"He is sneaky," Wēi Wò Yàn said in a grumpy manner.
"Why because you thought you were smart and didn't realize until an hour ago that he tricked you into his residence?" Jiang Tài Píng chuckled lightly, completely wiping away the murderous young man full of wrath and rage that only a few moments ago look as if he wanted to tear the world apart with his hands.
"Humph," Wēi Wò Yàn grunted with a sour look on his face and looked away from Jiang Tài Píng.
The Emperor looked at the now smiling ticking time bomb and asked Jiang Tài Píng in slight confusion, "What did you mean when you said it's because of us you were allowed to see your son again?"
Jiang Tài Píng began to explain that when his wife gave birth to fraternal twins. The midwife pronounced the second child stillborn. Although Jiang Tài Píng did take a moment to verify that the child wasn't breathing. All of his focus was on his wife and keeping her alive.
He left the details of burying his child to the midwife and informed the midwife he would get the details later. However, when he went to look for the midwife later, she disappeared. "Until now, I don't know how the midwife managed to past my son off as dead. When I checked the child, he definitely wasn't breathing." Commander Jiang told the Emperor.
Looking over to his friend, Commander Jiang said, "Yǒng Měng you explain the rest. You know more about it than I do."
So Wēi Yǒng Měng explained how they eavesdropped on the conversation of the noblewoman and the midwife. Wēi Yǒng Měng also explained how they detained the midwife and fetched Commander Jiang, who was able to verify by a birthmark that indeed the child was his son.
"It reminded me of one of the final things my grandmother said to me." Commander softly said with a faraway look in his eyes. "She said, 'Men decide fate. Men that choose not to act leave their fate in the hands of others. Men that choose to act controls the fate that befall them. Just one choice or decision can change the fate of the whole world.' I don't know where she heard this saying. However, because it was one of the final things she said to me. I always carried these words in my heart."
Commander Jiang looked at the Emperor, Grand Prince, and Lady Wǔ Gāng Huā and said, "Your actions saved the lives of my friends, my friends definitely wouldn't have been alive if it were it not for your actions. Because of your actions, my friends were alive to act on my behalf. Their actions saved the life of my son. Young Master Liu's actions saved my wife and made me decided to stay in the Imperial City. Otherwise, I would have vanished back into the martial world. I would have probably never found out about my son being alive or met with my friends again anytime soon, if at all." Commander Jiang explained.
"With the temperament of that midwife. I am absolutely sure she would have discarded my son since she no longer had a need for him. So how can I not be thankful to you for the life of my son." The Commander said to the Emperor and the Lord and Lady Wang Royal Manor.
"What happened with the midwife?" Lady Wǔ Gāng Huā asked.
Commander Jiang's eyes, voice, and face grew very hard and cold. He looked Lady Wǔ Gāng Huā in the eyes and said, "Since she was tired of living I grace her with eternal rest. I was even kind enough to dig a hole and give her a place to rest. That was where my kindness ended."
Silence reign in the carriage for a moment. Before the silence could be broken, the carriage came to a stop before Liu Residence. "We are here," Wēi Wò Yàn needlessly said.
Imperial City; Liu Garden Residence
Liu Tián Qǔ stood outside her residence with the doctor, butler, housekeeper, and Zhou Yù awaiting the arrival of the Emperor and the returning families. Liu Tián Qǔ had heard the announcement of the Emperor and the conversation between the Emperor and Wēi Yǒng Měng over the voice projector. When the Emperor announced that he would personally escort the returning four martial families. A Turkish proverb struck Liu Tián Qǔ's mind and heart.
"If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain," Liu Tián Qǔ was 100% sure that the Emperor had an ulterior motive for escorting the returning martial families. No one could convince her otherwise. Liu Tián Qǔ was thoroughly convinced that since she diplomatically requested not to be summoned in her negotiation. The Emperor found a way to come see the person who dared to send him a verbal slap. 'Aiya, this Emperor is really very petty and cunning. He use one stone to kill two bird.'
Regret. Liu Tián Qǔ was really regretting her impulsiveness. However, the timber was already made into a boat, and it was too late to back down. Liu Tián Qǔ suddenly felt very nervous. When Liu Tián Qǔ found herself feeling nervous, she knew she was worried and slightly afraid. The Emperor had the power to disturb the life that Liu Tián Qǔ was struggling to build.
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Liu Tián Qǔ was not used to someone having that kind of control or power over her life. She firmly believed in controlling her own life, fate, and destiny. However, the problem was she already went and provoked an Emperor in an ancient era.
Liu Tián Qǔ knew that the worse thing she could do was meet the Emperor feeling nervousness. Clasping her hands behind her back, Liu Tián Qǔ closed her eyes. She slowly took a deep breath and slowly released it. She repeated it again and again until she felt herself beginning to calm down.
Feeling better, Liu Tián Qǔ emptied her thoughts and just allowed herself to be in the moment. Liu Tián Qǔ tuned everything out. With her eyes closed, Liu Tián Qǔ lifted her face to the sky. She focused on the gentle breeze that caressed her skin and the warmth of the sun. Even behind her closed eyelids, the glow of the sun couldn't be denied. So Liu Tián Qǔ didn't try to. Instead, she sunk into the muted glow of the sun behind her eyes and found peace.
