of the fact why she had taken such brazen actions?
She was too lacking in her looks and her virtues
Moreover, His Majesty had already given his heart to someone else.
How beautiful and inherently good that person might have been to steal the heart of the then Second Prince?
With His Majesty being so hurt even after separation, to be unable to forget them, wouldn't that person have been a unique one?
Ning Fu didn't realise but with each passing day, he seemed to be thinking about His Majesty and the person who had the liege's heart with an increasing frequency...