Quick Transmigration: Why did you provoke him? He's love-struck!

Chapter 519 Relying on Favor (64)

Yan Zhen only drank a few cups of wine before making an excuse that he couldn't hold his liquor and had to return to the palace to rest, leaving the banquet to these future pillars of the nation to exchange ideas and showcase their talents.

Zhao Yuan stayed by Yan Zhen's side, intending to return to the palace with her, but was stopped by a trivial matter reported by the head eunuch before leaving, so he had to deal with it first.

After finishing that miscellaneous matter and returning to the banquet, he saw more than a dozen handsome newly appointed scholars dressed in uniform red brocade robes, each with a blooming red plum blossom in their mouth, dancing in front of Yan Zhen to a very rhythmic beat.

Yan Zhen, who had already left, now stood on the steps, looking at these people with admiration in his eyes.

Perhaps encouraged by the admiring gaze, the lead dancer, a scholar, stepped to the beat of the drums and approached Yan Zhen. He swayed his supple waist and circled around her once, then knelt down in front of her with a whirl, took the red plum branch from his mouth, and presented it to her with both hands.

Yan Zhen raised an eyebrow slightly—

This scene, witnessed by Zhao Yuan who had just returned, nearly enraged him. He immediately roared, "Insolence!!!"

With that roar, the drumbeats and music abruptly stopped.

Zhao Yuan strode towards Yan Zhen, kicked the kneeling scholar to the ground, then drew a sword from a nearby guard, pointing it at the scholar and shouting, "Who gave you the audacity to seduce His Majesty! You're tired of living!!!"

The Empress was furious, and everyone at the banquet knelt down. The third-ranked scholar who was dancing and more than a dozen other newly appointed scholars were so frightened that they turned pale and trembled like leaves.

"Your Majesty...Your Highness, I am innocent!" The newly appointed scholar, who had just been appointed as a probationary official in the Hanlin Academy, hurriedly pleaded in a trembling voice, "I did not seduce Your Majesty, please, Your Highness, see the truth."

"You still dare to argue! Do you think I'm blind?!" Zhao Yuan's chest heaved violently with anger, as if he were about to kill this audacious third-place scholar on the spot.

Seeing this, the third-ranking scholar could only turn to Yan Zhen for help: "Your Majesty, please understand. I am utterly loyal to Your Majesty and dare not overstep my bounds in the slightest. My dance before Your Majesty today was merely to please Your Majesty..."

Zhao Yuan grew angrier as he listened, and raised his knife as if to kill him.

Seeing this, Yan Zhen quickly stopped him, saying, "Zhao Yuan, calm down, calm down..."

While blocking him, she winked at the third-ranked scholar, signaling him to leave quickly.

Having received the hint, the third-ranked scholar disregarded his impoliteness and hurriedly turned and fled with the dozen or so newly appointed scholars who were dancing.

The banquet ended badly. Back at Jingren Palace, Zhao Yuan was still angry, his face dark, sitting silently on the couch like a demon.

Yan Zhen poured him a glass of water, intending to coax him, and handed it to him.

Zhao Yuan glanced at the cup of water and said sarcastically, "How could I trouble Your Majesty to personally pour tea?"

Yan Zhen had no choice but to put her water glass aside and sit down next to him: "Are you still angry?"

"This concubine wouldn't dare," Zhao Yuan sneered. "This concubine can't dance, much less please Your Majesty. How dare I be angry with Your Majesty? Such willful and reckless behavior will only annoy Your Majesty. What if Your Majesty divorces me?"

Yan Zhen: "...I didn't expect them to dance."

"But weren't you enjoying it?"

Yan Zhen: "..."

She touched her nose guiltily, which was indeed the truth.

A dozen or so young, handsome, and well-proportioned men danced in front of her, their movements lively and energetic, and they were indeed a feast for the eyes.

Seeing that Yan Zhen not only didn't refute but also showed a look of reminiscence, Zhao Yuan's anger flared up again: "You're still reminiscing? Do you want to invite them in to dance another song for you?"

Yan Zhen smiled awkwardly: "Everyone has a love for beauty. I was really just admiring it at the time, without any evil thoughts. It's the same as admiring a woman dancing. I just thought it was beautiful, so I glanced at it a few more times."

Zhao Yuan was still seething with anger and said, "Then revoke his status as a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) and forbid him from serving as an official in the court!"

Yan Zhen frowned: "This is too serious."

In literature, there is no first place, but in martial arts, there is no second. Those who can be selected as the third-ranked scholar in front of the emperor are already among the best in terms of literary talent among the candidates for the imperial examinations in the Liang Dynasty.

It would be a real pity to give up such a talented person just because Zhao Yuan is jealous.

Zhao Yuan glared at her: "You don't want to?"

Yan Zhen thought for a moment and said, "We can prevent him from serving as an official in the court again, but we cannot revoke his status as a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination). Firstly, the students who took the imperial examinations have studied hard for more than ten years to achieve their current success. It would be unfair to deny him because of such a small matter."

Secondly, the third-ranking scholar is truly talented and capable; given time, he might become a pillar of the nation. Let's send him to a prefecture as a local official, wait ten or eight years, and once he's gained experience, he can be promoted. By then, he'll be older, married, and you won't have to worry about him having other ideas.”

Zhao Yuan: "..."

Seeing that Zhao Yuan remained silent with a sullen face, Yan Zhen softened his voice and said, "Didn't you also intend to let him off the hook?"

Otherwise, given Zhao Yuan's skill, the third-ranked scholar would have been beheaded at the banquet long ago.

"I just don't want to make things so ugly!" Zhao Yuan said irritably.

He did intend to kill someone, but he considered that if Yan Zhen punished him for killing someone at the banquet, it would affect their relationship.

If he is not punished, with so many newly appointed scholars watching, Yan Zhen, as the person in power, will inevitably be accused of condoning the Empress's indiscriminate killing of innocent people.

Zhao Yuan didn't want to put her in a difficult position.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you." Yan Zhen patted his head. "I will issue an imperial decree tomorrow to send the third-ranked scholar to serve as an official in a prefecture outside the capital."

Zhao Yuan knew this was the best solution, and although he was still upset, he didn't say anything more.

"alright."

After reaching a consensus, seeing that it was getting late, the two washed up and went to bed.

That night, Zhao Yuan had a dream.

In his dream, he ascended the throne and seized all power, while Dangun Tak became his empress, managing the six palaces for him.

At first, the two were a perfect match, one managing the household affairs and the other handling external matters, and they managed the Liang Dynasty very well.

But as his reign went on, he changed his mind and brought in batches of fresh and beautiful women into the harem, making him a large group of concubines.

Tan Junzhuo had shown his coldness and anger, but due to his lack of real power, he was powerless to stop the birth of princes and princesses as the emperor stayed in different concubines' palaces every day.

Finally, she died of depression before the age of forty.

Startled awake from his dream, Zhao Yuan broke out in a cold sweat.

He turned to look at the person sleeping beside him, and seeing that she was lying there peacefully, he breathed a sigh of relief and leaned over to hug her.

Yan Zhen never liked being held while sleeping. Noticing this little movement in her sleep, she kicked him with her leg and said, "Let go, it's so hot."

Zhao Yuan didn't let go, but gently rubbed his forehead against hers, muttering to himself, "Thank goodness, you're not the one who's going to be the empress."

Women's lives are often filled with hardship, and even empresses are no exception.

He was thankful that she would never have to live in fear like he did today.