165 Secret Deal
After Yang Lingxin left and returned to the Queen’s residence along with her maid, Yang Ning looked at the guard, who was holding the incense stick in his hands and was about to go inside His Majesty’s chamber to light the incense stick.
She signaled him to follow her to the side to speak about the matter in private. After they walked to the corner, Yang Ning looked around to be sure that there were no other guards in the vicinity.
Xiaowei was also guarding in front of them to make sure no one could go near them while they talked.
She cannot let other guards know about this discussion because she cannot be sure who would be the insider planted by the Empress and Yang Luoyang.
The guard looked at Yang Ning in confusion and wondered why she asked him to come to the corner to meet her. What is so confidential that she had to ask him to come to the side to talk about the matter?
“Your Highness, is there something that you want to talk about? If there is nothing important, I need to go and carry out this task given by Her Majesty.” He said while showing her the incense stick.
Yang Ning looked at him solemnly and before he could go back to his work, she stopped him, “Hold on. You don’t need to take this scented incense inside His Majesty’s chamber.”
“Yes? Earlier, Her Majesty asked me to light this incense stick in His Majesty’s chamber before she left the area. Even you agreed to her request and asked me to do what she said. How can I ignore her orders?” He questioned.
Yang Ning raised her brows and scoffed to see the way he was showing his eagerness to follow the Empress’s orders. “Did you forget that His Highness has banned everyone from visiting His Majesty and bringing any foreign items inside the chamber?” She asked coldly.
.....
The guard was speechless by the sudden change in Yang Ning’s tone and attitude and tried to explain himself, “Your Highness, earlier you were the one who asked me to take this scented incense from Her Majesty and light it in His Majesty’s chamber. How can you…”
Before he could complete his words, Yang Ning furrowed her brows and interrupted him, “Are you trying to blame me for your ignorance? You are the royal guard and should have been firmer in following His Highness’s orders. Even if I told you to do so, how can you get weak in front of me and Her Majesty?”
“Earlier, if I hadn’t come in time, I am sure you would have breached the orders given by His Highness and allowed Her Majesty to go inside the chamber to save yourself from the trouble.” She commented indifferently.
“Your Highness, I would never do that. How can I disrespect His Highness’s orders? Please trust me on that.” The guard panicked when Yang Ning saw through his intentions and scolded him.
He was indeed planning to allow Her Majesty to go inside the chamber to avoid trouble since she is His Majesty’s Queen Consort and the Empress of the Zheng Empire.
How long can he prevent her from going inside the chamber? He would have only invited his death and the bad luck for his family if he had stopped her from going inside.
Yang Ning noticed the fear settling in the guard’s eyes and could see that he was genuinely terrified by her claims. Rather than making a scene in front of His Majesty’s chamber, she glared at the guard coldly and ordered him, “Enough of that! I won’t tell His Highness that you were planning to breach his orders and allow Her Majesty inside her chamber. ”
“Instead, take this scented incense to Master Jiang and tell him that I have sent you to him. He will understand.” She said,
The guard pursed and was perplexed by her orders. The incense stick was given by Her Majesty. If she found out that he didn’t light it in His Majesty’s chamber, then it would be a problem for him.
Yang Ning noticed the fear and confusion in his eyes. Seeing his hesitation, she folded her arms in front of her chest and said, “Why? Is there any problem? If you are hesitant about it, no problem. I will ask Guard Gu Lan to deal with it and also remove you from the royal guard position. Because you aren’t doing your work properly anyway.”
“I will do it.” The guard exclaimed impatiently. Upon hearing the name of Guard Gu Lan who is the personal guard of His Highness, his complexion turned pale. He cannot bear His Highness to find out about this matter.
Moreover, Master Jiang is the one responsible for taking care of His Majesty’s treatment and medicines. It would not be considered as wrong to give him the incense stick given by Her Majesty.
The guard straightened his posture and said, ” Your Highness, you do not need to worry. From now on, I will not allow anyone to go inside nor will attend to any of their requests until His Highness orders me to do anything.”
“About this scented incense stick, I will take it to Master Jiang according to your orders and will inform Her Majesty that it has been ignited in His Majesty’s chamber.” He said.
Yang Ning’s lips curled up in a pleasant smile as she was satisfied with his quick response. At least he isn’t as bad as she had thought him to be. Before she could tell him to lie to the Empress, he understood the assignment on his own.
Well, he isn’t the royal guard for no reason.
“Alright. You can look for my maid to report about this matter and inform me if other people come to visit His Majesty. Do you get that?” She asked to be sure.
The man nodded in agreement and said, ” Yes. I will do as you say. However, please don’t tell His Highness about this matter. Otherwise, I will be kicked out from my position as the royal guard.”
Yang Ning nodded and waved her hands at him and said, ” As long as you keep your mouth shut, I will do the same. However, if you make any mistake while carrying out the order, I don’t know what will happen to you then.” She warned him before returning to the Dragon pavilion along with Xiaowei.