My Aloof Lord Ex-Husband Begs for Remarriage
Chapter 256 - 257: Amazing Talent

Chapter 256: Chapter 257: Amazing Talent

He exerted his imposing presence, but even that didn’t make Chu Nanli compromise. What abilities could this son possibly have?

However, if Chu Nanli truly cannot be swayed, then she can only be destroyed.

She possesses remarkable talent, and whether she serves as an Imperial Physician or not, she must stay in Daxia Kingdom to be of use to Daxia.

She must not fall into the hands of another country...

Elsewhere.

Ye Yunting, with a darkened face, dragged Chu Nanli into a side hall.

"What are you doing? You’re hurting me!" Chu Nanli, with a face as dark as his, shook off Ye Yunting’s hand, and the man’s expression turned utterly livid.

"Chu Nanli, why do you not wish to be an Imperial Physician? Do you not know it is the highest honor? Have you become so arrogant that you look down on the position of an Imperial Physician?"

"It’s none of your business," replied Chu Nanli coldly.

She had wanted to explain when she heard the first part of his accusation.

But after hearing Ye Yunting’s latter words, she didn’t want to say anything more.

"You! Do you know the consequences of defying an imperial edict?" Ye Yunting, grinding his back teeth in anger, exclaimed.

Chu Nanli looked into his eyes, which seemed about to shoot fire, and said with an icy voice, "Of course I do."

"Don’t worry, I won’t implicate the War King Residence."

"You!"

Ye Yunting’s eyes reddened with anger, feeling a sensation as if he could neither swallow nor expel his breath.

"Fine, as long as you do not implicate the War King Residence, even if you die out there, it has nothing to do with me!" Ye Yunting left in a huff, his sleeves flapping with indignation.

Chu Nanli curled her lips in disdain.

She had never expected Ye Yunting to help her anyway.

After Ye Yunting left, she walked from the side hall to the main hall.

He had left in such a hurry, and it seemed he was heading in the direction of Yikun Palace.

Chu Nanli, naturally, did not follow him but instead returned to Yangxin Hall.

Just as she had braced herself for whatever fury she was about to face, she found the Empress Dowager sitting on a chair, fuming, while the Emperor was beside her, trying to soothe her.

"You haven’t even come to see I, your mother, these past few days. If I had truly caught smallpox, I certainly wouldn’t have survived, and by then, would you still be able to see your birth mother?" The Empress Dowager said, her face a mixture of sorrow and anger, although there were hardly any tears in the corners of her eyes.

"It’s that quirky old lady from the other day again," Chu Nanli thought silently to herself and then courteously and quietly paid her respects, standing off to the side.

The Emperor signaled to Chu Nanli that she needn’t perform the formalities, then paid her no further attention.

After all, he was too preoccupied with the Empress Dowager.

"Mother, it’s not that I don’t care for you. Smallpox is extremely contagious, and I was only avoiding you because I was afraid of infecting you," Ye Jiujun spoke gently.

"I don’t care. You haven’t visited me for days, and you didn’t even send a message. Do you even have your mother in your heart?" The Empress Dowager said sorrowfully.

Ye Jiujun’s face showed difficulty, but he still had to console her.

He pressed his brow, speaking softly, "Mother, it is not that your son does not miss you, it is simply that state affairs are too demanding."

"These days, there have been no morning courts, and the ministers have been submitting numerous memorials for my consideration, all of which must be dealt with. I could not find the time to visit," Ye Jiujun said gravely.

Upon hearing Ye Jiujun had legitimate matters to attend to, the Empress Dowager’s antics subsided, and she wiped her tears. "Alright, I will believe you this time, but..."

The Empress Dowager slowly turned her gaze towards Chu Nanli, "It’s thanks to Chu Nanli’s preventive medicine that I did not contract smallpox this time."

"You must properly reward her and not bully her," the Empress Dowager said, her tone carrying a measure of earnest severity.

Only then did Ye Jiujun realize that the Empress Dowager had come to plead on behalf of Chu Nanli.

