Chapter 25 Imperial Thoughts

Baijia Forum, top floor厢房.

Jia Yao'er watched Zhang Mu and the other five leave, then walked back to Jiang Chen's side, frowning. "Your Majesty, why did you suddenly decide to monitor the Zhenhai Regional Commander and the Zoroastrian Church? Have they done anything treasonous?"

Although she was a woman, Jia Yao'er had spent many years traveling as a talented scholar, and her perspective was beyond that of ordinary people.

Hearing that Jiang Chen wanted to send people to monitor these two forces, she immediately realized something was wrong and felt worried, fearing that someone was trying to harm Jiang Chen.

Sensing the worry in her beautiful eyes, Jiang Chen shook his head. "I'm just preparing for a rainy day. Although these two forces are currently well-behaved, I can sense their ambition."

"It's better to start monitoring them early so that if any problems arise in the future, we can prepare countermeasures sooner."

Of course, these were just platitudes. The real reason was that these two forces had already affected his rule over the Great Wei!

The south was an important source of tax revenue for the Great Wei, and the coastal ports connected many countries. Now that Mei Ruoying was colluding with the Zhenhai Regional Commander, Jiang Chen had to be wary.

As for the Zoroastrian Church, although it seemed quite peaceful on the surface, it was making frequent underhanded moves. According to information gathered by the dark guards, natural and man-made disasters in several areas of the Great Wei had their shadow, and this church was also frequently spreading its teachings to the Central Plains, even turning many high-ranking officials.

All of this made Jiang Chen vigilant, but there was no need to let Jia Yao'er know, lest it cause her unnecessary worry.

Seeing that Jiang Chen didn't want to talk more about it, Jia Yao'er tactfully remained silent, but her mind couldn't help but recall their previous ambiguous moments, and she felt shy.

In a low voice, she said, "Your Majesty, if you have nothing else... Yao'er will take her leave first."

"Otherwise, if I share a room with you, it will sound very bad if it gets out." As she spoke, she deftly gathered the tea set on the table and prepared to leave.

But the moment she turned around, Jiang Chen grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms. "Why are you leaving so quickly? Are you afraid I'll eat you?"

Feeling the burning temperature on her waist, Jia Yao'er's pretty face flushed, and she felt even more uneasy. "Your Majesty, Yao'er, Yao'er didn't mean that. Please let go, or it will really be impossible to explain if someone sees us!"

Her soft, jade-like hands pressed against Jiang Chen's shoulders as Jia Yao'er pushed him away with a flushed face, but her weak strength only stimulated the man's desire even more.

A mischievous smile curled up on Jiang Chen's lips, and his large hand slid down, familiarly patting her shapely bottom covered by her skirt, which was full of elasticity.

This action, which could be called indecent, instantly made Jia Yao'er's delicate body go numb, and her heart pounded like a frightened deer.

She stammered, "Your Majesty! You, you're going too far!"

"How can you just pat a girl's... Yao'er is still an unmarried maiden!"

She protested softly, trying to use strong words to express her anger, but she couldn't do it. As long as she met Jiang Chen's deep eyes, she couldn't help but feel weak in the knees and too shy to look up.

Jiang Chen looked at her delicate and charming face, and her beautiful eyes that were almost dripping with water, and the fire in his heart burned even more intensely. He teased, "Ah, a woman's face is like the weather in April, changing so quickly."

"I don't know who it was just now who said in this pavilion that she wanted to be close to me, wanted me to call her by her boudoir name, and even emphasized that there was no harm in being closer between teachers and students, and told me not to think too much."

"But now, I'm doing as she wishes..."

Bang!

A hasty sound of the door interrupted Jiang Chen's teasing.

Jia Yao'er, her pretty face flushed red, couldn't bear his teasing any longer. In a panic, she disregarded etiquette and covered her face as she rushed out the door, almost bumping into the guard at the door.

Jiang Chen looked at the graceful figure that had 'panic' written all over it, and couldn't help but rub his forehead. "This girl, her skin is so thin, yet she dared to take the initiative to provoke me."

"Does she really think I'm Liu Xiahui, who can remain unmoved by temptation?"

Withdrawing his gaze, Jiang Chen straightened his expression and instructed the dark guard in the corner of the room, "Go, call Feng Jin here. I have something to instruct him."

"Also, arrange for people to escort Yao'er home safely, but don't let her know."

As his voice fell, an answer came from the dark corner, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

And as the voice sounded, a black shadow leaped out, flashed out the door, and chased after the direction Jia Yao'er had left.

Seeing this scene, Jing Yue, who was also hiding in the room, slowly walked out and respectfully said, "Your Majesty, should this subordinate send someone to welcome Miss Jia into the palace?"

Hearing Jing Yue's unspoken meaning, Jiang Chen shook his head. "No, this girl is different from ordinary women. She has a very high spirit, and she may not be able to adapt to life in the palace. Let's just maintain the status quo."

"By the way, what's going on with this Jiang Mu? And what's the situation with this Duke Dingguo?"

"If he really values his grandson, how could he have raised Jiang Mu like this?"

Jing Yue was the leader of the dark guards, and all the intelligence of the Great Wei had to pass through her hands. Hearing the questions, she had the answers in her heart.

She calmly said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, Duke Dingguo fought on the battlefield in his early years and made great contributions to the Great Wei. He is the only person in the southwest who can restrain the Zhenhai Regional Commander, and his army is exceptionally brave!"

"However, his sons all died in battle, and he has only one daughter, who married a royal prince and gave birth to a son, Jiang Mu."

"Because there is only one male left, Jiang Mu is also regarded as the heir of the Duke Dingguo's mansion, and he is favored and biased, with a纨绔 (wanku) personality..."

"Hmm?"

Hearing this, Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes and interrupted, "Haha, this is really like getting a pillow when you're sleepy!"

"I was wondering how to deal with these powerful officials, but I didn't expect that their weakness would be delivered to my door."

Hearing the excitement in Jiang Chen's words, a flash of light crossed Jing Yue's cold, beautiful eyes. "Your Majesty, do you mean... to hold Jiang Mu hostage and make the Duke Dingguo's faction afraid to act rashly?"

"Tsk, am I that ruthless?" Jiang Chen glanced at Jing Yue with feigned displeasure.

Seeing a look of bewilderment appear on her usually cold and beautiful face, he immediately smiled and said, "Alright, I won't tease you. Come here and talk."

Pulling Jing Yue to sit on the chair next to him, Jiang Chen lowered his voice and said, "Duke Dingguo's three sons all died for the country and made many contributions to the Great Wei. Both emotionally and rationally, I can't treat him like this."

"Otherwise, it will inevitably lead to criticism from the people and the court, and destroy my reputation."

"Therefore, to deal with him, we must use a gentle policy, so that he will be so grateful that he will cry and beg to get on my pirate ship and let me drive him!"

Pirate ship?

A smile flashed across Jing Yue's calm, deep eyes. His Majesty must be so excited that he's confused, and even forgot to maintain his imperial dignity.

However, a small slip of the tongue is not worth reminding him of, lest it ruin his mood...

Unaware of Jing Yue's thoughts, Jiang Chen felt that his plan was more and more feasible, and immediately decided, "Jing Yue, send someone to send a message now!"

"Let Duke Dingguo return to the capital as quickly as possible and pay his respects to me!"

"By the way, this matter must be kept secret. Just say that his only grandson has made a big mistake. If the news leaks, even I won't be able to protect him!"