Chaotic World Book
Chapter 244 - 239 Imperial Concubine

Chapter 244: Chapter 239 Imperial Concubine

"Well, Zhao Changhe always fancied himself quite clever, claiming he could pretend to have four eyebrows when solving cases. But now, it seems his brain really is experiencing a crash.

How come Tang Wanju is publicly tearing into the Imperial Concubine, and everyone else just looks on as if it’s nothing unusual? The Huangfu Family is known for its loyalty and valor, shouldn’t you be on the same side? What’s with this tearing apart...

Oh right, the Huangfu Family is known for its loyalty and valor, but why is their legitimate daughter the rebel Winged Fire Snake?

And how can you, as an Imperial Concubine, be out of the palace for so long? Is everyone in the palace blind? Doesn’t the Emperor come looking for you?

No, wait, if you are the Imperial Concubine, then my flirting with you before... isn’t that like hitting on my stepmom? Uh, no, that’s Chichi’s stepmom... You bumped into me with child, hugged my waist, we almost went belly-to-belly.

What the hell am I doing?

Err, why are you still a virgin?

Furthermore, if there’s already an Imperial Concubine in the family, why does the Four Symbols Sect still need to form an alliance with the Wang Family of the Imperial party? Isn’t that a conflict? I feel like it was you guys who offed the Empress’s own son, the Crown Prince. So is this alliance just a ruse to clear yourselves of suspicion of killing the Crown Prince?

And then after that... I’ve secretly seen the Winged Fire Snake’s face, and she doesn’t know it, now she’s putting on airs as the Imperial Concubine. What kind of attitude should I adopt toward her to be reasonable?

My CPU isn’t powerful enough to unravel so many threads in a flash, and while Zhao Changhe is momentarily crashed, Tang Wanju’s expression turns ugly: "So you really plan on just sitting here and not moving, huh?"

The Imperial Concubine smiles brightly: "Oh... Head of the Demon Suppression Department, if I remember correctly, this one is waiting for Tang Wanju to clean up for him, yes? So, have you cleaned up, Head?"

Tang Wanju’s face is expressionless: "Didn’t you say you didn’t know who he is? Now you remember?"

"At first, I didn’t realize, but then I looked again at his broadsword and the scar on his face, and I remembered. There aren’t many with such distinct features." The Imperial Concubine wonders aloud: "Head of the Demon Suppression Department, you are the one who personally issued the arrest warrant. Don’t tell me you now want to personally catch him and bring him back?"

Tang Wanju grits her teeth inwardly. She really can’t argue on this point. The dirty jokes are all well known to have been started by Zhao Changhe; now that others bring it up, logically, the one she should be punching is Zhao Changhe, right? If you don’t hit him, does that mean you agree?

She glared fiercely at Zhao Changhe. The dirty jokes were started by you, you’re the one who pretended to be indifferent and asked me to meet in person, and now that you’ve been cornered and embarrassed by others, you just sit there silently!

Zhao Changhe felt a shudder under the glare and finally hopped to his feet, saying respectfully to the Imperial Concubine: "Your Highness... I am here to discuss military affairs, um, I don’t understand the military side of things, but we should talk about what role I can personally play, if you’ll excuse me."

Tang Wanju’s expression softened, her Vermilion Bird brows in a sharp frown.

I found He Lei’s whereabouts!

You used that information to please Tang Wanju, and now you’re using it as a bargaining chip to reject me?

Seeing the look in her eyes, Zhao Changhe felt a chill on his scalp and muttered to himself, "It’s over."

This situation, how did it turn out like this...

But no matter how much the Vermilion Bird is annoyed, she couldn’t very well publicly force Zhao Changhe to stay the night; imagine the talk! She could only watch with clenched fists as Zhao Changhe left with Tang Wanju, fuming with anger.

Until Zhao Changhe was gone, Huangfu Shaozong was still clueless about what had happened, and smilingly said to his sister: "Have you been well recently, Sister?"

Vermilion Bird had specifically left the palace to wander around, especially to see her brother, to keep the family from worrying. She didn’t actually know that Zhao Changhe had come to their place; the accidental encounter felt very surprising. And then Tang Wanju arrived and, out of habit, they started squabbling, which now seemed rather idiotic to her.

Seeing her brother’s question, she quickly composed herself and said lightly: "I’ve been in a closed-door cultivation; you guys better not visit me needlessly for small matters. His Majesty doesn’t care much, but there’s no rule for outsiders to keep running in and out of the palace."

Huangfu Shaozong dismissed the attendants with a wave and lowered his voice: "You and I both know what the Imperial Concubine is really about. How can we not worry when you willingly became that hostage? Our family is full of loyal and brave people, and he still..."

"Be careful with your words!" Vermilion Bird said lazily: "You’d best completely throw that notion out of your head, lest you slip up again."

Huangfu Shaozong sighed and said no more.

Vermilion Bird said: "The palace has all the resources, which facilitates my cultivation; it’s not without benefits. This is just a nominal transaction; I have no relation with him, we just take what we need. What’s so bad about it? Don’t always feel I’m at a loss."

