Chapter 73

73 HEAVY LEGS, HEAVY HEART

“What? Why would the Emperor wish to see you today, Your Highness?”

That pair of blue eyes glared at the young man standing in front of him after hearing the man’s question.

He couldn’t even sleep last night because he was too worried that the Emperor would end up neutering him, but the man in red innocently asked the question after he said that he was going to the Rongyao Imperial Palace to meet the Emperor today.

Zhu Ge was his servant, and the man had diligently gone to the Jing Pavilion this morning. Perhaps the man wished he could serve him today, and that was why he looked like the new hire who came so early to work.

Whether he liked it or not, Bai Chen was the one who hired Zhu Ge as his servant, and he felt a responsibility to let the man know that he would not be in his pavilion this morning. Instead, he would head to the Rongyao Imperial Palace because the Emperor wanted to see him today.

Zhu Ge was the sole reason behind the sudden call from the Emperor, but the man could innocently ask the question and make him feel even more irritated.

“This is all because of you!” It wasn’t Bai Chen who answered the man’s question, but it was Ma Qiao. “Why did you tell the Crown Prince that you were Prince Bai Chen’s lover yesterday? The Crown Prince is not a good person, so he surely has told everyone about it after he left this palace yesterday!”

Perhaps Ma Qiao also couldn’t stand it when Zhu Ge acted as if he wasn’t the culprit behind the chaos, and that was why he acted like a loyal dog that would bark when his master was disturbed by someone.

The older servant sounded very rude, but Zhu Ge did not look afraid of the older man. “Oh? The Crown Prince is not a good person?” Instead of feeling intimidated by Ma Qiao, he looked amused as he questioned the man. “I don’t know much about the Crown Prince, so it’s not my fault that I don’t know his true color. Do you know much about him, lao Ma? Would you mind telling me more about him so that I won’t make any more mistakes in the future?”

.....

In the end, Zhu Ge didn’t look guilty for what he had done yesterday, and Ma Qiao’s face turned red with anger. It seemed like he wanted to keep barking to vent his anger, and Zhu Ge seemed even more amused by the sight.

However, before the older servant could rebuke the young man again, Bai Chen decided to interfere, “You can teach Zhu Ge later, but we’d better go to Rongyao Palace now, Ma Qiao. If I dare make the Emperor wait for me any longer, it will cause more trouble for me. I’m sure you know very well about that.”

Even if Bai Chen wanted to curse Zhu Ge as well, he chose to use his rationality as he chose to meet the Emperor first. He couldn’t let the Emperor wait for him, but he could always let Zhu Ge wait until he got the chance to scold the man.

That was why Bai Chen immediately left the Jing Pavilion with Ma Qiao following behind him.

“Wait! Why did you leave me alone, Your Highness? Don’t you want me to escort you to the Imperial Palace?”

He could hear Zhu Ge shouting from a distance, but he only raised his hand that was holding a fan as a sign that the young man should not follow him.

Bai Chen was still annoyed with the man, and staying close to the man would only increase his blood pressure.

Fortunately, even after he left his palace, he did not see the man’s shadow, and he could breathe a sigh of relief that Zhu Ge was not so stubborn that he would follow him to the Imperial Palace.

“You should fire Zhu Ge, Your Highness! He is just a dirty person, and he keeps giving you trouble!” Ma Qiao immediately complained when they were no longer in Bai Chen’s palace.

‘I wish I could fire Zhu Ge, but unfortunately, the system won’t allow me. I wonder what’s so special about that man until the system forced me to hire him as my servant,’ Bai Chen wondered while ignoring Ma Qiao’s grievance.

He didn’t know Zhu Ge’s background. He only knew that the man was born into a wealthy family before the family met a misfortune, and because of that, the man had started working as a prostitute in the Red Pavilion.

“This is the second time I’ve brought Zhu Ge to my palace, right? Then, before I brought him to my palace for the first time, do you know anything about him, Ma Qiao?” Glancing at the servant walking behind him, Bai Chen carefully asked a question.

He knew that he needed to find out more information about Zhu Ge, but unlike the legendary Dong Lang royal family that was written in a book, he knew that he would find nothing about Zhu Ge in any books.

Zhu Ge’s family was no longer rich, and that meant he only came from an insignificant family. No one would write a book about families like that.

“I only remember when you told me that Zhu Ge was new in the Red Pavilion, Your Highness,” Ma Qiao replied. “He’s new, but you told me he was attractive. That’s why you brought him to your palace.”

The real Bai Chen in this world thought that Zhu Ge was attractive, but the current Bai Chen in this world did not know what made the man so attractive. ‘Is it his face? Or is it his body?’ He wondered. ‘Judging from Bai Chen’s character, I think it’s indeed because of the face and body.’

Bai Chen sighed when he knew that he wouldn’t find anything from his servant. If Zhu Ge was the new prostitute in the Red Pavilion, then people probably wouldn’t know much about him.

With that thought, Bai Chen stopped questioning his servant, and without realizing it, he had already arrived at the Rongyao Imperial Palace.

His feet felt heavy as he walked toward the palace gate, and he could only stare at Ma Qiao when the man showed his token to the guards guarding the palace.

After seeing the token, the guards opened the gates for him and Ma Qiao, and Bai Chen felt that he was walking through the gates of Hell right now. It sounded hyperbolic, but he couldn’t think positively when he had to meet the Emperor today.

“The Emperor is waiting for you in the Zuigao Hall, Your Highness,” Ma Qiao told him, but he remained silent.

He still remembered his first experience in the hall, and it was not a good experience for him. Back then, he could see how coldly the people in the palace treated him, and he didn’t feel at all comfortable.

Today when he had to go to the hall again, he couldn’t help but think that the Emperor might judge him in front of the officials in the palace. Bai Chen wanted to win the hearts of the officials, but in the end, he would be judged before them.

His legs were still heavy when he carried them up the stairs, but he finally arrived in front of Zuigao Hall. Once again, the guards guarding the door opened the door for him, and when he turned to look at Ma Qiao for the last time, he could see the servant clenching his fist in front of his face as if trying to give him moral support.

Bai Chen still felt pessimistic even after getting moral support, but he still carried his feet to enter the hall, and he was dumbfounded when he saw the scene inside the hall.

He expected that all the officials in the palace would be there to judge him today, but it was a shock to him as he only saw the Emperor sitting on the throne. He didn’t know if he should feel lucky or not. In fact, even with the Emperor alone, he still felt intimidated in the hall.

The Emperor’s pair of blue eyes had been fixated on him from the moment he entered the hall, and if gazes could kill, then Bai Chen would be dead by now.

Swallowing nervously, Bai Chen then brought his feet to walk towards the Emperor and stopped in front of where the Emperor was sitting.

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Bai Chen even felt nervous when he had to face the Crown Prince, and now when he had to face the Emperor, he was more than nervous. The Emperor was scarier than the Crown Prince, and he could only lower his head after greeting the Emperor formally.

“I heard that you have a lover now, and I was expecting that you would take him to see me today. Why didn’t you bring your lover to meet me, Bai Chen?”