Long live Emperor Wu!

Chapter 42: Isn’t there still me?
The emperor put down the paper in his hand, smiled at Wu Rou, and said:
"I heard that you had something urgent to do and wanted to see Prince Jin. I just remembered that you did a good job when you were looking for a job for me and my relatives last time. You will be rewarded for your merits, but you have been busy recently and forgot about it.

Now I ask you, is there anything you want? "

The emperor looked amiable and seemed to be in a better mood than the last time they met. His deep and sharp brows were kind.

When Wu Rou heard this, her heart beat wildly.

She had long envisioned such a scene and thought about how to take advantage of this opportunity to bring herself one step closer to her goal. So she calmed down her excitement and said the words she had planned long ago as calmly as possible:
"Thank you, Your Majesty. If possible, Wu Rou would like to stay with His Majesty and become a female official serving the pen and ink, gaining more experience and learning."

As soon as these words came out, the emperor and Prince Jin both looked at her.In the silence, those eyes seemed to see through everything and wanted to burn a hole in her body.

It's just that the emperor's eyes were a little helpless, and Prince Jin... looked at her coldly from the end of his eyes. That unattainable posture, coupled with such eyes, was really full of contempt.

Although he didn't show much contempt.

Wu Rou quickly lowered her head further.

The emperor finally spoke and said leisurely:

"You are a fifth-grade talent, aren't you doing a good job? To follow my female officer, you have to get up early on duty, which is very hard. You can't compare with the freedom you have to follow Xu Hui to take care of the palace affairs."

Wu Rou heard the reluctance in his words, but this was the opportunity she had been working hard for for a long time and could not give up, so she mustered up the courage to say again:
"I will also do the errands arranged by Empress Chongrong, and I will not delay. Ah Rou... I admire His Majesty, and her only wish in this life is to serve the Emperor... Ah Rou does not ask for anything else, just to see His Majesty more often. "

Her voice was trembling, her face turned white and hot, and she felt extremely panicked.

She was not only afraid that what she said was not sincere enough and would not impress the emperor, but also felt that it was embarrassing to confess her love in public like this.

Sure enough, the emperor stopped talking again.

She didn't dare to raise her head, not knowing what the emperor's expression was, and she didn't want to know what Prince Jin's expression was.

She always felt that King Jin's distant and gentle temperament and his contemptuous expression would be more embarrassing.

"What do you want from Prince Jin?" The emperor suddenly changed the subject.

Wu Rou then remembered that she was here to intercede for Arthurs. She was so excited just now, how could she forget this!

She raised her head suddenly and said anxiously:
"Arou actually came to see His Majesty, but she was afraid that His Majesty would not summon him, so she wanted to see His Majesty King Jin and ask him to intercede for me.

Your Majesty, my female officer Arthur is a Turk. Today, the Ministry of Internal Affairs suddenly sent someone to tell her that she was going to be kicked out of the palace and sent back to the Turkic life.

Your Majesty, although she is a Turk, she is indeed of Gaochang ethnicity. She is strict and abides by the rules and has never made a mistake. I beg your Majesty to have mercy and let her stay. She does not want to leave the Tang Dynasty. "

The emperor laughed softly when he heard this, it was like a sneer, but not unlike it, it was hard to figure out, so he just said:

"I know that I definitely don't want to leave the Tang Dynasty, but after the assassination by the Turks, many court officials later reported to me that the Turks were not stable in Luoyang, could not integrate into the life of the Tang Dynasty, and often caused trouble.

I didn't believe it before, but then they were ready to kill me. If I don't believe it anymore, wouldn't it be wrong with my brain? "

He paused, raised his eagle eyebrows, and his deep phoenix eyes became sharper, not angry, but frightening, and said:
"Turkish people have always been capricious and ungrateful. They are just white-eyed wolves who have not been raised well. So what if they have a few rules?
You have to leave even if you don't want to. Anyway, I don't have the patience to show mercy anymore and let them all go back to their hometowns to harm their fellow humans! "

The image of Arthurs crying and begging her came to Wu Rou's mind. She really felt that if she didn't save her, she would betray her trust in herself, so with her gentle and beautiful brows drooping, she tried to be as pitiful as possible and begged:

"Your Majesty, could you please take Arou's merits and exempt her from this one? She is of Gaochang race. Although she is of Turkic origin, she is always different from those white-eyed wolves."

The emperor raised his eyes and glanced at her, suddenly smiled, as if he found it very interesting, and said:

"You are quite greedy. You want two benefits for one credit. Well, I can only ask for one thing. Do you want to be a female officer by my side, or do you want to keep your Arthurs?"

"Of course..." Wu Rou choked back the answer she was about to say. Because the twist was so severe, her lips trembled and she almost bit her tongue.

The emperor still had that playful smile, as if he had everything under control.Prince Jin, who was standing next to him, looked at her with the tail of his eyes, as if he was looking at a fool.

Wu Rou intuitively felt that if she answered that she wanted to be a female officer, she would be playing into the hands of these two people and would be looked down upon by them, so she lowered her head and whispered:

"...Of course I want to keep Arthur here. Anyway, His Majesty doesn't seem to be willing to let Arou serve."

Her voice was like that of an oriole, tender and soft, with a hint of coquettishness, which was just right and very endearing for her age.

King Jin's pupils shrank when he saw her, and he seemed to hate her even more.

