107 Complains

A few minutes later, Ning Fu caught sight of the monarch a tumbling along on the streets of the Imperial Capital.

He quickens his stride to catch up to the said person and as he draws near, he sees the monarch still has another wine jar from which he keeps on taking periodic sips.

Just as he is wondering if the monarch pilfered the wine from some wine shop on the way here and if he should look for the said wine shop and give them the money, he hears a soft grumble from the emperor.

"Psst! Zhou Sheng, you never did let me drink alcohol to my heart's content since the time I told you about how Yu Yan and her merry band of cohorts tried to drug me with wine and take advantage of me."

As soon as the words land in Ning Fu's ears, he clenches his fists so as to not give way to the waves of anger rising in his chest.

Many people even himself included always forgot that the monarch had been held hostage for so long because the monarch was well learned in the matters of politics and didn't behave brazenly.

But how could that be?

It wasn't an easy matter to be a captive of an opposing nation and wondering if your countrymen will ever rise up in arms to save you and the passage of time would slowly crumble all the hope of even the most hardened men.

It was a wonder the monarch had turned out to be as tolerant as he had because if it had been someone else, their first order of business after returning to the country would have been to get even with all the people who left them to rot and die in enemy hands.

It seemed that the monarch not only had to fear for his life but the northern barbarians had also handy spared him an iota of dignity if what he was hearing was the truth.

Yu Yan seemed to be a girl's name though unorthodox so Ning Fu could extrapolate a few things from the words he had just heard.

But what left him perplexed was that why would the girl drug the wine of a hostage prince?

And then Ning Fu himself almost lost his footing as his mouth gaped in a horrifying realisation.

Could it be that the Northern Barbarians were planning on driving the monarch and then having him have some illicit relations with one of their princesses?

If something like that happened while the monarch was in their captivity, then they could force the monarch to marry their princess.

In such a tense situation, the emperor wouldn't have any other recourse than to marry the girl because if some tricks were played behind people's back, everyone would turn towards the hostage as the culprit behind the incident.

If they succeeded in marrying their Princess to the Prince of another country then even if the Prince returned back to his own country, they could send a spy legally with him.

Even though everyone would be wary of the Princess of another country, but still they wouldn't be able to voice their objections.

Also, even if the Princess wasn't able to gain any useful information in the short run, life and time were long and one day they could have an army at their last and be caught unawares.

The more Ning Fu thought of these possibilities, the more his thoughts shirred in different directions and in a matter of seconds his back was drenched in cold sweat.

He wondered how the monarch who had still been a child dealt with all of those unseemly things.

No wonder the monarch had learnt humility and didn't pay much attention to etiquette in private and simply wanted everyone to do their assigned work without thinking about the benefits.

The monarch also seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.

"I already knew you wouldn't let me drink my fill that's why I bought another wine jug before I met you this evening. Haha."

The other person seemed to be quite happy at having one-upped his brother and Ning Fi couldn't help shaking his head at the silly antics of the monarch who had the weight of the entire dynasty on his shoulders. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.

He didn't realise but his lips and face that didn't get much workout were also raised in a facsimile of a smile while he followed the monarch with sedate steps.

The emperor comes to a sudden stop at a junction and looked around curiously. It's as if he has lost his way and can't seem to decide which direction to go.

Before Ning Fu can step forward, he hears further mutterings.

"Ha! Today I — Ah! Not I — Zhen! When is going to forget all about duties and responsibilities and drink alcohol and not bother to pick a road? Let Zhen's feet take me wherever they want. Anyway, today Zhen is going to see if drinking alcohol really helps a person to forget all their worries and heartache."

Finished with his words, the monarch takes a big gulp of his wine and stumbles across a meandering path.

Ning Fu knows this road will take them to the nearby lake where not many people would venture at such a late hour, so he spent worried that someone will see and recognise the emperor.

Therefore, he doesn't stop him and follows behind as he watched the monarch stagger and wobble his way to the nearby lake.