After the Substitute Male Bride Fled, the Emperor Turned Dark - Chapter 6

Only outlines were sketched on the paper, as if he had not put much heart into it.

Fang Zhiyan laughed to himself. “If it is ugly, so be it. She will not know I painted it anyway.”

He painted several pictures in a row, all of which were scenes from the marketplaces of Gusu: women washing clothes by the river, vendors selling candied haws on the bridge, old men playing chess at the entrance of an alley, and a little dog chasing its own tail in circles. His brushwork was not exquisite, but it was vivid and interesting. With just a few strokes, he captured the expressions and temperaments of the characters perfectly.

Lan Ruo watched from the side and suddenly felt that although this Third Young Master was not as multi-talented as the Young Lady, his character paintings actually had a certain charm.

He painted until the sun began to slant toward the west. Only then did Fang Zhiyan put down his brush and spread the paintings out one by one on the table to dry. He wandered around the porch for a few laps and suddenly felt that the two vibrant osmanthus trees on one side of the courtyard looked a bit lonely.

“Lan Ruo, go and give the order to hang a swing there.”

Fu An heard this and could not help but remind him. “Your Ladyship, you are still under house arrest.”

“I am not going outside. What is wrong with having some fun in my own courtyard?” Fang Zhiyan replied confidently. “I am not stepping past the main gate of Jingyang Palace.”

Fu An listened and realized that his logic made sense.

The next morning, Lan Ruo supervised Fu An and two young eunuchs as they tied a swing to the osmanthus trees. The wooden board was polished smooth, and the ropes were tied securely. Fang Zhiyan tested it and found it to be very stable. He sat on it while Fu An pushed from behind. The swing went higher and higher. The wind whistled past his ears, and his skirt fluttered along with his hair.

“Higher! Higher!” Fang Zhiyan’s eyes curved into crescents from his laughter.

In the month since he had arrived in the capital, this was the first time he felt so carefree.

“Your Ladyship! Be careful!” Lan Ruo cautioned him from the porch.

“What is there to fear? The rope is very strong!”

“Your Ladyship! Someone is coming!” Lan Ruo suddenly shouted in a low voice.

Fang Zhiyan was at the highest point of the swing, squinting his eyes to enjoy the autumn wind, so he did not hear her clearly. “What?”

“Someone is here. It is His Majesty!”

Fang Zhiyan opened his eyes. He was suspended in mid-air with an incredibly wide field of vision, and that was when he saw Xiao Huan. Xiao Huan was standing outside the arched gate with his hands behind his back, followed by Manager Li.

Fang Zhiyan locked eyes with him while hanging in the air. Time seemed to freeze for a moment. It was only for a moment because the momentum was too great, and he had to continue swinging for a while longer. A bizarre scene unfolded: the anxious Fu An and Lan Ruo, Manager Li with a complicated expression, the expressionless Emperor, and Fang Zhiyan, whose heart was filled with despair even as his body continued to sway.

After getting off the swing, Fang Zhiyan moved toward Xiao Huan and braced himself to step forward and perform the greeting. “This concubine welcomes Your Majesty.”

Xiao Huan stood before him and looked down at him. Fang Zhiyan kept his eyes lowered, not daring to make eye contact.

“I heard that you were under house arrest,” Xiao Huan spoke, his tone remaining flat.

“Yes,” Fang Zhiyan’s voice carried a hint of guilt.

“During your house arrest, you are playing on a swing in the courtyard?”

“This concubine knows her mistake.”

“Since you know your mistake, how do you think you should be punished?”

Fang Zhiyan hesitated. “Perhaps add another half a year to the house arrest.”

Xiao Huan let out a short laugh, appearing to see through everything. “Let us go inside first.”

Fang Zhiyan quickly followed. Once inside the hall, Xiao Huan took the main seat and his gaze swept across the paintings spread out on the table. He picked up the one on top and looked at it for a few moments. It was a turtle painted by Fang Zhiyan with red dots on its shell.

“Is this a turtle?” Xiao Huan asked.

Fang Zhiyan was quite confident in his artwork. “It should not be hard to tell, Your Majesty.”

Xiao Huan picked up the next one, which was a few strokes outlining a white cat. “Is this the Empress Dowager’s cat?”

“Yes.”

Xiao Huan flipped through the rest of the pages. “You have quite the leisure.”

Fang Zhiyan felt lucky that the paintings concerning Gusu had already been put away. “It is alright.”

Xiao Huan put down the paintings and glanced at him. “I heard you were under house arrest and thought you would be sad, so I came specifically to see you,” he said. “It seems I worried too much. Consort Zhuang is enjoying herself.”

Fang Zhiyan’s expression slumped. “To tell the truth, this is merely a way for this concubine to forget her troubles.”

“Is that so?” Xiao Huan threw the papers back onto the table. “The days of house arrest are long. Do not just paint turtles. Another day, paint something decent and send it to the Hall of Supreme Harmony.”

