During the next days, Yi Wenkui spent almost all his time with his noble consort and he was very generous in showering her presents. One of the reasons he always kept her within his sights was to make sure that she didn't go to meet her secret lover and he was very pleased to see that she hadn't made any attempt to drive him away like before. She obediently accompanied him without any complaints and that put him at ease for a while.
One day, he allowed her to dress him so he could attend morning court. Both of them could hear the maids gossiping about how they were behaving like husband and wife as they left the room. One of the maids said. "It is such a pity that he isn't so gentle with the empress who is virtuous and kind. I wonder what he likes in that merciless witch. She must have bewitched him, I tell you. How can he be with such a woman when he has a very good legal wife!"
Her friend who was more self conscious noticed they were near a window where they could be heard so she hit her anxiously and started dragging her away. "Keep quiet! You might get yourself killed if you don't restrain yourself. This is not a place we should say these kind of things. Come with me!"
Yi Wenkui who was silently fuming when he heard them opened his mouth to order those maids' heads to be chopped off suddenly felt his robe being tugged. He turned his head to see Zhan Yanhui shaking her head as she readjusted his belt as she said. "There is no need to bother with them, Wenkui. They are just a bunch of ignorant maids."
He saw her bend her head again, attentively smoothing his robe and his heart ached for her. He caught her hands and said. "Hui'er, if it was up to me....Yaling wouldn't have been my empress. I-"
"Your Majesty, I don't blame you. This matter was my fault too. I was too foolish in the past." She realized that addressing him by his royal title had made him misunderstand things so she gave him a small smile. She knew how much he had chased her in the past until Han Yaling had snuck into his bed and forced him to marry her. She had only entered the palace after he had been crowned king and Yaling had been made his empress.
She continued. "Besides, it doesn't matter to me if I am just a consort or an empress. As long as we stay together, I believe everything will be alright."
Yi Wenkui patted her head warmly before he said. "After the court session, I will take you out of the palace so we can stroll in the capital. Wait for me."
She let him give her one final kiss and watched him leave with his entourage. Now that she had managed to send him off, she planned to check on Consort Xi who was pregnant. This time, she felt she had to do her best to save both the mother and the baby from the empress's evil schemes before they pinned the incident on her again.
As soon as she stepped out of her room, she widened her eyes at the sight of the people before her. She rushed forward and bowed. "Father! Greetings, Father. What are you doing here?"
A tall man with grey hair and beard stood in an imposing manner as he dressed in a silver armour bowed slightly. Zhan Wenshan said. "Why, is it a taboo to visit my only daughter?"
Zhan Yanhui suddenly felt a little nostalgic as she approached her father step by step until she stood before him. She asked him in a small voice. "I have missed you so much, Father. Can I hug you?"
Her words made her father flustered as he looked at the maids behind her but he still wordlessly opened his arms and enclosed her in a tight hug. They stood there for a moment before Zhan Yanhui separated herself. Her father asked her worriedly. "Hui'er, is everything okay in the palace?"
Zhan Wenshan knew about the harsh rumours about his daughter and that had always made him very sad. As a powerful and well respected general, he knew that they dared not give his only daughter a hard time in the palace but he worried that she would been lonely and abandoned in the palace. He wondered what had possessed her to enter the palace in the first place.
"I am okay, Father. I just-" Her small smile fell immediately she finally saw the person standing behind her father. She tried her best to rearrange her facial expression as she greeted him. "General Wen, we meet again. You also came with Father?"
Zhan Wenshan replied to his daughter before Wen Yating could even open his mouth. "Yes, the Emperor has sent for me to attend morning court session and he planned to reward me for our victorious battle against the Rudaks. Ting'er was bored so I let him come with me. You two have grown up together, how about you spend some time with each other?"
Zhan Yanhui was not pleased with the request but she knew that she could not directly refuse him. "Okay, Father. Let me see you off."
After she had sent her father away, she smiled and led General Wen into her room and sent the maids away. Her polite smile vanished. "Yating, how long have you been here?"
Wen Yating stopped playing with the brush he found on her table and took her hand instead. He replied. "Your father and I have been waiting outside your room for a while. We didn't want to disturb your time with His Majesty so we hid in a corner. Hui'er, those words you said earlier, you didn't mean them right?"
Although he had been indifferent towards her these years, he had always thought she would never change and would always continue to be faithful to him. But ever since he returned from battle, he felt that something about her had changed and her eyes and possibly her heart had turned cold towards him. That left him very unsettled for an unknown reason. He had now decided to correct things and put more effort in pampering her.
Zhan Yanhui removed her hands and hid them behind her, skillfully cleaning them behind her with her handkerchief as she smiled. "Of course not. I only said them to please the emperor. The empress is my rival, how can I let her gain the emperor's favour?"