Instead of bringing up the concubine talk, the chief minister subtly conveyed the story that Karaf rewarded the attendants this morning by changing the strategy.
His expression when saying that looked very impressive and proud, making Aesha somewhat uneasy.
It was as if a child had done something cute, hoping for praise, and she couldn’t shake off that feeling.
This made her think that Karaf might have had an ulterior motive behind his actions.
However, the chief minister spoke with a faint expression, “It seems that Your Majesty is gradually transforming…”
It was an ambiguous statement.
As the flower of the empire, it was good for him to blossom, but what the imperial people really wished for was his transformation from a tyrant to a wise ruler.
Glancing at her with a keen eye, the chief minister hinted at this momentum and said subtly, “But it seems that Your Majesty still can’t sleep deeply at night these days.”
“What? Why?”
Not knowing anything, Aesha asked about the bait he threw.
“I don’t know for sure, but… I’ve heard the sound of Your Majesty calling for Banetsa at midnight.”
Aesha’s expression darkened a bit at his words.
Seeing the chief minister observing, Aesha brought up the topic first.
“Well, it seems that tonight, I have to go and put you to sleep.”
“…Really? Will you do that for me?”
The chief minister, speaking in a joyful tone with a bright and loud voice due to his happy feelings, cleared his throat and coughed, blushing.
“No, please don’t misunderstand my words…”
A question mark floated above Aesha’s head, but the chief minister understood the statement of putting him to sleep as a concubine’s meaning.
Unaware of this, Aesha firmly pledged to put him to sleep properly tonight and prepared thoroughly.
However, the attendants bathed more seriously than usual, paying special attention to the bathing ritual.
Since it was the first time she attempted to go to the emperor’s bedroom at midnight, everyone seemed to understand the meaning and showed expressions of insight.
Only Sonya looked at her with a worried expression.
Aesha had a luxurious bath, including massage, pearl powder dissolved in water, and so on.
By the time she came to the emperor’s bedroom in a silk nightgown, Karaf, who returned late at night after working, was surprised to see Aesha in his room.
“Banetsa…?”
“Oh, Your Majesty.”
Compared to Aesha, who casually greeted him, Karaf was flustered, stammering and asking, “Wh-What, what is going on here?”
“I came to put Your Majesty to sleep. I heard that you’ve been suffering from insomnia again.”
“Th-that’s right…”
Karaf couldn’t bring himself to say that the reason for his insomnia was the concubine issue.
However, seeing Aesha in a silk nightgown with her hair down, he felt like his mind had gone blank.
“How did you know about that fact?”
“The chief minister told me.”
“That stubborn old man, after all…”
Thinking it was the chief minister’s scheme, Karaf frowned and muttered.
Feeling uneasy that he had to go as far as persuading Banetsa now that he was avoiding him, Karaf’s mood wasn’t very good.
However, Aesha, unaware of all this, dragged the cart to the bedside.
“What’s all this?”
Karaf, who was lost in thought without realizing and caught off guard, asked in surprise.
Aesha smiled brightly and answered innocently, “Your Majesty did the same to me before. Reading history books at night helps me sleep well.”
Aesha proudly showed him the books borrowed from the monastery’s library.
“Today, I will read the books diligently for you. You can concentrate and listen or fall asleep while listening. It’s killing two birds with one stone.”
At Aesha’s naive words, Karaf first made a bewildered face, then burst into laughter.
Curious, Aesha asked, “Why are you laughing?”
Wiping away a small tear in the corner of his eye, he said, “Is Banetsa having trouble sleeping these days too?”
“Well… I have a lot of books to read and a lot of concerns, so I often have trouble sleeping.”
“Then I should warm up so that the empress can sleep well.”
At his words, Aesha’s body stiffened in surprise.
It was only then that she realized she had walked into the tiger’s den with her own feet.
Watching her, Karaf said teasingly, “It’s a joke. But the part about warming your body is true. Isn’t the empress on the colder side?”
“How did you know that?”
Surprised by Aesha’s question, Karaf paused for a moment and then said with a wistful expression, “I knew about that much.”
He remembered that every time he had a consort with her in the past, her body was always cold.
Of course, he didn’t know if it was because she was nervous on the day of the consort, but whenever he held her hand and embraced her, he noticed that her body was always cold.
However, his body was also on the colder side.
On the days when he was cursed and the moon didn’t rise, his body burned like crazy, but on other days, as if trying to save energy, it became cold.
He felt a bit bitter about the fact that he couldn’t warm her with his own body.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”