The Cruel Tyrant

44

The dark sky was as if it had been sprinkled with a handful of dazzling diamonds, a crescent moon hanging up high on the horizon, its faint brilliance splashing down on the earth. The majestic palace loomed like a beast crouched in the dark, ready to swallow up all those who dared to trespass.

The dusty, travel worn Su Mu dismounted his horse. With a gust of wind, he swept past the kneeling servants into the palace with a large stride. He said to Yuzhu who was following him: "Prepare the bath and a change of clothes, inform Han Yi, Han Yang and Shi Nuo to come see me. Notify the officials of the various ministries to attend assembly immediately."

Yuzhu hurriedly bowed and said: "Yes, Your Highness." Then she rushed out of the room to pass Su Mu's orders.

The dew-stained cloak was taken off by the maid, and a pair of slender white hands passed a cup of hot fragrant tea over. Hot water was already poured behind the bathing screen.

Su Mu walked to the tub and opened his arms, waiting for the maid to undress him. After transmigrating and living for so long in the ancient times, Su Mu was already used to this kind of being waited on hand and foot by servants. Additionally, he hadn't been able to rest well for several days and was truly exhausted.

His belt was untied, and the silky material of his robes slipped down the delicate skin. The sturdy arm of a man wrapped around Su Mu's waist and lifted him up easily and then gently put him in the tub filled with hot water.

Completely unsurprised, Su Mu didn't even open his eyes. Only the peaceful breathing of two men sounded in the huge bedroom.

Ye Qingfeng looked at Su Mu's tired face and felt a little distressed. He was rarely serious but now he refrained from his usual antics and didn't say a word, kneading Su Mu's shoulders in a steady massage.

After a while, this rare tranquility was broken by Yuzhu's clear voice coming from outside the door, saying: "Your Highness, Han daren, Shi daren asks to see you."

Su Mu, who had his eyes closed and resting, immediately opened his eyes and walked out of the bathtub. He said, "Let them wait in the study and then come in to change clothes."

In a short while, a few slender court ladies walked quickly to Su Mu with bowed heads, drying his body and putting on clothes for him. On the side, Ye Qingfeng's eyes were full of fire, but unfortunately, he couldn't even dress the loose rags he had on properly, let alone Su Mu's complicated court robes.

Su Mu ignored Ye Qingfeng's eyes clinging to him, and immediately walked towards the study after he was dressed.

In the study, Han Yi, Han Yang, and Shi Nuo immediately bowed to greet Su Mu when they saw his figure appear at the door: "Greetings to Your Highness."

Su Mu waved his hand to waive the ceremony and strode to the desk. While flipping through the mountain of memorials, he asked, "How is the imperial court?"

Shi Nuo stepped forward to report: "Your Highness Yuan Shilang, Zhang Xueshi, Liu Taiwei and other 32 officials contracted the cold, headache, measles, etc. and took their family members to go to a foreign country to see a doctor. In addition, officials such as Sun Taishi, Jia Taifu, etc. took their family to return to their hometown for retirement."

Su Mu glanced at the long and fancy resignation letter in his hand and threw it aside. He picked up a new one, glanced at it, and then threw that aside as well. Without raising his head he said, "How about the deployment of the imperial city's troops?"

Shi Nuo stepped back, and Han Yang with a righteous look came forward and said: "Your Highness, General Qin led an army of 30,000 troops to station in the eastern part of the city while General Shen led an army of 30,000 troops to station in the southern part of the city. Additionally, there are 2,000 elite soldiers stationed in the western part and the northern part each. There are three thousand imperial guards in the palace."