Fang Zhiyan looked troubled. “If Your Majesty wishes to appreciate art, you should call for the court painters. This concubine’s work is truly not fit for a formal setting.”

Painting for fun to pass the time was a joy, but painting according to someone’s request was work. It was different. Now that he was a high-ranking lady, why would he want to put in that effort?

At that moment, Lan Ruo walked in carrying a food box. Upon seeing His Majesty, she hesitated to speak. Fang Zhiyan took the opportunity to ask, “Has Your Majesty had dinner yet?”

Xiao Huan also saw the small food box. “Not yet.”

Fang Zhiyan said with some regret, “It is a pity that this concubine is currently under house arrest. The food is simple, and I truly have no face to ask Your Majesty to dine with me.”

“I am not hungry. You eat first.”

Fang Zhiyan could not force the Emperor to eat with him. He was hungry anyway, so he gestured for Lan Ruo to bring the food forward. There was a small bowl of rice, a dish of tofu, and a small bowl of vegetables. There was no steam rising from the food, so it appeared to have gone cold.

Xiao Huan showed a look of curiosity. He was interested to see how Consort Zhuang would eat such plain food. Fang Zhiyan usually ate very quickly. Although he had spent a month at the Fang house learning to chew slowly, he was only slightly more refined than before. Since there was so little food, he finished it in less than half an hour. At the end, he even wore an expression that suggested he wanted more.

Xiao Huan was speechless. Lan Ruo, standing nearby, felt frustrated. She screamed in her heart, “Have you never eaten before? The eldest daughter of a Vice Minister should not react this way to plain food. Even if she ate it, she should do so reluctantly with an expression of dislike she dared not voice.”

Xiao Huan hesitated. “How was the taste?”

Fang Zhiyan belatedly realized something and stammered. “The taste was average. It is just that I have not eaten for a long time, so I might have eaten a bit too fast. I have made a fool of myself in front of Your Majesty.”

Xiao Huan wore an expression that was hard to describe and then gave a faint warning. “Noble Consort Shu is kind-hearted and cannot stand the women in this harem causing trouble due to jealousy. Punishing you is to make you remember, so that you do not bully others in the future.”

Fang Zhiyan put on a look of having learned a lesson. “Yes, this concubine knows her mistake.”

Xiao Huan nodded and stood up, showing mercy. “Since you already know your mistake, the house arrest is lifted.”

Fang Zhiyan originally intended to stand up and see him off, but upon hearing this, he was so upset that he did not even want to bother standing up. Xiao Huan waved his hand to indicate that there was no need to see him out.

Before Fang Zhiyan could recover from the bad news, Fu An ran in excitedly and knelt on the ground to give thanks. “His Majesty just left word with Manager Li. He wants you to go to the Hall of Supreme Harmony every day at the hour of the Monkey to accompany him.”

“Oh, His Majesty truly likes Your Ladyship. I see that even Noble Consort Shu does not have this level of favor.”

A look of distress appeared on Lan Ruo’s usually calm face. She waved her hand to tell Fu An to leave. Fang Zhiyan paced back and forth in worry. Everything was spiraling out of control. The Emperor, who was rumored to be uninterested in women, seemed to be very fond of him as Consort Zhuang.

He began to have doubts and approached Lan Ruo, lowering his voice. “Lan Ruo, our lives are tied to the same rope. Tell me the truth. Has His Majesty met your Young Lady before and fallen deeply in love with her long ago?”

Lan Ruo frowned in thought and shook her head after a long while. “Probably not. The Young Lady lived in seclusion and rarely had contact with outside men.”

Fang Zhiyan immediately went off track and began to gossip. “If she rarely had contact with outside men, then what was the deal with that lover of hers?”

Lan Ruo pursed her lips. Fang Zhiyan truly became curious. He walked over to the soft couch by the table and sat down. “Do not hide it from me. I have already entered the palace in her place, so I will not tell anyone regardless.”

His voice was extremely small, so only the two of them could hear it, but Lan Ruo was truly nervous and looked around anyway. Seeing that the others had gone to rest, she walked over to him and could not help but begin to speak. “Young Master Gu is the Master’s favorite student and often frequented the Fang house. The first time the Young Lady saw him and came back, she looked as though she had lost her soul. Later, Young Master Gu came more often. The Young Lady saw him frequently and could no longer restrain her feelings.”

Fang Zhiyan listened and smiled while propping up his head. “It sounds quite similar to the stories I read in Gusu.”

“What kind of person is Young Master Gu? What is his family background? Since he is my father’s favorite student, he must not be too bad. Why did they not just let the two be together?”

“Young Master Gu is very excellent,” Lan Ruo said truthfully. “But I feel that in every aspect, he cannot compare to His Majesty.”

Fang Zhiyan truly could not help but laugh this time. He reached out and poked her forehead. “Silly Lan Ruo, among the men in this world, who can compare to His Majesty?”

Lan Ruo also laughed.

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