Huangfu Shaozong muttered: "Actually... if it were real, that wouldn’t be so bad... If you could bear a child or two..."

Vermilion Bird glanced at him sideways: "What, do you think your sister could be a good tool now?"

"Not at all, just a random thought. You’ll eventually have to be married, and this incident has prevented you from having a normal woman’s home. I feel indignant for you." Huangfu Shaozong’s voice was so low he could hardly hear himself: "Is he still in long-term seclusion? After all this time, can he still be surviving; is he going to die..."

"Shut up," Vermilion Bird said irritably, "ask your foolishly loyal father first!"

Huangfu Shaozong pursed his lips and took a long while to reply, "His foolish loyalty is nothing more than to the common people."

Vermilion Bird fell silent, only after a long time did she heave a sigh, "You can spend more time with Zhao Changhe. He shouldn’t be staying with the Tang family, you could invite him to stay here."

"His identity..."

"Who was the bastard that told me the broadsword was inconclusive before?" Vermilion Bird suddenly erupted in anger, grabbing her brother’s collar, "You’re blindly loyal, and you even deliberately misled me, trying to prevent me from killing his only offspring, right?"

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Huangfu Shaozong turned his head away, "You truly shouldn’t kill..."

"I won’t kill!" Vermilion Bird said coldly, "I’ve changed my mind. Now I want to use him! Happy now?"

Huangfu Shaozong twitched the corner of his mouth, whether to kill or use, he didn’t want to get involved.

But since Zhao Changhe himself had said he wanted to stay here, and his sister had also said so, Huangfu Shaozong thought about it and still sighed, "Fine, I’ll make friends with him, and invite him over to Yihong..."

He hadn’t finished speaking when his sister inexplicably kicked him, Huangfu Shaozong was caught off guard and toppled onto his backside, completely bewildered.

"You’re not young anymore, learn some good, don’t just think about going to Yihong House every day!"

"I—I don’t go often either? You didn’t say anything before when I went..."

Vermilion Bird ground her teeth, knowing it wouldn’t be good to appear too strange, so she snorted coldly and walked away, "I’m returning to the palace now. These days are clear and crisp. I’ll often leave the palace to take trips; we’ll talk again later."

Huangfu Shaozong saw his sister out. Passing by the courtyard, he looked up at the sky, which was covered with thick clouds.

...

Demon Suppression Department.

Zhao Changhe sat with his hands tucked away in the leader’s house while Tang Wanju sat in front of him, her fair hands steeping tea.

The aroma of the tea wafted, and the beauty was like water. The recent chaos had swiftly vanished, as if switching to a different world.

Every time he was with Tang Wanju, he could feel his whole soul quiet down, no matter where he was, as if he was drifting through the water towns.

Especially just after leaving the fiery and fierce Miss Winged Fire Snake, the contrast was particularly stark.

How could Winged Fire Snake be the Imperial Concubine? It didn’t make sense from any angle.

Zhao Changhe still felt as if he were in a dream.

"I received your letter, Wei Zicai himself also submitted a confession and resignation. I didn’t punish him; I just reassigned him somewhere else, didn’t continue to let him mix with Sha Qi," said Tang Wanju slowly, "As for He Lei, I’ve just organized elite troops to head to Beimang. If necessary, I might personally make a trip."

Zhao Changhe claimed he came personally to the Capital to discuss matters with Tang Wanju, but in fact, the letter still came through the Demon Suppression Department in Sword Lake City. Otherwise, the journey was long and could delay urgent matters. He had been worried that he might not get the letter; it seems the Demon Suppression Department had not entirely deteriorated, as they had delivered it.

"As for the rumors you mentioned in your letter, the Demon Suppression Department is now treating it as a top priority and is looking into it. It’s baseless slander and easily settled, so there’s no need to worry too much. At most, the Maitreya Sect might spread it wider, but that’s not a significant issue either. Once Jiangnan is pacified, this matter will naturally resolve."

Zhao Changhe finally "hmm" in response. He had initially taken the rumors seriously, but in reality, if the Imperial court wanted to deal with it, it wasn’t a big deal. And Tang Wanju would take such matters even more seriously than him.

The Wang Family didn’t have time to fabricate something more plausible, and the spontaneously concocted stories were too absurd, making them easier to deal with. Who doesn’t know that the Emperor himself used that kind of broadsword when they are of a certain age?

So... the letter had arrived, and the matter he wanted to discuss with Tang Wanju had, in fact, already been resolved. So what exactly had he come to the Capital for?

He then saw Tang Wanju take a ladylike sip of her tea, but the words she spoke were anything but ladylike, "No matter how beautiful Huangfu Qing is, she is an Imperial Concubine, and you—you shouldn’t keep ogling her face with those rolling eyes! What kind of behavior is that!"

"Pfft..." Zhao Changhe spat out his tea.

Huangfu Qing... that name was alright.

Speaking of which, it seemed like Tang Wanju had a deep grudge against her... Could it be that his trip to the Capital was actually to delve into gossip?