Chu Nanli was also surprised, unsure why the Empress Dowager would go out of her way to help her.

"Mother, it’s not that your son has not offered rewards; it’s just that Chu Nanli seems to disdain my generosity," Ye Jiujun assessed Chu Nanli, his gaze authoritative.

"Oh?" The Empress Dowager looked puzzled at Ye Jiujun, "What reward did she refuse?"

"My son wanted to appoint Chu Nanli as an Imperial Physician, but she doesn’t know what’s good for her and actually refused," Ye Jiujun said jokingly to the Empress Dowager, though his gaze was sinister and icy.

Clearly, he took Chu Nanli’s defiance of the royal decree very seriously and was not inclined to forgive her easily.

The Empress Dowager frowned and looked at Chu Nanli.

Just as Chu Nanli had thought of how to explain herself to the Empress Dowager, the latter had already spoken.

"If she doesn’t want to do it, let her be. Who do you think is dying to be that lousy Imperial Physician?" the Empress Dowager glared at Ye Jiujun, "You intend for someone to come to the palace to work for you, and you call this a reward?"

Ye Jiujun was left speechless by her rebuke, his face darkening with displeasure.

"Alright, if you really want to reward her, just give her some real gold and silver. Chu Nanli is but a frail woman and already Yunting’s wife, charged with managing the affairs of the Prince Residence. How can she have the energy to also treat illnesses in the palace?"

"If you really want to use her, whenever someone falls ill, just summon her to treat them. After all, we’re all family, isn’t it? She couldn’t possibly refuse to help, could she?"

After these words from the Empress Dowager, Ye Jiujun’s complexion improved significantly.

Indeed, Chu Nanli was tightly bound to the Prince Residence; where could she possibly run off to?

"Mother is right," Ye Jiujun’s expression gradually softened, and his tone became much more pleasant.

"Mother, rest assured, Chu Nanli has made significant contributions this time. How could your son possibly punish her?"

"Since she does not want this appointment, I too, should not force her," Ye Jiujun said, looking at Chu Nanli with an expression that was calm but carried a hint of indifference.

"Since you have already made up your mind, I cannot compel you, go back then."

"Yes."

Chu Nanli’s lips twitched slightly.

So, her ten thousand taels of gold and her hundreds of acres of good land had all gone down the drain?

That damn Emperor, truly a dog.

However, that she could leave today without having accepted the decree was already fortunate.

And she owed it all to the Empress Dowager’s intervention.

She didn’t know why the Empress Dowager had helped her, so she decided to stay and express her thanks.

When Chu Nanli exited Yangxin Hall, she came face to face with Ye Yunting’s worried gaze.

Chu Nanli doubted her own eyes.

On taking a closer look, she saw that Ye Yunting’s eyes contained nothing but coldness.

"What happened?" Ye Yunting asked faintly.

"The Emperor did not blame me," Chu Nanli said truthfully.

Ye Yunting breathed an almost imperceptible sigh of relief.

He had intended to seek the Empress Dowager’s help, but when he reached Yikun Palace, the palace maids told him that the Empress Dowager had already gone to Yangxin Hall.

He had guessed that the Empress Dowager would help Chu Nanli, which gave him some peace of mind.

Chu Nanli was unaware that Ye Yunting had gone to find the Empress Dowager, thinking instead that he was concerned about implicating the Prince Residence and did not address him further.

Ye Yunting watched Chu Nanli head in a direction that was not the palace exit, then asked.

"Where are you going?"

"I have something to attend to," Chu Nanli paused, giving a brief reply without turning back.

Ye Yunting’s lips tightened slightly.

"You may leave the palace this afternoon. My carriage will wait for you outside the palace gate."

"No need," Chu Nanli thought for a moment, then added, "I have things to do and might return very late. You all go first."

Having said that, Chu Nanli walked away, heading towards Yikun Palace.

She was very grateful to the Empress Dowager for speaking up for her today; otherwise, she would have faced considerable trouble.

She headed to the Empress Dowager Palace because she wanted to wait for her return and thank her in person.