The Gilded Cage - CH 91

Calm – How Much Have You Thought and Fought For Yourself? (1)

In the side hall of Feishuang Palace, Xiao Kezhi sat expressionlessly on the platform seat and rested with his eyes closed.

In his hand was a small silver sachet that had been extinguished and cooled, and beside the sachet were several pieces of silver carbon strips, which were found on Zhao Yue earlier.

“Your Majesty, I’ve brought that person.” Liu Kang’s voice came from the door, and then two strong chamber servants brought Zhao Yue in.

Zhao Yue’s hands were tied, her hair was messy, and her clothes were no longer as neat and tidy as before. There was anxiety and anger in her reddish eyes and a thick cloth stuffed in her mouth. Her usual beauty was lost.

She was pushed down to the ground and staggered forward with the force of it. Because she couldn’t move her hands, she fell to her knees in front of the platform.

The candle flames on both sides flickered from the fanning of her dress, illuminating the scene in the room.

She couldn’t help looking up at the man on the seat.

He was looking down at her, eyes were glacial as if a ruthless iceberg was under heavy pressure.

“You really have a lot of bravery. You crossed the line a few times and I ignored it, but you still didn’t give up. You even dare to do this kind of thing today.”

The things in his hand were thrown down in front of her, and the spherical silver sachet was immediately split in half, the incense ashes inside scattered and fluttering to the ground.

Zhao Yue stared at the messy ground, and her original anxiety slowly cooled down, leaving only stubbornness and confusion. She wanted to speak, but because of the rough cloth in her mouth, she could only look at him silently with her eyes.

She knew that the matter had been exposed and could no longer be undone, so she simply did not make unnecessary struggles.

“What, do you have something to say?” Xiao Kezhi met her gaze and plucked out the rough cloth from her mouth, “I’ll give you a chance.”

Zhao Yue didn’t show any timidity at all. Once she was free, she straightened her body and said simply, “Yes, Lady Yu has something to say. Lady Yu wants to ask Your Majesty why others can but Lady Yu cannot? What does Lady Yu have that is not enough? Her beauty is still not gentle enough? Or, Your Majesty dislikes Lady Yu, who lost her father and is an orphan? Lady Yu doesn’t ask for Your Majesty’s affection and only wants a place in the Taiji Palace. Why is Your Majesty not allowing her?”

The “others” she was talking about was naturally the unidentified woman she saw on the horse grounds last time, and it was that woman’s appearance that led to her actions tonight.

There was a hint of surprise in Xiao Kezhi’s eyes.

He had seen some of Second Lady Zhao’s temperament before and thought that she was an assertive and bold woman. Looking at the situation today, that was indeed the case—she was even more direct than he had originally thought.

But for some reason, as he looked at the emotional woman in front of him, the figure of another woman flashed in his mind uncontrollably. That woman was now sleeping peacefully in his bedroom.

He suddenly wanted to ask himself why he dealt with similar situations in such different ways.

This was his conundrum.

He seemed no longer interested in her words, slowly looked away, and said indifferently, “What type of person do you think I am? As long as she is a woman, I shouldn’t refuse her? If the woman I like is the lowest female slave, it’s alright. If I don’t like this person, even her status as a goddess in the sky, it would be useless. Do you understand?”

Zhao Yue bit her lower lip, her eyes stinging.

She understood. It had nothing to do with beauty, identity, or character. He just had no interest in her at all.

This was probably the most damaging phrase that she had ever heard in her more than 20 years of life.

In the past, many of these aristocratic girls in Changan City had ridiculed her military background, but she never underestimated herself because of this. She always felt that it was just because she was not high enough of a status.

She was born beautiful and had a straightforward and bold temperament. No man would ever ignore her like this. What she said today really embarrassed her.

“Your Majesty, Lady Yu is the only remaining woman of the Zhao family. Looking at the whole of Great Liang, the only thing that can be compared with your Majesty’s Ganzhou army is the Bozhou army in the hands of Lady Yu’s brother. My Zhao family has been operating in Bozhou for many years. Why would Your Majesty refuse the help?” She was unwilling to let go, so she gritted her teeth and continued to ask.

This time, Xiao Kezhi suddenly laughed.

He stood up from the couch, his hands behind his back, and when he stood in front of her, he looked even more burly and sturdy.

“Compared with the Ganzhou Army? That’s probably just wishful thinking by outsiders.”

He had been leading the army all these years, and the Ganzhou army had already been trained by him to be an invincible team, capable of blocking the iron cavalry that was several times larger than itself.

As for the Bozhou Army, it might have been comparable twenty years ago, but in Zhao Lun’s hands, it might only be able to block little Nanzhao with the help of the terrain.

However, in recent years, most people were unaware of the changes in the military.

There was undisguised contempt in his tone, as if he didn’t put the large number of Bozhou troops in his eye, which made Zhao Yue feel terrified.

His tone became more and more meaningful, “Besides, don’t I decide who’s hands the Bozhou Army is in? If your Zhao family is so useful, why are you in such a hurry to approach me?”

This time, Zhao Yue froze completely, looking at him with a pale face, unable to say a word.

“Alright, that’s it for today. Next time, if you don’t know the proper boundaries, I will send you directly to the Dali Temple prison and make your brother come back from Bozhou to visit you. Do you understand?”

He didn’t plan to punish Zhao Yue severely today. He really disliked this woman’s tricks, and his own reputation would not look good if he made a big ruckus about it. In the past few days, he had already attracted a lot of discussion about the woman’s affairs, and he really didn’t need to provoke criticism for himself; also, the candidate who would succeed Zhao Lun had not yet been decided.

Zhao Yue clenched her teeth and stared at him nervously, but she didn’t dare to ask directly as boldly as before. She could only nod blankly as he summoned someone to escort her out of the Feishuang Palace.

His words made her doubt that he knew her brother’s situation in Bozhou for a long time, and even her father’s affairs with Nanzhao had been figured out.

At this time, humiliation and injury were no longer important. If he really knew about all this, then their Zhao family would not be able to last long no matter what.