"Hahahahaha... This is what you said. I agree. Don't regret it in the future." The emperor laughed loudly and raised his hand to direct an eunuch to go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to convey the decree.

……

Wu Rou walked calmly after leaving the Wude Hall. When she was far away from the hall, she stood up holding the wall and stabbed her heart with her thumb, regretting it endlessly.

This was the opportunity she had worked so hard for, and it was just gone...gone? ! "Ha! It's okay... I'm the master, and I lied a lot and said I would protect them. But the first time someone begged me, I couldn't help it. How can I maintain my dignity as a master in the future!

Besides, I will still have a chance in the future, but Arthur’s chance is just this one, no loss at all..."

While she was poking at her heart regretfully, almost to the point of breaking her skin, she kept comforting herself and using various reasons to suppress her inner injustice.

When she returned to Xiliang Pavilion, she saw that Arthur was not there.

Only then did I know that after she left, Arthur had already taken the initiative to go to Yeting Palace for fear of causing trouble to her. Before leaving, he hugged Sanchunsiqiu and Caiyi and cried for a while.

"How's it going, Cai Ren, can A Si stay?" San Chun Si Qiu surrounded her and asked, while Cai Yi looked at her with expectant round eyes.

Wu Rou sighed deeply, her expression extremely dejected, as if she had eaten a pound of weight and spit it out on the ground.

Just as everyone's hearts sank, they heard her say: "It's done, I'll be back in a moment."

Several palace maids were stunned and couldn't react at the scene.

Caiyi asked again uncertainly:
"Talent, I don't understand. Is it successful? Or not? Can Asi stay?"

They were all used to calling Arthur by his original name, but she insisted on calling him by his original name.

Wu Rou nodded affirmatively and said, "Yes." Then she sat down behind the desk, looking at the calligraphy calligraphy in front of her with eyes wandering.

The three springs and four autumns looked at each other and asked:
"Then why is the talented person unhappy? His expression doesn't match his words."

"Yeah...what happened? Did His Majesty punish Caito?...Demoted his rank?!" Miharu guessed what was behind him and made a loud sound, almost shouting out in fright.

"No, no, nothing happened, just..." Wu Rou paused, looking up at the sky, trying to find a suitable word to describe her mood at this moment:

"Hey, Your Majesty and I exchanged the merits for one thing. It's like I climbed to the top of the mountain with all the hard work. I could have become a disciple. But the people on the top of the mountain rewarded me with a copper plate and said, this time doesn't count. You can start over. Let’s get through it…”

Wu Rou felt so depressed that she vomited blood. It was strange to be happy now.

However, they looked at each other and laughed, their eyes sparkling when they looked at Wu Rou.

Who doesn’t like such a responsible owner?She kept her promise - you will never be wronged if you follow her.

……

……

Arthurs is back.

But not even two months later, news spread in the palace that the Gaochang Kingdom had been destroyed, completely merged into the territory of the Tang Dynasty, and the Anxi Protectorate was established.

After experiencing the danger of being deported once, Arthur became frightened. After hearing the news, he had trouble sleeping and eating.

She is of Gaochang ethnicity.

"Talent...this time, you won't suddenly have any new decree to drive away the slaves, right?" Arthurs was making tea for her. He knelt down next to him, pouring water from the teapot, and was worried. asked.

Wu Rou was leaning on the table, writing in her hand, sorting out the regulations for the Mid-Autumn Festival Banquet in the harem. She smiled after hearing this and said:
"It's so sudden. Don't be afraid. You are not from Gaochangguo. How could you be so unlucky? Everything can affect you."

Arthur was obviously still worried, but said nothing.

Wu Rou raised her eyes at the moment when she was stained with ink, and saw Arthur's hand holding the handle of the teapot, squeezing it tightly, and her sitting posture was also very stiff. Looking up, she lowered her head, her blue eyes His eyes were closed, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

Wu Rou put her pen on the pen holder and said:
"Well... how about this? I'll go ask Prince Jin and ask for peace of mind for you."

As she was about to stand up, Arthur quickly reached out to hold her and said with a guilty look:
"No need, didn't Cai Ren say that His Highness Prince Jin is a little disgusted with you recently, so don't mess with him for the sake of me. I know that I think so much, but I can't help but worry...

There have been too many changes recently, which have never happened before. The sudden expulsion of the Turks from the country, the establishment of the Anxi Protectorate... This is the first time that the Tang Dynasty has never asked for other people's land when it attacked any country. "

She was worried, and her voice rose a little higher at the end. She realized that she was too excited, so she paused and lowered her voice and said:
"I don't understand important things. I'm always afraid that His Majesty will suddenly issue an imperial edict and drive me out. I want to be in Chang'an. I want to be released when I get older and live a stable life."

She pinched her hands nervously, lowered her head and shrank her shoulders, her body was trembling slightly, and she was as reserved as a poor creature who would be abandoned at any time.

Wu Rou understands this feeling, very insecure and uncontrollable anxiety.

It's just that she wasn't as obvious as Arthur made it. She would only be so nervous that she trembled when she recalled Wu Yuanqing kicking her on the shoulder in her dreams.

Thinking of this, she bit her lip sadly, stretched out her arms to hug Arthur, gently stroked her back, and said firmly to comfort her:
"Don't be afraid, isn't there still me?"

(End of this chapter)