Chapter 405: Master of the Harem
“Your Majesty, please forgive me. It was unavoidable for me to be disrespectful in order to save the princess. I didn’t expect Princess Anya to…”
The Crown Prince cleared his throat and Qin Feng, realising his mistake, quickly changed his statement: “At that time, I was indeed unconscious and knew nothing. I didn’t hear anything either. I only woke up after resting for a while.”
As he spoke, he carefully observed the reactions of those present.
The Crown Prince shook his head, the Empress remained calm and composed.
Calculating carefully, he almost forgot that these two were the Empress, the master of the harem, a skilled manipulator of palace intrigues, and the Crown Prince, the heir apparent, adept at competing with other princes and officials since childhood.
Playing dumb and getting away with it was like showing off a skill in front of these two.
‘I realise that these two have probably figured out my tricks by now. It’s ironic that I thought my acting was flawless.’
He glanced at Princess Anya, who also looked at him, pretending not to recognise him.
It had to be admitted that her acting skills were commendable, but unfortunately for Qin Feng, he had already confirmed her identity, rendering her acting useless.
The Empress spoke, “You saved Princess Anya, exhausting yourself to the point of fainting. That is indeed commendable. I wanted to offer you a cup of tea before you left, but the tea is still hot. It may take a while for it to cool. You better go back and rest.”
She emphasised the word ‘hot’.
Qin Feng understood the implicit message; the Empress wanted him to keep quiet about the details of the Princess’s treatment.
As for the palace maids and royal physicians present, they could be easily controlled with the methods of the Empress and the Crown Prince.
“I understand,” Qin Feng replied, thinking only of leaving this troublesome place.
He didn’t have to wait long; the Crown Prince soon summoned guards to escort him out of Princess Anya’s palace.
Meanwhile, Eunuch Li, after leaving Princess Anya’s palace, hurried to the Imperial Study to report truthfully everything that had happened in Princess Anya’s palace.
Emperor Ming looked at the report in his hand, a detailed report from the Ministry of Justice on tonight’s events, including the handling of the escaped demons from Ninefold Prison, every detail was included.
As he read, he asked Eunuch Li numerous questions, such as Princess Anya’s reaction when she woke up and saw Qin Feng, the Crown Prince’s and Third Prince’s attitudes towards Qin Feng.
Eunuch Li could not hide any of these details and reported everything truthfully.
From start to finish, Emperor Ming remained calm and composed, revealing nothing of what he was thinking.
After listening to Eunuch Li’s report, Emperor Ming put down the memorial and sighed, “Saving Shuliang City from the corpse demon disaster, demonstrating the power of our Great Qian with the invention of gunpowder, establishing the Poor Scholar Academy to train young talents, and demonstrating incredible medical skills. Qin Feng is truly remarkable. It seems that the saying ‘A tiger father begets a tiger son’ is true.”
Eunuch Li was a bit surprised. He acknowledged Qin Feng’s abilities since he had witnessed them first hand, but where did the term ‘tiger father’ come from?
The incident of the Qin family leaving Imperial City had caused quite a stir.
The aristocrats in the capital mocked Qin Jian’an, the head of the Qin family, as a spendthrift playboy who dared to sell the ancestral home and leave the capital!
With such a family head, the term ‘Tiger Father’ doesn’t fit at all.
However, he is only a chief steward in the palace, so he does not dare to speak about these matters, nor does he dare to ask.
He just kept a secret in mind that the seemingly desolate Qin family may not be as simple as it appears on the surface.
“This time, the Young Qin of the Qin family has healed my Princess Anya and cured the diseases brought by the thieves who broke into the Imperial City. Tell me, how should I reward him?”
“Should I raise the status of the Qin family, or give him some gold, silver and treasure, or perhaps give him an official position?”
After some thought, Eunuch Li replied in a low voice, “The head of the Qin family has already jumped three noble ranks in a short period of time. If we continue to upgrade his status, it might be inappropriate.”
“Our suggestion is that Your Majesty could reward the Young Master Qin with some gold, silver and treasures.”
“As for an official position, I do not understand such matters and cannot advise Your Majesty.”
The Emperor nodded slightly and said thoughtfully, “Then issue a decree tomorrow for the eldest son of the Qin family, Qin Feng, to come to the Palace Treasury and choose an item from the treasury.”
“As you command,” Eunuch Li bowed and said.
“By the way, regarding tonight’s events, what was the reaction of the National Teacher?”
“According to the informant, the National Teacher only said – ‘Insignificant fellows, not worth mentioning.'”
Hearing this, the Emperor looked again at the memorial brought by the Prison Division.
It clearly stated that the prisoner taken by the thieves was Shen Li, the National Teacher’s first disciple.
“I understand.”
After leaving the palace, Qin Feng did not let the guards escort him directly back to the Qin residence. Instead, he planned to make a detour to Yong’an Street.
Although he had cured Princess Anya, the people of Imperial City were still suffering.
Just as he was about to arrive, a white light suddenly appeared in the direction of the Grand Literature Academy’s Heavenly Tower and entered the Clear Profound Formation in the air above Yong’an Street.
Then, to everyone’s surprise, the Clear Profound Formation continued to expand under the influence of the tremendous white light until it almost covered the entire Imperial City!
As the massive Clear Profound Formation emitted a blinding white light, the people affected by the Drought Demon curse began to recover one by one.
Seeing this, Qin Feng smiled.
He knew without thinking that the person with such grand gestures was none other than the National Teacher.
However, he couldn’t understand why the National Teacher with such abilities didn’t act sooner, causing him to waste so much effort in vain!
“Big Brother!”
“Feng’er!”
The Qin family had been waiting on Yong’an Street, looking in the direction of the palace. They had already seen Qin Feng the moment he arrived.
Apart from the family members, the father-in-law and Old man Liu were also present.
Father Qin asked, “Why did His Majesty summoned you?”
Qin Feng glanced at the guards beside him. Without hesitation, the guards turned their horses and galloped back to the palace.
Once the sound of hooves had died away at the end of the long night, Qin Feng explained the story of the palace..
“It turns out that Princess Anya was also infected with the disease, so they asked Feng’er to treat her.” Qin Feng’s second mother patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it was not a big deal.
At this moment, Old man Liu suddenly spoke, “Don’t leave out any details. After entering the palace, tell me everything you saw and heard, including all the conversations.”
Although Qin Feng didn’t understand the reason, he complied.
After hearing all the details, Liu Tianlu asked, “Did the Empress voluntarily reveal to you that the Crown Prince once proposed a marriage alliance with the Liu family when he was young?”
Qin Feng hesitated for a moment. He glanced at Liu Jianli who was standing beside him and replied, “Yes. At that time, the Crown Prince mentioned Jianli. The queen had not yet recognised my identity, so she mentioned it in passing as a joke.”
Liu Tianlu shook his head, “As the husband of Liu Jianli, how could the Empress not recognise you?”
“And as the master of the harem, how could she casually make such jokes? She deliberately spoke of this matter in front of the Third Prince and you to show her goodwill.”
Qin Feng was confused. He vaguely remembered the queen’s first words when she saw him – “Such a young physician.”
Could the disappointment in her eyes and the helplessness in her tone be an act?
It couldn’t be.
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