Liu Tián Qǔ consciousness drifted into a meditation of peace. It was a tap on the shoulder that bought her back. Liu Tián Qǔ opened her eyes and looked into the eyes of an angry tiger. At least that is what it felt like.
Liu Tián Qǔ had tuned everything out, so she never noticed when her carriage returned, pulling up to her Garden Residence escorted by a multitude of warriors. When the carriage pulled up, the Emperor was the first one to alight from the carriage. Of course, the Emperor immediately noticed Liu Tián Qǔ. It was Liu Tián Qǔ he came to see after all.
When Liu Tián Qǔ still didn't move forward to greet the emperor after the Emperor alighted from the carriage. Butler Zhou reached out his hand to tap Liu Tián Qǔ to alert her to the arrival of the carriage. However, the Emperor had silently held up a hand commanding the butler to stop.
As everyone else began alighting from the carriage, the Emperor walked over a stood in front of Liu Tián Qǔ. He was beginning to get angry because he thought Liu Tián Qǔ was slighting him. When had he as the Emperor of the Tolling Lands ever gone to visit a subject and his subject didn't come forth to greet him.
Everyone had finished climbing from the carriage and gathered behind the Emperor, and still, Liu Tián Qǔ never moved. Liu Tián Qǔ stood as still as a statute. Liu Tián Qǔ's hands remained clasped behind her back. Eyes closed her face also remained lifted towards the sky.
Jūn Zhōng Xīn, Měng Tiān Cái, and Wēi Yǒng Měng all threw silent questioning looks at Jiang Tài Píng questioning why Liu Tián Qǔ was behaving in such a manner. Jiang Tài Píng shook his head cluelessly with a slight frown on his face. Although his Young Master was a bit daring, he didn't know of his Young Master to be deliberately rude for no reason.
They all wonder if this would end badly for the Young Lord. Many of the warriors also exchanged looks among themselves. So did the Lord and Lady of Wang Royal Manor. Wang Fèn Yǒng stood behind the Emperor. His eyes seemed to carry extra frost, and his face was stone cold. The killing intent that always seemed to surround him seem more oppressive. However, it wasn't Liu Tián Qǔ he watched in displeasure, it was the Emperor he watched, and the Emperor watched Liu Tián Qǔ.
Everyone looked at Liu Tián Qǔ, who seemed to be lost in another world. More than one person made a throat-clearing sound, and still, there was no reaction from Liu Tián Qǔ. Finally, the Emperor, who was already standing in front of Liu Tián Qǔ, reached over and tapped Liu Tián Qǔ on the shoulder. The Emperor was already annoyed and irritated with Liu Tián Qǔ. So this made him become angry. Never in his life had the Emperor been treated in this manner. Whether Liu Tián Qǔ did it on purpose or not was no longer relevant.
However, when Liu Tián Qǔ eyes opened, the look in the Young Lord's eyes gave the Emperor pause. The Emperor tried to recall if he ever seen such a calm tranquility before. The look in the Young boy's eyes was more than peace. There was contentment and a still quiet happiness. There was a strange, indescribable awareness and knowledge in the young boys' eyes that could almost be described as an otherness. There was also a deep sense of reflection. The Emperor notice that although the young boy's eyes opened, his eyes were unfocused. He seemed to be looking inward as if he was present but not quite present.
A couple of heartbeats later, the Emperor watched the focus snap back into the Young Lord's eyes, and the Young Lord once more became aware of his surroundings. In a situation like this, when most people realized they left the Emperor waiting. Most would get flustered or go into a panic. Some would even get fearful. However, the Young Lord didn't get flustered. He met the eyes of the Emperor with calm, tranquil, peaceful eyes.
However, inwardly, Liu Tián Qǔ felt her calm dissipating. But she was determined not to show how her heart shooked when she opened her eyes only to look into the angry eyes of the Emperor. It was easy for Liu Tián Qǔ to see that the Emperor and the Grand Prince were brothers. The Emperor was much younger than the Grand Prince, but he still had the same qualities about him that the Grand Prince had.
Like the Grand Prince, there was a savage beauty to the emperor. However, although the Emperor made every effort to hide it. If you look closer, you could see a barely hidden cold cunning predatory untamed ferociousness in the eyes of the Emperor. An overbearing domineering aura of Imperial command and authority poured off of the Emperor.
Upon looking into the eyes of the Emperor, there was one proverb that resonated in Liu Tián Qǔ's mind. 'Keeping company with an emperor is akin to keeping company with a tiger.' However, this tiger was a dangerous smiling face tiger whose real personality was shrouded behind a veil.
Liu Tián Qǔ struggled with all her being not to quail or flinch under the oppressive, forceful gaze of the Emperor. The Emperor wasn't trying to intimidate her, nor was she afraid at that moment. That was just how naturally oppressive and domineering the Emperor's aura was. Liu Tián Qǔ had a knee-jerking reaction to quail or to flinch when hit with the pressure of the Emperor's aura and gaze.