latelenovela Chapter 235 The sun rises in the west, do you believe it or not?
Chapter 235 The sun rises in the west, do you believe it or not?
The next morning, sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating Su Nuannuan's figure. She carefully folded her meticulously drawn drawings and placed them in a delicate little package, then took out a letter she had already written and put it inside. Once everything was ready, Su Nuannuan summoned Li Quan.
Li Quan, dressed in a gray robe, strode into the room, bowed slightly, and said, "Your Majesty, this servant is here."
Su Nuannuan handed the small bag to Li Quan and solemnly instructed him, "Li Quan, I need you to make a trip back to the capital this time. Inside are important blueprints and a letter I wrote to the Emperor. You must personally deliver it to the Emperor without any mistakes. After delivering it, wait for the Emperor's reply in the palace. If the Emperor replies on the spot, you must return immediately the next day. This matter is of utmost importance and must not be delayed. Do you understand?"
Li Quan quickly bowed and respectfully accepted the small bag from Su Nuannuan, replying, "Your Majesty, rest assured, this servant has remembered everything."
Su Nuannuan nodded, a hint of concern in her eyes, and said softly, "You must be careful on your journey and pay attention to your safety."
"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. This servant will certainly live up to your expectations!" Li Quan bowed again, then turned and left the room.
Li Quan, limping, walked out of the house and headed straight for the stables. Soon he arrived. Inside, several fine horses were neatly arranged, each one plump, strong, and with a glossy coat. After carefully examining them, Li Quan chose the most magnificent white steed.
He skillfully untied the reins, gently stroked the horse's back, and leaped onto it. Once seated, he lightly shook the reins, squeezed the horse's flanks with his legs, and gave a low shout: "Giddy up!" The white horse seemed to understand the command, and galloped off, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Li Quan rode his horse at breakneck speed, the sound of hooves echoing throughout the entire village. In the blink of an eye, he had disappeared at the end of the road. Meanwhile, in the imperial palace far away in the capital, less than an hour after Li Quan left the village, the emperor received news of the matter…
It's well known that carrier pigeons are much faster than human messengers. The intelligent Su Nuannuan was perfectly aware of this, but she chose to turn a blind eye. After all, they were spies planted by the Emperor and Empress.
Su Nuannuan knew she couldn't easily touch the people the Emperor had placed there, so she pretended not to know. She also adopted a similar strategy of inaction towards those planted by the Empress. However, aside from the people placed by these two powerful figures, any other forces attempting to plant spies within her ranks would face Su Nuannuan's ruthless treatment! If she discovered even the slightest clue, whether the person was alone or an entire family, Su Nuannuan would find a pretext to exile or sell them off without mercy. Often, one person's mistake would implicate the entire family.
After receiving the note from Consort Zhuang's messenger, the Emperor was slightly taken aback, but then casually set it aside and continued to attend to state affairs. A moment later, as if remembering something, the Emperor suddenly looked up at Li Desheng, who had been waiting beside him, and asked expressionlessly, "Li Desheng, in your opinion, what is the purpose of Consort Zhuang sending Li Quan back to the palace this time?"
Upon hearing the Emperor's question, Li Desheng dared not be negligent. He quickly stepped forward, bowed respectfully, and said, "Your Majesty, this servant is truly foolish and knows nothing about this matter. However, in my humble opinion, perhaps Consort Zhuang misses Your Majesty dearly and therefore specially ordered Li Quan to return and deliver a letter to you to express her longing."
Upon hearing this, the Emperor looked up at Li Desheng and said, "If she could think of me, the sun would rise in the west tomorrow, do you believe it or not?"
"This servant does not believe it," Li Desheng replied, bowing his head slightly with a respectful and honest expression.
Upon hearing this answer, the Emperor was taken aback, then speechless, choked by Li Desheng's words. After a long while, the Emperor finally came to his senses and said somewhat angrily, "Hmph, asking you is pointless, a complete waste of my breath!"
Faced with the Emperor's rebuke, Eunuch Li remained bowed, not daring to be negligent in the slightest, and quickly replied, "Your Majesty, please calm down. Everything will be clear once Li Quan returns."
At this moment, although Li Desheng still maintained a respectful demeanor on the surface, his heart was in turmoil. "My God! Why does the Emperor keep harping on me? What could a lowly eunuch like me know? I'm so wronged! Besides, keeping my back bent like this for so long is making my old bones feel like they're about to fall apart, especially my old back..." Li Desheng continued to respond to the Emperor while inwardly groaning.
The Emperor seemed to realize that he wouldn't get any useful information from Li Desheng, so he waved his hand helplessly and sighed, "Never mind, Consort Zhuang usually doesn't play by the rules. Let's just wait for Li Quan to enter the palace!" After saying that, he casually waved his hand at Li Desheng.
After receiving the Emperor's signal, Li Desheng straightened up as if granted a pardon, and immediately felt a sense of relief in his waist, which also eased the soreness somewhat.
As evening fell, Li Quan rode his horse to the palace gate. After dismounting, he handed the horse to the guards at the gate and then limped into the palace.
Despite his leg injury, he quickened his pace as much as possible and hurried toward the imperial study where the emperor was.
"Your Majesty, Li Quan requests an audience." After being informed by the eunuch guarding the gate, Li Desheng dared not delay and hurriedly approached the Emperor, who was engrossed in reviewing the mountain of memorials, and respectfully said.
The Emperor was intently focused on the memorial before him, his vermilion brush occasionally making circles and annotations. Upon hearing Li Desheng's report, he didn't even raise his head, simply saying indifferently, "Let him in."
"Yes," Li Desheng quickly replied, then loudly announced towards the door, "Summon Li Quan to an audience!"
As Li Desheng finished speaking, Li Quan appeared in the imperial study. As soon as he arrived before the emperor, he knelt down with a thud, his movements fluid and seamless. At the same time, he shouted, "Your servant Li Quan greets Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor!"
The Emperor finally put down his pen, slowly raised his head, and looked intently at Li Quan, who was kneeling on the ground. He asked in a calm tone, "Why did you rush back to see me instead of properly serving your master at the estate?"