Chapter 201: Chapter 200: Slapping the Green Tea Empress Dowager (Part 17)
Ever since Emperor Jianwu heard from Mr. Liu about the many interesting things outside the palace, he had been eager to go out and see for himself.
It so happened that the Grand Tutor that Prince Kang had found for him had punished him for not studying hard, making him write two more essays every day. He also told Prince Kang about Emperor Jianwu’s penchant for play over study, which led Prince Kang to give Emperor Jianwu a stern lecture.
As Prince Kang restricted Emperor Jianwu from playing, Emperor Jianwu became even more determined to do the opposite.
That day, Emperor Jianwu threatened Mr. Liu to take him outside the palace.
Mr. Liu was terrified and knelt down to plead with Emperor Jianwu: "Your Majesty, with your body more precious than gold, how could you lightly venture outside the palace? If there were any mishaps, the life of this servant would not be enough to atone for it. If this servant takes Your Majesty out and the Empress Dowager or Regent King finds out, they will surely take this servant’s life."
It would have been alright had he not mentioned the Regent King, but as soon as the Regent King was mentioned, a fire ignited in Emperor Jianwu’s heart.
He kicked Mr. Liu: "Get up, you’re afraid the Regent King will take your dog’s life, but aren’t you afraid I will take your dog’s life? If you don’t take me out today, I’ll have you killed right here."
Mr. Liu was petrified, got up, and put on a smiling face: "Your Majesty, then, if Your Majesty goes out, you must pay attention to the time. We cannot stay outside for too long. How about we listen to some storytelling, see some variety performances, and then come back? Is that alright?"
Emperor Jianwu nodded.
Mr. Liu waited on him to change his clothes and the two of them quietly followed a path Mr. Liu had scouted out earlier to leave the palace.
Mr. Liu led Emperor Jianwu southward, and on the way, they passed a workshop where he bought a lot of food for Emperor Jianwu. These snacks were not seen inside the palace, and Emperor Jianwu found them quite novel. He ate as he walked and soon felt full.
After a while, Emperor Jianwu felt thirsty, so Mr. Liu took him to a tea house for a drink.
Just then, there was a storytelling session happening in the tea house.
The story was about a talented scholar and a beautiful lady.
As Emperor Jianwu was still young, he didn’t find it interesting and scolded Mr. Liu: "I listened to you saying how the storytelling is interesting, how come it’s just..."
Mr. Liu quickly interrupted Emperor Jianwu, speaking softly, "Please speak quietly, we cannot say ’I’ outside, it could lead to trouble."
Emperor Jianwu coughed: "Stupid servant, so you were deceiving me."
Mr. Liu said with a smile: "It’s not deceiving Your Majesty. It’s just this story is not very interesting to you, but it is almost over. The next one will definitely be entertaining."
Indeed, as soon as that story ended, the storyteller began a tale about a small kingdom.
It told of a king of this small kingdom who neglected state affairs, allowing a minister to assume all the power. Over time, the minister, with power at his fingertips, developed ambitions to kill the king and take his place.
Then, the story described how the king’s son grew up. Seeing through the minister’s intentions, he began to build up strength. The story was filled with clashes between the prince and the minister, with vivid descriptions of the glint of swords and the exchange of verbal spars, very thrilling and suspenseful.
Emperor Jianwu was completely engrossed in the story.
He felt that the circumstances of the prince in the story were quite similar to his own - both young and powerless, and both suppressed by powerful officials from outside.
It wasn’t until the prince killed the minister, ascended to the throne, and led the people of his country to better days that Emperor Jianwu began cheering.
He was deeply moved by the story and felt a strong sense of identification with the prince.
He envisioned himself in the prince’s place; the prince’s victory was his victory. He had conquered the Regent King and made the despised Regent King meet a bad end. As for him, he would start ruling personally, and both the common people and ministers would truly submit to him.
Emperor Jianwu was visibly excited and had Mr. Liu generously reward the storyteller.
What he didn’t know was that, while he was listening intently to the story, not far from him, a woman wearing a plain veil with a young girl beside her was staring intently at him.
The young girl seemed very shrewd, with agile eyes. As she watched Emperor Jianwu, her eyes were darting around, as if she was pondering something.
After listening to the story, Emperor Jianwu wanted to see the variety performances, so he pulled Mr. Liu along to find them.
The two had just left the tea house and hadn’t walked very far when they heard a ruckus up ahead.
Immediately afterward, someone ran at breakneck speed towards Emperor Jianwu.
Mr. Liu quickly pulled Emperor Jianwu to the side to hide.
But this person still bumped into Emperor Jianwu, almost knocking him down.
"Little thief."
A crisp female voice rang out, and then a little girl about the same age as Emperor Jianwu ran over and grabbed the person: "Thinking you could run off after stealing our purse? Dream on."
The girl looked rather young, but she was surprisingly strong; she seemed to possess martial skills, grabbing the thief and kicking him over, tumbling him to the ground.
She went over to retrieve her purse and then turned to smile at Emperor Jianwu: "Are you alright?"
It was then that Emperor Jianwu got a clear look at the girl.
He had originally thought that she must be a sturdy-looking girl since she knocked the thief down with one kick, but upon seeing her face, he realized he was wrong.
The girl in front of him was very thin, and although her stature was small and unimposing, her face was quite handsome and cute.
Her skin was fair, her eyes big and round, and her lips very red; when she smiled, she revealed a set of white teeth, which was quite endearing.
Emperor Jianwu felt a certain fondness for the girl at first glance.
He also smiled: "I’m fine."
The girl weighed her purse in her hand: "I have you to thank for earlier, if it weren’t for you stopping him for a moment, that thief would’ve gotten away, and I wouldn’t have been able to recover my purse."
"It was my duty, of course."
Emperor Jianwu smiled and made a bow with his hands: "Just doing my part to help out when witnessed injustice."
The girl asked with particular concern, "You weren’t hurt by the collision, were you?"
Emperor Jianwu shook his head: "No."
The girl raised an eyebrow: "Well then, to thank you, how about I treat you guys to a meal?"
Mr. Liu waved his hand, trying to decline.
But Emperor Jianwu had already accepted: "Sure."
Mr. Liu’s plump and usually joyous face turned into a sour one.
There was no choice but to follow the girl.
Fortunately, the girl didn’t have any ill intentions, walking with the two men straight down the main road, without veering into any side alleys.
She didn’t take them to a fancy restaurant either, just to a roadside stall, ordering three bowls of wontons.
After sitting down, while handing Emperor Jianwu chopsticks and a spoon, the girl laughed and said, "I often come to eat wontons here, their wontons taste particularly good. We’re lucky too. They haven’t sold out yet; usually, around this time, they’re almost sold out."
Emperor Jianwu smelled the fragrant sent coming from a neighboring patron biting into a wonton and suddenly felt hungry again.
"Is it really that tasty?"
He asked the girl in a low voice.
The girl laughed and replied: "They’re delicious."
Emperor Jianwu then asked the girl: "What’s your name?"
The girl answered nonchalantly: "I’m Yun Que, what’s your name?"
Emperor Jianwu naturally wouldn’t reveal his real name; he made up one: "My name is He Jia."
He used the family name of the Empress Dowager, with the given name Jia, which rhymes with ’fake’, hinting that the name was fictional.
But Yun Que didn’t think much of it and bowed with a fist in hand: "Nice to meet you, Brother He."
Emperor Jianwu found it amusing and returned the gesture: "Nice to meet you too, Sister Yun."