"I will do it!" The emperor took the teacup and personally fed it to Empress Dowager Jing. Once her expression relaxed slightly, the emperor finally shifted his attention back to Duke Xuanping.
He said coldly, "Duke Xuanping, what on earth is going on with this?"
Duke Xuanping felt even more wronged. He too wanted to know what was happening, damn that old wine barrel! Was he playing some trick on him?
With a serious expression, he said, "Your Majesty, this jeweled box was given to me by Huo Jijiu. I haven’t opened it, and I didn’t know the hidden weapon was inside it."
He was a rogue and a roughneck, not exactly a guy of principle, but not one to steal or invade other people’s privacy either.
But primarily because he didn’t expect old Huo Jijiu to play such a trick on him!
Why though? freeweɓnovel.cøm
The emperor’s expression turned cold spelling out, "Summon Huo Xian!"
"Yes!" Eunuch Wei responded.
Eunuch Wei immediately sent a small eunuch to Guozijian to bring Huo Jijiu to Huaqing Palace.
Empress Xiao and Consort Zhuang also stayed, waiting for the emperor’s judgment.
Old Huo Jijiu entered the side hall of Huaqing Palace’s Qiuhua Pavilion calmly, with an open demeanor. His gaze swept over the crowd, as if surprised to see so many people there. He greeted them with a bow, "Greetings, Your Majesty. Greetings, the Empress. Greetings, the Empress Dowager. Greetings, Consort Zhuang."
The box and the dart had been picked up by the palace maids and placed on the table next to the emperor.
The emperor waved his hand impatiently, "Save your empty formalities, I didn’t call you here to witness your greetings!"
Huo Jijiu raised an eyebrow at this, the Emperor’s disposition seemed rather ill-humored.
The emperor casually picked up the box on the table and coldly threw it to the ground in front of old Huo Jijiu, "What is this! Do you recognize it?"
The box split open as it fell, and the shiny dart rolled out, stopping right by Huo Jijiu’s feet.
The emperor asked suspiciously, "Why you choose to repay it now – neither earlier nor later, but at this very moment?"
Old Huo Jijiu laughed awkwardly and said somewhat embarrassingly, "To tell you the truth... I... I completely forgot about it... it was only when I heard that Empress Dowager Jing had come back that I suddenly remembered this old debt."
Oh dear, it was just as well Empress Dowager Jing had actually lent him the silver.
And he did indeed say he’d repay it double. At the time, Empress Dowager Jing did not agree but said, ’Instead, write a Spring Festival couplet for me, and consider it as if I bought your couplet.’
But after so many years, he insisted that he had maintained the promise to repay the silver, and Empress Dowager Jing probably couldn’t clearly remember.
Even if she did remember, memories can be faulty.
He was just sticking to his own version!
Fortunately, both the Empress Dowager and the Emperor didn’t bring up the finer details about the silver and began to speak about the contents of the jeweled box again.
The emperor said, "You were to give silver, but Duke Xuanping brought a dart today, which almost hurt Empress Dowager Jing."
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