Chapter 126: Empress Zhang’s Disappointment

Once the dishes were served, the group began to eat at the invitation of Empress Dowager Chen.

Xu Boqing could clearly feel a cool, small foot tracing upward along his ankle and calf beneath the table, guided by his own movements. It was a delightful sensation.

Consort Liu’s cheeks flushed a delicate pink. Her peach-blossom eyes were filled with nervous tension as she glanced at the other ladies. Seeing them chatting idly and paying her no mind, she let out a sigh of relief and became all the more daring in her provocation.

Suddenly, Empress Dowager Chen glanced at her, a mysterious smile playing on her lips. "Sister Liu, why are your cheeks so flushed?"

"Ah..."

Consort Liu was startled. Her instinct was to pull her foot back, but she found it trapped firmly by the legs of the scoundrel beneath the table. Her watery, peach-blossom eyes darted about, and she stammered as she picked up her fruit wine. "I have a poor tolerance for alcohol, and after just a little of this fruit wine, I felt my face growing hot."

"Oh?" Empress Dowager Chen looked at Xu Boqing, who was sipping his wine with a straight face, and gave a knowing smile, choosing not to press the matter. After all, she had experienced the scoundrel’s tricks firsthand.

Empress Zhang, who had also experienced those tricks, had a strange look on her face. Seeing Consort Liu sitting so far forward, she glanced at the table and seemed to guess what was happening. Her expression remained cold, but inwardly she hissed, "Shameless pair, doing such things in broad daylight."

Consort Liu felt the warmth on her foot and, casting a glance at the other ladies, congratulated herself on her convincing performance.

On the other side, Consort Zhou raised her own glass of fruit wine toward Xu Boqing. "I have long heard that Superintendent Xu is talented, young, and possessed of peerless martial skills. To meet you today is my good fortune."

"You flatter me, Your Ladyship..." Xu Boqing followed suit, raising his glass to drink.

Consort Zhou then turned to Empress Dowager Chen. "Sister, pray do not mind. Aside from paying my respects today, I have a small personal matter to attend to."

"Oh?" Empress Dowager Chen feigned surprise, though she knew well that every lady present had her own agenda. She smiled and said, "Sister, pray speak your mind."

"It concerns Superintendent Xu..."

"Me?" Xu Boqing paused slightly, feigning ignorance as he asked, "And what might you need of me, Your Ladyship?"

"It is not I who seeks you, Superintendent," Consort Zhou said with a faint smile. "My son, Prince Jing, visited me in the palace today. He mentioned that he and Superintendent Xu had a very pleasant conversation yesterday and felt they were kindred spirits. Knowing my close relationship with the Empress Dowager, he asked me to deliver an invitation to you on his behalf..."

She rose, produced a red invitation, and handed it over, explaining with a smile, "Before the year ended, the Prince’s estate was blessed with a grandson, and his first birthday is approaching. My son should have come in person to deliver this, but with the estate in such a bustle and lacking the proper protocol to enter the Cining Palace, he entrusted me, his mother, to deliver it. I hope you will forgive any breach of etiquette, Superintendent."

"You are too kind, Your Ladyship..."

Xu Boqing hesitated for a moment before accepting the invitation. "I shall certainly attend the banquet."

Watching this, Empress Zhang’s expression chilled, and her hand gripping her chopsticks trembled slightly. She thought of how she had offered herself to this scoundrel to save her son; she thought of how her own father had feigned illness to avoid meeting her when she returned home; she thought of the empty promises she had made to her own children; she thought of the tears she had shed while writing her letters; and she thought of her naive belief that Xu Boqing might harbor some lingering affection for her.

But now... all those illusions had shattered like foam. She felt like a clown in a play, the humiliation rising within her like a tidal wave, threatening to overwhelm her senses. Had they not been in the presence of others, she would have wept to vent the grievances and stifled anger in her heart.

Empress Zhang took a deep breath, stood up, and said to the Empress Dowager, "Sister, I suddenly feel a bit unwell. I shall not stay any longer." Her voice trembled.

Before the Empress Dowager could respond, the Empress had already left the table and walked out, her back looking desolate.

Consort Zhou only smiled faintly, sat down, and raised her glass. "Since Superintendent Xu has done us the honor, I, as a mother, should toast you on my son's behalf."

"You are too kind, Your Ladyship."

As Xu Boqing raised his glass and drank, he moved his lips, using a technique to transmit his voice directly into Consort Liu’s ears: "Say you are feeling unwell; I will escort you back to your palace."

Consort Liu paused, then a look of anticipation flickered in her peach-blossom eyes. She took a sip of wine, rubbed her temples, and let out a soft, pained moan, feigning illness.

The Empress Dowager frowned and glanced at Xu Boqing before asking, "What is it? Are you feeling unwell again?"

"I am a bit," Consort Liu sighed. "I have been in poor health lately; I cannot eat or sleep well, and I have been filled with anxiety all day... I haven't left my quarters in many days, and I thought I would come out for some air, but it seems it was too much. Alas..."

Consort Zhou, who lived with her in the Yongning Palace, knew her condition had indeed been as she described, so she asked with concern, "If you are unwell, why not call the imperial physician?"

"The physician has checked my pulse, but it is of no use," Consort Liu said wistfully. "Perhaps I am simply weary."

Empress Dowager Chen frowned, glanced at Xu Boqing, and caught the look he gave her. Understanding dawned on her, and she said, "Why don't you go back and rest, sister?"

"That is all I can do..."

Consort Liu put on her shoes, rose from her chair, and said with a look of feigned weakness, "I am unwell and cannot keep you company any longer. I hope you will both forgive me."

"Go, go..." The Empress Dowager waved her hand, then glared at Xu Boqing. "Consort Liu is not well; Superintendent Xu, you go and escort her."

"As you command..."

Xu Boqing, seeing the playful reproach in the Empress Dowager's eyes, stood up with a sheepish expression and supported the "frail" Consort Liu as they left the Cining Palace.

Once they were outside, Consort Liu looked like a cat that had stolen the cream, her eyes dancing with joy.

"You scoundrel..."

"Did you miss me?"

"I did..."

"Where did you miss me?"

"You..."

"Hahahaha!"

Seeing him laugh, Consort Liu pouted and cast a sidelong glance at him. Seeing no one was near, she leaned into his ear and whispered seductively, "Everywhere. I missed you so much my heart was overflowing."

Xu Boqing’s breath hitched.

Seeing his mesmerized expression, Consort Liu’s eyes were filled with a sparkling light. She leaned in closer, whispering like a lover’s plea: "Brother, I think of you day and night. I think of you so much I cannot sleep."

Xu Boqing glared at her. If it were not broad daylight, he would have dragged her into the woods to discipline her then and there.

Suppressing the fire in his heart, he escorted her back to the Yongning Palace. As soon as the door closed, before he could utter a single word, he felt a soft embrace and warm lips against his own.

"Hmm??"

Time blurred. Consort Liu, her body limp, could only hook her arms around Xu Boqing’s neck, her eyes hazy with intoxication as she leaned against him. Seeing the burning intensity in the scoundrel’s eyes—a fire that could melt ice—she bit her lower lip, stood on her tiptoes, and whispered against his ear, her voice trembling like a sob: "Love me..."